<909 – Dark Shadow vs Dark Shadow (18)>
The plan succeeded.
The God of Death lost the return route back to [Dimension: Netherworld].
[Status Ailment: Wandering]
[Description: This soul has lost its way home. If it dies in a place that is not its hometown, it cannot activate [Soul Return] and will be obliterated.]
It was the end of the line for my time-wasting antics to draw the God of Death’s attention.
From now on, just helping Professor Sadako would be enough to comfortably take him down.
[Do you dare believe that mere mortals can withstand my wrath?]
[You crossed the line after I treated you like a magnificent apostle. How dare you play the subordinate of the Undead Queen who defies death? I shall cast all of you into the soul furnace.]
The God of Death was fuming.
“Professor! Help me!!”
“Quit your whining.”
With a swish of her scythe, Professor Sadako pulled it back and gripped it tightly once more.
[I shall crush you with the disparity of our levels.]
The morale from the Death Zone concentrated around the feet of the God of Death, causing the spirits wandering in the area to scream as they distorted.
[Ariena’s Carriage: Ariena could have taken a single step with the weight of her sins strapped to her back, but with grievous sins piled high, she could not take even one step and died.]
[Effect: For one step, the weight of the sins committed increases the heaviness of the step.]
[Ivan’s Ten Steps: Ivan, in his arrogance that nothing could be achieved in ten steps, placed a conditional power-boosting spell on his soul. Now he cannot see the door that leads out of hell.]
[Effect: The power of actions executed within ten steps is doubled, but failed actions cannot be executed again for eternity.]
[Pascal’s Eerie Smile: Pascal died while being forced to adopt the expression and posture in the picture he drew, mocking the customer.]
[Effect: A supervisor appears, forcing you to maintain a pose where your head is bent behind you, your knees through your legs, until your smile reaches your earlobe.]
The relentless curse terrifyingly pressed down on my steps.
However, if one could handle the basic skill of [Flight] as a third year in the academy, the curse restricting movement would become meaningless.
“Hehe, what are you gonna do now?!”
The God of Death unleashed a continuous series of curses.
[Soaring’s Fall: The arrogant harpy believed its wings were enough to escape hell. Until those wings burned away in the extreme heat lurking in the upper layers of hell.]
[Effect: Exposure to extreme heat increases with the altitude you reach while flying.]
[Chains of the Giant: One giant reduced its body in hopes of escaping the chains around its ankles. After breaking free of the chains, it soared into the sky, only to be crushed by the giant guard of the prison who had come to find the escaped prisoner.]
[Effect: Damage received from an enemy whose size differs by more than ten times increases 100-fold.]
[Insect’s Climb: A fearless fly climbed up the god’s body, boasting, “I’m above the god’s head!” The god slammed its head to the ground, killing the fly. “You are too weak for my grace.”]
[Effect: The moment you reach a ‘certain altitude’, you take massive collision damage.]
Curses fueled by murderous intent threatened to kill me just for flying high!
I panicked and shifted my stance to [Roll].
I crouched down, making sure not to trigger either [Walking] or [Flying] checks as I stuck my tongue out and whispered, “If I do this, I’m neither walking nor flying! What are you gonna do? What if I evade all the checks?!”
The God of Death sent even more curses my way.
[Administrative Order – Residence Change: Beings who have received [Death Sentence] ought to belong to the Netherworld, like yourself.]
[Effect: The likelihood of dying in an unfortunate accident skyrockets.]
[Administrative Order – Lost Item Notification: A notice has arrived indicating that your body is missing. Whose body are you inhabiting right now?]
[Effect: Using techniques that numb your senses, engaging in unfamiliar actions, or experiencing emotional turmoil triggers a certain probability that your soul will [Astral Project].]
[Administrative Order – Fall Warning: Due to a strong spiritual pressure, there’s a high risk of objects falling from high places. It is recommended to securely lock your chains.]
[Effect: When ‘falling’ checks exceed a certain height, chains of hell drag you down to the bottom of hell.]
One of the mana shields from my roll was suddenly crushed under the God of Death’s spiritual pressure.
As my body plummeted down the now-open path, my heart thudded unexpectedly.
[Status: Astral Projecting]
-Oh no, my body!
I gawked at my body, trapped in chains, and immediately used [Close-Range Teleport] to return to it.
“Help me, Professor!”
I was starting to feel really scared.
In response to my desperate plea, Professor Sadako cleaved the God of Death’s spirit in half with her scythe.
[Palmiho’s Mistake: Palmiho, who ruled the eighth layer of the Cheonryeong Mountain Range, broke a jar filled with her sins to ascend to the nine-tailed fox. When the sins released by the ascending god came forth, the enraged god struck down Palmiho with a lightning bolt.]
