Chapter 29

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The surrounding scenery blurred.

As Lucia’s severed hair scattered like petals, her head rolled across the floor of the bus.

It bounced a few times, tumbling along.

With each bounce, I could see the faces of the horrified students through my rotating vision.

They all looked pale, on the verge of tears. Is it their first time seeing a classmate’s head severed in front of their eyes? You can’t break down so soon—you don’t know what other horrors you’ll see ahead.

Ah, they’re all watching.

They’re watching me…

Watching me get decapitated—

Ah, this feels so good~♡

They’re watching Lucia’s head roll across the bus floor like a pitiful soccer ball…

My heart…my chest is chilled…though I don’t have a chest anymore…

Right now, I’m a ball.

Go ahead, everyone, give me a kick~♡

Before long, my rolling head hit something and stopped.

With my head motionless, I rolled my eyes around instead.

What stopped me was someone’s foot. Oh, are they seriously going to kick me? With a hopeful gaze, I looked up at the foot’s owner.

It was Alice.

It didn’t seem intentional. My head must have just bounced over and hit her foot.

Ah, our eyes met.

Hello there, Alice!

How have you been?

“A…ah…aaah…”

Alice made an incoherent sound. Her large eyes welled up with tears.

Oh dear, poor thing. I’d love to wipe them away.

But I don’t have any hands right now. No feet either. No body. Just a head.

“Lu…cia…”

Was she that shocked to see her only friend beheaded?

Alice couldn’t even finish her sentence, foaming at the mouth as her eyes rolled back.

She fainted. I hope this doesn’t traumatize her.

“So, how is it? Do you like it? If not, raise your hand, and I’ll change it for something else.”

Astaroth laughed in her playful voice.

Do I like it? Hmm, I’d say it’s quite lacking actually. Just a mere beheading?

If anything, I think beheading should be saved for last.

There’s a world of difference between simply chopping off a head and doing it as the final touch after some…preparations.

How about cutting off the limbs first, leaving them helpless, and then slowly sawing through the neck once they’re unable to resist?

Or perhaps, throw them a dagger and say, “If you disembowel yourself, I’ll spare the other students!” A tempting offer, isn’t it?

Then, when they finally, painfully slice open their belly, spilling all their insides—surprise! It was a lie all along! That’s when you finish them with a clean decapitation.

But just cutting the head off in one go like this?

No sense of drama. No style.

Hmph, I’d give it 4 out of 10. Since it’s the first decapitation, I’ll give her an extra point. She should try harder next time.

I can’t say I’m satisfied.

I’d like to return this. Could I get something else, please?

“…Huh?”

I raised my hand.

Astaroth, tilting her head in confusion, let out a puzzled noise. I used all my strength to push her shoulder away.

Thud! 

Tangled up with a headless Lucia, Astaroth flew out through the side of the bus, breaking the glass as they crashed outside.

Phew, thank goodness.

It actually worked.

In the original, Lucia was decapitated once. Her head and body had parted ways, but she calmly picked up her head and placed it back on her body.

Even though her head was cut off, her body still moved. If the original Lucia could do it, I thought, why couldn’t I?

I wasn’t completely certain. I’d refrained from cutting off my head before because I wasn’t sure it would work. I mean, what if I cut my head off and my body just didn’t respond? I wouldn’t be able to reattach it then. Best-case scenario, I’d grow a new head. But if it was like the experience of being hanged, the blood supply to my brain would cut off, and I’d faint, I’d be stuck in a pretty helpless situation, waiting for someone to reattach my head. I’d be a living corpse until then.

Lucia still hadn’t developed her powers fully.

She hadn’t been at the academy for long, and there hadn’t been any major events that rapidly improved her abilities.

So, I’d been avoiding decapitation… But now my curiosity was satisfied.

I can still move my body even when my head is severed.

Though I don’t really understand the mechanics behind it.

If I were to speculate…

No, now’s not the time to think about that so calmly.

