Chapter 80
Ding!
Condition: Overcoming ‘the death of a comrade’ and ‘extreme fear.’
Having met those conditions, the use of “Special Skill” is now available.
As soon as Liam heard that sound, he realized that a change had occurred within him.
There was no need to painstakingly read the description.
Intuitively, the skill naturally seeped into Liam’s body as it had before.
Zzap!
The blue lightning that had only dwelled in the sword now enveloped Liam’s entire body.
The surge instantly reinforced Liam’s physique, elevating him to a level previously deemed impossible.
At that moment, every sense of his body, from reflexes to strength, agility, and speed, was drastically enhanced.
Zzzing!
The sound of electricity crackling filled the air.
Liam darted forward in an instant, closing the distance to Zagan.
With that, he thrust his sword.
A strike like lightning.
Kwah-gak?!
Zagan’s left arm was severed.
Liam’s sword didn’t stop there.
Once again, with a swift motion.
Zagan’s remaining arm was also cut off.
Lucaiel, witnessing this, struggled to keep up with the incredible speed with his own eyes. It was undoubtedly the Liam he knew, but the martial prowess he displayed was several levels above what he had originally shown.
“Well, this human race is more interesting than I thought, huh?”
Zagan, arms now severed, didn’t lose her composure.
There was no blood from the severed stumps. Instead, the area was bubbling, signaling regeneration, while Liam, like a predator, zeroed in on her neck.
With his current state, he might just stand a chance against her…!
However, Lucaiel’s belief didn’t last long. Zagan, having gauged Liam’s new speed, refused to take more damage.
She followed Liam’s swordsmanship with her own eyes, effortlessly dodging and assessing the situation.
“If you had this, you should’ve pulled it out sooner. Not bad at all.”
Zagan’s movements became minimal and lighter, rapidly adapting to Liam’s speed.
This human is quite strong.
For someone so young to have this level of speed and power, it’s impressive. If he becomes a hero, he’ll likely gain significant fame.
He might even grow strong enough to take down an archbishop someday.
Clang?
Liam’s sword was caught.
Like facing an immovable boulder.
“But what does it matter? You’re still just a little shrimp.”
Crunch?!
Before he knew it, Zagan had fully regained her arm, yanked Liam’s sword, and delivered a powerful kick to his abdomen.
Even though they weren’t armed with aura like the heroes, the power was enough to knock Liam out momentarily and send him flying like a cannonball.
Even if he gained special skills, the gap between Liam and Zagan couldn’t be bridged this way. Just because you reached the mountain’s peak doesn’t mean you’ve ascended to the sky, and Liam was no different.
“Liam… Liam…!”
Seeing Liam lodged against the wall, Nikela called out to him with tears in her eyes, pulling out her mana once again.
From the moment she summoned Ifrit to fight, she was already pushing herself hard.
Even creating a simple fireball wasn’t easy.
But she didn’t give up and threw it anyway.
With a power that couldn’t even give Zagan a burn. She struggled, if only weakly.
Lucaiel, having lost both legs, charged with his claws and teeth, while Haliana, with a tearful expression, unleashed her elemental magic.
As Zagan took all those attacks, he suddenly thought. This was an idea born from a pure desire like a child’s.
Ah, I’m sick of this.
Could you all just leave already?
CRACK.
CRANK.
The sound of plastic shattering echoed just as the vibrations had barely rippled through the air when lightning-fast, Liam aimed for Zagan again.
“Hahaha! Too late already.”
In Liam’s view, flying through the air, he saw it.
Lucaiel’s head had burst open, leaving a hollow shell behind. The upper and lower bodies of Haliana were separated.
Nikela, frozen in horror, looked like a mannequin.
“Zagan! Zagan???!!”
It was such a ‘meaningless death.’
Liam couldn’t even see their last moments. All that remained were corpses. Their final expressions, their voices—nothing.
Having his sword taken away, Liam packed his fists full of lightning instead. With a fierce strike, he expressed his intense emotions.
Liam’s desperate frustration was easily blocked like a pillow, making it even more pathetic and sorrowful.
Zagan smiled as he gradually increased the pressure with his hand.
He didn’t use his powers. From the moment he laid eyes on Liam, he felt there was something unusual about him. He needed to observe.
CRUNCH.
Instead, Zagan inflicted pain to the point where he could no longer resist.
While Zagan loved to play, he surprisingly enjoyed quietly exploring interesting subjects too.
Even with his finger bones smashed, Liam let out not even a small whimper. Clenching his teeth, he pressed on, blood tears streaming as he expressed his intense emotions.
“Grrr, ughhh!”
He unleashed more electrical current.
Whether it worked or not didn’t matter.
For now, he pushed forward with maximum mana, giving it his all.
FIZZLE, CRACKLE!
Even as intense pain surged from his smashed fist and the continuous exertion hit him.
Right now, Liam felt that if he didn’t channel this pain into anger, he would just give up and sit down where he was.
He kept seeing the tragedy of his teammates in his sight.
It was all his fault.
If he hadn’t made this insane proposal…
If only he had acted alone without telling anyone. If he’d acted unilaterally, such carnage wouldn’t have happened… nobody had to die…!
“UAAAAAAA??!”
The deaths of those around the protagonist are pivotal moments in stories.
In most works, the separation from allies and beloved ones is rare, and even when it does happen, it’s often accompanied by lengthy descriptions and dramatic scenes.
