Reincarnated as the Only Male in an All-Girls Magic Academy!-Chapter 31: Battling A Stage 2 Curse!

Ren kept his hand raised and his voice steady as he led the first batch of students out through the narrow rear exit of the auditorium.

He moved like a man walking a familiar road, every step confident, every turn deliberate.

Behind him, the girls clutched their breaths like fragile glass, struggling to keep pace while stifling sobs.

Lia said nothing. Just behind him, her spear clutched tightly, her eyes flicking left and right like a hawk.

Three minutes. That was the time window. Any slower and the curses would close in before the last group had even cleared the hallway.

Ren had made a clear, calculated decision when he said they'd move in batches of five hundred—not a single girl more.

It wasn't because he was being overly cautious. It was because rushing all 1,500+ students out at once would've been suicidal.

First, the layout of the building and the connecting side paths just weren't built for a crowd that size moving in panic.

One stampede or clogged hallway, and the girls would trap themselves inside like cattle in a burning barn.

Second, the curses outside were still on the prowl, sniffing for emotional energy like bloodhounds.

Moving in smaller, quieter groups gave them a better shot at slipping through without attracting attention.

Third, and most importantly—Ren and Lia couldn't protect everyone at once. If all 1,500 were ambushed in the open, they'd be wiped out.

But smaller groups? They could be guarded, shielded, guided with speed and precision. They could move like shadows.

In Ren's mind, survival wasn't about saving everyone at once. It was about saving who you could, as quickly and smartly as possible.

And then doing it again. And again. Until no one was left behind.

He pressed his hand against the wall briefly, then smiled faintly. 'Still warm. Means we're ahead of the shockwaves.'

The layout of the side block was burned into his brain. From the moment he first stepped into the block, he'd mapped every hallway, junction, and fire escape in his mind—an old habit from his past life as a scientist working in volatile labs.

"Know the terrain. Know your exits," his inner voice whispered. It had saved his life before. It was saving lives now.

Mirabella had made survival even easier. Right before he left, she'd tossed him a brand new kusarigama from her dimensional storage pouch.

Its curved blade gleamed faintly, clean and well-maintained even after years of non-use. "I expect that back," she'd said in her usual low tone, though there had been the faintest smirk on her lips.

Lia had taken a short, sleek silver spear. And a few other girls had accepted blades or shock-batons without hesitation.

None of them had brought their own weapons because this wasn't supposed to be a combat class. All their gear had been left in their dorms, locked away and useless.

The kind of mistake you only survive once, Ren thought grimly as they reached the halfway point.

No signs of curses yet.

Good.

He urged them faster, cutting through a narrow side stairwell, past a collapsed broom closet and into a dimly lit tunnel that led to the arena.

The air was thick with silence and anticipation, the kind of silence where even breathing felt like a betrayal.

And then, light.

The arena doors loomed ahead like the jaws of some ancient beast. Huge, metallic, rimmed with glowing runes, and as imposing as a stadium yet shaped like a coliseum from a bygone era.

It was massive, open-sky, built for battle training and real combat drills. It had its own defense systems, and more importantly, a force field projector at the control altar in the center.

As they entered, Ren quickly scanned the area. "Good. Clear."

He turned to two of the older-looking girls. "You two stay. Activate the barrier the moment you see even one curse, understood?"

One of them hesitated, but nodded. "And you?"

"I'm heading back. So is Lia."

The two girls blinked. "This is too risky!"

Lia finally spoke. "We're not done until everyone's safe. And that includes Mirabella."

With no time to argue, they sprinted back the way they came. Ren noted the shift in Lia's aura. She hadn't cracked a smile since this madness began.

Not a word of sarcasm. Not even one of her usual sharp-witted cheery jabs. Just that same intense frown and tightly gripped spear.

Halfway through the sprint, he gave in to his curiosity.

"You've been quiet," Ren said between breaths, not even looking at her. "Too quiet. Not your style."

No answer.

"You scared?"

Still nothing.

He clicked his tongue. "Or is this a curse thing? History with them?"

The silence stretched. Unbreakable.

She didn't even blink at the question.

He glanced at her sideways, but her expression was unreadable, carved from stone and shadows.

He frowned slightly. 'Touchy topic, huh? Noted.'

After that, he said nothing. The two of them cut through the passageways like blurs, retracing the exact steps they'd just taken, only this time faster.

No group to slow them down. Just two trained bodies slicing through the tight halls, legs pounding, weapons clutched.

Two minutes later, they burst into the open view of the auditorium, and what they saw almost made Ren skid to a stop.

The war had already begun!

The auditorium wasn't a building anymore. It was a battlefield. Curses clung to the walls like grotesque insects, crawling across windows and burrowing into the very foundation.

One had torn through a skylight and another was inside, wrestling with a force barrier being held in place by three girls near the main entrance.

Glass rained down. Dust choked the air. The sounds of snarls, shouts, and energy deflections rang out in a haunting chorus.

Mirabella stood at the heart of it all like a queen wading through fire.

She held a dazzling crystal dagger, its blade glowing faintly as she shouted instructions to the remaining girls still holding the defensive lines.

Her silver hair was stained with soot, and her uniform had a long tear across the sleeve, but her stance was unshaken.

