Chapter 59
Chapter 59
Translator: Penny
Episode 59: Rampage [1]
Episode 59: Rampage [1]
(Announcement)
After carefully reviewing Episode 58, "Finals [End]," due to reader discomfort, I realized the plot felt forced. I've significantly revised the episode, removing unnecessary parts and streamlining the narrative. As always, feedback is welcome. If you notice any inconsistencies or errors, please leave a comment.
Seo Jian wasn't born exceptionally strong. However, she possessed a peculiar ability to resolve any crisis that came her way. This allowed her to enter the Academy without difficulty and make good friends.
I entered the Student Council President Election wondering how strong the participants would be. As expected, I couldn't find an opponent strong enough to make me use my full power in the early rounds.
But in the semifinals, after defeating opponent after opponent, Seong Arin finally met someone who forced her to unleash her full potential.
Kang A-yul, the Vice President of the current Student Council, was the granddaughter of S-Rank Hero Kang Jin-myeong and, like her grandfather, possessed the Sword Saint's Blessing.
After that final, life-or-death clash with her, I felt more satisfied than I had in nearly a year.
For almost a year, I had been so excited that I couldn't even sleep properly.
If someone as strong as her was the Vice President, how powerful must Yun Se-a, the current Student Council President, be?
Yun Se-a, the person I had briefly met during the tournament.
The prickly Yu Eun-ha, calling someone "Sister" with such familiarity.
During her duel with Seong Arin, Seo Jian had almost been disappointed when it seemed Yu Eun-ha was trying to eliminate Arin using the same methods Arin had used against her. But seeing Yu Eun-ha instead use the opportunity to grow to the next level only heightened her expectations.
Could I also grow to the next level like that? she wondered.
And then, the final match finally arrived.
Seo Jian found herself more than satisfied.
As a Magician, she hadn't expected such a tense close-quarters battle. Yet Yu Eun-ha had initiated a high-level melee first.
Though Yu Eun-ha's eyes seemed dark, as if she hadn't slept all night, and there was a faint metallic scent of blood, perhaps from a nosebleed... none of that mattered.
The match with her had been incredibly exhilarating.
Her body moved with far greater agility than usual, and she felt as if she could predict every move and action of her opponent.
Initially, she was being relentlessly beaten, but as time passed, she managed to keep up with her opponent's movements and even land successful counterattacks.
Could it be that I've finally overcome the wall I've always struggled to break through during training? Seo Jian wondered.
I want to grow more, just a little more...
Yet, Yun Se-a's close-quarters combat, which had filled her with such exhilaration before the duel, now felt somehow lacking, as if always falling just short.
It was like fighting a child with a gun—as if Yun Se-a hadn't fully grasped her own power, or as if her body couldn't withstand her abilities.
Despite everything, Seo Jian was thrilled to finally unleash her full power.
Mid-match, she had nearly been hurled out of bounds by Yun Se-a's psychokinesis, but her own abilities allowed her to withstand the force. Seizing the opportunity, she kicked the defenseless Yun Se-a to the ground.
Flush with the satisfaction of having grown stronger, Seo Jian prepared her finishing move to end the match.
Suddenly, her expression twisted into a grimace.
And... in that instant, Seo Jian's mind went blank.
When she regained consciousness, the sight that greeted her was...
Crystals embedded in her body, and Yun Se-a charging a psychokinetic orb aimed at her head.
Boom!
Seo Jian was instantly slammed against the wall. Instinctively, she groped at her body.
"Haaah...!"
Black crystals had erupted from the ground, piercing her body. Before she could even groan in pain, her head had been blown off.
In that instant, she knew: if that strike had been real, she would have died.
And she could see:
Yun Se-a, suspended in the air like a puppet controlled by an ominous black hand, needles piercing her body...
Whoosh!
Something black was engulfing the barrier.
Black, sewage-like tendrils slowly crawled up the barrier, until the entire structure was completely covered by the darkness.
Fortunately, the crystal shards scattered nearby seemed to possess a light-emitting property, preventing Seo Jian from losing her vision.
".........."
Watching Yun Se-a stare at her blankly, muttering incoherently without moving or speaking, Seo Jian quickly tried to assess the situation.
"Ch-Chairman, snap out of it..."
Thwack!
"Gah...!"
But Seo Jian, failing to fully grasp Yun Se-a's condition, let her guard down.
KABOOM!
"Ugh... Aaaah!"
As Seo Jian was slammed against the wall, spitting blood, Yun Se-a charged toward her.
Seo Jian scrambled to regain her footing and maintain a combat stance, but before she could react, Yun Se-a was already right in front of her, as if she had teleported.
Crack...!
"Gah?!"
Before she could even register Yun Se-a's attack, Seo Jian instinctively twisted her body, sensing her arm about to be torn off. The impact hit her like a hammer blow.
The pain of her arm bending at an unnatural angle nearly made her lose consciousness, but she managed to stagger to her feet.
A quick assessment revealed her right arm was completely shattered, while her left leg was barely intact, teetering on the brink of collapse.
Seo Jian's condition was critical.
Her limbs had already stopped responding, and the recent attack seemed to have carried a potent curse or poison. Even her vision began to blur.
