The Old Scholar

Running out of the auditorium, Martha saw that the storm from the mountains was now upon them in full force. With the wind blowing hard and the rain pouring down without pause. The grounds around the hallways and buildings were muddy and filled with large puddles while the drains near the walkways connecting the buildings were doing what it was designed to do and provide the water a way out of the campus, with the drainage system leading down to a secret underwater containment unit that is used to power a certain magic crystal facility underneath the academy and is also linked to the magic crystal lights of the academy. 

With the water and wind blowing against her, it would be normal to assume she would have a hard time seeing but that was not the case because in order to be a combat professor in Imperia, one must be able to fight regardless of weather and conditions, and despite the rainwater landing all over her face, Martha was still able to clearly see just fine. 

"Fucking rain" She remarked as she made her way towards Victory Hall which was connected to the auditorium by a walkway. 

As she was running, she could hear the fighting in the hall get louder and louder, and once she entered the hall proper, she saw the portal in the center of the hall spewing forth more and more cultist knights while being covered by several mind-control cultists, she quickly cut down a few cultist fodder that charged her and decapitated a cultist knight who thought he could slash her from behind. Her eyes scanned the area and she saw the rest of her colleagues and Professor Draco on the other side of the hall fighting off large hordes of knights and fodder, seemingly about to be overrun. 

{!} 

Martha then let out a primal roar thanks to her ability <Battlecry> which drew the attention of everyone who was perceived as enemies to her. The brief distraction and the fact that many of the fodder began charging her instead gave Professor Draco and his team time to regroup and cut down more of the cultist knights who were distracted and splatter them onto the hallway walls. When the first waves of fodder fell upon Martha, she quickly propped up her magic tower shield and slowly backed out of the hall, extending the shield to the width and height of the hallway, all the while the fodder clawed, slashed, and slammed into the tower shield without regard for themselves or their comrades, the mindless horde killing some of their own as they desperately tried to kill the combat professor. 

Once she was at the entrance she came from, she dropped the shield and leaped back to get some distance. Standing in the grassy fields and with the rain pouring down on her, Martha then summoned forth her helmet and put it on, 

'Time to get to work' she thought

{!} 

When the fodder charged her again, some of them slipped on the muddy ground and fell flat on their face, trampled on by the other fodder charging her. Martha quickly swung her halberd repeatedly and cut down several cultist fodder with each swing, their blood falling onto the grass before being washed away by the rain. She always kept her halberd swinging as it gave her reach and kept the charging horde at bay, while dodging the occasional javelin thrown by one of the fodder in the back ranks and replying by stomping her foot onto the ground and using earth magic to conjure up a pair of earth pillars that crushed the fodder in question. 

But the former general knew she did not have to kill all the fodder attacking her in waves, she knew all she had to do was outlast them until Professor Draco and his group killed the mind-control cultist on the inside of the hall. Which was something they were trying to do as back inside Victory Hall, Draco and his group were slowly carving their way forward through a tide of cultist knights hellbent on stopping them. Draco had forgone his weapon and was now using his dragonkin claws to its full extent, rushing forward as he tore through armor and flesh like paper while also doing some acrobatics using his wings and skewering people with his tail when he could. His blue scales were stained red with their blood and his eyes were similarly bloodshot. 

Meanwhile, the rest of his group comprising a pair of elves, an arachnia, a dwarf, a wolf beastkin, and a lion beastkin were also charging forward. All of these professors were just as skilled as Draco and were living up to the title and job of Combat Professor. The lion beastkin named Professor Titus used his large claymore to its full extent using the superior reach and the long sharp edge it had to cleave multiple knights in two, a knight got lucky and managed to get in close but missed his sword stab and was treated to his head being crunched as Titus used his impressive jaw to clamp down on the man's neck and head, and then ripping the knights head off and killing the damnable cultist. Meanwhile, the arachnia professor, Professor Combs, was using a pair of scimitars and cut down multiple knights with each swing, her scimitars being specially crafted to her specifications, making them heavier than normal scimitars despite looking the same, with armor and flesh being torn away with each slash, and leaving the hallway messy with splatters of blood and chunks of flesh and armor littering the place. 

After a few minutes of fighting, Draco was able to finally get a shot of the mind-control cultists who were too busy and preoccupied with trying to organize their fodder to kill the combat professor outside the hall, not seeing the dragonkin until it was too late as Draco landed behind them and spewed fire from his mouth upon them, roasting them in a fiery inferno that made them scream and lose control before collapsing to the ground in a charred heap. 

With the mind-control cultists dead, the fodder outside, or at least what remained of them, dropped to the ground. Draco and his group then saw the portal close and rushed outside to check on their colleague. 

{!}

Outside, Draco and his group saw Martha surrounded by torn-up and cleaved in two corpses that littered the ground around her. She leaned on her halberd after sticking it into the ground. She removed her helmet and let out a small sigh as she placed the helmet back into her item box. 

