Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 292

Academy Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Episode 292

Academy Gumiho is a Magic Genius Episode 292

Leader (2)

Tentacles subtly aiming for the opponent.

Lightning forcing openings by being an unavoidable threat.

Just as I was getting used to the long-range attacks like tentacles and lightning, kicks and palm strikes suddenly flew in.

Baek Seok-ho’s attacks, using every means at his disposal, grew fiercer with each passing moment.

He seemed to be gradually getting used to his transformed body and power.

Dense and precise attacks.

However, the power contained in the attacks was diminishing.

We had been fighting for quite a while. It wouldn’t be strange if his strength had already waned.

Nevertheless, Baek Seok-ho was enduring with sheer willpower.

He was moving with the single-minded desire to kill me.

“Die! Die! Just die!”

Lightning strikes with a rough roar.

A raging roar.

Baek Seok-ho’s cry soon became a wave of lightning and magical energy, engulfing me.

Crack!

The barrier I had erected to prepare for attacks from all directions cracked.

The barrier hadn’t completely collapsed yet, but it could only withstand one more hit at most.

I needed to create a new barrier.

Normally, I could create one quickly, but the problem was that my stamina was also depleted.

“……This is bad. I don’t think I can make a smaller barrier than this.”

I was planning to create another layer inside the cracked barrier.

But perhaps it was because of the lack of stamina.

Or maybe it was because my brain was working slowly due to the lack of oxygen at this high altitude, but I couldn’t create anything smaller than the current barrier.

─Can’t you just make it bigger?

‘I can, but there are quite a few issues.’

─Are those issues more important than the barrier? You’ll be in big trouble if you get pierced by a stray lightning bolt without a barrier.

‘I know, but…’

If I made it bigger, the resources I would have to invest would be too much.

My stamina, for one.

If I created a large barrier in my current state, I would inevitably become exhausted.

And furthermore.

‘Time and mana are the problems.’

─I understand the time issue, but is mana really a problem? Your recovery rate is faster than your consumption rate anyway.

‘The problem I’m talking about is the gap during the recovery moment.’

Due to the decrease in stamina and lack of oxygen, the casting speed of magic had significantly decreased.

If I created a large barrier in that state, the casting speed would inevitably slow down.

This was an area that Tamamo also agreed with.

However, Tamamo could somehow assist with the time issue.

She was also quite exhausted from using continuous spells, but unlike me, who was affected by oxygen, she was already dead, so she didn’t have to worry about breathing.

In other words, she had enough energy to assist in creating the barrier.

─Then I can help you.

‘Then we just need to solve the mana problem.’

─Do we really need to solve that? It’s not like you’re lacking in mana. You’re still maintaining over 60%.

How much mana does it even take to create a barrier that she’s making such a fuss about?

Even the sturdiest and most robust barrier had never consumed more than 10% of my total mana.

Even with simple calculations, I would have more than 50% mana left after creating the barrier.

I don’t know why she’s acting like this.

Tamamo didn’t understand me.

‘25%.’

─……Don’t tell me.

‘I think I’ll need about 25% of my mana.’

─Your senses aren’t working properly right now, are they?

Yes, my five senses seem to be slightly broken right now.

Is “broken” too strong of a word?

Let’s soften it and say my five senses are distorted.

Well, whether they’re broken or distorted, the fact remains that they’re not normal.

‘Yeah. I can’t calculate properly right now.’

Layering a barrier on top of a barrier.

I had to erect them so that the two barriers didn’t overlap, but I didn’t have the capacity to figure out exactly where the cracked barrier was protecting.

If the two barriers overlapped, the inner barrier would be damaged, and the overlapping outer barrier would collapse.

To prevent that, the two barriers had to be placed at a certain distance from each other.

‘It’s difficult to calculate, so I have to make the gap wide, but it’s not easy to create the structure that forms the barrier. If you add up the mana that is consumed meaninglessly in the process, it will be 25%.’

─Half of it.

‘That’s right. So I’m worried.’

What should I do?

It would be great if a good idea came to mind, but it was unlikely that a good idea would come to mind in a state where I was already struggling to create a single barrier due to the lack of oxygen.

Even in the midst of this.

Bang!

A giant tentacle lashed out like a whip, aiming for my side.

Barely dodging it, there was another tentacle coming down from above.

Immediately, the remaining nine tentacles aimed for my blind spots.

The tentacles aiming for the blind spots were meant to restrict my movements, and I could feel a strong will to crush me in one go with the one falling from above by suppressing my movements as much as possible.

Still, whatever.

‘I can avoid this much.’

Swish.

Stepping lightly, I pulled my body back.

I dodged all the tentacles flying from the blind spots, such as the bottom right and the side of my left foot, with body movements. Just as I was about to get out of the trajectory of the tentacle falling from above.

Bang───!

The belated impact struck the floor.

At that moment, when I was determined to launch an offensive from my side after a perfect evasion.

Whoosh!

Something sharp grazed the barrier.

Something fast and sharp.

The part of the barrier that it grazed was slightly cracked.

Like a blade cutting flesh.

That something also scratched the barrier.

After that, that something attacked the barrier in a barrage.

As several of them struck the barrier at the same time, I realized what it was.

“This is a stone.”

Fragments of broken stone.

Those with sharp edges were cutting and even breaking the barrier at an incredible speed. There was nothing particularly magical or demonic about the stones, but the mass and quantity were too great.

It would be different if it was a barrier that had just been created.

It wasn’t easy to block with a barrier that was already cracked.

So I forcibly injected mana into the crumbling barrier.

