<895 – Dark Shadow vs Dark Shadow (4)>
Sadi Chocolate realized she was facing an unprecedented crisis.
If it’s a human heart, she can spy on it and manipulate it at will.
Humans are weak and easy creatures.
They can be easily understood and analyzed.
But Oknodie was different.
It’s debatable if such a being can even be categorized as human, let alone a mortal.
An existence that takes on the form of a mortal for the arrival of an immortal.
A vessel that will vacate the moment its true self descends.
A vessel of an outsider.
– We witnessed the Foundation Workshop Battle.
– Oknodie, who reached the possibility of becoming a Demon King, indeed qualifies to be called the vessel of an outsider…
– The Dark Princess possesses incomprehensibly excellent summoning magic.
– She’s already summoned countless apostles of the outsider.
– Was what we saw that day really all of Oknodie?
The memories of the mountain students, now turned into mere devices, cross-verified this.
“Hehe. Honestly, touching or understanding a heart that isn’t human is a bit scary, right?”
“Hmph. I’m not scared at all. You’re a wicked beast beneath human standards!”
Such a being harbors hostility towards her.
Feeling regret over the arrogance of planning to understand the opponent and quickly lock it in while overwhelming Oknodie, she was struck by a fear as great as that dread.
Yet, as terrifying as that fear was, a chilling thrill ran down Sadi Chocolate’s spine.
“I can feel it. Your locking speed exceeds my growth speed. Hehe. But you know, I really don’t want to lose.”
Oknodie, beginning to truly demonstrate her abilities, was steadily increasing the locks in Sadi Chocolate’s mind as she sought a solution and challenged a direct confrontation.
At this rate, Sadi’s defeat was inevitable.
However, Sadi had a way to turn this desperate situation around.
[Mind Link]
[Mental Infection]
The students aboard the ship simultaneously clutched their heads in agony.
Without restraint, she would drag everyone away like water ghosts at once.
It was a provocation, challenging anyone who believes they can kill all these students.
“So, I won’t be the only one to suffer. Your friends aboard the ship, those who have cherished you and brought you this far. If you’re prepared to lose them all, go ahead and try to kill me.”
Now, the attack directed at Sadi Chocolate became an attack on everyone, and the Mark Release she cast on Sadi turned into a retreat for all.
“Oknodie… we’re fine.”
“Go ahead. If I’m going to be used, I might as well get resurrected coolly.”
However, what Sadi did not anticipate was the immense stress and insecurity faced by the students, who always found themselves in a ‘stumbling block’ position.
Especially the Lower Class Students from the Jigoku Pirate Group, who were almost expelled, had been constantly under that stress.
“Revive Show, then repay the debt to Oknodie? I can’t stand that.”
“Honestly, at this point, I can eliminate the debt. Agreed?”
“I don’t want much, just after being revived, steal the Final Exam answer sheet for Marine Biology as a thank you!”
Realizing something was going horribly wrong, Sadi Chocolate was greatly flustered.
“Are you seriously intending to entrust your life to others? How can you believe in the resurrection ability of a new professor who just joined, while not even trusting yourselves or wrestling with doubts? Even if he resurrects you, how can you know when that will happen?”
“I don’t know. I bet the smart professor will figure something out.”
“Is the professor brought in by the principal having trouble doing even that? There’s no greater unnecessary worry in the world than worrying like a professor.”
“What if your resurrection is delayed for years, and during that time, your hometown, organization, or country faces disaster, leading to problems with the safety of your family, friends, or comrades? Are you willing to take that risk?”
“We’re just losers anyway, going back we can’t do a thing right away.”
“I’m a Gu.”
“Support force? What’s that, loser? Why are you the only one in the know.”
“?!”
To even end up facing expulsion, they had to be slightly different than the vulnerable talents.
Talented but not special, lacking in resources to fill in their shortcomings.
“Alondo, Mone. You have family.”
“If you saw that, then you should know where our families have been taken.”
“…The pirate hideout in the coastal town of the North?”
