Became a Dark Merchant in the Academy - Chapter 280



279 – Fake_1

‘You want to take my life?’

If it were normal, I would have told him to be polite and told him not to talk nonsense.

Elizabeth Hudson couldn’t ignore the masked man’s sudden appearance and noisy speech.

There were two reasons.

Firstly, it was because I was tired from fighting against the S-class of the Eastern Military Alliance.

Secondly, the mana that began to flow out of the man’s body after those words was beyond imagination.

He was simply pressing down on the island itself by releasing mana.

It’s as if hundreds of thousands of mana power users are gathering together and releasing mana at the same time.

I wondered if a top-tier S-class mana ability user who was active during the war could show a similar appearance even if he released his full mana.

It was never an amount that one person could afford.

Of course, mana amount is not an absolute indicator of skill.

There aren’t many, but there are some who have more mana than an S-class mana ability user, but still remain at the A-class level.

‘But this is…’

Just looking at it made my head naturally lower and my knees reflexively bend.

If I hadn’t consciously controlled it, I might have already given up and surrendered.

Even if you underestimate your opponent by saying that he is just a jerk with a lot of mana and has no experience or skills.

If he were to strengthen his body with that mana, that man’s body would become as hard and strong as a diamond, if not harder.

If he were to pour out magic, even if it was just a simple low-level magic like Fireball, it would clearly show power comparable to mid-level, or even top-level magic.

However, on the other hand, he himself was exhausted from fighting against the S-class of the Donggun Alliance.

The power that can be produced now is less than half of the usual amount.

No matter how you looked at it, there was no chance of winning.

“….”

And it seems that the priestess Himeko, or Inazuma, sitting across from her, also clearly realizes this fact.

Elizabeth Hudson saw her, who had always pretended to be relaxed, biting her lip and looking terrified.

“Mom, you came to take my life? Why?”

She must have decided that fighting was impossible no matter what, so she asked the masked man in a trembling voice.

It seemed like they were trying to find out the reason and negotiate.

“Is there any reason I should tell you?”

“…There’s no need to fight unnecessarily, right?”

“Are we arguing? You and I? That’s ridiculous.”

“…Ugh.”

The man chuckled slightly, as if he found Inazuma’s remark quite amusing.

Then Inazuma got angry and tried to say something, but his instincts stopped him and he kept his mouth shut.

“Well, it’s still pitiful that I can’t say a word to King Yeomra when I go to the afterlife. I’ll tell you why. ‘We’ want a war between the Holy Empire and the Eastern Alliance.”

“War…?”

Elizabeth responded to the man’s words.

That was understandable, as he could not dismiss the talk of starting a war between the Holy Empire and the Alliance of the Armies as empty talk.

“Yes, it is war.”

“What the heck is that…”

“Why don’t you think it’s not possible? You’re going to be the fertilizer. Don’t you think you’re underestimating yourself? I think it’s ambiguous to say this to people who are going to die soon. Be confident.”

“…”

It is possible.

If you kill yourself and Inazuma here, you will cause the two to perish together.

Since public opinion in both countries is already worsening due to the dispute over the truth about the Cheon Gong Island crash, this could serve as a fuse.

But war is not that easy…

“And if that’s not enough, you can just add a little more spice. For example, the old man I tried to kill but missed, called Taylor, was actually killed by the Donggun Alliance’s plot. You found that odd, so you investigated and found out that he was killed by the Donggun Alliance again. The Donggun Alliance’s daughter was murdered by the Holy Empire. Something like that.”

“…what?”

An old man named Taylor.

“You’re not Taylor?”

“Oh, you didn’t know? Well, it’s good that you know now. But more than that…”

-bang!!!!!!!!!

“Ahhh!”

“Mr. Inazuma. Don’t you think it’s a bit much to abandon your friend and run away on your own using illusions?”

The man’s body flashed.

Inazuma appeared 100 meters away and grabbed the head of Inazuma, who was slowly running away, and threw him to the ground.

“Anyway, I’m not usually very talkative. But since you explained the situation to me so kindly, please just die.”

I understood, but it didn’t work.

Then why did the S-class heroes of the Eastern Alliance attack the intelligence agents of the Holy Empire?

And why did that guy show up here?

If you really want a war, you could just watch Inazuma and yourself fight and deal with it later.

If not, wouldn’t it be better to only keep one side alive and cause misunderstandings?

‘Are you decorating something more?’

In an instant, a thousand confusions filled Elizabeth Hudson’s mind.

