I Possessed a Broken Academy Instructor - Chapter 75



Chapter 75

[The Zenolua family has kept their promise. Soon, they will gather their forces and head to District 1.]

“Oh dear, it seems the only trustworthy partner is the Consigliere. Ah, I suppose I must now call you the Matriarch. Congratulations, ha ha.”

Upon hearing the news that she had seized control of the Zenolua family, Geumganghyeok could not help but rejoice.

Now she held the power to command the murder company, and surely she could engage in a war of attrition against the PMC Black Mer, the loyal hound of Stero Mer.

Of course, her voice delivering this good news had a strangely subdued tone, but he paid it no mind.

Isn’t usurping a throne inherently a grueling task?

He knew this well, having experienced it himself.

Reaping the lives of those who had clung to each other, calling themselves kin and family, was indeed a source of considerable stress.

“I was worried that my excessive sentimentality might ruin things. I’m relieved I didn’t extend a hand to someone like Lucky.”

Geumganghyeok, with his characteristic warm smile, rose from the corpse he had been seated upon.

Naturally, his white suit pants were stained with blood, but being made of advanced fabric, the stains vanished as if they had never been there.

“Isn’t that right, Minsu?”

“…How do you know that name, Geumganghyeok?”

“It’s rather disappointing to hear you speak so casually, even if there are no eyes watching. We’ve shared a bond, after all.”

“…”

At Geumganghyeok’s words, Minsu’s expression hardened.

It was unthinkable for him, the public secretary, to speak informally to Geumganghyeok, the true ruler of Geumyoung Group, yet neither seemed to care.

It was only natural.

Just as Geumganghyeok had concealed his identity from Jin Crow, Minsu had merely hidden his own identity as Geumganghyeok’s secretary from others.

Thud-.

Min-soo let fall something round he had been holding, and Geum-gang-hyeok stopped it as it rolled to his feet, halting it like a soccer ball before giving it a gentle nudge to see it roll forward.

What came into view was a familiar face.

“Good to see you, Jimmy Silver. Is it alright if I write your full name on the gravestone? Oh, you’re honored? Thank you.”

He mocked the lips of the already decapitated Jimmy Silver, moving them with his shoe-clad foot as if they were his own.

Naturally, it was not a pleasant sight, and unlike before, Min-soo, having shed the mask of the secretary, openly cast a look of disdain.

“I hear the femme fatale of Carpe Diem caught wind of things and fled.”

“Wow, that lady is something else. How did she manage to escape?”

Even as he uttered his admiration, the pitch of his voice, as if he had expected it, only deepened the discomfort.

Perhaps that was the reason.

Min-soo sheathed the sword that bore a subtle resemblance to the style of the Holy Galactic Empire, the very blade that had severed Jimmy Silver’s neck, and spoke.

“Even if the Zenolua family mobilizes their assassination company, they’ll struggle against Stero Mer. You know that, don’t you?”

“Oh, of course.”

“Then why aren’t you moving your forces? I thought you said Stero Mer had to be cut down for the sake of the deal with the Empire.”

What followed Min-soo’s words could very well unleash a scandal of monumental proportions upon the Geum-young Group if they were to spill outside.

It was only natural, for he was acknowledging that he himself hailed from the Empire, and that the Empire was behind the Geum-young Group.

Moreover, there was a strange irritation woven into Min-soo’s words.

“The reason I’m playing along with your pathetic games here isn’t for any other reason; it’s all for the Empire. You haven’t forgotten that, have you?”

“Min-soo, that’s the problem. You do well when ordered, yet you complain too much. You think you’re a knight? You’re just a fallen one, really.”

“Is that what you call a statement…!”

Min-soo, furious at the blatant provocation, reached for his sword, but at Geum-gang-hyeok’s gesture, he found himself halted, the blade half-drawn, surrounded by the white-suited figures that had swiftly encircled him.

It was only to be expected.

With white masks covering their faces, they stood in formation, seemingly waiting for orders, and though they appeared flimsy, they were the true force behind Geum-gang-hyeok.

‘All of them are quad-gear level androids.’

They were the very driving force that had consumed the Geum family.

While he wouldn’t lose in a fight, it would certainly come with considerable cost.

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Moreover, should that happen, the deal with the Empire would fall apart. In such a case, the Empire would choose to dispose of him rather than continue dealings with Geum-gang-hyeok.

And Geum-gang-hyeok was a cunning creature who understood this fact all too well.

“Don’t bark if you can’t bite, Min-soo. And what’s wrong with the name? It’s endearing, isn’t it? I’d appreciate it if you’d shut up before I start calling you Dol-soo or Ddaeng-chil.”

In the end, all he could do was grit his teeth and endure once more.

“…I apologize, sir.”

“Alright. The way you’re curling your tail is quite a sight. If only you’d bare your belly as well.”

“…….”

Even in the face of the taunts that followed, Min-soo remained silent. At that, Geum Gang-hyeok, perhaps feeling the air grow stale, let out a soft chuckle and dismissed his troops.

Then, as if they had melded into the very surroundings, they slowly vanished from sight. Min-soo watched them go, his gaze lingering, before he finally spoke.

“So, why do you not move your forces?”

“Moving now would not be advantageous, would it?”

“Pardon?”

What on earth did that mean?

