Genius Gamer Reborn into a Family of Heroes

Chapter 99: Genius, Deis (3)

“While I draw its attention, use the strongest spell you can and aim for its neck.”

Harang removed the weighted bands he had been wearing on his body, letting them fall to the ground.

Boom! The slight cracks that appeared on the floor made Citrinne gasp. Meanwhile, Harang crouched low like a beast preparing to pounce.

Fighting a monster like that head-on wasn’t an option. Humans couldn’t overpower such creatures with brute strength alone.

Perhaps if he could use a sword, it would be a different story. However, Harang wasn’t a swordsman but a martial artist who couldn’t imbue his fists with aura, making a direct confrontation impossible.

‘How does he plan to draw its attention without using a sword?’

A moment later, as Citrinne’s golden magic circle began to shimmer in the air, she almost doubted her eyes.

[Crescent Moon Step]

Harang’s body, as it surged forward, seemed to vanish momentarily, shrouded by the shadows of the moonlit night. He reappeared at the side of the Agui Ogre!

“Grrraaarrr!”

Boom!

The ogre immediately swung its massive arm toward Harang’s head. But with a graceful backflip, Harang evaded the attack, stepping on the wall to climb to the ceiling. From there, he leaped and kicked the creature square in the head.

Thwack!

The blow landed with a resounding crack, causing the ogre to howl in pain. It swung its arms wildly in a mindless frenzy, but Harang anticipated this. Using the momentum, he retreated, bounded off the wall, and once again manipulated the ogre’s focus.

‘Do knights always fight like this?’

A pure question arose in Citrinne’s mind. The knights she knew were straightforward combatants who fought head-on, wielding their swords with simple, brute force.

But Harang’s movements were entirely different agile, acrobatic, and fluid.

It was almost impossible to associate him with the rigid and upright knights she had known. The way he moved was more akin to a hunter than a knight.

‘Swordsmanship, magic, and now hunter-like movements… Just what is he?’

It was like watching a dance.

Graceful yet dazzling, captivating yet sharp enough to leave her breathless.

‘Do I even need to be here…?’

“Are you going to cast the spell or not?”

Boom! Harang barely dodged another of the ogre’s strikes, yelling at Citrinne as he did. Startled, she hurriedly nodded and began chanting her spell.

“Radiance of Adiorn.”

Shing! Shing! Two golden, rectangular walls materialized on either side of the ogre, their surfaces bristling with spikes.

Crunch!

The walls slammed together, sandwiching the ogre. A normal monster would have been pulverized into nothingness. However, the ogre crossed its massive arms and withstood the crushing force, even as blood trickled down its limbs.

“Graaaargh!”

The ogre roared, beginning to push the walls apart with its overwhelming strength.

Thwack! Harang, unwilling to stand idle, struck the ogre’s head with a spinning kick, momentarily halting its resistance against the walls.

‘This was only to immobilize it anyway.’

Pouring half of her remaining mana into her second spell, Citrinne felt sweat trickling down her brow.

‘Dragging this fight out will only put us at a disadvantage.’

Against an opponent stronger than them, there was only one way to ensure victory.

Put everything into a single strike!

Judgment of Radiant Light

A golden bow formed in her left hand, and a single golden arrow materialized in her right. Her target: the ogre’s neck.

‘Not yet… Not yet…’

The ogre thrashed wildly within its prison, unleashing its monstrous strength. It shattered the golden walls and even sent Harang, who was attacking from behind, flying backward.

At that exact moment, Citrinne released the bowstring, unleashing the arrow of light!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The arrow tore through the air, spiraling with devastating force. The sheer pressure it emitted was enough to obliterate the walls of the corridor in a circular blast as it barreled toward the ogre.

Crash!

The golden arrow struck the ogre, erupting into a radiant aurora that lit up the entire area with dazzling light.

Then, silence fell.

-……

The ogre, its eyes wide open, stared at Citrinne for a few seconds.

Thud!

And then it collapsed.

With a single strike.

It truly took just one strike to instantly kill a Tier-4-rated monster!

“Hah… Hah…” Citrinne exhaled heavily, her gaze fixed on the fallen ogre.

“Is… is it dead?”

“It’s dead.”

Harang, inspecting the body from behind, spoke in an indifferent tone.

Although he appeared unfazed, Citrinne felt a surge of overwhelming joy at that moment.

