Chapter 302
Madame Mayuzumi
After the conspiracy of Seira was quietly suppressed and lunchtime ended, the second half of the Sports Festival resumed.
The events of the second half included the ball toss and mounted competition.
The ball toss was a simple game commonly found in Japanese sports festivals, where the team that threw more balls into a basket hanging on a pole within the time limit would win.
Perhaps because the White Team suffered a complete defeat in the first half’s events, the White Team, following Aris’s command, focused intensely on the ball toss, ultimately winning the event.
“[Ball toss! The White Team wins! Are they trying to make up for a complete loss in the first half? With this victory in the ball toss, the White Team has closed in on the Red Team! Exciting! It’s a nail-biting series of spectacular matches! Truly, this is the Sports Festival of Shuo Hero Academy!]”
The announcer, Amano Nodoka’s voice echoed loudly in my ears.
Can’t she just cut the commentary?
If you’re gonna do it, at least spice it up, like those esports commentators.
Sighing inwardly, I lifted my head.
Right now, I was in the main arena of Shuo Hero Academy.
It was a dome stadium boasting a size that rivaled that of a typical multi-purpose sports complex, fully equipped with the latest building techniques and designs.
If someone from Korea who loves domes saw this, they’d probably rant about how Japan builds dome stadiums for mere academies, saying Korea should build one too.
And here, in this modern dome, the next event was the mounted competition.
What a waste of budget.
“[Now we’re approaching the highlight of the Shuo Hero Academy Sports Festival! The only event where special abilities are allowed! The final event that will decide the match between the Red and White Teams! The mounted competition will take place in the main arena of Shuo Hero Academy!]”
The clear autumn sky peeked above the wide-open dome stadium.
Today’s autumn sky was annoyingly clear.
The stands were filled with family, friends, and visitors invited by the academy.
“[The mounted competition is about to begin! Both Red and White Teams, please get ready!]”
The announcer’s instructions rang out.
When they said “get ready,” it obviously meant that each group of three members had to support one rider.
And my teammates were…
“Kyaa! Eri! Finally, I get to be under Master! Eri’s wish has been granted! At this rate, I’ll be walking in the park on a leash… naked and on all fours…”
What’s making her so happy? Eri was bouncing up and down with a flushed face.
Seeing her touch the dog collar still around her neck with that red face sent shivers down my spine.
I seriously want to confiscate that dog collar.
“Y-Yo, my lord… I can devote my body and heart entirely for you! Being underneath you sounds great too… Hehehe…”
Makoto, next to her, was twisting her body.
Her large chest, rivaling Rin’s, was bouncing.
“Kuuh… Deok-Sung, if you want my soft breasts, feel free! With the spirit of Shinozaki-ryu and the way of the samurai, I will do my utmost to support you and win this mounted competition!”
Finally, Rin was biting her lips.
What is it about this mounted competition that involves the way of the samurai?
Are we really going to war here?
My position was to be the rider on top of them.
I tried to decline this miserable role to avoid seeing this absurd sight, but I couldn’t resist the unanimous insistence from the other three heroines.
What a damn light novel world this is.
“Look over there, the Black Beast. It seems like he’s planning to ride on top of the beautiful girls.”
“Oh my god! A beast riding on beautiful girls… what in the world?”
“Just how far is the Black Beast’s beastly power going to go…?”
“I’m so scared of the Black Beast’s harem…”
I could already hear whispers all around, even though I hadn’t climbed on yet.
This is exactly why I didn’t want to be a steed.
But that wasn’t all.
“Ugh… That spot where you guys are sitting was originally meant for me…”
“I can’t believe the noble Olivia Napoleon Bonaparte has been excluded from the group formation! This is outrageous!”
“It’s insane that my ultra-cute JK gal little sister Haru got disqualified from the group! This must be the bachelor Mayuzumi-sensei’s plot to sabotage the ultra-cute JK and youngest heroine!”
I could hear Seira, Olivia, and Haru—other heroines who couldn’t be in my group—gossiping while casting glances over here.
A plot by the unmarried Mayuzumi-sensei, huh?
Is Haru really going that far?
[Indeed, Lady Kurosawa Haru’s words are quite persuasive in some aspects. Still, no matter her true intentions, it’s clear that the one stopping your sister’s disgrace is Madame Mayuzumi Mayu. Make sure to thank her on my behalf later, partner.]
The Black Prince’s voice echoed in my head.
Wait, are you saying the Black Prince would be persuaded by Haru’s words?
Damn this light novel world.
Haru can’t quietly let anything slide.
And look at how naturally he refers to Mayuzumi-sensei as Madame.
The Black Prince thinks of 24-year-old Mayuzumi-sensei as an old maid.
I really don’t understand the standards for ‘old maids’ in this light novel world.
‘I’ll handle it myself.’
