chapter_0088

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
88

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
88

Endure?

Endure? With an opponent that
I doubt I can handle at my current level, you want me to endure!?

Does this Sloppy idiot even
have a conscience?

Because of you, I’m in a
life-or-death situation, so you should at least give me something!

As I complained, I looked
below the message and saw another line of text.

[Reward: Temporary Buff (given
in advance)]

Ah. It wasn’t just talking
to me; it actually gave me a quest?

And what does he mean by given
in advance?

I’ve never seen that phrase
while playing Soul Academy before, so I was puzzled, but it didn’t
take long for it to make sense.

A euphoric feeling welled up
inside me.

It was a kind of omnipotence,
even greater than the [Mesugaki] skill’s buff effect.

Ah ha. What is this, Armadi?

You usually treat me like a
toy, just playing around, but now that the toy is about to break,
you’re getting desperate?

Come to think of it, you also
intervened last time when I almost got killed by the Alchemist.

I guess I am an amusing toy to
you, huh?

Well, anyway, I’ll
gratefully accept what you’ve given. Thank you, Armadi.

Though, considering you’re a
god, isn’t it just natural to at least provide this much? If I
complain like this, I’ll probably get some weird penalty, right?
I’d better just keep quiet.

The Apostle of the Evil God
fixed his red gaze on me and Joy from above.

Long black hair.

A black coat that reached down
to his calves.

A menacing build is visible
even under his stifling clothes.

The Apostle of Tariki, the
Evil God of Darkness.

Nacrad.

Sigh.
The toughest one came right from the start.

“Lady Allen. That is—”

‘Joy. Stay behind me.’

“Airhead Lady, do your
shivering behind me.”

She quickly nodded and did so.

While doing this Nacrad
conjured a magic circle above his hand.

Even though I’m completely
ignorant about magic, I somehow knew what this magic was.

Nacrad always used the same
spell in his first Academy attack.

Barrier of Isolation.

A spell that completely
isolates inside from outside.

How long did it take the
Academy professors to break that?

When I participated in the
first attack event at the plaza, I remember having to endure for
three minutes, right? Three minutes.

In ordinary circumstances, I
would have thought it was ridiculously short, but why does it feel so
long now?

Taking a deep breath, I placed
a shield made of divine energy in front of me and gripped my mace in
my hand.

If I had known it would be
like this, I would have worn my armour.

Not that my armour would
matter much to that guy right now.

Nacrad landed lightly in front
of us the moment I finished getting ready.

“Hmm. You’re young and
weak. It’s hard to believe you’ve received a blessing.”

Nacrad looked me up and down,
then spoke with disdain.

“Normally, it’s not my
hobby to kill someone like you. Kid, you should blame the god who
chose you.”

‘Don’t worry, I’m already
blaming them all the time!’

“I always blame them, you
over-dramatic fool.”

“Over-dramatic?”

Over-dramatic, huh. I can kind
of see where the nickname comes from.

Nacrad’s design is a bit
teenage edgelord-ish.

Red eyes, everything else
covered in black, and even blessed by the god of darkness.

Even the players called Nacrad
the ‘edgelord apostle’ instead of his real name. So, ‘over-dramatic’
seems to fit.

“Over-dramatic, you say.
I see. You can’t even comprehend the difference in our power.”

Nacrad said that as he created
a small black orb in his hand and hurled it at me.

[Iron Wall] warned me of the
danger.

Over and over.

Repeatedly.

Until the word ‘danger’ filled
my mind.

Hearing Grandpa’s voice
inside my head, I put up a barrier of divine energy.

At the exact moment the
barrier was completed, the black orb in front of me exploded.

My hair fluttered.

Debris from the explosion
scattered around, carried by the wind.

As the barrier withstood the
impact, cracks slowly formed until it shattered.

Fortunately, the power of the
explosion was significantly reduced.

I enlarged the shield made of
divine energy and planted my feet firmly.

To endure.

To protect Joy standing behind
me.

After the explosion finally
ceased, I lowered my shield slightly and saw Nacrad leisurely
floating several more orbs around him.

“Do you still think it’s
just for show?”

I can endure the explosions
those orbs cause.

