*
'What should I do?'
Unlike his frivolous attitude, the man's mind began to race.
It was a very short skirmish, but he could tell. The man knew that the one in front of him was not someone he could simply dismiss as a student.
Ordinary people would hesitate when wielding a weapon against another person.
'This bastard... he was totally trying to kill me.'
The Academy's curriculum involves numerous sparring sessions, but they are always conducted with a protective magic barrier in place.
Therefore, inexperienced students tend to hesitate, but the guy in front of him was completely different.
Movements without an ounce of hesitation, and even an attitude of regret for not being able to cut off his arm.
'He's 100% killed people before. And he's probably killed more than just one or two.'
The man swallowed hard with a tense face.
Kwaaaang!!!
Kyaaaa!!!
The sound of explosions and screams coming from afar.
It seemed the Academy already knew they had entered.
'If I had known this would happen, I should have gone where there were more people.'
The decision to gather briefly for the operation turned out to be a bad move.
"You've suddenly gone quiet?"
The guy held a blue-tinged sword and smiled with an annoying look.
"Are you perhaps scared of a student?"
"You bastard!! If I had a weapon, I'd take you down in an instant!!"
"Villains! Everyone, don't just stand there, run away!"
A female student evacuating civilians, probably someone who came with that guy.
The guy in front of him was not someone he could handle without a weapon. Then it would be better to take a hostage or target that woman.
"I can almost hear your eyes rolling."
The choice that determines life is instantaneous. The moment his course of action was decided, the man immediately moved to target Jeong Soo-ah.
The moment he turned his body, he felt an eerie sensation from behind and immediately leaped away.
A blue blade grazed past the man's side.
An incredibly sharp swordsmanship that sent chills down his spine, and the attack continued seamlessly.
'I need to deflect this and immediately...!'
The moment he reached out his fist to deflect the side of the sword, the sword twisted like a snake and instantly passed his wrist.
"Sh...shit!!!!"
The moment he frowned at the intense pain, he saw his left wrist falling away from his body.
There was no time to be surprised by the fact that he couldn't even react.
Because the sword that had severed his wrist was now aiming for his heart and flying in instantly.
'Shit... against a mere student!!"
Even though he instinctively felt that the opponent was not someone he could simply dismiss as a student, he couldn't help but feel angry.
He didn't come to the Academy just to die in a place like this.
The moment the blade was about to pierce his heart, an explosion occurred.
'An explosion?'
Kim Si-woo was taken aback by the sudden explosion and stepped back. In the thick smoke that obscured his vision, he heard Jeong Soo-ah's voice.
"Hey!!! Kim Si-woo!!!"
A voice filled with worry, unlike her usual prickly attitude.
"I'm... Jeong Soo-ah, be careful!!!"
The flow of Mana felt in the smoke, the guy's target was Jeong Soo-ah.
There was no time to stop the guy, as he seemed to have been aware of her location even before causing the explosion.
The man rushed towards Jeong Soo-ah with an explosive force, accompanied by a flow of Mana on a completely different level than before.
"Jeong Soo-ah!!!"
He could have responded if the guy had rushed at him instead, but Kim Si-woo gritted his teeth and quickly turned towards Jeong Soo-ah.
Kwaaaang!!!!!
With a powerful shockwave that resonated in his heart, he saw Jeong Soo-ah blocking the man's fist.
A sacred barrier surrounded Jeong Soo-ah, and behind her, the shape of white wings floated as before.
"Kuaaaak!!! What the hell?"
The man groaned in pain and stepped back the moment his fist touched Jeong Soo-ah's barrier.
It was like an instinctive repulsion. The man's fist had turned black and charred, as if he had been burned.
Kim Si-woo stared at the man.
'This is... the same feeling as that bastard back then.'
Kim Si-woo narrowed his eyes at the familiar energy he felt from the man.
He could feel the power of the opponent he had encountered in the rift with Choi Tae-soo and Park Hye-ji.
How could he forget the dark, sticky, and unpleasant feeling?
Black flames were constantly erupting around the man.
A power with an aura so foreign that it was hard to believe he had been hiding it.
"Is it the power of a devil?"
"What? You knew too?"
The villain looked at Kim Si-woo with a relaxed expression, his earlier tension gone.
It was a shame he couldn't take care of the woman, but he felt an overwhelming surge of power, just as that guy had said.
He felt a strong sense of satisfaction at the feeling of his power doubling, but there was no point in wasting time.
"I'll kill you both quickly!!!!"
