Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 259

Academy Gumiho is a Magical Genius – Episode 259

Academy Gumiho is a Magical Genius Episode 259

Those Who Have Nothing to Lose (4)

The scariest person in the world is the one who has nothing to lose.

That saying holds true everywhere in society, but for people like us who cross swords and risk our lives fighting, it’s something we feel every time.

The more someone has nothing to lose, the scarier they are.

The emptier the person, the scarier they are.

Similar sayings include a clueless ally pointing a gun without malice or soldiers dying under the command of an incompetent superior.

But you can ignore that kind of stuff once you reach a certain level.

A gun?

You can just block it or dodge it.

An incompetent superior?

You can just ignore them.

If they get mad and throw a fit, then you can run away or beat them up. Anyway, there’s always room to ignore these things somehow.

But turning someone who has nothing to lose into an enemy…

‘That’s the most reckless thing in the world.’

Bang—!

A sound of something exploding.

Was it the sound of sparks scattering?

Or was it the sound of a head exploding?

Baek Seung-woo, who didn’t care about any of that, felt the high temperature of his heart heating up and wildly unleashed even fiercer flames.

Whirr—!

Small fireflies swam in the sky.

Unlike objects falling to the ground under the influence of gravity, they floated in the air. Since they weren’t affected by gravity, it was impossible to predict the direction the flames would move.

So you could just brace yourself for burns and charge in, but…

That was only true for ordinary flames.

“My leg, my arm…!”

“Hey, this guy’s in shock and passed out! Throw him outside quickly!”

“Now’s not the time to worry about others. You guys get out of here!”

“Don’t underestimate the small size and number of the flames! Each fireball contains firepower equivalent to high-level magic…!”

“Ah, damn it! How can I end up like this from just small sparks that target my body partially, like local anesthesia!”

The vanguard demons in the front came into contact with the flames.

The flames, like dandelion seeds carried by the wind, landed on their arms and legs and soon became embers that burrowed into their skin.

And then…

—Boom!

The flames exploded like gunpowder along with the burrowed flesh.

Explosions occurred several times in the enclosed botanical garden.

Many demons were caught in the simultaneous explosions. The flashes blocked the demons’ vision, and the explosions heard from all directions temporarily deafened them.

The acrid smoke from the explosions and the smell of flesh cooking and burning vibrated intensely, as if piercing their noses, and they couldn’t move their bodies recklessly, fearing that the flames might land on their hands, legs, or heads. In that situation, even their sense of touch was blocked.

Among the five senses, only the sense of taste remained, but what use was taste in this situation?

Still, the five senses weren’t completely lost.

An ordinary person would have been unable to come to their senses due to the intense stimuli that shook their five senses, but the demons here were a small elite force of powerful individuals. There were even several nobles who had received titles.

It was a temporary paralysis of the five senses, but.

The five senses gradually recovered.

The demons, determined to counterattack with their unique rapid recovery speed, were startled by the sound of something pouring onto the floor.

I wonder if the demons knew.

That their rapid recovery speed only amplified their fear and tension.

“I heard something falling just now, right? Surely they didn’t take this opportunity to escape into the sewers?”

“It’s not the sewers. I definitely heard the sound of water, but the sewers here dried up a long time ago.”

“Then what is it?”

“You ignorant fools. That’s why you can’t get titles.”

An arrogant tone intervened in the conversation between the two demons.

When they both turned around at the same time, an overbearing face came into view.

It was Baron Ose.

Ose looked quite different from demons and humans.

Like a demi-human, he looked different from ordinary humans, but uniquely, it wasn’t his body that was different, but his face. Sharp teeth and beautiful black fur.

The green pupils of a beautiful leopard’s face turned towards the demons.

“O, Ose-nim…!”

“Look at the enemy instead of calling my name.”

“Yes, sir!”

“You guys. What do you think that sound was just now?”

What sound was it?

The sound of something falling on the floor.

Faintly, there was also a moist sound like liquid falling on the floor. It was a very unique sound, but there was no way to know what it was. At least, it didn’t exist in the minds of the two demons.

Seeing their expressions, Ose let out a hollow laugh.

“To not even recognize the sound of bodies falling. It seems the world has been too peaceful since we woke up from our deep sleep. I used to hear that sound ten times a day back in my day.”

The sound of bodies falling?

It sounded like a joke, but as the recovering sense of smell suddenly detected a strong smell of blood, the demons instinctively recognized it.

The smell of fresh corpses.

In the short time after we lost our five senses, so many corpses were created in the botanical garden that the smell of blood filled the air.

As the smoke cleared and the demons had a chance to see what was in front of them, they stared directly at the scene before them. These were the ones who had indiscriminately killed many people until now, but upon seeing the sight before them, they froze stiffly with a sense of horror.

“W, what is this…?”

“…One, two, three… forty-one, forty-two. Almost half are dead.”

“A great loss. Purson, can you revive them?”

“Not at all. Even if they weren’t dead and needed to be healed, it would be impossible. The way the wounds were inflicted, and the curse and poison are so severe that I can’t do it alone.”

“Well, it is that terrible.”

One area of the botanical garden was stained with blood.

Forty-two demons died in this spot. It was only natural that the surroundings were stained with blood.

However, in the beginning, most of the demons died from burns.

