Chapter 1412 – 1412. Savior Of The Academy
[Using Flash. Remaining stacks: 6]
I gripped the Hwaryeon Flying Blades and dashed forward with all my might. Moving too violently caused the Ghost Mantle to lose its effect. My presence and appearance were fully revealed. Hattori, who was walking towards Reika to finish her off, turned his gaze towards me.
Thunder Heaven Style, Thunder Flash.
A blade carrying red lightning tore through the air. Startled, Hattori stepped back, barely managing to parry my strike.
“…Kuh! You’re not ordinary…!”
A clone sprang from Hattori’s body. The clone ignored me and rushed towards Reika. It was trying to kill Reika first. I gritted my teeth. My reaction was a beat too late.
[Using Flash. Remaining stacks: 5]
I used Flash to instantly catch up to the clone. If I used Flash once more, I could easily cut down Hattori’s clone. But I didn’t use Flash. I appeared in front of Reika and blocked the clone’s hand strike with my body.
My side was pierced. Blood splattered. I endured the pain and swung my blade, beheading the clone. The clone disappeared.
“You, you’re an exchange student…! Why did you save me?!”
Reika, startled, asked with wide eyes.
‘Of course, it’s because I want to seduce you.’
I couldn’t reveal my true intentions. I quickly thought for a moment before opening my mouth.
“I saved you because I wanted to. That’s all.”
I said it as much like a light novel protagonist as possible.
“What?”
Reika looked at me with an uncomprehending gaze. Her reaction was more lukewarm than I expected, but… given the situation, I understand. Later, when she has a love interest, she’ll look back on this moment and get lost in thought.
“…So you’re the son of the Thunder. You fit the description I heard. Tch.”
Hattori clicked his tongue and created clones. Two. Four. Eight. Sixteen. Thirty-two. The clones multiplied into dozens, emitting a threatening aura.
“Get lost. If you don’t, I’ll kill you.”
He was trying to kill Reika, and now he’s suddenly telling me to get lost?
‘He’s aware of me. Or rather, he’s aware of Seong Hari.’
They know that if they kill me, Seong Hari will wage a full-scale war against the Madoujeong.
“Seong! Shinbo! Are you safe?!”
“You impudent fools! Step away from Tsukuyomi’s Magatama at once!!”
Hyodo Yuki, holding a black Japanese sword, and Miyakado Mieko, dressed in a shrine maiden’s outfit, appeared. Miyakado Mieko, who usually seemed emotionless, was genuinely angry and unleashed a furious outburst.
“More interlopers keep appearing. My patience is reaching its limit. You all will be….”
Hattori stopped mid-sentence and retreated with his clones. A bead fell from the sky where Hattori had been. The bead exploded upon hitting the ground, creating a small crater.
Hattori looked up at the sky with cold eyes. A young child wearing a flamboyant red kimono was floating in the sky.
“Tenrai Nagisa…!”
“Long time no see, Hattori. I’ve been regretting not killing you twenty years ago. Today, I will kill you and get rid of that regret.”
“How did you get here so quickly! Even for you, you shouldn’t be able to defeat Nanba in such a short time!”
“That troublesome demonic beast, you mean? It certainly would take even me some time to deal with it, but there’s someone else in the Academy who can handle it. I left it to that child.”
“……The Thunder of Gwancheon.”
“Has your curiosity been satisfied? Then now… let go of your attachments and die.”
Nagisa extended a small hand towards the void. A hand that looked too soft and supple to have endured decades grasped the air.
At that moment, the space where Hattori and his clones existed crumpled like a piece of paper. Hattori and his clones couldn’t put up any proper resistance and were crushed along with the space, disappearing.
“Hmm?”
Nagisa narrowed her eyes, looking at the place where Hattori had been. Hattori’s corpse was not there.
“I thought it was his main body… was it a clone? Your skills have improved since before.”
Dozens of Hattoris appeared from somewhere. Hattori’s clones ran in all directions, surrounding Nagisa.
“As expected of the Water Moon’s Empty Princess. Even after all this time, her immense power hasn’t diminished at all.”
“I will accept death here.”
“I will gladly sacrifice myself for the greater cause.”
“Sanada-sama! Please achieve the great cause!”
“Glory to the Madoujeong!”
The clones shouted in unison. Demonic power, mana, surged from their bodies. The clones’ appearances began to change. They transformed from human forms into monsters.
『A Demon Hunter (S) has detected the presence of a Majin.』
『All stats are temporarily increased.』
『Attack power against demons is temporarily increased.』
Hattori’s clones, transformed into Majin, and Tenrai Nagisa engaged in battle. The space shook, and the surrounding area was destroyed by the shockwaves. I couldn’t recklessly interfere in Hattori and Nagisa’s battle. The moment I did, I would have to be prepared to die.
‘There’s no need to jump in. Nagisa will be the victor in the end. More importantly, what I need to do is….’
I looked at Reika and extended my hand. Reika hesitated for a moment before taking my hand.
“Even if you hadn’t helped… I could have managed somehow on my own.”
“Do you really think so?”
“……It might have been dangerous. Thank you for helping me. Your name was… Seong Yujin, right?”
“Yeah.”
The short conversation ended. Reika kept glancing at me before looking up at the battle between Hattori and Nagisa.
‘Hattori’s main body is separate.’
Nagisa seemed to have been fooled, but my eyes weren’t. Hattori was rushing towards the place where Tsukuyomi’s Magatama was stored. He was throwing shurikens, forcefully destroying the barrier.
“Hattori-sama! Please don’t do this! At this rate, we’ll all… Aaaaargh!”
“The barrier is… Kuaaaaargh!”
