Chapter 51
Chapter 51
Translator: Penny
Chapter 51: Do You Want to Change Your Position?
Episode 51: Want to Transform? [1]
That was a close call.
If I'd been just a second slower, that black liquid would have gone straight into Hong Biyeon's mouth. It was a narrow escape, but at least I'd stopped it.
"You, what are you doing here...?"
"Miss Biyeon, stay quiet over there. You, step forward now."
I used psychokinesis to restrain the panicked Hong Biyeon and glared at the figure watching me from the shadows.
".........."
Thud, thud
The figure who had vanished into the darkness was also trapped behind a psychokinetic barrier. The black silhouette surrendered, raising both arms.
"..........Ha, as expected of Raon's Student Council President."
".......I don't know who you are, but if you surrender now, at least you'll retain your human form."
As I conjured a Gravity Orb and aimed it at him, he lowered one hand to his hood and began to pull it down.
"Of course, our esteemed Student Council President wouldn't even know my name."
When he removed the hood, a male student emerged—a true "Extra 1" type, someone I'd never seen before.
And there he stood, holding a basket filled with the potions Hong Biyeon had been about to drink.
"Were you selling these drugs to students who were eliminated from the tournament?"
Well, we both know the real purpose, but whatever.
A cult worshipping the Seven Demons had come here to expand their influence. They were feeding cadets drugs heavily laced with demonic blood, transforming promising students into Low- to Mid-Grade Demons, while turning those with lesser potential into mere monsters.
What was his name again...? I remember it being really old-fashioned.
"Don't call the Holy Water imbued with the power of the Great Moon a mere drug!" the male student shouted, and I vaguely recalled the name of his organization.
"Ah... was it the Black Moon? Or the Black Moon Cult? Even now, that name sounds so lame."
"It's the Reheln Cult!"
"Ah, right."
Hmm... not even close.
No sooner had I spoken than the male student began gulping down the black liquid from the bottle in his hand.
Clang!
After just one bottle, his demeanor shifted instantly. Seeing this, I issued a final warning to the student, who still had a chance to turn back.
"Are you sure about this? This choice might be irreversible."
"Shut up! This is Holy Water! It's the path to a new world, the elixir of evolution that will make me one of the chosen...!"
With those final words, the male student devoured the glass bottles filled with black liquid. As soon as he emptied the last bottle, an immense surge of Mana erupted from his body.
"I'll show you power condensed several times stronger than that Holy Water in your hand!"
Hmm... should I use the Demonic Eye?
No, if I break the earring again, I'll be in real trouble... Besides,
"Take care of him, Chunshik 2."
"My name is Azathoth, comrade!"
For now, Azathoth, freed from his constraints, was powerful enough to match my full-output form without relying on the Demonic Eye or Mephisto's Remnants. He should be able to handle this.
Leaving the male student to Azathoth, I snatched the black potion from Hong Biyeon's hand.
"Watch closely what happens when you drink this potion."
Hong Biyeon's eyes were wide with terror, but she still seemed to be listening to me, her gaze fixed on the male student.
Crack, crack...
"Kuaaaaaaah, Kuaaaaaaah! Power is overflowing from my entire body...!"
The student had transformed into a grotesque monster, its human form completely gone. It charged at me, wielding a saw-like weapon attached to its tentacle-like arms.
"Ugh, at least you should dodge...!"
"There's no need to move."
Hong Biyeon, already broken, could do nothing. I, too, simply watched the monster's attack.
The reason was simple.
KWAHHHHHHHHH...!!
"Have you forgotten me, my dear? Targeting defenseless women without warning shows your manners have rotted away."
Of course, that attack could never reach me.
Before drinking the potion, the male student had simply regarded Azathoth as a summoned creature under his control. But as the drug amplified his overall abilities, he seemed to finally grasp Azathoth's true power firsthand.
The fact that he instinctively lunged at me and Hong Biyeon instead of Azathoth confirmed my suspicions.
콰아아아앙!
The student, still gripped by the torso, was hurled against the wall. I swiftly deployed a Barrier, containing the sound and preventing further damage.
지이이이이잉...!
Good, it's fully deployed.
"Azathoth, 100% authorization."
"That's more like it!"
Black flames erupted from Azathoth's amethyst sword.
화르르르륵...!!
The amethyst armor, engulfed in black flames, transformed instantly into pitch-black plate armor. Fragments of amethyst and debris from the building clung to the amethyst sword, forming a massive iron mace.
I should have asked for a mace instead of a sword. It suits me much better.
