I must have really pissed off the Reaper with my laughter as he loudly cracked his teeth, making a sound that was anything but pleasant.
“Don’t you dare laugh in front of me!”
-Wham!
The Reaper slammed his staff into the ground.
“Living dead…!”
Green energy swirled around the staff, and the Reaper violently waved his empty hand, spreading the energy in all directions.
Before long, the energy that settled on the ground began to transform into a light fog.
“Ugh, ugh…”
From within it, various forms of something began to emerge.
“Oh.”
I looked at the Reaper blankly, a small admiration creeping in.
Wow, you can manipulate energy like that?
The spatial movement I saw before was amazing, but this seemed just as impressive.
After all, he was clearly creating new life from nothing!
Of course, those things were hollow and could hardly be called alive; if we’re being picky, they’d be classified as corpses…
Creating something from nothing deserves a round of applause.
“That’s quite impressive.”
I was starting to understand why he calls himself the King of the Dead.
“…Impressive? Do you still not get the situation?”
The Reaper gritted his teeth with a loud creak and slowly turned his head.
His eerie eyes contained the entire room.
“Just what are you planning to do with all these followers?”
The Reaper’s words dripped with confidence.
I looked around, taking in the countless corpses encircling me and Arnold.
“…There are quite a lot.”
Each seemed to possess skills similar to those elite soldiers I saw in Ellen.
Hmm, should I take them all out at once?
If I tried to deal with them one by one, it might take all day.
Lost in thought about how to handle this overwhelming number of corpses, Arnold chimed in.
“Professor… I’ll lend a hand too.”
Gulping down his nerves, Arnold drew the sword at his waist and stepped forward.
…Huh, but what’s he going to do?
He took a step forward, clutching his wooden sword while scanning the surroundings.
This isn’t exactly ideal for a big move.
This is a cave.
And inside are not just me and the Reaper, but also the student Arnold.
If I unleashed the Divine Slaying Sword Technique in this confined space, it’d probably collapse the cave and crush both me and Arnold.
Not to mention, what is the Divine Slaying Sword Technique even?
Just the simple swing of my sword can risk the cave collapsing.
With any chance of that even being a possibility, there’s a natural hesitation to wield my sword.
So what should I do…?
“Um, okay.”
My pondering didn’t last long.
I just need to lure the Reaper out of the cave.
With an arrogant demeanor, leaning back in his chair and glaring down at me, I raised my wooden sword.
“This place seems a bit damp, why not step outside?”
“…?”
A moment of silence ensued.
-Crunch!
The Reaper exploded in rage, teeth shattered like glass.
“Shut up! Do you think I’d heed the words of a bug like you?!”
“Um.”
Wow, that didn’t work.
I licked my lips in disappointment.
*
Twisting my waist, I let out a sigh.
“Ugh.”
My sword whizzed past me, barely missing.
I subtly changed my stance, resting the wooden sword near one corpse’s ribs.
-Bang!
Another corpse vanished.
“Really, this never ends.”
“Damn…!”
Arnold cried out as he swung his sword at the corpses charging towards him, his breath ragged.
He looked quite worn out.
“Student, here’s a gift.”
But I smiled at Arnold and sent one more corpse flying towards him.
“Please, no more… ugh!”
With a furrowed brow, he thrust his sword at the approaching corpse.
“Are you trying to kill me?!”
Immediately after, Arnold shouted at me as if the ground was about to swallow him whole, and I feigned plugging my ears while grinning.
“Not at all.”
“Then can’t you stop?! I’m already overwhelmed!”
Arnold had the face of someone about to meet their end as he pleaded with me.
“Hmm…”
This is going to backfire for you.
In this very moment, Arnold, who is experiencing life and death, is growing rapidly.
He probably has some decent talent.
Of course, if things actually got dangerous, I’d subtly help by kicking stones or nudging him to keep him out of danger.
Though from his perspective, I bet it wouldn’t seem that way.
And I didn’t want to give Arnold any traumatic experiences.
He’s still young; that’d be just plain cruel, wouldn’t it?
With a smirk on my face, I dodged another corpse swinging its massive arm at me and brought my wooden sword down.
