Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Hell Has Just Begun (2)
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# 46
6. Hell Has Just Begun (2)
#4 Their Circumstances: Some Student Council President's Circumstances [Subtitle: Saw the Devil 1]
Breaking through the second floor was already all but guaranteed.
Of course, I didn't think we'd make it out of the academy today.
On the first floor, the academy probably had its strongest forces waiting—Professor Muam and Professor Harian, who hadn't shown up yet to block our escape.
They were a spiritist famous even among elves for her strength and the gnome race's greatest spiritist.
It would probably be an even fiercer battlefield than this place.
No, even if not, tomorrow the grade chief professor would shake off her cold and get up, so we might get blocked here again anyway.
But the experience of breaking through once was important.
On top of that, my disposable tactic had worked.
Even if someone else used this tactic as a surprise attack instead of me, it could still deal a solid blow.
No, Professors Muam and Harian, who spent most of their time alone on the first floor, might not have heard about this tactic from the other professors.
"Kuhahaha, hahahahaha!"
That was when it happened.
A laugh filled with madness echoed.
"Kugh!"
"Uwaaack!"
"Kyaa!"
And at the same time, four people flew through the air.
"I win the bet, Maroon! You fell first, so you're buying the next round! Cough up that professor salary!"
Professor Arhan laughed maniacally as he looked down at Professor Maroon collapsed in front of me.
His figure, emanating hostility while gripping his spear, was that of a monster no one could deny—as if all his previous demeanor had just been a joke.
"I've treated you all as students until now, but things are different. Good. I, Arhan Ekede, will now treat you as warriors and give it my all."
In that instant, a bizarre storm of mana began to rage through the hallway.
The source was Professor Arhan. Space was warping around him!
"My summon, Lagia, is the key to the Imperial Armory, a rather ambiguous imperial artifact. Do you know what its advantage is?"
Of course. From swords to blades, spears, axes, and all sorts of weapons.
And starting from the thick iron armor worn by regular knights to armor made from dragon scales!
A summon that pulls out any armament for the situation and any armor as needed—an armory disguised as a summon made solely for the strongest warriors!
"But it has a powerful weakness to match that advantage! Namely, you can't pull out the armaments right away!"
Right. It can summon all sorts of armaments, but you have to know them directly.
Moreover, the armory key's contract isn't personal—it's between the empire and the individual.
That's why multiple people contract with the armory.
Sometimes, the armament you're trying to summon is already in use by someone else.
In that case, summoning is impossible!
There are cases with multiples of the same item, but truly exceptional armaments are one-of-a-kind, so the user has to quickly choose another.
"But in the end, I overcame it through effort!"
The ceiling began to disappear. No, it started expanding!
A pitch-black reddish land spread out around Professor Arhan, unbound by the hallway's space.
"Behold. This is the barrier born from combining the Imperial Armory with my space magic—something only I in the empire can create!"
Countless armaments stabbed into the ground!
"No need to wait for other armaments to become available—time means nothing, and I can use any armament immediately!"
Finally, the ceiling vanished, revealing a blood-red sky!
Professor Arhan looked down at us and declared.
"This is mine, Arhan's—"
No, he tried to declare.
"Infinity's..."
"Die! Hector Pascal Kick!"
"Kugh?!"
Right up until a silver girl suddenly flew in and slammed into his side.
"Ey, he's the final boss and all. Owner sent me in a hurry 'cause this uncle was tryin' somethin' weird."
She grumbled as she poked Professor Arhan's side with her short legs.
From those light kicks, sounds like "Kyueeek!" and "Kuwaaack?"—weird noises not even qualifying as screams—poured from Professor Arhan's mouth, who had always just laughed off all our attacks.
"Eh, my turn's still far off anyway."
And as if her anger had subsided, the silver girl who had been prodding Professor Arhan turned to us with a cute grin.
And that day, we remembered.
"Today's special! Playin' with big sis?"
The humiliation of not being able to leave school.
"Hee hee, poke poke! Yap! Hiyap! Yat!"
"Kwaaaack!"
"Nooooo!"
The terror brought by the silver devil.
#5 Their Circumstances: Aris Lil Retia's Circumstances [Subtitle: Saw the Devil 2]
"Kwaaack!"
"W-What!"
"Block it, Arsia!"
"Silver Fang, take it down!"
"What? Our attacking summons are collapsing!"
"Kwaaack! S-Save me!"
The grade chief professor in charge of the fourth years was absent.
That coincidence gave us a chance—barely, really barely—to break through the second floor.
We'd taken down Professor Maroon, who had thwarted us countless times, and only Professor Arhan remained.
I believed that with me and the student council executives' attacks, we could defeat Professor Arhan.
But right before Professor Arhan unleashed his true hidden power, before we saw the silver creature that struck his side...
The moment that existence—which had even plunged a goddess into despair—appeared, everything ended.
Honestly, I didn't think we'd escape school today.
The academy's strongest professors—who I thought would be on the first floor, commanding spirit kings and god-tier summons—and Professor Niserwin, whose power we still didn't know, were waiting.
Even knowing we couldn't escape, what we wanted was confidence.
