Chapter 71: Isn’t Travel in Academy Stories Always Like This? (8)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 71: Isn’t Travel in Academy Stories Always Like This? (8)
Their individual skills were exceptional, and their relentless onslaught seemed threatening, but it was an empty shell lacking substance.
Since they had never practiced together, proper coordination was out of the question. Consumed by emotion and failing to consider one another, they were merely tripping over each other’s feet.
Adding one to another doesn’t always result in two.
Depending on their skill and synergy, a pincer attack could become ten or a hundred instead of two. Conversely, if they were completely out of sync, it could be worse than not attacking at all.
[A mess.]
The moment I lightly stepped aside to dodge Cathy’s punch lunging from the front, Ha-ni’s sword swung toward Professor Cathy.
The two stopped abruptly, but in that split second of hesitation, the flow of battle shifted entirely.
Black Shadow.
Shadows, stretched as thin as possible, tripped the two women.
[Disappointing. Is this the level of Leilan Academy?]
Ah, for the record, while I’m the one speaking, the one fighting is naturally Sun Wukong, whom I’ve synchronized with.
However, this synchronization seems to affect me to some extent; I could understand the principles behind Sun Wukong’s movements and how she thought. It all flowed into my head.
I felt like I had truly become incredibly strong.
…Not bad at all.
“…Yaaaah…!”
Kim Ga-eul swung her mana-infused whip clumsily, but her attacks couldn’t possibly land on Sun Wukong, who dodged as if the movements of masters had been frozen in time. After catching the whip and pulling, Kim Ga-eul, unable to even choose the option of abandoning her weapon, was dragged right along with it.
“Waaaah!?”
And when she reached me, contrary to my expectation that she would be terrified, she attempted to use basic combat arts against me.
Fear was etched into her awkwardly thrown punch.
But the fact that she had overcome that fear was what mattered.
“Bring him back…!”
[Hmm?]
“Bring him back, I said…!”
Uh, what? Are you crying?
“You could have saved him…! Bring our So-hyun back, you bastard…!”
Who’s “our So-hyun,” you brat?
The others are going to get the wrong idea.
[A tantrum? I have no patience for this.]
“Oh, ‘no patience’? If you had just helped a little, this wouldn’t have happened!”
Suddenly, Lee Yu-na, who had cast a light-attribute buff on herself, lunged forward and swung her mace.
The light formed from divine power pierced the shield I had made with Black Shadow, but the single second she spent breaking the shield was more than enough time to dodge her attack.
[You don’t seem to have lost your reason like the others.]
“Really? I might look like this, but I’m actually quite angry.”
…Eh? You? Why?
“You wouldn’t understand even if I told you, but I quite liked that guy lying over there. I wanted to become friends with him, second only to Lilac.”
Though she spoke with eyes that didn’t seem to reflect her words at all, it didn’t feel like a lie.
Wait, I didn’t know she thought so highly of me?
“And Lilac really liked him. So, I’m going to take my frustration out on you.”
[You cannot reach me.]
Lee Yu-na’s martial arts were top-tier. Even without buffs, she was in the upper-middle rank, but when she stacked buffs on herself, she instantly rose to the top tier, executing quite threatening techniques.
But in the end, she was still at the level of a cadet.
Even as a residual thought, she was woefully inadequate to face the one called the strongest in the tale of Journey to the West.
[…If you intend to be support, you should stick to your original role. Charging in yourself is hardly worth praising.]
After intentionally kicking her mace away, I grabbed Ha-ni, who was rushing from the rear, and used the subtle art of Transplanting Flowers to hurl her at Lee Yu-na.
“Ugh…!?”
“Gah…!?”
[If this were a real battle, you’d all be dead. I’m starting to get bored. Shall we end this?]
“You’re bored?”
Tap.
With a light leap, Cathy’s signature kick exploded toward me.
Her mana-infused body sprang up elastically, rushing in at a speed faster than a bullet.