From noble mtl dot com

But there was no time to think deeply about it.

He was walking towards Inazuma, his face turned into gravel and dirt.

Elizabeth Hudson swallowed hard, gathering her mana with trembling hands.

**

It wasn’t difficult to subdue them both.

No, to be exact, it was too easy.

The reason for this is simply because I am much stronger than those two combined.

Another reason is that the two of them had been fighting before I came, so they weren’t in good physical condition.

It seemed as if he was scared by the overwhelming amount of mana visible to his eyes, and his actions were even a beat slower than usual.

Even so, if they had trusted each other and worked together well, something unexpected might have happened.

This was because one side was always looking for an opportunity to run away to survive, while the other side was always trying to get in their way.

To be honest, even if an S-class hero of similar ranking to those two were here in my place, I don’t think they would be unable to subdue those two.

“My… way….”

“Uh… please, spare me. Whatever you order me to do, I will follow.”

By the way, even though they are both S-class heroes and the ultimate safety device for society, I think the reactions are very different.

Because all the S-class heroes I’ve met so far have shown their anger until the very end, no matter what happens to them, unless they are threatened by others.

Even though S-class heroes lack brains and strength, I thought they had their own heroic spirit.

Elizabeth, who was lying on her right leg, looked like she had given up, with all of her bones broken and bleeding to the point of death.

Inazuma, who was lying on the left side of the stairs, had only a slightly split face, a few broken ribs, and his hands and feet were bent 180 degrees, but he was desperately trying to live, begging for his life, saying that he would do anything to survive.

“I will follow whatever you order me to do? That’s ridiculous.”

But it seems like he hasn’t been able to change his usual speaking habits, so he still speaks politely.

It was truly a funny sight.

“Ah. Anything… I’ll follow, follow… it. So… my… Gyaaak!”

Inazuma’s face turned pale at my comment.

And he quickly tried to correct his words.

However, before she could finish speaking, I stepped on her head.

‘It doesn’t feel good.’

As expected, the head that felt the best when stepped on was Anzeroth.

“It’s noisy. Should I kill you right away?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I’m sorry.”

“If you knew you were sorry, you shouldn’t have done it in the first place.”

“crime…”

“Okay. You don’t seem to have a brain, so your head is useless. I’ll just step on you a little more.”

“─!!!”

Still, when I saw the person who had been acting so confident through my telescope earlier, rolling around on the ground miserably and peeing at the slightest threat, it wasn’t all that bad.

So I kept stepping on it, and it flinched a few times with a muffled sound before it soon fell flat.

Perhaps it was the adrenaline that had been blocking the pain that had been building up until now and the fact that I was stepping on it that made it difficult to breathe, that made me seem to have passed out.

“It’s not fun.”

This was a strength that couldn’t even be used as a tool.

Even though Ines’ whole body was covered in charcoal from the bomb, she responded energetically.

Even if the Paladin’s arms and legs were blown off dozens of times, his mouth remained alive.

I shook my head and turned my gaze to Elizabeth.

“Aren’t you begging for your life?”

“Me… why? Since I’m going to kill you anyway.”

You’re going to kill me anyway.

That is wrong.

Although he clearly said he came to take lives, it was only a second-best option in case things didn’t go his way.

That’s why you’re not falling into the trap yourself.

I had no intention of killing him right now.

“You never know. If you make me happy, I might be moved and change my mind.”

“Death… woman.”

“You have no regrets about life. Don’t you miss your family?”

“Death…”

“Or a friend? A lover? Or neither…”

“!…”

That’s why I spoke to him to kill some time before the intruder arrived after finishing his preparations.

Elizabeth’s body flinched for a moment.

“Lover? Oh, it seems you have a precious lover. Don’t you want to go back to that person?”

“you…”

“I feel bad. I’m sorry. I was presumptuous. If you tell me this, I’ll give you a special treat.”

“…”

“Does that sound like a lie? Well, then there’s nothing I can do about it. But isn’t life about trying things that have even a slight chance?”

His pupils trembled.

Perhaps it seemed like he was going through an internal conflict.

Because as humans, we don’t want to die.

Moreover, isn’t she living in a delusion?

“crime…”

Elizabeth bit her lip.

Then he closed his eyes tightly.

As expected, her choice was…

“There’s no need for that.”

In an instant, my body soared into the air.

And then a familiar voice rings out.

When he looked down in the direction where the sound had come from, he saw a one-armed man carrying Elizabeth and Inazuma on his shoulder.

It was the appearance of the long-awaited intruder.