Chapter 313
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 313
Chapter Title: Lesson 61. The Innocent Sinner - 3
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The dimensional liner was called a ship for convenience, but in reality, it was no different from an independent dimension.
Unlike other dimensions with fixed coordinates, this dimensional liner could freely navigate through the dimensional walls, accessing countless other dimensions.
Even though Lilith had tried to eject the spaceship immediately after sensing something was wrong upon receiving warnings from Shati and Mira, the liner had detected them first and pierced through the dimensional wall to approach, trapping them inside.
'Of course we can't get out, right?'
[I'm sorry, Master...]
'It's fine. They deliberately tricked us—what can we do? Even if we'd been heading to Union, they probably would've come after us anyway.'
Xenon had always been inscrutable.
All they knew was that he followed the Chancellor's words, was stronger than anyone except the Chancellor himself, and wielded the power of annihilation magic like Shati.
And that he was the master of this artificial space mimicking the Tower...
—Come out.
Xenon's cold voice echoed through the vast space like a reverberation.
Lilith seemed to blame herself for dragging the group into this mess and was trying her best to hold out somehow, but Ban Yu-won figured it was better to go out and face it than huddle together relying on her defenses. He pulled her into his inventory and stepped out with the others.
The interior of the dimensional liner—an independent dimension—was filled with dense magical power.
It felt foolish now to have boarded it earlier, thinking it was just a slightly larger spaceship.
"Ah."
When he looked up, he could clearly see Xenon gazing down at them from an impossibly high vantage point.
His eyes, blackened even to the whites, flashed with bright yellow pupils.
Only then did the horns sprouting from his temples and the wings protruding from his back catch their eyes.
"No way... You're the First Demon King of the Diabolo Dimension?!"
They'd just been talking about annihilation magic and the First Demon King of the Diabolo Dimension.
Shati had apparently suspected Xenon's identity all along.
But at Shati's stunned murmur, Xenon, who had been silently looking down at them, scoffed in response.
—I'm not a demon. I merely took the horns and wings of a demon to wield this power.
"What?"
Took them?
Setting aside whether that was even possible, Shati bit her lip hard in shock at the horrifying fact that Xenon had been hiding.
It was the moment when it became clear that Xenon was their enemy.
He slowly descended toward them, opening his mouth again.
—Do you know this? The Tower is connected to all dimensions, monitoring them and, in real time, tearing off parts of the world to incorporate into itself.
It was something Ban Yu-won had already guessed.
However, he'd thought the Tower only took fragments from doomed worlds on the verge of destruction, but Xenon's words suggested it wasn't strictly limited to that.
That explained even more.
Especially why Dokgo Yeon's dimension, the martial world, was so obsessively isolationist toward external dimensions.
And how her dimension's unique martial arts had spread to other worlds...
—It's a natural process of unification. The Tower will grow ever taller, and Union will become ever stronger.
"Then what happens to the other dimensions?"
—...Anyway.
Xenon grimaced momentarily at Ban Yu-won's retort but pretended not to hear and continued.
—Anyway, you—the one the Chancellor keeps hanging around with—have started to disrupt that perfect order.
"Ha, what order—!"
As Ban Yu-won tried to rebut again, Xenon's horns flashed.
At that moment, something black fell from above like a guillotine.
Ban Yu-won realized it was targeting him and deployed a barrier infused with [Diamond], but upon contact, it melted the barrier as naturally as ice cream on a hot day—
The next instant, Shati's hand shot out from beside him and caught it.
—Impressive. Even someone far stronger than you couldn't catch that barehanded.
"Is that so? Turns out handling the same magic gives me an advantage like this. Kyahat."
Shati laughed quite cheerfully, but everyone could tell she was furious.
She gripped the lump of annihilation magic tightly and spoke.
"Professor Campanella, what happened to her?"
—She's not dead. She's safe. Just... yes, she got a little injured from thrashing about. She's resting now in a temporary barracks set up inside Union Academy.
"...You're not using her as a hostage?"
—Seems like a misunderstanding. Yes, I suppose the situation looks that way. But I'm not so vicious as to hold a fellow professor hostage.
The horns flashed again.
This time, black raindrops formed astonishingly close by, targeting only Ban Yu-won precisely—and met their end in mutual destruction with the blue lightning Lucelle unleashed.
—What remarkable people. Blocking annihilation— the blood of divine beasts is no joke.
"Thank you for the praise. I'd be even more grateful if you'd let us out of this stuffy place."
Lucelle mocked him as she tilted her body into a combat stance.
One could feel the thunder beasts dwelling in her hands and feet growling in rage.
She knew full well how formidable an enemy Xenon was, thanks to her beastly instincts, yet she stepped forward without hesitation. It was nothing short of admirable.
—Ban Yu-won, you're dangerous after all. All of them... they didn't have the power to defy the order before meeting you.
