chapter_0236

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
236

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
236

After smashing the 100th floor
boss’s head with a mace imbued with divine energy, a reward was
granted for the first clear of the dungeon.

The reward for the Second
Semester Dungeon was the epitome of the Simple is Best; Gold coins.

Each person in a four-member
party received 100 coins, which means I instantly got 400 coins.

Although I held an
overwhelming amount of money in my hands, it felt meaningless at that
moment.

If only I had this much during
the last auction… No, it wouldn’t have mattered. I still wouldn’t
have been able to buy the tablet. My opponent was one of the greatest
merchants on the continent.

‘If we just look at the
specs, probably.’

The annoying thing about that
guy is that he’s a gimmick-type boss.

If you skip the gimmick, his
specs aren’t much.

Casually tossing the heavy
leather pouch into my inventory, I lightly responded to Grandpa while
waiting for the message window to pop up.

Since I had completely cleared
the Academy Dungeon, my victory was already assured. I thought I’d
get a reward, but Armadi was silent.

What’s going on? Tilting my
head in confusion, I opened the quest window again.

[Give the Second Prince a
proper lesson!]

[The Second Prince of the
Soladin Kingdom has challenged you! Show him his place!]

[Make the Second Prince
Submit!]

Reading the quest conditions
again, it’s quite ambiguous. It doesn’t just say to defeat the
Second Prince; it says to make him submit.

There’s a significant
difference between victory and submission.

With victory, it doesn’t
matter what the Second Prince thinks. But with submission, it’s
different. To clear it, the Second Prince has to acknowledge his
defeat deep in his heart.

If the text is meant to be
taken literally, things are going to get complicated.

Just as everyone often says,
ominous predictions never fail.

Even when I came out of the
Academy Dungeon and received congratulations from Joy and the others,
no reward was given.

Even when the Dungeon Studies
professor, who seemed half out of his mind, came to commend my
achievement, the same applied.

No reward was given. Instead,
a meeting with the Dungeon Studies professor was scheduled for a
later day.

Several hours passed, and as
the sun set, the Second Prince came out and checked the Ranking
Board.

Despite realising his defeat,
Armadi said nothing.

At this point, I had to be
sure. The word submit must be taken literally.

So, I provoked the Second
Prince, making him wield his weapon against me.

The Second Prince is a fool,
but he’s also a warrior.

To a person who places
individual strength as the utmost value, crushing his pride is the
most effective way to make him submit.

That’s why provoking the
Second Prince immediately after he emerged from the dungeon was
intended to trample on his pride.

Now, after the exhaustive
process of conquering the dungeon, this is the perfect moment for me
to overwhelm him.

I observe the desperate black
aura enveloping his sword as it attempts to pierce through my
shield’s divine energy.

The Second Prince’s sword is
heavy.

In terms of sheer power, it’s
incomparable to Frey’s current level.

Frey might excel in pure
swordsmanship, but if it comes down to a duel, she would likely lose.

The gap in their specs is too
vast to overcome with skill alone.

Had he been in top condition,
perhaps he might have been quite threatening.

However, that’s only when
he’s at his best.

Having tirelessly climbed the
dungeon up to the 60th floor, the Second Prince is utterly exhausted.
His sword will never break through my shield.

“The aura of a second-year
student is nothing special♡. Can you even cut anything with this?♡
It feels like it would just bounce off a beetle’s shell♡. Insect
Prince?”

With a grinding sound, the
Second Prince clenches his teeth and tightens his grip on his sword.

He seems to believe he can
overpower my shield, but I won’t allow it.

I don’t mind engaging in a
test of strength, but that would only make us even.

And that’s not acceptable.

I must completely overwhelm
the Second Prince.

I need him to believe he’s
been defeated, unable to do anything.

I must shatter the Second
Prince’s self-esteem.

That’s what it means to make
someone submit.

While he’s focused on my
shield, I land a kick squarely to the Second Prince’s exposed
abdomen, sending him flying through the air.

Despite the unexpected impact,
he somersaults gracefully and lands without a scratch.

There was a brief pause as we
created distance.

No one intervened in our
fight.

It’s because I had warned
them beforehand.

The Professor watching for any
emergencies, the other students, even Joy and our friends—they all
remain silent spectators.

Usually, someone would have
sensed something was off by now, but the Second Prince doesn’t have
the luxury to notice.

The [Mesugaki] skill’s
provocation even worked on Karia, the boss of Menestail.

There’s no way the Second
Prince, much weaker than she was, can withstand the provocation.

His rationality is already
gone.

The only thing in his mind is
one goal.

To crush me.

To teach this damned Mesugaki
a lesson.

It’s truly unfortunate for
him, but he won’t achieve his wish.

This battlefield isn’t for
me to receive a lesson; it’s for me to teach the Second Prince a
lesson.

“Luuuccccyyyy Allen!”

With a roar mixed with fury
and blood, the Second Prince charged at me ferociously.

