Chapter 159: Lake of Swords (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 159: Lake of Swords (3)
The instructors of Joaquin Academy dashed toward the election venue. They were a team of ten instructors in total.
Commonly known as the Emergency Response Team, it was comprised of elites among the academy's instructors who specialized in combat. With the sole exception of Instructor Kim—that is, Choi Seol-ah.
Her role on the team was to maintain contact with the academy's central command.
Splat, splat.
Footprints were stamped one after another onto the muddy ground.
The team was heading toward the annex building where the student council election was underway.
Even the driving wind and rain could not wash away the urgency written on their faces.
Grit.
Lee Won-bin, who had been running with his eyes fixed forward, suddenly ground his teeth.
'Are we still not there yet?'
About ten minutes ago, they had received word that a major incident had occurred at the election venue.
News of a sudden earthquake that had trapped several cadets, along with reports that an external intrusion had been detected at the venue.
Upon receiving the urgent call, the team leader, Lee Won-bin, immediately assembled his members and rushed toward the venue.
'Damn it, what crazy bastards did this?'
Joaquin Academy's security was ironclad. Finding a loophole was difficult, and breaching it was even harder.
Yet, if someone had managed to slip through those defenses, they were undoubtedly enemies. No, even if they weren't, they had to be eliminated.
This place was the cradle of cadets growing into heroes. If they dared to trespass, they would pay the price.
'I'll see what kind of bastards they are with my own eyes.'
Lee Won-bin swallowed his rising anger and asked Choi Seol-ah, who was running beside him.
"Instructor Kim, any further updates?"
"No, Senior. I'm trying to establish contact, but with the weather like this... We might need to get closer to the venue, or it might just take some more time!"
"Fucking hell, why does the weather have to be this shitty today of all days!"
Lee Won-bin spat out the curse. An instructor was supposed to be a role model for the cadets.
He had to be careful with his words and actions. It was an instructor's duty to correct the cadets' mistakes.
Therefore, as someone who stood at the podium, it was his firm belief that he should never speak lightly.
Because of this, Lee Won-bin normally never let a single curse word slip past his lips.
Even when hanging out with friends, he never used vulgar language, not even as a joke. He was often told that his professional ethics were excessive.
But right now, he couldn't care less about keeping up appearances.
The anxiety and dread rising to his throat had completely wiped such concerns from his mind.
"Did you contact the Principal? Principal Medea, Instructor Kim?"
"Yes! I contacted her before we left. I was told she would rendezvous with the Association personnel stationed at the academy and join us as quickly as possible!"
"It's a relief the Principal is coming. Still, don't let your guard down! Keep in mind that our first, second, and absolute priority is securing the safety of the cadets. Understood?!"
"Yes, sir!"
At Lee Won-bin's shout, the nine instructors nodded, determination flashing in their eyes.
They spurred themselves to run faster. But the moment the election venue building finally came into view, Lee Won-bin couldn't help but gasp in shock.
A lake surrounded the venue like a moat.
No matter how bad the weather was, how could something like this appear overnight?
Pushing aside his disbelief, Lee Won-bin fell into deep thought. At this rate, entering the venue building would be extremely difficult.
He wanted to swim across, but the violently swirling whirlpools made it impossible.
On top of that, lightning was continuously striking the water, posing a severe risk of electrocution.
As he racked his brain with a grim expression, Lee Won-bin suddenly sensed a sharp, stinging energy.
At that exact moment—snap! The sound of fingers snapping echoed from the side.
In that brief instant, Lee Won-bin realized what it was. It was the sound a villain made when casting magic.
"It's an ambush! Eva—!"
Thwip. A faint sound of tearing air cut through the sound of the rain.
"...?"
One of the team members wore a dazed expression. He felt a strange, cool breeze, as if the wind was blowing straight through his head.
He reflexively reached up to touch the space between his eyebrows. His index finger, tracing up the bridge of his nose, slipped right into his forehead.
Without any resistance, his finger slid smoothly into a coin-sized hole in his forehead.
