Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 96

Academy Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Episode 96

Academy Gumiho is a Magic Genius 96

Exhibition Match (1)

Students watched in amazement as Mugung relentlessly pressured Seungwoo, wielding his sword.

Both were powerhouses who had reached a level beyond the grasp of ordinary students.

The battle between the two, officially recognized as A-class Players, appeared one-sided.

“Instructor Mugung! Crush him!”

“Beat him to a pulp and make fox fur out of him!”

“If Instructor Baek Seungwoo’s handsome face gets even a scratch, I’ll curse you every night!”

In their eyes, this match wasn’t a simple fight between instructors or a sparring session between A-class Players; it was a brutal, one-sided beatdown.

Of course, Seungwoo’s techniques and magic weren’t bad, but compared to Mugung’s overwhelming presence, they seemed to pale in comparison.

Although it started as a whim of Namgung Seongjin, the duel was significantly impacting the impressionable students.

A realm we have not yet reached.

A duel between seniors who have stepped into that place first.

Students, suddenly realizing they were frogs in a well [an idiom for someone with limited knowledge of the wider world], began to reflect on their own shortcomings.

Most of these were first-year students.

The second and third-year students had slightly different impressions.

Rather than gaining enlightenment from the duel, they meticulously analyzed it, collecting data.

“As expected, the head instructor’s sword is sharp.”

“Look at the unique swordsmanship that connects the forms. It’s chaotic yet possesses a unique regularity. How much must one swing a sword to develop such skill?”

“So, all you see is Instructor Mugung, huh? This is why ignorant muscle brains and martial arts majors are no good. Who do you think is leading the fight right now?”

“Well, it’s obvious that Instructor Mugung is leading… Huh?”

Their eyes turned to the pool of blood on the floor.

It was a testament to the ferocity of the duel.

But tracing the source of that blood led back to Mugung.

Some of it might be Seungwoo’s, but most of the blood belonged to Mugung. Despite the seemingly one-sided nature of the match, it was difficult to determine who truly held the upper hand.

And.

Pazzizzzz───!!

As Seungwoo unleashed lightning, pressuring Mugung, the students wore dumbfounded expressions.

The battle hadn’t yet tilted decisively to either side.

But the atmosphere surrounding the arena had begun to shift.

* * *

‘…Crazy.’

Namgung Seongjin thought to himself.

While verbally explaining that he hadn’t taught him that, his eyes and the corners of his mouth betrayed his curiosity.

He knew that Baek Seungwoo was hiding things, but he assumed it was a tactic.

He thought it was a first-strike advantage or a finishing move, but something far greater was concealed.

‘…Unbelievable talent. If he had come as an academy student, it would have turned everything upside down because of that Chilseong kid.’

A genius unlike any seen even in the world’s top 5 academies, Chilseong.

Seungwoo’s talent wasn’t limited to magic.

He thoroughly analyzed and dismantled martial arts he saw for the first time, understanding their underlying structure and converting them into his own magic.

It wasn’t just about being born with a talent for magic and swordsmanship.

If Seungwoo truly saw Mugung’s sword for the first time and imitated it with magic, then he might be witnessing a once-in-a-century genius.

‘…If not, he’ll be a con artist of the century, though.’

Whatever the case, he would be remembered, for better or for worse.

And that suspicion faded as he successively imitated Mugung’s swordsmanship.

Really.

‘There was a monster among the instructors, not a student.’

It would have been fun to teach him if he were a student.

Namgung Seongjin sincerely regretted it.

While he, who volunteered to be the referee, was thinking that.

I continued to dismantle Mugung’s swordsmanship and recreate it into magic based on my vast martial arts knowledge.

It was difficult at first, but with repetition, it became easier.

I felt like I was getting the hang of it.

I lightly manifested magic in the air and scanned Mugung.

He looked quite exhausted.

He seemed tired from continuously using swordsmanship.

Unlike me, who was okay except for headaches caused by calculations from only using magic, he was in a very different state.

At this moment, when victory was gradually tilting towards me.

