Chapter 49
Chapter 49
49
[Main Story] No.1 Rebellion and Collapse (6)
"I, I'm sorry, Princess…. I don't know either…."
"Shut up."
"Yes, y-yes…. I'm sorry…."
Does she even know what's going on? Rebecca didn't question it. She was just trying to suppress her annoyance.
And so, I moved. I walked past Elise and stood in front of Rebecca at the bottom of the stairs.
Elise is tall, and Gray is quite small. Rebecca is somewhere in between. But in front of me, who's over 190cm, all three of them are small.
Even if Rebecca is a tyrant, she's still just a young and small Student.
"The Assassination War in District 2 will soon come to an end. Have you thought about what will happen after that?"
"……."
"In the coming era, Hiaka will need many professors. Even neutral professors who haven't participated in the rebellion will be able to do their part."
"...I'll stop listening to your teachings."
Rebecca said, still covering her face.
"...I'm just going to kill the senior professors."
"I forbid it."
I leaned down, getting closer to her.
"If you truly dedicate yourself to the nation, you should stop here. Then, I won't hold you accountable."
Rebecca took her hands away from her face. Then, she looked up at me. Her eyes were red enough to be unsettling.
"If you hold me accountable?"
She was so angry that her breathing was rough. Her hands were shaking, and her eyes were slightly trembling. There was a murderous aura about her.
"If you hold me accountable, what will happen?"
But I am an external force. I won't back down.
"You will be pushed into hell by my hand."
This isn't an empty threat. I know a lot. I know several ways to ruin her, princess or not.
"Do you think I'll go alone?"
"Then, we'll fall together."
She was already in a vulnerable position. Rebecca seemed to realize that I wasn't joking.
"……."
"……."
A moment of silence passed.
With a heavily suppressed expression, she said,
"Professor."
"I'm listening."
"Me. Since becoming a princess, there hasn't been a single time I've been able to do something as I pleased. Not for a single moment."
"……."
"I. I've had everything I wanted. I've killed anyone I wanted to kill whenever I wanted to. Because this is the Hiaka Kingdom, and I am its precious princess."
Suppressing her trembling breath. With a slightly grating tone, Rebecca said,
"You're the first, Professor. The first person to dare frustrate me twice."
Once, when I refused to be the advisor of the Hidden Dragon Society.
The second time seemed to be this situation.
"What should I do? I'm starting to dislike you a little."
If that's the relationship between the princess and me, I like it.
I'm also starting to dislike Rebecca more and more.
"You'll have to get used to it."
"Until when?"
"As long as you're a Student. The Hidden Dragon Society will need me in the coming era."
Rebecca stared blankly at me.
Then, she replied nonchalantly.
"Don't get the wrong idea. I don't need you anymore, Professor."
After saying that, she turned and started walking down the stairs. With the sound of her heels clicking. Elise, who had been glancing around nervously, followed with a tearful face. "Let's go together, Princess…." Then, an annoyed answer came back.
"Don't follow me."
"P, Prin…."
"I don't need you either. You trash."
Elise froze in place.
That was it. Rebecca's assassination was prevented.
But it seems that even such a hateful relationship was still a relationship.
┃ Relationship Stat increased: Rebecca [20] (▲17)
┃ Reward: Star Fragment × 17
The amount was significant. Not bad.
⋮
'……Should I go back?'
I turned and headed back to the lab.
In the meantime, a message came.
-
Assassination Department: The Assassination War in District 2 has come to an end.
The Assassination War was finally over.
It was an overwhelming victory for Hiaka. Almost all of Kreuz's assassins were either killed or fled.
In the first place, the success of assassins' battles largely depends on whether or not they can launch a surprise attack.
In fact, there are papers that show that an assassin's combat output increases by up to 700% when they launch a surprise attack.
Conversely, when an assassination is perfectly prepared for, the assassin becomes powerless. That was the case with Kreuz's assassins.
Hiaka knew this situation in advance and prepared for it, so the damage wasn't too great.
Somehow, I had reached the core of the main story.
"What. Why are you following me?"
In the meantime, someone was following me silently.
It was Elise.
"I'm going with you."
"No."
"I can't either."
Elise had been very anxious since Rebecca left.
To put it in perspective, she looked like a puppy that had broken the homeowner's precious porcelain. I was going to send her away anyway. But she said she didn't want to go back to the Hidden Dragon Hall no matter what, so I brought her to the lab for the time being.
