Chapter 77
Chapter 77
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: Opening
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"Oof, my back..."
Mimir used the stone steps as a chair. Hesitantly sitting down, she let out a deep sigh and wiped the sweat trickling down from her forehead.
Her body ached all over from the intense exertion after so long. She fanned herself with her hand, her pointed hat set down at her feet.
"Good work, Mimir."
The place where Mimir now sat was a wasteland. A filthy open lot littered with concrete debris from a terrorist attack.
The reason Mimir was out in this vast, empty expanse that didn't suit the modern cityscape at all was none other than Han Cheong-ah.
Mimir gazed at Han Cheong-ah.
Han Cheong-ah was a total mess. There wasn't a single unscathed spot on her entire body.
Scratches and burns covered her like tattoos. Moments later, Han Cheong-ah's body began regenerating the wounds on its own, just like Lee Gyeo-ul's.
"S-So, she won't go berserk anymore...?"
Mimir rubbed her eyes, shadowed with dark circles, and breathed a sigh of relief.
Over the past fortnight, many things had happened in this lot. All because of a girl's training named Han Cheong-ah.
Every time Han Cheong-ah trained to control the Queen's power, her eyes would roll back like a madwoman, and she'd try to smash everything around her. It had happened countless times.
During those moments, Mimir had nearly died, gotten injured, and repeated the physical labor she hated so much over and over.
Though it was true that Lee Gyeo-ul's presence by her side had lessened Mimir's suffering, the pain hadn't vanished entirely.
The training with Han Cheong-ah had been hellish enough that Mimir would look back on it as the hardest time in her life.
But finally, amid that hellish ordeal of endurance, the fruit had ripened.
"How're you feeling, Cheong-ah?"
Lee Gyeo-ul, wiping the blood from her forehead with a towel, asked Han Cheong-ah.
"Regeneration, air flow control, flash, physical enhancement, heat manipulation, water flow control, super regeneration, and a bunch of other superpowers—I can use them all without issue. Borrowing a line from my favorite manga, I'm in 'perfect condition' state."
"Wow! Th-That's a relief..."
Mimir flashed a wide smile, sincerely congratulating Han Cheong-ah on her awakening.
It also meant she no longer had to beat Han Cheong-ah while repeating hated physical labor or get beaten by her.
"B-But man, the Queen's power is something else. Not only does it command Dimensional Beasts, but it lets you freely wield all sorts of superpowers..."
"Me, a normal high school girl, actually the queen of Dimensional Beasts!? It's like some light novel protagonist power. I kinda wanna head to the academy right now and use it to become the top dog by strength."
Han Cheong-ah gripped her right arm tightly, muttering something like, "Guh, Black Flame Dragon..."
"You're already attending the academy, Cheong-ah."
"!"
"And we haven't even tested the Dimensional Beast commanding ability yet. Considering you can't fully control it, you're more like a shonen manga protagonist than a light novel one for now."
"It's like the Sukuna inside me, huh."
"Exactly."
Mimir half-listened to Lee Gyeo-ul and Han Cheong-ah's banter with one ear in and one out as she looked up at the sky.
Dracula should be back any minute now. He hadn't run into trouble with Zero One, had he?
A bad premonition crept over her.
Dracula's power was undoubtedly strong, but it still fell short compared to Zero One's.
Moreover, South Korea was Zero One's home turf.
To Mimir, Dracula charging in without a single gun was like a foolhardy hunter walking straight into the tiger's den.
'G-Getting sliced in half... I keep imagining Dracula dead like that...'
Mimir and Zero One were alumni.
Fellow students raised under the same master, learning magic together.
Unlike ordinary Mimir, Zero One had been a genius from birth.
When Mimir could barely conjure a palm-sized water orb with magic, Zero One unleashed massive torrents. The gap between them was that vast.
As time passed, the disparity only grew... and now, it was to the point where even pouring centuries into it wouldn't close the distance.
Mimir's expression darkened.
It wasn't just worry for Dracula.
Though their thoughts and inclinations differed, leading them to part ways, the bond from their time together hadn't vanished.
He was trying to pull off something bizarre and cruel now, like a humanity-miniaturization scenario, but before that, Zero One was the only one Mimir could call a friend.
A distant memory surfaced.
After Anne died, when Mimir had holed up in her room, obsessed with perfect resurrection magic for the dead.
Back then, Mimir truly was like a witch from a fairy tale. Disheveled hair, deep dark circles.
