Episode 97 Final Exam (7)
Erio Fine twisted the corners of his lips.
“What the hell is that fucking bitch doing?”
“I don’t know for sure, but it’s clear that they won’t join us.”
“You ask me because I don’t know? So why, why did that bat-bitch Choi Seol-ah abandon us and stick with that bloody bastard!”
Erio let out a nervous huff. Paul shrugged his shoulders and accepted the words slyly.
“I guess it’s because I’ve been squatting among humans all this time. Now, hold on tight, Erio-sama. Do you really need to get excited before an uprising? I’ll take care of that black-haired cadet.”
“Is it possible? Even though this is our home ground, this guy broke the iron fence at the age of seventeen.”
Erio asked coldly. Paul nodded and answered, placing one hand on his chest.
“Even if I lose, I can at least make up for it with physical strength. And I’ve been keeping an eye on that cadet’s strength from early on. I won’t let my guard down.”
“Paul, if you say so, there must be a way, right?”
“Yes, please trust me and leave it to me, Erio.”
Paul paused for a moment and then swung his sword. The bloodshot arm holding the hilt of the sword was visible. Paul was silent for a moment and then spoke softly.
“You have such strong magic power, yet you’re still sane. As expected. If it were normal, I would have lost nine out of ten fights.”
As Paul opened his eyes, a thick current rose in the air.
“⎯The location was not good, Cadet Kanggeomma.”
Paul gathered the scattered magical power and piled it up in both hands. The energy was so strong that his hair floated in the air.
Wooooow!
Paul snapped his right finger. Six spheres made of clay floated behind him, each about the size of a cannonball.
Then he flicked his left hand and the piles of dirt were covered in embers.
‘I made the right decision to follow Erio and make a contract with the 4th Corps Commander.’
A villain who has lost his subject cannot use magic. Since he uses magic by parasitizing the commander of the legion and receiving magical power, it is impossible to increase magical power on his own without a lord.
Erio and Paul’s magic power also disappeared with Agor’s death. They sold their humanity and became villains, but they were stripped of their powers without even being able to enjoy the movie.
But one day, unexpected luck came.
After Agor’s death, the 4th Corps Commander Permish proposed a contract. The price of the contract was the body of Leon, a candidate for the warrior.
In order for a demon of the level of a legion commander to invade the human world, he must possess a possessed body. The stronger the vessel, the greater the difference in power of the possessed body. That is why the demons were eyeing Leon’s body, which was a vessel close to infinity.
Erio and Paul accepted the devil’s whispers with open arms.
As a result, thanks to Permish’s grace, the two villains gained control of both fire and earth magic.
‘I said I wouldn’t let my guard down, but I guess I can’t lose this time.’
The magic power that was surging everywhere ran through every corner of the blood vessels. Paul smiled gloomily.
I try to keep my cool, but it’s hard to keep the corners of my mouth from turning up at the pleasure of my whole body warming up.
Two magical operations? A small regret spread across Choi Seol-ah’s expression at the unheard-of phenomenon.
‘… Could it be that if I had re-signed with a different legion commander, I would have been able to control two attributes?’
However, it was already too late to blame herself. Even though she had the temperament of a bat, she wasn’t the type to change her mind in a few seconds.
‘I have no choice but to trust you, Sword Master.’
Choi Seol-ah, who had made up her mind, suddenly stepped back. She herself would not be of any help to Kang Geum-ma, but would only be a hindrance. She also had a slight thought of running away if the situation arose.
Thud, thud.
Paul walked forward with a confident gait.
The power of Kanggeomma was estimated to some extent through his sparring with Mao Lang. The swordsmanship was so fast that it seemed as if there was no process. Paul was also impressed by the incredible speed that seemed to have surpassed the limit.
‘Normally, I would have been cut without even touching it.’
But there is a countermeasure: eliminate the space.
What good is all that nimble footwork if your movements are limited? Even if you dodge this blow, you can just keep on striking.