But then. She started acting out.
"Elise. What are you doing?"
She suddenly opened the trash can and got inside.
With the lid on her head.
"I'm depressed."
"Depressed or whatever, what's the reason for getting into that dirty place?"
"I don't know…."
Then, Elise picked up a coffee can and an empty cosmetic container from the trash can and said gloomily.
"Trash…ㅠ"
What am I supposed to do?
It's a good thing the lab's trash can is clean….
"When are you planning to leave?"
"I'm not going."
"Go back to the Hall before nightfall."
"I don't want to."
"……."
"I don't wanna."
"…I didn't say anything."
Is this some kind of, what was it, separation anxiety? I wondered.
【 Elise : ｡°(´∩ω∩`)°｡ 】
I decided to let it be.
As time passed, the department contacted me. To ask when the 'Solo Jinxite Raid' would begin.
I decided to go right on time for the raid.
There were currently 3 hours left until the complete Summon-Taming of Jinxite.
< Time left until Hotfix: 59 minutes 15 seconds…. >
There was 1 hour left until the hotfix.
"Professor, I'm here… Oh? What are you doing there?"
Adele arrived at the lab just in time, and I left Elise in her care.
Then I went outside. To the outdoor training room near the lab. It was empty now.
I decided to test the newly acquired 「Colossus Soldier's Sword○」 during the free time.
＊ 「Shadowless Star○」 Titan's Blade [LegendⅡ, Stigma]
Looking at it again, it's an amazing weapon.
I finally changed my main weapon from 「Liberator⁺₊⋆」 to 「Colossus Soldier's Sword○」.
< Overall Combat Power: 132,850 → 157,440 (▲24,550) >
「Liberator⁺₊⋆」 was 18,000.
「Colossus Soldier's Sword○」 was a whopping 42,550.
The level of a national treasure without any enhancements or options is this high.
'…Amazing. The weapon that the whole world wants is in my hands.'
First, I decided to check the options.
As I knew, [Attack Power] was quite high…….
No, it wasn't just quite high. It wasn't even incredibly high, it was abnormally high.
If the previous 「Liberator⁺₊⋆」 had high attack power and was at the level of a cannon, this was almost like attaching thirty cannons.
That was only natural.
Originally, 「Colossus Soldier's Sword○」 is a siege weapon.
The Stigma was 「Shadowless Star○」, which chose the Elise family. This is also an invisible weapon.
Swish-
When I pulled the sword out of its scabbard, an extremely ordinary sword was drawn, unlike the name of a national treasure.
The length is slightly short for a longsword. An unremarkable appearance.
But even if you brought a million flashy pieces of trash, they couldn't compare to this.
All Legend weapons have a 'starting incantation'.
By reciting it, I 'started' it.
"Raise the sword, Colossus Soldier―"
The moment I put Mana into the sword, the space around me began to vibrate.
─── .
At this time, I felt very strange, as if my senses were expanding.
To put it in perspective, it felt like I was standing here, suspended by strings like a marionette.
The 'me' now is connected to the 'giant me' behind me.
This is the feeling of the [Summon-Taming] system.
The core of the [Summon-Taming] system is 'to have something other than me fight in my place'. Among them is the concept of 'puppet'.
That was the ability of this sword.
I am now moving a puppet.
The 'Colossus Soldier's arm and sword' that are behind me but invisible.
The Colossus Soldier is currently holding the sword in the same posture as me, but even I, who am controlling it, couldn't get a sense of what its shape was.
Star, 「Shadowless Star○」 is a star that symbolizes secrets, hidden things, disappearing things, concealment, forgotten things, etc.
Even though Elise only inherited fragments of its Stigma from her father, she can use ultra-high-level [Stealth] to the point of deceiving senior professors. The 'Colossus Soldier' behind me was also in that category.
'As expected, I can't move at the same time as the Colossus Soldier.'
That is the limitation of this weapon.
If I move, the Colossus Soldier cannot move.
If the Colossus Soldier moves, I cannot move.
Next, I wanted to test its power.
I thought with my mind.
Slash.
In an instant, an incredibly huge 'invisible sword' began to swing.
It was strange to call it a 'sword'. In terms of size, it was like connecting five or six giant buses.
