The Demigod Boss's Futile Fury
The boss of the Darkside Syndicate, Park Minji.
She was a descendant of some hero from ages ago who was said to have saved the world and ascended to godhood. It was so far in the past that even her family couldn't grasp the full truth. But one thing was clear: the blood of a demigod coursed through their veins.
Born with immense strength, their bodies would turn pitch black when unleashing that power. And among them, a rare few were born with extraordinarily unique abilities right from the start. She was exactly that kind of being.
The awakener of the bloodline that could wield the power bestowed by their progenitor, the ancestor who had ascended to divinity. The name of that authority was Over the Rainbow.
Though there were limitations since she was only a demigod, that power was absolute. It allowed her to dominate the seven colors. As long as a color existed, she could wield it at will—literally.
It started with a single color, then expanded to all seven. The ability grew stronger with every use, and now she had mastered blending them to conquer every shade.
Those unqualified couldn't even resist her presence before being utterly crushed. And despite wielding such overwhelming authority, she was also specialized in fire, wood, and even metal-affinity magic.
With her peerless talent, she could achieve anything she desired—a tyrant of the earth incarnate. Her ambition was to become the ruler of the underworld, the absolute sovereign of darkness. She yearned to be a symbol of terror like the idol she admired: Aris Witchcraft.
"I had high hopes since you're her kid..."
Flames laced with oil blazed fiercely. Any ordinary creature would suffocate and die in that inferno.
Killing the child might summon a generational feud. That could etch her name into history as a madwoman. She harbored such expectations for a moment—until she seized the "red" flames with her authority, ripping them away and extinguishing them entirely.
"Gotta keep it intact enough to recognize..."
If it burned too black, identification would be impossible. Just as she moved to advance after dousing the fire...
From within those flames, the being she had pinned down with her authority was rising again.
Once more, she blended colors to grasp and crush the dull hue of her opponent's skin. But after the first hit landed on sight...
It didn't work. As if she'd "adapted," it simply didn't connect.
'No, that's wrong—it's that it won't connect anymore.'
Those who possess divinity or godhood in this world hold something special called ether. To put it extremely, attacks from those without ether rarely land on ether users or bearers.
Unless they were transcendent beings at the opposite extreme or had gained special enlightenment.
Just like how even Kaoru's brutal punches hadn't scratched Park Minji, no damage could be inflicted.
And now, that was happening to her. The demigod blood in her veins whispered it: she was feeling, in reverse, the one-sided power she always wielded.
Her racial instincts screamed that her opponent's unwitting exercise of authority was mirroring her own power exactly.
'An ether user!!'
She didn't know what power it was or how to control it, but her body responded instinctively, like breathing.
Wiyu Witchcraft's hopelessly broken mind-body balance was a total mess. Yet even so, her "body" learned and adapted on its own, without her brain's knowledge.
Hummm— Concentrating ether into her fist summoned a glow akin to divinity. Brighter and fiercer than the holy power of priests, it enveloped her, and the demigod's strike slammed into Wiyu's face without warning.
As a superhuman, distance meant nothing. She accelerated with space-folding speed, putting her full weight behind a punch loaded with killing intent.
It seemed she'd picked up a bad habit from Kaoru, but that was just how the third-years rolled.
"Hup!"
Crack.
Her striking right arm couldn't withstand the impact and shattered. Skin tore, nails flew off, fingers crumpled like they'd been crushed in a press.
...Even smashing a polymorphed dragon who'd enrolled at the academy hadn't felt this solid. No, even if a fellow demigod or god had enrolled, it wouldn't have been this excessively tough.
'I loaded my punch with all the ether I could muster, and mine shattered?!'
The moist tears splashing her cheek proved her hit had landed. So had she at least broken a nose? Knocked out teeth? Torn lips or skin? Bruised it? Maybe burst an eyeball since it was to the face?
"Owuu..."
No. Wiyu Witchcraft was unscratched. Her skin was just a bit flushed red—that was it. She whined like it hurt, scratching at it with her hand and sniffling.
...She hadn't gone all-out or anything, but this was ridiculous. No defense, no dodge. Her body hadn't even reacted to the punch; the pain only registered afterward. How sluggish could she be?
As a martial artist, she'd sensed the horrific imbalance between body and soul even before striking. But still, this was too much. She'd taken it wide open in a daze!
Fine, then—time for her authority. Over the Rainbow.
Blending all seven colors into pitch-black oblivion, she channeled the authority's energy through her veins. Every muscle in her ether-armored body twisted with waist power for another face-smashing blow.
Crunch— A gruesome impact echoed.
"Uuuu...!"
With authority loaded, her left hand was in worse shape than the right. But unlike before, this one had effect—blood started gushing from the nose.
