Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 264

Academy Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Episode 264

Academy Gumiho is a Magic Genius Episode 264

A Secluded Daily Life (4)

Somewhere dark.

Because no light entered, there was no way to know how large the internal space was, or how many people were inside. In that space, a woman muttered words while floating ominous characters in the air.

The woman had horns, a symbol of a demon, on her forehead.

“How is it going? Does it seem to be working out?”

“……Kaim. Just shut up for a bit.”

「Kaim」 approached the woman and spoke to her.

He was also a demon.

“Haha, it looks like it’s going well. If it were difficult, you wouldn’t be talking back to me.”

“I said shut up.”

“Look at this. You’re overflowing with余裕 [yoyu, composure].”

“……I might just fail because of this guy.”

The woman was annoyed by his words.

She wanted to cast a curse on 「Kaim」, but most of her mind was being used to maintain the characters floating in the air.

These characters forcibly awaken souls that are far away.

They were quite different from the typical magic characters ‘Runes’ and ‘Senses’.

These characters were created solely to awaken the souls of nobles. As such, their utility was low, but their effect was clear.

“……Ah!”

Finally, the souls of nobles far away reacted.

The woman, who instinctively felt this, let out an exclamation close to joy and began to concentrate again. Now that she knew where the souls of the nobles were, she intended to move them here immediately.

“Oh? Did you already find them? That was fast?”

“…….”

“What’s wrong, 「Gremory」? You’re not even answering this time.”

“……It’s too noisy and distracting! If you want to talk, go play with 「Belial」 in the next room!”

The woman, who was concentrating on maintaining the characters, slowly began to express her anger.

She was almost done, but she was getting so annoyed with 「Kaim」, who kept bothering her, that she felt like killing him.

It was then.

Snap!

Something snapped powerlessly, like a thread being cut by scissors. What was going on?

“Why are you so angry and making such a fuss?”

“……What?”

“What do you mean, ‘what’? I asked why you’re getting so angry. And don’t you know that 「Belial」 and I don’t get along?”

“Ah, no, this is……?”

「Gremory」, who was momentarily confused, trembled. The power to attract souls had been cut off. Not by her own mistake, but as if it had been snatched away by a powerful external force.

「Gremory」, who was full of pride in her skills, was dumbfounded by the fact that the other party had not only interfered with her but had also stolen what she was trying to do. At the same time, she felt her head grow cold.

‘If it turns out that my skills were lacking and I had the nobles’ souls stolen by someone I don’t even know…

Am I going to die?!’

It wasn’t an overreaction.

She might actually die.

「Gremory」’s head was so cold that it felt like it would break at any moment.

「Kaim」, who was chattering noisily next to her, came into view.

‘Ah, he was here.’

A good idea came to mind.

「Gremory」, who was racking her stiff brain as much as possible, listened to his nagging with one ear and let it out with the other, while devising a way to escape from this place.

It was just when 「Kaim」’s nagging reached its peak.

“……That’s why I told you. Don’t say things like that. Why do you say things that you know the other person will hate?!”

Thud!

Someone opened the door. Although it was impossible to know if there was even a door in this dark space, a red-haired man faced 「Gremory」 as the door opened.

“……「Gremory」. The signal was cut off. What’s going on?”

“Ah…… well, that’s.”

“And you, 「Kaim」. Why are you here? Surely this isn’t your place.”

“「Belial」? How did you get here……?”

The red-haired man, 「Belial」.

The moment he arrived, the entire atmosphere began to freeze over.

「Gremory」, whose head had already turned cold, was a given, and 「Kaim」 began to tremble as soon as he saw his opponent.

「Kaim」 opened his mouth with difficulty.

“W-Why are you here?”

“Because the signal was cut off.”

“Signal?”

“「Gremory」. What happened that the signal was cut off? I can no longer feel the souls of the dead advance team.”

“That’s…… actually.”

Overwhelmed by the pressure, 「Gremory」 pointed to the demon next to her without even making eye contact. Then, she covered her face with both hands and ran outside.

“It’s because of that guy. I told him to stop being so noisy, but he kept making a fuss next to me, so the ritual went wrong!”

“Gremory? You were maintaining it well even when I talked to you earlier?”

“Hoo, is that so? Come to think of it, you used to flirt with every woman you met. 「Kaim」, I’ve often warned you to get rid of that worthless personality. In the end, your personality of flirting with women has disrupted the grand plan.”

“Ah, th-that! I-I didn’t do anything?!”

“You didn’t do anything. That’s also a problem. While everyone is struggling for the grand plan, you alone were flirting with women. As someone in a position to lead everyone, I have no choice but to punish you.”

“N-No, really, I……!”

Kkeuaaaaaak!

With a final scream, one of his lifelines was severed.

In that way, the demons lost as many as 14 nobles in a month.

Still, the name and title of the last 14th noble will naturally be inherited.

The one who will be newly called 「Kaim」 will surely be absolutely loyal to 「Belial」’s words. Among the demons, tacit factions began to slowly emerge.