“I… I killed a monster…!”

It was her first time. She had never experienced such a life-threatening battle before. The fact that her opponent was an overwhelmingly powerful Tier-4 monster made the victory even sweeter, sending a thrill coursing through her body that left her trembling.

‘Oh!’

Belatedly, she rushed over to Harang, anxiously checking him over.

“You looked like you took some hard hits earlier! Are you okay?!”

“…It didn’t hurt much.”

He frowned slightly and rotated his shoulder. It seemed like there was a crack in the bone, but it wasn’t severe enough to complain about.

“Haah, thank goodness… I’m so relieved… really…”

Citrinne mumbled blankly, her face cupped in both hands.

She seemed lost, either unable to believe the situation or still overcome by its lingering emotions.

“…By the way, that was impressive earlier. Your movements were incredibly quick. I’ve never seen a knight fight like that before,” she said.

Harang began putting back on the weighted bands he had removed earlier. Although his bone was cracked, thanks to his divine power, healing wasn’t much of an issue even without treatment.

“I’ve never seen a knight fight like that either.”

“Right? Young Master, you’re quite extraordinary, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, it feels like I’m uncovering a new secret bit by bit. Hmm~ A secret no one else knows, right? Just for me, isn’t it?”

For some reason, her speech fluctuated between casual and formal tones.

“…Probably. And you can’t tell anyone about my identity.”

“Of course! Who would be foolish enough to endanger a knight of the Herrael Imperial Family? Besides, even if you told me to, I’d never say anything. A secret about you that only I know? Ah, how romantic…”

“…”

Now Citrinne had fully switched to formal speech.

Harang had no idea what she found romantic about the situation, but at least she promised to keep the secret, which was a relief.

‘I figured she’d keep quiet, which is why I saved her.’

If it hadn’t been her, he wouldn’t have intervened. Harang’s thoughts weren’t entirely a joke; there was a tinge of sincerity in them. The Herrael Imperial Family would likely go out of their way to ensure his identity remained hidden.

‘…If it hadn’t been the Herrael Imperial Family, would I really have left her to die?’

Harang hesitated at the thought. Estelle was important, but as the descendant of a hero, he had a mission to fulfill. Even though he wasn’t a selfless person, disregarding another’s life for the sake of a mission was…

‘I couldn’t do that.’

With the weighted bands fully equipped up to his wrists, Harang rotated his wrist and glanced at the crumbled wall.

Crash!

With a loud noise, dozens of students appeared.

“Uh…?”

At the center of the group stood a blue-haired young noblewoman, Ailka Willed.

* * *

Just a few minutes earlier.

“Ahhh!! A monster, a monster!”

Having activated the magic circle, Kanya stood waiting on the surface after exiting the old main building. She smirked as expected when she saw Alowin fleeing.

‘Alowin acts so masculine, but when real danger comes, all he can do is run.’

What happened next was obvious.

‘A student killed by a monster that appeared in the old building’s basement… That’ll be a severe blow to Arniel. I’ll make sure the rumors spread far and wide through my connections.’

The magic circle in the art room wasn’t actually a summoning circle for ghosts but a sealing circle that had been used to imprison a monster during an experiment. Kanya, who knew how to break the seal, had orchestrated this situation effortlessly.

‘Alowin might complain and accuse me of this, but… it doesn’t matter.’

With all the attention focused on her from the media, no one could do anything to her. She’d boldly step forward and show her face to the public.

‘Well then, I should head back and prepare for the next step…’

“What’s going on?”

Startled, Kanya froze at the voice she heard from afar. She hadn’t expected anyone to be near the old main building.

‘…Ailka Willed?’

The voice belonged to the blue-haired girl, Ailka. She had been leading her followers somewhere and had unfortunately run into Alowin.

“There’s a monster in the basement!”

“What? A monster?”

Despite Alowin’s nonsense, Ailka did not falter, calmly directing her gaze toward the old main building with elegance.

It was difficult to dismiss it as a lie when Alowin’s expression looked so vivid. The same Alowin who pretended to be so masculine now sat trembling, tears and snot running down his face.

“…Whether it’s true or not, let’s go check. How dare a repulsive monster set foot on the sacred grounds of Arniel.”