[You aren’t bad. Your technique is well-refined.]
It was a barrage, but not a mindless flurry. It was a sequence of strikes in a perfected realm, where each move flowed seamlessly into the next as if preparing for the following blow.
If I had a body of equal caliber, it wouldn’t have been a major threat, but her technique was also in an extraordinary realm, making it difficult to maintain superiority with my frail body.
Therefore, for the first time, I used my talent.
The moment she swung her fist toward my jaw, a tiny amount of Innate True Qi circulated through my body. For an instant, my physical form entered the realm of a superhuman and perfectly evaded her fist.
“Ugh…!? Not so fast!”
And before the energy used for evasion could dissipate, I gathered all that power into a single point and channeled it into a punch.
[You’ll be able to cross the wall soon. However, if you haven’t crossed it yet, you are no match for me.]
A straight punch.
It was one of the most basic thrusts, but the more a posture adhered to the basics, the more undeniable its power became upon impact.
“…Ugh!?”
The unwavering fist struck her.
Absolute dominance.
Even with swaying movements that didn’t use full strength, everyone was overwhelmed by me.
[It’s finally quieted down. Now then, you over there—aren’t you going to attack?]
Only Lilac remained. Well, the others hadn’t been retired, but since Lilac hadn’t attacked at all, I singled him out. The words that came out of his mouth were absurd.
“…It’s not like you personally harmed So-hyun.”
[Sophistry. Then you should have stopped your comrades as well.]
“I’m only human, so I couldn’t bring myself to go that far.”
[Hmm, is that so? Personally, I really want to see your skills.]
Looking at him, he seemed like he was about to explode. Perhaps just a little provocation would do it?
[Then how about I put it like this?]
He fixed his gaze on me.
[What if I told you he could have escaped, but he ended up like that because I interfered?]
Twitch.
Instantly, the instincts synchronized with Sun Wukong sent a violent warning.
Murderous intent.
Lilac, who had almost never been angry in the original story, was on the verge of losing his reason.
The monster named “Genius,” who had always hidden his true nature behind a smiling face and rationality, was about to surrender himself to emotion for the first time.
Good. That’s how it should be.
“If you’re planning to provoke me…!”
[Ah, right.]
“…?”
[The barbecue party. He said he was looking forward to it.]
Crackle.
The sound of something being gripped tightly and crushed echoed.
That’s right, Lilac. You need to get used to anger.
“You.”
Lilac was enraged.
The emotion of rage swept away everything that hindered his future actions—including rational judgment—and took their place.
“Do you really want to die?”
The handsome man with the warm atmosphere was no longer there.
[Try it. If you can, that is.]
The demon holding the Holy Sword charged toward me.
…I feel a bit bad, but to awaken another of Lilac’s talents that only exists in the settings, this level of shock is necessary.
It’s better than the other heroines or friends actually dying, right? Right, Lilac?
* * *
Kill him.
It was the first time I had ever truly wanted to kill someone.
I thought I had met many villains and experienced plenty of malice.
Even so, I had been able to endure until now. Because no one had died.
Ironically, perhaps because of that, I had a groundless confidence that things would somehow work out next time as well.
It was a foolish thought in a reality so cruel and cold.
I had been far too complacent in a world where a friend could be lost so easily due to someone’s malice or whim.
[Losing your cool during battle is not a good habit.]
I know.
It goes without saying that no matter how angry you are, you must calm your emotions when fighting.
The opponent was a monster who hadn’t sustained a single scratch even while facing Professor Cathy and Inspector Kang Na-hyun simultaneously. Blindly surrendering to rage against a monster who was completely out of my league was never a good choice.
But even so, I couldn’t suppress the anger that had already burst through its limits.
[Judging by your level, nothing would have changed even if you had arrived early.]
“…Shut up!”
He dodged all the light of the Holy Sword that swirled according to my emotions, then reached out and flicked my forehead.
A massive shock, as if my brain had been rattled, was delivered by that light flick.