I don’t have the luxury of drifting off into thought with Astaroth right in front of me.

For now, what’s Astaroth… doing?

Ugh, I can’t see.

What’s happening outside the bus?

Could someone pick up my head and throw it out the window?

Just like a baseball!

“……”

Blub blub.

Ugh, I can’t make any sound!

That’s right, I’m just a head right now!

“Haha, hahahaha! What the heck? How are you moving? You don’t even have a head!”

Astaroth laughed, clearly amused. Fortunately, I had definitely captured her attention.

For someone like Astaroth, who loves anything unusual, a human still moving after being decapitated was bound to be intriguing.

Some otherworldly monsters can survive without their heads, but humans? Anyone who gets their head chopped off should be dead.

Right now, Astaroth saw me as a curious anomaly. It’s like how humans are surprised when intelligent animals like crows use tools. Same thing here.

Good, I’ll keep drawing Astaroth’s attention like this.

I’ll be the sacrifice to keep her from looking at the other students!

Thump.

I couldn’t see it, but I knew my body had fallen.

Huh… my body isn’t moving…

Oh, I get it. When the head and body separate, there’s a time limit on how long I can move my body. Since I’m still inexperienced, that time is short.

This is bad!

I felt relieved after my gamble paid off. But now I’m in danger.

This won’t draw any attention. This’ll just end with my head getting cut off in the usual way.

“Are you still alive?”

Just then, a small hand lifted my head.

I blinked. Alice was holding my cheeks tightly, looking right at me.

Alice just fainted from shock, so… this must be Frey.

“Super regeneration… I see. So you don’t die even if you’re decapitated?”

I’d nod if I could, but being just a head, I couldn’t.

And even if I wanted to answer, I had no voice to speak with, being only a head.

So I blinked rapidly to communicate my answer.

“Just wait a moment. I’ll put you back together.”

Frey tucked my head under her arm like a basketball, then leaped through the hole in the side of the bus.

Once we were outside, I could finally see what was going on. Astaroth was tapping my body with the end of her parasol.

“What’s this? Dead after all? Did she die as quickly as that guy did?”

Thanks for putting me back together, but… how do you plan to handle this?

Frey, I know you’re strong, but that’s a devil you’re up against. Frankly, you’re like an ant compared to an elephant.

Could you just stand down? Even if there’s a tiny chance, you can’t die here.

“She raised her hand, didn’t she? I should give her another present then… Ugh, this is boring.”

“Hey.”

“……?”

“Move aside.”

Frey’s navy blue hair fluttered as if hit by a gust of wind.

The release of her supernatural power.

A fierce glint shone in Frey’s dual-colored eyes—her cerulean eye as deep as her hair, and her left eye, as red as a rose.

The crimson one, her left eye, blazed like a burning sun.

Among the academy students, Alice’s ability boasted some of the strongest firepower.

Her supernatural ability, Heat Ray.

And the point of release? Alice’s left eye.

Which meant—

“Haaaaah!”

A beam shot from her eye.

A blazing light flashed.

The scorching red beam, hot as a blast furnace, incinerated the air and erased everything in the direction of Frey’s gaze.

Her target was Astaroth’s head. As if retaliating for severing mine, she unleashed her heat ray without hesitation.

“Huh? What’s this? Playing with fire?”

Of course, it was no use.

Even though Frey (Alice) was part of the Golden Generation and would become one of the most powerful heroes in the future, she was still young.

She was just beginning her journey, not even close to her peak. Naturally, she stood no chance against a transcendent being like a devil.

Astaroth didn’t even need her parasol. She casually grabbed the heat ray with her bare hand.

Then, with a simple twist, she redirected the ray in a random direction.

However, it seemed Frey already knew her attack wouldn’t work—she didn’t waver.

Well, maybe she wavered a little, but only enough to bite her lip.

She had caught Astaroth’s attention.

As if that alone was enough.

“The Big Dipper.”