Her face held no emotion. Even she herself recalled it as a time when she could commit any atrocity without guilt.
The only one who looked after Mimir then was Zero One.
Mimir still remembered the comforting words and gift Zero One had given her.
'I'm sorry about Anne. I understand how you feel, but how about taking better care of yourself while researching? Research demands focus and perseverance. At this rate, your mind will collapse before you finish. Here, apples. I'll bring more next time.'
It was so unlike Zero One. His genuine expression of concern had caught her off guard.
Until then, Mimir had seen him as a cold-blooded man without a drop of tear in him, so it was natural.
"Sigh..."
Mimir let out a sigh so deep it seemed to cave the ground.
I've already betrayed the Society—what am I even thinking now?
He might have looked at her with worry back then, but now he'd surely view her like someone swatting a bug.
Back then he offered apples, but now he might hand over a poisoned one and tell her to eat it and die...
"P-Poison apples are seriously the worst..."
"?"
"?"
"Ah."
While Mimir was lost in her own world, Lee Gyeo-ul and Han Cheong-ah had quietly sidled up beside her.
"What's with the poison apple nonsense all of a sudden...?"
"Did you have a nightmare or something in that short time?"
Mimir shook her head vigorously, her ears burning.
"N-No, it's nothing. Anyway, when's Dracula getting here? Wasn't today supposed to be his return date...?"
Mimir desperately denied her slip and changed the subject.
Lee Gyeo-ul stroked her chin at those words.
"He definitely went alone with Yubyeol-ha junior. A guy and a girl traveling together for a fortnight—plenty of reasons the return date could shift. Wait, no way!"
"Winter sis, you wanna die?"
Han Cheong-ah shot Lee Gyeo-ul a murderous glare.
Lee Gyeo-ul realized her mistake and hurriedly backpedaled with a "whoops" expression.
"Maybe they both got locked up cozy by Zero One...?"
Her attempt at recovery only made things worse, like pouring oil on the fire.
Lee Gyeo-ul's bombshell remark stirred Mimir's dark imaginings.
"Eek! S-See, I'm not the only one worried. Even Dracula's gonna die. Zero One will chant 'Split in half and die!' and he'll just sp-spl-split right in haaaalf!"
Just as Mimir clutched her stark white hair and jumped up, yelling "We gotta go to Korea right now!",
"Who the heck is dying?"
A familiar voice rang out.
The eyes of the three sitting on the stone steps turned toward the source.
A gender-neutral beauty with long blue hair—the vampire so stunning she could be called the most beautiful in this world—stared at Mimir with cold, dead eyes.
"Do-hyun. You're back."
"Do-hyun! Souvenirs from Korea?"
"Uwaaaah... Dracuuulaaa..."
As Lee Gyeo-ul and Han Cheong-ah stood, and Mimir teared up in relief, moving to hug the vampire—
A thought flashed through Mimir's mind.
"E-Everyone, w-wait a sec!"
Mimir wedged herself between the group and Baek Do-hyun.
Pointing at Baek Do-hyun, she cried out in extreme agitation.
"Th-The Dracula right in front of us might be brainwashed by Zero One's mind-control slave magic, trying to deceive us in an unstable state!"
"?"
Han Cheong-ah and Lee Gyeo-ul glared at her like she'd spouted nonsense.
But Mimir clamped her lips shut and gripped her staff tightly with both hands.
Zero One's possibilities were endless. He knew every magic in this world.
He could cast mind-manipulating spells anytime, just like she'd blurted out.
Baek Do-hyun heard Mimir and flashed a wicked grin.
"Gross. How'd you know?"
His head didn't pop open like a lid.
Yubyeol-ha, arriving late, had smacked both Baek Do-hyun and Mimir's heads equally.
"Ow."
"Safely returned today."
"Eek... I-I'm the senior here, though..."
Contrary to Mimir's paranoia, Baek Do-hyun and Yubyeol-ha had returned safely from Academy City to Korea.
And they weren't the only ones returning to this vast Academy City.
Thud, thud. As another set of footsteps echoed, everyone's eyes—except Yubyeol-ha and Baek Do-hyun's—widened in shock.
"P-Punch criminal!"
A blonde woman with strikingly animal ears—Aria Blood von Direwolf—and a mysterious white-haired old man stroking his beard were walking into the lot.
"We've got a lot to talk about. Shall we head inside for the details?"
Baek Do-hyun shrugged.