Chapter 56
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: 25. Wilderness Festival
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Swish.
"Whew."
The shattered remnants of the orb scattered like sand, drifting down to the floor.
The man who had been staring down at them blankly—Professor Aria—raised his head with a creak.
At the end of his gaze was the figure right in front of him, grinning ear to ear for some reason.
He glared at them with murderous intent.
"Aren't you looking at me a bit too scarily?"
If killing intent alone could kill, that damned bastard leisurely standing there would have been torn to shreds and vanished long ago.
"...Do you even know what you've just done?"
Professor Aria's voice dropped low.
The air in the room, already messed up from the magic, rapidly cooled.
Killing intent that went beyond mere hostility now openly surged, fierce and unmasked.
"Of course... I know exactly."
"You knew and did it anyway?"
As if asking what was so surprising about it,
I shrugged casually, feigning nonchalance.
"Can't have our upcoming conversation leaking out. Thanks to that, we can chat nice and cozy, but instead of thanks, you're getting mad."
"Cozy chat? Heh heh heh..."
Aria let out a hollow laugh, as if it was absurd, then paused.
His shaking shoulders stilled, and his eyes gleamed coldly.
"Fine. Good."
Gritting his teeth, he gripped the staff resting on the bookshelf tighter.
"If that's what you want, I'll play along as much as you like. But the price will be your life."
Ha ha. Scary stuff.
"If you take my life, what about the Dark Grimoire I have?"
"Doesn't matter. I'll kill you and read the memories from your corpse."
Oh boy. Playing hardball, huh.
'Suits me fine.'
Things had gone this far anyway; a clean end was never on the table from the start.
I clicked my tongue briefly at him, his eyes gleaming with madness, and scanned the surroundings.
The trashed lab.
Smashed desk, torn sofa, traces of magic everywhere.
"You've come this far, so maybe that's fine. Let's say killing me is off the table."
Not that I had any intention of letting him, not even a speck.
But for argument's sake.
Before that, I had a purely curious question.
"How do you plan to clean this mess up? You used magic loud enough to hear outside."
"The academy's big, sure, but they won't just ignore this racket."
This was an academy for teaching students, after all.
Full of powerhouses on par with Professor Aria.
And yet.
In the main building, swarming with people,
blasting magic wildly in a personal lab? Thinking no one would notice?
Or did he have some ace up his sleeve?
"...Pointless worry. This place has a barrier—completely cut off from the outside."
"Meaning, whether you scream here or your bones crunch, no one will know."
Professor Aria smirked triumphantly and aimed his staff at me.
'That's why he went wild so freely.'
Made sense now. Even in a rage, rampaging like this in the heart of the academy hadn't added up.
He expected despair at those words, but
unfortunately, it actually lightened my mood.
"Choosing death over the easy path. Pathetic."
"Tell me about it."
I agreed with his mutter,
and his brow furrowed in distaste.
"...Well, born that way, can't be helped."
Whoosh!
As Aria sneered and drew up his mana,
dozens of red mana orbs floated in the room, asserting their presence.
No escape anywhere.
In this silent death sentence,
"Lucky for me."
"...What?"
"No one knowing means I can do whatever here."
"Talking big to the end, you arrogant brat...!"
Flash!
No sooner had the words left than a blinding light burst from his staff tip.
The dozens of orbs in the air shot toward me without a single miss.
A barrage impossible for a normal mage due to chant time.
Prepped memorize magic, no doubt, but its power was real regardless.
Professor title earned fair and square, I thought,
as
'Black King Style Swordsmanship: Fluid Evasion.'
my body was already in motion.
Through the trajectories of orbs that would burn flesh and melt bone on touch,
I slipped like a fish swimming through a needle's eye, gliding forward.
Boom boom boom!
Explosions chased behind, crumbling the lab wall and scattering debris, but I emerged unscathed.
"You picked the wrong opponent."
The orbs hovered like his limbs, chasing wherever he willed, relentlessly.
But they never touched me, the target.
"Tch... scurrying like a rat!"
This couldn't be.
Impossible situation.
The opponent was just a student.
Compared to that, who was he?
A professor handling core subjects at the academy.
Even an S-class talent shouldn't make this possible.
Couldn't comprehend or explain it.
His mind rang alarms nonstop, but
"You should've run when I took the orb."
Too late for that now.
As I closed in instantly, he desperately swung his staff, unleashing a shockwave.
Bam!
"Gah... urk!"
But a beat faster, a heavy blow sank into his solar plexus.
