Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 161

Academy Gumiho is a Magical Genius – Episode 161

Academy Gumiho is a Magical Genius 161

The End of a Certain World (1)

A powerful mental image usually requires a corresponding level to accompany it.

And because Baron satisfied that condition, I was able to glimpse his splintered thoughts.

But was it because I glimpsed the mental images of others, brightening my senses and expanding my five senses?

I caught sight of the intense final moments of ordinary citizens, so faint that they would normally be invisible, their deaths utterly unremarkable.

Looking at it this way.

More people died than I thought.

It was only regrettable that there was nothing I could do for those who had already died.

Yes, I simply felt regret.

I couldn’t harbor any feelings beyond that.

* * *

A strong north wind blew, and dawn arrived in the city center.

A little further away, near the mountains, the sound of relentless pounding echoed.

In this world, there were no proper lights, so the darkness of dawn could have given the opponent a strong advantage, but.

The thousands of beautiful stars hanging in the night sky sparkled as brightly as lights, illuminating the ground. Thanks to that, the people who barely survived the insane riots in the city center were able to witness the scene properly.

“Hey, this is more manageable than I thought?”

“But is this even doing any damage? No matter how I look at it, it just seems like we’re gently tanning the scales and leather.”

“You could have swung your axe twice more in the time you took to say that. I’m suppressing the tail’s movements, so hurry up and hit the head.”

The body of the giant snake was caught in a landslide that threatened to collapse the mountains.

Still, thanks to its very long and sturdy body, only the center of its body was buried quite deeply. In the process, very hard rocks and unprocessed minerals pierced its scales and leather, digging into its flesh, proving that it could inflict wounds on the creature that felt like a mountain.

And at that sight, the students.

“Please stop dying already!”

“Can’t we just gouge out its eyes? The corneas seem like they’d be the softest.”

This time, they were trying to wound Jormungandr’s body with their own strength.

However, effort was only effort.

The monster’s tough hide, befitting its 3rd Circle status [a measure of magical power and rank], meant that even wielding any treasured sword, or arming themselves with massive amounts of magic and powerful skills, only resulted in scratches.

If you were to ask if there was any meaningful impact.

Sung Yeon-hwa’s signature move, striking down with her sword as fast as lightning, pierced the scales and leather but failed to cut through the flesh and muscle.

Seo Yerin’s spear, which combined the spear techniques she learned from her master with divine power, barely succeeded in cutting the flesh through the power of affinity.

Finally, there was Isabel’s “Ink Dyes Black,” which bound Jormungandr’s body with black light that had lost all color and brightness.

“Hey, can we even kill this thing?”

“…It would be impossible with our strength alone.”

“Ah, should we ask Instructor Baek to swing his sword again?”

Lee Ji, who was shoving an axe into the gaps between the scales and swinging a shield like a hammer on top of it, asked with a sense of futility, and Seo Yerin shook her head.

This was not an existence that they could catch with their own strength.

The fact that they had captured a high-ranking monster of the 3rd Circle like this was also due to a sudden landslide, a natural disaster.

And it was because there happened to be a genius in this place with enough magical skill to capture Jormungandr.

The students’ firepower was overwhelmingly lacking.

In that situation, Noh Yoo-ra, who was in love with Baek Seung-woo, raised her hand.

“You guys saw it too. Actually, it wasn’t very clear, but I’m talking about the way Instructor Baek swung his sword.”

Enchanted by the sweetness of first love, she couldn’t take her eyes off Baek Seung-woo.

That’s why she could roughly know what he was doing even from a distance, by subtly scanning people’s minds.

If others saw it, they would point fingers and call it stalking, but because she was like that, there were things she could know.

“Instructor is strong. You guys couldn’t see it in detail either, but you can deduce it from the traces around him, right?”

“…Yeah.”

Normally, they wouldn’t be able to deduce it.

Even if they were the elite of Seven Stars Academy with good eyes.

Identifying the identity or skill of the opponent through traces is the domain of a skilled ranger.

You can’t underestimate them just because they’re elites.

However, the female students gathered here were heroines or supporting characters with qualifications equivalent to them. Their innate talent and proven skills made this possible.

“I-Is that possible?”

Lee Ji was the only one shaking her head among the female students who were nodding.

A student with ordinary talent like her couldn’t understand the current conversation at all.

“No, I roughly understand that he swung his sword. But the key is whether he has the skill to kill this monster.”

“He does. That’s enough.”

“If he can handle that level of mental power, it wouldn’t be impossible to bisect the monster in this bound situation. However—”

—If we exclude the fact that his body is so messed up.

Isabel, who couldn’t bring herself to say the rest, recalled.

Her former fiancé, who was more than covered in blood and whose breath was faintly 끊기던 [kkunkideon – gasping/labored] as if he was about to die.

Normally, she would have thought it was poetic justice, but.

‘I can’t ask him for help in that state.’

The moment she saw Baek Seung-woo on the verge of death, what sprouted in her heart was different from satisfaction or regret.

Fear.

Yes, she didn’t want to admit it, but she was overwhelmed by the fear of losing him.

She didn’t want to think deeply about the source of that fear.

If she thought about it, she would have to face the emotions still lingering in her heart and the pain of that day once again.

She couldn’t recall the pain of that day, which was still vivid.

She didn’t want to.

She absolutely didn’t want to recall it.

“…Team Leader? What are you doing? Everyone is waiting for your word.”

“…”

“Team Leader! Hey, what are you thinking about for so long?”

