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207th Chapter. The Fox’s Grudge (1)

‘As expected, something has happened.’

Luska, wandering around the mid-slope of Purgatory Mountain, immediately sensed the danger.

A massive troop was marching in from outside the village.

Each group comprising dark spirits, dragons, and beastmen were at the peak of national military power.

But there were those capable of commanding troops of comparable strength present at this Academy.

`Are they so eager to ruin the Great Sage’s memorial?`

Even Luska, who had always just moved about, had some knowledge of history.

The Great Sage, who extended grace to innocent people, ended up making numerous enemies in the process.

Groups that caused chaos within the Empire’s territory were driven out beyond the wretched borders.

Those advancing now were indeed them.

Just as the Spirit King Shaikar had said, things had unfolded this way.

`How did Radon come into contact with the Spirit King…?`

I don’t know how that connection was formed, but the Spirit King had said that on the final day of the festival, the dead would reappear.

Discovering who one of them was left Luska in shock.

Though he had vanished, he was his ultimate nemesis. Even that Enviel could be subdued.

That smell was still vividly remembered.

“…!!”

A foul stench pierced Luska’s nostrils.

Being of the Yoho tribe, Luska had an exceptional sense of smell, honed to the point where he could distinguish people.

Of course, the more intense the stench, the stronger the ill fate it signified.

Luska aimed his bow in the direction of the source of the foul smell.

<Wild Shot>

Countless arrows composed of aura rained down fiercely.

Each arrow held more power than Luska’s utmost strength from his first year, accurately hitting the invisible enemy.

“…!!”

At that moment, the hidden figure drew a sword and deflected all those arrows with their blade.

By offsetting the aura contained in the arrows with his pure swordsmanship, he neutralized them all.

Displaying overwhelming swordsmanship, the master smiled slyly and admired it.

“Hahaha! This tactical martial arts participation isn’t too bad. I’ve lessened my blending with the forest.”

“No matter how well you hide, you can’t conceal that disgusting stench. Talema End Hall Papias.”

Once the King of Papias Kingdom and a war fanatic, Talema.

His mother, Angela, and himself had all suffered due to that guy.

His mother was used as a puppet and died in action, Angela was experimented on, and he himself was reduced to a soldier.

Just thinking about what their family endured at his hands made Luska feel like losing his sanity.

“Talema…? Hah, it seems you know me after all.”

However, that guy didn’t remember him. It was quite an absurd situation.

“Are you resenting me?”

“Can’t you tell just by looking at my face?”

“I’m sorry, but I have no memory of you. Besides you, I don’t recall any living memories at all.”

Talema had lost even the feelings of that time. He claimed to feel no emotion even when reviewing documents about his former self.

“The only thing I can do now is rampage until I feel that emotion again. I suppose you could say that this is also my instinct.”

He had already been infamous for his thirst for blood even when alive.

His acts of slaughter weren’t due to the corpses; it was simply the flesh recalling the memories.

“Then don’t you want to regain that memory from back then?”

“How?”

“I heard that those resurrected by your RE-Union recall their past right before death.”

“And so?”

As Talema raised his mouth corners, Luska opened his eyes sharply and aimed his arrow.

“I’ll make you remember!”

With that shout, another rain of arrows cascaded down.

At that moment, Luska detected the smell of many people.

No, not people, but corpses.

Swoosh—

Emerging from behind Talema, they each nullified Luska’s arrows one by one.

The winds generated by swords and axes imbued with aura, or shields deployed by spells.

Those defending the arrows also emitted a smell similar to Talema’s.

“What is this, not even Halloween!”

Though they appeared to be moving normally, they were all corpses.

People who had once passed away. Beings that should never exist in this world.

The moment they appeared, raindrops began to fall.

“Of all times, it had to start raining.”

The intensifying rain kicked up spray everywhere.

With everything washed away, Luska’s once-keen sense of smell became numb.

“Wait a minute. Is this rain…?”

No, his sense of smell hadn’t perished yet.

It was simply that the unpleasant smell from the raindrops masked all other scents.

“You’re quite perceptive. Have you heard of Diablo Rain?”

