Chapter 143
Chapter 143
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter Title: The Phrase Becomes Fertilizer and Disappears
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Black river water flows.
A river swarming with magic beasts.
The current violently sweeps through the narrow alleys of the slums, rushing toward the city.
From afar, it looks like an endless torrent of pitch-black water, but whenever waves crash, flashes of red and blue stand out in between.
And in the midst of that raging wave of magic beasts, refusing to be swept away, stands a solitary figure.
That's me. You fucking bastard.
I spat at the familiar phrase that had crawled out after so long.
I have no idea what the intent is, but shoving that line in my face now stirs nothing in me.
The world inside a novel, my ass. My life is the novel. My life itself is nothing but a farce.
If I wrote this down, it'd probably birth the worst pile of drivel in history.
And the title of that drivel would be Acamedy Academy.
#Modern #Fantasy #Dystopia? #Academy (Not Really)
#Comedy.
A laughable, pitiful comedy novel.
I don't know which fucker came up with the title, but since I'm the author scribbling the story and the protagonist, it must be me, goddamn it.
Even if it's a trashy mess I couldn't stomach reading with my eyes open.
No audience to enjoy my ramblings, no reader to slog through my pointless monologues, but still, every story eventually reaches its end.
Even if there's no one cheering my tale on, it's a novel called life.
Whether we want it or not, we're all inevitably chasing a happy ending. Life only comes once, after all.
Someone who bitches that life sucks and drowns themselves in the river for a sudden finale must've chased a happy ending once too.
I'm the same.
Desperately chasing that happy ending.
"Anis, you okay?"
There is someone cheering me on.
"I'm fine."
"...Really?"
"Yeah."
Betty.
She calls herself the sub-protagonist.
Of course, it's just a joke she tosses out for fun, but the fact that she's rooting for me doesn't change.
I flashed Betty a bright smile.
Betty still looked worried somehow.
I turned my head to look ahead.
Before I knew it, nearly all the magic beasts had passed.
The hazy tale was reaching its end. Time to put a clear finishing period on it.
The ending would be a happy one.
That period would be written in Yeriel's blood.
Ah.
But first.
"Let's bury Rena."
"...Huh?"
I turned around.
I had to retrieve Rena's body.
The magic beasts had mostly cleared out, but a few still lingered.
What if those bastards tore into Rena's corpse?
She'd been a mischievous brat with a wicked streak, but it was only right to properly lay a child's body to rest.
"...Rena?"
Betty tilted her head.
"...Anis. Who's Rena?"
I tilted my head too.
"Who? Betty."
She died right in front of us just now.
The kid shot by Han's gun, bleeding out.
"...That refugee girl from back then?"
...Refugee? Right.
Come to think of it, she was among the refugees.
Yeah, that kid.
The one who died with a red hydrangea blooming on her chest.
I had to claim the body before the magic beasts gouged out her eyes.
"...Anis."
Despite my words, Betty just hugged me tight.
"She didn't die today. And not here either."
......Ah.
Right.
Rena getting shot by Han's gun was from a bit ago.
Am I getting worse?
What the hell did I just say?
I burrowed deeper into Betty's embrace, burying my face in her neck.
Her short bob hair, swaying and half-obscuring my view, tickled my nose.
The warmth enveloping my body, the faint milky scent wafting in.
For a moment, I surrendered to the comfort, but when I looked up, Han was gazing down at me with pitiful eyes.
...You fucking prick.
From the start, I utterly despised you.
Even as the barrier shattered, those words circled endlessly in his mind.
Han U-sol clutched his head.
Why?
This shouldn't be.
He'd repeated it to himself a thousand times inwardly, but nothing changed.
Now that she'd rejected him outright, there was no way to save her...
"Hey, Han U-sol!! Raise the barrier again!!"
The voice desperately calling him from amid the crowd snapped him out of it.
He'd thought it was Yoon Na-rin at first since she called him "hey" without reserve, but looking up toward the source, it was Ronel.
She always used polite speech and called him "senpai," but now she was spitting out informal commands like crazy. Things must be dire.
Han U-sol reached toward the sky, and a blue barrier blanketed it once more.
The heroes collectively sighed in relief.
The barrier they'd thought gone had returned, so of course they felt at ease.
He understood the sentiment, but if asked whether it could truly hold back the magic beasts now, Han U-sol was skeptical.
The current barrier was vastly inferior in performance to the previous one.
Raising it again wasn't hard. The issue was restoring it to its near-breaking strength.
That would take a long time to reinforce once more.
And sure enough.
A massive roar echoed soon after, and the fragile barrier vanished without even a chance to crack. The heroes' faces hardened again.
Who broke the barrier? Magic beasts? Demons? Or Anis?
