The Academy’s Crude Pink-Haired Martial Artist

Chong-kyung. A technique that Arisa frequently used, which narrowed the distance to extremes.

I’ve been hit a few times and even sneaked in some training to understand and apply the principles of Chong-kyung.

That’s why I was able to unleash it now.

But that doesn’t mean… what I just did was at the level of Arisa’s perfection.

Even I think it fell short.

“Wow…”

The power… is far stronger than I expected.

I thought it would be weaker due to my stance faltering at the end, yet it was this much.

Samaela slammed against the wall. Her ribs are probably shattered. If I’m lucky, one of those ribs might have pierced her heart, but it seems that’s not the case.

Still, it seems several ribs, her spine, and some organs are squished, so I should be satisfied.

Letting out a satisfied sigh, I glanced at my still-numb fist.

It’s not just my fist that’s numb. My lower body, waist, and shoulders ache too. Among those, my fist hurts the most.

It feels like my fist is cracked. Thank goodness it’s wrapped up in bandages; otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to even clench it.

My shoulder seems to have a ligament injury, and my waist… are the muscles… surprised? If it hadn’t been during a fing* day, I wouldn’t have lost my stance at all.

If my stance hadn’t fallen apart, my body would have been fine, and if my body had been fine, I could have rushed right at the girl slammed against that wall and beaten her without rest.

If so… I could have killed her for sure.

“Sigh.”

Leaving regrets aside, I took a deep breath. I forced my mana to circulate quickly inside me to boost my condition.

I untied the tattered bandage and tightly wrapped it around my even more tattered left arm.

For the parts I’m lacking, I’ll have to learn from Leona.

Just as I finished my preparations in that thought…

I felt goosebumps all over my body. Breathing felt constricted, and I was dizzy. A foul smell—like rot—filled the air.

A sticky magic spread across the area. A terrifying murderous intent enveloped me, and my instincts blared warnings.

Instinct. The instinct that has sharpened since my reincarnation screamed.

You can’t avoid it.

Block it.

You must block it at all costs.

I clenched my teeth. I raised both arms. Surrounding my entire body was strong magic, and I firmly planted my legs on the ground.

I was sure of it.

“Cough… hack…!”

I’m rolling on the floor.

I can hear Stella’s scream. The sound of sticky liquid splattering on the ground, the heartbeat. Everything is blurry.

What… is happening…?

Did my consciousness just cut out…?

Thoughts are falling apart. They aren’t connecting. My head is hot, and my insides burn even more. Blackened blood spills from my mouth. Not just my mouth—my eyes, nose, and ears too.

Blood pours from every orifice.

My vision turns red. Breathing doesn’t come freely. It’s congested, suffocating, and then gurgle—blood spills again.

Only then do I feel the pain.

A massive rock? A monster? It feels like I crashed into something. Pain assaults my whole body. Blood pours from my left arm, where I had been using mana to staunch the bleeding.

Not only has the wound opened, but it has also widened.

My whole body is like that—holes sprouted all over.

Every one of those shapes is identical. Snake fangs.

Around them are countless lacerations as if my body had been slashed by blades.

When did this happen?

There was no time to ponder the mystery. I immediately threw my body to the side. Kwah—! The ground where I had just fallen over flipped.

Blood spills from my throat. I feel like all my bones have shattered. I can’t move. Crack—I bit my lips and surrounded myself with mana.

Then I meticulously manipulated that mana to substitute for my bones. Slowly, my body starts moving again.

Huff… cough… spit.

I staggeringly stood back up, blinked to clear my blurry vision, spat out the blood that had risen up my throat, and looked around.

The thickly rising dust is laced with poison, and amidst it, shimmering glass fibers and sharp objects float.

I can’t see what created this carnage. Instead, a vague shape appears. A form surrounded by floating dust.

It has eight heads. It also has eight tails. Each moves separately.

It looks at me, opens its mouth, guards its master, flicks its tongue, grinds its teeth, spews poison, smacks its lips, and its eyes glimmer.

The body is one. Long and thick.

The scales that shine softly as they deflect blades are attached to the body.

From those scales flow poisonous liquid and thick blood continuously. In half a day, it would overflow this chamber.

Where did such a thing suddenly come from?

No time to think.

When I entered this room, eight snakes had been crawling all around. Snakes born from ideation.

It was there from the beginning.

“Yamata no Orochi.”

It was Samaela’s manifestation.

“I was trying to keep you alive, or rather, to bring you back after killing you cleanly, but it seems that won’t work.”

Samaela chuckled softly. Then her manifestation, the Eight-Headed Serpent, raised all eight heads and revealed its complete form.

Black scales drip with red poison and blood.

It is so massive that it resembles a waterfall of blood rather than a snake.

Too massive and hideous to be a mere snake.

Did that just slam into me?

It’s impressive I’m still alive.

“Damn it…”

Cold sweat trickles down my spine.

It wasn’t the 7th Circle. It was the 8th Circle.

Not even the brink of the 8th Circle. If it can handle manifestation this well… then it has completed the 8th Circle.

And to maintain manifestation at all times?

No matter how much mana you have, even if you’ve absorbed the magic of a Legion Commander, as a human, you can’t sustain manifestation for long.

Perhaps… a 9th Circle…

No, it doesn’t look like that.

Then…

“… Are you a demon?”

“Something like that.”

“A hybrid, then.”

“Oh my… You have quite a harsh tongue.”

Something similar…?

Stella said she was an artificial being.

Samaela knew that.

