Chapter 66
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Academy (17)
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Boom.
I pushed open the thick front door of the clock tower and stepped inside. As soon as I entered the barrier, I could feel the turbulent flow of mana.
The building was cylindrical, like a lighthouse, with stairs spiraling up the walls toward the ceiling.
In the center was a suspicious magic circle and a barrier stone. Mana from all directions was converging there.
It was obviously the most critical component of the barrier.
"Looks like that stone is the core, huh?"
Helena nodded.
"It's the barrier stone. We need to destroy it. But first... we have to deal with those guys."
The three cadets, who had been panicking as they watched the barrier shake from above, came rushing down the stairs like the wind.
"What the hell! How are you already here...? What the fuck are the others doing?!"
Unlike typical cadets, their bodies overflowed with mana. And among them was someone familiar.
It was the bully I'd beaten senseless during the entrance sparring match. He'd skipped the academy for days, and now here he was, committing terrorism.
His mana had been pathetic back then, but now it was at a level where you'd believe he was a first-rate expert. A sinister energy was leaking from his entire body in thick strands.
Helena whispered softly beside me.
"It's the power of the barrier. Be careful."
"Yeah..."
The bully spotted me and screamed with gleaming eyes. His voice mixed glee and delight.
"You!! Do you have any idea what I went through to get revenge on you?!"
I'd figured he'd quit since he hadn't shown up at the academy. Instead, he'd hooked up with demonic cultists. Pathetic.
They all started emanating demonic energy. They'd sold their souls to the demons—one of humanity's greatest enemies in this world.
"Stupid bastard. Selling your soul to demons just because you got beat a little? What about all the guys you bullied? You think they're not pissed off? Tsk tsk."
The bully's face twisted savagely.
"What the hell do you know!! Heh heh... I've been waiting to rip that smug face off. Didn't think it'd come this soon! Hahaha!"
His mana began turning pitch black in earnest. Using demonic energy like that would leave traces in his body for a while.
Even if their plan succeeded by some miracle, he wouldn't escape the academy unscathed. No idea what he was thinking.
'Just getting used. Dumbass.'
Some of the mana gathered from kilometers around flowed into them.
Feeling the demonic energy boiling in their bodies, they grinned with exhilarated expressions, acting like they'd already won.
"Helena's on the list, right? Even better. Let's take her out now."
"Hold up. Look at those bodies. Let's have a taste before we kill 'em."
"Gulp... Y-yeah?"
Helena and Amelia ignored them, preparing for battle with cold eyes. They didn't look pleased.
Seeing the girls I already considered mine insulted like that soured my mood even more.
"You two aren't dying easy."
"Ha! You blind? Can't you feel this immense demonic power?!"
I listened to their bullshit for a bit, then made up my mind. I could've captured them alive to torture for info on their backers, but first, I'd castrate the bastards.
One of them, who'd been leering at Helena and Amelia, suddenly hardened his face.
"Hey? Snap out of it! Not yet!"
The bully, who'd been silent, began distorting his face. Veins bulged across his body as he started breathing raggedly.
"Ugh..."
There was no way handling power beyond his level came free. Unlike the other two, he was already losing his reason.
Finally, drool spilling from his mouth, he charged.
"Uwaaaah!! Park Jin-gu!!! I'll kill you!!"
He looked mentally unstable. He'd absorbed all the mana flowing from the barrier stone without resistance.
"Kahaa!!"
With power he couldn't handle, he resembled a beast with clouded reason. No different from a monster.
'Tsk tsk...'
I moved to intercept him and told the girls,
"I'll handle this one."
I drew mana from the mana core.
I stepped forward.
-Swift Advance Strike: Breaking Fist
I unleashed the familiar technique with my fist. A thrusting bun kwon infused with two energies specialized for smashing and shattering.
Thwack!
"Gaaak..."
I planted the same fist I'd fed him repeatedly during entrance sparring right into his solar plexus. As expected, he couldn't react.