It is an environment where magical power, which can be used as a magical ingredient, is widespread.
Above all, that bastard Kang Geum-ma is excited. Although his eyes are colorless and transparent, his mind must be greatly shaken. That shock will make a difference and decide life and death.
“I will go with full force.”
Paul opened his eyes wide and stretched out his arms.
He fired cannonballs heated by the flames all at once.
Kwagagagagagagang!
An attack that rushed toward Kanggeomma like a meteor. Every time the boulders collided, there was a loud noise that made the ground shake.
The fierce bombardment continued. Fierce sparks mingled with the white dust, creating a dry, fuming atmosphere.
Choi Seol-ah rubbed her eyes. The moisture had dried and her eyes felt stinging.
So I decided to observe the workshop with all my senses except for sight. I could no longer control my magic, but I could still sense things.
Skin that is drying up and becoming dry.
The smell of something burning.
A loud noise that hits the eardrums.
The more I heightened my senses, the more I could feel the texture of the fierce battle. It was hot and rough.
But for some reason, there was no sharp sound of something being cut or scraped. Choi Seol-ah’s long eyelashes, which had been closed, trembled with anxiety.
‘… Surely, you’re not saying that the swordsman is losing?’
Choi Seol-ah shook her head to dispel the momentary doubt. She had no choice but to trust her own choices, or more precisely, her own intuition.
As soon as my eyes adjusted to the dry, humid air, I opened them half-heartedly. It was a gamble with my life at stake. I was determined to take it even if it meant losing both my eyes.
Paul’s casting bombardment continued without stopping. He concentrated his magical power into his hands without stopping. When he had gathered an appropriate amount, he immediately flicked both hands to combine the two magics.
Paul is definitely a tricky opponent, as he uses both magics. However, what bothers him more than that is his combat prowess.
Charge, cast, bomb.
These three processes were completed in a matter of seconds by Paul’s hands. Choi Seol-ah’s eyes were filled with astonishment.
‘…Paul, that bastard, when did you grow up like that?’
Absorbing magical power, converting it into magic in one breath, and then firing it out. Choi Seol-ah knew very well how absurd that was.
When I saw it in passing before, it didn’t seem to be this much… … In addition to the contract with the 4th Corps Commander Permish, there must have been personal growth for Paul as well. Choi Seol-ah concluded so.
If not, I feel like I’m going to get a bad feeling about it. I believe whatever I want to believe.
This was also one of the upright attitudes of a villain.
So Paul continued to fire a barrage of shots for several minutes. It was a rapid fire attack aimed at narrowing the range of movement rather than aiming accurately. Before he knew it, the terrain had changed significantly from a moment ago.
The floor and walls were lined with fire-spitting boulders. Paul’s pupils moved nimbly between his thin eyelids.
‘…Where did you go?’
All I could see was Choi Seol-ah standing blankly in the distance, and Kang Geum-ma was nowhere to be seen.
Paul immediately sharpened his senses and looked for signs of Kanggeomma. He would not have just let it happen. Paul had clearly seen Kanggeomma’s speed, which was so fast that it was almost invisible.
Paul rolled his eyes quickly, drooling. A chill ran down his spine along with a chill.
The moment I was about to turn my head, a flash of sword light appeared in the gap in my vision.
The sharp tip of the sword cut through the dirt and struck Paul’s side and collarbone.
Phew! Bam!
“Ugh!”
Paul’s mouth opened on its own and a scream escaped him.
The vivid taste of swords that makes your eyes open in an instant.
A sharp, cold pain shot through my stomach.
“!”
Paul’s pupils contracted and dilated once, then quickly filled with black hair.
The appearance of Kanggeomma glaring with his eyes sparkling in his arms.
There was no room for reflexive actions.
As Kanggeomma spun his body around and swung his sword, a silver ray of light smoothly passed through his arm.
