Chapter 79
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: So What?
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Monsters corrupted by black magic and running rampant? A ton of them? Without even needing to feed?
I clutched my head, already dizzy just from imagining it, and spoke to the group.
"Let's pick up the search pace. Start from the direction the monsters came from."
"Yes!"
"Should we split into teams, Liam?"
"Hm... No, better to stick together just in case."
I lifted the elf, who had relatively low mobility, with telekinesis.
"Eek!"
"We're gonna scout fast from now on, so stay sharp, Princess."
My companions swiftly followed as I flew ahead with magic.
I quickly scanned the monsters' movement traces, then backtracked along them one by one.
We flew like that for a good while...
"C-Crown Prince!"
"Find something?"
"No, it's... The spirits say there's a space where they can't sense anything."
"Can't sense anything?"
"Yes. No flow of mana, no presence, not even the tiniest lifeforms."
"Point it out."
I turned toward where Kanf's finger pointed. It was just a dense cluster of trees.
I ramped up my focus to the max once more.
Not spreading out my senses, but concentrating them on a single point, sharp enough to catch even the smallest insect.
There it was—a tiny space utterly devoid of life signs or mana flow.
It felt so artificially erased from the world that it stood out as unnatural.
'I missed this before?'
Shocked as I was to finally spot it, there was work to do first.
"Found it! Everyone, follow me."
My companions nodded and trailed after me. The spot looked no different from the surrounding forest.
"This place..."
"It's so quiet..."
"Around here, huh?"
No insect chirps, no rustling leaves in the wind. I focused my mind and began pinpointing the anomaly.
'Where the mana is pooling, even a little... There.'
Mana trickling faintly into the ground came into view. I concentrated harder, revealing the hidden magic circle. Twisting the runes blocked the flow...
"Think I got it."
The thick forest vanished, revealing a small space before us.
Amid withered trees and grass drained of life, a red sphere pulsing with tentacles embedded in monsters caught my eye.
The tentacles twitched once, slicing open the monsters' bellies and expelling thin, blood-sheathed spawn in an instant.
-Splurt!
These malformed newborns wriggled beneath their parent mass.
Revulsed, I squinted to examine it closer when a boy with black hair and blue eyes appeared.
He glared at us and spoke in an irritated tone.
"Haa... You again?"
He sighed, veins bulging and throbbing on one side of his face.
Definitely a heretic.
I wasn't planning to interrogate him right away. It had been a while since I'd let Veronica have some fun with torture.
"Not the type to spill his identity... Might as well drag him off for some questioning."
As I prepared to blast the glaring bastard with magic...
"W-Wait a sec!"
Jenia suddenly grabbed my shoulder, holding me back.
"Jenia? You know him?"
Figuring he might be someone we couldn't kill offhand, I looked at her. Her face was pale, body trembling.
"Jenia... What's wrong?"
Jenia wouldn't act like this for no reason.
Concerned, I asked. Her shocking response slipped out.
"The protagonist..."
"What?"
"That's... the male protagonist..."
"..."
'Now that she mentions it...'
'Rebel of the Academy' let you choose the protagonist's gender at the start. That's why they were romanceable regardless, why the protag's gender was ambiguous.
What happened to the other gender option...
In the ensuing confusion, the male protagonist spoke up.
"You really think your little hero act is helping the world?"
He glared at us, voice low and mocking.
"Don't you think what you're doing is actually harming it?"
His words jolted me awake.
I instantly deployed magic, slamming a massive beam of light down on his head.
-Whummm
"Aaaaaaagh!"
"Got it. You were just about to spout some nonsense about fate, huh?"
Seemed like he was gearing up for a destiny spiel...
I wasn't weak enough to waver at that crap.
I even pulled out my Judges, pounding the black barrier he hastily threw up with full force.
-Kiiing! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
"What're you all doing? Just kill him!"
Guys like that always turn into a headache later.
Everyone unleashed ranged attacks at my command. Jenia snapped out of it and fired sword beams from afar.
"Filth of this world!"
Cracks spiderwebbed across his black sphere...
-Shatter!
"Aaaaaaaah!!"
His barrier broke, and incoming sword energy shredded him to bits.
I gathered even the scattering blood and unleashed full-power magic.
The ground molded into a flask shape, and I blasted it with light rays, vaporizing everything inside.
So what if he was the protagonist? I couldn't stomach the thick stench of black magic, no matter his "for the world's sake" excuses.