* * *

[You have consumed the ‘Soul of Furson’, Count!]

[You have consumed the ‘Soul of Focalor’, Viscount!]

[You have consumed the ‘Soul of Valam’, Viscount!]

……

[You have successfully consumed the souls of a total of 13 demons!]

[Digesting the souls. 0.7%… 2.3%… 5.9%… 9.2%…….]

I’m full.

I was so full from eating too much.

To be precise, it wasn’t my physical stomach, but my spiritual stomach that was feasting. Just consuming the souls of nobles elevated the spirit.

For a martial artist, it was enough to transcend realms, and for a magician, it was enough to reach a higher-dimensional concept.

“So that’s why they were scheming.”

There were things I realized while savoring the souls of the nobles.

The title and the name. Even the authority intertwined with those two.

The more I digested, the clearer the principles and workings became in my head.

[Digesting the souls. 22.1… 27.0%… 31.5%… 37.6%…….]

Now, the knowledge was beyond clear.

The sufficiently accumulated knowledge became the foundation of the vessel.

Just as becoming proficient in arithmetic makes one familiar with solving functions and various equations, the knowledge that became the foundation began to show me a higher-dimensional world.

While peeking into those worlds, I began to not only understand but also think and judge for myself.

[Digesting the souls. 44.5… 45.1%… 52.2%… 64.7%…….]

When did the nobles first appear?

Why did they appear in the later part of the novel?

Various thoughts crossed my mind.

Enough knowledge had accumulated to think and judge. The memories I originally possessed, the contents of the novel written by Baek Eun-ho, and the information engraved in the nobles’ powers.

As various pieces of knowledge intersected, intersections were created, and there were pieces of knowledge that were particularly prominent in each.

[Digesting the souls. 69.9… 72.0%… 78.0%… 88.2%…….]

How long did it take to analyze these things?

Did the sun rise? The date might have already changed.

Because it was a basement without sunlight or a clock, there was no way to see the outside situation. To check, I had to go up myself, but my body was in the process of solidifying its role as hardware for running the software called the brain.

In other words, I can’t go up right now.

[Digesting the souls. 89.9… 94.9%… 99.9%… 100%.]

[Digestion complete.]

[Your level increases by one!]

After a time that could have been a minute or a week, my level increased significantly.

I became stronger. The expression that my skills had simply improved was not enough.

What should I say? I intuitively felt that I could do more.

I can do more now.

I can know more.

I can solve more.

[The increased level has broken through the wall.]

[Congratulations! You have become the 7th Great Magician in existence!]

[Your level and achievements have reached their peak.]

[It can be converted into numerical values.]

“…….”

When I opened my eyes, a series of noisy messages greeted me.

I swiped past the messages without saying a word.

I just deleted them without even looking at them all.

These things are just flimsy shells of information. I wanted the solid core.

For example.

[A new Ranker has been born!]

Yes, just like this.

[Skill: 7th, Achievement: 387th]

Rankers and High Rankers are selected by the system.

The criteria are skill and achievement. No matter how skilled you are, you cannot become a Ranker unless your achievements exceed a certain level.

The same was true for me.

However, eating the souls of the demons in advance so that they would not be taken away by those guys was definitely an achievement. Killing so many demons so far also played a big role.

Even though the number of times I have achieved achievements is clearly less than others.

Its density far surpassed others.

[Ranking 197th]

[Sword Saint, Baek Seung-woo]

My ranking was 197th, which is the sum of skill and achievement divided by two.

The title I was given was Sword Saint, which was so familiar to me.

Sword Saint (劍聖), the saint of the sword.

The supreme swordsman who cuts through all things with a single sword.

Clearly, the past me was a person who deserved that title.

But look at me now. How is it?

I use a sword, but do I use it as well as I used to?

Well, I handle it better than most High Rankers, but if you analyze the frequency, I am more suited to a magician than a martial artist walking the path of swordsmanship.

‘I am not a Sword Saint now.’

At least not without a complete body.

The sword cannot be wielded perfectly.

Then I am a magician.

And a Great Magician.

I can now build my own domain and create a sanctuary where all laws move according to my will. Sword Saint is not a suitable title for a great magician.

I suppressed those feelings and quietly stared at the message.

Then the message disappears in an instant.

The deleted message reappeared later.

[I will correct it.]

At this moment, the system acknowledged it.

[Ranking 197th]

[Magic Saint, Baek Seung-woo]

Magic Saint (魔道聖).

The wisest saint walking the path of magic.

That’s what it acknowledged as the title to be given to me.

What that means is twofold.

First, the term ‘magic’ can be interpreted as not the path of magic, but the doctrine of a vicious demon or a bad path, depending on the person who accepts it.

Secondly, this title originally belonged to Eve.

By inheriting her title as it is, I can now look at the same realm as my friend, who was so powerful and great.

‘The world you see is from this perspective.’

Becoming a Great Magician has changed my perspective on the world.

That must be why I got the title of [Magic Saint].

“I know why I received this title after consuming the souls of the nobles.”

Yeah, now I feel like I can understand you a little bit.