Normally, I wouldn’t be
sure, but since I’m currently buffed by Armadi, I think I can
manage somehow.

But he’s just toying with me
right now.

Once cracks start to form in
the barrier, he’ll get serious and try to finish me off.

Will I be able to withstand
that firepower then?

‘What should I do?’

‘Even if I land a hit, I
feel like I’ll just die futilely.’

Grandpa’s strategy was as
such: Since the opponent is an Apostle of the Evil God, he would want
to utterly humiliate me, an Apostle of Armadi.

So, we need to lure Nacrad
into toying with me.

Using my [Mesugaki] Skill to
provoke him as much as possible so that he doesn’t pay attention to
the barrier breaking.

Make him think he has time to
mess with me until our salvation arrives.

Not bad, Grandpa.

I took a deep breath inwardly.

A confident smile forms on my
lips.

I let my eyes droop.

I straighten my shoulders to
show I’m not at all tense.

“Heh♡ Trying to get
approval even from a girl like me, you pretentious loser?♡ You must
be dressing so embarrassingly because you’re a trash adult with low
self-esteem♡”

Nacrad’s eyebrows knit into a
straight line.

He’s a character who doesn’t
show much emotion.

Given that, he must be pretty
annoyed by now.

But this isn’t enough.

“What are you babbling
about?”

“What?♡ Do you really
think your outfit looks decent?♡ Really?♡ Your fashion sense is
so trashy clearly lacking self-esteem♡”

Perhaps he thought it
pointless to respond.

Nacrad threw one of his black
spheres.

I had anticipated that.

I had already prepared to
deploy a barrier, so this time, the barrier I set up was thicker and
sturdier than the previous one.

Sturdy enough to withstand the
explosion caused by Nacrad.

As the smoke cleared and
Nacrad’s face came into view, I mustered all my strength to laugh.

“Resorting to violence
just because I teased you a bit♡ Is it okay for an adult to be so
impatient?♡ Ah~ You’re just an old-looking kid, pretending to be
mature♡”

“Be quiet.”

“Right~ A trash adult
like you would naturally believe in a trash Evil God♡”

As soon as the word Evil God
left my lips, I felt the euphoric rush of strength from the
[Mesugaki] skill.

At the same time, Nacrad’s
straight eyebrows formed a diagonal line, a sign of further annoyance
furrowing his brows.

Great. Let’s push it further.

“A trash Evil God,
right?♡ Otherwise, why would such a pathetic, sloppy poser like you
be chosen as an Apostle?♡ A trash deity stuck in some corner♡…”

Before I could even finish my
sentence, Nacrad hurled all the black spheres around him.

Got him.

As expected, Apostles are
extremely devout, unable to tolerate blaspheming their deities.

I reinforced my barrier with
divine power to withstand the explosion and called out to Joy.

‘Joy!’

“Airhead Lady!”

“…Yes? Yes!”

‘Run away! I’ll buy you some
time!’

“Run! I can handle this
pretentious giant on my own.”

“But…”

Joy’s eyes were wavering.

Her mind was undoubtedly
filled with fear, battling her conscience.

This is why good people are a
problem.

If it were Bisi, she would
have already run off before I even said anything.

“Can you please just
disappear?♡ Someone as useless as you is only a hindrance♡”

Saying that, I refocused on
the barrier.

Armadi’s buff was quite handy.

As I got used to the increased
power, I could feel the difference.

The problem was, this alone
wasn’t enough to close the gap between me and Nacrad.

Armadi, if you’re going to
help, do it properly.

What good is it to help
halfway like this?

As the explosions subsided and
the smoke began to clear, I heard footsteps behind me.

Thank you, Joy. Thank you for
listening to me.

I was worried you might yell
“Lady Allen!” from behind and be a hindrance.

“How dare you.”

As the smoke fully cleared,
Nacrad’s sharp voice came through.

“You really are trash,
just like that Apostle of Armadi.”

“Isn’t that better than
being the trashy Apostle of ominous Tariki?♡ At least I don’t
suffer from low self-esteem like you do♡.”

“Damn kid.”

“Ahaha♡ Are you angry?♡
You’re angry, aren’t you?♡ Getting genuinely mad at a child’s
teasing♡ You’re totally disqualified as an adult♡”

No sooner had I finished
speaking than I heard [Iron Wall] warning of danger.