"What the hell is this because of you, Kaoru-senpai...!"
But that was it. A dumb, dazed expression, oblivious to her own nosebleed, just tears streaming down.
She wasn't even thinking of fighting back now. No fighting spirit anywhere, no will to battle—not even a shred. That utterly unmotivated face killed her own drive.
She was a martial artist, after all. Relentlessly bullying a girl with zero will to fight hurt her pride.
...Though whether you could call an unscratched punching bag a "girl" was debatable.
"Huff... Even someone who can only swing a sword wouldn't take hits like this...!"
Shedding actual tears after eating two punches from senpai... well, technically three including the oil-flame explosion. The absurdity of lifelong sword training with zero punching experience had her sobbing.
Never had her demigod authority felt this powerless. She was just bewildered.
.....Go full power, unleash your authority completely, and fight for real...?
Her boiling battle lust threatened to erupt like magma. But those irresistibly cute eyes, glistening like a kitten's as she sniffled up at her, broke her resolve.
"Just one question: Have you ever fought that crazy mushroom?"
"Y-Yes? N-Nooo... Senpai just taught me studying...?"
That battle maniac who punches first on any strong-looking junior skips fights only in one case: when they're utter trash at it or total greenhorns with zero affinity for combat.
This adorable girl seemed like both. Her hands looked trained, but her awkward fist stance was so cute it made her want to hug her.
Was she seducing her by flaunting that voluptuous figure right now?
"Tch, so you've heard I like girls too."
"N-No... I haven't heard anything..."
She'd just been dragged here. Wiping her face with one hand, Minji pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed the streaming nosebleed.
"Sigh, I had such high hopes... How does a dinosaur give birth to a bunny this cute...?"
Watching her meekly tilt her face up as senpai cleaned her nose made Minji crave a lip-lock, but she held back.
"Um, about Kaoru-senpai..."
"Drop it. She'll crash eventually."
Curious how high she'd launched her? Higher than the clouds, so it'd take a while.
In the meantime, she picked up her fallen glasses from the floor and adjusted them.
"Worst first meeting ever, huh? You seem to hate fighting, so I'll apologize. As this place's boss, you have the right to ask me anything or request whatever."
"Uh... your skin?"
"Ah, that's just a change that happens when I use the authority flowing in my blood. Normally, I suppress it with this divine artifact that looks like glasses."
Her hand, good as new like the break never happened, grabbed Wiyu's. Leading the way, Minji offered to personally tour her around for her junior's sake.
Without power active, even her eye color shifted to a striking jewel-blue. Well, only visible through the lenses—the inside still glowed red.
"By the way, I'm bisexual. Don't look at me with those innocently cute eyes; I might not hold back."
"Uh, I like girls too, but..."
"...What? Age gap's there, but if you want romance, sure—but your face says you have no clue, so whatever."
Such overflowing purity would just breed guilt if tainted, thought senpai. Wiyu scratched her head dumbly, and Minji grabbed her cheeks, kneading them wildly.
"Oh, I have a question! The first-year top student was here. How'd you get the invite?"
"Haha, yeah... you'd wonder."
Super rare for first-years to get invited here, but senpai explained she'd get it.
"Ephemera Flash. She's the current head of the Ephemera family. Basically, she tossed us a line to look good."
"Eugh...?"
"Hehe, and fun fact: I recommended her for academy enrollment."
"Eeeeeek!"
"Your reactions are too cute, junior."
Squeezing her tight like she wanted to collar and raise her as a pet, Minji muttered, "What a waste on that damn mushroom."
Senpai introduced the next person: a second-year senior and pretty famous "broadcaster," leading her to a concert hall mid-performance.
"Everyone~ Thanks so much for coming to my concert~!"
A blue-haired idol in a clever maid-gym uniform mashup bounced around cutely.
"Allow me to introduce: our district's pride, the 'underground virtual idol' Dolabird Mitil."
Six years broadcasting, 200k subscribers... a second-year commoner held back four times, per Minji-senpai.
Not sure what part was "virtual," but she explained the visible one was an illusion.
"...The real one's got too many flaws for idol work."
Wiyu nodded, convinced.
...So what connected our top student to this virtual idol?
"Think of her as a big patron from the early days... She's basically the chairwoman."
Minji-senpai's finger pointed to unmistakable golden hair. Our diligently waving lightstick top student looked... totally different, almost shattering her image.
"You probably wouldn't guess, but the family head loves hard workers."
"No kidding, I had no idea."
How was she supposed to predict our academy's first-year ace was a six-year virtual otaku?
She still had to enroll somewhere, and not a prestigious house...
"She came here 'cause her oshi's here, duh."
Maybe holding back second-year promotion to avoid bothering her oshi? Fair enough, no retort there.