“W-Wait! Young Lady, you can’t! The monster is an Agui Ogre! It’s beyond what any student could handle”

“Be quiet, you lowly thing.”

“…!”

With a single word from Ailka, Alowin bit his tongue. Her statement had such an impact. How could someone who always spoke with refined grace utter such a thing?

“I am disappointed, Alowin. A monster dared to invade Arniel’s territory, and you fled.”

“If you try to face it, you’ll absolutely die”

“Click. Let’s go, everyone. I will handle this personally. Just the thought of Arniel being defiled fills me with rage.”

She was nobility.

A noblewoman who inherently believed herself to be above others and strove to maintain dignity even when no one was watching.

Ailka, being a noble, was a girl who understood the duties of her station.

Protecting her land and people from external threats that dared to invade her domain

That was the obligation of a noble.

Arniel was sacred, an untouchable realm for all magicians, the noblest place of learning, and the central hub of all magic. It was a place that absolutely had to be protected by “magician nobles.”

For these reasons, Alowin’s presence disgusted and frustrated Ailka to no end.

‘Releasing a monster in Arniel?’

With genuine anger etched on her face, she began walking toward the basement of the old main building.

Her followers naturally fell in line behind her, raising their staffs.

Boom! Boom!

The further they descended, the louder the deafening roars became, confirming Alowin hadn’t been lying.

“Hurry.”

When Ailka quickened her pace, her followers ran after her.

“…”

However, when the rumbling abruptly stopped, she furrowed her brows in confusion.

‘What is this?’

Had the monster collapsed from exhaustion?

That couldn’t be.

Ailka quickened her steps.

The basement was disgustingly vast and complicated, making it difficult to pinpoint the monster’s location.

Eventually, she found a section of the corridor where the wall had crumbled. With tension written all over her face, Ailka carefully aimed her staff beyond the wall as she moved.

“…What is this?”

What met her gaze was nothing short of baffling.

The repulsive monster was already lying lifeless on the floor, while two young individuals one boy and one girl sat next to each other in front of it.

“Citrinne… Princess?”

“Oh? The rude Willed.”

The two girls looked at each other, their expressions contrasting.

Citrinne chuckled, while Ailka frowned deeply.

“Don’t tell me… you two took down that monster?”

“Yep. Amazing, right? My golden rule’s spell pierced its neck. See for yourself.”

“…”

There was no doubt about it. The Herrael Imperial Family’s distinctive golden arrow had cleanly pierced the Agui Ogre’s neck.

‘Did those two really take down the Agui Ogre…?’

The Agui Ogre was classified as a Tier 4 threat. It typically required several fourth-star magicians and knights to subdue it.

Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t even a regular Agui Ogre. Modified through experiments, its body was riddled with screws, and it seemed physically enhanced beyond a typical specimen.

‘How… did they manage this?’

No matter how Ailka tried to simulate the battle in her mind, she couldn’t envision how the fight could have unfolded.

“…Tell me,” she asked honestly.

“How did you… win?”

She desperately wanted to fill in the blanks in her knowledge, which she couldn’t even begin to imagine.

But unfortunately for Ailka, she was speaking to Citrinne, the princess. Whether or not there was a need to keep secrets, Citrinne had no intention of sharing anything with Ailka.

“Who knows? Why don’t you use that great brain of yours to figure it out? It was so easy~”

Citrinne teased, tapping the corpse of the Agui Ogre. A few of Ailka’s followers stepped back, as though the monster might spring back to life at any moment, but it remained motionless.

“Magic will grant answers to those who seek them.”

Both Citrinne and Ailka spoke the same words simultaneously. Neither of them showed any reaction, a testament to their less-than-cordial relationship.

“Go ahead and think really hard about it.”

Citrinne said this as she rose from her spot. Right on cue, Arniel’s security guards appeared.

“Is everyone okay?”

“Step back… Huh?”

“My word, how could the Agui Ogre…”

The security guards, who had arrived late, stared at the fallen monster in shock. It was astounding enough that such a terrifying creature had appeared in the school’s basement, but the fact that students had defeated it?

“Oh, did the young lady take it down…?”

“They’re the ones who defeated it. Go ask them. We’re leaving.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Huh? Wait, what?”

As Ailka led her followers away, the security guards found themselves even more confused.

‘Students took down an Agui Ogre? Those two, no less…?’

It was a situation beyond their comprehension.