Chapter 267

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“She’s fine. Considering she vomited blood, her respiratory and digestive systems are completely normal.”

A few minutes before Lucia woke up.

The academy’s nurse, Theresa, glanced at the sleeping girl. Touching Lucia’s forehead with her finger, she narrowed her dark eyes. A subtle light expanded from the center of her pupils. After ‘scanning’ Lucia once more, Theresa shrugged and said,

“This child, you said her supernatural ability is super regeneration, right?”

It was in the form of a question, but she didn’t wait for an answer.

Theresa muttered to herself, her eyes still fixed on Lucia.

“Then even if her internal mucous membranes ruptured and blood flowed backwards, she would have recovered. I’m envious. An ability that heals any wound. Depending on how it’s used, it could be more useful than my ‘detection’. No, isn’t it much better?” (T/N: Wait till she hears about the origin of the ability.)

“…There’s no superiority or inferiority in supernatural abilities. I learned that any ability depends on how you use it.”

“Oh, that’s right. It would have sounded plausible if you hadn’t said it.”

Theresa chuckled and looked at Eugene. His eyes were like completely burnt charcoal. The faint light emanating from the activation of his ability was like a faint smoke.

“Eugene from Class A. I’ve heard a lot about you. A rising star. The favored one of that person. A super rookie. In fact, it’s practically confirmed that you’ll be the next commander, right?”

“That’s…”

“Copying abilities, what’s that? It’s practically the superior version of all supernatural abilities. Isn’t it even more amazing than that old fogey?”

“…”

The person she was referring to was someone Eugene knew well. A man who made him shudder just by thinking about him. It couldn’t be helped. Every time they met, he got beaten to a pulp. He seriously wondered if the training was just an excuse to beat him up.

“You’re the only one who calls the God of War like that, Nurse.”

“I’ve known him for quite a while, so I’ve become less formal.”

Theresa. Currently, she was the academy’s nurse, but in the past, she held the important position of vice-captain of the 1st Division.

The vice-captain of the 1st Division was treated one rank higher than other vice-captains of the same rank. The 1st Division invaded the realm of monsters, beyond the human domain. If the 2nd to 7th Division were the shield of humanity, the 1st Division was the spear.

If the God of War was absent, the vice-captain was the highest rank in charge of the 1st Division. Although not comparable to the commander, one had to have skills comparable to the commander to qualify as the vice-captain of the 1st Division.

Being the direct subordinate of the God of War, being the vice-captain of the 1st Division, meant that the probability of becoming the next commander was high. In fact, the current 7th Division Captain, Kaen, once served as the vice-captain of the 1st Division.

If she hadn’t retired, she might have become the commander.

“Super regeneration…”

Theresa looked back and forth between Eugene and Lucia, then let out a bitter laugh. Eugene inadvertently glanced at her legs and quickly averted his eyes. It was a very rude action.

Once, she had a bright future as the vice-captain of the 1st Division, but now she was a has-been. A broken gemstone. It was because she lost her legs during an expedition beyond the barrier. Mobility was an essential element in battle. Losing her legs meant the end of her life as a warrior.

If her prosthetic compatibility was high, she could wear a prosthetic leg, but her prosthetic compatibility was the worst. She could live her daily life without problems, but combat was impossible.

“…Haa, sorry. I’m really… What am I doing at this age?”

Theresa sighed as if lamenting.

Even she thought her reaction was childish.

Being jealous of a promising child, what was she doing?

She thought she had no regrets, but it seemed she was wrong.

“I’ve examined her several times, but there are no internal injuries. Physically, she’s perfectly fine.”

Theresa raised her voice slightly so that everyone in the infirmary could hear. Alice, who was restless by Lucia’s side. Arin, who had abandoned her class and rushed over. Regina, who was leaning against the wall, watching them. And Eugene, with his expressionless face.

She was quite popular. Theresa thought, looking back at Lucia.

She didn’t even need to ‘scan’ to know.

That these children were genuinely worried about Lucia.

That’s why Theresa explained the information she had ‘detected’ in detail.

“Everything is normal. Skeletal system, muscular system, circulatory system, respiratory system, nervous system, skin system… Everything else is normal too. A very healthy body. It’s hard to find such a healthy body.”

Due to the influence of super regeneration, Lucia’s body was always maintained at its ‘best’. It was natural that there were no injuries. Even if there were, they would quickly recover.

“Then why isn’t Lucia…”

Alice couldn’t take her eyes off Lucia, who wasn’t waking up. The bloodstains had been completely wiped away, so she just looked like she was asleep. Alice felt suffocated. It was like seeing Lucia from a while ago. Lucia on that day when she couldn’t wake up and fell into a coma. There were no more sore spots or injuries, so why couldn’t she wake up?

“I told you. A healthy ‘body’.”