"Thanks for the assist Martha, almost had us there, they caught us while we were resting" Draco stated as he walked over to his colleague, the rain washing away his bloodied scales 

"You guys would have won anyway, I just quickened the process" Martha replied with a small chuckle as she pulled her halberd back up 

"Maybe, but the assistance is appreciated regardless" Draco added 

"The appreciation is noted, I will have to go though, orders from the two seniors are that I have to patrol the areas outside the buildings, it is their biggest attack yet and they may come back in force" 

"Understood. Keep safe out there Martha, and don't be scared to ask for assistance if there are too many" 

"Thanks for the concern Draco, good luck to you all" 

With a shared nod between all of them, Martha began running back along the walkways while Draco and his group went back into Victory Hall. As she ran, she noticed the wind picking up and so did the rain, a 'tch' escaping her lips as she was annoyed by the rainwater coming down, she did what she could as she made it to each hall across the campus, assisting to clean up cultist knights and fodder that were still around. Just like when she waltzed into Fennin Hall which was the medical wing of the academy, seeing a bunch of cultist knights being hanged from webbing as the portal was hovering next to the second floor of the hall and spewing cultists that dropped to the ground, Professor Widow had basically set up a large trap and the cultist knights who dropped from the portal were caught in the web and then killed by Widow and her group who were just waiting for them, when a few broke free and tried to escape, Martha cut them down without a second thought. 

All across the campus, the big push by the cultists was failing as the Combat Professors did their jobs and cut them down in droves, cultist knights and fodder died in droves as they were easily torn asunder or ripped apart by their foes waiting for them on the other side, with many trying to escape their deaths by trying to get back into the portal but only being cut down before they could do so.  With so many losses and failed attempts, the remnants of the cult were now getting desperate back in their hideout as their forces were now significantly less than what they had pushed out with. 

The 'Mother' was especially concerned as the last of her soldiers left were the Cultist Paladins, soldiers draped in the finest armor the cult had to offer, heavy plate armor painted black and equipped with red lining and helmets with a red visor, their swords sporting similar design aesthetics. These soldiers were led by a high-ranking member known as the 'Daughter' who led the Cultist Paladins and was the best fighter in their ranks. 

"My darling daughter" The Mother stated as she ran her hand across the fair face of her best warrior 

"I stand ready to receive thy order Mother" The Daughter replied with a stoic tone 

"All the others have failed my sweet child, but you, you and your comrades will succeed where they failed. You will be the vanguard for our new world order and prove to our gods that we are worthy of them" 

"I shall do as you command Mother, what must I do?" 

"Take your soldiers, and prepare for our final assault on the redoubt of defiance. You will clear the way and kill all those who stand before you and once you have finished that, call to me so I may finally step onto those holy grounds trodden by our gods" 

"It shall be done Mother" 

"Excellent my beloved child, excellent"

........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

A few minutes later, the portals across the academy vanished and the last of the cultist soldiers were left for dead. The groups of Combat Professors did their job and wiped them all out without remorse and once the final cultist knight was dropped, a silence only interrupted by the heavy rainfall filled the air. 

Martha had made it back to the auditorium once the portal closed and she saw that the auditorium was much more messy than earlier, with corpses strewn about and hanging on the seats, weapons and limbs scattered about and blood splatter on the walls with blood streams running down the aisles and ending up at a shallow puddle at the foot of the stage. She saw the two elves just sitting next to a pile of bodies they had stacked up and were eating some trail mix that Fafnir pulled out of his coat pocket. 

"Ah, good to see you have returned. Seems we just about done it and done them in" Pittah stated with a smile as she popped some cashew into her mouth 

"It seems we have, but I haven't seen their leader at all. Could they be mounting one more attack?" Martha asked 

"Probably. But with the losses they have suffered so far, I doubt it will be one across the academy, and in speaking of their leader, I believe they have one more, considering they had a man called the 'Father' leading them in here, it is safe to assume there may be a 'Mother' and some sort of offspring named a high-ranking officer as well" Fafnir answered as he ate some of the trail mix 

"If so, then there is only one probable area of attack they will use, the entry point from when they arrived. The colosseum" Pittah added as she looked at her elven combat professor colleague 

"True, could be. Let's get right to it then" Fafnir said with a small sigh as he put the mix away back into the pocket and stood up alongside Pittah

"Let's gather the band and head there together" He added as he looked at both of them 

Not long after, all of the combat professors were sitting in the first-row stands of the colosseum, looking down at the arena and waiting for the enemy to arrive. Some were wearing coats to protect them from the rain, others were using their barrier magic to create a small umbrella for themselves while others like Matha, Pittah and Fafnir, were busy just enjoying the rain coming down on them as they settled into their wet seats.

