Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 165

Academy Gumiho is a Magical Genius – Episode 165

Academy Gumiho is a Magical Genius 165

The End of a Certain World (5)

A massive fireworks display fueled by a giant snake as firewood.

Even with half its body severed, the fireworks it put on were nothing short of spectacular.

To put it mildly, it looked as if the world was about to end.

“…Well, it was on the verge of destruction anyway. In a way, it might not be such an unusual sight.”

With those words, I raised my head, my eyes vacant.

I was certain I would die, but I wasn’t dead yet.

So, with my broken body, I quietly watched its demise.

Just in case I needed to respond.

Well, I doubt there’s much I can do in this state.

This was a matter of principle.

Ding!

A cheerful sound rang out, followed by a mechanical voice.

[The 3rd Circle, ‘Calamity Sea Dragon’ 「Jormungandr」 has been incinerated.]

Incinerated.

Burned to death.

So, it’s finally dead.

Rather than feeling particularly happy or accomplished, I felt nothing at all.

I just felt empty.

Peaceful and serene.

[You have contributed to hunting the main force that constitutes the Reverse Side.]

[The contribution of the participants will be numerically represented.]

[Currently calculating all types of contributions…]

Did this function even exist?

I was briefly intrigued, but my interest quickly faded as the screen remained unchanged.

Who cares about hunting contribution scores?

‘I used my left arm as bait, after all.’

It wasn’t even a hunt in the first place.

It was nothing more than a life-or-death circus act.

[Announcing the results of converting the contribution into percentages.]

[Your contribution is ranked 1st!]

[Total contribution: 92.7%]

92.7%

My share is larger than I thought.

Come to think of it, all the students did was restrain its movements. And that was a spell Isabel cast single-handedly.

Even she seized the opportunity to use magic after the landslide, a natural disaster, occurred.

If the landslide hadn’t happened, she wouldn’t have even had the chance to cast 「Ink Drowns Light」.

[Presenting the 1st place reward for the 「Jormungandr」 subjugation.]

[Contribution is excessively high!]

[Combining and presenting the rewards for 1st and 2nd place.]

There were a total of three rewards.

I could receive them immediately, but I had no idea how large the rewards were, so I checked them in text form first.

[You have acquired ‘Jormungandr’s Remains’!]

[You have acquired ‘Jormungandr’s Evil Eye’!]

[You have acquired ‘The Book of Ibex and Goat’!]

I lightly checked the reward list and nodded.

If I [Accept] here, I definitely won’t be able to transport it outside.

Even if I set aside the second and third rewards, the remains are comparable in size to the mountains surrounding the only city in the north.

Even if it’s just remains, it varies depending on the part, so I don’t know if I received all the bones.

Still, it’s best to check in a wide plain later, just in case.

[You have subjugated a quasi-dragon with a very small number of people.]

[A quasi-dragon is a type of dragon or its derivative, and subjugating such a quasi-dragon is definitely a lasting achievement.]

[You have acquired the title, ‘Half-Dragon Slayer’!]

That was the last message, and I didn’t hear anything else.

“……”

It’s quiet.

And serene.

The burning body of 「Jormungandr」 made a sound like a bonfire, but that alone couldn’t dispel the bone-chilling cold silence.

Only people can dispel this silence.

“…Most of them must be dead.”

The riot was severe, and the monsters eventually invaded the city.

The landslide shook the ground, causing most of the buildings to collapse.

I don’t even need to spread my senses wide to know.

The City of Spring, where tens of thousands of people lived, has been destroyed.

Fortunately, not everyone is dead, but the city has certainly reached the end of its lifespan. It couldn’t be rebuilt.

Too much infrastructure has been destroyed.

It would be better to rebuild it from scratch.

Too much has been swept away.

‘About 1% must have survived.’

In terms of numbers, that’s about 100 to 1,000 people.

We call a group of this size a village or hamlet, not a city.

‘Most of the young men seem to be dead.’

Actually, I killed most of them.

Because I annihilated Count Eports’ knights.

Let’s not forget.

‘Dungeons and the Reverse Side are just regenerations of already destroyed worlds. Saving them isn’t salvation.’

Behind me, a brother and sister hugged each other tightly, as if they would never let go.

They stared blankly at the burning monster until they were exhausted, then fell asleep as if they had fainted.

Looking at them, I thought.

‘Ha, who am I even worrying about right now.’

In fact, the person I should be most worried about right now is none other than myself.

I groped at my cleanly bitten-off left shoulder.

Touching my empty body, I belatedly realized that my strength was already draining away.

Thud.

I fell backward.

‘Why did I fall? Is it anemia?’

Fortunately, I didn’t collapse from excessive bleeding.

The moment it bit off my arm, it engraved magic on the flesh, causing a massive fire.

The trace where my left arm used to be was naturally sealed.

It’s not a good method, though.

“…Rather, the burns are more of a problem than the bitten-off left arm.”

The moment I used my arm as bait.

The firepower that even a 3rd Circle monster couldn’t handle was not something my body could withstand. A mage specializing in [Fire Magic] should naturally have a certain level of fire resistance.

