Ch.47Episode 9. Parent-Teacher Conference (7)

KWAAANG!

As the sword energy and lightning collided, the training ground shook violently, completely destroying the boundary wall.

The lightning scraped across the ground, kicking up dust and obscuring visibility. I stood still waiting for the dust to settle when Yeonhwaryong burst out from within the cloud.

“Sword Flame Style – Single Flash.”

He appeared in his Blood Armor form and swung his sword at me. I tracked the movement of the blade with my eyes.

The attack that had seemed fast just moments ago now looked slow. Perhaps it was because I had fully unleashed my power.

I caught the blade that was aimed at my neck. Normally, the sword energy would have sliced through skin upon contact, but against my lightning, it couldn’t exert its power.

CRACK!

I shattered the blade in my grip.

“This might hurt a bit.”

I swung my fist, wrapped in lightning. Since he’s S-rank, he should be able to withstand this much.

CLANG!

He desperately tried to block my fist with his sword.

However, with his sword energy nullified by my skill, the blade couldn’t withstand the impact of my fist and shattered into pieces.

He couldn’t prevent my fist from driving straight into his abdomen.

THWACK!

He flew through the rising dust and crashed into the training ground wall.

Just as I was thinking the match had been decided, he staggered to his feet.

Watching him, I couldn’t help but compare him to Gongsang whom I’d caught a few months ago. Gongsang had collapsed after just one or two hits, even though I wasn’t using my full power.

But what about him?

Even though there had been some resistance, he still got up after taking two full-power attacks.

Indeed, not just anyone could become an S-rank.

“Feel free to drink a potion if you’re in pain.”

“You… I remember now.”

Remember? That sounded ominous.

He approached me unsteadily, pointing at me.

“You’re the Lightning God.”

“!”

“Those sparks jumping around your body… an ability I haven’t seen since entering the hero world.”

I thought someone like Yeonhwaryong, who usually doesn’t care about others, might not recognize me. But apparently that wasn’t the case.

Well, even so, I had no intention of admitting it right away.

“…I’m not the Lightning God, I’m Yujin.”

“Wordplay? Not amusing.”

HACK—! PTUI!

He coughed up blood.

He carelessly spat dark red blood onto the wrecked training ground floor.

“Huff. Feels like all my organs are crushed. So this is the Lightning God’s skill level. Interesting.”

He touched his abdomen and smiled, lifting the corners of his mouth.

Does he even realize what situation he’s in?

His dark uniform hid it well, but blood was seeping from various parts of his body.

The flesh torn by my lightning was widening, causing continuous bleeding. If he didn’t drink a potion immediately, he could soon be in danger of bleeding to death.

“I think the outcome is clear, so shouldn’t we stop here? An S-rank’s value isn’t cheap enough to waste like this.”

“I’ve always wanted to face you. You subdued even the most elusive villains with a single punch and handed them over to the Association.”

Hmm. That’s a story from after my possession…

Does even Yeonhwaryong not know about my past?

The Association Chairman reached out to me not just because I had strong powers. He offered his hand because he at least didn’t consider me a villain.

In other words, this means there’s no one on the Association’s side who knows about my past.

So did Yujin start doing villain things after becoming Akcheon?

…No, that can’t be right.

If that were the case, there would be no reason for Wolgwang to reach out to Yujin. What kind of pathetic villain would extend a hand to someone playing hero?

He must have seen Yujin’s strength somewhere. I don’t know the circumstances, but this was clearly a fact.

“I wanted to see that strength with my own eyes, to understand how it was possible.”

“I see.”

“And now I can achieve that. Do you think I can stop here?”

“You could die if you’re not careful.”

“You seem to be mistaken. The outcome hasn’t been decided yet!”

He channeled power into his sword again. Sword energy now filled the place where the invisible blade had been.

“I am Geomhwa. A hero who sweeps away villains at the forefront. Heroes have a responsibility to never fall.”

His appearance is truly admirable.

It’s really cool how heroes never give up.

I can’t express how uplifted I felt whenever I imagined Jeong Iyeon getting up without yielding when she was about to be defeated by villains.

I smiled lightly and clenched my fist.

“Then I’ll force you to fall.”

Somehow I seem to have become the villain, but sometimes this position isn’t so bad.

He took a wide stance for his sword-drawing technique and took a deep breath.

Yeonhwaryong created powerful propulsion with minimal movement, sprinting several meters in an instant to reach me.

“‘Sword Flame Style – Destruction Flash.'”

With a much more dynamic and larger movement than his previous attack, he swung his sword, and a dragon’s head made of red sword energy opened its jaws to devour me.

But when it met my casually thrown punch, his ultimate technique collapsed pathetically.

As long as the technique he used didn’t transcend the category of ‘skill,’ it was impossible for it to avoid my nullification.

“What the…”

He stared blankly as his full-power attack disappeared without leaving even a scratch.

“…Disappointing, isn’t it? What you’re experiencing now is what Yeonmuhui went through countless times before entering the academy.”

“What the hell did you do…”

“I simply used my skill.”

His sword trembled in his grip as if he couldn’t believe it.

The red sword energy gradually faded. I realized he was no longer in any condition to continue the match.

“How does it feel to be forced to kneel before overwhelming power? Doesn’t it shake the educational principles you’ve upheld?”

