The Aura Blade is the strongest sword. A superhuman power that cuts through everything it touches. Lately, its significance has slightly faded after encountering numerous powerful individuals with abilities potent enough to nullify the Aura Blade—but still, the Aura Blade hadn’t lost its brilliance.
Swing!
“Kyaaaaaaak!?”
But there was no twist, and the man’s arm was cleanly severed. Even Kail himself was so taken aback by his own confidence that he froze upon seeing the man clutching his severed arm in pain. Kail made an awkward expression.
‘Was he just a crazy guy?’
On reflection, judging someone by their appearance is about as bad as it gets. Sera did say he was a bad guy, but aside from blowing steam out of his mouth, what had he actually done?
Kail thought maybe he had mistakenly attacked an innocent bystander and turned around wondering what to do now.
“Idiot-! Behind you!”
Upon hearing Sera’s shout, Kail quickly turned his head and saw the man reattaching his severed arm.
He wasn’t an ordinary person. At this moment, Kail could confirm that fact.
“Tsk, urgh—what barbarism… To swing your blade without warning.”
“Sorry, you looked suspicious.”
“Heh, hahaha! So you cut down anyone who looks suspicious? What else would that be but barbarism?”
“This situation calls for suspicion! It’s your fault for looking shady.”
With the Academy under dinosaur terror, looking suspicious was evidence enough to mark someone as a culprit.
If he didn’t like it, he shouldn’t have been wandering around looking suspicious. Moreover, seeing how unfazed he was despite losing an arm, Kail became strongly convinced that the man before him was the perpetrator.
It was the intuition of an Aura Master, instinct. And the intuition of an Aura Master is never wrong. It meant that information unconsciously gathered had been processed in the subconscious mind.
“What’s your name?”
“To swing your blade first and then ask for a name because I look fine… Clearly, you’re not normal.”
“If you keep provoking me, I really will kill you? Want to die like a barbarian?”
“…Jinyan Jing. And you?”
“Kail Meyer.”
Hearing Kail’s name, Jinyan Jing tilted his head for a moment, then his eyes sparkled as if something had just clicked.
“Oh- You’re the Sword Saint of the Academy?”
“You know me? This is getting more suspicious.”
“Isn’t it more suspicious not to know you? I’ve seen your name enough times in the newspapers.”
“Uh… Hmm, really?”
Kail, who had begun to think that perhaps the man before him wasn’t the culprit but just a passerby with great strength, snapped back to attention when he heard a voice from behind.
“What do you mean ‘really’! Kail, you blockhead! Anyone can see that guy’s the culprit of this chaos! Deal with him right away!”
Thud- A 1st-level mana bolt hit the back of Kail’s head, making him scratch his slightly tingling scalp before turning to look at Jinyan Jing again.
Sera was right. How could he think otherwise when there was a man leading countless subordinates from a vantage point overlooking the entire Academy, and another man who casually reattached his severed arm as if nothing happened?
Thinking this man wasn’t the culprit?
‘Ah, damn.’
Only then did Kail realize that faint smoke was gently wafting from Jinyan Jing’s mask.
Something so faint that even an Aura Master’s eyes could barely detect it. Probably some kind of mind-altering drug. Otherwise, there’d be no reason for Kail to think this man wasn’t the culprit.
“Hey.”
“Yes, Kail Meyer. What is it?”
“Take off that annoying mask first.”
Kail decided he needed to see the face beneath the mask. Summoning his Aura Blade into the air, he aimed directly at Jinyan Jing’s mask.
The Aura Blade, capable of cutting through all things, flew toward Jinyan Jing’s mask. The blind spot created by wearing the mask meant Jinyan Jing didn’t realize he was under attack until the Aura Blade was right in front of him.
And.
Bang-!
“Urgh!?”
“No way…”
The pitch-black metal mask repelled the Aura Blade. Seeing this, Kail let out a hollow laugh.
