Chapter 31
Chapter 31
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Terrifying Nightmare
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“…No way.”
Carnel muttered unconsciously.
“You killed it…?”
The crimson beast, no less.
Of course, to her, the crimson beast was tricky but not an unbeatable foe.
But that was only possible for Carnel.
This situation right now…
“A mere freshman…”
From F Class, no less.
The lowest-ranked student.
The one no one even had expectations for… had taken down a crimson beast.
“How in the world…”
Carnel looked down at Adel cradled in her arms.
Wearing a white mask, bleeding profusely, having lost consciousness.
“Ha… So that’s why you wanted to team up with Klaus?”
Carnel tugged at Adel’s blood-matted hair.
“Clever kid.”
And then.
“President…! What about Adel?”
Klaus rushed over, hurriedly sheathing his sword.
“He’s fine.”
“B-But… he’s bleeding that much.”
“…he won’t die.”
“Aha ha…”
Klaus forced a smile, his lips twitching.
“And you… are you okay?”
“Me? I think I’m fine?”
Carnel let out an incredulous chuckle.
A mere freshman takes down a crimson beast and acts like it’s nothing.
- Grrrumble…
…A bubbling sound.
The sound of flesh and blood churning together.
“…!”
“…What?!”
The crimson beast twitched in the pool of blood.
“President! Get back, I’ll…!”
Klaus drew his sword again, but.
- Thud.
“Huh…?”
Klaus’s knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground.
“Urk…”
Only then did Carnel nod.
Yes, that was normal.
No matter how skilled, no one could take down a crimson beast and come out unscathed.
Surviving this long was practically a miracle.
Carnel carefully laid Adel on the ground and walked toward the beast.
Gathering mana at her fingertips.
‘…Fire works on it.’
Just like Adel had shown.
Even if it reflected magic, it couldn’t block flames spreading from all directions.
And just as the magic circle was nearly complete.
- Grab.
“…?”
Someone grasped her shoulder.
“That’s far enough.”
Delphine.
Her hand gripped Carnel’s shoulder.
“Students should stay back.”
- Snap.
Delphine flicked her fingers.
“This place is.”
《Fire / Supreme Magic》
“The professors’ domain.”
「Crimson Supergiant」
In a blinding flash of light, a sun bloomed.
***
- Whoosh…
The heat blooming from the sun incinerated the dog-like beast… flesh and bones alike, reducing it to nothing.
All that remained was a handful of charred ash.
“For now… everyone seems to be safe.”
Delphine glanced sideways at Adel, who was receiving treatment from Lev.
“…Everyone except Adel, that is.”
He was lying there covered in blood.
Delphine frowned briefly, then manipulated the students’ brooches.
“He’ll need some rest for the time being. As for this incident… the headmaster will summon him personally if necessary.”
- Whirr.
A portal opened, and the remaining students exited the sub-space one by one.
A moment later.
“Delphine, what about the students?”
Professor Alberto arrived late.
“I just sent them all out.”
Alberto looked at the ashen trees and spoke.
“…What happened here?”
“A crimson beast appeared.”
“A crimson beast?”
“Yes.”
“We adjusted it so only blue beasts would appear in the sub-space…”
“Looks like external interference.”
“…The headmaster’s going to be furious.”
“She already is.”
“Hmm…”
Clearing his throat awkwardly, Professor Alberto asked cautiously.
“So… you took care of the crimson beast?”
“No, I just finished it off.”
“Just finished it off?”
“Yes. The students set the table, and I just added the spoon.”
“…Carnelia did it?”
“No, to begin with… it was a blood hound.”
“A blood hound? Then how?”
“Seems like… Adel pulled it off.”
“The top seat?”
“Yes.”
Delphine closed her eyes briefly.
The image in his mind was Adel collapsed, bleeding.
But those wounds weren’t from the blood hound.
They were traces of self-destruction… from within his body.
“Self-inflicted injuries from being crushed by his own power, not someone else’s.”
“…”
“The price for felling the blood hound was that harsh.”
“Ha… Even so, a single freshman taking down a blood hound.”
“That single freshman is the top seat the headmaster personally chose, isn’t he?”
“…True.”
“And Adel didn’t do it alone.”
“…There’s more?”
“Yes.”
“Ha… Well.”
“This year’s freshmen… they’re full of promise.”
Professor Alberto let out a small sigh of admiration.
Then, as if remembering something, he looked at Delphine and added.
“…Delphine. Wasn’t this your first year teaching?”
“…Don’t jinx it, Professor Alberto.”
***
―[Ending 17: Wrath.]
―The fragments of wrath ultimately burned the world.
Some took up swords to stop the end, while others closed their eyes, accepting it.
…Familiar text.
The inevitable endpoint of every simulation.
―[Ending 18: A Handful of Peace.]
