Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Unexpected (9)
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Ermina didn't have a very long history with Julius, but the figure she saw now was truly something she'd never laid eyes on before.
Julius had never gone all out in public combat, and he often brushed off provocations from Christoph and the like with a laugh.
Of course, she knew he was strong, but she had no detailed knowledge of just how strong he was or the source of that power.
But the power emanating from him now felt fundamentally no different from her own.
Even knowing this wasn't a situation she should get involved in, she couldn't shake the feeling that it was somehow fated— was this just her selfish heart speaking?
In contrast, Julius faced Dania with a somewhat serious expression.
He had no intention of losing in terms of skill, but the fact that Dania's raw physical might surpassed even Carsis, combined with the battlefield being the Academy, made it all the more uncomfortable.
His main body was strong, his ability to create magic beasts was a hassle, and his personality showed no hesitation in taking hostages— there wasn't a single easy angle to exploit.
"You're more cautious than I expected. It's rare for someone called a monster to lack arrogance."
"Not really."
No sooner had the words ended than Julius swung his sword, and Dania's regenerated right arm blocked the strike.
While wary of his right half, which kept melting and reforming as if under some condition, Julius used the sword in his right hand to probe while lightly deflecting the bizarre magic Dania unleashed and the magic beasts that lunged after feeding on blood with the sword in his left.
The standoff continued, with Julius keeping his distance as if on guard against something and Dania churning out more magic beasts with a look that said time was on his side, until the souls sustaining one barrier finally depleted, at which point Julius's feet began to move in earnest.
Julius's right foot stepped forward, and at the same time, the sword in his right hand swiftly descended toward Dania's left shoulder.
Dania offered his left arm with unusual compliance, no resistance, and concentrated mana in his right hand— but Julius's right sword abruptly reversed its trajectory, flipping from a downward slash into an upward strike that smashed the back of the blade into Dania's temple.
His temple caved in, his left eyeball bulging out in a fatal blow, and he momentarily dropped to one knee.
The mana gathering in his heteromorphic right arm dispersed completely, rendering whatever he'd been preparing useless as he offered no resistance, and the left sword—which had been handling defense—pierced his throat, sending him crumpling to the ground.
Whether because a demon kin had been struck by holy golden sword energy, his severed arm and pierced neck showed no signs of regeneration.
Ermina thought the fight might be over and started to rise, but Julius motioned for her to stay down.
"Cut the act of playing dead."
《...Hoh. You know my true body, then.》
"You didn't exactly hide it."
His right half had been the one repeatedly melting and reforming.
It looked like the most abnormal part on the surface, but one couldn't rashly judge the life force of those who'd accepted the Demon God's power.
And Julius, at the very least, knew the traits and weaknesses of each high priest.
Whether he could exploit those weaknesses was another matter.
In the end, Dania, mutated into a slime-like form, had his magic beasts bring chunks of corpses or body parts, which he absorbed directly.
"Those structures made from souls must absorb the souls of the beings they devour to create, right?"
《Correct. But nothing changes.》
The corpse chunks he put in his mouth were stitched together like sewn fabric and extruded anew— eight human hands, five legs, two heads but only one eyeball.
The magic beast, literally just pieced together, was sidestepped without a slash by Julius, who signaled Ermina; he swung at the gelatinous Dania, but it sensed the blade and retracted the touching slime to evade.
Witnessing evasion speeds tantamount to semi-automatic reactions, Julius clicked his tongue once, then began drawing out the holy energy he'd been reluctant to use until now in full.
His blue eyes alone gleamed a different color, and an irrational level of energy gathered in the sword in his right hand.
Even the famed Lebedev sword struggled to endure, its blade visibly trembling, and the erupting radiance surpassed mere eye-searing brightness to become visible across the entire Academy.
"I was planning to settle this quietly, but unfortunately, you're 'not grown enough.' Guess I'll have to crush you with sheer power."
In the end, what formed in his right hand was the same lightning spear used to execute Carsis.
Evidently not a power to use lightly, cracks like shattered porcelain spread under Julius's right eye, golden blood trickling out, transforming into a ominous new mark adorning beneath his eye.
Dania, reverting to his liquid-like true form— no, his original state— felt his touched parts wither, burn, and fry in agony.
Stretching to flee only increased the surface area exposed to the light, making escape impossible.
The yellow flames evoking the sun advanced step by step, embodied in what seemed a reaper in human form, and unable to withstand the heat, Dania began disintegrating from the edges until the spear thrust popped him like a water balloon, scattering him to pieces.
Having casually dispatched the executive with an impassive expression, he turned to Karin and Ermina; unlike the slightly frightened Karin, Ermina approached Julius with a familiar ease and said,
"This is the first time I've seen you fight like this, but as expected, you're incredible, Julius."
"...No. Once I use it, the only option is to kill, and it's a power that unnecessarily draws attention, so."
"Th-there's actually a lot I want to say. But I suppose what needs saying now is set. I'm sorry. And thank you."
Extinguishing the flames, Julius nodded awkwardly in response, then approached Karin and said,
"Open the door so we can go back."
"...I've run out of mana."
"Wait, hold on."
Having already spectacularly obliterated the enemy, the entire Academy would have grasped that 'something happened,' and those seeking to capture the culprit behind this incident would swarm here.
Of course, all that remained of the perpetrator were charred meat bits and ketchup-like remnants on the ground, but everyone knew no one else here could reduce him to that state.
A raid party of skilled professors might manage it, but everyone knew that was impossible too, leaving him no choice but to flee.
And that option had just vanished.
Chin in hand, Julius pondered his options.
"Yumin. Any idea where he is?"
"No clue at all."
"Sigh."
He'd recalled Yumin coming to Astraea and figured he might have some underlings or means, but without locating Yumin, it was pointless.
Ermina, unable to handle spatial magic at all, was at a loss.
"...Over there."
"Yes."
"Um, you're going again, right?"
"That was the plan."
Saying that, Julius scanned for a hiding spot with hollow thoughts when his gaze suddenly halted.
The Academy grounds still held plenty of remnants from Dania's barriers, and time would be needed to recover those killed by the resulting magic beasts or crushed by the barriers themselves.
Conversely, for experts who could easily clear barrier debris and had their own space, reaching here wouldn't be hard.
Where his eyes stopped were Justina and Namei.
Namei froze in place, while Justina sprinted at full speed to embrace Julius.
With a slightly sour expression, he circulated energy to halt Justina and turned back impassively, but before he could speak, Justina unleashed a barrage of words.
"Namei figured out the incident and that these barriers were made of souls, leading to the conclusion that the Demon God Cult sent an assassin from the south to avenge Carsis's death or block purification. Only someone of your caliber could handle it alone, so the golden flash from here must've been yours. Convinced you'd be here, this Justina came straight to behold your noble presence, brother."
"Yeah, sure. You've gotten talkative since I last saw you. Not like you to throw in praise, either. Honestly, it's kinda annoying."
"Yes, wh—what?"
Making shooing gestures with an utterly fed-up face, Julius—the sole hope now—lifted Karin, positioned her in a meditative pose for mana recovery, and sat on the blood-and-flesh-soiled bench.
The three women—Namei arriving belatedly with mincing steps, Ermina struggling to adapt to the changed demeanor—rolled their eyes at each other, faces saying they had no idea what to talk about.
"Um, brother."
"What."
"Did I do something wrong...?"
Before her words even finished, a scoff escaped his lips.