“…It’s nothing. I was just thinking that we should finish this ourselves.”

“Isabel, are you crazy?”

Finish it ourselves?

The minimum conditions for attacking the Reverse Side were already met.

There was no need for the students to get involved any further.

“I’m not crazy. It’s not like I’m saying this because of misguided emotions like pride.”

“Then why did those words come out?”

“Because we started this in the first place. It’s right for us to end it.”

“Ah…”

Thinking about it, that was true.

The minimum conditions for attacking the Reverse Side, a progress rate of 50%.

Those who were heading straight for the right ending of this world, without straying down other paths, could end it there.

There was no need to follow a scenario destined for destruction.

But the students resisted.

They shouldn’t have.

“The teacher told us to finish it from the beginning. We were the ones who resisted.”

“But we can’t turn a blind eye to the suffering people as players. Is that wrong?!”

“It might be from an ethical and moral point of view, but from the perspective of a leader who leads, it’s the right thing to do.”

“!!!!”

“Haa, to think that the team leader would only realize this when she’s commanding. I shouldn’t show off in front of her in the future.”

She sighed and thought.

Now that they had stopped the monster’s movements, their escape was possible at any time. They just had to open the window and press [Accept] to close their eyes in this hellish world and open their eyes in their peaceful world.

Since they were guaranteed the highest grade, they could just leave without any worries.

But a pointless hero complex was holding them back.

It wasn’t just her.

The students next to Isabel had also been hearing about contributing to the structure and peace of the citizens, which they had heard so much about as promising player candidates.

Rather, it was their conscience and guilt that were tormenting them.

The professors and instructors who were watching the students with anxiety were the only ones who were dying of frustration.

“Why are they doing that when they can already clear it? Aren’t they coming back?!”

“It’s obvious that they’re trying to save the citizens.”

“Who doesn’t know that?! But those things aren’t real citizens, they’re just illusions. I wish I could just tell them that a demon has infiltrated the Reverse Side and they’d come back right away.”

“What happened to the instructor who went as a supervisor in this situation? If he’s a supervisor, shouldn’t he be able to force the students to return, even if they resist?”

“Are you old or something? Didn’t you just see? The bodycam was going too fast to see clearly, but didn’t he faint?”

“Haaa… This is frustrating. It’s good that they have the upper hand, which looks like a 3rd Circle at first glance, but that’s definitely temporary. We need to take action quickly, but I’ve never felt that our Seven Stars’ power is so incompetent in my life.”

The space connecting the Reverse Side and reality was temporarily cut off, and there was something wrong with the safety devices built into the students’ uniforms, so they could only worry.

The chairman, frustrated by this, tore off his cumbersome suit and tried to go directly to the Reverse Side, but the door connecting the two worlds did not allow him.

Due to the intrusion of two demons and one wanted criminal, there was a limit to the number of people who could enter.

Normally, he would have solved such restrictions with the ‘s Mado [Magical Device].

But with the students and the demons together in that place, it was unknown what additional variables would occur.

Unless there was a safety device.

He couldn’t gamble with the students’ safety and lives.

In the end, the only thing those outside could do was to trust the man who went as a supervisor.

…Of course, there was not much expectation because that man was a promising madman and had a personality disorder.

All the professors’ expectations were directed towards Isabel, a promising student who had shown excellent leadership throughout the exam.

Meanwhile, Baek Seung-woo, who was the subject of the conversation.

“So, are we going to sacrifice the children as offerings?”

“Yes, that’s what I mean. After all, you’ve been turning a blind eye to their stay in this city for that purpose, haven’t you?”

“It’s not really like that. Whether they have a lot of money or a little, whether they sleep in a bed or on the street, they are my citizens as long as they live on this land.”

“Oh, you’re a very moral person.”

“As such ‘my’ citizens, isn’t it a natural step to use them as I please?”

“Haha, that’s right.”

At the end of the terrible deaths of hundreds of people.

He came into contact with the mastermind behind all the strange phenomena that occurred here.

A black-robed clergyman was talking to Baron.

Next to him, a red-haired demon was scratching his head with a bothered expression.

A certain butler, who was tight-lipped and Baron’s faithful servant, stood still and listened to all this conspiracy.

‘I was just looking at the mental images of the citizens who died unfairly. This time, is it the butler I killed by destroying the mansion? Anyway, this guy is not a perpetrator, but a vicious bystander. I’m glad I killed him.’

In the end, this butler kept his mouth shut.

But I won’t leave my mouth still.

‘Whether it’s this guy or that guy, they’re both beasts who don’t hesitate to commit illegal acts, but they should receive due punishment.’

I can tell just from the splinters of mental images.

That red-haired demon.

It’s a monster that is an insult to even compare to the girl trapped like luggage in my ring space.

Although the flow and control of magic power.

The balance of power is not yet established, but I am skilled enough to trample on him sufficiently. Even if he escapes out of this world, he is so strong that it would be faster to count the guys stronger than him in the industry.

Looking at the visible force.

‘…It would be better to kill them in this place now.’

Finish them in this world.

Whether they are stronger than me.

Whether they are wiser and more skilled in scheming than me.

It doesn’t matter.

‘Even if the opponent is stronger than me, there is no one in this world who can follow me when it comes to killing.’

I have killed countless monsters and people so far.

Among them, there were many who were stronger than me.

There are also guys who grabbed my hand and attacked me together in a desperate struggle just before death.

And I killed all those guys.

I am here now.