The Hero In The Military academy Suit

Chapter 20

Part02 NO MEDICINE FOR A MAD DOG

“I don’t remember doing anything wrong to you,”

I replied grumpily, and Denas shrugged.

“I’m not doing this because I have any bad feelings toward you.”

“But still, why show up during my maintenance time to mess with me?”

“Personal training time isn’t ideal for a proper showdown.”

“Sounds like you just want to strip off my guard and beat me senseless.”

“Is that a no?”

“What are you going to do if I say no?”

“Well, I might think about picking on someone else. Maybe Cory or Urshus.”

Denas glanced at Cory and Urshus.

What a pathetic attempt at being a villain.

“Stop pretending to be a bad guy when it doesn’t suit you.”

It’s a universal truth that good guys often lose, but even bad guys need to fit the role.

 If you force yourself to act like a villain, it’ll just eat you up from the inside.

“Anyway, you should be thankful Ludwig left early. If he were here, your eyes might have been filled with his power.”

“Method?”

“Until one of us is powerless or loses consciousness.”

“You’re serious, huh? What about gear?”

“Full gear.”

“Hey, you do remember we handed back all our armoured parts, right? Do you think the instructors will let this slide?”

“I’ve already gotten permission,” Denas said, shrugging and showing me a piece of paper. It was a permission slip from the commandant allowing the duel between us trainees.

“That old man’s losing it.”

I muttered, and the other trainees gasped, but I didn’t care.

“What’s his excuse for allowing it?”

“He said that if it’s for the improvement of the trainees, the method or form doesn’t matter.”

“Really? Nice answer. You’d better remember that. You’re a witness, right?”

“I don’t get what you’re saying. Why are you so angry?”

“Angry?”

I scoffed.

“Angry? You got it wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m excited right now.”

This was like the so-called villains setting the stage for me.

The prey stack is just coming right to me.

“Get your weapon out, you bastard.”

I closed the distance in an instant and thrust my spear at him.

And I smiled.

Two Days Ago

Training Camp Situation Room

Knock, knock.

Two knocks echoed, and Commandant Conrad, who had been reading a newspaper at an angle, stood up.

“It’s Denas.”

“Come in.”

Denas opened the door and saluted.

Conrad waved his hand casually, signalling for Denas to take a seat across from him.

Denas sat stiffly, his face showing discomfort.

“How’s your training going?”

“Thanks to your concern, it’s going great. I couldn’t ask for more.”

Denas immediately regretted his words, realizing he might have made a mistake.

 His eyes darted around nervously.

It felt like he was worried he’d made it sound like Conrad had given him special treatment.

But Conrad didn’t seem to care.

“Have I been paying much attention? Now there’s only more to keep an eye on.”

“I’m grateful that you chose me for the recommendation, even though I already have a lot of debt. I won’t forget this favour.”

Among the trainees, Denas was the one chosen by Conrad.

More precisely, he was the only one who applied, but Conrad didn’t feel the need to mention that.

“More importantly, there’s something I need you to do.”

“Yes, what is it?”

Normally, someone would have called a young kid like him arrogant, but Conrad didn’t mind.

The kid wasn’t being disrespectful or rude.

 He was just inexperienced and didn’t know how to talk to someone of a different rank.

His expression and tone might seem a bit rough, but when given an order, he follows without complaining.

He’s been like this since he was very young.

“Your task is to expel Russell Ashgreen from the academy.”

“Can I use any means necessary?”

“If it’s a problem I can handle, then you can go as far as you need. You decide the methods.”

“Understood.”

Denas nodded.

Conrad was Russell’s supporter if Viltried exists.

Conrad had been watching the boy closely since he was very young.

As long as the boy proved his talent, their relationship would remain beneficial for as long as needed.

“Just as I thought, you don’t waste words.”

“Are my younger siblings in good health?”

“Yeah. I heard the letters were sent. Haven’t you received them?”

“I got them the first week, but I haven’t checked them yet.”

“They’ll be delivered soon.”

Denas nodded.

Asking what would happen if I didn’t win was something I couldn’t afford to do.

No matter what, I had to win.

[Hunting Time] Stage 2

As [Hunting Time] levelled up to Stage 2, the weaknesses detected by [Eyes of the Hunt] started increasing in real-time.

“It seems the weaknesses I can see depend on the strength of the target.”

Through this duel, I almost fully understood the effect of [Eyes of the Hunt].

The intensity of the activation changes depending on the gap between the opponent and me.