To break through the second floor at least once, to reignite the spark of hope that had been fading from repeated failures—with that single blow.
But the spark of hope was extinguished.
"Hee hee, these kids these days have such nice, tender meat? Feels good to hit!"
"S-Save me..."
"U-Uwaaaack!"
Along with the students wailing in agony under the silver devil.
"Lady Aris! We have to break through! Help us!"
One of the student council seniors charged in with his black lion and shouted.
-Graaaaaaaa!
"Take this, Lion's Claw!"
That senior was the youngest in the student council but one of the top powerhouses in the second years.
From a rare knight family that started with a barony and still held its title, he wielded lion swordsmanship modeled after the lion's form, paired with his black lion summon—to earn the title "Sword of the Lion" at last year's academy festival, one of Yuglasia's promising stars!
"Finish it, Rosen!"
"You can do it!"
And the timing was a perfect ambush.
He targeted the silver devil's back precisely as she gripped a fallen girl's collar with her small hand and pummeled her.
And the result!
-Gyagyagyagyagyagya?!
"Kweaaack?"
The senior and his summon, who landed a perfect hit, rolled their eyes back and screamed.
"Hee hee, attackin' a frail girl like me from behind! Heavenly punishment!"
She kicked the senior's ankle as he desperately tried not to fall, mounted him, and started slapping his face while making whooshing sounds with her mouth.
"Kuh? Euk? Uwaaack? W-Why?"
Bewilderment and shock.
To the senior's question, his face etched with disbelief, the silver devil smiled and said.
"Huh? Ain't it obvious? I hit people to make 'em hurt—that's what a good person does! Hittin' means somethin' collidin' with somethin' else to cause pain. But then I thought. Hittin' with a fist hurts, right? So I swung at big bro thinkin' he'd counter, but he dodged and I punched the wall? Then who's hurt?"
"M-Me?"
"Huh, correct! So big bro hurts when he hits and hurts when he's hit—total masochist confirmed!"
"W-What kyueeeek?"
"That's why I'm the perfect sadist incarnate—hurt when I hit, hurt when I'm hit! Call me queen!"
We were all speechless at the devil's confident pose, index finger extended skyward.
"Quiet now. Time to hit more."
"Kwaaaack!"
-Run away.
My contracted Goddess Athena spoke to me in a voice drenched in fear as she watched.
-That thing can't be beaten. You hurt when you attack it, and hurt when it attacks you. Such a being can't exist in this world—no, shouldn't exist! Fighting it is foolish!
-B-But...
-Run!
For a moment, as if eavesdropping on our soul-to-soul conversation.
Right as the goddess shouted, the silver devil curved her round silver-bead eyes into pretty crescents and looked at me.
"Big sis contracted with a goddess who hits just right?"
And in that instant, as if proving the soul-link between summoner and summon, we both cried out.
-Run!
-We have to run!
My body moved faster than thought, leaping back greatly.
And at the same time, the devil's fist crashed into where I'd been.
"You dodged?"
But the devil seemed even happier, her crescent eyes thinning to a sliver like a new moon, flashing an even brighter smile.
"Big sis... you're gonna be way more fun."
"C-Come! O great goddess's spear, absolute shield that blocks all!"
The moment I saw that smile, cold sweat dripped down my back.
Even my father's sincere hostility back then hadn't felt like this—just one smile making me tremble in fear!
"Die!"
Close range was suicide.
Approach and get hit, and I'd collapse miserably like those behind her. Approach and hit, and I'd collapse miserably like the student council senior a bit further back.
'No matter what, the only end is miserable defeat!'
So only ranged attacks left. But Goddess Athena's main weapons were spear and shield!
Thus, only javelin throws remained!
-Sorry for just the spear! Shoulda borrowed a bow from Artemis if I knew!
-Too late—prepare the next spear quick!
Boom! The first javelin flew at the silver devil, but she'd already dodged with light movements!
"Ey, nice spear?"
She grabbed the spear lodged beside her and retreated.
Because she's a summon? Her appearance was like a girl under ten, but the spear in her grip bent as if to snap.
-Now, widen the gap!
-Before that, dodge—danger!
Boom! Sounds started as the goddess shouted.
Using the spear's recoil, the silver devil flew at me!
"I backed off to build momentum!"
"Aegis!"
Dodging was impossible. Defense it was!
I summoned Goddess Athena's greatest armament, which could block even a god's lightning while attacking and defending.
This should block the silver devil's attack!
Boom!
"Ey?"
"W-What?"
I swallowed the scream rising in my throat.
Even the divine shield couldn't fully absorb the impact—what kind of attack was this?
-No, this isn't absorption-type! It pierced Aegis and invaded with the original attack! The shield just spread the shock, reducing damage!
-W-What does that mean!? Is this pain curse-related?
-Aegis was forged by the smith god Hephaestus. It has divine power infused, blocking all curses.
-Then that doesn't make sense...
-Unless the curse surpasses that divinity.
A curse piercing the smith god's shield divinity?
What kind of creature has such power?
A devil? It really was a devil?!
"Huh? You blocked it?"
I thought as I watched the silver devil look at me with delight.
'Can... I survive this?'