Only after feeling the soft texture at his fingertip did he realize he was already dead. He stood there for a moment, letting the rain wash over him, before collapsing forward.
Squelch, squelch.
Shadows approached through the rainy path. There were five of them. Though their faces were shrouded in the shadows of their hoods, their white, mocking smiles stood out clearly.
One of them pulled back her hood. It was a woman with a long sword scar across her face. She crossed her arms and sneered.
"What's this? We ambushed them thinking the Principal would show up, but it's just a bunch of bugs."
"Right? If I knew it'd be like this, we shouldn't have bothered with an ambush and just fought them head-on. How boring."
"Still, don't let your guard down yet. We need to buy time until 'That Person's' descent stabilizes. Things will get complicated if the Sage, Medea, arrives, so finish them off quickly. Besides, that Sashimi guy is at the scene, so we need to hurry over there too."
The woman gestured with her chin to her companions. They, too, pulled back their hoods and took up combat stances.
Veins bulged across Lee Won-bin's smooth forehead. Yet, he spoke in a low, suppressed voice.
"I wondered what kind of fearless bastards you were, but it turns out you're just villains who sold out your humanity. That explains it."
"Wow, look at this bald octopus trying to act all fucking tough."
At that, Lee Won-bin's face flushed bright red. The raindrops falling onto the crown of his head hissed and evaporated into steam.
Amidst the escalating tension, Choi Seol-ah's eyebrows twitched. There were words in their conversation that caught her attention.
'Descent' and 'Sashimi'. With just those two words, Choi Seol-ah could roughly guess the situation.
'One of the Corps Commanders is descending, and my Lord is fighting them.'
Choi Seol-ah quickly drew her revolver. A faint sheen glinted off the rain-slicked barrel.
It was a spoil of war obtained from finishing off the Reaper on that night she spent with her Lord.
Choi Seol-ah spun the cylinder with a slick whir. She looked quite stylish.
"Senior Won-bin! We need to take these bastards out quickly and get to the scene!"
"Ah, uh. Right, Instructor Kim."
Lee Won-bin was momentarily taken aback by Choi Seol-ah's urgent tone.
For one, it was unexpected for Choi Seol-ah to step forward for battle. She was usually busy making excuses, claiming she was too scared to fight.
He also wondered where she had gotten the gun. Wasn't bringing firearms into the academy illegal?
But soon, Lee Won-bin shook off his thoughts and hoisted his iron bat onto his shoulder.
He would mourn his fallen teammate and the hair he had long since parted with by offering up the deaths of these bastards.
"Show these sons of bitches what Joaquin Academy is made of."
The leader's order fell. The instructors of Joaquin kicked off the mud in unison.
* * *
Resounding shockwaves. An endless onslaught. The entire area shook violently as if it would tear apart.
Boom! Crash! Ba-ba-boom!
What looked to be thousands of water arrows pursued Kang Geomma.
「Aqua Arrow」
It was an extremely basic spell. However, the destructive power of each individual attack was absurd, owing to their terrifying velocity.
The speed felt like twenty times the speed of sound. The sound of the impact only reached him long after Vesna had cast the spell.
Eeeeeee—
The deafening roar ruptured Kang Geomma's eardrums. Warm liquid trickled down his earlobes.
Kang Geomma didn't bother to wipe away the blood. He simply kept his feet moving, tightening his reverse grip on his two sashimi knives.
"I can dodge this."
Kang Geomma's body acted before his brain could even process the command.
Kang Geomma accelerated drastically. It was hot. A burning pain, as if his legs were on fire, surged through him. Red steam billowed from his calves.
In contrast, the sensation beneath his feet was soft, as light as stepping on clouds.
Patter-patter-patter!
Kang Geomma dashed forward. His thermal afterimage trailed behind him like a comet. He was running on water, not land. White waves crashed belatedly beneath his feet.
Manager Seong, who had lost his limbs, watched the scene with a dazed expression.
'I can't keep up with my eyes.'