Known as the Demon Rain, a curse.

It unleashes a massive cloud in a certain area, causing cursed rain to fall.

If a normal person is exposed to those raindrops for an extended period, they would lose their life within 15 minutes.

“Are you planning to kill everyone?”

“Essentially, that’s our leader’s goal. Isn’t it exciting to think of all the people dying in Aligieri, where so many have gathered?”

Blessed with the robust body of the Yoho tribe, Luska could withstand the rain.

But the others had neither the strength nor formed mana within them.

They were like being thrown into a room filled with poisonous gas without any protection.

“You filthy bastard!”

As Talema grinned with glee, Luska expressed extreme disgust.

She used to not care about who lived or died, but ever since the Nine-Tailed Fox Incident, that had changed dramatically.

As she searched for a reason to live, Luska naturally realized what was important in this world.

The Talema before her, whose personality had been improved, looked like a rotting, fly-ridden tomato.

“I can’t stop now. Even if you kill us, this won’t end unless the weather changes!”

A multitude of corpse soldiers brandished their weapons and charged.

Despite being called soldiers, most had once been adventurers, so their swordsmanship was no joke.

“Ugh!”

With not a single error in their sword paths, several attacked simultaneously without a chance of overlapping.

Yet, Luska was skillfully evading all their attacks.

She used her elbow to split the arc of an axe incoming from the left while simultaneously blocking a sword from the right with her bow.

Whoosh!—

The wind magic coming straight at her from the front trapped the corpse sneaking up from behind, using it as a shield to block.

“Blood Storm!”

Luska’s bow transformed into a double-edged sword, glowing red in her hands.

As Luska accelerated rapidly, the corpses did the same with their leg power focused.

Leaving behind various afterimages, they exchanged blows dozens of times.

Boom! Crack!—

Hundreds of trees were chopped to pieces like matchsticks.

Dozens of massive rocks were crushed like onions.

Sounds of tearing filled the air over and over again.

An enormous act of destruction unfolded, yet the movements of those involved went undetected.

This phenomenon, as if witnessing an invisible giant hacking at each other, occurred in merely one second.

And within the next five seconds… countless heads flew into the air.

Swish swish—

In the blink of an eye, red afterimages surged through the ranks of corpses.

The corpses with swords, as well as those supporting from a distance with magic, were sliced in half.

Most of the corpses were annihilated in an instant.

“Gasp… Gasp…”

Having taken down the foes in that brief period, Luska stopped to catch her breath.

However, her body was filled with wounds from the battle.

Raindrops seeped into her injuries, mixing blood with drops that fell to the ground.

`Damn, just these guys are this much…!`

All were former mercenaries and adventurers, having once been significant in their past lives.

Considering she’d taken them down simply with swordsmanship, the injuries didn’t feel too regrettable.

The problem was none other than Talema.

Keeping these guys at bay was tough; how could she possibly take down that monster called Talema?

Moreover, the procession of corpses was far from over.

“You fight better than I expected. This year’s tactical martial arts participants seem decent.”

“Kuh…!”

“But can you withstand such large numbers?”

It seemed she had taken down quite a few, but there were still many left.

The quantity was such that she would have to endure several more battles like the previous one.

Swoosh!—

As the corpses charged again, she raised her sword to block.

Indeed, since they had been skilled at one time, simply blocking their attack released powerful gusts.

Three of them pressed against Luska simultaneously, yet the robust strength of the Yoho tribe allowed her to withstand it.

“Hey buddy! Do you know what the weather is like right now?”

“That bastard!”

While fighting, Luska felt anger rise at Talema’s frivolous chatter.

But for some reason, he was perched atop a tree.

Even other corpses had climbed somewhere high up.

Except for the trio blocking Luska’s movements.

“On such a rainy day, the ground must be moist, and that dampened ground…”

Zzzt!—

“Ugh!”

Powerful lightning flowed from Talema’s hands and the staffs of the magic corpses.

Several lightning spells, appearing to be at least mid-tier, permeated into the ground.

Luska tried to dodge immediately, but the three kept blocking her.

“Shit…!”

