Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter Title: Predator - (Complete)
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Before heading to the Twin Towers, I decided to target White Face first.
"Mental manipulation is a real pain."
In the original story, White Face controlled the Predator and inflicted all sorts of debuffs on players, driving their blood pressure through the roof.
Eliminating her early would make the upcoming fights much easier in every way.
Plus, for some reason, White Face had already sustained serious injuries from an attack. She was probably off somewhere patching herself up.
"So we have to kill that white woman."
"Yes. But be careful. Don't look her in the eyes."
No matter how much stronger Elise was compared to the original, White Face's mental manipulation was a tricky gimmick.
I emphasized it repeatedly.
"Don't look her in the eyes? Is she made of stone or something?"
"Something like that. She seems to have mind-control abilities."
"...Then what should I do?"
"Fight without making eye contact, or disrupt her focus."
Elise responded with a meaningful smile.
"Ah, that's simple. Leave it to me. I'll handle it."
Using Elise to take down White Face.
It seemed like a solid bet, and my prediction proved spot on.
——Kwachik!
A holy barrier crashed down on White Face's head, shattering her skull. Flesh and brains splattered, leaving only a gruesome husk in the alley.
"...Hm."
I stared at White Face's corpse, her head blown apart, a mix of emotions swirling inside me.
Elise seemed to have understood my advice about drawing attention or breaking focus perfectly.
'Too perfectly, that's the problem.'
Her strategy? Flashing the view under her skirt wide open.
Even from behind me, I caught a glimpse of Elise's rear, and my brain felt bleached in that instant.
I'd thought she was joking, but no panties? Really?
"Hoo..."
As those thoughts crossed my mind, Elise suddenly collapsed to the ground.
"Sister, are you all right?"
"Y-yes. I'm fine. Just... um... startled."
"What do you mean?"
"Seeing a person's head burst so helplessly like that..."
"..."
Come to think of it, this was probably Elise's first kill.
In the original story, there was a description of her agonizing right after her first murder, so maybe it was natural.
I approached and offered my hand. But Elise wore a mischievous grin.
"Priest, how was that?"
"..."
"Pretty cool, right?"
My concern had been unfounded.
Of course. Elise had a strong will.
If she saw clear evil, she wouldn't hesitate to get her hands dirty.
But the smile on her face now seemed to stem from something else.
"That woman totally froze the moment she saw up my skirt, didn't she?"
"..."
"Do you want a peek too?"
"No."
"Ahaha."
Elise let out a dry laugh and stood up. I did my best not to look at her lower half even in that situation.
"By the way. Even when she was alive, I couldn't sense any vital signs from her. She doesn't seem like a real body."
Elise cautiously approached the corpse and pulled a small stake from the shattered skull.
"...Like a clone?"
"Probably."
Not probably—it was definitely a clone.
White Face 白面, for bleaching a person's brain clean.
Hundred Faces 百面, for possessing countless identities.
The real body wasn't here.
She was probably raging in the Shadow's hideout deep in the continent.
'Or not raging.'
More likely, she was utterly dumbfounded.
She never dreamed a saintess candidate would go commando.
"Good. Evidence secured."
Elise pocketed the stake from White Face's head and stood.
The alley entrance grew noisy. Soldiers moved in perfect formation.
"Looks like Miss Helena brought the faculty. She's quick."
They'd mobilized nearly an hour after the incident started.
This was probably one reason Erebos Academy became a playground for villains.
Of course, the chimeras spreading through the grounds had caused confusion too.
"Doesn't look like we can expect help right away."
Chimeras still swarmed the lower town.
The academy guards were too busy handling dozens, hundreds of them to send aid to the Twin Towers.
'Come to think of it, where's Jo Hyun?'
White Face was down, but Jo Hyun was nowhere in sight.
He wasn't even controlling the chimeras.
At this point, it was safe to assume he wasn't involved at all.
Butterfly effect, I guess.
"Priest, shall we go? You said the Twin Towers are in danger."
"Yes."
"A brief intimate stroll, just us two."
The saintess candidate beamed amid the devastated lower town streets, over the corpse of a woman with her head blown open.
What a discordant scene.
And with the massive Predator rampaging atop the tower, it was quite the spectacle.
"By the way, Priest. Can you really take down that monster?"
"...Hmm."
The second act boss of Throne of the Academy, Predator, was a so-called meat sponge—huge body, tough hide, and ridiculous health regen that made you laugh bitterly.
It was infamous for being impossible without nukes from Isolde and the magic faculty students.
'Right now... no way to beat it.'
If we just stalled, the faculty and magic department would arrive and repel it easily.
But by then, it would have devoured the entire Gray Tower.
Even now, the Predator was growing larger. To minimize damage, we needed to take it out now.
Was there a way?
Something to one-shot this meat sponge.
'Drop a nuke or something.'
That thought crossed my mind.
"...Nuke?"
Suddenly, a recent memory surfaced.
"Sister."
"Yes? What's up?"
"I have a plan."
At my words, Elise's eyes sparkled with curiosity.
*
Sophia and Otilie encountered a massive monster the moment they reached the upper floors of the Ivory Tower.
"...Gross."
A black monster shaped like a mudskipper.
Its gaping maw writhed with countless teeth.
Otilie grimaced, and Sophia drew the Ink Sword.
