Chapter 60
Chapter 60
Translator: Penny
Episode 60: Rampage [2]
Episode 60: Out of Control (Part 2)
"Whoa?! Black thorns suddenly erupted from the Chairman's body, piercing Cadet Seo Jian's entire body! The game is over in an instant!"
Seo Jian was instantly slammed against the wall, unconscious. The entire audience fell silent.
"Ah... she already had the victory in hand. Why did she choose to blow her head off? It seems she judged that Seo Jian might recover if she hadn't aimed for the head."
Yun Se-a, the Student Council President, had always fought with gentlemanly restraint. This was the first time she had ever finished off an opponent who had already lost the will to fight. As black liquid began to ooze from her body, I grew worried, wondering if she had contracted some kind of disease.
".........!"
Yu Eun-ha swiftly sensed the anomaly.
The black, jewel-like substance erupting from Yun Se-a's body was a telltale sign of her demonic power taking over—the same ominous harbinger that had appeared whenever she lost control and tore through Academy personnel.
KWA-AAAAANG!
"What the hell is that?! Out of nowhere!"
"Is the barrier malfunctioning?!"
A jet-black barrier engulfed the existing one, encasing the two girls like birds in a cage and completely obscuring what was happening inside.
KWA-AAAAAANG!
"If only you weren't here!!!"
"Aaaaaah! Monsters!"
"A Gate has opened?! This doesn't feel like a simulation from the Entrance Test...!"
"Wait a minute... those monsters are wearing Academy uniforms?!"
Meanwhile, in the stands and on the arena floor, cadets who had ingested the Reheln Cult's Holy Water were rampaging, their bodies undergoing grotesque transformations.
"Chairwoman!"
"I'll handle this. Get inside the Black Zone and rescue Se-a!"
Chairwoman Eve had swiftly recognized the anomalies. Knowing that Yu Eun-ha possessed the most information about Yun Se-a, she teleported Eun-ha inside the barrier, ordering her to protect Se-a.
Yu Eun-ha had expected to quickly rescue her sister and then rush to Eve's aid. But she could never have foreseen this situation.
"Hahaha! Unlike before, your swordsmanship has become quite serviceable, hasn't it?"
"Shut up!"
Who would have thought I'd be fighting alongside the very creature that nearly took my life—the monster that almost killed my sister?
"Why don't you just die already? You're annoyingly resilient."
"Hahaha! An attack like that could never claim my life!"
"Is my sister's transformation your fault?"
At first, our teamwork was rough, marked by snappish exchanges...
"No, I sensed my comrade's transformation and tried to save them. I barely managed to wrest control from the sinister force possessing their body and escape. If I'd been even a moment later, I'd be under its control too."
"This is the worst."
Before we knew it, Yu Eun-ha and Azathoth stood back-to-back, surrounded by a writhing sea of black tentacles.
Azathoth's amethyst armor was gradually turning black, his form beginning to shift, but Yu Eun-ha barely noticed.
"Sister..."
The sight of her sister's condition deteriorating in real-time was tearing at Yu Eun-ha's heart.
As she frantically searched for a way to break through the tentacle barrier and reach her sister, Azathoth suddenly charged forward with a deafening roar, smashing through the mass of tentacles.
"Hey, why are you charging in when you were just setting up a defense?!"
"I'll handle this area. You support that shimmering girl. My instincts tell me that the shining sword she wields is the key to saving our comrade."
At that moment, Yu Eun-ha glanced up. She saw Seo Jian soaring through the air toward her sister, sword ablaze with blinding light.
"Hah, not bad for a tin can."
Yu Eun-ha stepped on Azathoth's back and leaped high into the air. Naturally, the black tentacles lunged at her with all their might, desperate to stop her escape.
"Hahaha! Where do you think you're going? If you want to get past me, you'll have to go through Azathoth himself!"
KWAOOOOOOOONG!!!!
"Vanish!"
Azathoth seized all the tentacles, wielding them like a colossal whip. He began manipulating every tentacle in the space with effortless mastery.
Every time Yu Eun-ha fell short of a step, Azathoth would move or hurl fragments of tentacles to create footholds for her, allowing her to close the distance to Seo Jian, who was charging alone toward the Black Hand.
Although Azathoth controlled most of the tentacles, he couldn't reach the ones emerging from the ceiling. As Yu Eun-ha sliced through a black tentacle aiming for Seo Jian's back, she realized that Seo Jian's sword hadn't fully awakened yet.
"Seo Jian! Just keep cutting through the Black Hand!"
"But... it didn't work just now..."
"Swing when the sword glows! Pour all your mana into it!"
The weapon Yu Eun-ha handed to Seo Jian was the sword she had primarily used throughout countless regressions, before Baek Sia forged the Holy Sword for her.
A decisive weapon capable of unleashing immense power depending on the user's mana, it boasted overwhelming performance in battles against demons and monsters.
However, Seo Jian remained unaware of this fact. To ensure she could swiftly sever the hand controlling Yun Se-a, Yu Eun-ha grabbed Seo Jian by the collar and hurled her forward with all her might.
"You don't need to cut anything else—just sever the hand!"
"Got it!"
The Black Hand thrashed desperately, unleashing all its tentacles to block Seo Jian's sword swing. But none of those tentacles would ever reach her.
"Gah...!"
"Eun-ha?!"
"Cut it off quickly! Don't worry about me!"
Despite the excruciating pain that felt like her entire body was shattering, Yu Eun-ha's eyes remained fixed on Yun Se-a.
