Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 232

Academy Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Episode 232

Anemone (2)

This place feels… off.

I’d sensed it several times while tracking the people who kidnapped the woman with the strange object. The sheer number of personnel deployed, and their abilities…

None of them were normal.

─How many people have you killed getting here?

“232.”

─Wow, straight to the number. You don’t feel any guilt about the people you’ve killed, do you? I’ll just assume you have a good memory and answered right away.

“Stop talking nonsense. Get to the point.”

Tamao’s usual playful banter.

But I couldn’t take it lightly now. My nerves were on high alert, my senses heightened to the extreme.

My sixth sense predicted potential dangers, my five senses identified enemies, and my hyper-sensitive nerves allowed me to evade and overcome their attacks.

─You’re so sensitive. Even that side of you is attractive, but it might break my heart a little if that sensitivity is directed at me.

“The point, Tamao.”

─Hehe, prickly, aren’t we? I was just going to ask how far we are from the enemy’s base.

“……I have no idea. I know the direction the vehicle carrying that woman is moving, but I have no idea what’s in that direction. I don’t think it’s going to stop anywhere.”

My senses and sixth sense were at their peak, showing accuracy bordering on future prediction.

Of course, the level and experience made a difference, but the senses I had forcibly trained while wandering the battlefield sometimes boasted a predictive ability that transcended reason.

But those senses couldn’t reach a definitive conclusion.

I just felt that I would continue to move aimlessly.

Right then.

Zzzt!

Electricity sparked in my head.

A thought flashed through my mind. Maybe…

“Maybe they’re moving with me in mind.”

─You can’t be serious, are you?

“……If they’re moving to ensnare me, I can assume two possibilities.”

Fwoosh──!!

I manipulated a knife that had fallen to the floor with 「Telekinesis」, piercing the bellies and necks of the thugs scattered around. If a knife became dull from the blood and flesh, or broke, or was blocked by the enemy’s defense, I immediately continued the massacre with other objects while pondering.

At first, it seemed like an absurd idea, but now I started to seriously consider it.

“They recognized my existence and prepared a road of unknown destination and filled it with strong people – people too strong to be ordinary thugs – assuming I would come. If that’s the case, then they’re luring me and the woman to a specific location they want─”

─So, the woman you met during the day and the gang that kidnapped her, and the 200 thugs you’ve killed so far are all in cahoots.

“309. It’s increased a little while talking to you.”

─Yes, yes, I’m glad you’re keeping count of the corpses.

“Thanks for the compliment. Thanks to you, I think I’ll be doing a lot of calculating in the future.”

While talking to Tamao, I began to analyze my theory more systematically and logically.

‘For this to be true, they have to know about me. Who told them? Baek Eun-ho? The family elders [referring to the Cheonho Baekga family]? Or did they just meticulously lay the groundwork, considering the possibility of a strong person intervening, and I just happened to stumble into it?’

I don’t know. There isn’t enough information to draw inferences and make logical hypotheses. For now, the only means of speculation was to let my imagination run wild.

‘But what benefit would they get from that? If they knew my identity behind the mask and lured me, they would be trying to use Baek Seung-woo and the Cheonho Baekga for sure. If they don’t know my identity, they are clearly trying to catch the villain who is famous in Korea to get money and fame.’

But if those things are worth sacrificing hundreds of thugs with this much skill, I don’t know.

The exchange doesn’t seem right at all.

The 459 thugs I killed were all strong people, somewhere between B and A class. Among them were those who had the potential to grow into S class, or those who had already reached S class.

If they used these people strategically, they could gain the same level of fame and funds as subduing an S-class villain without any casualties.

Even a group of this size would be able to make some kind of contract with Cheonho Baekga, let alone Baek Seung-woo. Hundreds of people with skills above at least B-class demanding a deal with the family?

Even if that group is based in Germany?

The Cheonho Baekga would support them materially and mentally to keep the German Leonhardt family in check.

‘Then let’s think differently.’

Maybe I myself am not the goal.

I’m just a beast tempted by the honey they sprinkled. So, instead of looking at it from the beast’s point of view, I look down from the perspective of the person who sprinkled the honey.

‘It’s unlikely that they recognized me and designed the plan specifically for me. Then I just happened to get caught.’

However, hundreds of subordinates are dying in the process.

They might actively revise the plan.

Then what on earth are they thinking, letting me kill so many thugs? To increase my notoriety?

My notoriety is already considerable in Korea. Of course, there is some positive public opinion. These pros and cons and heated debates were also being closely watched overseas.

Why is South Korea, a powerful player country, so divided over just one villain?

Overseas reporters flocked to the interesting story.

In the end, the mask I wore spread all over the world.

Of course, I can’t say that I’m a world-famous villain yet, but I’m one of the people who have made a name for myself.

So there’s no reason to do this just to increase my notoriety.

If they wanted to increase my notoriety through murder and do something about me, they would have taken civilians hostage.

They wouldn’t waste valuable talent like A-class players.