In that moment, enormous thunder struck.

In a flash of light, the trees disintegrated and the mountain’s veins collapsed.

Repeated lightning spells caused the mountainside to lose shape, resulting in a landslide that descended.

Countless piles of stones and earth surged like a wave, swallowing the village.

The hot spring district nearby was swept away by the landslide.

“Ha! I’m curious if you can endure this.”

Talema, having freed his face from the buried dirt, spoke with a smile.

It seemed that a portion of the mountain, which had been at a considerable height, had collapsed and washed away to here.

He was wiping the dirt from his clothes.

“Are you serious, you evaded that?”

Suddenly looking up at the sky, something hovered before Talema’s eyes.

A fox girl radiating a bright light like the sun was soaring through the dark sky.

And that girl was holding Luska, who had narrowly avoided a direct hit by the lightning.

“Phew~ That was close.”

“Angela?”

“Did you think I’d let you get shocked?”

“Of course! How could I not be surprised!”

Just before the lightning struck, Angela had dashed in to save her.

The nine tails of Angela were bestowed with special divine power, allowing her to float in the air.

Having quickly rescued her sister, Angela lightly drew on her own blood to heal her wounds, and then, somewhat disappointed, said,

“Do you still consider me a protector?”

“Are you seriously asking that?”

Angela’s existence became a turning point in Luska’s life.

Fueled by the urgency of not losing her only family, the determination to protect her sister surged.

“That’s the same for me. You’re my only family too.”

“….”

“We’ve repeated getting closer, but there’s something we’ve never done.”

They had met, talked, and played. Everything had been covered.

In the mundane sense, that is.

“This fight isn’t just your problem.”

Angela’s eyes sharpened as she gazed at Talema.

It was finally time to return the pain that had been inflicted on the sisters.

“Yes, you’re right.”

“But you’ve become heavier than before.”

“What the hell!”

Luska’s eyes widened at the sensitive comment.

It was the moment she wanted to scold Talema for breaking the atmosphere suddenly.

Whoosh!—

Zap!—

Wind magic and magic missiles flew toward them.

Angela nimbly dodged them all with her skilled flying.

“It wasn’t just you having fun this whole time! I still remember that incident like it was yesterday!”

After the Nine-Tailed Fox Incident, Angela had experienced several nightmares.

The guilt from having once harmed innocent people beckoned temptation. She had grown her divine power to shake that off.

Not as a monster fox holding murderous intent, but as a steadfast saint infused with divine power.

“Today is the moment to make up for that incident.”

It had also been raining like this then.

She had cast a curse that put people to sleep, spreading murderous intent.

But upon becoming a saint, she gained the ability to radiate the opposite property.

“In this way!!”

Reaching the skies over Aligieri, Angela began to shine brightly.

The Diablo Rain that steals lives.

Though she couldn’t change the weather, it was possible to emit light that purifies all the raindrops.

“Unfortunately, I’ll leave handling that guy to you.”

“Got it.”

“And as I mentioned before, you’re not alone.”

With that, Angela tossed Luska toward Talema.

Meanwhile, watching the exchange, Talema wore a dumbfounded expression.

“The purifying light, I wonder how long you can maintain it.”

“Well, let’s see.”

At that moment, someone spoke from behind, and a sword was swung.

He barely ducked, avoiding the sword as he frantically said.

“Wait! It’s me! I’m here!”

“No way, it’s Prince Karis!”

Talema was startled by Karis’s sudden appearance.

The life energy emanating from him was undeniably that of Prince Karis.

But had Karis really been skilled enough to dodge that previous strike?

“What brings you here, Your Highness?”

“What else?”

A fishing rod was clasped in Karis’s hand.

Talema tilted his head at the rather unimpressive fishing rod.

Swish!!—

With a speed like a sword, the fishing rod was swung.

“Today is the day to catch a big fish.”

The rod emitted the energies of two spirits, and with that tremendous power behind it, Karis’s eyes went wide.

He barely managed to spring off the ground, dodging the blow.

But one of his arms, attached to his shoulder, vanished.

Survival as an Academy Scammer.

 

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