His body slammed into the lab wall amid a pained scream.
Dust billowed.
The fallen professor glared at me, face twisted in agony.
"Y-You monster...!"
He tried staggering up through the pain, but I gave no such opening.
I closed the gap in a flash, grabbed his collar, and hoisted him up.
"Monster? You're too kind."
That instant, my fist swung toward his face, cleaving the air.
Bam!
No time for groans.
A savage thud echoed.
Like swinging a demolition hammer, I mused,
as
"Gaaah...!"
blood and flesh exploded outward.
Aria had survived all sorts of battles.
He figured against peers, he was ahead or at least not lacking in fights or pain tolerance.
But this pain—what was it?
"Urk... gah...!"
One strike,
yet the agony racing through every nerve threatened to blank his mind.
"Kuhk... kehk...!"
Blood filled his mouth, choking him.
He fought to stay conscious, but his head was already white.
What... what was this guy?
Evan Dreadnote—no, this monster—
looked down at him expressionlessly, like swatting a pesky bug.
"Should've held back a bit."
He was the centerpiece of an early main event, after all.
Didn't expect him to drop this easily.
'Weird. He was such a pain against Iris.'
A few hits and he's puking blood? Really.
I tilted my head, checking the professor's mangled face.
Utterly wrecked; even looking made my eyes squint.
Too easy; I was inwardly flustered.
"More? Or give up?"
"You son of a...!"
"...Can't make it out. Teeth gone?"
Should've spared the teeth if I knew.
Too late for regrets; I shook my head.
"Whatever. Don't need to hear it anyway."
I tightened my grip on his collar; he couldn't even stand properly.
"Now, time to wrap this up?"
Wrap up.
End it—that word shook his eyes.
Primal fear of death consuming him, no doubt.
Unfortunately, no killing yet.
He still needed to live.
At least until the main event.
'Wilderness Festival. Keep him alive till then.'
"Don't panic. Not killing you yet."
"H-Huh... hngh!"
"Told you, can't understand."
Thrashing like a madman, I held him with one hand.
With the other, I gripped his head.
Well, gripped isn't quite right. More like...
Whumm.
"H-Help... h-help!"
"Stay still. It'll sting a little."
"H-Help...!"
Dark crimson light poured from the ring,
and my fingers pierced his scalp, burrowing slowly.
Crunch.
Unpleasant tearing sound,
red blood trickled down his forehead,
but I calmly worked, using his fear-twisted face as scenery.
Anyone seeing would think me insane.
Or puke and run.
Might even yell, "Kill cleanly if you must—what's this?"
But that's a firm misunderstanding.
I said it already: no killing yet.
"Hear me?"
"Hngh..."
Memory manipulation.
Direct soul interference to distort and alter memories.
As gruesome as the process sounds, it scrambles the brain with horrific pain.
Naturally, this black magic was forbidden, never to be used.
'Thanks for the barrier; makes it easy. Kinda grateful.'
"Almost done. Hang in there."
No strength to reply, it seemed.
Drooling, eyes rolled back—I soothed him to keep from dying,
while kneading Professor Aria's brain, tweaking his memory circuits bit by bit.
Today's events? Never happened.
Or rather, overwritten with a different version.
You sensed the Dark Grimoire's aura, called Evan, he passed your test, agreed, cooperated.
This shackle on his arm? Safety device to prevent betrayal.
"Done."
Splat.
Like a perfect puzzle, the altered memories settled in.
He'd clean the trashed room himself; no need to worry.
Left was...
"Hngh..."
"Ew. Grotesque."
...fixing that ragdoll look.
Professor Aria on the floor resembled a sprawled hunk of meat.
Blood-smeared face unrecognizable; breathing barely there.
"Anyone'd think he's dead."
I tsked, fiddling with the Black King's Ring.
Not specialized in healing,
but black magic had a spell forcibly infusing life force to regenerate flesh.
Far more painful than normal healing, with side effects, but...
'Not my problem.'
Just a disposable tool.
No need to baby him.
Whumm.
Crack! Crack! Creak!
Dark crimson energy flowed from my hand, enveloping the professor's body.
Torn flesh and fallen teeth knit back; broken bones clicked into place.
"K-Kuh... urk!"
I impassively watched him groan in unconscious pain, finishing up.
No need for perfect healing. Just enough to look normal.
Soon, the gruesome wounds scarred over; I stood.
"That'll do."
Final check on the unconscious professor,
then I left the lab without a backward glance.