Since I’ve taken on the villain position, I might as well go all the way with it.

“You bastard…”

THUD.

He dropped to one knee.

He looked up at me, breathing heavily with difficulty. The more he struggled, the more arrogantly I raised my chin and looked down at him.

“I believe they call this mirror therapy? But… there’s nothing to be too ashamed of. It’s just that I was a little… a little stronger, that’s all.”

The emotion Yeonhwaryong should be feeling now is humiliation.

But I had no intention of deliberately humiliating him. Even without my provocation, he would feel humiliated on his own.

The look in his eyes as he gazed up at me was filled with a deep sense of defeat. Beyond acknowledging his defeat, he seemed extremely frustrated.

“…Let me ask one thing.”

“What is it?”

“Why are you working as an instructor here?”

Why am I working as an instructor here…

He probably couldn’t understand.

If he were to catch villains on active duty and build up achievements, he could easily earn tens of billions, not to mention being revered by many people.

But I already had everything I needed to live in this world and didn’t require others’ attention.

There was no reason for me to pursue such trivial things.

Rather than that, changing developments I didn’t like was much more ‘fun.’

As if I had become the author.

“There’s a sight I really want to see. To see it, I need to be by those children’s side. So I can’t just stand by and watch while you provoke Yeonmuhui.”

“Huh… So you think you can raise Muhui better than me?”

“By the time she graduates from the academy, Yeonmuhui will be much stronger than you.”

Hmm… much stronger might be an exaggeration?

“N-not even… funny…”

Just before his body collapsed, I supported him by putting my arm around his shoulder.

“Did you bring a potion?”

“As if I would have such a thing.”

My, what impressive pride.

I raised my hand and gestured to Kang Sujin, who had been watching the match. She noticed my signal and quickly approached.

“Could you give me a potion?”

“Ah, yes.”

She hurriedly took out a potion from her pocket. I slowly poured the potion into his mouth.

“Mr. Yeonhwaryong, this concludes our parent-teacher conference for Yeonmuhui. Please direct any complaints to the academy’s grievance office.”

I’m not sure if such a place exists, but anyway.

He frowned and glared at me, but didn’t say anything special.

I took that to mean he would leave quietly.

Shortly after drinking the potion, the wounds torn by my lightning began to heal one by one. The bleeding stopped and his complexion improved.

“Even after drinking the potion, you should go to the hospital. Potions are just emergency measures. There could be aftereffects.”

I said this while laying him down completely. I immediately contacted the medical team.

While making the call, I noticed that many students had been watching our match.

Perhaps I might make the front page of the next newspaper.

“…Next time I’ll win.”

“Well now. I won’t lose next time either.”

“I’ll be waiting for the next parent visit. I’ll train until then.”

“There won’t be a next parent visit.”

I just need to make sure the special class has no problems, but the Chancellor has a duty to protect the academy.

He won’t stand by and watch villains running wild inside the academy.

Besides, he said he would keep an eye on me.

That probably means he’ll monitor me thoroughly all week.

In other words, there’s a high possibility that the Chancellor is watching me exert my full power at this moment.

Since his torture skills were described as top-notch in the original story, he might have learned something from those he caught at the academy.

So I was planning to ask the Chancellor for that information. He’s not the type to leave me alone after seeing my power.

“This parent visit was an exceptional event to resolve an unusual situation. If such a thing happens twice, the academy won’t be able to maintain its reputation as before, so the Chancellor won’t sit idle.”

As I was speaking, people from the medical team hurriedly entered the training ground.

“GASP!! Lord Geomhwa?!”

They were horrified at the sight of the blood-covered Geomhwa and urgently used their recovery abilities. After a brief treatment, they placed him on a stretcher.

As they carried him away without giving us a chance to talk, I noticed Yeonmuhui standing beside me.

“Are you okay with your father leaving like that?”

“Yeah. It’s fine.”

Yeonmuhui looked thoughtful as she said this. She seemed to be choosing what to say.

“…I saw everything from behind. You’re stronger than my father.”

“I got lucky.”

“He’s not someone you can beat with luck.”

“…Well, that’s true.”

I awkwardly agreed with her resolute tone.

Of course, there’s no such thing as beating an S-rank by luck. The higher you go, the more clearly skill differences show.

“Why did you step in? There was no need for you and my father to fight.”

“I was worried about you.”

“About me…?”

“Yes.”

Yeonmuhui tilted her head with a puzzled expression. My words must have seemed meaningful to her.

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t want to see you get hurt.”

I couldn’t tell her that I had intended to give her the satisfaction of seeing her father take a hit, so I made something up.

“…Really?”

“Yes.”

She fidgeted with her fingers and blinked rapidly.

“…Um, Instructor Yujin.”

As a brief silence fell between us, Kang Sujin, who was standing nearby, gently spoke up.

“Ah… Thank you, Ms. Kang Sujin. How much do I owe you for the potion?”

“Don’t worry about the potion. But… why did you lie?”

“…Pardon?”

“You knew you were the person the Association was once looking for, didn’t you?”

Hmm. Hmm…

“…No. I didn’t know.”

I averted my gaze as I spoke. When I glanced back at Kang Sujin, she was smiling.

“Is that so.”

Did she accept that?

“It seems today’s consultation will be a bit longer.”

Apparently, she didn’t accept it at all.