Crunch.
The right arm floated up to Paul’s retina and sprayed blood. Paul’s brain slowed down and he froze for a moment.
“Eww!”
Paul let out a scream a little late at the stinging pain that came belatedly.
“What the fuck!”
Paul quickly distanced himself, spitting out saliva. His eyes were dark with even greater fear than before.
Even though he could have beheaded him long ago, Kanggeomma only wounded him with a sword. And the wounds were not in vital areas, but in the arms and sides.
With a brief thought of ‘Why?’, his gaze shifted to Leon. His forearm was crushed, and blood was gushing from his side.
‘S, really…?’
Paul’s pupils shook. That bastard, Kanggeomma, is now paying back Leon and Saki for what they did to him.
‘Hey, it wasn’t a matter of winning or losing in the first place.’
Only then did Paul realize that, far from being a waste of time, he was being completely played around.
“… … .”
Even in the midst of all this, Kang Geum-ma looked at him with transparent eyes. Black eyes filled with something beyond murderous intent. Just by meeting them, his body flinched and his jawbone popped out.
“Ahhhh! Aahhhh!”
Paul screamed in agony, his brain turning blank. Finally, he started to violently swing his one remaining hand. It was a struggle mixed with pleading, as if he was squeezing out the last of his strength.
Then, behind Paul’s back, a thorny, ugly boulder loomed again.
He lost his right hand and can no longer control fire. Instead, he gathers all his scattered magical powers.
Paul raised the power limit to the maximum and fired his magic.
Kugugugugugugugugu!
Kanggeomma stared at the sight for a moment, then gripped the hilt of his sword tightly. A strong energy formed from his knuckles and quickly spread to the entire sword. A bluish light immediately flowed down the blade.
‘… That, that.’
Paul screamed in horror.
Isn’t that an aura that only the best masters can handle?
His face turned into one of bewilderment at the phenomenon beyond his cognitive range.
While Paul blinked, Kanggeomma raised his blade.
And then he opened his mouth softly.
“asleep.”
The blade shook.
Seriously!
The divided piles of dirt branched out and crashed into the wall. The sharp blue light went straight ahead and soon passed through the pole. Soon, a red straight line was drawn from the crown of the head to the groin.
“T, this is ridiculous⎯”
Paul felt for the spleen, and soon his body split in half.
thud!
Paul, who was a villain, became a villain/run.
* * *
It was an unbelievable sight.
Choi Seol-ah’s pupils, who had been watching, grew three times larger and then shrank. She rubbed her eyes with the cat’s wash and opened them again.
The flow of gaze turned towards the ‘thing’ that was Paul. The corpse, neatly split in half, was losing heat at a rapid rate. Choi Seol-ah felt a tingle in her throat.
‘This is crazy.’
For a moment, it seemed as if Kang Geum-ma’s arm was shaking, and then something flashed.
Next is this situation.
That was an attack? The action in Choi Seol-ah’s eyes was faster than lightning. It seemed like even Aura was involved, and at that age, she even wielded swordsmanship.
A shock so cold that it left me speechless. It was a sword strike that defied the laws of physics, almost devilish.
Choi Seol-ah’s gaze naturally moved to Erio.
A face of utter confusion and despair. It was a reaction no different from theirs. However, their positions were clearly different.
To Kang Geum-ma, Choi Seol-ah was an ally, and Erio was an enemy. Erio’s lips pursed in shock.
A deep smile appeared on the corner of Choi Seol-ah’s lips as she looked at her. Even during her days as a villain, she had openly belittled and degraded herself, but now she was trembling like a drowning rat.
‘Idiot.’
She looked at Kang Geum-ma’s back. Smoke rose from his shoulders. The smell of carbon dioxide lingered in her nostrils as it swept through the air.
‘… … .’
I looked at the sword and was convinced.
I am certain that the safest place in the world is by his side.
That was enough for Choi Seol-ah.