The barrier was forcibly broken, and all the subordinates around it were caught up in the blast, their bodies exploding and killing them. Hattori wasn’t unscathed either. Half of his body, the right side, was blown apart. His white ribs, internal organs, and muscles were clearly visible. It was a fatal injury that would kill any normal human, but he was a Majin.
Hattori grabbed Tsukuyomi’s Magatama with his remaining hand.
“This is Tsukuyomi’s Magatama…. I can indeed feel a powerful force.”
Hattori created a clone and handed over Tsukuyomi’s Magatama.
“Take it. Be sure to deliver it to Sanada-sama. That is your mission.”
The clone ran off.
“You bastard!!”
Nagisa roared from the sky. She took out a folding fan from her sleeve and swung it like a sword. The space split. Hattori stood silently in front of the clone and struck down the sword energy that was tearing through space with one hand. The sword energy flew to the ground and crashed into it.
“Even if I die, hold on to it.”
Hattori pointed at Nagisa with his bloodied hand. His clones desperately rushed towards Nagisa.
Bang! Bang bang bang!
The clones rushed at Nagisa and self-destructed. The clones’ self-destruct power was something that even Nagisa couldn’t ignore.
“No! Give back Tsukuyomi’s Magatama!”
Miyakado Mieko tried to follow the clone that was running away with Tsukuyomi’s Magatama. Hattori blocked her path.
“You cannot go.”
Hattori’s shuriken moved. The shuriken was aimed at Mieko’s neck. I, who was secretly trying to follow the clone using the Ghost Mantle, changed my plans.
“Mieko!!”
I moved faster than Hyodo Yuki, who was rushing to protect Mieko.
[Using Flash. Remaining stacks: 4]
I knocked away Hattori’s shuriken with my sword and wrapped my arm around Mieko’s waist, pulling her back. Hattori let out a sound of admiration at my clean movements.
“That’s a level of skill that’s hard to believe from an Academy student.”
Kiiiiiiiiing!
Flames rose from the ground. The flames surrounded me.
“This is a fire barrier passed down through our family. Suffer in there.”
Hattori’s figure and voice disappeared.
It was a burning forest. Everything was ablaze. I stood still in that spot. If I moved even a little, the heat would spread out.
‘If I stay still, I don’t feel the heat. This is a kind of binding barrier.’
I could force my way out if I wanted to. I could use Heavenly Mind. But I didn’t. The reason was Miyakado Mieko, whom I was holding in my arms.
It was the perfect situation to seduce Mieko.
“Let go of me! As a shrine maiden of the Tsukuyomi Shrine, I must retrieve Tsukuyomi’s Magatama!”
“Calm down. If you try to go outside without any countermeasures, you’ll burn to death. Then you won’t be able to retrieve the Magatama or anything else.”
“Tsukuyomi’s Magatama must not fall into the hands of the Madoujeong! I must retrieve it… Kyaaaaargh! Where are you grabbing me right now?”
My hand was on Mieko’s ample chest. I had subtly grabbed it, thinking she was out of it… I didn’t expect her to come to her senses in just 10 seconds.
“Ah, sorry. I was trying to stop you… it was a mistake.”
I lowered my hand and grabbed Mieko’s waist. I could feel Mieko’s firm waist through the fabric of her clothes. It was a completely different texture from her soft chest.
“You…! No, never mind. Please let go of me.”
“No. If I let go, you’ll rush into the fire.”
“I won’t rush in. I’ve already regained my composure. The situation has already reached a point where I can’t do anything about it.”
“From your voice, it seems like you’ve regained your composure. But I still don’t trust you, so stay still.”
“…….”
Mieko frowned deeply.
She was quietly looking for an opportunity to escape my grasp when she noticed the blood flowing from my side and was startled.
“You have a wound on your side?!”
“Ah, it seems like the wound opened up from moving so violently earlier. Huh? Why are you taking off my clothes? Don’t tell me….”
“I’ll treat you, so stay still.”
A magic circle appeared in Mieko’s hand. She placed the magic circle on my side. My side tickled.
“Healing magic? A shrine maiden and magic… it doesn’t suit you.”
Mieko ignored my words and focused on the treatment. Perhaps she felt that the treatment was somewhat complete. She opened her mouth first.
“…Why did you save me? You and I have no connection.”
“Because I didn’t want to see you die?”
“I don’t understand. Your opponent was Hattori, a high-ranking member of the Madoujeong. You could have died if you made a mistake.”
“But I didn’t die. And I saved you out of goodwill, so are you going to interrogate me?”
“I don’t believe in people’s goodwill. Goodwill is just hypocrisy. If I were your friend or family, I could understand, but… you and I have no connection. We’ve only exchanged greetings, and we haven’t even had a proper conversation.”
“I saved you because I wanted to. That’s all. Even if it wasn’t me, Hyodo Yuki would have saved you, right?”
“Hyodo and you are in different positions. If you don’t want to talk about it, then that’s fine. Anyway, I’ve received a debt… I’ll repay this debt someday.”
Mieko said with a serious face.
『Name: Miyakado Mieko
Strength: D+ Stamina: D Agility: D Durability: D Mana: A
Trait: Shinto Shrine Maiden (S)
Skills: Magic (B+), Sorcery (C), Purification (A)
Affection: 33』
Affection 33.
Not bad.
I deliberately let all the strength out of my body. My body fell onto Mieko as if embracing her.
“W-what are you doing right now?”
“Sorry, I don’t have any strength because of the wound….”
“Haa. It can’t be helped…. Lean on me for a while. I’ll support you until this barrier disappears.”
“Thank you.”
I subtly enjoyed the feel of Mieko.
The fire barrier disappeared after five minutes. Hattori had died at Nagisa’s hands.
