Ch.82Academy Attack Incident – 4

Roxanna had confidence in her own abilities. It was only natural, as she was a being created with the utmost care by the Succubus Queen.

Her confidence wasn’t unfounded either. Born as a half-succubus, when she was put to the test to prove herself, she had answered by completely draining dozens of knight-level fighters.

The Queen had sent her to infiltrate Bellium Academy alone without any support because she believed that even if things went wrong, Roxanna could escape from dozens of professors and the Black Dragon.

Roxanna herself had never doubted this fact. Although she was a half-succubus born from human semen rather than a pureblood, she prided herself on having abilities second only to the Queen.

‘The Queen’s concerns were right. That thing is a monster. Perhaps even more so than the Sword Saint.’

However, when she realized that what she thought had been an intense battle lasting a full hour had actually been a mere 1.7 seconds in real time, Roxanna couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

Because she realized she had no way to overcome this situation.

[Tell me everything you know.]

The fact that she had managed to hold out for even those 1.7 seconds wasn’t actually due to her own strength, but because she had been allowed to resist in order to extract information from her.

The voice that had been continuously reaching her ears was proof of that. Even in the midst of her desperate struggle, Roxanna tried desperately to keep her mind from submitting.

Otherwise, she felt she would end up surrendering everything she had.

—Crack!

“Aaaagh!”

Roxanna screamed as both her wings were torn off simultaneously. It felt like chunks of flesh had been ripped from her back as well. Her body collapsed to her knees in the pool of her own blood.

‘I can’t win. I can’t win.’

Though only a few seconds had passed in real time, it felt as if she had been fighting for hours. Looking at the magic circle that continued to expand exponentially, Roxanna shed tears.

Tears born of pain, tears born of regret, tears born of fear.

Even in this situation, her succubus blood instinctively made her assume a posture that emphasized her chest and buttocks, but it was of no use. Such seduction would never work on that man.

[Strong willpower. Not talking until the end.]

Roxanna trembled at the voice. It was a voice that gave her chills, as if a being that didn’t know how to speak human language was forcibly creating similar organs and squeezing out sounds to speak.

She painfully lifted her head. Walking toward her was a human with strangely pale skin, with veins the same color as mana spreading like a spider web beneath that pale skin, and eyes dyed blue.

Though human, his appearance made him seem no longer human, filling her with deep terror. Any fighting spirit or pride had already been completely lost.

‘I, I must live. I have to survive.’

Trembling, Roxanna clutched her chest and spread her legs. It was the action that defeated succubi did best, the survival method ingrained in succubus instinct.

Thinking she had done her duty by not revealing information about her clan, Roxanna begged with the most pitiful expression she could muster in order to survive.

“I-I’m sorry. I was wrong. I was presumptuous. Please forgive me just this once. In return, I’ll let you use my body however you want until you’re tired of—”

Roxanna couldn’t finish her sentence. With a slicing sound, Yeongwon moved, and she felt a stinging sensation in her neck.

After the sting came an itchy feeling, and as Roxanna tried to scratch her neck, she suddenly realized that her hand was no longer moving.

As soon as she realized this, her vision flipped. While her body remained still, her vision rotated, looking at the ground, her body, and the sky in sequence.

Only then did Roxanna’s hands rise up to feel where her head should have been. Her slender fingers touched the neck muscles. The hand movements stopped abruptly, as if realizing that what should have been there was gone.

—Thud.

The headless body fell face down on the floor. The head placed beside it still had an expression of not understanding what had happened.

‘That takes care of one.’

I gathered the refined mana on Yeongwon’s blade.

For a being who, according to the original story, should have drained the life force of three professors and hundreds of students before returning, only to reappear as a boss in the middle of part two, it was an anticlimactic end.

But I used the mana breathing technique specifically to create that anticlimactic end. The sooner these creatures exit the stage, the better for us.

‘I’ll need to move soon.’

The longer I stay in one place, the more exponentially the amount of refined mana accumulating around me will increase. I exhaled refined mana again with a sigh. The mana breathing technique was still in effect.

That was to be expected. It’s a theory that denies the common sense applicable to the human body and transforms the entire body into organs solely for magic. Such a thing couldn’t be easily used or easily undone.

‘Not that I intend to undo it anyway.’

I planned to maintain this state at least until this incident was completely resolved. I went to the trouble of buying time by conversing with Roxanna to use this technique, so I might as well milk it for all it’s worth.

I took out a necklace from my uniform’s inner pocket. There was something I needed to do before cleaning up the corpse and leaving this place.

“My lady.”

As soon as I put the necklace around my neck, Elisciere’s voice came through as if she had been waiting.

Normally, I wouldn’t use a magical tool that so blatantly communicates with the Demon Lord, but this is an exceptionally unusual situation. And if anyone were to see this situation, they would point out the mana breathing technique rather than the necklace.

[How did it go?]

Elisciere drew in a sharp breath when she heard my voice. It was because magic was mixed into my voice. I forcibly controlled my vocal cords to minimize the wavelength as much as possible.

“…It is Astaroth’s doing. Even I only just learned of what happened.”

“You just found out? So you’re saying she did this without the Demon Lord’s permission?”

