<490 – Professor, no! Don’t do that!>
Orde Taco.
Even now, after leaving the chairman’s presence, he couldn’t comprehend.
“Havi. I don’t know what that guy is, but I know his desires. And that he overcame them. But I wasn’t even given the chance to overcome something. If I had been given the opportunity, it would have been different. My desperation and willpower are unbeatable. This is unfair!”
Why couldn’t I see any fragments of desire within myself?
Box Cat spoke to him, revealing his dissatisfaction.
“What nonsense are you spouting after coming to have fun? Sure, winning the prize would be great, but we were just here to play, right?”
“…!”
“You got outplayed before that. If you could only win using dark mana, then it’s true you lost since you can’t reveal your identity now.”
His indifferent teasing led to an unexpected realization.
He didn’t mind losing without using dark mana.
His true strength lay in using dark mana.
The problem was on another front.
As Box Cat said, he claimed vengeance but was shaken by the fleeting joy of the moment.
The prize for winning was a whopping 10,000 gold coins.
He used that as an indulgence, giving in to momentary pleasure.
For a brief moment, perhaps revenge had blurred or distanced itself from his heart.
But what about the victor, the man on the other side?
He boldly demonstrated the resolve to cut ties with his past love, Havi.
While he never even received the chance to take the test, that man was given one.
Despite being in the same place, the magnitude of their sincerity and the depth of their hearts likely led to different results.
“Was I lacking?”
Was my desire not enough compared to that man’s?
Was the revival of the family merely inadequate?
“Don’t be ridiculous. We’ll proceed with the operation.”
“There were so many strong guys. Are we still going for it?”
“Now is the opportunity. We’ll rush through while the aftereffects of the fire show are still lingering. Those flimsy defensive spells can’t hold us back.”
“We?”
“I’ve learned enough from watching you wander off alone without care. I’ll stick together until we hit the volcano.”
“Busted!”
Box Cat groaned, losing the chance to slack off.
“This boring, lame infiltration is so tedious.”
“First, follow the black soil on the ground. Step on the soil, not the rocks. This is the predetermined entry route we agreed upon with the collaborator from the Red Magic Tower’s Jangryeol School.”
The fire show was thrilling.
Repetitions never felt the same in the unfolding drama.
Even lacking skill, progress was possible with luck and experience.
Every moment felt desperate, as if someone had their hands around his throat, a heartfelt struggle over domain expansion.
Everything satisfied Box Cat’s destructive instincts and natural curiosity.
Entering the trap route was different.
There was no real crisis in a rigged scam.
“The minor school has set up new traps.”
“Nyan nyan! I’ll break through with my body!”
“No way. Dispel.”
Box Cat’s ambitious plan to create a loud noise and summon enemies for an exhilarating slaughter fell flat from the start.
With one foot stamp and immediate activation, Orde Taco’s spell disabled all magical traps in the area affected by the vibrations of his foot.
“Meow…”
I miss the fire show.
If it were up to me, I’d love to kill Orde Taco and go enjoy the fire show ten more times…
– Box Cat. If you disregard my orders again, I will curse you. You’ll never experience refreshing winds or cool temperatures again, only a hot and humid curse.
– Hiyayak!
The Demon King’s Four Kings, El Niño, is terrifying.
If her temper is ruffled, you’d suffer eternally in unbearably high temperatures, dealing with all the stagnant air she can control.
Even Box Cat’s destructive instincts are meaningless against the great nature that renders her powerless.
“Behave yourself…”
I just wish this silly time would pass as quickly as possible.
For now, I can only pray for that.
“There’s a patroller from the Red Magic Tower. Let’s take that out and charge up the mountain. You guard the back and take down the enemies rushing to the entrance and pull back.”
“Got it…”
That’s what I thought…
The moment Orde Taco’s frost magic pierced through the Red Magic Tower’s robe, the flickering hopes reignited within me.
‘Didn’t die?!’
No, from the beginning, there was no one inside.
It was a golem wearing a robe.
“My senses aren’t wrong after all.”
“You… are the winner of the fire show?”
Beyond the golems draped in robes stood a group of thieves they had seen at the fire show, appearing over the ridge.
At the front of the thieves was the man who had just dealt him a loss.
The infiltrator, Professor Destroyer.
Intruder, Orde Taco.
The territories of the two collided in that moment.
Gulp.
Blood trickled from Orde Taco’s lips.
“I couldn’t accept the results at the fire show, and I showed you an ugly side. But here’s your chance. If you break me here, you could win 10,000 gold coins.”
“Why intimidate an innocent person? Does the winner get to slaughter people at their own whim?”
“He’s no person. He’s a demon.”
The territory expansion output of the Destroyer increased.
Bloodshot veins popped in Orde Taco’s eyes.
