The Academy's Savior

Click! A blade sprang from the gauntlet.

I cranked the jetpack's output and hurtled toward Yayo on the ground. The best way to handle a mage was to deny him any casting window and hammer him without pause.

KRAAAAAANG!

A sturdy barrier caught the blade. I poured more force into it, driving harder against the barrier.

"You think a mundane attack like that will break my barrier?"

Yayo smirked. That smug look of his was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠revolting.

"Does this look mundane to you?"

I called down lightning. It raced along the blade and poured into the barrier. At first nothing happened. But as I ramped the output higher, the barrier began to shudder. In that state I brought the blade down again, and cracks spiderwebbed across its surface.

Yayo's confident expression cracked right along with it. He hurriedly raised his sword. Blue energy gathered along the blade, which was plastered with magic circles.

—I added ice attributes to the sword! Yujin, according to my outstanding, incredible judgment, dodging that attack would be the smart move?

Outstanding judgment my ass. Dodging any attack without getting hit is always the best option.

I was standing on top of the barrier. If Yayo dispelled it, my foothold would vanish and leave me constrained. Dodging with the jetpack alone looked too slow. At a glance, that was clearly an area attack.

Yayo did exactly what I expected. The moment he finished winding up, he released the barrier that was already on the verge of shattering. My footing disappeared and I dropped—but I had prepared for this.

Force field.

I formed a force field in midair, stepped on it, and launched myself forward. Even so, I didn't clear it cleanly. The cold aura from his sword seized my left arm. Thanks to Stormbreaker I felt the chill, but no pain.

—Left arm frozen solid in an instant! Emergency! Starting thaw via temporary overload to raise arm temperature!

I saw the mana swirling around Yayo. Behind me, more mana began to stir. Predicting the spell was easy.

Yayo's body vanished and reappeared at my back, swinging a blade that now blazed bright red.

—Uh, danger…!

No. This was an opportunity.

I used the burst of acceleration to slip past his strike by a paper-thin margin.

A second Charna let me plant my feet and set my stance.

The third acceleration went into the attack. My blade carved through Yayo's flesh—from the right shoulder all the way down to the left flank.

Felt like I cut through the guts. Normally that would be fatal, but…

My opponent was a villain from Madojeong, Japan's Demonkin alliance. In other words, a Demonkin.

"You fucking piece of—!"

Yayo staggered backward. Blood gushed from the wound, then abruptly stopped. Demonic power—true demonic force—seeped through every part of his body. The injury vanished, and in its place his form began to warp. His frame swelled overall; his limbs turned bone-white, the skin taking on a texture hard as steel. Small horns sprouted from his forehead.

Magic circles bloomed around the now fully transformed Yayo. I didn't push my luck—I simply fell back. A pillar of fire erupted where I had been standing, and ice spikes rained down. If I had stayed put, the damage would have been severe.

—Yujin. Capturing him alive looks pretty hard from here.

Agreed. Stronger than I expected. We'll get the information some other way later… Time to go all-out and kill him.

Peeeeeep~

A flute. Clara. She was watching the fight and playing. She had landed not far away, yet neither Yayo nor I closed the distance toward her. I didn't want her caught in the crossfire, and Yayo needed her alive for the job—kidnapping her safely. The original client was dead, but if he delivered her to Hamson Hemingford, he would still get paid.

The moment Clara's flute reached me, my stats rose.

—Whoa, what? My body feels lighter!

The terrifying part of Clara's power was that she could buff any ally with no conditions whatsoever. Even a spirit like Makina received it.

"A buff? How annoying."

Yayo scowled in Clara's direction, yet he neither cast at her nor tried to interrupt the performance.

"Don't think a buff means you can beat me. Right now I am closer to a demon that has transcended humanity. Just breathing, I can feel power surging. Now then… how shall I kill you?"

I wanted to smash that arrogant skull. I considered using Heavenly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Demon Divine Art, then decided that since the chance had come, I would lean on Makina's power instead.

Makina. Want to try that thing we practiced last time?

—N-no way. I hate the pussy-draw!

Not that, you idiot.

—If not that… Ah! You mean that one. I'm down! Hurry up and pull it out!

I summoned a square box that glowed with a soft blue light from my inventory.

