The Academy's Deceased Ate It All

A notification popped up in front of me.

[Minerva’s power is shattered!]

[You have accomplished an unbelievable feat! As a reward….]

That was the last I saw.

Minerva’s wailing scream robbed me of all my senses, but I somehow managed to break free from her fangs that sank into my body.

“Ji-Hyuk…!”

(Ye-Seul, get back in there!)

Seeing the large fangs embedded in my body, Ye-Seul freaked out and tried to escape the shadows, but when she heard my shout, she sunk back in.

She stuck out her right arm and grabbed the deeply embedded Nidhogg’s Fang.

She tensed a few times to pull it out, then let go, seemingly giving up.

Then, Minerva’s poisonous breath washed over us.

I could feel it seeping through my wounds, and for a moment, I thought I heard someone scream.

I grabbed the half-extracted Nidhogg’s Fang.

[How dare a fake with no honor touch my body!]

Minerva’s body shook, and then she suddenly stopped.

Suddenly, her mouth opened as a golem pulled her jaws apart. I was able to escape in the next moment.

[Piss off!]

With a crunching sound, the giant golem was shattered under her teeth.

I raised my arm above me to block anything from hitting my head.

“Hmph!”

Then, a man stood over me with two swords, swinging them at the oncoming rubble, and even sent an intangible blow to Minerva’s face.

Ossie smirked as he watched the scar on Minerva’s face, then glanced at me.

“Good work, but get back!”

And with that, he lunged for Minerva.

Following in his wake, a woman with flowing blue hair and a spear of ice rushed forward, and Myung-Joon, with lightning crackling all over his body, let out a roar and charged at Minerva.

[Where are you going, where are you going!]

Swords, ice, lightning, blue flames… Even amid a spectacle I doubted even a dragon like her could withstand, Minerva’s pupils only looked at me.

Her amber-colored eyes turned crimson in an instant.

[You are poisoned with a deadly venom!]

[The power of the poison is reduced by a significant amount due to your high resistance level!]

As soon as I saw the notification, I immediately thought of Ye-Seul.

I quickly looked for her to hide in the shadows and…

(…Ye-Seul?)

I could see that she had fainted, with her right arm turned to mush.

I quickly pulled her out of the shadows, and a foul odor assaulted my nose.

(Ah.)

The smell came from her blackened right arm. It seems she was hit during the brief moment she was out.

Unlike Nidhogg’s Fang, which ate away from the inside, Minerva’s breath was an acidic poison that destroyed the outside.

That’s why she could retain the form of her arm, which was a testament to her physical prowess.

(Ye-Seul, wake up! Hey!)

“…Ah, urghh.”

She struggled to swallow a painful groan.

She had a cold sweat, a pale complexion, and, most importantly, a right arm that was rotting away.

I only had one person I could turn to.

(Svengali!!!)

I called out, and as if waiting for me, he appeared in the body of the Thorn Bird.

I carefully handed over Ye-Seul, who I was holding in my arms, to him and said.

(Go and find Ahn Joo-Hyuk. He should be a familiar face to you. Go and tell him to cure Ye-Seul.)

Svengali didn’t say anything, only cringed in his thorny body.

The thorns extending from his body carefully grabbed Ye-Seul’s body.

(Stay strong, I will never let you die…)

At that moment, Ye-Seul moved her hand and grabbed my arm.

Unlike her usual gesture, it didn’t contain the slightest hint of strength.

“Ji-Hyuk…”

She gasped and sobbed.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…I ruined everything….”

(There’s nothing to be sorry about.)

I said, squeezing her hand.

(You did well. I’ll take care of the rest, so just relax.)

“I was…helpful.?”

Wordlessly, I nodded as I gently wiped her sweaty forehead.

(Yes. You did plenty.)

“I’m glad…”

With that, she closed her eyes.

Svengali immediately picked her up and started flying away.

I watched for a moment and then checked the time remaining.

Six minutes.

In six minutes, the King of Thorns would be released.

I had to finish it before then.

Breathing heavily, I forged another spear of thorns and held it in my hand.

The Ten Strongest, realizing that their attacks were finally working, matched each other’s footsteps and fired furiously at her, but none of them were able to inflict a fatal wound on her.

[Get lost; I have neither the time nor the heart to tangle with you!]

Minerva shouted as she let out a roar into the void.

Then, a distinct change began to take place in her body.

A vivid red liquid that looked like blood oozed from the crimson-colored areas carved into her like a pattern.

It flowed down her scales, forming a geometric pattern.

It looked like she was drenched in blood.

– Roaaaarrr!!!

Wuwei roared in defiance, and her body began to shake and tremble.

An eastern dragon facing a western dragon.

The pupils in Wuwei’s eyes seemed to disappear, and then a flashing light emanated from them as if they were incandescent.

There was a standoff for a long time.

(What the hell is she trying to do…?)

Suddenly, I heard a strange noise and saw a large shadow fall.

I gazed at the sky, and my breath caught in my throat.

It was a meteorite.

A meteorite was falling from the sky.

It was the power of Lee Wuwei, a member of the Ten Strongest, a hero of the old country, and the embodiment of the female dragon.

