Chapter 43

Ȓėаđ ｏո ḰαｔЯеɑⅾıոɡĊаƒ​ҽ

The sky was filled with dark clouds, and the sound of thunder echoed.

With a flash of lightning, the thunderclap soon followed, tearing through the air.

The rumble stirred her heart and heightened her sense of fear.

The blinding flash momentarily whitened her vision.

Boom! 

Arin had loved the sound of thunder ever since she was a child.

When thunder roars, the wrath of the heavens punishes the earth.

Good and evil are human distinctions; the heavens cared not for such things.

Lightning strikes indiscriminately, bringing down structures and even killing life.

People fear lightning.

They don’t know when, where, or whom it might strike.

But Arin knew.

The thunder illuminating the dark sky would never harm her.

Rather, it protected and embraced her.

Lightning always burned away only her “dangers”.

So, she wasn’t afraid.

Arin liked the thunder.

“Dad…”

Her voice trembled.

Tears she had been holding back spilled down her cheeks.

Until now, she had wanted to run away.

She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream.

The monsters were so many and so powerful that fear slowly ate away at her.

But Arin didn’t flee. She didn’t run.

Because she was a supernatural. Because she was a student of the academy. Because she had a duty to fight.

So she endured, and endured again.

Even as the urgent warnings of “danger” rang in her mind, she only gripped her sword more tightly, refusing to turn her back.

“Well done, everyone. I’ll handle the rest.”

That familiar voice.

The crack of lightning. The rumbling thunder.

Looking at his reassuring figure, Arin felt the fear and exhaustion melt away like snow.

Only a quiet, intense passion welled up in her chest.

Arin’s supernatural ability fell silent.

The thunder swallowed up all of her “dangers”.

The military organization of heroes protecting humanity from the otherworldly monsters.

The sword of humanity.

The shield of humanity.

The Celestial Corps.

And the seven captains at the peak of all heroes, leading the Celestial Corps.

The strongest heroes, without question.

The ultimate protectors.

The strongest supernaturals.

One of them—

The one who taught Arin what it meant to be a supernatural, her father, whom she admired more than anyone else in the world.

The captain of the 2nd Division.

Kallad.

“Was Angelica the homeroom teacher for Class A? It’s hard to believe she’d struggle with just one high-rank monster… Well, never mind. I’ll hear the details later.”

A cold glint flickered in his eyes.

The high-rank monster snarled, baring its yellowed fangs under his piercing gaze.

But there was no real threat in its stance.

Like a frightened beast barking wildly, it puffed itself up and warily watched the supernatural before it.

Unpleasant smoke rose from its burnt scales.

Ashen saliva dripped from its mouth, mixed with blackened dust.

■■■■■■■■■■■────!!!

The standoff was brief.

As soon as its shock-paralyzed body recovered, the high-rank monster charged without hesitation.

Its blind rush seemed desperate. As if it couldn’t bear to acknowledge that it had been intimidated, even for a moment.

The formless air shattered as it moved.

The sound reached them only after it had already passed.

Shockwaves tore up the ground.

The high-rank monster closed the distance in an instant and lunged at Kallad, its jaws opening like an alligator’s maw to swallow him whole.

“A monster wearing a mask. That’s a first”.

Its open jaw split apart.

The high-rank monster could not hear the slight sound of flesh tearing.

By the time it registered what had happened, its body was already sliced in half.

The roof of its mouth and its lower jaw would never align again.

The high-rank monster’s body slowly slid apart, split in two.

Kallad withdrew the lightning blade that had formed at his fingertips.

He flicked his hand a few times, as if shaking off blood that hadn’t even stained it.

With a long, heated breath, he exhaled.

The fight was over.

◈

“To take down a high-rank monster in a single strike…?”

Eugene swallowed as he watched the scene before him.

It wasn’t flashy, nor was it particularly fast.

He had simply drawn a blade of lightning… and in the next moment, the high-rank monster lay dead, sliced in half.

If he had fully unleashed his power, Eugene would never have even realized what had happened.

Eugene instinctively understood this.

He had shown him on purpose.

The technique Kallad had just used resembled Eugene’s Sun Sword.

Spinning and compressing.

An ultimate technique that maximized cutting power.

Although it was lightning instead of fire, the principle was strikingly similar.

“So that’s how it’s done…”

It was a perfect textbook example.

He had only seen it once, but that was enough.

Eugene muttered absently as he realized what was lacking and excessive in his own technique.

He’d thought it was a decent skill, but there were so many flaws.

The skill to take down a high-rank monster in one blow.

A perfected technique that made him gasp in admiration.

Eugene finally realized who Kalad was.

Only a select few could achieve such feats.

A captain of the Celestial Corps.

The peak that Eugene aimed for.

Staring at Kallad’s back in a trance, Eugene snapped back to his senses, startled.

This wasn’t the time to be dazed.

Eugene forced his exhausted body to move.

His legs felt like they were melting from the heat, not responding as he wanted, but he pushed himself forward.

“Lucia!”