'Better to squash pests that do nothing but harm before indulging curiosity.'
Opening the flask-shaped pit revealed no trace—not even ash—of the male protagonist.
Jenia watched with a complicated expression but...
"This is... fine... right?"
She glanced between me and Lea, regaining her peace of mind.
"Yeah... Better to kill 'em quick than let the unease linger. Who knows what scum like that would do if he escaped."
Lea knew he'd been called the protagonist too.
"Male protagonist...? He turned out like that... Then my hometown...? Tch... Never saw trash like him there..."
Lea nodded like it was no big deal.
"Right... Guys like that shit out massive loads the moment they flee..."
-Screeech!
A headless knight astride a massive spectral horse tore through the air.
What should have been its head was clutched at its side, blue flames flickering above the neck.
"Just like I said..."
I'd hoped they'd subvert the cliché for once...
But he'd set this trap before dying, not during escape.
-Hiiiing!
The spectral horse reared, unleashing energy that exploded outward, ravaging the forest.
Plants touched by the ominous aura withered as if drained of all life.
I shielded my companions from the energy and shouted.
"Everyone, evade...! Battle stations!"
Seeing the energy rippling from the monster's sword, I revised my plan.
A colossal sword beam hurtled toward us at terrifying speed. To block the unnatural strike, I layered dozens of barriers.
-Kshatter!
Dozens of barriers shattered, leaving only the final reinforced one.
"That's..."
"What you think—Hell King's Knight Dullahan!"
"Crazy..."
"I'm going first, Liam!"
With that, the group charged the Dullahan.
Jenia dodged sword swings to counterattack but couldn't close in against the gales.
Lancelot got repelled by light probes.
Lea's magic punches were devoured by the spectral horse's hellfire.
"Veronica! Buffs! Kanf, get way back!"
"Yes!"
"O-Okay!"
Holy power erupted from Veronica, enveloping us.
The Dullahan, irked by the sanctity, swung its sword for another barrage but...
"Not on my watch!"
Two Judges burst from above, spears raised, slamming down on it.
As it blocked with its sword, our allies' attacks flooded its flank.
-Hiiiing!
Infuriated, the spectral horse charged us.
The Dullahan thrust its massive greatsword into the ground, barreling forward to cleave us.
-Grrrrrind!
Aiming for Veronica first, it seemed.
I scooped her up and took to the air.
"Keep focused, don't drop the holy spells! Lumie! Support!"
[Got it!]
"Yes!"
As it leaped skyward after us, sword energy charging...
I flipped the ground beneath the spectral horse, inverting its view.
-Hiiiing!
Its escape slash grazed past us amid the upheaval, kicking up massive winds.
-Boom!
"Hngh!!!"
"Phew..."
Cold sweat from the lethal power.
Looking up at the spectral horse, allies struck again. Potent blows exploited the gap, denting and slicing its armor bit by bit.
-Whummm!
-Boom!
Close allies were flung back by the Dullahan's energy burst.
But nothing fatal, so I focused my assault.
'Ha... Big-league foes are such a pain.'
From the sky, I forged two overwhelming-mass swords and smashed them down with everything.
Judges bore down on the descending blades.
As attacks rained from both sides and it readied a counter, I shattered its vision and scrambled its senses.
Yet it calmly gripped its sword, gathering power.
The amassing force felt ominous.
Ignoring all else, it was hellbent on me.
I teleported Veronica behind Jenia in a flash.
"Apostle!!! "
Veronica cried from afar, but no time to care.
I mapped the armor's joints and wrenched them open.
-Kagagagagak! Screeech!
A colossal sword exploited the gap, severing left shoulder and waist.
-Thud!
Even as it toppled, it unleashed a monstrous sword beam at me.
I teleported at breakneck speed but...
-Splurt!
Too late—a long diagonal gash across my torso.
Any slower, and it'd have bisected me.
"Cough!"
"Apostoool!!"
Veronica poured holy power in a frenzy.
"The... wound... won't heal."
"...Cough! Damn..."
"Liam! No... No!"
Lea on the verge of panic.
"It's... fi..."
"Don't talk!"
Jenia stanched the wound through tears.
"Jenia... Wait... Shutting... down... Reboot..."
"What do you... Liam! Liam!"
Trusting Jenia would understand, I deliberately halted my body's functions and dove into my inner world.