Just moments ago, after witnessing Yun Se-a's combat skills, Seo Jian had dismissed her as a "child with a gun." But the figure before her now... she realized she was facing a professional assassin, armed to the teeth and dangerously poised.
Shriiiiiiing!
".........!"
At that moment, realizing she couldn't block the shards of crystal hurtling toward her, she squeezed her eyes shut.
"...Huh?"
Nothing happened.
"...Are you okay?"
"Eun-ha?"
The sword-wielding girl had intercepted the ominous attack in her place.
Boom! Crash!
"First, drink this quickly."
"Ah, okay."
Gulp, gulp, gulp
The precious potion instantly restored her shattered body to its original state.
"Eun-ha, this... how much did it cost?"
"Enough with the jokes. We need to stop Sister first. See that black hand over there?"
Yu Eun-ha raised her sword, pointing toward something. A black hand controlling the threads piercing Yun Se-a's body became visible.
"Yeah, I see it clearly now."
"We have to destroy that first, before Sister deteriorates any further."
"Do you know what that is?"
"........."
Yu Eun-ha remained silent. Seo Jian sensed that no matter how many times she asked, Eun-ha wouldn't answer this question.
Yu Eun-ha's body began to retreat further, as if continuously slashing at the black hands was becoming increasingly difficult.
"I'll tell you someday. But... I can't say right now."
Exhausted and speaking with a strained voice, Yu Eun-ha was at her limit. Seo Jian moved to her side.
"Alright, if you promise to tell me someday, I'll let it go for now."
With that, the two girls charged toward the massive "something" looming before them.
Every moment was fraught with danger.
The lethal energy cannon that had nearly blown her head off earlier fired every four seconds, and even cutting down the black hands constantly descending from the mysterious Black Dome Barrier proved impossible.
"Seo Jian!"
Yu Eun-ha gripped the sword she had given Seo Jian during the Entrance Test. Seo Jian ran and ran.
Countless black tentacles descended to block her path, but they were all hands caught within Yu Eun-ha's sword's trajectory.
"Haaah-!"
"Eun-ha, you seem even stronger than before!"
"Just smash those hands!"
"Got it!"
Before the severed hand could revert to shadow, Seo Jian stepped over its remains and leaped into the air, gripping the sword hilt tightly as she recalled her master's teachings.
"Hold the sword like this, and when you swing..."
"Aim precisely at your target and swing with all your might!"
콰아아아아아앙!
The moderately sized one-handed sword suddenly transformed into a massive greatsword.
"...?!"
Startled by the sudden change, Seo Jian quickly regained her composure with Yu Eun-ha's support and charged at the black hand.
"Haaah!"
Seo Jian swung the greatsword with all her strength, but...
Whoosh
"...Huh?"
No matter how hard she tried, the black hand remained unscathed.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
"Why... why won't it cut?!"
Just as Seo Jian was about to lose her composure from the frustrating sensation of her blade repeatedly slicing through empty air, as if cutting through steam—
KWAANG!
"Aaaah!"
"Ugh...!"
A black hand erupted from the ground, its dark tentacles seizing Seo Jian and Yu Eun-ha's entire bodies before slamming them into the ground with brutal force. The two screamed as they were hurled through the air.
In the process, Seo Jian and Yu Eun-ha dropped all their weapons. Helpless against the approaching black tentacles, they could only watch as the tendrils closed in...
"Let go... Aaaah!"
"Eun-ha, are you okay...? Ugh...!"
The black tentacles tightened around them, crushing their bodies as if to shatter them completely.
"Ugh... Damn it, if this keeps up..."
As her vision blurred, Yu Eun-ha stood on the brink of true death, facing a fate beyond the Barrier.
"Barely escaped, but it seems the situation isn't good?"
Swish
A voice echoed from somewhere, instantly slicing through the black tentacles. Yu Eun-ha and Seo Jian finally had a moment to breathe.
"Get up. You're not going to show me that ugly side of yourself again, are you?"
"Cough, cough... You...!"
Though her vision was still hazy, Seo Jian recognized Yu Eun-ha's voice. Sensing that this person might not be an ally, she quickly looked up, but all she could see was...
"Why are you here?! Don't tell me you're the one who did this to my sister!"
"Ah, rest assured. At least in this situation, I have no intention of being hostile to you. I, too, want to find my comrades first."
The amethyst-armored knight and Yu Eun-ha were locked in a heated exchange.
Judging by their conversation, their relationship didn't seem amicable. But after enduring several attacks from the black hand...
"I still haven't forgiven you, Azathoth...! You need to confess why you're alive and why you caused this to my sister."
"Enough with the petty grievances! They're coming!"
Whoosh!
Watching the two sweep through the enemy ranks in an instant, Seo Jian gripped her sword, which had lost its glow once more.
But as Seo Jian pondered what she could do, unable to sever her own hand...
Drip, drip...!
"..........!!"
The moment she saw black tears falling from Yun Se-a's face, manipulated like a puppet, Seo Jian vowed:
"...I will save you, no matter what."
Without a second thought, Seo Jian charged forward, following the two who had already rushed ahead.