It rarely happens, and even when it does, it comes with lengthy descriptions and dramatic scene settings.
Finally, a desperate remark. Everything is bound to be expressed.
But look at the now.
Even if she’s not the protagonist herself, those who were important figures in the story have left in vain.
Ophelia is a noble from a distant kingdom. Equipped with leadership and the ability to guide people, she appears until the final chapters of the story she knows.
Lucaiel was, after all, a character under the important villain Vargan’s faction. Haliana becomes Lucaiel’s lover and plays a crucial role in pulling him away from Vargan’s ideology.
Nikela was supposed to leave the Academia in this exam, but this traumatic experience didn’t lead to such a tragic ending.
Everything changed because of her choices.
If only someone would curse her.
Why did they bring them here and push them toward death? Why set such absurd plans? Why, knowing the future, couldn’t they predict this situation?
“First, let’s silence you.”
Zagan’s fist strikes Liam’s full body.
For her, it was merely a light warm-up, far from giving her all.
With each impact, every bone and vein that made up Liam burst forth, and his consciousness sought to escape his body.
A faint sound, so weak it seemed it would extinguish at any moment, reached their ears.
“…please.”
A woman, crawling along the floor, clutched at Zagan’s ankle. It wasn’t to harm him.
There was no longer any rebellious spirit or anger within her.
“Please… please… save Liam.”
“Ni…kela.”
Zagan’s eyes widened.
He tossed the bloodied Liam onto the floor and grabbed the still-living Nikela by her hair.
Nikela gasped for breath. It was astounding. Even though Zagan had taken her body, only mana deprivation symptoms remained… Ah, that’s it.
“Seems like you had a spirit who cherished you enough to sacrifice its life. Hehe, how amusing! To think a spirit would die for mere humans!”
Nikela no longer cared about herself.
At this rate, even if she got out, the odds of survival were slim.
All she wished for was for the man she had grown to like for the first time, Liam, to survive.
“I’ll do anything… I’ll even give my life…”
Having awakened her abilities through communicating with spirits, she came to the Academia to save the villagers and everyone suffering under Altife, the enemy of humankind.
In front of Altife, the opponent of humanity.
She shed tears filled with earnestness, hoping for the safety of just one warrior.
“Please… I beg you.”
If that one desperate wish could be granted, she felt she could close her eyes without any regrets.
But you know.
“How many people do you think have begged me for their lives until now?”
So many that it’s countless. They all end up saying similar things toward the end. Hehe, it was all so desperate, quite amusing.
Zagan continued.
Smashing Nikela’s hopes with her own logic.
“But they all died.”
If I save that boy here, wouldn’t it be unfair for those people? Life is equally precious for everyone, right?
“Don’t you think saving that boy would make those people miserable? Life is precious and equal for everyone.”
Once Zagan finishes his exploration of Liam, he plans to savor his body or sever his limbs, just like before.
It is irrelevant to consider what emotions this woman named Nikela harbors. Zagan simply didn’t want to save her.
“Well, how nice is it that you can leave behind a wonderful last word? You managed to hold on without dying. So, just stop.”
Die.
Just as Zagan’s hand was reaching out.
Caw!
The sound of a crow echoed.
A black crow shot through the air like a bowstring.
At the appearance of this mysterious creature, Zagan turned his head.
Zing?
The space behind Zagan warped.
From within, a man with golden hair, wielding a sword glowing crimson, suddenly broke forth and severed the arm of Zagan that was holding Nikela.
Not a hint of disorder in his movement.
The severed area twitched faintly.
Rapid regeneration did not occur. Zagan began to take the sudden change seriously.
Thud!
“Ugh…!”
A gust of wind erupted.
For the first time, a sound of pain escaped from Zagan’s mouth.
The man’s fist, flying like a missile, deeply sank into Zagan’s abdomen. The man, with messy hair and thick eyebrows, enveloped his fist with an excessively dense aura.
Swoosh!
The figure emerging from the fierce wind wasn’t just a man.
A woman with white hair, resembling a bird of prey, flashed her eyes and sliced off the remaining arm with her azure sword.
Zagan prepared to jump heavily off the ground. He urgently tried to create distance.
He roughly understood the situation. Reinforcements had arrived. First, create distance and assess his strength…
Damn it. His legs froze.
For a moment, a block of ice seized Zagan’s ankle. Instant escape was impossible.
As confusion began to show on Zagan’s face.
Smash!
A heavy mace struck hard.
It was so powerful that the ice holding her shattered and crashed straight into the wall.
With a loud noise, Zagan was engulfed in a dust storm.
Liam, his swollen eyes obscuring his vision, captured the scene unfolding around him.
They were all familiar faces, champions difficult to find a gap in.
Among them, the man with the black hair spoke.
His sharp gaze was the same as ever.
“What a fool. What do you intend by pretending to be the kidnapped princess for the Demon King?”
He scrutinized the situation with fierce eyes.
As he confirmed the deaths of everyone except Nikela and Liam, his expression darkened. He seemed somewhat angry.
The man unfolded a white handkerchief and pulled out a ring from within. It appeared to be a precious treasure, a relic.
He slipped it onto his finger, and a sinister magic surged.
The sheer amount and quality of pure magic seemed overwhelming enough to swallow the space around them.
He looked at the fallen Liam and spoke. He seemed to look at a pathetic creature, filled with either pity or rage.
“Just keep your eyes open and watch.”
You rotten protagonist.
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