“I too am most curious about that. What thoughts went through Astaroth’s mind to independently launch an invasion on the Academy. And even bringing in the Explosive Dragon.”

“Explosive Dragon?”

An unexpected name came up. Elisciere provided additional explanation.

“I heard that Astaroth made a deal with the Explosive Dragon to draw out the Director. The Explosive Dragon and the Black Dragon are mortal enemies. I believe the Black Dragon sided with humans also because of the Explosive Dragon.”

Then the Director’s disappearance in the original story might have been due to the Explosive Dragon. As that thought occurred to me, I felt a renewed sense of urgency. Should I look for the Director first after cleaning up the Academy?

‘…Priscilla probably doesn’t know where he went either.’

Even in the original story, the Director’s whereabouts ended with just the two words “missing.” If his location is unknown, deciding to find him would be futile. While I was thinking, Elisciere continued.

“The remaining succubi in the demon realm only repeat like parrots that the Queen is doing everything she can to bring results and to trust and wait. They are of no help.”

“She must have been in a real hurry, huh? Telling the Demon Lord to trust and wait while she brings results.”

“Indeed. What will you do, my champion? If you wish, I can order the Queen to be summoned.”

“Let’s try that for now. You have the justification.”

Causing an incident of this scale independently without the Demon Lord’s orders is reason enough to summon her.

Especially since the Demon Lord in the original story was extremely cruel even to her subordinates and regarded all demons in the demon realm except herself as expendable, so there would be no suspicion.

“I shall do as you say. Take care not to get hurt, my champion.”

“I’ll try.”

The communication ended. I removed the necklace and put it back in my uniform’s inner pocket.

Now it’s time for the next task. I created a communication magical tool using refined mana. While it might seem like a simple task at first glance, it was actually an astonishingly difficult action.

It’s similar in difficulty to creating a shower head out of water just because water comes out of a shower head. After confirming that the magical tool was working properly, I connected to Ingrid.

“Professor.”

I transformed my vocal cords once more, and a fairly decent voice came out. It was to the point where the dissonance wouldn’t be noticeable unless one listened carefully.

—Mira student?! Where are you right now?!

Especially in a situation like now, where the receiver is busy fighting demons and evacuating students. Instead of answering the question about my location, I stated what I needed to say.

—There are limited places where communication magical tools can be used, so wait! I’ll track your location from my end—

“Do you remember the condition of our deal when I gave you the improvement method for the wide-area annihilation magic before?”

—…

Ingrid fell silent immediately. That alone was a sufficient answer. She still remembers.

“I’m making that request now. Please disable the protective barrier surrounding the Academy.”

Silence was followed by shock. I quietly waited for Ingrid, who was so surprised she could barely breathe, to compose herself.

—What did you just say?

“I asked you to disable the protective barrier surrounding the Academy. It may have been created by the Director, but as a grand magician, you must know how to stop its core.”

—Have you been brainwashed? Look at the sky. Even now, the barrier is keeping that strange thing at bay. Why would you ask to disable the barrier in this situation? Unless you have a valid reason, I can only think you’re under the influence of brainwashing or mind control.

“It’s fine. The black energy outside is merely bait to increase the barrier’s output. The real threat is the device installed in the barrier’s core.”

—Did you just say device? In the core?

“Yes. Installed by demons. When the barrier operates at maximum output, it will explode. Like a bomb. It will incinerate a third of the Academy. People nearby certainly won’t survive.”

—…Give me a moment to think.

Despite my words, Ingrid was still hesitating.

I understand. She must be suspicious about how I know this information, and even though it’s my request, she must be hesitant about going to disable the barrier when there’s the urgent matter of stopping the incoming demons.

But I had prepared insurance for this moment.

“Do you remember what else I said when I brought up our deal condition?”

—…

“I said it would sound like an unreasonable request, and that it couldn’t be understood with normal thinking. As you can see, I’ve kept my promise. Now it’s your turn to fulfill yours.”

—Such a promise didn’t need to be kept…

Ingrid muttered dejectedly.

—Alright. I’ll do it.

After deliberation, her answer was ultimately affirmative. Ingrid spoke with a voice that seemed to have aged ten years in that brief moment.

—Could you wait just a little longer? There are still many demons nearby. Too much for the students to handle. I need to deal with them first and then—

“No. You must go right away. It’s designed to explode after a certain time, whether the barrier reaches maximum or not.”

Ingrid said she would do so with a voice full of sighs and ended the communication. I snapped my fingers. The refined mana ignited in an instant, and the half-succubus corpse between burned away to nothing.

‘Second task complete.’

I would have preferred to handle it myself rather than having Ingrid do it, but there were two problems. The first problem was that I didn’t know the location of the core.

Both Priscilla and Rosaria had only heard about such an incident after it was over. And they wouldn’t have installed the core of the Academy’s defense in an obvious place.

‘Next is…’

And the second problem. I regulated my breathing and began running toward a dimensional gate that had appeared in a completely different shape from those that had opened until now.

The monster who, in the original story, had driven Brunhild, Aria, Priscilla, and Rosaria to the brink of death, and had nearly annihilated the Academy’s professors.

I need to eliminate it before it begins its full-scale activities.