Episode 47: Azathos, Re!vival [End]

 

“Kwaaaaaaak! Comrade! Why are you attacking me, your ally?!”

-Kwuung!

Azathos’ neck shattered and fell off with absurd ease.

‘What? This easily?’

Suddenly, I recalled a forum post about Azathos I’d seen before possession.

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[Academy Swordmaster Gallery]

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[Why Won’t Azathos Die?] (8,888 views)

He was total garbage in Story Mode, but when I tried Hard Mode for money, what took 3 mins now takes 25 mins WTF

The instant kill was easy to dodge before, but in Hard Mode it drops every 5 secs ㅅ123ㅂ lol

And those ability-blocking rocks? They’re placed super densely. Devs made Story Mode ez then turned on the shredder for Hard

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[Comments](99+)

[Why farm there? Yun Se-ah Battle gives way more money]

(OP)[Yun Se-ah Battle is too hard even in Story Mode…]

[True lol dodging 3 instant kill combos is cancer]

[Top Asoma streamers can’t clear Hard Azathos under 6 mins Kim Sso-ppong]

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[Tried speedrunning Hard after reading this and failed]

[LMAOOOOOO even noobs clear it eventually]

[Got greedy during DPS phase, crystal broke, couldn’t Flash Step, died to meteor]

[KEKW]

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‘Basically said the patterns are easy but HP is disgusting and rock placements make gold farming hell.’

Regardless, Azathos—whose epithet [Thousand Armors] now seemed ironic—died instantly upon appearing……..

“Comrade! We’re allies! There’s no need to attack!”

“Gyaaah!”

-Kwachik!

“Kwaaaaak! Damn you, comrade. What is this attack?! My body… isn’t heating up at all!!”

‘Huh?’

It didn’t break.

‘I definitely hit with the same force as before.’

-Whooosh!

“President! The enemy’s attacks are too strong!”

“We’re out of arrows!”

‘Ah, right.’

We were in the middle of a group exam.

Time to test my new crystallization ability.

“Alright, crystal… form…?”

Not a single crystal shard formed, despite my command.

‘What now?’

“Kehahaha! That’s my authority—of course you can’t use it now that I’ve left your body! (Kwachik!)… Kwaaak!”

“Are you actually insane?”

Leaving the stars-spinning Azathos knocked out, I quickly drew my wand instead of a gun and charged it with mana.

No choker equipped, bracelet mana limit at 40%. Meaning… I could use 60% of my full power.

Time to test newly learned magic.

“White Force!”

-Kwaaaaang!

A violet energy wave erupted from the wand, sweeping through the entire exam area.

The psychokinetic pulse precisely distinguished allies from enemies—granting allies slight status recovery and stat boosts, while creating temporary weak points on enemies and tripling damage against those already afflicted.

The Grey Wyvern’s left wing was already singed by Sujin Park’s fire arrow.

When White Force struck there… massive flames engulfed the wyvern. As it shrieked and plummeted, the Striker didn’t even need to finish it—the beast died instantly.

Watching the Grey Wyvern dissolve into light, I felt immense satisfaction at successfully casting high-tier magic like Eve.

‘So this is possible at S-rank Mana.’

The mechanic of tripling damage on status-afflicted targets felt particularly fascinating.

‘Most of my status skills are illusions… Would bleeding effects make blood gush out?’

That might be too gruesome.

-Wow… That magic’s insane.

-President, did you get stronger…?

-The barrier… Thank goodness I won’t need to write an incident report.

My classmates stared in awe at the firepower beyond imagination, while the homeroom teacher seriously contemplated whether to make me write a report for the slightly damaged barrier.

“……”

And Biyun Hong watching me with strange eyes after seeing the magic.

Before anyone could react further, the monitor alarm blared.

[“Test concluded. Survivors…4, Boss HP remaining…0%. Scoring 300/100 points including B-grade monster bonus.”]

“Whoa! Highest score ever!”

“Our grades will skyrocket! President, you’re the best!”

Their cheers barely registered.

“Kehahaha! As expected of your magic, comrade! Magnificent!”

“You, come with me.”

“As you command!”

First, I needed to deal with this rock.

Though currently masking his voice and giant form with perception-blocking magic, if someone—especially Eunha Yu—noticed…

-You teamed up with Azathos? You psycho murderer!

‘Ugh, don’t want to get kidnapped again.’

Claiming I needed to tune my wand, I quickly escaped to the student council room.

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“Comrade, what nonsense is this? You radiate that aura yet refuse devotion to Demon King-nim?”

 

“Yeah, you rock bastard.”

“You deceived me!! Coward!!”

-Kuuuung!

“Kwaaa@#a%ak!”

Using psychokinesis to slam Azathos’ head into the floor instantly K.O.’d him. Thankfully, not all his power had returned.

“I told you from the start I’m not your ally. You stupidly assumed I was because I emit the Demon King’s aura.”

“You…coward…is what I want to say, but you immobilized me despite my restraints… I acknowledge that much.”

“Oh, really? Thought you’d rage and try to kill me.”

“The defeated…must obey the victor. Demon King-nim and Lord Hector would agree. Besides, I exist as your summon now… How could I attack you?”

“Good. You’ll be my joker card against Hector later.”

“…?!”

“What, expect a Magician to swordfight that mad swordsman?”

“Th-that…is logical.”

My interrogation yielded three key points:

1. Azathos didn’t lose control attacking me—he truly felt like part of me, with me holding dominance.

2. Summoning him locks me out of using my new <Crystal Maker(S)> ability.

3. My proficiency with the Demon King’s power… likely stems from Azathos.

‘Well, he’s not rampaging… and despite verbal refusal, he obediently follows orders like a tsundere. Could be worse.’

Honestly, his appearance had vastly improved from the grotesque form in the original.

Now a radiant amethyst knight with a majestic design… except…

“Ugh… Crossing blades with a former comrade… This shames all warriors…”

‘If only he’d shut up, he’d be perfect.’

Maybe I should tape his mouth shut.

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“When did you learn that magic anyway?”

“From a tome Chairman Eve gave me during break. Don’t worry—it’s publicly available in the library, so no special treatment claims.”

“White Force… Now that you mention it, I recall it being high-tier psychokinetic magic from reports.”

After returning to class, I chatted lightly with A-yul Kang until dismissal. Seoyun Lee seemed unwilling to ignore Sinwoo Ryu’s duel challenge, still training at the arena.

-Rustle…!

“Student council election brackets are out!”

“……..!”

“……!!”

At a student’s shout, the entire class rushed out.

Though unconcerned, there was one unwanted scenario. I hurried to check the brackets.

‘No way they’d miraculously pit me against the protagonist in finals, right?’

-Hey, move! Let me see!

-Don’t push my head!

Hopes and fears about opponents flew toward the bracket board.

-Shit, I got the top first-year.

-Teach that junior some manners.

-You know Ryu Sinwoo lost to them, right?!

-Wait, that legendary rookie? Anyway, I’m against them.

-Baek Si-ah? Never heard of her, free win!

Unfortunately, the oblivious second-years remained clueless about their fates.

‘Let’s see… My name…’

And when I finally found it:

Bracket

[Seong Arin] VS [Biyun Hong]

[Yun Se-ah] VS [Seoyun Lee]

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[Ecclesia] VS [Sujin Park]

[Noh Woon-hyun] VS [Eunha Yu]

“Ah.”

Well. Looks like I’d be eliminating a favored candidate right from the start.

‘Who the hell made this bracket?’

………Oh right. I randomized it.