“…!”
[Was it all in vain, him holding on and believing you’d come to save him while he crawled miserably? Judging by your level, there would have just been one more corpse.]
I knew it was an absurd provocation.
It was just that he was an existence far beyond any standard; it would be faster to find a dungeon that couldn’t be cleared with the forces present here.
Nevertheless, that voice was so irritating that I couldn’t stand it.
[Disappointing. I’m disappointed in the others, but I’m truly disappointed in you, Lilac.]
“…What?”
[That person judged that you might become an obstacle to us. So, I came to test you. But right now, I don’t feel even a shred of the quality needed to interfere with us.]
Eh?
“What… did you just say?”
[I said I came to test you. Ah, shall I put it differently? I killed that boy just to test you.]
He nonchalantly pointed his finger at the fallen Kang So-hyun.
The moment I froze, unable to comprehend those words, a fist pierced through the light of the Holy Sword.
[To even stop in the middle of a battle, how pathetic…!!!!]
But, though I don’t know how I did it, I caught that fist.
“You.”
Something inside him collapsed, and the light of the Holy Sword began to fluctuate violently.
[I see. It seems you were hiding something after all.]
I didn’t know what this thing fluctuating inside me was.
But I felt that if I unleashed it, I could crush that loathsome Ghost Mask.
The moment a sensation completely different from when I usually handled my talent began to spread through my hands—
[Ah, oops.]
“…Ugh, ah… cough.”
At the sudden sound of a familiar cough, everyone present turned toward it.
“…Eh?”
[Time passed faster than I thought.]
So-hyun, who had been lying there covered in wounds, slowly began to scan his surroundings with hazy eyes.
[Since the lie has been exposed, I suppose I should call it a day.]
“…A lie?”
Toward someone who muttered in disbelief, the man in the Ghost Mask nodded in affirmation.
[Yes. My plan went awry because he woke up earlier than expected.]
* * *
— Ah, it’s fading.
Sun Wukong suddenly said.
‘…Excuse me?’
— They were stronger than I thought, so I failed to control my strength. If you force it, your body won’t be able to withstand the backlash.
‘No, even so, how can you do this at this timing…!?’
I wanted to complete Lilac’s awakening if possible, but at this point, that was just greed.
Ad-lib.
I have to ad-lib, now. As naturally as possible, a perfect ad-lib as if this were the original script…!
I couldn’t let the build-up I worked so hard on crumble here.
I quickly sent mana to my clone, and the clone that had been lying as if dead began to cough.
“…A lie?”
[Yes. My plan went awry because he woke up earlier than expected.]
I’m screwed. The moment the synchronization broke, my entire body began to creak and scream like a rusted machine.
“What on earth does that mean?”
[What do you think it means? Haven’t you figured it out? If you really didn’t know, why don’t you try being a bit happier? It means the part about your friend being dead was a lie.]
Not just Lilac, but everyone else was staring at my clone.
[Ah, of course, the part about testing you wasn’t a lie. Lilac. I couldn’t confirm whether you’re someone who will stand in our way or not, but at least I learned you’re hiding something, so I’ll settle for that today.]
“Wait, what are you talking about…!”
“Yeah! More importantly, is So-hyun okay? He keeps coughing…!”
Ha-ni and Ga-eul cut in.
[He looked like he was in danger, so I defeated the monster instead. He looked like he was in pain, so I just put him to sleep. The pain must be returning as he wakes up.]
“…Are you saying you saved So-hyun?”
I nodded at Cathy’s question.
[My original purpose was provocation, so there was no need to kill him. I only spared him because his struggling was somewhat admirable.]
Seeing everyone’s bewildered faces, it seemed they didn’t understand what was going on.
Of course they didn’t. Even I didn’t know what I was saying.
[It means it was all a lie. It was quite amusing to see you all being fooled so foolishly.]
If I just act arrogant, it’ll look somewhat plausible, right?
Honestly, even I thought it was a total stretch.