You can rest now.
[Out of communication range]
The phone flickers.
External communication is, as expected, impossible.
It’s safe to say there’s no support.
So, I need to maximize my chances in this situation.
EX-rank villain.
A monster that should be impossible to face.
I need to find a way to deal with him.
Thinking fast.
Fortunately, I found a way.
“I need to find Durandal.”
In the original volume 11, the reason the protagonist could face the EX-rank villain Professor on equal footing, albeit temporarily and under limited conditions, was due to merging with the spirit.
Considering the scene in the original volume 20 where Olivia merges with the Black Prince to face the enemy, it’s definitely possible.
The question is whether it can happen now.
If it’s impossible, I’ll die anyway.
So I have no choice but to gamble here.
I don’t know when the enemy will arrive.
I quickly head to the accommodation.
[Partner. What’s going on? Did you finally find something? Did you have enough happy time with the ladies?]
A familiar voice echoes in my head after a long time.
It’s the Black Prince’s voice.
I strap Durandal, which is leaning against the wall, to my waist with a cord.
“Hey, this is bad.”
[Bad? What’s going on? Partner. You didn’t get caught having happy time with the ladies, did you?]
The Black Prince speaks in my head.
Of course, that did really happen and it is a big deal, but that’s not the topic right now.
“No. It’s an enemy encounter.”
[What?]
The Black Prince’s voice becomes serious.
“The enemy is presumed to be at least EX-rank or higher.”
Based on Beatrice’s reaction, a more powerful villain than Ivan, whom I met on the deserted island during summer school, has definitely shown up.
I don’t know who it is, but it’s reasonable to think at least someone from the Four Horsemen is coming.
It’s more rational to overestimate the enemy and prepare thoroughly than to underestimate them and end up losing.
[What about support?]
“There’s none.”
There is no support.
The last time I called, the association was under attack by the enemy.
With two EX-rank heroes at the association, it’s obvious they’ve deployed stronger forces than here.
So it’s safe to say there’s no support.
[Then what are you going to do, partner? Facing an EX-rank hero with our current power is…]
The Black Prince trails off.
It’s tough.
“It’s tough.
It’s impossible.
That’s probably what you’re trying to say.
The Black Prince himself was a powerful hero who was classified as a member of the Five Crowns.
So he should know better.
The conclusion of this fight.
‘I know.’
[Do you have any countermeasures?]
The Black Prince questions me.
Countermeasures.
I never wanted to gamble or take risks.
I always win by assessing all the variables in advance and forming a plan ahead of my opponent.
As a possessed being, I had taken full advantage of asymmetric information that only favored me.
Just like the protagonist of an academy web novel.
Of course, I thought it would become useless one day, but I never expected that it would show up in the worst form possible at this exact moment.
Reality isn’t a possessed story or a web novel.
The enemy doesn’t just sit there like a fool.
Regret flooded in, but I quickly shook it off.
Spilled water cannot be retrieved.
From now on, I had no choice but to maximize those slim chances of victory.
I had to do it now.
Even if it was an uncertain venture.
At that moment when I thought so.
KABOOM!
With a great noise, the building shook.
[It begins.]
The voice of the Black Prince echoed.
He was right.
It had finally started.
*
“Ughhhh…”
Mayu reaches out.
Her whole body creaks.
Blood flows from her wounds.
Her head spins.
A single strike.
Not a skill, just a regular swing, and this is what happened.
She didn’t even have time to deploy her defense skills.
She realized the opponent was no match.
But that didn’t mean she could just sit down here.
For the students’ sake.
She had to stand up.
“Ughhh… The teacher… will protect everyone!”
She bites her lip.
Thud.
Mayu’s bloodied hand steadies herself on the ground.
She stands up.
Inside the completely ruined building.
A gigantic man with red hair flowing like a mane, Berserk, is in sight.
“Oh? You’re getting up?”
Berserk’s eyebrows twitch slightly.
It was a strike aimed at minimum fainting and maximum death.
Yet, here was S-rank, the destructive magical girl, Mayuzumi Mayu, who was getting up after taking that hit.
An unexpected variable.
But it wasn’t enough to really get his blood boiling, being a battle fanatic.
“The teacher has a duty to protect the students! I can’t fall here!”
Mayuzumi grits her teeth.
Moonlight spills through the collapsed ceiling.
Just then, as the pink magic ignites from Mayuzumi’s wand…
“Blood Strike.”
The skill name flows from Berserk’s lips.
And with that, Hrunting glimmers with a sinister red light.
Flash!
The bloody magical blade rising from Hrunting shoots towards Mayuzumi with a flare of light.
KABOOM!
With a loud explosion, Mayuzumi’s entire body gets engulfed in flames.
Before she even had a chance to deploy her defense skill, the strike hit.
Her full-body gloves are shredded, and the pink light from her wand flickers and fades.
“Ugh!”
Mayuzumi swallows a scream.
Her body soars into the air before crashing onto the ground.
KABOOM KABOOM KABOOM!
Her body is buried in the wreckage of the already destroyed building.
“Ughhhhhh!”
Mayu lets out a scream.
She screams.
With a flash.
Pink magic erupts from her body.
The debris weighing down Mayu’s body floats aimlessly in the air.
“Oh? You’re still holding on after two attacks.”