I vaguely replied to the Black Prince and turned my gaze.
I spotted Rin, Eri, and Makoto, posturing with red faces while looking at me.
And I have to ride on top of them?
A sigh escaped me before I could help it.
The cavalry battle appears in the original work, but funnily enough, it ends in a draw because during the match, a villain from the New World League, Muramasa, terrorized the academy by leading monsters.
Even though things have already diverged significantly from the original, it’s questionable whether the League will target the sports festival just like before, but it wouldn’t hurt to be cautious.
After all, to fulfill Messiah’s plan, they must secure the underground relics of the Broken World.
They’ve always had their eyes on the academy, and the sports festival—with security usually relaxed—would be the perfect timing.
According to light novel story guidelines, it’s about time for a major academy terror event to occur.
A full-frontal assault by the shadowy organization in the middle of the story is a national rule.
The real question is: if the terror happens, who the hell will the enemies be?
We already saw Berserk during the school trip; it wouldn’t be too surprising if even stronger enemies showed up at the sports festival.
Power inflation is a national rule, after all.
Long-running series are just like that. Damn that power inflation.
“Master! Hurry up and get on!”
I heard Eri’s voice right next to my ear.
Damn it, do I really have to do this cavalry battle?
With a sigh, I climbed onto them.
“Kya-ha-ha-ha! Eri! I’m so happy to be underneath my master! I love it! Eri… I feel like I’ve truly become a real slave, connected in body and spirit with my master.”
“I-I feel the same, my lord…”
“Hmm… Being underneath you doesn’t feel bad. It’s like a preview of our future married life. I shall be your devoted housewife. I will support you with all my might.”
I hear the voices of Eri, Makoto, and Rin, all supporting me.
Just look at those lines.
I’m losing my mind.
“Black Beast! You finally climbed on top of the beautiful girls!”
“Public beast-play with harem members in front of the entire school…! Kyaaaah!!”
“…I-I might be a little jealous?”
As I got on, I noticed the extras whispering.
Looking around, I saw Olivia, Haru, and Seira riding on top of female extras, while Yuji and Ishihara were on top of the male extras.
At the end of the red team’s side, a large red flag representing the team was waving.
I turned my gaze toward the white team’s side.
A white line drawn in the center of the main arena.
Beyond it, the white flag was fluttering with the students of the white team visible.
With a white flag waving, the cadets of the white team are visible.
At the forefront stands Aris, her silver hair fluttering in the wind, a serious expression on her face as she rides on top of the female cadets.
Next to her is Hoshino Kasumi, also mounted atop the female cadets.
[Then we will begin the countdown. 5, 4, 3, 2······.]
The announcer’s countdown echoes.
A chilling silence envelops the main arena.
[······1. The match!! Starts now!!]
With the announcer’s voice, the buzzer signaling the start of the match resonates throughout the main arena.
Woooaaaah!
The main arena shakes with cheers.
Patsutsu-tsutsu-tsutsu!! Aris’s silver hair flies high as she stands at the forefront.
Electricity courses through her entire body.
“I won’t go easy on you, Mr. Kim Deok-Sung!”
With Aris’s serious voice, the silver lightning that burst from her body shoots toward me like a bolt.
[Partner!]
Before the Black Prince could say anything, I instinctively activate my Gift.
Wriggle, wriggle.
The darkness rising from the shadows transforms into a shield to block the front.
Kwah-kwah-kwang!!
As lightning collides with the darkness, a deafening explosion reverberates.
But it’s not just here.
Thanks to the allowance for using special abilities, flames and winds are whipping through the main arena, the ground splitting, and magical projectiles are flying around like a chaotic battlefield—believable as a war zone.
Kwah-kwang!
The magical shockwave generated from the clash of Gifts, mana, and spells sweeps across the main arena.
Thus began the dangerous cavalry battle.
*
At the same time.
Underneath Tokyo Bay, in a submarine.
“The cavalry battle has begun.”
The Professor’s slitted eyes narrow.
His glasses glint in the light.
The dark gray hair slicked back with pomade shines under the submarine’s interior lights.
“At last, the time has come.”
With the Professor’s words, the villains belonging to the League operating the submarine flinch.
The time has come.
It was a signal announcing the commencement of the attack operation on Shuo Hero Academy planned solely by the Professor—Operation Dragon.
The cavalry battle is the only match where powers are allowed.
As it’s a near-group battle of abilities, it’s also the most dangerous event of the Sports Festival.
Because of this, there could be unforeseen accidents—like someone getting hurt in the cavalry battle.
Thus, when the cavalry battle begins, the security heroes stationed at the academy concentrate most of their efforts in the main arena for the safety of the cadets.
So now, while the cavalry battle is ongoing, is the perfect moment to execute the plan, for security has just found a gap.
The Professor closes his eyes.
It’s almost time.
Just one more step, and I can save my master.