Theresa pointed to her forehead with her finger.

“Just because the ‘body’ is healthy doesn’t mean the ‘mind’ is healthy.”

“You mean…”

“Yes, this child’s mind is sick. Not a figurative expression, but literally.”

At first, she thought she had seen it wrong and looked again several times. But even after carefully repeating the ‘scan’, the conclusion was the same. Lucia’s mind was rusted. It was dying black. Like being poisoned by a terrible poison.

“The mental structure of an ordinary person who has been mentally corrupted by a monster is similar to this. Goodness, a supernatural can’t be mentally corrupted… Did she experience something as terrible as mental corruption?”

The atmosphere turned cold at the words she uttered in passing. Theresa retraced her buried memories. Come to think of it, there was an academy student who was kidnapped and rescued, right? I don’t know what she went through… If this child was her, that meant that she managed to return to the academy in this mental state. What is the Celestial Corps doing? Didn’t they do a psychological examination of the child?

“You are this child’s friends, right?”

She didn’t even need to ask.

They were so worried, they couldn’t not be friends.

Theresa told the story frankly.

“Lucia’s mental state is the worst. You can praise her for not committing suicide in this state, right?”

“…”

“Isn’t it that she didn’t commit suicide, but couldn’t? Well, if so, I don’t need to explain it so much.”

Detection gives her a lot of information. Even if she doesn’t activate her ability, she unconsciously acquires minor information from the outside. Theresa, who inferred the truth just by looking at the small facial changes of the children, including Arin, felt a headache coming on.

“It’s dangerous. I detected a strong desire for destruction in the ‘unconscious’ area that I can detect.”

It was so intense that she, who had detected the emotion, was swept away. Maybe the reason she showed a nervous appearance a little while ago was because she was influenced by Lucia’s emotions.

“Training is impossible with her current mental state. If anything goes wrong, we might have to clean up a corpse. For now, I need to talk to the vice-homeroom teacher because the homeroom teacher of Class A is currently absent.”

Training was impossible in her current mental state.

If something went wrong, they might have to clean up a corpse.

She needed to take a leave of absence and receive intensive counseling.

“I’ll be away for a while, so please watch her in the meantime. She might have a mental breakdown when she wakes up, so don’t take your eyes off her. Got it?”

“…Yes.”

Theresa hurriedly left the infirmary. The sound of her heels echoed. Everyone was silent, as if they had lost their words, looking at her back. Even the sound of breathing was not heard. The cold, stiff atmosphere seemed to freeze the air.

‘Lucia’s mental state is… like being mentally corrupted by a monster…?’

Eugene frowned. He had heard from Alice about the situation when Lucia collapsed. Lucia didn’t harm herself or attempt suicide. She suddenly fainted while talking. Eugene couldn’t understand it. She wasn’t attacked, so why did she vomit blood and collapse?

But the more he thought about it, the more suspicious circumstances there were.

Lucia was not alone.

Another being was residing in her body.

Belial.

The devil who had stolen Lucia’s body.

‘If that guy attacked Lucia…’

All the circumstances fit.

Not an external attack, but an internal attack.

To others, it would look like she suddenly fainted.

‘The reason she suddenly collapsed and her mental state that seemed to be mentally corrupted can all be explained.’

Of course, it was still just a guess.

Hadn’t the God of War guaranteed that she would be fine?

He had seen the commander’s supernatural ability with his own eyes and grasped some of its essence while trying to copy it.

It was fundamentally different from other supernatural abilities. Not just a simple supernatural ability, but… a kind of ‘authority’. Eugene couldn’t find a word to express it. He had only briefly come into contact with it, but he was overwhelmed by an unbearable sense of omnipotence. It was that alien and out of standard. Suppressing the devil residing in Lucia’s body would be more than possible.

‘If so… No, it’s just an armchair theory for now. Let’s ask Lucia directly later. Then I’ll know whether I like it or not.’

To do that, she had to wake up first.

In the suffocating silence, Eugene moved his feet.

He pulled a chair nearby and sat next to Lucia.

He had no intention of leaving this place until she woke up.

Even if she slept for more than a month like last time.

He intended to stay by her side until she opened her eyes.

“Help… me… Jin…”

Lucia’s muttering tickled his ears. It was faint and he couldn’t understand everything, but he could grasp the meaning of the words. Lucia, who had never shown a weak side, showed a weak side for the first time. She desperately yearned for help as if begging.

Eugene slowly chewed on her words.

He chewed on the helplessness and guilt together.

Several times, dozens of times.

Until she woke up.

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
It’s like she was being mentally corrupted (true).

…Jin (Not Eugene).

Lucia (Actually Belial).

Help me…(not begging to Eugene).

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
The amount of convenient asspulls in this chapter is too perfect.

Belial couldn’t have picked a more perfect time.

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