Not only his eyes; every blood vessel in his body turned black.
Dark mana.
It was a sign that he had begun wielding that sinister power.
Orde Taco, who had been repressed, suddenly found himself paralleling and opposing the Destroyer’s dominion.
And still, slightly prevailing as Orde Taco began to push the Destroyer’s domain back.
“How did you figure it out? Show off your skill. I’ll grant you a wish instead of a last farewell.”
“A being infused with mana loses a small amount of it to the killer that led them to their death. Monsters, demons, demonic clans. They’re all no exception, are they?”
The Destroyer’s eyes filled with darkness.
“If so, how much dark mana might be within the retired previous hero’s body? Have you ever pondered that?”
“…!!”
“Answer me. I’ll grant you a wish instead of a last farewell.”
At the moment, an overpowering, incomprehensible darkness erupted, and Orde Taco recognized the truth.
Even with the consumption of the Dark Mana Stone, he was on the verge of being eaten by the absolute superiority capable of forcing absolute obedience before the retired hero standing before him.
Previous Hero.
His amount of dark mana exceeded that of even the demons, comparable to the Demon King’s Four Kings, pressing down upon him.
*
Oh?
I doubted my own eyes for a moment. Was I seeing things?
The icon of failure, Professor Destroyer, is overwhelmingly dominating the enemy!
And he wasn’t late either.
He appeared just in time.
How did he discern the demon’s identity?
Rosgini, Masugaki Princess, and I crouched in a line behind the barbed wire, discussing.
“It must be the previous hero’s keen vision.”
“Maybe he felt something when they clashed domains at the fire show? There had to be something unique about that demon compared to the shabby domains of other users♡.”
“I think both are right! The professor has both dark mana and a keen eye!”
Rosgini countered, not quite convinced.
“But isn’t he a hero? Why does he have so much dark mana? If there’s a saintess in the party, he would have been purified, right? The purification process is essential for heroes, where the evil energies are purified with the holy power after defeating the demon.”
“That makes sense♡ But there’s no way that a weak party couldn’t even find a saintess to cleanse them♡.”
“Hmm? That’s true, isn’t it?”
Looks like Rosgini and Masugaki are a bit clueless.
“There’s no way that’s possible.”
“A hero’s party without a saintess? No way~? How laughable♡ There’s a lack of common sense♡.”
“But really, there was no saintess! In the Adventure Stories of Professor Destroyer, the names ‘Warrior Ni’alatotep,’ ‘Warrior Alpha,’ and ‘Thief Destroyer’ were mentioned, but there was never a mention of a saintess!”
This isn’t just confined to this round’s story.
The previous hero’s past is always a random adventure, but there are some common points.
The previous hero is always Ni’alatotep, while the allies are Alpha and the Destroyer.
And there were no other colleagues outside of this trio who existed in the hero party.
“Uh…? Now that I think about it, who was the previous saintess of the hero party? I don’t remember ever hearing about her.”
“Wasn’t she a secret weapon from some church that had to be kept confidential for her safety?”
That could be the case.
“But the regular party only had three members. That means there was no other party member accompanying them until the adventure’s end. Even if they joined midway, they would have either left early, been transported to the rear, or…”
“…or died.”
Rosgini’s expression darkened.
The tremendous amount of dark mana that the Professor is currently wielding.
It’s practically like a result of untreated accumulation of
In fact, he wields even more dark mana than the demons.
Masugaki Princess muttered blankly.
“What’s the difference between that and a demon…?”
“Mental power!”
That’s something I can assert with certainty as someone using a dark mana build.
“Dark mana seeps into the marrow, and if demonification occurs, horns may grow from the head or bodily mutations may happen, twisting the mind into a malevolent being! But the Professor is a sane individual both physically and mentally!”
“Are you sure about that~?”
Masugaki Princess challenged.
“But you’re the Chief Scholarship Student of the Foundation, aren’t you?”
“So what?”
“…The person in question may not realize it. That’s even more concerning. That professor, he killed the shadow known as Havi with his own hands, didn’t he?”
Can that state of mind truly be described as sane and uncorrupted?
After hearing Masugaki Princess’s question, I felt a chill run down my spine.
What if the Professor went mad from the dark mana and, in a fit of rage, killed Havi Nodi, and then went after Oknodie, who had been playing Havi’s role?
“No!”
I won’t let that happen.
I could smell an incredibly dangerous turning point.
This has to be stopped.
By all means necessary.
I cannot allow Professor Destroyer’s downfall to escalate further.
“Professor, please don’t use that power anymore!”
With that, I jumped over the barbed wire and into the fray.
Into the battleground where Professor Destroyer and Demon Minion Orde Taco’s domains clashed.
“You fool…!”
“It’s an opportunity.”
Both the Professor and the Demon reached out their hands toward me simultaneously.
