I Possessed a Broken Academy Instructor - Chapter 77



Chapter 77

The capital of the Free Planet Alliance.

Mercato.

As befits a city where wealth and power converge, the majority of the planet’s inhabitants belong to the middle class.

Among them, some live better while others struggle, but the important thing is that they all live as people.

Of course, this is only the story of the citizens.

Those without formal citizenship, tolerated by the authorities and various factions, hide in the shadows of society, mercenaries and wanderers passing through.

Most of them are far from the impoverished, but the problem lies in the unpredictability of human affairs.

Those with citizenship, when economic circumstances worsen, can leave for industrial planets, whether by choice or necessity.

If not, they might dive into the black market or the underbelly of various factions, not rich but not labeled as the destitute either.

But those without citizenship are different.

If they lack both citizenship and money, they become, quite literally, cosmic orphans in a different sense.

Most social institutions meant to handle such cases, like the Public Security Bureau, exist only in name, and ultimately, they are left to scrape by in the deepest darkness of the skyscrapers.

“Waaah!”

“I can’t live like this!”

“Burn it all down!”

Thus, when the riots first erupted, the expressions on the faces of the citizens and mercenaries were not particularly surprised.

In truth, it was nothing special.

Rather, it was the tourists who looked bewildered, while the locals or those familiar with the Free Planet Alliance merely observed, thinking, “Here we go again,” or finding it an amusing spectacle.

“…Kill them!”

“Uh? Huh!?”

But it didn’t take long for them to realize that the situation was far more serious than before.

Bringing in trucks to ram through was one thing.

Throwing Molotov cocktails at the Public Security Bureau was something that could happen, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see makeshift weapons with nails driven into them.

However, when crude bombs began to appear alongside old rifles, a thought crossed everyone’s mind: ‘Isn’t that a bit excessive?’

Then, with a blackout looming, and the public security officers who had been laughing and chatting starting to withdraw after receiving some news, the people began to sense something was amiss.

—What’s going on?

– Why are they going that far? But are those really the poor? Why are they so big?

And only then did their dissonant figures, cloaked in tattered clothes and shadow, catch my eye.

Until now, the majority of the impoverished who had risen in protest had never gathered in such numbers, and even when they did, they would disperse at the slightest provocation—whether it be a morsel thrown their way or the appearance of the authorities, as if the uproar had never happened.

It was only natural.

Did they rise to change politics?

Sometimes, those who stirred from the back merely sought to create a little gossip, or perhaps they had gathered out of hunger, throwing tantrums for scraps.

KWA-aaaNG!

“Hey! That b*stard works at Carpe Diem!”

“Catch him!”

“Hi, hiiik!”

But this time was different.

The riot sparked by the blackout bore a ferocity that was more than expected, directly assaulting the factions. Soon, those who realized their target was the businesses of the five major powers began to retreat, each without waiting for the other.

“Damn it. Today’s business is ruined.”

“Tsk. You’re telling me.”

The merchants locked their shop doors and lowered the reinforced barriers made of alloy.

“Haah, I was supposed to leave early.”

“What can we do? Let’s go, Manager Liston.”

Even the office workers and employees who had planned to leave due to the sudden blackout sighed and returned to their buildings.

Of course, mercenaries and some fearless souls still watched with a sense of amusement.

Up until that moment, no one took the situation seriously.

It was only natural.

It was merely a radical protest of a few thousand, and the factions wouldn’t feel threatened by such a display.

You can’t be afraid of a sparkler.

But just then.

A chilling sound brushed against the ears of the citizens standing in the illuminated street and the protesters gathered in the square.

– Kiiiiiik.

The anomaly began with those throwing stones at the office of the Interstellar Transport Guild located at the alley’s mouth.

“Hey, you b*stards!”

Crash!

Since it was a place where day laborers gathered, perhaps they used cheap glass; after a few throws of bricks, the windows shattered into a thousand pieces.

Of course, shards of glass rained down from above, scattering over the heads of the protesters holding torches below, yet they paid no mind, instead shouting back at those inside with venomous curses.

“Are you scared? Come out! Let’s have it out!”

“Sure! I’ll chew you up and head to prison afterward!”

The day laborers were often battered by the storms of life, and thus, they were quick to grow rough around the edges.

Because of this, the union members on duty inside, without a second thought, began to descend with their tools raised, aiming for those standing on the first floor.

But as they reached the ground, what greeted them was not the brutish mob charging at them, but rather the head of a person rolling lifelessly on the floor.

“Hi, hiiiik!”

The one who had been hurling bricks at them just moments ago was dead.

Realizing this, they lifted their creaking heads to behold a sight that twisted their minds in disbelief.

Even in the darkness, the flickering emergency lights cast shadows of death.

“Mon, monster?”

“Creatures!”

As the voices, filled with horror and overwhelming dread, escaped their lips, the beings that looked as if a wild dog had been forcibly fused with a cockroach turned their heads in unison toward them.

—Krrrraaah!

—Kyaaah!

Their ghastly eyes glowed a menacing red, and among those who had just raised their heads, the corpse of the protester who had been taunting them moments before was visible.

“Ah, aah…”

Prey and predator.

As they took in the sight that confirmed their roles, it mattered not how bulging with muscle and inked with tattoos their bodies were.