Then does this dark mage also count as an artificial being? Is there demon blood mixed in?

What about Stella? A hybrid of human and demon?

My head is a jumbled mess.

Crack, I bit my lips again, feeling a fresh pain.

The pain is faint. Not only that, but my entire body feels numb. I’m poisoned. What have I been poisoned with? Can I detoxify it?

The sensations in my limbs are beginning to haze over.

What’s this? This is actually a good thing…?

It might be fatal for someone else, but for me, who can manipulate mana to control my body, it becomes an advantage.

“Still, you can’t hide your expression. Hehe. That panicked face is so delightful to see.”

Clack—

Samaela took a step closer. The Eight-Headed Serpent didn’t move. It didn’t need to.

Just lowering its head could demolish everything in this place.

“Indeed, little fierce ones like you look best when that condescending expression twists.”

“Do you also like women?”

“‘Also’ as if I’m different from that raven? Still, yeah. A little girl like you wouldn’t be unappealing. I think it’d be a delicacy to break you and hear you yapping.”

Samaela licked her lips, seemingly genuinely thrilled by the thought, swallowing her saliva.

“I thought hybrids would be different, but it seems you have a good eye for beauty. True, I am indeed beautiful. I can’t help but smile whenever I shower and see my reflection.”

I tried to ignore the goosebumps rising all over my body and laughed.

While doing so, I frantically searched for a route to victory.

A route… a way to win.

I can’t beat that snake. If it were in my past life, I might have smashed it with a playful hit, but it’s impossible now.

So what should I do? There’s only one way. I have to kill Samaela.

To do that… I need to dodge all eight heads and tails and hit Samaela.

Even that isn’t easy.

Samaela, whom I thought was definitely broken with shattered ribs and pulverized organs, quickly returned to normal.

Her recovery is astounding enough to send shivers down my spine.

If we’re to be strict, she’s slower than a true demon, but I’d say she’s definitely similar to one.

Even if that recovery didn’t exist, her combat capabilities wouldn’t be diminished.

She’s still annoyingly sturdy. While Paid broke his bones with a mere tap, she was only left with broken bones by my complete effort of Chong-kyung.

She’s already healed from that.

Then is it impossible to win?

“E-Eliaernes… are you alright? Ugh… how did you get so hurt… this, black… that…”

Before I knew it, Stella, who had come up behind me, tugged at my clothes. She’s crawling over, spilling tears and snot, and pulling me toward her.

“Can you… sniff, can you move? First… first, let’s run… I’ll… I’ll buy some time…”

“You? Against that?”

“Yeah, yeah… Samaela said she wouldn’t kill me… so, I… I’m okay. I’ll take the hits instead… then you… you should just run.”

“How kind… So human. Unlike me.”

In Stella’s whimpering voice, Samaela kept a peculiar smile.

“That’s right, Stella. My dear niece. Just as you said, if you protect your aunt with your whole body, she can’t kill your friend. She’ll just have to watch as your friend escapes.”

“D-Do you hear that? So… Eliaernes, you… you run. It’s… just me here. Those people… they seem to need only me and Pina…”

Stella’s trembling hands grabbed my right hand tightly.

It’s cold and damp.

She’s crying so much that I can hear the sound of her tears falling.

And yet, it’s admirable that she tells me to run.

I remember a similar situation during the entrance exam.

While it wasn’t exactly the same, it was somewhat similar.

It was just like that back then.

In the cruel maze of the exam, even as I stood before the basilisk, which magic wouldn’t affect, Stella told me to run.

What did I say back then?

Right. I told her I’d be fine.

Why? Because I was confident I could absolutely capture that basilisk.

So what about now?

“It’s fine.”

I’m still fine now.

I’ll win.

“What’s, what’s fine?! That thing, that’s… that’s manifestation. That dark mage is at the 8th Circle! What’s fine about that! Hurry… run…! Hhh… crazy woman… What more are you fighting for when you’re like this?!”

I handed over a crushed macaroon and a piece of candy to Stella, who had finally burst into tears from holding back.

“…Huh? This, why…? Hey! Don’t do that! Run… run, I said?! Why are you fighting?! You’ll die!!”

“Quit your whining. Back in my day, I’d have smacked your butt silly, ya little brat. Now go over to that corner and watch carefully.”

I carefully loosened Stella’s hand and took a step forward.

“It’ll all be over before you eat that.”

I faced forward.

Samaela.

An 8th Circle dark mage who maintains her manifestation at all times.

Possibly a hybrid mixed with demons.

Behind her lies her manifestation, the Eight-Headed Serpent.

Eight heads. Eight tails.

A body as huge as a canyon. Emitting poison.

Before it stands me.

A girl under 145 cm tall and weighing over 40 kg.

A martial artist. An academy student. 5th Rank.

Eliaernes Eustetia.

I can’t win. The only reason I can stand here right now is that dark mage has shown me mercy. Offered me a reprieve. Out of interest. For fun. I’m still alive.

Eliaernes Eustetia, can never win.

But.

Ronan Luzarack.

Even half of that time.

No.

Even just 30% of the power I had back then, and I win.

My left hand. I untied the tightly wrapped bandage. The crusted blood falls away. Blood flows from the open wound. The pain is still faint.

I raised that arm.

An open palm.

Five fingers.

Five doors.

From those, one.

From the first one.

“I should at least carry a dagger.”

I clenched that finger tightly and twisted.

“Purgatory Opening.”

With a cracking sound, the blocked blood path flung wide open.

“Open.”

Cherry blossom-colored mana exploded.

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