Academy Terror (5)
The principal and Kang Ye-eun reacted rather violently to the suggestion that they stop fighting and talk things out.
The principal's translucent body wavered unsteadily as he glared at me. Gamigin's contractor scowled as though she had just heard something she was never meant to hear.
"This kind of reaction is rather hurtful, you know. I'm so wounded I might actually cry."
"…What are you scheming? That uniform—you dare disguise yourself as an Academy student, and you don't even bother hiding that you're a criminal. The Academy will not forgive you."
"Marbas's contractor? Are you after the Philosopher's Stone as well?"
The navy-haired principal began gathering mana. The gray-haired contractor poured Aura back into the sword she was holding.
Uh…
This was not what I had wanted.
"Haha, why are you both so wary? Principal, and Gamigin's contractor—it seems my introduction was insufficient. I am Baek Sejin, a first-year student at Warna Academy. I enrolled through perfectly legitimate means, you see. So that particular misunderstanding is rather inconvenient."
Even after my explanation, the principal did not drop his suspicious gaze.
"Don't lie to me. Were you that eager to confess you're a criminal? One look and it's obvious you're in league with that necromancer bitch. The world really has gone mad. Demon-consorting scum invading the Academy…"
The principal kept muttering under his breath.
"No—he's so brazen about it, maybe he really is a student…? But even so, he's far too suspicious. Then… a third faction? Damn it, another force targeting the Academy? This is giving me a headache…"
What on earth was he talking about?
Sensing the misunderstanding was about to spiral completely out of control, I hurriedly opened my mouth.
"Haha, that is a misunderstanding. First of all, I am not on the same side as that demon contractor. And I did enroll in the school through legitimate channels."
At my words, the principal went still.
That was one of the principal's clones—one of several he was controlling in real time. His true body was probably sitting in the principal's office, directing them all.
"…What did you do to him?"
Gamigin's contractor, seeing the suddenly motionless principal, flinched with fear and spat the words out, her voice thick with wariness.
"Haha, even if you're curious, I'm afraid I can't tell you. More importantly, I never caught your name. I am Baek Sejin. Would you mind telling me yours?"
"…Kang Ye-eun."
I now knew the name of a villain who had appeared in the original work, though her name had never been given. Whether it was her real name or an alias, I couldn't say—but the important thing was that I had heard it from her own mouth.
"Very well, Miss Kang Ye-eun. How about we have a conversation? You must be quite exhausted from the earlier battle. If we keep fighting, won't it be rather difficult for you? So wouldn't it be better to have a 'talk' at this point? You already know this is the most advantageous position you're likely to get, don't you?"
The implication that now was the time to negotiate—and that every passing moment would only put her at a greater disadvantage—made her swallow hard.
I genuinely did want to talk. Fighting would only put both of us in danger. Besides, Kang Ye-eun was a contractor of one of Solomon's Seventy-Two Demons, just like me. In a way, that made us faintly connected.
"…Stop threatening me. I know you're strong, but I'm someone who doesn't care if I die. Your threats are worthless."
"Haha, I'll take that as agreement to talk."
"How is that—! Fine. What do you want?"
I had no idea why my proposal to talk had registered as a threat, but the important thing was that she had agreed to converse, wasn't it?
"Haha, then how about we all put down our weapons first? Miss Kang Ye-eun, and—yes, you there, Principal? You need to lower your weapons as well if we're going to have a proper conversation, don't you think?"
I set down the sword at my waist. I extended the same invitation to the principal, who had at some point regained his movement and was quietly observing the situation.
At my suggestion, the principal slowly reverse-summoned his spirits. Whether he had checked my information through his true body or through a clone, he seemed to have confirmed that my words were true—his attitude was considerably more cooperative than before.
I smiled at Kang Ye-eun, who was watching me carefully for cues.
"Excellent. Miss Kang Ye-eun? You need to put down your weapon as well, don't you?"
At my voice, Kang Ye-eun slowly began to lower her sword to the floor.
Or rather—she tried to.
As she bent forward, her body sprang up toward me like a coiled spring. Spinning her body and her hands in the same motion, she aimed for my throat.
"Die!"
I jerked my body far back in an instant and pulled a small parrot doll from my pocket, hurling it at her. Startled by the sudden appearance of the tiny doll, she reflexively reached out with her free hand to swat it away—
And the hand she extended to knock the doll aside drew close to it.