It was merely instinct.

They understood that they were nothing more than another moving meal, an interruption to the feast.

“Ugh, uaaah! Shit!”

“Run!”

Now, it mattered not who was who.

The chaos that erupted was not confined to the square where the protest had taken place; the citizens could not escape this sudden calamity either.

Death filled the air.

The playful antics of moments ago were revealed to be mere games, as the creatures, lacking the guidance of a higher species, moved purely on instinct, hunting humans indiscriminately.

Of course, mercenaries and law enforcement attempted to respond, but with the crowd already thickened by the protest, the ensuing chaos led to many being swept away, dying in absurdity despite the presence of force.

But at that very moment.

Kugugugugugugu—.

The sky, thick with darkness, was pierced by a fleet of colossal ships.

〔All units of the BM-3 Brigade, assault the purification zone.〕

The shielding walls for the assault opened, and heavily armored assault soldiers, connected to rails, slid down to the earth with a thunderous mechanical roar.

Kugugung!

Clad in black-painted reinforced exoskeletons, they were accompanied by upgraded tactical devices based on titanium, each squad bearing their own.

From noble mtl dot com

But that was not all.

As figures clad in tactical coats, resembling special operations officers, emerged among them, the citizens, recognizing their identities, felt a wave of relief and hope wash over them, calling out their names.

“Black Merda! We’re saved!”

The Free Planet Alliance has no army.

To be precise, it had one, but it was dissolved in the committee’s lobbying.

In its place stood the PMC Black Merda of the Mer Corporation.

Sterro Mer was no fool.

Understanding the dangers of a military, he had long rendered the army a mere shell, filling the void with Black Mer, populated by his own loyal followers, while embracing those who had fallen from the military’s grasp.

The result was the current Black Mer.

Their true strength, however, did not lie in the ordinary soldiers.

The real power resided in the superhuman special forces of Black Mer.

“Whew, just as the chairman said, it’s a mess.”

“Indeed.”

Unlike the brigade members, who were brimming with discipline, they stood without reinforced exoskeletons, gazing at the rampaging creatures and the panicked citizens, each gripping their weapons.

And then, a man, running for his life from a creature, spotted them and shouted.

“P-please, save me!”

“Hmm?”

– Kyaaa!

The man was being chased by a creature that looked as if a monkey had been injected with steroids and then blended in a mixer, its face a grotesque mash.

“Dean.”

“Yeah.”

Among the men in coats, one named Dean fixed his gaze on the man sprinting towards him and the creature, nodding before drawing his sword, soon spinning psionic energy and cleaving through the air.

Swoosh-. Thud.

In that moment, a flash burst through the darkness, and the bodies of the man and the creature were simultaneously split in two.

“……Huh?”

The man’s face, tinged with the relief of having lived, twisted in agony that transcended comprehension, and soon his upper body, slipping away, flew to the ground with a recoil, uttering a question through breaths that had yet to extinguish.

“W-why…?”

With trembling fingertips, he clutched at Dean’s military boots.

But what returned was merely a low contempt, accompanied by an incomprehensible phrase that echoed at the edge of a fading consciousness.

“It is the Chairman’s command. Kill them all.”

“What about the public security?”

“Everyone. That is the order the Chairman has given us.”

It was something mad, a madness that a mere citizen could neither comprehend nor should comprehend.

*

“Madmen!”

The anomalies occurring within the Free Planet Alliance were not few, but it was only natural for Tita Zenolua to react as the creatures were unleashed and the atrocities of Black Mer were relayed to her.

〔…Personally, I thought I was going a bit mad myself, but this is… quite bewildering, haha.〕

So much so that even Geumgang Hyuk, one of the architects behind this coup, could not hide the bewilderment that surfaced on his face.

It was only to be expected.

No matter how insane one might be with power, to carry out a purge that would claim hundreds of thousands, especially against innocent citizens, was beyond comprehension.

What was even more terrifying was that by unleashing the creatures, they had created an escape route from this chaos.

But one could not remain angry forever.

The deed was done, and they both knew too well that there was no choice but to see it through to the end.

〔So, Instructor, what is the mercenary Jin doing?〕

Knowing this well, Geumgang Hyuk shifted the topic, and soon Tita Zenolua, striving to suppress her anger, narrowed her brows and stepped outside.

Behind her, a man clad in techwear followed, but it was not the time to concern herself with him.

“Hey, Jin.”

“…Shit, this wasn’t part of the plan.”

Yet what greeted her outside was none other than the aloof Jin Crow, spewing curses with a voice laced with anxiety and horror.

This was unlike him.

Because of that, she unconsciously followed his gaze upward, and soon she could not help but doubt her eyes at the sight of something swirling in shades of purple and red, engulfing the sky.

“W-what is that?”

And at that very moment.

Whether he had gathered his thoughts, or had simply resigned himself, Jin Crow, cigarette in mouth, spoke to the speechless Tita Zenolua.

“Contact the safe house immediately and relay my orders to the cadets. They must leave this planet at once.”

He murmured like that, stepping forward with a weight entirely different from before.

Thud—.

In a fit of frustration, he roughly tore at the buttons of his shirt collar, gulping down enough liquor to flow along his jawline before adding,

“…I don’t know if those problem children will hear this.”

Please, just listen.

I beg you.