As the [Hunting Time] stack accumulated, the gap between us started closing, and the weaknesses I detected through [Eyes of the Hunt] grew rapidly.

Whoosh-!

I deflected the punch he intended at my head, gaining space before lightly pushing to keep him at a distance.

Without the armoured mail that had once saved my life, I would have been more cautious in my movements during the fight.

“Your skills are kind of disappointing compared to your mouth.”

“Aren’t we supposed to talk after landing a hit?”

Denas flicked away the blood dripping down from his cheek with his thumb.

The thin red line on his face started to fade away.

[Wind of Regeneration]

One of his signature abilities.

As time passed, wounds healed and stamina regenerated.

Unless the wounds were serious, a little time would be enough to heal, making it a typical tanking ability.

It was one of his defining features that allowed him to be so effective throughout the story.

“Fighting him directly is kind of a hassle.”

So, fighting in a dirty, sneaky way was probably the smart thing to do.

I stepped forward with my left foot and threw the javelin, extending it far.

I tightened my grip on the shaft, preparing to thrust with maximum range using the tip of the spear.

It was a middle-range attack that made it awkward for him to counter immediately after deflecting.

Following my strategy, instead of charging into the spear’s reach, he chose to retreat.

He had just tried to rush in, but got slammed by my shield and then took a series of quick, savage stabs, ending up rolling on the floor.

As soon as he tried to create some distance, I stepped forward and pushed my spear deeper.

But Denas quickly raised both hands to block, as if to form a guard.

 He immediately pulled back and kept his distance.

He had to stay out of middle range, otherwise a spear would be coming at him.

Close-range spear attacks were powerful.

‘This is tricky.’

Denas’s face clearly showed what he was thinking.

I could tell he was thinking the same thing.

He hadn’t fully grown yet. 

His skills were still just the level of a local street thug.

But when you combined his natural reflexes, stamina, and tanking abilities, he became like an indestructible little tank, shrugging off most attacks.

Denas raised his guard and charged at me like a wild boar.

Just because he raised his guard didn’t mean he wasn’t aggressive.

His weapon was a pair of large, sharp-edged shields that could be used both for defence and offence.

More specifically, it was a removable shield-sword combo that covered from his wrists to his elbows.

Usually, people talk about hitting with shields, but he used them for both blocking and striking.

Clang!

My spear hit his shield and bounced off.

Denas blocked, hit, and then slashed.

He swung his elbow quickly, like throwing an elbow punch. 

At the end of it, there was a force strong enough to carve a gash into the skin with just one hit.

But honestly,

I already knew his weaknesses at the trainee level without needing to use [Eyes of the Hunt].

I immediately dropped my body low.

I felt a few strands of hair get cut, but I quickly escaped to Denas’s left.

In his eyes, I probably vanished in an instant.

Though his shield-sword combo seemed like it would be perfect for close combat, it only worked when he had the physical or skill advantage, which he didn’t right now.

The two shields covering his upper body were more of an obstruction when facing a brainy opponent.

I instantly slammed my heel into the back of his knee.

His tall frame of about 190 cm staggered.

 I quickly grabbed my spear and swung it to slam into his temple.

Gah!

A dying scream followed.

As Denas collapsed, I thrust my spear into his abdomen, driving it into the ground.

I could feel it rip through his thick flesh, embedding into the floor.

Blood sprayed like a fountain.

I could hear gasps and screams from all around.

But even with this, I couldn’t fully defeat him. 

He was notorious for his insane regenerative abilities, earning him the nickname “Zombie Denas.”

I pulled the spear out and stabbed down at Denas’s right upper arm, then followed with his left arm, right leg, and left leg.

Like a witch pinning nails into a straw doll, I drove five spears into his limbs before I stopped and caught my breath.

This wasn’t the kind of cruelty you’d see in a trainee-level fight.

 It was more like outright violent suppression.

Even so, seeing the opposition in his eyes as he glared at me, I knew I hadn’t been excessive in my actions.

“Surrender. Next time, it’s your neck.”

I twirled my last spear and aimed for his throat.

He glared at me, refusing to admit defeat, but the stench of blood and the way his resolve hesitated showed he was already my prey.

The instructors, who had rushed in, quickly restrained me and pulled the spear from Denas’s body as they carried him off.

The crowd went completely silent as if cold water had been poured on them.

The bloodthirsty efficiency of my actions was so unbelievable that the name “Russell” would be permanently etched into the trainees’ minds as “the crazy one.”