I briefly assessed Mugung’s skills.

‘He definitely surpassed A-class.’

In my opinion, Mugung was qualified to be at the bottom of the S-class Players.

It’s only because I’ve learned so much swordsmanship that I can avoid most sword paths without difficulty.

Most Players or monsters are likely to be helpless against Mugung’s sword.

‘Especially the sword containing the Azure Sky. That was quite threatening.’

Azure Sky Mugung, while lacking compared to the Namgung Family’s Azure Sky Limitless Sword Art containing the vastness of the azure sky.

There was no disagreement that it was a threatening sword.

If it weren’t for me, I would have been hit for sure.

But even that didn’t feel like much when I continued to offset it with magic of equal power.

As the duel dragged on, I grew tired and annoyed.

Wanting to end it quickly, the arrangement of my magic power unknowingly formed a spiral. Just as the spiral was half completed and the 「Triple Helix」 was about to be constructed.

Realizing it, I waved my hand and canceled the construction.

Wow, that was a surprise.

I wasn’t planning on using this.

I almost used it without realizing it.

‘…「Triple Helix」 is not something to be used carelessly on people.’

A new structure of magic power arrangement that I have come to fully control through the mental world.

The power and efficiency of the magic unfolded with this was three times that of 「Double Helix」.

So, if I use 「Triple Helix」, I can attack with six times the current power.

Considering that the efficiency is also six times, it’s absurd.

The problem is that it’s too great to use on Mugung.

The fire power that even Dorudo, an S-class demon with fire resistance, cannot withstand.

If you ask if he can withstand it when used on Mugung.

‘He absolutely can’t withstand it.’

It’s obvious that it would be a difference of a hair’s breadth, and even Dorudo’s armor made of magic power was half destroyed. There’s no reason why it wouldn’t be able to penetrate a person’s soft flesh.

That’s why I’m worried.

How can I defeat him without being dangerous?

I couldn’t think of a suitable method.

The reason why I, who have enough power left to dissect his techniques in detail, sew them anew in the form of magic, and offset them with the same power, haven’t made a decision yet is because of that.

‘If I use a weak technique, I might just give him a chance to counterattack, and if I attack with a technique that’s too strong, the duel might become a problem.’

If I mess up, I might be dragged to a funeral.

The aftermath was annoying, so while continuing to offset Mugung’s swordsmanship with magic of the same power, I was thinking in my head.

It was at that moment.

“…Hmm?”

The quality and quantity of magic power that gripped the area changed.

It wasn’t my work. My meridians [energy pathways in the body] were too thin to waste like that.

If so, this means it’s Mugung’s work.

But it was quite a strange sight for that.

“Kuaaaaaaa!!”

Mugung’s cry, emitting a beast-like sound, greatly shook the barrier surrounding the arena. A huge wave spread around.

That, reminiscent of a lion’s roar, was definitely a sonic attack.

Kukung─! Kwadeudeuk─!

At the same time as using the sonic attack, his skin gradually cracked.

What popped out between his fair skin was something dyed black. The pitch-black something was too murky.

So much so that the professors, thinking he was a demon, wondered if they should intervene, raising their magic power and worrying.

‘It’s not a demon or demonic energy.’

Mugung has not fallen.

I didn’t feel the disgusting sensation unique to demons.

But what should I say? I felt a sense of incongruity comparable to that.

The black something that appeared as his skin cracked soon swallowed Mugung, beginning to form a huge armor.

It was an armor of a form I remembered.

“…Shadow Guard.”

One of the Seven Wonders of Chilseong.

The shadow crawling up from the bottom of the canyon.

It was now revealing its appearance through Mugung’s body.

What does this mean?

I could be sure that it was not good, at least.

Unlike the professors and students who couldn’t hide their surprise at what had happened.

「Yoma Eye」

I, who was right in front of him, could see that the flow of his blood vessels and energy was rapidly expanding. Especially the movement of energy towards his heart and head was unusual.

It was a pattern I had experienced.

“…Berserk.”

It’s a very tricky pattern.