She had taken the high-rank monster’s attack in his place.

Her chest had been gruesomely torn, and her neck was horribly twisted.

Under normal circumstances, she would be dead.

No matter how superhuman a supernatural was, such mortal wounds were usually impossible to survive.

But Lucia’s supernatural ability was super regeneration.

In terms of survival, no other supernatural could match her.

Eugene looked at Lucia’s fallen body with a mix of desperation, hope, fear, and guilt.

Her neck, twisted in an impossible direction, returned slowly to its normal position.

Bones protruding from her skin were gradually moving back inside her body.

Yet Eugene couldn’t relax.

The regeneration was too slow.

It was working… but far too slowly.

The pool of blood on the ground exceeded a lethal amount.

For someone as small as Lucia, she should already be dead.

And yet she was still alive, thanks to her supernatural ability.

‘What do I do? What should I do?’

Although he’d rushed over out of concern, he had no idea what to do to help.

The injuries were too severe; he could only be grateful that she wasn’t dead yet.

Eugene clenched his fists tightly.

His nails dug into his palms, sending a sharp pain through his hand, but he didn’t loosen his grip.

Don’t lose hope.

If I look hard enough, there must be something I can do.

For now… yes, for now, I’ll stop the bleeding.

Eugene took off his uniform jacket.

He would have used a bandage if he had one, but since he didn’t, he decided to use his clothes as a makeshift bandage.

“Hey, why are you taking off your clothes all of a sudden? Stop messing around and move aside.”

Just as he was about to tear his sweat- and blood-stained jacket into strips, someone pushed him aside.

Under normal circumstances, he would have resisted such a slight shove, but in his exhausted state, he stumbled back.

Startled, he turned his head.

Purple hair brushed past his face.

Dark circles ran deep under her eyes.

A pair of round, moon-shaped earrings dangled from her ears.

Every one of her ten fingers was adorned with rings.

A girl with her uniform buttons half-open glanced down at Lucia and frowned.

“You’re… in Class D?”

“Don’t rename people like that, Class A.”

It was Regina, the notorious problem student from Class D.

Although she was in Class D, she had managed to join Class A’s field training as a tagalong. She sighed deeply.

“I normally charge for this… but fine, I’ll consider it covered for a chocolate bar. I’m giving you a huge discount.”

Even though she knew Lucia couldn’t hear her, Regina grumbled as she rolled up her sleeve and exposed her arm.

From her pale forearm, as white as her ghostly face, a faint shimmer of heat rose.

Her supernatural ability.

Drugs.

Everything produced by her body was a drug that could captivate and addict anyone.

Before enrolling in the academy, Regina had a history of selling her drugs for a high price.

Addicts who had tasted her drugs were captivated by their intense addictive power and unparalleled effectiveness, unable to turn away.

Unable to be satisfied with any other drugs, they would beg and plead to get their hands on hers.

Some even spent their entire fortunes.

Others committed crimes to afford her drugs.

Some even attempted to attack Regina directly.

Her power shattered people’s rationality and judgment.

Regina’s supernatural ability was that dangerous.

But drugs, when used properly, could act as medicine.

Regina was a supernatural who could freely control and modify the components of the drugs she created.

A white mist flowed from her forearm and reached Lucia.

Slowly, it seeped in. The mist traveled along Lucia’s faint breaths and infiltrated her body.

“Ugh…”

The effects were immediate. Lucia groaned softly and shifted her body.

The sluggish regeneration visibly quickened.

“What… is this?”

“I boosted her regeneration. Usually, it just makes wounds heal a bit faster, but this girl’s reacting really well to it.”

Regina turned her gaze toward Eugene.

She nodded her chin in his direction and spoke.

“And you? How are you feeling?”

“Huh?”

“Your wounds—they don’t hurt anymore, right?”

At her words, Eugene instinctively checked his own condition.

Now that she mentioned it, he didn’t feel any pain. He’d been battered from head to toe, yet…

“It’s an analgesic¹. The injuries are still there. So don’t push yourself just because it doesn’t hurt—you could pass out from it.”

“…Thanks.”

“Forget it. I don’t need words of gratitude; they’re useless. Just consider it a debt repaid.”

Regina snorted as she spoke.

“I hate fighting. My ability doesn’t really have anything to do with combat. That’s why I’ve been protected by your class this whole time. It’s a give-and-take world. If I’ve received, I need to give back.”

“Whatever the reason, thank you for helping.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re one of those ‘friends’ who doesn’t listen, huh? Why are you thanking me for a transaction?”

Grumbling, she didn’t stop using her ability.

Regina spread a refined dose of her drug.

A drug that accelerated wound healing and dulled pain with analgesic effects.

Since it was still a drug, it had a slightly addictive quality… but that was none of Regina’s concern.

After all, it was about as addictive as coffee, so there wouldn’t be any harmful effects.

 

Author Note

Regina’s drugs are super expensive!

But they work wonders!

Translator Note

Hell yeah, drug dealing! My favorite, heh.