Chapter 104
Chapter 104
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: Not a Legend, But a Legend (8)
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# 104
11. Not a Legend, But a Legend (8)
#8 Their Circumstances: The Legend Begins.
“Those who saw the footage through the magic tool already know… but I’ll confirm it for you. Yes, the president betrayed Yuglasia because of his lover at Arsia.”
Risen’s expression, as he looked at the twelve members with a serious face, was filled with a gravity unlike his usual self.
“Yes, over a woman… over his own personal circumstances… Our dream and hope, the president… no, Nerkia betrayed us and sabotaged our victory at the Imperial Tournament!”
Risen, who usually referred to key figures by their positions rather than names, had called Nerkia by his actual name.
This meant he no longer recognized him as president.
Especially significant coming from Vice President Risen, who held the authority to impeach the president.
“The president we knew… is gone. He’s dead! All that’s left is Nerkia… nothing but a traitor!”
To be honest, Risen was the root cause of it all, so it felt a bit off for him to say this as the representative. But with the president already having betrayed them, further division wouldn’t help, so he kept quiet.
“So, what are we going to do?”
Frankly, students from any other academy would have fallen into massive panic.
Even last year’s Yuglasia might have given up.
But Yuglasia still had formidable forces even without the president, and especially thanks to Professor Niserwin’s training, we were all too accustomed to betrayal.
It was absurd, but… Professor Niserwin’s education had been right!
So, the group wouldn’t descend into panic like other academies just from losing one president…
Still, losing one of our top forces—who commanded the Spirit King and numerous spirits—was a huge blow.
And now as an enemy.
“What do you mean, what? We kill him.”
Scratch that—he didn’t understand at all.
“Uh, doesn’t the Imperial Tournament prohibit murder?”
“What does that matter? He betrayed us, abandoned us… chose a woman over us! We can’t just let him go?!”
I tossed out a line as I watched Risen grind his teeth, roaring like a beast full of rage.
“Jealous?”
“…Yeah.”
Risen nodded.
And nodding along with him… ten others?
Everyone except me? And among these twelve, Lady Aris was here too?
“R-Really?”
I felt a pang of injustice staring at their aggrieved eyes, wondering why I had to be lumped in here.
“Therefore… we kill Nerkia! Judgment upon the filthy couple!”
“Judgment!”
“Judgment!”
“Judgment!”
The group, gripping their weapons and chanting judgment, brimmed with madness.
No, but… why was Lady Aris joining in?
That’s not who you are!
“Great, perfect! I’ve heard everyone’s resolve. Now, use these capes. They’re our mark for infiltrating the enemy without revealing ourselves… the symbol of our special forces!”
“…There’s nothing there?”
“Oh, of course. You have to make them, Reidan.”
“Is that why you dragged me into this?”
I finally realized why I’d been chosen as one of the twelve.
“Here, is this good?”
“As expected of Reidan. A robe worthy of the student council’s shadow!”
“Saying it like that makes me sound like the student council’s black curtain or something…”
It was a shady nickname, but nothing major.
It came from contracting the rare shadow spirit—one even Nerkia hadn’t—that no one else had.
Its abilities were just bunching shadows into stealth-friendly robes or short-range teleporting between shadows.
Since he’d only contracted mid-level spirits or lower—not high-level ones—it couldn’t deliver big attacks, serving purely to support the other student council officers.
“Right, let’s wrap this up quick.”
Once they grasped my role, things moved fast.
The shadow spirit robes would dissolve if we got too far apart, so I had to tag along, but my job wasn’t much.
Just transport the group without other academy students noticing, take out the student council president, and return.
Personally, I had no grudge against the president… no, I even felt sorry for him. But having the Spirit King’s contractor as an enemy was more dangerous than any foe in team battles.
I didn’t want to face the Silver Devil anymore.
Shadow teleport? She’d stick her hand in the shadow, yank me out, and beat me—that was the Silver Devil.
The epitome of injustice.
To avoid fighting that devil again, we had to win the Imperial Tournament, and that meant being ready to take down anyone.
“Alright, then… Lady Aris and Lady Syr take the president. Risen and the others support Lady Aris and block key targets from approaching. I’ll watch from here and prep our escape.”
I could see the castle the president had conquered from afar.
Hiding in the shade of nearby trees, preparing to stealthily drop him in one shot, then…
“Die!”
No such thing!
Right from the start—a spear hurl infused with massive aura!
Lady Aris even wielded two swords she hadn’t used against Merelda Lil Rail, Arsia’s top fighter.
“You’re not seriously going to kill him, are you?”
The spear toss blew the gate away, and two sword swings cleaved the air. Even the Imperial Tournament-forged walls, over three meters thick, shattered.