An item I had obtained in the first loop. It was also the reason I had been able to raise my mana rank so quickly.

Yayo's eyes locked onto the Mana Cube in my hand. Naked greed flooded his gaze.

"Wh-what is that treasure?! Something like that exists in this world?! Hand it over! Give it to me right now and I'll spare your life!"

Yayo shouted in excitement. As a mage, he had grasped the Cube's value in an instant. Rank aside, the Mana Cube was one of the highest-tier items in this world. It did not carry the raw power of a god, but the range of applications was enormous.

"Dream on. You will never lay a hand on this."

I pressed the Mana Cube to my chest. It was absorbed into Stormbreaker. The weapon began to shine blue.

—Ah… ahhh…! Mana! Mana is overflowing! Yujin! Here we go! Overtech, engage!

"Give it here! Hand that over, damn you!"

Greed-drunk Yayo charged with his sword. Demonization had clearly made his emotions far more volatile.

—Plasma Barrier, deploy!

A barrier flared around me and stopped Yayo cold. He hammered it with his fists and tried to carve through it with his blade. Every blow scorched his skin a little more—yet the barrier itself was crumbling even faster.

"Thousand Blades!"

Yayo cast. Hundreds of blades materialized in the air and slammed into the Plasma Barrier. Crackling— the barrier was a heartbeat from total collapse.

—Super-Gravity Grenade!

A white grenade appeared in front of me. Reflexively I snatched it. The usage method flooded into my mind.

I thumbed the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠button to disengage the safety and hurled it at Yayo. He cleanly sliced the grenade with his sword. Stupid move. Super-gravity erupted from the shattered grenade.

Yayo was dragged toward the center even as he prepared another spell. The problem was that the hundreds of blades he had summoned were also pulled in. They battered his skin from every angle. However tough that hide was, not a single blade fully pierced—but damage still stacked. He was bleeding.

Still, the damage is accumulating. He's bleeding.

"Gaaaaaah! My magic! I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠can't use my magic!"

Yayo howled in pure agony.

—Of course you can't! Super-gravity pulls mana too! The effect's about to end—let's finish this! Critical Burst Missile!

A futuristic bazooka materialized. I grabbed the white launcher roughly and aimed it at Yayo. Makina handled the targeting automatically. All I had to do was pull the trigger.

I didn't fire immediately. I moved beside Clara and deployed a barrier. She would not be caught in the blast.

"Take this! Clitoris Missile!"

—It's Critical Burst Missile!!

Click.

The trigger went back. The missile spat flame and streaked toward Yayo.

"You think something that pathetic will—!"

The super-gravity effect ended. Yayo drove his sword into the ground. A magic circle flared across the earth in an instant, and his body vanished.

…Teleported away. My mistake. I should have taken that sword first… Fuck.

Just as frustration started to rise, the missile that had been flying at Yayo suddenly veered and shot skyward.

Makina. Why is that Clitoris Missile doing that?

—Because it's locked onto him! My scan range covers more than half the Japanese archipelago. Once he's in the scan, he can't escape the missile! And it's not Clitoris Missile—it's Critical Burst Missile!

The missile that had climbed into the sky locked onto a heading and streaked away, vanishing from sight in moments.

Where's it going?

—Kyoto.

"Goddamn it!"

Appearing inside a secret workshop in Kyoto, Yayo spat the curse to ease the mental shock. Even after using Demonization, he had never expected to be forced to run.

He wasn't that strong. Yet somehow my attacks barely landed, while his were lethal.

It must have started after the Demonization. Looking back, fighting him before transforming had actually been easier. Of course, without transforming he would have died spilling blood and guts everywhere.

This mission is a failure. I thought it would be easy, then a variable appeared… Still, now that I've escaped, the advantage is mine. I remember his face. I'll spread it everywhere. There's already a bounty on him—he won't live peacefully after this. Later, when the chance comes, I'll take revenge… Hm?

Yayo jerked his head up.

Something had tripped the barrier he had set around the workshop. It was flying toward him at tremendous speed—and that speed was still increasing. With a simple detection spell he confirmed its identity.

A-a missile?! It followed me all the way here?! Pursuit—damn it, it's already right on top of—!

He had no time to cast. The missile struck.

KRAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKABOOOOOM!!

The missile completely annihilated the surrounding area.