In that instant, the magic bound to the doll activated.
Scale-dust packed full of the paralysis toxin of a Violet Poison Magibeast Butterfly. The dust erupted from inside the doll like a grenade going off.
The hand she had stretched out to bat the doll away took a direct hit of the Violet Poison Magibeast Butterfly's scale-dust.
"What the—?!"
Ordinarily, a Magibeast Butterfly's toxin would have slowly seeped into her body. But the toxin of the Magibeast Butterfly I had enhanced worked at a dramatically accelerated rate. In the blink of an eye, her left arm went completely numb.
The realization that one of her arms had been paralyzed flooded her expression with panic.
I swept her legs out from under her.
"Kh—!"
She hit the floor with a groan.
"Why do you insist on ignoring what I say?"
I picked up the sword I had set down. If she had simply cooperated and talked with me as I'd asked, this wouldn't have been necessary. Since she hadn't, I had no choice.
In the meantime, Kang Ye-eun pushed herself back up, murderous intent pouring off her in waves.
"…Paralysis toxin."
Her left arm hanging limp, she raised her sword in her right hand and pointed it at me.
"Oh dear. Does this mean you truly refuse to talk?"
"Talk, my ass! What kind of bastard radiates killing intent like that while saying he wants to talk?"
"Haha, this is rather unfair. I really did intend to have a conversation."
"You never meant to talk in the first place!"
"So it comes to this after all."
I felt wronged. I had never radiated any killing intent, and I had genuinely wanted to talk. I truly had. But if the other party refused conversation, there was nothing to be done.
We would simply have to converse with blades.
"Then let us speak with our swords. That, too, is a form of dialogue—so I suppose I've achieved my original purpose either way."
Still dragging her limp left arm, Kang Ye-eun charged at me again.
I was blocking the only exit to the surface, so if she wanted to escape aboveground, she had no choice but to kill me or break through. If she refused to talk, this was actually the ideal situation for me.
Spatial transfer magic would have been the best option for her, of course—but that was a spell only the most skilled among space-attribute mages could freely use. It was not a method available to someone who appeared to be a swordswoman.
That was why Kang Ye-eun had chosen to charge me, hoping to break free of a situation in which she was surrounded by two enemies. The problem with that choice was that she was exhausted from fighting the principal—and I was not.
"Hup!"
I met her Aura-charged sword with a blade of my own, equally laced with Aura. I caught the descending cut head-on. Even exhausted, the force behind her sword was formidable.
Kang Ye-eun must have been growing quite desperate. She could feel the paralysis toxin interfering with her movements in real time. She was suppressing it with mana as best she could, but that was only a matter of time. She had taken a direct hit of toxin I had personally enhanced, with no preparation whatsoever. It wouldn't be long before her entire body went numb.
Even if she managed to purge the paralysis toxin completely, the result would be the same. I wasn't going to sit idle while she cleared it out.
Since she currently couldn't use her left arm, I targeted that side. I parried her sword adequately with my right hand while kindling black flames in my left. The black fire blooming in midair streaked toward Kang Ye-eun. She twisted her body in alarm, dodging the sudden black flames.
"…Kh!"
But the maneuver left her open, and she had no choice but to take the principal's attack. A blast of wind from behind slammed into her body.
And I struck as well.
Twisting to avoid the black flames, she registered my swinging sword a beat too late. Just before my blade reached her, black smoke billowed from one of the bracelets on her wrist.
—Grrraaaah!
A ghoul, summoned at the perfect moment, took my sword in her place and collapsed. The strike I had aimed at her wrist only managed to sever a few of her bracelets, thanks to the ghoul.
If it failed once, I simply had to keep targeting the same spot. I continued hurling black flames with my left hand, chanting spells under my breath, while crossing blades with her using my right.
Curses settled over her.
Slow the body. Induce hallucinations. Make the legs tangle…
Utterly basic curses—the first ones any student of black magic learned upon entry. But they were perfectly suited for use in the middle of a fight. Low-level curses like these rarely worked well against martial artists with high natural resistance or people who had bolstered their resistance with magic, and as expected, she didn't seem particularly affected. Her movements barely changed.
That's fine. I was just trying them out.
The outcome was already decided. The woman who had moved so nimbly at first was growing steadily slower. The paralysis toxin was taking hold.
At last, she crumpled to the floor.
"Whew. That was a most satisfying dialogue of blades."