A streak dashed through the air, swirling the dust left in its wake.

The ground erupted behind it. A flash, just slower than the speed of sound, dove toward Astaroth’s left side.

“First Form: Shaoyang!”

Speed is power.

Accelerating and accelerating again, a strike aimed at Astaroth with a speed beyond human perception.

“Oh, you’re quick.”

Leo’s strike was fierce and delivered with the intent to kill, with no regard for holding back.

But Astaroth, without even turning her head, caught him with her free hand—the hand not stopping the heat ray.

She effortlessly grabbed Leo by the scruff of his neck, lifting him like he was nothing more than a baby.

“What…?”

“And yet, you’re so slow. What a pity. So fast, yet so slow. You have no control over your power, do you?”

Astaroth tightened her grip.

In that instant, ready to snap Leo’s neck—

“…Hup!”

A red slash struck Astaroth from her right side.

It was Eugene’s crimson blade, enhanced with heat to maximize its power and cutting edge.

With Astaroth holding off Frey’s ray with one hand and gripping Leo with the other, there was no way for her to block it.

“In terms of power, weaker than the kid, and in terms of speed, slower than this guy. You’re neither here nor there, are you, ‘big brother’?”

But she didn’t block it.

Eugene’s sword didn’t even scratch Astaroth’s fox mask.

Perhaps surprised at how easily his attack was stopped, Eugene’s eyes widened.

Astaroth released Leo, then flicked Eugene’s forehead with her fingers, curled as if in a mocking gesture.

“Ugh!”

Eugene was launched like a projectile.

He hit the bus, smashing through it, and flew further beyond. He bounced on the ground, briefly soaring up, before gravity pulled him back down.

…No, this is all wrong.

Completely wrong.

Even the strongest students in our class could barely scratch her. The other students didn’t stand a chance.

“Clones.”

The silver-haired girl clapped her hands.

Anastasia’s clones lined up to form a protective formation around Class A students, but it probably wouldn’t matter.

With a single attack from Astaroth, every clone, the students included, would be wiped out. They wouldn’t even make decent shields.

Why is Astaroth showing up already? Where did things go wrong?

It’s like the boss appearing right at the prologue of a game.

The Level 1 hero is just leaving town to begin their adventure, and then, bam! One of the Four Heavenly Kings blocks the way.

Oh, gods of the Four Seasons! There’s a glitch here!

Someone, anyone, come fix this bug!

There are four of you, so one of you could at least help us! Eugene’s going to die! Alice, too! We’re all going to die!

“Don’t you dare lay a hand on my students, you miserable creature.”

There might be no god, but there was an adult.

Lighting a cigarette half-broken from the chaos, Angelica walked forward, her steps steady.

Her snow-white hair was now dirtied with dust.

The bloodshot veins in her reddened eyes and the pulsing veins on her forehead showed the depth of her fury.

The ground surged upward, forming a spear.

Without missing a beat, Angelica grabbed the stone spear as she continued walking.

“Hm? You’re still alive?”

Astaroth sounded mildly impressed.

She brushed Frey’s weakening heat ray away as if swatting an insect, and then stepped on Lucia’s headless body lying on the ground.

It was probably unintentional. She turned toward Angelica and accidentally crushed it under her foot.

Squish.

Lucia’s abdomen caved in, and a fountain of blood spurted from the severed neck.

And that was the last straw for the homeroom teacher of Class A.

“……”

When people reach the height of their fury, they lose the ability to speak.

Her eyes were bloodshot, the red spreading like ink from broken capillaries.

As a teacher who truly cherished her students, seeing one decapitated and their body desecrated like this, she could no longer hold back her rage.

But, Teacher Angelica…

I’m not dead yet.

 

Author Note

The level of the heroes who have just started their adventure is 1.

Yet, a level 99 Heavenly King has appeared.

Lucia is speechless now.

Translator Note

We have to wonder, which of the 4 gods allowed Lucia to exist, heh.