"That's the monster Master mentioned."
"Can you win?"
"I have to."
Sophia charged. Black mist swirled the instant the Ink Sword was unsheathed.
The moment it touched the monster, the previously sturdy beast shrieked as if tearing apart and thrashed wildly.
Kugugu.
A vibration so intense no one could stand.
As everyone staggered, losing balance—
"Leo, 'Turbulance'."
——Saaah.
At Otilie's command, Leo cast a spell. It stabilized not just Otilie on the doll's back, but the ground beneath the surrounding cadets too.
Something impossible with Otilie's magical talent alone—but with the amplifier Leo, it was different.
"...Insane."
"Gravity control...? No, matter manipulation magic?"
"That's not cadet level..."
As the Gray Tower cadets marveled, the thrashing monster targeted Sophia with its momentum.
"Kuh."
Sophia angled her blade, deflecting some teeth, but a long fang lodged in her side and snapped off.
Air escaped her lungs, blood welled in her throat.
"...Tch."
As Sophia clicked her tongue—
[Gigigigik!]
The monster flipped using the recoil of its lunge.
Its whale-like tail, arcing high into the sky, swung down like a guillotine toward Sophia.
The moment she thought she couldn't block it, a house-sized fireball flew in.
Kwang!
Otilie.
More precisely, magic from the doll she controlled.
Why Master allowed this shady girl a doll in his image was beyond her.
"...Not bad."
At least she knew Otilie was a high-level mage.
Time to adjust the strategy.
"You scrubs. Change of plans. Don't do anything—just fireworks to draw that thing's aggro."
"S-scrubs?"
The suddenly demoted Gray Tower cadets echoed, but Sophia leaped without waiting.
The cadets reluctantly fired spells skyward, scattering the monster's attention.
The moment Sophia kicked off the wall and drew the Ink Sword—
"Leo!"
At Otilie's order, Leo glided across the floor like a swimmer, slipping to the Predator's flank.
Kwang! As the monster writhed from the dense fireball hit, Sophia's slash rent its black belly.
"Tch."
Too shallow.
Left-hand swordplay had clear limits.
Sophia cursed her unresponsive right arm.
"Once more."
"Yeah."
As she exchanged glances with Otilie and prepared to leap again—
[Grrrgrrrk...!]
The Predator emitted a eardrum-shattering scream unlike any before.
Especially pained by the Ink Sword's wound, it clutched its belly and writhed.
"...Dangerous."
Sophia instinctively sheathed and retreated. Otilie recalled her deployed doll.
But the monster's target wasn't them.
"Th-that...!"
One Gray Tower cadet pointed at the ceiling in terror.
——Hwiiik.
The monster raised its tail sky-high, slammed it down for recoil, then spun its massive body like a drill toward the tower's central pillar.
The core supporting the Ivory Tower.
"Ah!"
Sophia gasped. The beast planned to collapse the entire tower.
Kugugu! Massive debris flew up and rained down like a storm.
"Leo! 'Bridge'!"
Otilie shouted urgently. The doll deployed a defensive barrier, barely blocking the falling rocks—but soon the floor itself crumbled.
"Uwaaaah!"
"Save us!"
Gray Tower cadets who couldn't evade plummeted into the abyss.
Otilie and Sophia followed. The ground tilted, sending their bodies into freefall.
"Kuh."
Sophia gritted her teeth. Far from earning Master's praise, she was about to die pathetically.
No way.
She drew the Ink Sword to strike the approaching ground—
——Paat.
A massive golden figure softly enveloped the falling cadets.
"...This is..."
A familiar sensation.
Sophia turned. Amid the collapsing tower rubble, a familiar scent wafted in.
"Well now, who knew the Ivory Tower would fully collapse. The academy treasury's going bankrupt."
On the ground stood the saintess candidate Elise in white holy robes, bold as brass.
"...Elise."
"Oh? What's with that look? I'm your lifesaver."
Before Sophia could drop her hostile glare, Elise snapped her fingers.
"Ugh."
The barrier supporting Sophia vanished. She slammed headfirst into the ground. Pain exploded, stars dancing in her vision.
"You okay? That was a hard hit to the head."
"You... you...!"
Ninety percent deliberate.
Rage boiled, but no time for leisurely fights. Elise narrowed her eyes at the writhing monster in the rubble.
"You need my help, right?"
"Kill that thing."
"I know."
"Be careful. Tough hide. Even my sword couldn't finish it."
"Looks like it."
Elise shrugged and swung her hand.
Holy barriers materialized in the air, swarming toward the monster.
"Miss Sophia, I heard a plan from the priest."
"From Master? What plan?"
"How to beat that monster."
"What's that?"
"Remember the inter-department exchange match?"
One sentence, and Sophia got it instantly.
"...Master indeed."
"Right?"
Sring.
Ink Sword drawn.
Eerie magic swirled, as if tearing the air.
"Everyone, brace for impact."
At Elise's words, the cadets hunkered down, clueless.
Sophia raised her sword high.
In the exchange match, she'd held back for the audience.
Not now.
No need to care about bystanders.
Sophia swung with full power.
——Ching.
The Ink Sword met the holy barrier, warping space itself.
Magic and holy power—polar opposites.
Like fire and gunpowder.
——.
Then.
A soundless explosion erupted.