―The protagonist fled and watched the burning world from afar.
Those not saved wailed and crumbled.
The world remained silent even as it burned.
That peace was false.
Literally, just a handful.
A meaningless sense of relief granted solely for surviving.
And the records of failure repeating again.
―[Ending 19: The Space Mage.]
―The protagonist was defeated by the 「Space Mage」.
Spatial distortion flipped the battlefield in an instant, sealing all possibilities.
No method, no decision could change the outcome: defeat.
…He remembered Klaus’s endings.
The worlds of failure the protagonist had endured countless times.
Endings where the sword broke, words were lost, convictions betrayed.
‘Why…’
A thudding question echoed in his mind.
―[Ending 17: Wrath’s Return.]
―[Ending 18: A Handful of Peace.]
―[Ending 19: The Space Mage.]
Scripts of defeat that wouldn’t fade even in his unconscious.
‘Why… is it showing me these endings?’
Events that hadn’t happened yet.
Developments he hadn’t faced.
‘A precognitive dream?’
Only after laying bare his inner thoughts did he realize.
Ah, this is a dream.
He was surprisingly calm.
‘Feels hazy.’
His mind was foggy, reality blurred.
‘Because it’s a dream, I guess.’
His consciousness felt alien yet sharp, like walking on clouds, floating.
‘Alright, let’s think.’
If it’s a dream, why now, at this timing?
Why this content?
The reason for this sudden dream…
‘Fear of the future?’
Was he feeling anxiety over the path walked so far?
Or… the outburst of delusions piled up inside?
Perhaps the unconscious’s final warning?
‘……’
Thoughts spiraled endlessly.
Even in the dream, he began calmly analyzing.
Questions overlooked in reality.
Endings he’d always avoided.
Dreams sometimes speak truth.
‘…The Space Mage.’
Klaus’s first calamity.
But not a fatal one.
With Klaus’s current skill… he’d struggle a bit, but could win somehow.
So, ultimately, Klaus wasn’t the problem.
‘……’
Then the remaining one.
The problem is me.
‘…’
His arm was trembling.
He knew why.
Fear.
- Grab.
He gripped his trembling arm himself.
Those fingertips were ice-cold.
‘To think I fought a blood hound with this…’
The crimson beast.
Even before that overwhelming presence, he’d thrown himself in.
Despite the terror of possible death.
Yet now, mere imagination made him shake this much.
‘It couldn’t be helped.’
Klaus could’ve died then.
The moment Klaus dies, this world ends too.
Knowing that, he had to fight.
‘…’
He lifted his head. And faced it.
That familiar mask, smiling yet not smiling.
The embodiment of loathsome yet great will, enduring while swallowing blood.
‘Don’t forget.’
What all this pain was for.
Drip…
Blood flowed from every crevice of the mask.
‘If Klaus dies…’
…Next is me.
***
“Violet, do you know about the monster called Pikachyu?”
“Pikachyu? What’s that?”
“Heh… It’s a hamster that shoots a million volts.”
“Oh… I see.”
Violet was instantly convinced.
The shock of Adel’s injury had badly damaged Carnel’s head.
Very, very badly.
“A million volts from that tiny body… Incredible. It’s a top-tier thunder-wielder!”
Carnel raised both arms dramatically, her face unusually serious.
“So… when that Pikachyu sees an enemy, it just zaps them?”
“Of course. It warns with ‘Pika, pika,’ then ‘Chu!’ and strikes down.”
Carnel added surprisingly detailed descriptions, waving her hand in the air to mimic Pikachyu’s lightning.
“Yeah, yeah. The million-volt hamster goes ‘pika’ and ‘chu!’ to attack.”
“That’s right.”
“…You’re really not hurt?”
“…Zero points!”
Carnel puffed her cheeks and turned away sharply.
Violet stared at her in bewilderment.
“…You’re really okay, right?”
Violet lightly touched Carnel’s forehead.
“No fever… Still, maybe you should get some physical therapy just in case?”
Violet seriously considered kneading Carnel’s brain.
“Not knowing Pikachyu means you’re ignorant, Violet.”
“That’s because it’s your made-up Pikachyu.”
“Hey…! What rudeness! Adel knows about Pikachyu too!”
There’s the culprit.
Violet was certain in an instant.
“The electric energy in those chubby cheeks! Pshoo, zap! Pure art!”
“…You’re really badly hurt.”
Violet finally approached Adel on the sickbed and clung desperately.
“Bro… wake up soon… Carnel’s gone mad…!!”
Flinch.
“Huh?”
“?”
Rustle.
Adel slowly raised his upper body.
As if just waking from a dream, blinking and looking around.
His golden eyes scanned the two faces alternately.
“Bro!”
“Pi-Pikachyu!!”
Adel awoke from a nightmare of a dream, only to face another nightmare of reality.