Shati and Lucelle both had discovered nonexistent possibilities through Ban Yu-won's concept manipulation.
Taking it further, even Aasha, who had escaped her fate to grasp the power of a true dragon, was the same.
—But the Chancellor doesn't even realize you're trying to dismantle the Tower's order and insists on serving you. That's not right. She's mistaken. The Tower was perfect when it was just her and me as administrators, but not anymore.
As if everything until now had been mere appetizers.
Annihilation began surging from all directions.
Crescent-shaped energy blades dropping like guillotines from above.
Poisonous fumes rising from below, trying to melt them starting from their legs.
Orbs condensing into spheres, darting like pinballs to shred their bodies.
The group blocked them with their respective abilities, but they couldn't keep this up forever.
—The Tower is fine as it is. I don't like the variable that is you. And even the great Chancellor... If she keeps straying from the path, I'll have to set things right.
"What do you want?"
—Eternal rule of the Tower like this. Students climbing endlessly, providing nutrients to the Tower. And sinners meekly managing dimensions on leashes.
Xenon opened his eyes wide and spread his arms.
The annihilation magic gathered at his fingertips rapidly filled the surroundings, forming a massive magic circle just like Shati's authority.
'Danger—!'
The world turned pitch black in an instant, but the barrier Ban Yu-won barely conjured using [Rebellion], [Stigmata], [Crimson Flame], and [Sorcery] blocked it and shattered.
"Hah... Heuk..."
"That was close, really close..."
"Yu-won, you okay? Yu-won!"
Back in the independent dimension's original state, Xenon looked down at Ban Yu-won, who was gasping from the excessive use of his authority, and chewed his lip.
—Just one year. How should I feel about you growing to the point of blocking my full-power attack in a mere year?
Even if it was his full power, Xenon still seemed to have plenty of strength left, while Ban Yu-won felt like his heart and brain were burning from mixing so many language concepts into a barrier in that brief moment.
He finally realized it.
Xenon was jealous of him right now.
The inscrutable Vice-Chancellor of Union Academy, whom everyone revered, turning out to be such a child—it was laughable.
'Come to think of it, back in the first semester, when I wielded power inside the artificial space, Xenon had an uncharacteristic reaction.'
He should have realized then. He never dreamed that Union Academy's Vice-Chancellor could be driven by jealousy.
It probably wasn't just jealousy toward him.
Xenon, who had blindly followed the Chancellor, might not have taken kindly to her attention shifting to Ban Yu-won... especially with her attitude becoming blatantly obvious in the second semester, possibly spurring his outburst.
—I'd love to keep you here for a long time and make you realize your place, but I don't know how long Exodus can hold the Chancellor, so... time to wrap this up.
"Who says?"
Lucelle, Aasha, Dokgo Yeon, Mira, Ire, and even Shati.
One could say they were caught up in this because of Ban Yu-won, yet they stepped forward without backing down against Xenon, who exuded the dignity of an absolute being, ready to protect him.
—I have no grudge against you lot. You all have powers I don't like—from that insolent lizard spawn to the rest—but you alone can't change the Tower. Consider this mercy.
"Ha."
Aasha scoffed.
"Listening to you whine like a kid this whole time, what makes you think you can talk big?"
Ban Yu-won admired Aasha's insight.
Or maybe she just recognized it because she was a kid herself.
—As you heard, I don't enjoy tormenting the innocent. Just Ban Yu-won will do. I'll erase your memories and send you back unharmed. So...
"You shouldn't spout nonsense from that gaping mouth of yours, Professor Xenon. My fiancé and I are already one, so any attack on Yu-won counts as an attack on me."
"When did we get engaged?"
"We did the formal meeting, didn't we?"
—So young and fearless. No time, so I'll humor you a bit...
Xenon spread his wings wide, unleashing even greater pressure that crushed down on the group.
This wouldn't do.
The group had undergone near bone-deep transformation through a year of trials, especially this expedition where they'd defeated countless powerful foes and even ended a constellation, but the gap with Xenon hadn't narrowed.
'...Wait, why? It should have. We never felt this against a Ten Great Family head or a constellation.'
Ban Yu-won desperately probed him while racking his brain.
Sure, if Xenon was simply stronger than a former Prominence head or a constellation's followers, that'd be one thing—but even accounting for that, the gap was too vast.
Moreover, Ban Yu-won had grown massively twice: once after killing the family head, again after the constellation.
For him to not resist Xenon at all felt too contrived.
As if it were fabricated...
'Wait. Fabricated?'
At the sudden thought, Ban Yu-won quickly scanned the surroundings.
Mobilizing his All-Reading Eyes and All-Hearing Ears, now grown sharper from piercing the constellation, his Origin Sword activated in an instant, seizing the area to search for what he sought.
If he hadn't known before, now that he did...
—Not a chance.
Rain began falling across the entire space.
The annihilation rain he'd seen during the school-wide special activity—melting everything away.