Even Han U-sol couldn't guess what had destroyed it. He only knew a powerful impact had hit, and the barrier couldn't withstand it.
"Everyone, form ranks. We hold the line here against the magic beasts."
Aselrika's calm voice rang out. The heroes drew their weapons one by one.
Words that never should've left her mouth, a blatant rejection he thought impossible, pounded in his ears.
Han U-sol bowed his head. Eyes closed, he stood at a crossroads.
The magic beasts were closing in. She'd come with them.
Aselrika's steady commands, squad leaders clapping to rally the heroes, Ronel snapping at whining soldiers, the clattering of tense young heroes gripping shaky weapons—it all blended into white noise.
Now he had to choose.
What to discard.
A sound far from pleasant.
A span of time—short if short, long if long.
The noise faded.
Han U-sol made his choice.
"All hands, battle stations."
A tone firm yet laced with sorrow.
Han U-sol drew his weapon.
"Looks like they're getting desperate too."
Kahtel muttered. Battle cries echoed from afar.
We'd let the magic beasts go first, following slowly behind. Han in the lead, then Betty and me, with Kahtel at the rear.
A vision of hell.
The battlefield was a slaughterhouse like something out of nightmare.
But contrary to expectations, the hellish carnage applied only to the magic beasts.
They couldn't break through the heroes holding the checkpoint entrance.
Unlike three years ago, sturdy barricades stood ready in case the barrier fell.
The magic beasts couldn't even reach the entrance—they were stopped cold at the barricades.
"Kieeeek!"
The real problem was the one-sided barrage.
Every magic beast hit by bullets collapsed, powerless.
Overwhelming them with numbers wasn't easy. Forcing through had only worked three years ago when Han U-sol lacked his weapon.
Forget magic—bullets infused with holy power poured down relentlessly. The beasts had no way to endure.
Even if a few slipped past the entrance by luck, Han U-sol's barrier blocked ahead.
A hastily erected one, but enough to stop the escapees.
"Tch."
Kahtel's face twisted, a rare sight.
Far too different from expectations.
"Betty, can you drop some magic beasts from above?"
"Uh, well. I've used too much mana today..."
"I see."
I thought he'd come up with some genius plan, but it's Betty's beast drop again.
Three years of slacking—zero growth.
"Then, Anis Harper, you..."
I looked to the sky.
It shifted through colors.
From bright sky blue to sunset orange, deepening to dark maroon, then pure black.
Cycling hues, but no red. Red was the privilege of things below.
Han leading the way was drenched head to toe in crimson.
Blood-soaked, his long hair grew until it touched the ground, staining the earth red where it dragged.
Why was his hair growing?
I wanted to stomp him flat.
"...Tch. Fine."
I ignored his call, lost in thought, so Kahtel clicked his tongue again. Clearly displeased.
"I'll handle it."
Like I'd let you tell me what to do.
So impatient.
"I'll handle it."
Kahtel said, slowly floating into the air.
A small black sphere formed in his palm, steadily expanding.
It soon took the shape of a long spear.
A pitch-black spear evoking the abyss gleamed in his hand.
The heroes firing at the beasts froze, then panicked.
But Kahtel didn't wait.
The spear hurtled toward the barrier and barricade, devouring beasts and dust alike into a storm.
The barricade vanished pointlessly. Meticulously built and tested over three years, swallowed by the black gale.
The black spear pierced past, slamming the barrier.
It shattered with a roar like when I'd broken it earlier.
"Kraaaaaa!!"
"Krrrrr!!"
The beasts seized the gap, charging desperately as if no second chance would come.
The heroes matched them, forming a human wall to buy time for the new barrier.
A tense tug-of-war seesawed on, heroes seemingly winning.
The beasts had expended energy; heroes had attacked safely from afar. Stamina gap inevitable.
Plus, Kahtel's attack had thinned their numbers.
After prolonged struggle, the barrier reformed, sky turning blue.
Relief bloomed on the heroes' faces.
But.
It shattered before fully forming.
"Urk...!?"
Han U-sol gasped at the heavy pain in his chest.
Not a flaw or error. Attacked and destroyed again.
He looked up to see who'd broken it.
Anis was there.
A bit distant.
Yet their eyes met across it.
"......... "
Anis stared silently at Han U-sol for a moment, then glanced at her weapon.
Lapis Lazuli.
The first weapon he'd forged for her.
Its blade snapped clean in half.
She'd smashed the barrier with Lapis Lazuli, breaking both.
"...Anis."
Han U-sol murmured her name softly, but it didn't reach.
She shot him one blank look, then discarded the broken Lapis Lazuli and retreated out of sight.
The halved straight sword tumbled across the ground with a shrill metallic ring.
The magic beasts howled.
The inscription on the blade becomes fertilizer for the ground.