Episode 42. Shadow Troops
Shadow Troops.
They grow up learning all kinds of killing techniques from the moment they are born.
If it’s to survive… …then he won’t hesitate to give up his own life to protect the royal family.
I was thoroughly taught that that was the reason for living.
From the beginning, it was an educational environment where the importance of life was not felt.
The ideology of Papiyas is blood and war.
If you were born in a place like that, you wouldn’t have been able to survive without adapting to the environment.
They are a very special people even among the Kingdom of Payas.
It may be partly because they have been taught such brutal education since birth, but the root of the reason lies elsewhere.
Because we are ‘created’ humans.
No matter how much one grows up in the midst of war, people always begin life as newborn babies.
However, far from that, they are beings who start out as teenage boys and girls from birth.
They are the artificially created human beings, the ‘homunculus’, themselves.
The Kingdom of Papyrus, always stained with the blood of war, could twist morality and ethics at any time.
The Shadow Troops, created in secret, were human beings themselves, except for the fact that they were created in secret.
They were raised as combat weapons by taking advantage of the fact that they felt no discomfort even when squeezing into the crowd of humans.
I have no fear of losing my life.
Even if you die, you can still recreate as many people as you want.
There was no element better for use as a combat unit.
Taking advantage of this, it has been modified so that it can commit suicide on its own if an emergency arises.
They can spend without hesitation the lives that no one wants to lose.
That’s why the Shadow Troops were bred solely for combat.
Even if they were the weakest among them, they wouldn’t have a hard time against a mere immature student.
But this absurd thing was happening right before my eyes.
To just one student… …
“What? Are you tired already?”
A white-haired academy cadet came taunting them while wielding a sword.
Lyman Vegilius, who looked quite mature for a cadet, had no wounds.
He spoke hungrily, tapping the surface of the water he was walking on.
Is this really reality?
Even though they have the same strength as active-duty mercenaries, and four of them are rushing at them, they haven’t been able to kill that cadet even once.
Even though he abandoned the thought of being a cadet and attacked with murderous intent, it is like this.
In an academy where noble materials are abundant, killing is usually avoided.
Instead, memory deletion was used, but it was an exception for that cadet.
Just looking into each other’s eyes made me scream inside.
Don’t treat me like the other cadets, or I’ll die.
The fear of death that had never existed since it was created… … felt like it had been reborn because of that cadet.
“What did that prince order you to do that makes you target them?”
“what?”
It was a fact that I momentarily forgot while fighting, but… … those cadets realized that they were part of the Shadow Troops.
The knowledge of themselves as secret beings.
And the ridiculous skills were beyond the realm of a mere cadet.
“Who are you!
An unknown entity that activates even nonexistent emotions. Could the author you see now have been a person before he was a cadet?
They only look like students in terms of age. But maybe they are even more distant than that.
“If you keep going like this, your bodies will disappear anyway. You don’t have much left in your current state, do you?”
“That’s nonsense!”
Four people rush at the same time, desperate to survive.
He was clearly showing off his murderous tendencies that I thought would never be revealed in this bachelor’s room full of runny noses.
They use their numbers to throw or swing their daggers from various angles, including the front and rear.
While your right hand is striking, your left hand prepares to cast elemental magic.
Lyman deflected all the daggers flying from all directions with his sword.
The troops frowned at his quick reflexes.
Just a little while ago, I tried to rush in like this and was pushed back by the force and fell.
But now, the situation is different from that time, as casting has been completed.
A sharp wind burst out from the other hand, which was stretched out with great force.
The air screamed as the magic called ‘Wind Break’ was activated.
A blade of wind with tremendous cutting power cut across the surface of the water, but Lyman raised his scabbard to block it.
The scabbard around which the Auror was wrapped was as hard as iron.
It wasn’t like Lyman couldn’t stop it, except that he was pushed back by inertia.
But the troops waited for him to lose his balance.
For them, who could transform their bodies into black fog and move freely, there was no need to worry about being blocked by walls.
Approach them without resistance and stab them in the heart with a dagger. They will never be able to ignore the slaughter of their ghostly beings.
“Naturalization, that’s not how you write it.”
“… … !”
Lyman blocked and slashed away all the daggers that were coming at him.
Then the metal shattered with a crackling sound, and the Shadow Troopers spat out blood.
“Ugh!”
The four belatedly realized that they had been cut down as well. As they were falling, they saw Lyman’s sword covered in their blood.
“How… … can it match… … .”
“… … .”
Lyman’s sword glowed with a crimson aura, and his eyes glowed with red.
The unknown power that cut down and corrected their formless existence was woven along the blade.
An aura so ominous that it is hard to believe it originated from a human body.
The Divine Sword. Those who have reached that level will be able to hide their bodies in nature, or even tear apart ghosts that have experienced astral projection.
The shadow soldiers who fell from that blow floated on the surface of the lake.