As beings beyond lower-dimensional monsters, the group didn't fall easily to it, but the tricky part was that it nullified all concepts in the rain's domain.
In other words, it disrupted even the Origin Sword's search.
"Planning Chief, trying to hog it all again."
"I was going for stealthy and quick, but it's blown. Help me out. We need to stop the rain."
"Got it, I'll give it a shot."
"I shall step forward as well."
Shati, optimized for annihilation magic, and Dokgo Yeon advanced.
The lump of annihilation magic Shati had caught had morphed into a long, sharp spear, and she infused it with her authority while grinning wickedly.
"You know it won't hold long, right?"
"I'll make it quick. Please, Yeon."
"Leave it to me. Mind if I borrow a sword?"
Hearing that, Ban Yu-won hesitated.
If he were as deeply linked to Dokgo Yeon as with Lucelle, he could lend her Requiem.
Even a temporary link—could he manage something now?
A kiss, maybe?
No, was it worth wasting the opportunity he'd saved for the two of them on this?
Still, better than letting Yeon get in real danger...!
[As if a mere kiss would let that woman wield the Requiem she's not bound to you with.]
Lilith's cold reality check snapped him back to his senses.
Apparently, even he had lost his mind facing this formidable foe, Xenon.
When he handed over the Executioner's Longsword, Dokgo Yeon took it with a small smile.
"Your beloved sword. Holding this, I don't feel like I'll lose."
"I'm anxious enough already—don't jinx it, Yeon..."
The two, now battle-ready, kicked off into the air.
Xenon scoffed and attacked them with lumps of annihilation magic from all sides, but the pair—arguably the group's top fighters—didn't dodge, swinging their weapons to effortlessly dispel them.
—I might actually kill you.
"None are more laughable than those who speak of death so lightly."
—If that's your wish!
Black grid-patterned energy masses expanded instantly, engulfing the two.
Shati and Dokgo Yeon tore through them with force and charged at Xenon again.
"How about this, Professor!"
—You think that power can surpass me!
Just before the explosion from Shati's authority engulfed Xenon, his annihilation magic smothered it, and a casual arm swipe sent the charging Dokgo Yeon flying back.
The more Xenon focused on the two, the thinner the rain grew, creating more gaps for the Origin Sword to infiltrate.
—Annoying...!
Even amid this, Xenon diverted power to attack Ban Yu-won, but the remaining group members swatted it away.
Aasha, wielding her True Dragon Sword now restored with light, swept away the annihilation magic and bared her fangs in a grin.
"Knew it worked. It's not just Lucelle and Dokgo Yeon!"
"Still hung up on that?"
"Haaaaap!"
Half the vast space was painted black like ink, but the group erased it with all their might.
Ban Yu-won extended his power into the cleared areas, continuing his search—and finally found what he wanted.
Xenon sensed it too, turning from the troublesome Dokgo Yeon.
"Eve――――!"
But there was no need to voice it.
Eve, darting stealthily through the space in her small form, bit into the hidden orb in the vast area—the one concealing it—and shattered it.
The group was now inside the dimensional liner.
"Ha."
A fairly familiar space.
Of course, it was spacious, but unlike the empty void where they'd been fighting, it wasn't devoid of everything.
The swarming magical power around them had vanished, and the horns and wings on Xenon's head and back had disappeared without a trace.
"Kyaa! What the—?"
Shati, flung far back while dissipating Xenon's annihilation magic, crashed into a suddenly appeared metal wall and muttered in pain.
Only Dokgo Yeon, who had been clashing weapons up close with Xenon, felt his momentum wane and realized what had happened, letting out a chuckle.
"An artificial space, huh?"
The orb—said to be created by the Chancellor and Xenon together—unfolded a Tower-mimicking space in an extremely limited area.
Inside, Xenon became a god, and authorized students could wield the Tower's authorities freely—
But that miracle-creating orb was now crumbling in the mouth of Ban Yu-won's familiar, Eve.
"I was a bit thrown off since I didn't know orbs could be moved, but I believed the gap couldn't be that huge no matter what."
"—Tch."
Xenon clicked his tongue with an expression full of irritation.
"It was supposed to end in an instant."
"Forgot how naturally I wielded power in the artificial space you created, compared to you?"
"Indeed, the power output felt off even in my own space. Quite the ability. Though it's made things annoying..."
Xenon shook his head as if he had no attachment to the destroyed orb that had guaranteed his absolute victory, creating a wriggling black mass on his palm as he continued.
"The artificial space was just to hide my actions. The gap between us remains vast. Now that I've figured out your ability, fighting here is actually much better."
The thrown mass vanished against Dokgo Yeon's sword strike.
In exchange, the Executioner's Longsword melted away, and Xenon spread his hands to form identical spheres, attacking Dokgo Yeon again while twisting his lips into a grin.
"But first, I need to kill you—the one with the superior authority over my magic."