Chapter 179: Academy IF Side Story – The False Family (25)

Chapter 179: Academy IF Side Story – The False Family (25)

What on earth are you talking about, Meichen? I took a step back, frowning at her nonsensical rambling.

She was still bound and had an aggrieved expression.

No. Shouldn’t I be the one with the aggrieved face?

Even though I protested in my mind, nothing changed.

Moreover, Meichen’s eyes were slightly moist.

Looking at Adela lying naked next to her, it was a very strange and absurd sight.

I glared at her, who said such things after causing such a big incident.

Judging by Adela’s condition, what she did to me wasn’t exactly pleasant either.

After causing such a major incident, she says that?

It’s absurd. It’s just nonsense to get out of the situation.

I frowned and prepared the silence spell again.

If I let her talk any more, I don’t know what might happen.

“Ugh… Why don’t you understand my feelings…”

As expected, another strange sound brushed past my ears.

Silence spells take some time to prepare. I need to craft the spell according to the person, considering their mana.

Although I know Meichen’s magic circuits to some extent.

Even so, it takes at least 2 minutes. During that time, I need to concentrate.

“Why are you doing this to me, Cecil…? We were good…”

“Just shut up… I can’t concentrate…”

At my slightly venomous and cold voice, she shut her mouth abruptly.

Seeing her shut up like that, it’s certain she was just saying anything to get out of this situation.

“Modify this… and touch this…”

Ah, damn it, why is this so complicated?

This bastard Meichen, she seems to have some magic resistance from the start.

I guess she prepared it in case something happened before playing with Adela.

As expected of the top student in elemental magic, it’s very difficult and complicated to break through her resistance.

“Cecil… I really like you, you know… You saved me when I was being bullied… Ever since then…”

She keeps rambling on with strange things, as if trying to disrupt my concentration.

I frowned and dispelled the third layer of magic resistance.

Now only two remain.

I was about to cast the silence spell and take her back to the dormitory with Adela.

“Cecil…”

She was a far superior mage than I had imagined.

*Thump-*

With Meichen’s slightly subdued voice, a sound like something breaking was heard.

At first, I thought it was the sound of the silence spell taking effect properly.

But then, seeing Meichen twist and move her body, I felt something was wrong.

At the same time, a red, hot projectile surged towards me.

*FWOOSH!*

“Uwaaak!!”

My vision suddenly changed, and a rough buoyancy enveloped my entire body.

If I hadn’t instinctively cast a protective spell, I would have been roasted.

I briefly channeled mana to regain balance and landed lightly on the ground.

“…Are you crazy?”

“It’s your fault… Your fault…”

Meichen’s eyes looked strange.

Until just now, I could at least sense reason in them.

But now, there’s no reason, only a sticky, unpleasant lust.

Something is wrong.

Although the current situation is already strange enough, the strangest thing is Meichen’s state.

It’s too alien to say she’s simply gone mad.

It feels like she’s being controlled by something else…

“Hmm.”

Feeling the strangeness, I looked around.

At the same time, I noticed the perfume bottle vibrating and moving.

There are quite a few items with powerful magic that can erode the user’s mind.

Like a ring that pollutes the mind in exchange for immense power, or armor that provides absolute defense and can never be taken off.

That one seems to be the type that pollutes the user’s mind.

If you deal with it quickly, it’s not difficult to remove the mental contamination, but in the current situation, it’s hard to guarantee.

“Don’t make me… horny…”

…She’s already thoroughly contaminated.

I steeled myself for battle at Meichen’s muttering voice.

First of all, no matter what, my priority is to subdue her and take her away.

‘I’d rather avoid combat if possible…’

But I can’t help it.

*Fzzzzzt-*

Seeing the electricity writhing in Meichen’s hand, I thought.

It seems I won’t be able to subdue her easily.

“Haa…”

I flicked my fingers and generated elemental shields and clubs in both hands.

They boast excellent performance in blocking magic, but especially elemental magic, these shields can defend perfectly.

However, my proficiency is still lacking, so I can only create shields the size of small bucklers.

It would be ideal if they could cover my entire body.

But now is not the time to worry about that.

Meichen’s eyes sharpened, and she extended her hand forward.

*Crack crack,* tearing through the air with a fierce explosion, a lightning bolt flew towards my chest.