The auditorium's right wall collapsed inward at that moment, and a massive horned curse with arms like tree trunks and glowing red scars crashed through the debris, letting out a howl that made Ren's bones vibrate.

That's when it happened.

A curse—slender and twitchy, with long crooked fingers and a smile that was far too wide—suddenly snapped its head toward Ren.

It sniffed.

Sniffed again.

And then it pounced.

"COME!" Ren shouted, eyes flashing.

The scene broke into motion.

The curse pounced!

Swoosh!

Ren's eyes caught it just in time; a flicker of movement against the burning backdrop of collapsing walls and shrieking debris.

The curse was a black blur with elongated limbs and clawed hands darted through the air like a shadow given form, an oily distortion against reality itself.

It had no face, only a yawning void where a mouth should be, and a spiked trail of dark tendrils flapping behind it like a cape woven from nightmares.

He had no idea what type of curse it was, but based off its size, it was probably a stage 2 curse!

"Don't feel. Don't even blink wrong," he muttered sharply under his breath, tightening his grip on the dark blue kusarigama in his hands.

"Since it's an unknown emotion parasite, even panic might make it stronger."

As the curse dropped from above like a monstrous hawk, Ren rolled away from its descent with precision.

Bang!

The cursed claws shattered a chunk of the marble floor where he'd just stood, sending shards flying.

Ren slid to a stop and rose to one knee, spinning his kusarigama's spiked club end in a short arc around his left arm with practiced motion.

He didn't panic.

Instead, his mind switched fully into its analytical mode, and all the noise; the screams, the cracking of walls, even Lia's rapid footsteps faded like background static.

The curse jerked its body into an unnatural stance and hissed through its void-mouth. Instantly, Ren's brain fired off dozens of micro-calculations.

'Joint orientation...forward-leaning posture... center of gravity too high. It favors wide-range swings, probably frontal-heavy offense. Avoid the right side!'

The moment the curse leapt again, Ren reacted.

Swish!

His scythe blade sang through the air as he spun his weapon with a wide sweeping motion, chaining it into a fast upward arc with the scythe end and forcing the curse to dodge mid-air.

The chain buzzed and gleamed red with friction as it uncoiled around his forearm, trailing the momentum perfectly.

But the curse twisted in midair.

It rebounded off the ceiling like it had suction on its limbs and came from above with a brutal swipe.

Ren gritted his teeth, dug his feet into the ground, and blocked using the club end. The weight of the impact traveled through his arm, and his knees buckled from the sheer power behind it.

'Too strong to block head-on. Can't win through force. I need angles. Disrupt rhythm. Buy time.'

The moment his boots slid back on the cracked floor, he activated his rune.

Shua!!!

Heat surged through him like molten fire, but it didn't burn. It flowed. A violet pulse rippled from the rune etched near his ribs, and the world bent slightly for a split second.

Ren twisted his stance, felt his weight transfer unnaturally fast through his spine and shoulder, and redirected the curse's impact downward!

Like a matador guiding a bull, he slipped out of the strike's path with a hair's breadth of space.

That was the rune's ability.

Momentum Transfer!

He could take any motion, be it his own, or his opponent's and redirect it through different parts of his body with near supernatural fluidity.

And now?

He used it!

He flipped over the curse's shoulder mid-spin and lashed out with the scythe blade.

Slice!

It caught the creature's shoulder, slicing through the oily form with resistance like rubberized steel.

The curse screamed not from pain, but fury, and clawed backward. Ren kicked off its back and landed in a low stance, chain snapping back into his grip.

The curse bled black mist, and its tendrils began writhing faster.

'It's adapting. Maybe Rage-type? Or Pain? It's not absorbing my emotions, though... good. But if I hesitate, it'll overpower me.'

It lunged again.

But Ren didn't retreat.

He advanced.

Swish! Swish!

He spun the scythe in an overhead arc, then redirected the spin mid-motion using the rune again, flicking the club end around the curse's leg.

The chain wrapped, cinching tight. The curse screeched, trying to leap away, but Ren pivoted with all the strength his new body had and slammed it into a nearby pillar.

The entire auditorium rumbled.

Still alive.

Ren clicked his tongue, eyes narrowing. The curse was already standing again, though one arm hung limp and its leg dragged slightly.

'Too tough for a clean kill. But there's one last trick.'

He adjusted his grip. In one flowing motion, he yanked the chain back and sprinted straight at the curse.

The creature roared and swung its claw but Ren ducked. He didn't try to dodge far.

He tapped into the rune again, transferred the sideways force into a sharp upward kick and launched himself, flipping mid-air above the curse.

The scythe gleamed!

Swish!

The swing came down fast, brutal, final, slashing straight into the curse's skull and down to its chest.

The curse froze.

Then evaporated in a whirl of black mist.

Ren landed behind it, panting slightly, kusarigama still humming with energy. His muscles screamed from overuse, and his rune was still glowing faintly, but the pain was manageable.

"I'll take that as a win," he muttered.

But then he froze.

A piercing scream echoed across the ruined hall.

Lia!

His head jerked toward the source just in time to see a second curse leaping toward her from the top of a broken column.

She was surrounded by shattered debris, her spear locked in a deadlock against her attacker's claws.

Ren's expression went cold.

Battle was over, but the real war was just beginning!