What a waste of overflowing mana. Boosting physical specs meant nothing without the mind to match.
His heart pulverized. Yet murderous intent still burned in his eyes.
"Grgh...!"
Thud!
As I swung for his jaw, still standing despite everything, he blocked with his hand. At the same time, his other arm whipped toward me like a lash.
Whoosh!
I dodged the sharp claws grazing my jaw. Pretty fast—any slower and it might've hit.
Shh-shh-shk!
Crack. Crunch.
His arm swung at bizarre angles. Constant bone-cracking sounds meant this wasn't normal.
'Already lost his mind.'
Reason fled his eyes, leaving only instinct. Without it holding him back, he actually got stronger. He began fully utilizing his physical specs.
Bam! Bam!
I slipped past the whip-like strikes and closed in. My punch met a barrier. A veil powered by the massive mana inflow from the barrier.
I shattered it with anti-mana force in my fist.
Bones shattering all over, yet he swung his arm without feeling pain. Like fighting a troll.
'Heart exploded and he's still moving.'
I hammered his body with fists, probing weaknesses. Only one spot he defended desperately: his head.
'Swift, Heavy.'
I kicked to create distance, not for damage.
Kaboom!!
The bully slammed into the wall, shaking the clock tower violently. Using the breather, I checked on the others.
Amelia and Helena guarded each other as they fought.
Helena seemed fine, but Amelia's face paled. More than half her mana was gone already.
Ridiculously low for someone awakened with 4-star innate mana. She'd avoided mana training because she hated it growing.
'Gotta end this quick.'
"Kraaaah!"
A monster wearing the bully's body lunged from the wall. Less human, more humanoid monster now.
Fangs lengthening, claws growing, fur sprouting unevenly across his body.
Unlike the others, he'd taken all the clock tower's gathered mana without filter.
He'd only get stronger over time, with mana still flowing in from everywhere.
'Flesh Fire.'
The world slowed, senses sharpened. Unlike my test run before, I used it properly this time.
Blood boiled like fire surging through my body.
Fwoosh!
"Krak!"
The relentlessly charging monster hesitated, stepping back warily. Fear flickered in his expression.
First proper use of Flesh Fire.
Burn the body for power. Worth it. Mana felt vividly clear, almost visible.
Mana from the artificial rift zone blackened the cultists' hearts. The bully's had turned long ago; the other two were over halfway.
The bully-shaped monster's twitching muscles played in slow motion. Seeing the sluggish world, I kicked off the ground.
Bam! Bam!
I swung at the near-frozen target. Each hit chunked away his regenerated barrier.
My anti-mana fists wrecked barriers.
"Kraaaah!"
He roared, mana rampaging. Demonic energy gathered in his heart. Instinctive crisis sense—suicide bomb attempt.
'Strong, Heavy, Break.'
First time handling three attributes with Mixed Origin Qi. Unstable Break energy stabilized via trait power.
Three domineering attributes specialized for smashing and shattering converged.
-Three Harmonies Single Qi Fist.
Kaboom!!
One punch vaporized his thick barrier and head.
No regeneration could save him headless. Helena shouted,
"The central barrier stone! We have to destroy it!"
"Got it."
The final protective veil around the central stone crumbled powerlessly before my anti-mana fist. The cultists lunged desperately, but the girls blocked them.
"No!!"
Krang!
The barrier stone shattered, halting the influx of mana. The enemies weakened dramatically at once.
They'd been skill-deficient to begin with.
"Fuck this shit!! Aaaagh!!"
Without mana support, they fell in seconds. Helena mercilessly shattered their dantians.
'Time to castrate 'em.'
I approached, then paused. Helena's cold eyes fired magic bullets. Their balls exploded gruesomely.
They screamed in agony.
"Gaaaah!! It huuuurts!!"
"Aaaaagh!!!"
Helena watched with satisfaction, then realized her mistake. She glanced at me sheepishly. I nodded.
"Good job."
Her face flushed as she straightened her battle-tousled clothes. The picture of prim propriety.