But the attack just now was not something that could be defended against with resistance.

To suffer such great damage from my own technique.

As someone who once aspired to be a warrior, I am utterly ashamed.

Of course, I’m a mage now, not a warrior.

With burns this extensive, it’s difficult to heal with ordinary potions. Unless I use an elixir.

These are scars that won’t easily disappear.

Burn scars are quite painful.

However, I have no complaints about the cause of the burns itself.

There are lives saved in exchange for an arm and scars.

Not just one or two.

“It’s cost-effective.”

If so, it was a worthwhile price.

Although my left arm was bitten off, and my body suffered severe burns from the excessive flames.

Some organs are internally damaged and not functioning properly.

My eyes are half-blind, and my vision has deteriorated considerably.

My joints are creaking, and my bones are battered, so how can I not worry?

‘In fact, it’s a miracle that I’m not dead in this state.’

Normally, even an S-class player or a ranker would writhe in pain and die with this level of injury.

But I know pain beyond this.

And I know that there are people who have been saved by this pain.

Students who boldly gave up their safety in the name of saving children, NPCs [Non-Player Characters; characters controlled by the game, not a human player] who live aimlessly in an already dead world.

And there are also the brother and sister who use each other’s laps as pillows and each other’s warmth as blankets to sleep. Even if they are already dead spirits.

The will to live and the warmth were those of the living.

“Wow, Shanks!”

“Why are you asking for trouble, you crazy bastard!”

“Ah! Don’t hit me. Do you think I like doing this?! I just wanted to see Teacher smile.”

“Bullshit. You deserve another hit.”

“…One hit is too little. You should get at least ten hits.”

“Hey, you should stop your friend when he’s getting hit. Why are you encouraging him!”

“See, Yerim is saying that too. Let’s just add ten more hits to our one hit, for a total of eleven hits.”

Leezy was joking.

Isabel tried to scold him for the joke, and when Seo Yerim chimed in, Leezy ran away desperately.

Isabel chases after him.

A very comical sight.

It’s hard to believe that these are the same people who were fighting desperately just a moment ago.

‘Haha… They’re doing that on purpose.’

My vision is a little blurry, but I can tell from their expressions.

They’re doing it on purpose.

Probably because of.

‘It must be because of me.’

Whether they want to give me strength.

Or make me laugh.

Whatever it is, it’s written all over their faces.

Isabel, at least, felt like she was trying to hide her expression as much as possible, but she was still cute compared to the wily old foxes in the political world.

There’s no way that would work in front of me, who used to control those guys.

‘Is it because I’m relaxed? Is it because my body is tired? I want to sleep a little…’

I forced a smile that wouldn’t form, and responded to the boy’s and girl’s consideration.

With a sense of comfort, my mind drifted away.

Such a comfortable sleep.

I couldn’t remember how many years it had been.

* * *

While I was asleep, things progressed smoothly.

Seo Yerim, because of her unique divine power, never left my side.

The other students, along with the surviving residents, created a massive cemetery.

They made separate graves for the bodies that still had a form.

Those who didn’t even have a form, those who only left fragments of flesh and organs, made a grave in one place and offered prayers.

Apparently, there were many people sobbing or screaming.

Virtually all the buildings were destroyed, and the half-destroyed city was no longer valuable as a residence.

So, the students decided to cross the mountains and take them to a small village there.

There were about 498 survivors.

It’s a considerable number for a small village to accept, but they had nowhere else to go.

So, the students decided to take the lead.

I heard that Isis and Seo Yerim took turns carrying me on their backs over the mountains while I was in a deep sleep.

Fortunately, it became much easier to cross the mountains due to the landslide.

Strangely enough, even though it had just collapsed yesterday, there were no particular problems while crossing the mountain range.

─W, what is all this personnel?

─Chief, it’s been a while.

─S, hunters and a stocky boy? No, it hasn’t even been a week since you guys left… Who are all the people behind you?

─This is not easy to explain. Please listen for a moment.

When nearly 500 people arrived at the village, the village became noisy and bustling. In that situation, the chief listened to what had happened.

─…So, you’re telling me to believe all that?

─Yes.

─Lord Eports’ misdeeds, the city residents’ frenzy, sightings of horned, bizarre humans, the annihilation of the Knights, monsters suddenly crawling out of the ground, and even the destruction of the city. All of this happened in one day, and you’re telling me to believe it now?

─Hearing you list it like that, I realize how difficult last night was.

At first, the chief didn’t believe it either.

However, when several merchants who traveled between the village and the city and traded came forward as witnesses among the 498 survivors, the chief had no choice but to accept them.

This process involved numerous conversations and power struggles between each other.

It wasn’t a very important story to me, who fell asleep and woke up later.

The students stayed in the village for three days, busily building houses for the 498 refugees to live in.

While they were doing that, I was.

“Lily, hurry and move quickly.”

“Kkeueueung… !”

“Charles, the same goes for you.”

I was playing with the siblings.

Tomorrow, we will escape from this wretched world.

Until then, I taught the children with my whole body wrapped in bandages and splints. This is all that’s left for me to do as a teacher.