Deciding that wasn’t the case, I burned the thugs to death this time. Naturally, my thoughts turned aside.

‘Then the remaining guess is…….’

A group of unknown size.

I accidentally got caught up in their kidnapping and plan.

However, the unidentified group is trying to hold me back by using strong people who can fill the gap I’m missing. It’s as if they’re trying to do something by taking advantage of the gap where the thugs are holding me back.

‘There are exactly three possibilities.’

It could be that they are trying to replace the kidnapped woman, or it could be a time-buying measure to bring in a means or person to kill or capture me for sure.

And the last one.

It was a means that I came up with by fully unfolding my imagination.

They break into the dorm in the gap when I’m not in the dorm. That was the last purpose I came up with.

“!!!!”

Right then, my instinct and sixth sense rang the alarm.

───!!!

It’s not because I’m sure of my thoughts.

Someone walks through the corpses.

A very strange appearance. What’s even stranger is that even when the moonlight shines, his shadow doesn’t appear. It’s as if he’s being hated by the world.

I was primarily convinced of this.

And the pungent and thick smell of corpses and blood reached my nose.

More than anything, this disgusting smell is……!

“……Fiend [a type of demon or evil spirit].”

“To guess my identity from that distance without even seeing my face or feeling the demonic energy… What the hell are you, Fox Mask?”

“That’s what I want to say. What face do you guys, who have abandoned human society and betrayed humanity, have to show up on the roads of this city? Are you asking to be roadkill? If so, it’s common sense to crush you with overwhelming mass.”

「Pyrokinesis」

A flame floating in the air.

I give physical force to that small spark. I give it weight and increase the mass to the limit. In the end, the small flame falls to the ground because it cannot overcome the weight.

It falls quickly like a meteorite, but its appearance is so small that it makes you laugh.

The moment that flame touched the ground.

─────!!!!

A huge explosion occurred without even hearing the sound of the explosion.

The glass on all sides shattered, and the nearby buildings barely preserved only the skeletal steel frames.

It was fortunate that it was a shopping district where everyone had left work late at night, but if it had been a residential area, thousands of people would have evaporated in the bombing.

However, the one standing in the center of the explosion.

“What is this? What is it…… is it called a celebratory firecracker? Thank you for that. My clothes are a little burnt, though.”

“……You monster. You should at least take a defensive stance and say those words. To think you could stand still and endure it with your bare body.”

The clothes were all gone.

But there was nothing wrong with his body.

His skin was incredibly tough.

If his durability is that high and he didn’t budge even in this explosion, then his leg strength and weight must also be considerable. If his leg strength is excellent, then his other muscles must also be developed to some extent, and the fact that his weight is considerable means that if he puts his weight into the attack, he can exert tremendous destructive power.

‘At least S class.’

Not one of the nobles of the Garden of失樂園 [Garden of Lost Paradise], the highest organization of fiends. They are the undisputed strongest group in charge of the later scenarios.

That’s why all 72 of them are sealed, and as time passes and the protagonist grows, the seal is gradually released, and the lower-ranking nobles appear in the world, which is the setting.

‘Even if he’s not a noble, he seems to be at least a knight or a baronet below him.’

Knights and baronets.

They are definitely stronger than the F~S class fiends called commoners, but they are in an awkward position because they do not have a title. Among them, there are definitely some who are stronger than the nobles, but there are also some talented people who have not become formal nobles because they have not ousted one of the existing 72 nobles.

‘Maintaining and inheriting titles was quite complicated.’

Since there is no king among the fiends, no one specifically bestows or confiscates titles. The number of nobles is fixed at 72, and the higher the rank, the higher the title they receive.

And when they receive a title, they also receive a name.

For example, one fiend killed a noble of the 32nd rank. Then, even if the fiend’s name during his lifetime was ‘Experiment 200′, he receives the title of Count along with the name of the demon 「Asmodeus」.

‘Anyone can become a noble, and even nobles can have their titles taken away by emerging strongmen. Even the same nobles can fight each other because they covet each other’s titles or names.’

It is a bizarre system that clearly shows the fiends’ society where power is everything. It is not known who started it.

However, the fiend in front of me is undoubtedly a member of the knights or baronets.

But that power was definitely strong enough not to be inferior to a baron.

“Now I understand.”

The purpose of this group is not to kill me or do something using me. It is to tie me up using a strong person who can fill the gap I am missing. The purpose is to kidnap the baby and Erzebet in the meantime.

No, maybe the purpose is the 700 billion won [roughly 530 million USD] in my wallet in the dorm. It’s quite a large sum.

And the guy in front of me.

That monster.

It’s certain. He’s stronger than a ranker in terms of players.

In terms of monsters, he’s between the 3rd and 4th rank. As a fiend, he has the skills of at least a viscount. This is definitely not a guy who should be coming out at this point.

“Eve. You’re such a son of a bitch.”

Damn writer.

Why is the power inflation already breaking down?

No matter how much I attack, the durability won’t break.