– ROOAAARRRR!!!

[Hmph.]

And Minerva, now covered in crimson instead of black gray, sneered quietly.

Her amber eyes were crimson, darker than blood, and her already massive and intimidating horns were even more menacing.

[How about you…]

The rubble of the buildings around them began to rattle and tremble, and the ground started to shake as if there had been an earthquake.

“Stop.”

And then Anastasia raised her hands in the air, forming an uncanny pattern and gesturing as if she were about to swing something at Minerva.

Then there was a snap and a sound like something breaking.

It sounded like ice cracking or a tree splitting in winter when its sap is frozen.

Then Minerva’s massive body began to freeze, and instantly, she was trapped in ice.

Just a moment ago, she had been a stone statue, and now she was an ice sculpture.

However, Anastasia’s expression turned grim.

It grew harsher each second, and Minerva’s frozen body began to shake and tremble.

“Hurry up…!”

Before she could call out, the giant knight was already swinging his warhammer with all his might.

Just before it made contact, Minerva’s tail pierced the knight in the center of his chest.

“Kirk…!”

“Mr. Richards!”

Someone screamed.

The giant knight tumbled, spitting up blood.

Shards of ice shattered and scattered.

Minerva, unharmed, simply watched the meteorite fall toward her.

Soon after, she spewed a ragged breath at the meteorite falling towards her.

No, it wasn’t a breath.

It was pure mana.

She had compressed the mana in her body to a high density, released it, and shot it out like a missile.

The meteorite that had fallen from the sky disappeared without a trace.

[You were an eyesore since the beginning.]

Minerva flew straight at Wuwei.

She hastily tried to dodge, but her movements were sluggish. She had poured out all her mana for the previous attack.

– Arghhhh!!!

An agonized scream rang out, followed by a stream of hot blood falling like rain.

Biting down on Wuwei’s body, Minerva shook her roughly with her mouth, intent on taking her life. Dragon blood splattered everywhere as she did so.

[I won’t be bothering you anymore.]

Minerva, who had thrown Wuwei aside, muttered calmly.

I grabbed the Thorn Spear and was about to charge at her.

[Ah.]

My eyes locked with hers.

[There you are.]

And her pupils were dilated as if she were overjoyed.

Her mouth, small and open, was dripping with Wuwei’s blood as it trickled down her chin.

[My lovely enemy.]

With those words, she looked at me.

Or, to be more precise, she was not looking at me but at the King of Thorns, which was wrapped around my body.

[Svengali…So that’s how it is…]

She muttered quietly.

[How dare he.]

[I’ll use you as a toothpick later.]

Minerva slowly moved her head and began to look at me as if examining me.

[But, my dear, how have you become so frail? Your legs are trembling, and your posture is shaking…]

[…….]

I wordlessly grabbed the spear.

The Thorn Crown had long since been lifted.

I had roughly two minutes left.

That’s enough time for at least one more clash.

I tried to use the Thorn Coffin again.

[How could 300 years make you so weak….]

She was unable to finish her sentence.

A pillar of light fell from the sky and engulfed Minerva.

Other pillars of light followed, expanding the circle of light.

It was Aegis.

“Somehow, I’m not late.”

Then, someone walked up and touched me on the shoulder.

It was Joo-hyuk, a member of the Ten Strongest and the only healer present.

“You must be Ji-Hyuk, right? Do you remember me?”

I nodded and held my hand, asking him to wait a moment.

Then I formed a bow from the branch of the World Tree, nocked the Thorn Spear like an arrow, and aimed it at the pillar of light where Minerva was trapped.

(…Will my attack get through?)

He didn’t seem too surprised to hear my voice.

“One of my favorite features of the Aegis is that when it’s incinerating something like that, it still allows us to attack.”

I let go of the bowstring I was pulling without hesitation.

As I watched the spear get sucked into the circle of light, I could also see the others attacking it.

“The girl is healed; thankfully, the poison hasn’t seeped into her bones, and her body is so strong that she should be able to move like she used to after a few days of rest.”

I felt my body relax.

As I sank to the ground, he ran his hands over my body.

“…That’s amazing; you’re naturally rejecting the touch of my mana. Do you think you’ll need any treatment?”

(The others…?)

“You’re the last one… Richards can stand on his own… I don’t know about Wuwei.”

(Thanks for the healing.)

I muttered that under my breath because I could feel my whole body feeling the aftereffect of King of Thorns.

At the same time, I felt a draining sensation that seemed to consume my entire body.

“Okay, I’m sorry, but can you take that off? My magic and healing can’t work with that armor on–”

(…What?)

I let out a dumbfounded question as Joo-Hyuk disappeared while I was speaking.

Immediately afterward, I heard the sound of a building’s wall being smashed as if something had been slammed into it.

“…….”

A woman stared down at me.

Pausing in a kicked position, she glared at me and slowly began to pull her legs back into place.

On her head were two large horns.

Large and imposing just like Minerva’s.

“Why are you so tense?”

She smiled at me, muttering in a beautiful voice.

“It’s not like this is the first time you’ve seen me like this.”

Her crimson eyes widened as she looked at me.

Immediately, her legs flew out, aiming for my face.