The larger it is, the slower it is. The Colossus Soldier's sword wasn't very agile either.
But the weight of it was soon revealed before my eyes.
Air bounces off the surface. Because I couldn't properly grasp the length, the tip of the sword covered the outpost far away in the training room.
Kwaang ──── !
The area is devastated. Air is pushed out and a shockwave explodes. The outpost made of metal frames was completely crushed.
Like the sword wielded by a giant fighting against a mythical monster, my strike destroyed the outpost and was not enough, so it was embedded in the surface, creating a huge crack in the ground.
It was a truly shocking power. As far as I knew, even if you detonated a grenade, you couldn't dig even 10cm into the hardened surface. But the place where the 'Colossus Soldier's Sword' pierced now seemed to be 3m deep. And that was even though it was cut with the blade, not stabbed with the tip.
'Huh…….'
Truly terrifying power.
At this rate, even giant entities that cannot be assassinated normally could be assassinated.
For example, among the Sword Masters of the Empire, there is a knight who [Giantification]. His body grows up to 25m. The thickness of his skin alone is 80cm. It is almost impossible to kill him with normal assassination methods.
But with me now, it seemed somewhat possible.
'The weaknesses are.'
There are three main weaknesses.
Weakness 1: I cannot move while moving the Colossus Soldier.
Weakness 2: The attack is stealthy but not fast.
Weakness 3: The sword itself is weak.
Tung, tung.
I flicked the surface of the sword against my knee. It's a little stronger than a normal sword.
In this world, weapons are consumables.
I should avoid direct combat as much as possible.
The moment it breaks, the ability of this sword ends. Because the [Stigma] will disappear.
But even if that's not the case, isn't it my destiny to die if I'm put in direct combat?
'It's a sword that suits me perfectly.'
I was very satisfied.
But just because I got a good weapon, it wasn't something to be happy about.
Zzzing….
A sinister vibration is felt from the tip of the sword.
Masterpieces choose their own masters and mercilessly abandon unqualified masters.
This one is the same. 「Colossus Soldier's Sword○」 will try to test me at every opportunity in the future. And I have to show it that I am its master.
The hidden secrets and true uses of this weapon can only be attempted after that proof is completed.
* * *
A scarred hand holds a cigarette. A cheap cigarette that doesn't suit a noble princess.
She takes out a match and scratches it a few times. But her hand is shaking with anger, so it doesn't light easily. She barely managed to light it, and she took the smoke deep into her lungs.
The place was still the stairs of the infirmary building, but Rebecca didn't care. She continued to exhale smoke. If she didn't do this right now, if she didn't calm her impulses like this, she felt like she would do something very, very evil. She had to control herself like this.
Around that time, the 「crystal ball」 rang. It was Communication.
"What is it."
< …This is Cheongru. Princess. Are you alright? >
It was the old guardian knight Cheongru. Someone who has known her for a long time and can tell her mood just by hearing her voice.
"Speak. Mind your own business."
< Ah, yes. >
< I have investigated the professor who prevented the Airship from crashing, as you instructed. >
"Oh, really."
It was welcome news in the midst of her annoyance. For some reason, the department was trying to hide it to the death. But it seemed they had finally found out.
The genius of [Illusion Magic] who put those overwhelming wings on the crashing Airship.
Among the professors she knew, there was no professor who could handle [Illusion Magic] to that level, so it was clear that it was someone among the new professors.
Why didn't she still know about the existence of such a professor?
It was great.
As Rebecca, who could see Mana, she couldn't help but admire the great heights.
That's why she didn't need Professor Dante anymore.
Dante. A disappointing professor. She thought he was quite capable. Everyone praised him, so she thought so even more, but she had to experience it herself to know.
Professor Dante was a blind professor who didn't see who he was or what he held in his hands.
She would throw away those pink eyes now. It would be better to bring that person from the Airship as the advisor of the Hidden Dragon Society. If he could refine and handle Mana to that extent, he would surely be a professor with great potential even among geniuses.
"So. Who was it?"
-
Yes, Princess.
Immediately after that.
She doubted her ears at the answer that came back.
-
It was Professor Dante Hiacapo.
Her red lips twitched.
Her decadent eyes trembled.
At the end of it, Rebecca blankly asked again.
"...Why?"
Main Story
No.1 Rebellion and Collapse
END