As soon as I raised my shield,
Nacrad’s fist met it.

With my current physical
state, I couldn’t withstand the overwhelming force.

I grit my teeth and endured,
but there was a limit.

My body was flung into the
air.

I rolled on the ground several
times, and as I hurriedly got up, [Iron Wall] warned me again.

From all directions.

I couldn’t tell where to
block.

Blocking one direction
wouldn’t stop everything.

I hurriedly moved my shield in
the way [Iron Wall] suggested as the best approach, but the best
wasn’t perfect.

Spikes made of darkness shot
up from the shadows on the ground to attack me.

Some were blocked by my
shield, but more than a few weren’t.

“Grrk! Grrgh!”

It hurts.

I’ve been pierced in so many
places that I can’t tell where the pain is concentrated.

It just feels like everything
hurts.

“Do you understand your
place now?”

Amidst the overwhelming pain
that filled my mind, I heard a voice and lifted my head.

There stood Nacrad, struggling
to keep a neutral expression.

Ha. What a piece of shit.

“Hm. Still haven’t fallen,
have you?”

As Nacrad snapped his fingers,
something pierced my abdomen.

It was hot.

The blood pouring from my
abdomen felt like lava, scorching my flesh and threatening to turn it
into black ash.

The pain was so overwhelming
that I wanted to let my mind slip away, but my mental skills wouldn’t
allow it.

It forcibly kept me conscious,
dragging me back to reality.

As I pleaded for it to stop in
my mind, a rough hand grabbed me by the hair and lifted me up.

“Let me ask you again.”

I see Nacrad’s face.

I see my death.

My death is reflected in his
red eyes.

Fear.

Fear fills me.

A long-forgotten emotion
crashes down like a torrential rain, trying to break through the dam.

I want to ignore him, but the
fear is so intense that no matter how hard I try to erase it, I
can’t.

“Answer me.”

Answer? What answer?

What am I supposed to say?

What do you want to hear?

I couldn’t understand him, so
I just laughed foolishly.

“Huh.”

With a laugh filled with
incredulity, a black sphere dropped in front of my eyes.

Ah, damn it.

…

A ringing sound echoed in my
ears.

A constant high-pitched beep.

At the same time, Grandpa
seems to be shouting something, but I can’t hear it clearly.

Am I dying? I might be.

How? I don’t know.

It probably won’t be a
peaceful death.

My teeth chattered
uncontrollably. A chilling sensation climbed up my spine with the
pain.

Trying to conquer fear only
sinks it deeper; the dam has already burst.

I could only mutter, “I’m
screwed.”

I’m going to die.

I’m going to perish.

My bones crushed to dust.

Toyed with like a doll.

In the most humiliating way
possible.

Wouldn’t it be better to just
bite my tongue?

Suicide would be less painful.

Yes, better that than becoming
his plaything.

“I know you haven’t died
yet. You insulted Taraki’s name, did you think you could go
peacefully?”

I hear a voice coming closer.

Quick, bite my tongue.

Die.

Die quickly.

“You probably can’t move,
so stay there. I’ll bring the woman who was with you.”

A woman?

The person who was with me?

Joy.

It’s Joy.

“Let me tell you the crimes
you’ve committed.”

…No. That can’t happen.

My favourite character dying
because of me.

Because of my mistake?!

That can’t happen. It can’t.

A different thought intrudes
upon my resignation.

The word “not” gets
engraved before the words “scared” and “hurt.”

That word swells up,
momentarily pushing back the rising terror.

In that moment, rational
thought returns.

[Armadi’s Mercy].

As my body heals, the dam
holding back the fear is rebuilt.

Ha. Damn it.

This damn penalty from the
[Mesugaki] Skill.

Once disciplined, the fear
immediately overwhelms me.

[Unyielding Will] and
[Overcoming Fear] alone aren’t enough?

“Sloppy fool♡”

I staggered to my feet and
called his name again.

The bastard, who was about to
leave, turned his head back.

“What?♡ Are you running
away because you’re scared?♡ Pfft♡ How pathetic♡”

I can still hold on.

I’m a tank, after all.

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