“Charge! Kill the traitor!”
Risen and the students charged toward the flying debris and ruined walls with genuine intent to kill the president!
“Am I about to become an accomplice to murder…?”
I watched for a bit, but unease gnawed at me. Using my usually low-presence trait—both a pro and con—I cautiously approached the fight with the shadow spirit.
“Die!”
“Wait, Lady Aris? He’ll actually die?”
A legendary scene unfolded: massive lightning and crimson sword auras clashing.
“I’d die if I went there.”
I nodded and sneaked away again.
I also spotted Risen ganging up on one female student in a truly cowardly fight.
“Die, die, die!”
“Hahaha, worry about others and you can’t stop me, Lady Nermia!”
Dodging a storm of magic while restricting her moves—on paper, textbook combat. In practice, utter sleaziness.
“Hahaha, got another glimpse!”
“I’ll really kill you!”
Lady Nermia, Arsia’s greatest threat in Marsis’s vice president Karen’s eyes, raged just like her.
It was only natural.
Peeking up skirts at any heated movement—no woman could tolerate that.
“Great, your movements slowed! Finish her!”
“Surtr, kill them all for real!”
Blushing, Lady Nermia summoned the fire giant, clutching her skirt hem with one hand, face red.
Okay, steer clear there too.
Getting lumped with the group would doom my already loveless life forever.
If he’d just shut up, Risen—handsome enough to rank with the president—might have a girlfriend by now. This showed why he didn’t.
Sneaking off again to slip out of the castle, an unbelievable line hit my ears.
“I had no choice, Lady Aris. For them… for happiness with them! I staked everything!”
“That’s your excuse! Does our promise—winning the Imperial Tournament for night self-study freedom—mean nothing?!”
“That’s…”
Someone cut in as Nerkia faltered with a pained expression.
“Yeah, it’s not that important right now.”
Me.
“Huh?”
“Senior Reidan?”
The president and Lady Aris seemed startled by my sudden appearance.
“Hey, Nerkia. Something’s bugging me… You just said ‘them,’ right?”
“W-Well?”
Nerkia looked flustered at me, but nothing like what I felt.
“Everyone in the student council knew you had a girlfriend. Them? How many exactly?”
“Uh, Senior Reidan? This isn’t the time to—”
“It is.”
“Yes…”
Lady Aris took a step back at my words.
Weird. She looked like she’d seen something scary.
“Hey, spill it, Nerkia. How many girlfriends, including Arsia’s vice president?”
“W-Well… two at Arsia, one at Marsis… a graduated senior, and my little sister who hasn’t enrolled yet…”
“How old’s that unenrolled sister?”
“Fif-Fifteen…”
Nerkia and Lady Aris started putting distance between us.
But I was too worked up to care.
I looked at my clenched left fist and my right hand with fingers spread.
Left: girlfriends I’d had in life. Right: Nerkia’s, from what I’d heard.
…Pissed.
Then, a voice—not suited to voicing but dark and black—whispered.
-I get it.
An alien whisper in my ear.
But it felt all too familiar.
-Of course. I’m the same emotion you feel now. Go on, aren’t you mad?
Mad?
Of course I was.
I stayed calm during the president’s betrayal and the others’ rage not because I couldn’t get angry.
My anger threshold was higher than most.
So I kept reason when others lost theirs.
Because my trigger was worse.
But that didn’t mean no anger.
Just a higher threshold… and when it ignited, it burned hotter than anyone’s!
-This rage… first time feeling it. So alluring. Not the quick flare-and-fade kind. Slow-burning, hotter than any! This is the rage I wanted!
In that voice—mismatched glee in the dark tone—I stared at Nerkia and said,
“I need power.”
“Re-Reidan?”
“Power to kill that bastard.”
Nerkia paled, clearly marking me as enemy.
-Good. I’ll give you power. Wielder of pure, righteous rage. First contractor since the world opened!
-Price?
-Ah, your rage that captivated me. That’s enough. Keep raging, rage more!
Simple price. But the power ample to crush Nerkia.
A summoner academy student missing this chance? No way.
“Fine. By my name, Reidan Lekain, I entrust this rage to you.”
“Damn it, what contract did you make, Reidan?!” Nerkia summoned high wind and water spirits to take me down, but Lady Aris blocked.
And.
-Kuhahaha! Yes, first contract since the world’s creation. Nice to meet you, Rage Master! I’m Wrath, of the Seven Great Evils—Wrath! Most primal and alien even among Spirit Kings. The Spirit King of emotions that rule emotions!
With Wrath’s words, the world dyed black.
And so I became… Yuglasia Student Council’s true shadow.
The world first learned spirits existed for emotions too, beyond matter and nature.