-Bang!
Just tapping the corpse with my sword set off a massive explosion, scattering dozens of pieces of flesh across the cave floor.
As you can see, even merely poking that corpse’s weak point causes such destruction; imagine if I seriously swung my sword to exterminate them.
A slight explosion and the entire cave would likely collapse.
With my head throbbing, I sighed deeply and glanced at the Reaper, who was still arrogantly sitting in his chair, looking down at me.
“You know you can’t even scratch me with this much, right?”
By implying that he should take action, green, eerie light began to flow from the Reaper’s vacant eyes.
“…”
But the Reaper maintained his silence, merely observing the fight without responding.
“Hah.”
…Seriously.
He’s seen plenty of the situation and yet is doing absolutely nothing.
Is he just dull-witted or is it all a stall for time?
“Tsk.”
Regardless, it’s evident this moment isn’t helping me, making me very unhappy.
Yet, charging forward to snap the Reaper’s neck on my own could mean Arnold might lose his life, and there could be some hidden trump card up his sleeve.
Maybe something like self-destruct?
Sighing deeply over this truly hopeless situation, I was about to send another corpse Arnold’s way under the guise of training when…
“…Swordman.”
The Reaper, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke to me.
“Oh, finally feeling chatty?”
I responded with a wide smile, and the Reaper tapped the armrest of his chair with his fingers, continuing.
“Why does a being like you care about the life of such a bug?”
“Hmm…”
I tilted my head, unsure about the nonsensical question.
Well, I’m a professor right now, so saving my student seems correct, right?
Isn’t it weird that the Reaper, who’s attacking the peaceful Academy, is the one asking this?
But I kept those thoughts to myself, thinking perhaps something might change if I just listened to him in silence.
As I awaited the Reaper’s words, he waited for my response.
Upon receiving none, he continued speaking.
“I can see it.”
The Reaper pointed at Arnold.
“If that bug weren’t here, I would have already lost my will to your sword.”
That’s accurate.
With such corpses, there’s no way they could prevent me, and in the blink of an eye, the distance between us would be closed and my wooden sword would strike.
“Why is a strong being like you following the rules set by the weak?”
I scratched my head, feeling awkward.
…Not that I’ve exactly followed them.
In reality, I’ve interfered with both the Hero and the Saint, haven’t I?
Regardless of that, my reaction didn’t seem to matter to the Reaper.
For the first time, he rose from his seat, the green flame in his eyes igniting fiercely.
“Already, on the verge of transcending…”
The Reaper reached out, pointing toward my lower abdomen.
“Why are you still trapped in this weak human flesh, I ask.”
“…”
Should I become a skeleton?
Or does his idea of ‘transcendence’ differ from what I imagine?
Narrowing my eyes at the Reaper, I asked,
“Are you seriously that clueless?”
The gap in knowledge is insurmountable; I have no choice but to guess based on what the Reaper is saying, which is likely just information he keeps to himself.
“…What?”
So, I cautiously threw out my query, but…
“Krkh, Khahaha!”
The only thing I received in return was his irritating laughter.
Hmm… I was the one laughing first, but now that I’m on the receiving end, it doesn’t feel great.
I’ll have to be more cautious in the future.
The Reaper plunged his staff into the ground and continued.
“I feel it’s a shame to have so much ‘karma’ filling up inside you!”
Karma, huh…
I think I heard something similar about the Demon King when Lili was explaining it to me.
The Reaper, after a while of wearing an unsettling smile, began to slowly walk towards me.
“I’ve changed my mind! Would you like to join me?”
Stretching out his hand towards me as he came closer, he declared.
“If you accept my demands, I’ll give you the clue you’ve been searching for!”
“A clue…”
It’s definitely an enticing offer.
But…
The Reaper’s idea of transcendence might turn out to be entirely different from what I envision.
“Sorry, but…”
Most importantly, my priority right now is Nameless.
And…
I’m incredibly greedy; unless the situation allows me to gain both transcendence and Nameless,
I’m not willing to act on anything.
“…I have a disciple.”
With a grin, I swung my wooden sword at the Reaper, who had walked right up to me.
-Hum!
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