{!}

Suddenly, a portal once more came into view in the center of the arena which prompted everyone to get up and quickly get to their assigned positions. 

Stepping out of the portal and in front of a small group of around 50 Cultist Paladins was a young woman, barely aged 15, with crimson locks flowing from her head and draped in her cultist paladin armor, with a special coat around her that boosted her capabilities. Her sword was glowing a menacing red and the shield she had gave off a menacing hum. The expression the woman had on her face was unreadable as if there was nothing at all and the eyes of that woman were foggy and had no soul in them. 

Martha and the rest were in position in front of them but the former general noticed that Pittah had a furious look on her face, 

"Fafnir" She spoke with a tone that caught Martha off guard, it was a much angrier tone than normal and far from the usual one she would hear from time to time between the two. 

"Do what you need to do Pittah. I see her too, a child soldier...seems she is also being mind controlled" Fafnir replied 

"Those ingrate monsters...kill the rest, I will rescue the girl" The elven combat professor stated as she flourished her rapier 

"Understood" Fafnir answered 

[Go] 

{!} 

At Fafnir's mental orders, the combat professors rushed the formation of Cultist Paladins, and as expected this time around, the Cultist Paladins were able to react fast enough to barely survive this first lunge, except for a few that got cut down in seconds, as their heads went flying. The rest were easily swept aside as they could not handle more than one Combat Professor, with all of them quickly experiencing what the rest of their comrades before them went through as they exited the portal and into their graves. But this was all for a reason, that reason being to ensure that no one would get in between Pittah and the girl she was currently fighting. 

As Martha pulled the halberd tip from the body of the paladin, she turned to Pittah and saw her dueling with the young girl. The young girl repeatedly fired thrust after thrust and swing after swing at the senior combat professor who simply blocked the attacks with her rapier, the young girl also still had the same unreadable expression on her face as she did so, but Martha could tell the young girl was getting angrier and more desperate after every failed attack. She saw the young girl lunge forward again and use a downward slash that missed and struck the ground beside Pittah but quickly tried to follow up with a shield bash, unfortunately for the young girl, Pittah simply punched the shield in response and it cracked and broke into pieces, shocking the girl who actually had emotion for the first time in the fight, and before the young girl could do anything, Pittah grabbed her by the collar of her armor and cape and then finished her with a headbutt that knocked her out cold and then ripped off the cape and threw it into the air, with Fafnir quickly following up with a fire blast from his hands while Pittah caught the girl before she fell to the ground. 

"Nicely done Faffy, alright everyone. Do some last-minute checking in the campus, patrol around and see if there are any more portals, if none, meet back here in 10" Pittah ordered as she turned to everyone

"Understood Ma'am!" 

About 10 minutes were spent checking around the campus if there were any more portals and there were thankfully none, once that was confirmed, everyone met back in the colosseum and standing in a group. All eyes were on the unconscious young girl that Pittah had knocked out and there were murmurs between each of the professors of who the hell was she and where she came from, 

{!}

But before they could do anything else, a small rectangular portal appeared in the arena, and walked out was a bloodied and visibly pleased Leilani, the sight of which made many of the combat professors freeze up as they had never seen her this way including Martha, except for Fafnir and Pittah who simply smiled at her return and bowed their heads, an action quickly followed by the rest. 

"Report?" Leilani asked as she turned to her combat professors 

"All assailants have been dealt with extreme prejudice, although we have this young child soldier here Pittah captured alive" Fafnir answered as he stood at attention 

"Hmm? A child soldier you say? Interesting" Leilani remarked as she looked down at the unconscious girl 

The dean of Imperia then crouched next to her and placed her right pointer finger on the forehead, scanning her mind and absorbing the knowledge she had within her, once that was done, Leilani stood back up and everyone could see a smile on her face. 

"I see, seems that we no longer have to worry about these cultists shortly" She stated with glee as she held up her left hand 

"Why is that Ma'am?" One of the combat professors asked with a curious expression

"Because, they are all dead in 3...2...1...boom" 

{!} 

At the snap of her fingers, all over the world, from kings and queens on their thrones and nobles in their splendid accommodations with their families to normal peasants and even street beggars trying to make it by. At the snap of those fingers, over 2,000 people worldwide suddenly died as their heads exploded in a gruesome display of killing, the families of these people who died were left screaming and in shock, as they saw their beloved die before they too died of a sudden and painful heart attack that dragged them into hell. 

Even the 'Mother' was not safe as the soldiers left with her died one by one before eventually she, with no air in her lungs and her heart being squeezed, collapsed to the floor and tried grasping at the air before finally going silent after their useless struggle. With the ruins she and her 'Father' used as their base now becoming a tomb. 

A/N: And here we go! I am happy to show some more Combat Professor action and why they have their jobs, I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as I had fun writing it. If you got comments or reactions, let me see in the comments below and as always Stay Safe and Enjoy Your Day!