Watching Yun Se-a weep black tears as she transformed into something inhuman, Yu Eun-ha turned to Seo Jian and prayed fervently.
Please, don't take my sister away from me.
Please, help Seo Jian save her.
Please, let me see my sister's smiling face again, unharmed.
Then, the sound of something being severed filled the air...
"Chairman! Snap out of it!"
Seeing Seo Jian awkwardly cradling Yun Se-a, who had returned to normal but still looked unwell, Yu Eun-ha breathed a sigh of relief, believing the immediate crisis had passed.
Clang, clang!
"...I entrust my comrade to you."
The familiar sound of clanking armor echoed from behind. It was Azathoth.
"I would have done so even if you hadn't asked."
"Is that so? Then I'll take my leave now. My presence here would only dilute my comrade's strength."
With those words, Azathoth slowly began to revert to his original form and fade away. Yu Eun-ha, who had sworn her pride would never allow her to say these words, found herself forced to speak.
"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to save my sister. So... th-th-thank you..."
Crash!
"...Yeah, just hurry up and get lost."
Little did she know that the words she failed to utter would linger in the void.
My head was spinning.
I distinctly remembered the Black Hand restraining my entire body, the suffocating grip around my neck as I lost consciousness...
"Chairman, wake up!"
What happened to Seo Jian? Why is she so badly injured?
The sight of Seo Jian, covered in wounds from head to toe, staring at me, was the first shock.
"Ah... aah... aah..."
Then, realizing I couldn't even speak properly, came the second shock.
Finally... the unbearable, searing pain in my eyes delivered the third.
It was a crucible of chaos and destruction.
Yu Eun-ha mentioned last time that the burning pain was the worst...
Could I have done something while I was unconscious?
"Ugh... Jian, just... wait a moment..."
"Ah, yes."
Seo Jian waved her hand, reassuring me that she was fine, and then awkwardly set me down, seemingly embarrassed.
My right eye had been burning like a hot iron since earlier, and I needed to find out what was going on.
When I saw my reflection in the crystal shard I had created...
"...Huh?"
I was speechless.
I'm sure I don't remember using Mephisto's Remnants...
My reflection was monstrous, like a demon—the whites of my eyes had turned completely black, a grotesque sight.
What the hell is going on? And why is the sky like this again?
The ceiling was pitch black, like staring into a dark void. I knew the barrier was in place, but... had it always been this dark?
Black sky...
It sounded familiar, but I couldn't quite place it. It probably wasn't important, so I decided to stop dwelling on it.
Crack! Crunch!
"Oh, looks like you've regained consciousness."
"Azathoth?!"
That mad bastard...!
If Yu Eun-ha saw me like this, she wouldn't let me die peacefully...!
Even though it was just Azathoth's helmet that had materialized, not his full form, Yu Eun-ha would quickly recognize it for what it was.
I had no idea what possessed that insane rockhead to show up here, but I had to quickly shove Azathoth back inside before Yu Eun-ha saw him.
Throbbing...!
"Ugh..."
"C-Chairman!"
"Comrade, are you alright?"
No matter how much my thigh throbbed, I had to speak. Judging by the sensation, this black sky would likely last only five to ten minutes.
"Forget comrades! Just hurry inside before Eun-ha sees this...!"
First, I needed to deal with that Azathoth bastard...
"Ah, that's alright!"
"What?"
What's he talking about?
Was there some other way to resolve this situation besides what was happening to me?
"It's already been taken care of."
"...You'd better explain yourself properly."
...Ah.
Seriously, what on earth is going on here?
"And that's how it happened."
"...I see."
If Seo Jian were to learn that Yu Eun-ha had tortured me, resulting in my body being torn in half, the bright, hopeful, and cheerful Academy story would instantly devolve into a dark and despairing tale. That's why I asked Azathoth to isolate Seo Jian in a remote location.
"I'm so sorry... because of me..."
Initially, Yu Eun-ha had interrogated me relentlessly. But after realizing the truth, she was consumed by self-loathing and began clutching her face in despair.
...
Wordlessly, I embraced her.
When I was a man, I could have pressed our faces close together. But thanks to the Mana Pouch, that was no longer possible.
Still, seeing Yu Eun-ha clinging to me, practically burying herself in my Mana Pouch... maybe things weren't so bad after all.
"It was unavoidable, right? Miss Eun-ha trusts me now. And A-Chunshik—no, Azathoth—he listens to me quite well. I should just think of him as a bodyguard who'll protect me in emergencies."
"But... but...!"
"I'm fine, Miss Eun-ha. You don't need to be hurt or upset by my injuries."
As I comforted Yu Eun-ha, who was sobbing uncontrollably, the dark sky slowly began to crumble.
Crackle... crackle... crackle... crackle... crackle...!!
When the darkness receded, we were greeted by the chaotic scene of the ruined spectator stands.
"Kwoooaaarrrr!!"
"Where do you think you're going? Stay put!"
I was certain that capturing the male student who had given Hong Biyeon the black potion would prevent any further rampages. Yet, for some reason, students were still... no, had been rampaging.
Clang... Clang!
"Grrr... GRAAAH!"
"I was worried when you went into that ominous space."
The sound of dragging chains drew closer. I knew this person well.
"Thank you, Ms. Andrea."
"No, I should be thanking you. If it weren't for the potion you gave me back then, I wouldn't be here now."
She was the hero known as the One-Person Army, the strongest hero in the United States, and the world's greatest Defender—Thomas Andrea. She had subdued all the rampaging students without causing a single injury.
Thanks to Thomas Andrea, the riot seemed to be over without any major incidents.