Azathoth's aura began to surge like overflowing lava, resembling a character from an AOS game. The male student, seemingly terrified, lashed out with his tentacles, attempting to strike Azathoth.
"Uwaaaahhh!!! Don't interfere with my plans, with the Reheln Cult's plans!!"
Whoosh!
"Gwaaaahhh! My tentacles!!"
But the attack failed.
"How pathetic. These tentacles can't even restrict my movements. Instead, they're just burning in my flames."
"Wh-what...?! Don't come closer! Don't come any closer!!"
Had he finally realized that the Jewel Knight, whom he had previously dismissed as mere fodder, was actually the most dangerous entity here? The male student, now transformed into a monster, fled in a grotesque panic.
"Perish!"
KWAHHHHHHHHH!
"KAAAAAAAH...!!"
"Too slow. Even realizing your death and collapsing takes too long."
CRACK!
Without hesitation, Azathoth's iron mace crushed the male student's body. The flattened, mangled remains—what had once been a student—lay bleeding black blood as flames erupted around them.
WHOOSH...!!
As expected, they're burning the evidence. Though some might have died from Azathoth's flames as well.
I already knew this from the original story, but it was still a shame I couldn't hand him over to Eve to uncover the mastermind behind this.
Destroying the earring to use the Demonic Eye of Suggestion would inevitably draw Eve's attention... and I'd end up blaming Yu Eun-ha for forcing me into a situation where I had no choice but to destroy it, even though I was the one who unilaterally fled to prevent her from following.
Moreover, many self-destruct spells were triggered by Confession Magic, making it hardly worth risking interrogation.
If I combined the power suppressing Azathoth's magic with my Suggestion, I might be able to interrogate her...
But what would I gain from extracting information? I already knew who had issued this order.
"...What if you had drunk that potion just now? That's what would have happened."
"........."
Thud!
As I released my psychokinesis, Hong Biyeon collapsed to the ground.
Thanks to the Soundproofing Barrier and Azathoth's abilities, only Hong Biyeon and I knew what had just transpired.
"I understand your frustration at losing so humiliatingly."
".......So what? Does that mean you had to stop me from taking the potion?!"
Hong Biyeon glared at me with eyes that weren't exactly resentful, but certainly not friendly. I cut to the chase.
"For now... as Student Council President, I had to stop you. A cadet was about to die right in front of me."
After tucking the potion Hong Biyeon had tried to drink into my pocket, I dismissed Azathoth's summoning and lowered my gaze to the slumped figure before me.
"...........Not bad."
Hong Biyeon had always believed she possessed a natural talent for magic. Since childhood, she had wielded powerful Flame Magic with ease.
However, her talent had bloomed too early, leaving her stagnant. Having long felt superior to children whose abilities hadn't yet manifested, she couldn't bear the realization that those she considered inferior were actually far stronger than herself.
"You were so focused on training, even renting the Training Room until nightfall. You seemed so diligent and dedicated to your practice."
"........How did you know that?"
"It's obvious. Building physical strength wouldn't increase your mana reserves. You're not stupid, are you?"
What's she even doing with strength training? She's not a Striker.
Suddenly, I recalled Hong Biyeon's rampage after consuming the black potion.
Lacking innate talent, Hong Biyeon failed to evolve into a Low-Grade Demon. Instead, she transformed into a Demonic Beast and ambushed Seong Arin.
Naturally, Seong Arin hesitated to attack Hong Biyeon. She attempted to reverse-engineer the crimson flames erupting from Hong Biyeon's body to counterattack, but for some reason, she couldn't reverse the magic. Overwhelmed by the monstrous Hong Biyeon, Seong Arin suffered a fatal blow and collapsed.
Thus, Seong Arin's withdrawal, followed by the defeat of the rampaging Hong Biyeon, became a pivotal episode in the Student Council President Election.
Now, here's a question that's been nagging at me.
Why couldn't Hong Biyeon control her Flame Magic?
Why couldn't Seong Arin reverse-engineer the flames (presumably magic) erupting from Hong Biyeon's monstrous form back then?
I'm curious about that too.
I'd never seen Hong Biyeon's stat window, so I had no idea what her abilities were before she transformed. Now that things had come to this, checking seemed like the right move.
And the words I unconsciously blurted out after seeing Hong Biyeon's stat window were...
"Want to respec?"
"............?"
"Seriously, why did you aspire to be a Magician with stats and skills like this? If I were you, I'd have switched to Defender ages ago..."
It was a veteran player's rapid-fire rant upon seeing a newbie who'd messed up their skill tree.