Along with the flesh, the blood evaporated, and their bodies turned to ashes, staining the ruins black. Until then, there was no room for blood to splatter.

However, in that brief moment when the flesh and bodies of numerous demons burned, covering the surroundings with smoke,

There was room to smear blood on the walls.

“Hey, Purson.”

“What do you want?”

“Are you sure forty-two died?”

“…Huh?”

The demon’s eyes turned to the floor.

Numerous corpses. Most of them were corpses that had not been burned. Those that were burned had only their arms or legs left, turning to ashes and floating with the dust inside the botanical garden.

“It looks strange no matter how I look at it.”

“The numbers are strange? But the corpses left on the floor are correct. The genetic information detected from the dead corpses is a total of 42 types. It was difficult to find those whose identities were unclear, but my calculations are correct.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“Then what is it?”

“Take another good look at the floor.”

“The floor?”

He pointed at the floor with his finger.

Purson lowered his head towards where the finger was pointing.

There was a corpse that had turned to ashes, barely leaving its right arm intact. And that corpse was already on the list that Purson had counted as dead.

“I already recorded that.”

“No, not the half-burned arm. Look at the ashes next to it.”

“The ashes?”

The traces of ashes next to the arm, shaped like a person.

“Doesn’t it seem like there’s a lot of it?”

“…Is that so? Isn’t that about the mass of a normal demon?”

“No, look closely. Is that the amount of ashes that can come out from burning one person?”

When the other party said that, Purson opened his eyes wide.

His title was Count. Originally, he wasn’t in a position to take orders like this, but the other party was also a Count like Purson.

Count, Ronove.

Of course, Ronove’s rank was lower than Purson’s, but he was diligent, so he had never gotten angry at him for his mixed tone of bantering and ordering. Look at this. Didn’t he find something again?

“…Oh? There’s a bit too much.”

“Right?”

“It’s almost double. But I can’t draw a conclusion with just this.”

The amount of ashes was more than the number of dead people.

It was strange information, but it was too small an amount of information to draw a conclusion.

In response, Ronove pointed to the wall.

The wall and ceiling stained with blood.

“What do you think? Isn’t it strange?”

“What? Look at the corpses that have been butchered around here. All of them have their organs hanging out. There are several who have been beheaded not only in the head but also in the whole body. Considering the demon’s blood flow, it’s not strange for the blood that gushes out at the same time as the beheading to reach the ceiling.”

“No, not that, look at the amount again this time. Seriously, do I have to tell you in such detail?”

“The amount again this time?”

The amount of blood?

Come to think of it, the amount of blood that painted the ceiling and walls is a bit much.

It’s not just the amount of stains caused by simply dipping paint on a brush and waving it around.

“…Aha. It feels like I filled a basin with blood and threw it at the wall.”

“You’re talking about it being a lot in a very novel way.”

“But when I observe closely, I can see such traces.”

The blood that would barely come out even if you massacred at least 30 people.

The currently tallied casualties are 42. Since the amount of corpses burned exceeds 30, it logically didn’t make sense at all.

“The evidence is gathered. But there’s still nothing decisive.”

“Decisive evidence? Of course, there is.”

“What is it?”

“Look around.”

Look around.

Following Ronove’s words, he scanned the surroundings.

The scenery didn’t change.

Looking at him with a look that he didn’t understand why he was told to look around, Ronove continued.

“Count the number of demons that are alive.”

“Living demons? That’s sixty… no. It’s eighteen.”

“Yes, there are 18 guys breathing in this place. Then where are the rest of the people? Did they go to search other places? In such a smoky situation?”

Purson’s expression hardened at the repeated questions.

Among those who were not in this place, excluding himself and the 18 demons, there were several nobles. In particular, there were two Counts.

But.

Two Counts were taken down during the minute or so when the smoke was thick?

It was much more realistic that the demons went to find other rooms in the botanical garden when the smoke was thick.

But reality was telling him.

Almost all of them are dead.

In that instant when the smoke generated as the demons’ flesh burned obscured their vision, they really all died.

“N, no way. Are they really all dead?”

“Then next.”

“…Next? There’s more next?”

“Look at the guys standing around.”

The guys standing around?

The 16 demons excluding themselves.

Purson’s expression as he looked at them was filled with bewilderment.

And it didn’t take long for that bewilderment to turn into doubt, and from doubt to fear.

“…Huh?”

The moment he uttered the question, it became his last words and death throes.

Thud!

Something sharp pierced through Purson’s neck and brain.

In the meantime, as his breath was cut off and his thoughts were blocked, Purson’s eyes were barely chasing the opponent. There, a tailed monster was grinning with purple flames around its body.

However, one thing.

There was one thing left in his mind.

‘The tail. His tail has one more than I expected.’

The tail was a body part that was easily exposed to most creatures.

To not have properly grasped the number of such tails.

If the information about the tail is like this, can I trust other information?

In such a situation, I’m dying like this without even knowing that he’s deceiving me.

‘We… we waged an unfavorable battle from the start. We won’t be able to take the key.’

He didn’t even have the minimum information about the opponent.

Regretting that fact, Purson felt his vision blurring and his body being sucked into the shadows at the same time.

It felt like his body was being sucked into the depths of the deep sea.

At the end, a huge maw was waiting for him.