The Second Prince, easily
twice my size, with imposing muscles and magic enhancing his
strength, launched a formidable attack.

Most people wouldn’t even be
able to follow his movements with their eyes.

But I remained calm as I
watched him.

The Second Prince is a
character you can have as an ally in the Soul Academy game, but more
often, you face him as an enemy.

Naturally, I’m familiar with
his techniques.

The perfect parrying timing
for his charge is 0.8 seconds after he moves his feet.

So now.

Clang!

The Second Prince’s sword,
aimed to split my shield in two, was pitifully deflected into the
air.

With that, countless openings
appeared in the unbalanced Second Prince’s stance.

If the Second Prince were in
top form, he would have forced himself to regain balance and continue
his offensive.

In reality, even a perfect
parry doesn’t stun the opponent.

However, the current Second
Prince couldn’t do that.

Even if his rage numbed his
mind to fatigue, his body still remembered it.

There’s a limit to what
willpower alone can achieve. I didn’t miss that opening.

Using a shield imbued with
divine energy.

A shield made of thick metal
is an excellent bludgeoning weapon on its own.

One can only imagine the
damage it would cause if it struck someone’s face.

The Second Prince seemed
certain of his impending fate as the shield moved toward his face.

Unconsciously, he squeezed his
eyes shut.

But the shield never touched
his face.

It halted just before his
nose.

I made sure to stop it
deliberately.

Why?

To humiliate him.

As I lightly tapped his nose
with the shield, the Second Prince staggered backward, clutching his
nose.

Seeing his eyes filled with
confusion and embarrassment made me laugh unintentionally.

“Pfft♡ Pwahaha♡ You
squeezed your eyes shut like a scared little child!♡ Is our Idiot
Prince frightened?♡ Should I comfort you?♡”

“You dare to mock me!”

The battle resumed.

Swords and shields clashed
continuously.

Time and again, the Second
Prince was driven back.

The outcome was already clear.

Exhausted to his limits,

Enraged to the point of losing
his reason,

Mindlessly swinging his sword,
the Second Prince was already defeated. He can’t touch me.

He can’t get past my shield.

How many times has this been
repeated?

Once again, the Second Prince,
who had fallen, pushed himself up from the ground.

“It’s starting to get
tedious. Can’t you just give up?♡ There’s nothing more pathetic
than a man clinging to a woman♡”

Despite my taunt directed at
the Second Prince, who was struggling to stand using his sword, he
didn’t respond.

“Prince…”

“That’s enough!”

“Please, withdraw for now!”

The voices shouting from the
Second Prince’s entourage in the background were also ignored.

Consumed by his own rage to
the point where even the pupils in his eyes had disappeared, he had
reached a state where he could no longer stop by his own will.

This is becoming tiresome.

I hadn’t expected my
provocation to be this effective, let alone overpowering.

Once reason completely flies
out the window, it’s impossible to make him surrender.

Sigh.
Why does this Idiot Prince have such unnecessary perseverance?

You weren’t like this before!

I thought you’d give up long
ago, declaring yourself as nothing but trash. So why are you still
standing here holding out?

Reaching the conclusion that
I’d have to knock him unconscious to defeat him, I glanced at Luca,
who was with the faculty.

I’m not confident in
controlling my strength.

I can confidently break my
opponent, but it’s challenging to just knock them out.

That’s why I hoped the
professor would step in to manage the situation, but Luca interpreted
my gaze this way: It seems the Lady absolutely does not wish for any
intervention!

No, that’s not it.

What the hell?

I asked for help!

I asked you to stop the Second
Prince!

Why are you misunderstanding
it like that?

* (*Telepathy magic.)

Hey. You did that on purpose,
didn’t you?

You’re intentionally trying to
mess with me!

You damned sloppy professor.

“…Not yet.”

Just when I was about to raise
my voice again, the Second Prince’s voice cut through.

After countless efforts, he
finally managed to stand on both feet, gripping his sword with both
hands.

Then, black aura enveloped his
sword.

But it wasn’t just any black
aura.

It was an aura heavy enough to
weigh down its surroundings.

A unique aura that bore his
personal characteristics.

That’s not something the
Second Prince should be able to use right now.

Huh?

Huhhh?

…Nooooo!

Why is the Idiot Prince
awakening in a crisis as if he’s the protagonist?!

Am I the villain here?! The
bad guy?!

I’m not!

He was the one doing all the
despicable things first, so why does he get the cool moment?!

‘Grandpa?! You’re being way
too relaxed for someone just watching! This is a major crisis right
now!”

Hearing Grandpa’s completely
unfazed voice, I sighed.

Grandpa really knows me too
well.

Taking a deep breath, I
gathered divine energy at the edge of my shield.

What I’m about to attempt is a
clumsy re-enactment of the hero who once endured the wrath of the
Evil God with just his shield.

I haven’t even mastered
[Divine Combat Arts] yet, so this re-enactment is far from perfect.

But it doesn’t matter.

My shield isn’t fragile
enough to break from an attack like that, anyway.

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