The Aura Blade, which could cut through anything, had only ever been deflected once before.
“There’s no need to use honorifics with a barbarian.”
Realizing he’d been attacked, Jinyan Jing dropped the formalities and glared at Kail. He stroked his mask, checking for any scratches.
“Aura Blade. The power of an Aura Master capable of cutting through all things. That’s not wrong. There’s nothing in this world the Aura Blade can’t cut.”
However, there were a few exceptions to that rule. An Aura Blade emitted by another Aura Master, a barrier cast by a great sorcerer, divine power bestowed by a god, and…
“Yes, as long as it’s something from this world.”
Kail tightened his grip, recalling the ice dragon that had remained unscathed by his Aura Blade last winter.
“Let me introduce myself again. A researcher of forgotten beings. My name is Jinyan Jing.”
At those words, a gulp from Arthur standing behind him was audible. He realized who this man was.
“The Forgotten Worshipers…”
Once a secret organization that targeted Arthur.
* * *
“Haah, haah…”
Arthur’s nervous breathing reached here. With Arthur next to him feeling tense, Sera, who had been standing confidently beside Kail, also began to feel uneasy.
In truth, she had more reason to be nervous than either Kail or Arthur here. After all,
‘Jinyan Jing… One of the hidden bosses!’
One of the hidden bosses appearing in <Diaros Academy>. The only surviving Dragon Human in this era.
A monster capable of transforming into a dragon, unbeatable by even most Masters. And such a monster was here at the Academy?
“Ka, Kail! We need to run!”
“Why?”
“That guy, he’s a hidden boss!”
Sera immediately relayed this information to Kail. Whether he understood what being a hidden boss meant or not, she hoped he’d realize the danger.
But Kail didn’t run. He had no intention of running. In games or here, the bow was always in front, not behind.
“Run, huh? Interesting.”
Hearing Sera’s suggestion to flee, Jinyan Jing snapped his fingers, and his subordinates began to transform one by one.
Tooth Dragon Transformation using dragon flesh. Unlike the prototypes scattered around the Academy grounds, these were special models that allowed movement without loss of consciousness.
This transformation alone was enough to easily overpower most Aura Experts, but they didn’t stop there.
“All of you, die here.”
Following Jinyan Jing’s command, the subordinates, now transformed into Tooth Dragons, bit into the Fruit of Life embedded in their molars.
A mass of vitality made from a dragon’s heart. Those who consumed it gained life force comparable to a dragon’s temporarily.
If consumed in human form, it granted aura surpassing an Aura Master, but when consumed by Tooth Dragons, it triggered a slightly different effect.
“True Dragon Transformation.”
Dozens of True Dragons appeared, temporarily recreating dragons. The ultimate army completed by Jinyan Jing, who wished to become a dragon himself.
“Go kill them.”
─Roar-!
Dragons charged forward. A single dragon was enough to make thousands of soldiers flee in fear, and here were dozens.
While Arthur and Sera trembled in fear, Kail calmly stepped forward.
“Is that all?”
Becoming True Dragons didn’t mean they could unleash awe-inspiring magic like legendary dragons. They couldn’t even fly. Because they were human, not dragons.
Thus, all they could do was crawl on all fours like dragons and breathe fire.
Against an army of soldiers, such abilities would have made them unstoppable monsters—but Kail wasn’t a soldier.
“Then I’m disappointed.”
An extraordinary individual capable of taking on an army alone. Just like the True Dragons before him, a lone individual overpowering a group. An elephant before ants.
And in a battle between elephants, the one with more experience would inevitably emerge victorious.
Whoosh-! The compressed Superior Blade infused with the Aura Blade settled onto Kail’s sword, and in the next moment—Kail’s sword slashed through dozens of dragons.
“Hidden boss.”
“…What is this…”
“Got anything else hidden? No?”
Kail walked toward the bewildered Jinyan Jing.
“Then you’ll die.”