[Effect: The more powerful the sins contained in the broken jar, the stronger the divine punishment received.]
A massive storm cloud gathered in the sky as if the world was about to split apart.
If there were a God of Thunder, it would seem like my world had arrived, but neither Professor Sadako nor I were Thunder Gods.
Getting hit would obliterate us in a one-shot level of trap.
“Go, secret weapon!!”
However, in our academy, we had a friend who could absorb any amount of lightning without taking damage at all; she was great for growth!
“…I’m going to die from overeating.”
“Waaah, then just eat as much as you can handle!”
The strongest of Group C, the fusion being Kasia, was summoned and hurled like a projectile. Kasia soared into the air and took the divine punishment class lightning bolt for Professor Sadako.
With lightning strikes close to dozens per second barraging Kasia, she absorbed every hit, rapidly increasing her strength as she did.
If she could, she would want to take all of it.
Unfortunately, the uncontrollable energy spilled out around her, dealing damage everywhere.
Not wanting to experience killing a friend due to her mistake, Kasia reached her limit of control and suddenly fled, becoming a lightning bolt herself.
“Senior, I’m borrowing your summoned beast!”
“No, I’m too tired to summon… uh?!”
Next, I grabbed the hand of Tamer Gaef AM senior, who was lounging around nearby amongst the building wreckage, and interfered with the summoning mark etched on the back of his hand.
I sent the mana to summon a creature to help Professor Sadako, ripping through the cumbersome security features.
[Hehehe. If you asked for my help instead of those worthless nuisances, I could have blocked it much more easily.]
At that moment, a familiar and ominous voice echoed from a nearby location, not far enough to rip the paper that separated us.
It was the voice of [All-in Strength].
I scoffed at the temptation from [All-in Strength] as it counted down to the last summon.
“Don’t underestimate the Giant Turtle! Its shell counts as a type of land, so it can disperse 99% of lightning damage!”
Since it was a living being, it would attract divine punishment, but being a land type, the Giant Turtle would receive less damage!
Hearing my shout, the Giant Turtle locked the summoning door and staged a sit-in.
As I glowered at the empty air where the voice of All-in Strength came from, I could only hear mocking laughter.
Really, who does that temper remind you of? Such a nasty piece of work.
With no choice left, I opened a cheat I had been saving for fourth year.
“If you come out now, I won’t tell anyone that the principal is playing with turtles!”
With a bang, the door to the summoning realm flung open, and a gigantic turtle head popped out.
[How did you know? My polymorph is so sophisticated that even gods can’t recognize it!]
“I went on an adventure with the seniors in the [Doll Play] ruins at the Principal’s Ruins. You were there too, observing the corruption of divinity while dining at the Church of Atalaxia, right?”
[Damn those guys. Was it Instructor Olosst? I should torment him for ruining my fun!]
The Saintess Snowville, who became one with the Church of Amore, was busily running around as the Grand Bishop and saint education officer. The flames of chaos now pointed toward her.
I sent a paper airplane with an apologetic message, hoping it would reach her.
After all, you owe me one, let’s celebrate!
GROOOAR!
The Principal, disguised as the Giant Turtle, followed my call and absorbed the divine punishment aimed at Professor Sadako.
“What? Why is my turtle so strong?! Its affinity is higher than mine and its manifestation rate as well!”
The more well-matched, the cheaper the summon costs, and a summons using one’s main power gets greater when they summon one, reaching something well beyond 100%.
Of course, the Principal wouldn’t have such a good bond with me, so that is just her leftover strength being poured in like a liquidation sale.
“You can’t just hijack someone else’s summon and gobble it all up, you mad summoner thief!”
Gaef AM senior protested angrily.
“I’ll catch you something better next time!”
“What’s better?”
“Do you happen to like insects?”
“You crazy bastard, are you talking about that Disaster Bug tattooed on your arm?!”
“Let’s talk later!”
From the Giant Turtle’s pissed-off expression, I could sense that the Principal was about to make her exit.
GROOOAR!
“Oh no, my turtle!!”
The Principal’s body was engulfed in a giant bolt of divine punishment.
As the light faded, the Principal departed from the fun.
Gaef AM senior collapsed, unable to withstand the sense of loss from losing his summon.
“This evil God of Death! For the crime of using electric torture to expand Kasia’s powers and eliminating Gaef AM senior’s summon, I shall not forgive you!”
“That was all your doing…”
Ziang, who typically wouldn’t dare to speak while hidden in the shadows, finally opened his mouth.
As expected of an alumnus who attended Professor Sadako’s lecture, he couldn’t overlook the emergency of the professor.
Since the God of Death was stronger than expected, I should take heed of his intentions and acquire voluntary assistance from Ziang!