Manager Seong had felt a lingering regret for not stopping Kang Geomma from charging forward so recklessly.
He had instinctively sensed that even if the cadet was an unprecedented genius, the opponent was an even greater monster.
Since his own body was already dying, he had thought it right to sacrifice himself to buy time and call for reinforcements from the academy.
He believed that was the last thing he could do in his life...
'But Master Geomma's true strength is far beyond my calculations.'
It simply made no sense. The ceaseless barrage of water arrows, the waves sweeping in from all directions, and the whips of water lunging at him like serpents.
He was dodging all of it. Relying solely on pure speed—a speed that seemed to transcend humanity.
This was no longer a battle that could be followed with the naked eye.
What Manager Seong was seeing now was likely just the afterimage of Kang Geomma's movements from a few seconds ago.
"...Is this truly a human?"
Even Vesna let out an exclamation of admiration. It was a genuine sentiment from the bottom of her heart.
Even though she had not fully adapted to her host body yet, he was completely evading her magic.
Agor's death had sent shockwaves through the Demon Realm. A Corps Commander-class demon killed by a human? It was as absurd as being stung to death by a bug, so Vesna had found it impossible to believe.
When the 6th Corps Commander, Basmon, died, she had brushed it off. He was a pathetic weakling who was all talk. But Agor was a true powerhouse, unlike Basmon. And she was Vesna's sister.
Thus, Vesna's purpose in invading the Human Realm was revenge. She would personally eliminate the human who had killed her sister.
And her second purpose was confirmation. She wanted to personally test the caliber of the vessel that all the Corps Commanders, including herself, coveted.
To do so, she had borrowed a body for immediate use. She had enticed her host with sweet words and amplified the human's dark side.
With just a few words, this body had eagerly accepted her offer.
She didn't even know its name. This piece of trash was just a disposable vessel anyway.
But now, none of that mattered. Vesna's eyes gleamed with greed. Kang Geomma's movements reminded her of the 1st Corps Commander, Lord Lycan.
'With that desirable body, ruling the Human Realm alone would be child's play.'
Furthermore, she might even be able to usurp control of the Demon Realm Gehenna from the 2nd Corps Commander.
A smile began to form on Vesna's lips, only to falter. This confrontation was not entirely easy for her either.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Kang Geomma circled the lake in a spiral, gradually closing the distance between himself and Vesna.
Astonishment filled Vesna's eyes. Kang Geomma's speed was increasing far beyond her expectations.
Was it even possible to go any faster than this?
Now, he was starting to blur even in Vesna's vision. If she didn't focus her sight, she would lose track of him.
Vesna pushed her magic power to its limit. Deep blue currents crackled and flowed from her fingers, expanding a forcefield across the entire lake.
Splashhhhh!
Bubbles boiled up in the lake, and hundreds of water spikes shot up from the surface like a bed of thorns.
Kang Geomma let out a short chuckle.
'Trying to block my approach?'
As expected of a Corps Commander, Vesna left very few openings.
To make matters worse, he had to settle this fight in less than a minute. Impatience naturally crept in.
Kang Geomma took short, controlled breaths. He had to stay calm. The fact that his opponent was scattering wide-range magic meant she was trying to block his approach. It was as good as admitting she was weak in close-quarters combat.
Still, he couldn't just charge through this field of spikes. A single misstep, and he would be swept away by water arrows, water whips, and spray, and drown.
Kang Geomma suddenly recalled his memories of Avallon. If only he could summon the same power he had back then.
He would be able to slice this fish into sashimi.
But that power had been granted only because the situation and environment had aligned perfectly.
No matter how hard a human tried, it was impossible to part a storm. Even if that human was extraordinary.
...It was at that moment. A woman's singing voice echoed in his ears.
—Thousands of lives pray to you.
—Please, have mercy on them.
Kang Geomma's hair burned to a stark white. The sound he heard was pure white noise. The pupils vanished from his eyes.
—And show the enemy true demonic power.
Soon, his mind went completely blank.