Even the academy instructors had visited just like a pilgrimage, erasing nearby dangers and ensuring safety at a quiet coastline.
In the abandoned town, ungoverned by the state, families or acquaintances of students belonging to the Jigoku Pirate Group had gathered.
Jigoku smirked.
“Gahaha! When a pirate’s identity is exposed, the government’s first action is to capture and punish their families or associates; don’t you think the captain concerned about the familial or interpersonal matters of the regular crew came here? The Undead Lady is smart, but her pirate sensitivity is low.”
A group of pirates prepared for the worst, creating a communal living facility!
Moreover, thanks to the wealth collected through their pirating activities, the condition of the facility was qualified enough to rival that of a Freestyle City in the southern region.
Not everyone sent to the world’s premier educational institution would return as the minions of a great pirate, but the ones who joined the facility had embraced pirating as their family.
The Jigoku Pirate Group had been moved by their determination and invested significantly in the hideout.
If they could merely resurrect, there would be no concern over backlash.
“…Tch!”
Sadi Chocolate entered her last-ditch effort.
[Doppelganger Technique]
She divided her consciousness into multiple parts and concentrated all the magic inscribed on her mind and soul into a single doppelganger, temporarily restoring her injuries.
“Protect the inscribed doppelganger.”
“Let’s sweep them all away.”
“It’s an all-out attack now!”
The doppelganger, weighted down with the inscribed magic, maintained the same constraints as the other students’ minds but instead of threatening with mass suicide, safely kept the doppelganger intact.
Using the fact that the doppelganger couldn’t participate in combat due to the constraints, she kept many students in a state where they couldn’t engage in battle.
Quick judgment.
A turnaround in the situation.
The final desperate effort unfolded into an all-out offensive.
The attempt wasn’t bad.
“But when did the water get this low?”
“Doesn’t the ship feel higher?”
“It must be your imagination!”
Sadi Chocolate reflexively directed her gaze at the surface in response to the undead seniors’ remarks.
It must be part of the process of the water receding and normalizing.
She considered that vaguely, but her unsettlement grew.
Could it be?
No way, right?
“Hehe. You’ve been caught!”
Only when faced with Oknodie’s bright smile did she realize.
This child wasn’t just grappling with her but was also manipulating more complex binding magic and mental constraints while still having room to spare.
That extra leeway led to Grand Magic.
Ku-gu-gu-gu!
The pressure rapidly shifted.
A salt wind began to rise.
Shadows gathered, and a massive wave opened up across her vision.
It was a tsunami.
A colossal tsunami that turned the academy into a sea.
In the shadow of the second tsunami that struck a moment later, Sadi Chocolate could not hide her emptiness.
“Where did the mana come from after using so much while struggling with me?”
“I drank a lot of potions!”
“Liar. I didn’t see you drink a single potion.”
“I don’t need to do it myself, right?”
“…!”
An entity capable of casting Grand Magic like Oknodie.
While simultaneously consuming huge quantities of mana potions.
Ku-gu-gung!
A new ship leisurely appeared after the tsunami swept everything away.
Standing on the ship of the Great Pirate El Draco Professor was Oknodie, adorned with a cute crown and cloak, making a peace sign with one hand.
“What the main body has done, this Oknodie can do too. I will be a proud doppelganger who isn’t ashamed before the mob!”
Unlike her past that only brought tragedy to Darknodi and Mahabharata, Oknodie, armed through potion doping, overcame her gloom and successfully initiated cataclysmic Grand Magic.
The last thing Sadi Chocolate’s forces ever expected was to face a double disaster!
An enormous army was swept away, leaving Sadi Chocolate’s forces decimated.
“Whaaat? A doppelganger with stats equal to the main body was there the whole time?”
Sadi Chocolate’s doppelgangers, sustained by large-scale monsters, darted rapidly toward the newly appeared ship.
Realizing that Oknodie aimed for Oknodie, Oknodie hurriedly gathered invisible mosquitoes and commanded them to carry her and fly to track down.