‘Where is it coming from?!’

─Calculate the trajectory of the tentacle that was swung just now.

‘What are you talking about…… Ah, you don’t mean the apartment under the tentacle.’

─He must have swung the tentacle greatly so that the fragments of the collapsed building would head towards you.

No, he’s calculating the trajectory of the collapsed fragments in this chaotic battle?

I could do it if it was the beginning of the fight, but it’s hard to use in my current exhausted state. It seems like.

‘Even though he speaks like a beast, his body remembers.’

He seems to be thinking with his body rather than his head.

Well, if your body is good, your head doesn’t have to suffer.

In that sense, Baek Seok-ho’s body was too good.

His already good body became even better as a demon.

He doesn’t even need a brain.

In contrast, my body is not good, so my head is suffering.

‘Should I move instinctively too?’

─Don’t. That guy’s senses and instincts far surpass those of a beast. Look at those bloodshot eyes. He can’t even focus anymore.

‘My senses are good too.’

I can confidently say that I’m the best in the world when it comes to senses.

Even if my other physical abilities are lacking, my senses have reached a level that is infinitely equal to my original body, so even if I move instinctively without reason, my divinely reached senses will assist me.

But.

─Can you beat that beast with instinct? Look at those bloodshot eyes. He can’t even focus anymore.

‘……Cancel it.’

Beastly senses.

Feral instincts.

The abilities of animals are very excellent.

Baek Seok-ho also gave up being human and became a beast, so.

He has become quite intuitive.

It is clear that my sensory level is higher and better than Baek Seok-ho’s current state.

However, unlike me, whose body cannot fully keep up even with good senses, Baek Seok-ho fully showed off his instincts based on his overwhelming physical abilities.

‘This is going to break soon.’

─There are 17 seconds left. No matter how much you inject mana to maintain it, it’s too damaged and will naturally collapse.

‘I guess so. ……Hey, can I use this as bait?’

─What are you going to do?

What am I going to do?

If that guy acts like a beast, I have to set up a game that suits him.

‘I won’t add any additional barriers until the barrier is released.’

─You……!

The moment the barrier is released and I become defenseless.

Baek Seok-ho will never miss that moment.

Baek Seok-ho, who has lost his reason and is moving based on instinct, will put into practice all sorts of methods to kill me.

In the process, he will naturally create an opening for himself.

Like the saying that you have to be prepared to die yourself when you kill someone.

Also, when a master of a certain level or higher kills another master, they have to give up something.

It could be giving up defense, or it could be exposing a weakness.

Baek Seok-ho is the same.

He will reveal a gap in order to cut off my lifeline.

Originally, the possibility of me being in danger is greater than exploiting that gap, so I wouldn’t bother adopting this kind of gamble.

‘This is the best way to prevent further damage.’

The lives of innocent people.

And my life.

In order to protect both, I must paradoxically reveal a defenseless appearance in front of Baek Seok-ho.

‘Please assist me. Fill the weapon with curses.’

─What nonsense are you talking about……!

‘7 seconds, 6 seconds, 5 seconds, 4 seconds, 3 seconds…….’

─Ah, I understand! I’ll grant it right away!

With only 3 seconds left until the barrier was released.

Tamamo, who was aware of this but suddenly became anxious when she said it out loud, hurriedly injected a lot of curses into the sword I was holding.

The beginning was basic magic, but several intermediate and advanced magic spells were granted in between. She granted them so urgently that the connection and granting between the curses were not done properly.

I looked at the black sword filled with curses and thought.

‘The better.’

Inefficient spell placement and combination.

However, this inefficient placement felt all the more cursed.

Yes, this is a curse.

I raised the Holy Sword.

I put the Mind Sword away for a while.

─────!

The curse was so sloppy that it clung to the sword like black thread and drooped down to the floor like tattered rags.

Very good.

I looked at the sword with satisfaction and felt a sense that the surroundings were breaking for a moment.

A sensation and clear sound like a glass window breaking.

The barrier was broken.

Right then.

Whoosh!

As if waiting for the moment the barrier broke.

Five bundles of giant tentacles flew in, tangled together.

As a huge object reminiscent of a siege weapon aimed for my life.

‘This is a real gamble.’

My sixth sense warned me.

That I would really die like this.

Ignoring the warning from my sixth sense to run away, I nodded.

Certainly.

It’s a life-threatening attack.

Five tentacles were tangled into one.

Its destructive power was three times that of a normal tentacle, but it would be much more efficient to use five tentacles skillfully rather than swinging something like that.

Perhaps the reason he chose this inefficient method was.

‘He must be confident. Well, all he has to do is land one hit at the point where there is no barrier.’

Just one hit.

Baek Seok-ho’s victory would be certain if that one hit landed.

The remaining five tentacles were united into one.

A total of ten tentacles were tangled together, now becoming two tentacles.

The destructive power has increased, but there is no difference in speed.

The skillful and precise attacks that used ten tentacles to drive me into a corner are now gone.

He’s just pushing me with force.

Bang! Bang!

The two tentacles crush everything I pass through.

Whether in the sky or on the ground, the offensive did not stop.

He invested the thinking power to drop lightning solely in pushing me, so there were no more lightning strikes.

It became an extremely difficult level where you die if you get hit once.

But the difficulty of avoiding it has become easier.

‘It’s doable, but I can’t get in.’

But at this moment, I.

I was more nervous than ever.

‘Fighting a monster that doesn’t die no matter how much you cut it with the Mind Sword without any means of protection.’

Another arm or leg will fly away.