Like a lantern, the memories of his life flash before his eyes.
Back during the great disaster, when the invasion of another world left a power vacuum, turning America into a lawless zone, he lost his parents to robbers after awakening his powers.
The moment he awakened his powers, he was dragged to a corporate secret research lab and subjected to harsh bio-experiments on abilities.
The memory of being forcibly awakened to the ‘Predator’ Gift, which devours otherworldly beings.
The memory of his respected master, Yoshizaki Seira, storming in and destroying the secret lab, saving him, the test subject.
The memory of his master, who took him—a homeless orphan and former test subject—as her pupil and guardian without hesitation.
“For me, my master is everything.”
The Professor sincerely revered her, his savior, mother, sister, and teacher.
So he wished for her happiness.
He dreamed of a world where she could live without a care and smile freely.
That’s why he hated the current world, which trampled on his master’s personal life in the name of protecting humanity as the hero known as the Five Crowns.
“But in this false world, my master can’t truly be happy.”
Yet his simple wish for his master’s happiness was an unattainable ideal in this imperfect and deceitful world.
The false world demanded the revered master to protect humanity as if it were a given.
There was no gratitude following that.
Rather, if the response was delayed, they would blame his master, saying it was her fault more lives were lost, and if she provided support in Gate raids, there were those who grudged about needing to share whatever they gained from the Gates with her.
Some even questioned why they were saved when their initial thought was to die.
There were those who questioned why they were spared.
Before long, the hero’s duty had become a taken-for-granted obligation, and this obligation turned into a business represented by the gate industry, causing the people of the world to forget their gratitude towards their master’s service.
It wasn’t just ordinary folks.
The heroes were the same.
And that would likely continue.
As long as powers, magic, otherworldly beings, gates, spells, heroes, and hunters existed in this world.
And so it was.
The professor had started to follow the ideals of the Messiah.
[The current world is a false one. A world where the god known as a hero and the demon known as an otherworldly being recklessly manipulate ordinary human destinies. Humanity’s daily lives have been destroyed by the abnormality of magic and gates.]
When he had first met Messiah, while attempting to track down and eliminate an assassin with intel about a plot to assassinate his master, the words Messiah had spoken came back to him.
[I will destroy this false world.]
[I will kill the god and demon that recklessly dictate humanity’s fate, creating a world where only ordinary humans exist—a world without magic, gates, powers, or spells, where only daily life exists. A free world where every ordinary human can decide their own future with free will. I will create a truly ideal world where every human can carve out their own destiny.]
[Thus, I will prevent the repetition of all tragedies caused by powers and save this world from the god and demon.]
A new world where ordinary people can decide their own fates, where only humans exist.
It was perhaps only natural that Messiah’s ideals shook the professor’s heart.
The reason his master was unhappy was that the world desired her powerful strength.
But what if all powers were to vanish in this world? What if otherworldly beings, heroes, and villains all disappeared?
What if everyone lost their strength?
[Jude. Your wish can only be fulfilled in a utopia where only humans exist, a new world. If only humans exist, then your master would be able to smile happily as well.]
Then she too could live as an ordinary woman.
She would truly be able to find happiness.
[But didn’t you plan the assassination of my master?]
[The Five Crowns symbolize the false order of the old world. They must be removed for the sake of the new world plan. However… If you desire, I can spare your master. Some injuries will be unavoidable, of course.]
He would spare his master.
[The pain from the injuries is temporary. When the new world arrives, I will personally heal your master. Then, your master will be able to be eternally happy.]
He would also provide the means for healing.
The professor pondered over Messiah’s temptation for three long days and nights.
And with a heart like a battlefield, he made his decision.
He would help for the sake of his master’s eternal happiness.
Messiah was right.
Pain is but temporary.
It was a cost to bear for eternal happiness, for the new world.
[Alright. Welcome to the cause, Jude, or rather… Professor.]
The moment Jude, a disciple of Yoshizaki Seira, was reborn as the professor had arrived.
After that, the professor stabbed Yoshizaki Seira’s magic core with a sword.
Seira, who trusted him completely as if he was family, was gravely injured and gave up her magic core far too easily for an EX-rank hero.
It was an unavoidable sacrifice.
He thought so, but it was only natural for his heart to ache.
To the professor, Yoshizaki Seira was his master, mother, sister, savior, and everything he had.
That feeling had not changed.
A tear rolled down the professor’s cheek as he recalled the past.
He wiped away his tears.
“I was a bit sentimental for a moment.”
This was it.
The professor thought so as he spoke.
“Release the Apocalypse Red Dragon.”
An Omega Rank otherworldly being.
The name of an entity capable of obliterating an entire nation simply by existing flowed from the professor’s lips.
“From now on, I will commence Operation Dragon.”
The professor’s glasses gleamed coldly.
It was just the beginning.
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