Berserk’s eyebrows twitch.
His gaze shifts through the debris to Mayu, who is unsteadily getting back on her feet.
“Is it your duty as a teacher that keeps you up? Even as an enemy, I commend your strong spirit.”
“Absolutely… not… I can’t let… the students…”
She cannot surrender to the enemy’s grasp.
Mayu bites her lip, swallowing her words.
Maybe she bit too hard, as blood trickles from her lips.
Stumble.
Mayu sways unsteadily.
The pink magic emanating from her seems to falter, flickering like a dying light bulb.
She can’t hold on.
It feels like she’s about to collapse.
But if I collapse…
“However, with that body, all you can do is hold onto your sanity. If you wish to throw your life away meaninglessly, I might grant you a wish.”
Berserk’s voice resonates in her ears.
Meaningless, worthless.
Those words were heard before.
And Mayu could never agree with his statement.
“Your fight is definitely not meaningless…!”
Flames ignite in Mayu’s eyes.
This moment is far from meaningless.
The faces of her students flash in her mind.
The sight of her students enjoying the school trip.
And finally, Kim Deok-Sung’s face.
“I will protect… the students…”
Stumble.
Mayu sways.
Berserk is right.
Her body can no longer hold on.
‘Oh, no…’
Just as Mayu silently screams inside,
Tap.
She feels a warm body instead of the hard floor beneath her.
A blurry face comes into view.
A boy with sharp features, marked by striking black hair and black eyes.
It’s Kim Deok-Sung.
“Y-You, Kim…!”
Mayuzumi’s eyes widen.
“No, no! It’s dangerous! Why are you here…?”
Mayuzumi speaks in a panicked voice.
“R-Run away…!”
With her remaining strength, Mayuzumi shouts.
“I’m fine.”
Kim Deok-Sung shakes his head.
“So you can rest now.”
He gently lays Mayuzumi down on the floor.
With a flash.
A dark light flares from his body.
“I’ll handle that guy.”
That was the last voice she heard before losing consciousness.
*
In her vision, there’s Mayuzumi-sensei, covered in blood, collapsed.
As expected from a light novel world, someone who disregards their life for their students, facing off against an EX Rank villain and ending up like this.
This world is sure full of suckers.
I really don’t like this damned world.
The sight of Mayuzumi-sensei’s bloodied face lingers in front of me.
Her voice urging me to run away, truly worrying about me, echoes in my ears.
Mayuzumi-sensei’s face overlaps with Hoshino Kasumi and Evangelin.
It’s absurd how easily one can risk their life for someone else.
What kind of nonsense is this?
Is this some nonsense sweet potato?
Everyone’s lost their minds.
[Partner. What are we going to do now?]
The Black Prince’s voice rings in my head.
A villain appears in my sight.
A muscular guy with impressive long red hair.
It must be Berserk, the EX Rank villain known as the ‘Knight of War,’ one of the Four Horsemen.
He appears as a villain in Volume 18 of the original work.
I expected one of the Four Horsemen to come directly, but I didn’t think it would really happen.
[In this state, I can’t take him on alone.]
The Black Prince speaks seriously.
‘That’s why we need to merge.’
[I’m not sure if that’s possible. I should call for help from my teammates…]
‘You said you wouldn’t do that.’
I reject the Black Prince’s words again.
Help from the teammates.
It sounds nice.
But if I fight alongside those clueless fools, they might bum rush in carelessly like last time and things might go wrong.
It’s been fine so far, but I can’t guarantee it will stay that way.
This is a light novel world, but it’s reality too.
The dead don’t come back.
I don’t want to watch someone I know die in front of me.
I’m a cider path, not a psychopath.
That’s the reason I came here alone.
Whoosh.
Red mana surges throughout Berserk’s body.
“You’re Kim Deok-Sung, huh?”
His name falls from his lips.
“Yeah. So what?”
I play along with his rhythm for now.
“If you willingly surrender, I will guarantee the lives of everyone else except Kurosawa Yuji.”
Berserk speaks with a display of supposed generosity.
His personality is that of a typical battle-crazy villain.
A pervert who revels in the ecstasy named pride from fighting against strong opponents, often seen in martial arts novels.
For him, an EX Rank, I’m probably seen as no more than an S Rank, someone not worth fighting.
Berserk hates fighting those who aren’t worth it, so that’s why he’s making this offer.
[Partner. Did you hear that?]
‘Yeah.’
I then realized something important from his offer.
He said “if you willingly surrender.”
If his goal was my life, he would’ve unsheathed his sword without a second thought against someone worth no fight.
In fact, he would want to finish off someone not worth the trouble faster.
But by trying to negotiate like this…
‘He’s received a command to capture me alive.’
He was told not to kill me but to capture me.
In other words, he carries the handicap of not being able to kill me.
[Maybe I can use this to my advantage.]
My odds just went up a tiny bit.
“What’s your answer?”
He presses for a response.
“I don’t want to.”
I outright refuse.
If I must die, so be it, but I don’t plan on being captured by the final boss.
What horrible things could happen to me there, I wonder.
“Well then, I have no choice. I will subdue you.”
The moment my answer reaches Berserk’s ears, his eyebrow twitches.
Zap.
A burst of red light fills my vision.
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