In that state, he doesn’t see anything, ignoring pain and injuries and recklessly using his body. He becomes a monster crazy about inflicting damage.

Does he think he’s some kind of berserker?

I was about to add that, but it was that moment.

─Kung!

Mugung kicked off the ground and charged forward.

He looked like he would be slow because he was wearing huge armor, but unlike his appearance, his speed was more than twice as fast.

And yet, it felt quite heavy.

If I get hit by this even once, my bones might be shattered.

I hurriedly tried to dodge and prepare the next magic, but.

In the blink of an eye, he arrived in front of me.

Pazzizzzz───!!!

He swung a sword containing a larger lightning bolt than before.

As the flashing lightning illuminated the arena, everyone’s vision was momentarily paralyzed.

As everyone rubbed their eyes and regained their sight, I was no longer in the place where I had been.

─Kung!

──Kukung!!

───Kwang!!!

Far away.

A bloody lump of flesh was slammed into the wall.

Bones were broken, and sharp fragments like ribs revealed their hidden appearance through the meat. A tragically broken human form.

Nevertheless, the area near the chest was constantly moving, indicating that he was still alive.

“P-Professor!”

A student who was watching closely from the audience seat.

The blonde girl, Leona, kept shaking her professor’s sleeve.

“A-Aren’t you going to save him? He might die if you leave him like that?!”

“With just that?”

“Child, people don’t die so easily.”

“Especially if it’s at the level of an instructor at Chilseong.”

“That’s right, that’s right. We didn’t survive that murderous schedule for nothing.”

It wasn’t the professor who answered her, but the instructors lined up next to him.

The eyes of the instructors, who were suffering from hard work every day, were full of dark circles.

Through this, one could get a glimpse of their labor intensity.

“If he’s a real instructor, he’ll probably be alive enough.”

“Do you think Professor Namgung Seongjin, who is in charge of the judging, will let him die? He’s the type of person who would cut off his limbs without hesitation, even if it’s his head instructor, if he doesn’t like it.”

“You’ll know when you’re in your third year. That’s nothing.”

Most of the academy’s instructors are graduates who graduated from here. They have experienced what they can experience in their own way.

Through this, they were powerful people who had built their own world and view of things.

They faithfully answered Leona’s question based on their experiences. Even after screams erupted from the audience.

The instructors and professors, who had roughly grasped what was happening below, stayed in their seats.

It was only the thousands of students and the beast who had lost their reason who were unable to properly analyze the current situation.

“I-It’s my victoryyyyyy!!!”

A roar that seemed to celebrate his victory.

The sonic attack became a huge wind, blowing even to the arena seats.

At that shock, dust flew thickly to the seats, and most of the audience closed or rubbed their eyes.

“…You.”

Baek Seungwoo with purple eyes walked over, step by step.

Surprised, the students looked at the place where that ‘thing that used to be human’ had been. There was a clump of fur that had been swept up and gathered.

A clump of fur that a cat would love.

The clump of fur seemed to have burst open from the external impact.

And unlike that clump of fur, I didn’t even have a scratch on my right hand.

It was as if I had returned to before I was injured.

No, it was as if I had never been hit in the first place.

“You’re going to have to tell me where you got that armor.”

There will be no more holding back from now on.

I’m going to beat you until you’re really on the verge of death.

Because of the suddenly changed guy, I ended up taking out even the sorcery I had no intention of using. 「Cicada Shedding」 [a technique to discard a body like a cicada sheds its skin], which turns tissues such as hair or flesh into husks, and 「Substitution」 [a technique to replace oneself with something else], which replaces it with my body.

Already two.

And I ended up revealing it in front of so many spectators.

Meanwhile, the audience lost its voice.

Suddenly, they didn’t know how Baek Seungwoo had returned unscathed, and only the remnants of a form of sorcery they had never seen before were faintly revealed.

As everyone remained silent.

The professors and instructors began to murmur.

They recognized it.

What I had just unfolded.

The sorcery that had been buried in the distant past.

Transcending a thousand years, it revealed its complete form at this moment.