*FWOOSH!*

I immediately deflected the lightning and charged forward.

I infused the club with a cold attribute and swung it with all my might towards her flank.

“Ugh, Kyaaaaaak!!”

The deflected magic shattered the research lab ceiling, and Adela screamed.

My objective is to subdue, not kill, so I used a club.

*THWACK!*

The club couldn’t penetrate the small barrier and bounced off uselessly.

As expected. Weapons without cutting power can’t penetrate magic barriers.

I learned this in hand-to-hand combat class, and I’m practicing it again here.

*Shriiik-*

I immediately changed the deflected club into a sword with strong cutting power and infused it with mana to forcibly alter its trajectory.

My arm, which had deflected the magic with the shield, began to throb.

No, even after deflecting it with a shield, the impact is this strong?

Just how powerful is her mana? As expected of the top elemental mage.

Given this situation, I’ll have to accept some injuries.

If it continues like this, I’ll be roasted before I can even subdue Meichen.

The sword, whose trajectory was forcibly altered, immediately cut through her barrier.

*CRACK!*

Meichen lightly dodged the sword strike and then forcefully struck my jaw, stepping back.

At the same time, the world spun, and I entered a brief groggy state.

Why is she fighting so well?

Could it be that her combat ability was mediocre due to her timid personality?

However, if I fall here, I’ll die soon.

Or, I’ll be taken advantage of like Adela, my mind controlled by the perfume.

Neither of those situations is particularly desirable, so I bit the inside of my mouth and held onto my consciousness.

I tasted the metallic flavor of blood, and my dizzying vision straightened.

“Haaah…”

I let out a faint sigh and glared at Meichen.

She was fiddling with her hands, preparing magic again.

I thought I couldn’t win against her in a magic-to-magic battle, so I aimed for close combat.

But unfortunately, Meichen’s reaction speed was so good that she wasn’t inferior even in close combat.

Is it the effect of mind control?

Meichen, free from hesitation and fear, is surprisingly strong.

If Adela could provide support, it would be very easy to subdue her.

Is there a way to win against Meichen without fighting her directly?

I cast a light magic defense on my body and then gazed at the perfume bottle behind Meichen.

Come to think of it, Meichen rarely leaves the vicinity of the perfume.

Wait a minute.

If she’s being mind-controlled by the perfume, and that’s what’s causing her to act like this.

Wouldn’t she return to normal if I broke the perfume bottle?

Doubt is best when it’s short-lived.

I immediately flicked my fingers and sent a large ice spike towards the perfume.

*CRUNCH!*

As expected.

As I predicted, the reason-lost Meichen prioritized destroying the magic flying towards the perfume.

That means that’s her weakness.

Then it won’t be too difficult.

I poured mana into my entire body and ran at an incredible speed along the side of the room.

While doing so, I continued to throw ice spikes at the perfume, narrowing the distance in a spiral.

Although the radial magic deflected all the minor attack spells.

My aim was to distract her anyway.

The real attack is the giant icicle hanging from the ceiling.

“Now go to sleep, you idiot!!”

*Shriiik-*

As I swept my palm down from above, the icicle immediately plummeted.

Its enormous size, as if three people were joined together, descended to shatter the perfume bottle.

Magic at my level is not a significant threat to Meichen.

She can erase all my spells with just a wave of her hand.

It’s natural for Meichen, a genius in elemental magic, and the difference between us is that stark.

*CRASH!*

As if to prove that fact, Meichen sneered and shattered the giant icicle into pieces.

However, my most powerful weapon is knowing Meichen better than anyone else.

Her biggest weakness was none other than ‘complacency.’

Meichen, who had triumphantly shattered the giant icicle, focused all her attention on me.

And, from between the shattered icicles, a water droplet imbued with explosive magic lightly fell.

Meichen’s expression hardened at the fake hidden within a fake.

As the genius of elemental magic, she immediately understood what it was.

“…Sleep, idiot.”

*BOOOOM!!*

Finally, a tremendous explosion was heard, and Meichen was sent flying powerlessly towards the other side of the bed.

Even then, she used a defensive spell, so she wasn’t too badly injured.

But the perfume bottle on the table was shattered into pieces.

Meichen, rolling around and collapsing limply on the floor.

My tension completely released, and I slumped to the ground.

“Haaaaa…”

The difficult battle was finally over.