Their appearance was so miserable that one could only assume they were dead or unconscious.
The fate of the Shadow Troops was thus decided.
Slurp-
Their bodies gradually turned to sand.
As if it had been a sculpture made of clay from the beginning, its flesh gradually turned to sand and scattered.
Soon the rest of the body also perished.
Lyman didn’t even blink, as if the sight of someone dying like that was familiar to him.
Rather than being surprised, he was busy releasing the power he had activated.
“It’s been so long that I wrote it without thinking.”
“… … .”
“How long are you planning to watch?”
Suddenly Lyman looked at the bushes and said.
In the bushes, where there was not a single tremble and nothing but the occasional sound of insects… …I crawled out.
Originally, I was worried about him.
Unlike the main story, I was being attacked by four Shadow Soldiers. I was thinking of intervening and helping them out.
But I felt relieved after seeing the fight just now.
‘As expected, it’s a monster.’
And there is one thing we must not forget.
This may sound crazy, but… … that’s a clone. A daytime clone that doesn’t even have half the power of the main body.
“You probably didn’t come here to fish in this situation. Did you perhaps come here to target that sacred beast?”
“That’s not it.”
I waved my hand and answered him as he asked me while walking on water.
Lyman, who was shaking off his clothes and stepping on the ground, asked, “Then what is it?” … … I answered in detail.
“I was worried about what was going on. The lower-ranking guys were locked in the Rebel Hall, but there were quite a few who escaped. So I came to check… … .”
-Why were you fighting those ghost-like guys?
… … and finished speaking.
[Erosion rate decrease: -2%]
[+200 Credits]
There was a nuance mixed in with the ignorance of the Shadow Troops.
The erosion rate is reduced because it contains lies.
After hearing the answer, Lyman looked thoughtful for a moment, then said as if he understood.
“Well, you and them aren’t that distant anymore.”
Fortunately, Lyman seems to be aware of and understands our relationship.
If that weren’t the case, I would have grabbed him by the collar and suspected him 100%.
There’s a reason I behave so well in front of this guy. If I make a mistake, he’ll explode like a nuclear missile.
There are multiple routes in this game.
Of course, if you go the bad route… … you can see a hot scene where not only the Academy but the entire Empire is torn apart in one fell swoop.
Of course, it is the empire’s karmic retribution and an ending that gives a sense of exhilaration to the user…
‘Not from my perspective. Absolutely not!’
It’s my job now to make sure that ending doesn’t happen. Anyway, I think I got through this one too.
“Lyman, are you hurt?”
“Don’t worry about it and just go down. If you stay here, you might get caught up in the same thing that just happened.”
“Tsk. Okay, I got it.”
I was relieved to see Lyman wiping out the Shadow Troops without a hitch. Now, he would be feeling sluggish for a while as a result of using the divine sword.
In fact, his body, which was slightly visible, tended to become slightly blurred.
That means the heroine would have defeated the Shadow Troops by now.
The situation is reversed due to the intrusion of Ruska and the resurrected Mary, and their counterattack begins.
Jenny, who was being pushed back even in close combat, cornered one of the soldiers through a joint attack with Ruska. The fight between the two was a sight to behold.
Another unit attacks again, summoning bugs for support.
However, half of it is burned by Crona’s Sunred, and the other half ends up in Mary’s stomach.
Seeing that sight, both friend and foe alike were at a loss for words.
Crona is shocked, saying that he was a toad in his past life and that even the Shadow Troops have encountered an enemy with the worst compatibility.
The troops that started to get pushed back used naturalization as a last resort and made a surprise attack.
But here, Jenny’s new skill awakens.
The Silver Age, which could only control up to 20%, can now control up to 25%.
The Shadow Corps, unable to withstand the extreme cold, ends up releasing their naturalization.
Jenny and Ruska, who found an opening, use their respective acceleration skills, ‘Shooting’ and ‘Blood Wind’, to cut down both enemies at the same time.
As a bonus, it slashes the opponent diagonally at high speed, drawing an X in the center.
Having achieved victory, they are overcome with joy and momentarily lose all their strength.
At that point, Angela and Ruska’s eyes meet each other.
Angela approaches Ruska as if she is being drawn to something, and Ruska also suddenly stops pulling away as if he is drawn to her.
‘Ruska. What are you trying to do now?’
Jenny, feeling ominous, asks… …
‘sorry.’
Ruska bursts a smokescreen and disappears with Angela.
Boom!─
On the way down the mountain, a sound was heard and a thick fog rolled in. It seemed like a smoke screen had burst, just like in the main story.
And that signaled the end of the second half of Chapter 2.
I’m sure they’ll be screaming loudly on the other side, cursing Ruska, but knowing that things are going according to plan, I happily descended the mountain with a happy heart.
The smoke created by the sighs was not suitable for me to stand in.
Surviving as an Academy Fraudster