The man thought it would be difficult to target Jeong Soo-ah because of her surprisingly strong barrier, so he rushed towards Kim Si-woo.
His movements were incomparably faster than before.
It felt as if his senses had expanded, and all the information was rapidly entering his mind.
The movements of the sword were now clearly visible.
It seemed like a simple, light swing, but that was just a trick.
'Is it that way?'
It seemed to be coming down from the right, but the quickly rotating sword came in from the left.
It was an attack he wouldn't have been able to react to before, but now it was different.
Because he was overflowing with power.
The man raised his arm to defend against Kim Si-woo's attack.
The moment Kim Si-woo's Mana and the man's Mana collided, an anomaly occurred.
"Shiiiiiit!!!"
His skin tingled as if he had been burned, and the man instinctively felt that Kim Si-woo's Mana was working against him.
The price for his body momentarily stiffening due to the pain was too great.
He stared blankly at his arm, which was being cut off below the elbow, not just the wrist.
'The compatibility is bad...'
The two's Mana was fatally affecting him in his current state.
It was clear that fighting here would only lead to a dog's death.
'Let's run away.'
The man tried to cause an explosion and escape as before, but Kim Si-woo relentlessly clung to him.
Kwaang!!
Kwaaaang!!!
He couldn't create any distance because Kim Si-woo was reacting so quickly, as if he knew an explosion was about to occur.
The moment he turned his body, he felt intense pain from behind.
An intense pain as if he had been cut by a knife, but he was clearly separated from him?
He looked around in bewilderment and saw blue flames crackling and rising.
'Unique domain... Shit!! Where did this monster come from?'
The man gave a hollow laugh, more dumbfounded by the fact that such a monster was just a student than by the pain.
Is this the difference in talent? A guy who seems to be less than half his age has already surpassed him.
The man, frustrated, detonated his Mana. He was going to kill the civilians around him.
"Damn it, all of you die!!!!"
Kwaaaang!!!
He should have fought this way from the beginning.
Any power requires a period of adaptation, but he was too hasty.
When the vision obscured by the explosion the man had caused returned, he laughed hollowly.
Because all of his attacks had been neutralized by Jeong Soo-ah's barrier.
It was in stark contrast to the buildings around them, which had been completely destroyed.
If it weren't for those two, he would have definitely been the victor.
"Soo-ah, try using heal on that man once."
"What? Why should I use heal on someone like that?"
"There's something I need to check."
"...Okay."
The moment Jeong Soo-ah used her healing, the man's body began to burn.
"Sh...shit?! What the hell is going on!!!!"
The man began to writhe on the floor in agony as his whole body burned.
"Shit!!! Save me!!! Shit!!!"
Jeong Soo-ah watched the man with a bewildered expression, not knowing that her healing would cause this.
Pook.
Kim Si-woo approached the defenseless man and quietly stabbed him with his sword.
*
'I thought it was unlikely, but it turned out like this.'
Soo-ah's ability is divinity, which is usually classified as a power that is fatal to devils.
I felt a strong aura from the guy I met back then, so I tried it just in case, but I didn't know it would be this effective.
Jeong Soo-ah's ability was nothing short of a direct remedy for those who used the power of devils, even if it didn't work on others.
'That's right, a devil...'
He was able to find a stone emitting an ominous aura from the guy's chest.
I suspected that this was the item that amplified the man's power.
It feels like it ended easily because Jeong Soo-ah's and my powers are fatal to these guys, but the situation isn't over yet.
"Are you okay?"
"You... what did you do? What happened?"
Jeong Soo-ah was flustered, not knowing that her healing ability would cause the man to burn.
She was trembling, as this was the first time she had directly harmed someone.
I quietly embraced Jeong Soo-ah.
"He's a Villain. Didn't you see him trying to kill people right away?"
The people who had been protected by Jeong Soo-ah were sitting on the ground. They were too shocked to speak properly and were just holding their hearts.
"I... I know that, you idiot. I'm just... just a little tired."
She's trying to act tough until the end. Anyway, should I call this stone an external Mana engine?
It's hard to be sure with such a short skirmish, but it felt like it was absorbing life force from the man and providing power.
I don't know what will happen to the other students with this level of increase.
I hope our kids don't get hurt. I guess it's okay since there's no danger signal yet.
Kwaaaang!!!
The sound of explosions coming from around us told us that the battle was not over yet.
We can't keep doing this. Jeong Soo-ah seems to know that too.
"I... I'm okay now, so let go..."
"Don't push yourself."
"Sh... shut up, you bastard..."
"Shall we go then?"
I need to go take care of the trash.