With a smirk at Min-soo’s bewildered expression, Geum Gang-hyeok took a drag from a cigarette he had pulled out from who knows where and murmured almost conspiratorially.

“After the Zenorua family crumbled to dust, if we were to seek out the instructors of the Synthetic Nation, wouldn’t the Empire gain something from it as well?”

Min-soo mulled over his words, and soon found himself nodding quietly in agreement.

Though it didn’t sit well with him, at least he was dealing with someone who wouldn’t lead him to ruin as a business partner.

*

“……This is absurd.”

Returning from the underground, Stero Mer could do nothing but chuckle dryly as he read the report summarizing the events of the past hour.

‘Jimmy Silver and Fatal are missing. Lucky Anubis is dead……. Geum Yeong and Tita Zenorua, huh.’

There was no doubt about it—a coup.

The troubling part was that it had been left unattended for an entire hour.

“Kill the heads of the Black Mer branches in Districts 5, 7, and 11. Wipe out their families and neighbors.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

He didn’t even glance at the secretary, whose eyes were filled with fear, as he spoke. She nodded in response, relief flooding her as she realized she had survived.

There was no sense of rejection at the excessiveness of the order.

Rather, she bowed her head deeply, as if grateful that it ended there, and hurried out of the chairman’s office.

‘……Is it time to start over?’

Of course, she had no idea.

That a young boy, watching her retreating figure, was already plotting a purge that would claim ten thousand lives.

To him, the subordinates were merely interchangeable cogs in a machine.

He did not believe in empty notions of loyalty.

What he desired was nothing less than to revel in eternal life, wielding overwhelming power and dominion.

Swoosh—.

He lifted the whiskey from the table and made his way to the window, where the entire city sprawled before him in a single glance.

“The towering skyscrapers are the sacred symbols of civilization. The unquenchable lights shall become the scars of having conquered the terrors of the night.”

There was a time when he believed in gods.

But the AI, birthed from the first Mother AI, had shown him the shards of truth that lay within this world, as he grasped the nectar in his hand. On that day, he cast aside the illusion of divinity.

“I must progress.”

Destruction loomed, rising to his chin.

Yet in the future he had glimpsed, there was no salvation.

Then, perhaps it was right for him to become the prophet, to safeguard this paradise forged of gold.

Gulp.

He drained the golden desire from his glass and contacted the secretary who had just left, issuing further commands.

Just then, a justification to eliminate all obstacles at once came to him.

“Open all isolation zones. And in thirty minutes, under the pretense of a grand purification, cleanse Districts 5, 7, and 11.”

〔…B-but, Chairman.〕

Grand purification.

She was not the kind of secretary who would misunderstand the implications of those words, yet she hesitated, stammering something, but ultimately fell silent, acquiescing to his command.

“The threat of creatures has approached the Free Planet Alliance, successfully suppressed by the PMC Black Mer of Mer Corporation.”

In that moment, the headline for tomorrow’s news was set.

Of course, the combined death toll from the three districts would reach into the millions, but that was merely a small sacrifice necessary to excise the cancerous cells.

With that thought, he ascended once more in the elevator.

He pressed the button marked with an N and descended into the depths.

And soon, he spoke to the androids who welcomed him back with a voice tinged with anticipation.

“Prepare Subject 74.”

At his whisper, the androids fell silent.

A strange stillness enveloped the facility.

Yet Stero Mer remained unperturbed.

He knew well that the androids’ silence was not by choice, but a prelude for a being that governed this facility and promised eternal life to speak.

“…….”

How long did that silence linger?

〔Subject. Icarus. Consider again.〕

At last, the Mother AI, Nektar (Νέκταρ), situated in the heart of the underground, broke her silence. Stero Mer chuckled at the mechanical voice that seemed to worry for him and replied.

“Shut up and prepare yourself. Fragment of original sin.”

What lay within his voice was a deep-seated contempt.

*

Tita Zenolua stared blankly at Lucky Anubis, who had taken his own life, while Jin Crow stepped aside for her, if only for a moment.

He did not possess such a morbid curiosity to gawk at another’s misfortune.

Besides, he had a mind to confirm the unpleasant sensation lingering nearby.

Click—.

With a revolver loaded with enhanced rounds in one hand, he gripped a blood-soaked dagger in reverse.

He closed the door, bit down on a cigarette filled with an awakening agent, and pressed hard against his weary eyelids.

“If you’re an enemy, it would be best to speak quickly. I’m not yet accustomed to mercenary work, and I’d like to clock out soon.”

Jin Crow’s words seemed utterly hollow on the surface.

And rightly so, for they were merely mutterings cast into the empty corridor.

But in that very moment.

From one side of the corridor, where nothing had been just moments before, a man emerged, clad in a black military cap and techwear, his face obscured by a mask reminiscent of shark teeth.

He looked anything but ordinary.

Because of this, Jin Crow focused intently on him, slowly gearing up to respond.

“Don’t be tense. I’m not your enemy.”

At that moment, the man whispered, scratching the back of his head, a bright smile peeking from beneath his mask.

“I’ve come to pay my respects to the new matriarch, haha.”

Yet, seeing the seemingly careless demeanor of the man, Jin Crow instinctively ignored the cold sweat trickling down his spine and tightened his grip on the dagger.

‘At least a quad, perhaps a penta?’

This man was certainly no weakling.