Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

Outside the Academy, next to the road to the city, in a large barrack with several sections and sturdy, sound-proofed walls, the atmosphere was very different from the one in Yanael's training hall.

Jessecke and the other alchemists didn't think for a minute that Zach had been the one ot personally create the recipes they received. They were grateful to him for everything he had given to him, and they respected him for his desire to take over the world of alchemy with them and the guild that still didn't have a proper name.

But he wasn't the one responsible for the recipes that would make their dreams possible. He didn't smell of alchemy. His fingers weren't dyed in the colors of the materials an alchemist needed to handle. He didn't have the air of an alchemist, much less the air of a master alchemist like the one responsible for the recipes.

However, he was closely acquainted with the alchemist. That alone was worthy of respect, regardless of the details of the relationship. It didn't matter whether he was just the alchemist's errand boy or if they were working together as equals.

All the alchemists thought highly of Zach.

Currently, he was standing in a corner of the entrance hall like he was invisible while all the alchemists swarmed around Alzara like sheep around a shepherd carrying a tray of the finest hay.

The alchemists looked at Alzara with almost fanatic levels of worship in their eyes.

Zach had been mistaken. He hadn't needed to worry about people worshipping Soara. He needed to worry about the alchemists deifying and transforming his guild into a cult dedicated to Alzara.

However, as he paid a little more attention, Zach realized that they were more interested in what was inside Alzara's head than her. They worshipped alchemy, not the alchemist. Alzara had just gotten a share of that worship thanks to her skill in alchemy. It was also partly due to her extraordinary presence. A tall, tan, beauty with white hair stood out.

But after the initial reveal cooled down, Alzara and the alchemists began talking about the important matters. Alchemy.

Zach had revealed the fact that his familiars could talk so that Alzara could lead the alchemists of his guild. Now that he had introduced her to the alchemists as the master who created all those recipes, it came naturally for all of them to settle into discussions about alchemy.

Alzara fit right in, and she quickly started sharing her thoughts and theories while also listening to and answering any insights and questions the other alchemists might have.

Zach wanted to tell them to maybe focus on making an antidote against the toxins from the dolls, but he couldn't get a word in. But he trusted Alzara and the alchemists, so he took his leave with Soara.

While Yanael and Alzara did their things with his classmates and alchemists, Zach still had to take care of the city.

The dolls had started coming in waves instead of a constant stream, so there were gaps where they didn't have to do anything. But the situation was only more stressful since a whole street could be filled with dolls at once without any warning.

For something like that, the best person to deal with it would be someone who could kill a large clump of dolls without much preparation–someone like Soara, who only needed to be close to the dolls for them to die.

But the city was too big for her and Zach alone, so a few of his classmates helped out as best as they could with his barriers protecting them. The rest were busy learning how to survive an overwhelmingly strong enemy or busy recovering from what they had learned.

It was what Zach went through after he summoned Yanael and realized that all he needed to do in a fight was survive while Yanael dealt with any enemies. The others didn't have familiars as strong as Yanael, but their situation was similar. All of them were summoners, after all.

Even if they weren't summoners, knowing how to survive could only benefit them. It was even more important if they were learning how to fight.

The winner in a battle to the death isn't the one with the sharpest sword or strongest attack. It's the one who remains standing at the end.

The better the students were at surviving, the longer they would live. It was as simple as that. They had the powerhouses in their class with S-rank familiars and above that would help handle the Underworld. Experience tales at empire

It would be great if the other students, out of whom only a handful had summoned their third familiars, could actively contribute to the Underworld's downfall by fighting Named or even the Great Ugor. But it wasn't likely they would be able to do much.

But that didn't mean they were useless. There were countless underworlders from the first, second, and third layers that still needed to be dealt with. There would be something for everyone to do. But only if they were alive. It would be difficult to do much of anything if they were dead.

But learning how to survive, even for the third-year students of the Academy for Summoners wasn't easy. Yanael had grown stronger since Zach's first year, and she had also learned a lot and improved her skills.

She could bring the students to a greater height than she could bring Zach two years ago. It was just that it would take time–time that they didn't have.

The change in the dolls' behavior could have been a precursor, a warning, or it could have been a coincidence.

But when the dolls weren't swarming the city, the ground shook.

It was so soft the first time that Zach didn't notice it. Soara had to tell him about it. The second and third times were the same.

But the fourth tremor, he felt. The fifth, there was no doubt about it.

The Underworld was doing something that shook the ground each time. And whatever they were doing increased in intensity each time.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

By the tenth time, glasses of water in and directly around the city could no longer hold their liquids.

The ground started cracking.

Zach's and the others' hopeful plan to leave the city mostly intact had lost all hope.