Bolts of electricity fell from the empty air, but the monsters were resilient, and their numbers were not easily diminished.
“Senior Lich!”
“You never know when to give up.”
Himbeopsa Richi, unable to cast magic due to the Sandkooker, resorted to hurling the debris of the newly formed buildings.
One monster screamed as it collapsed, but even after all the debris fell, three monsters remained.
With physical enhancement alone, they couldn’t be stopped.
Thus, a gigantic projectile directly manifested above the hands of Himbeopsa Richi.
The Sandkooker, sensing something ominous, shouted.
Engaged in binding magic to conduct a hostage situation using students, the manas formed by the Sandkooker countered Sadi Chocolate’s magic, reaching deep into the earth to grasp Sadi’s intentions.
“Stop!”
“You’ve gotten one sense better.”
Himbeopsa Richi laughed, emitting azure magical light even with a face that had no mouth.
He couldn’t possibly have misunderstood the Sandkooker’s read intentions.
Yet, he didn’t stop.
The projectile he made struck down one monster.
However, he had originally a low mana reserve.
The weakness Oknodie mentioned.
The deficiency of mana.
That exposed weakness finally led to a jolt of Sadi Chocolate’s binding magic hitting Richi’s head.
Even without a real brain, the influence of the binding that penetrates the spirit and soul deprived Richi of his bodily control.
“Senior!!”
“Live. You’ll make it through.”
In the final moment, Himbeopsa Richi did not expend his remaining mana to guard himself.
He used all his remaining strength to erase the Sandkooker’s binding that had infiltrated his mind.
“What a foolish Richi. If you had given up that mere student, you could have preserved your Life Vessel.”
The moment Sadi Chocolate fully read Richi’s mind and discovered the position of the concealed Life Vessel, both his main body and Life Vessel were destroyed simultaneously.
Though it was a brief encounter, the Sandkooker felt immense responsibility knowing that the powerful Himbeopsa Richi, who had imparted many teachings, saved his own life in the end.
He had faith.
He believed he could surely assist Oknodie in stopping Sadi Chocolate.
In that fleeting intuition that read Sadi Chocolate’s heart now, it seemed entirely possible.
To extend the domain of Earth Magic into the mind.
Boom!
The cannon of the El Draco pirate ship took down one monster while also smashing down the inscribed doppelganger.
As the shockwave spread to all students, the Sandkooker unfolded Earth Magic.
A massive wall, leaving no gaps, enveloped the mana circuitry extending from the spirit body of Sadi Chocolate’s doppelganger.
[Earth of the Soul] + [Mental Barrier]
The Earth Sorcerer’s magic is strongest when it’s firm against a hard ground.
Grounded by unwavering belief and soul, tempered through failures and determination, his Earth Magic was powerful enough, at least for this moment, to block Sadi Chocolate’s Synchronization Binding Magic.
Thump!
As even the final move of mutual destruction was blocked, a profound regret lingered on the faces of Sadi Chocolate’s doppelgangers standing over the last monster.
“So, in the end, we saved just one. What a huge regret.”
“But this one is special.”
“The vessel of the outsider manipulated by the Dark Princess.”
“The replica of the vessel of the outsider that I manipulate as a mentalist.”
“Which one of us is more fit to handle the vessel?”
Oknodie’s binding magic bombarded by Sadi Chocolate’s final resistance left the Undead Lady grimacing with strained veins.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist.”
Even with the same body as Oknodie, lacking the same level of technique led to Oknodie’s fall and domination.
Even as a doppelganger, could Oknodie maintain her composure facing the reality of being controlled so closely by someone who recognized her existence and joined forces with her?
Facing Sadi Chocolate’s expressive expectation, Oknodie brightly replied.
“It’s okay! I’ll write the will to send to the mob! So die with peace of mind!”
Was it not the vessel of the outsider but perhaps the outsider itself already?
An ominous thought was lurking in Sadi Chocolate’s mind.
