Chapter 1254

<Dark Moon 1254>

Seventeen.

That was the number of soldiers I had to kill to reach the lab entrance. Two of them were instructors. Against the instructors, I had no choice but to use magic. If not for that fleeting moment of hesitation, it might’ve been more difficult.

More than half of the soldiers I killed were familiar faces. But killing them myself didn’t stir any emotions within me. I was a little surprised at my own ruthlessness.

At the lab entrance, I came face-to-face with yet another familiar face.

The burly guy with a crossed left eye – Room 202, who shares the same quarters as me.

His face was contorted with rage and betrayal.

“Room 211! I never would’ve imagined you’d turn out like this! Why the hell did you betray us?!”

Room 202 roared as he took a fighting stance.

“I apologize for betraying you guys, but I don’t regret it. Move aside, 202. I’m going to kill Instructor Venus and end the Battle Mage Project. It’ll be better for your future too.”

“Bullshit! What’s your problem?! Weren’t you supposed to be assigned to the Capital Defense Force?! You had an elite future guaranteed, so why are you crawling into the abyss?!”

“That future is my own version of the abyss. Move aside, 202. I don’t want to kill you.”

Room 202 let out a hollow laugh.

“So even now, you’re maintaining that attitude. Do I look like someone you can just brush aside whenever you feel like it?”

I could sense mana surging from Room 202.

“You’re too worked up. It’s not too late, 202. Stand down.”

“I’m being reasonable here. It’s not too late for you either. Go back and deal with the attackers. Sure, you’ll be punished, but you won’t die.”

“…Looks like we can’t have a rational conversation.”

I stepped forward. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to argue with Room 202.

“That’s what I should be saying to you. You probably think you’re all that, huh? But when it comes to close combat, I’m the superior one.”

Gripping his knuckles tightly, Room 202 charged forward. He knows I’m the weakest in close combat among my peers. My poor hand-to-hand skills are pretty well-known, so it’s no surprise.

On the other hand, Room 202 specializes in close combat. He enhances his physical abilities with body-strengthening auxiliary magic and uses enchantment magic on his knuckles to imbue them with attributes, making him an infighter.

His fist flies toward me.

[Barrier]

I extended my right hand and placed it in front of his punch. His fist was blocked by my hand. Despite his knuckles blazing with intense red flames, they couldn’t harm me at all.

“…You minimized your barrier on your right hand to block my punch…?!”

“I increased the intensity by narrowing the barrier’s range. It’s not that hard.”

“Did you see me throwing my punch this way?”

“As much as you know about me, I know about you. You always start with a straight punch when initiating an attack.”

“Shit!”

Room 202’s right leg moves. However, before he could strike, the attribute blade in my possession moved silently through telekinesis. The blade precisely targeted his leg…


The knee was pierced.

“Kruuuugh?!”

Room 202 grits his teeth and steps back.

Not allowed.

[Gravity]

Gravity crushes Room 202’s body. His mana violently fluctuates. He grabs the attribute blade embedded in his knee and pulls it out, then activates a强化 magic to the point of straining his body. Muscles bulge and veins pop in his eyes. Flames swirl around his left knuckle, while wind rages around his right.

“Don’t act all high and mighty, Room 211! I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve too!”

“Tricks? Oh, you mean the attribute blade? You’re mistaken. That wasn’t any trick or special move. It was just an ordinary counterattack.”

“Damn brat! Your smug attitude has always pissed me off!”

He lunges with a punch. I surround myself with telekinesis and dodge every single one. When you can see them coming, dodging punches isn’t that hard.

“How could…! Could it be you’ve been holding back this whole time?!”

“Room 212. We’re mages. No matter how much you train your fists, you’ll never measure up to a real warrior. And!”

“What?”

“You came too close to me on that injured leg.”

[Frost]

“Aaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Room 202 screams as he collapses. His wounded knee instantly freezes due to Frost magic seeping into the open wound at its coldest state. With blood already flowing, the frost quickly spreads—his right leg is effectively finished.

I flick my finger. The attribute blade connected to my telekinesis flies over and embeds itself into Room 202’s back. He spits out blood.

“Room 202. Remember when I apologized to you last time?”

“…I remember. It didn’t make any sense at the time. Were you predicting this situation?”

“No way. Even I can’t predict months into the future. Back then… I slept with your beloved 99. Did you know? There’s a mole next to 99’s anus…”

“You… bastard…”

Room 202 trembles. Pushing his astral energy to the limit, he desperately tries to cast a spell despite his condition. Impressive focus.

I wave my finger. The attribute blade lodged in his back rotates once.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaah!”

His final spell casting is interrupted. Blood gushes from his mouth in torrents.

“To be honest, I wasn’t sorry at all back then. I thought 99 was way out of your league. My apology was purely mocking you. If you understood the meaning, good for you; if not, I didn’t care either way.”

I look down at Room 202. He’s barely clinging to life, with maybe 30 seconds left.

Old memories resurface—memories involving Room 202. He was annoying enough to make me want to kill him sometimes, but not detestable enough to truly hate.

“I meant it when I said I didn’t want to kill you… Sad, isn’t it? I felt the same when I killed Number 88. I’ll probably be sad for about three days.”

“Grrrrr…”

Room 202 glares at me with tears of blood streaming down his face. To eliminate any last chance, I watch him die completely.

“Oh, by the way, that 99 you were secretly in love with? She was a great woman. Her ample chest goes without saying—it was scorching hot just looking at her. She liked hugging my head… Are you dead yet?”

I pull the attribute blade from his back and head toward the lab.

[Material Conversion]

I change the metal door blocking the entrance into wood. Fortunately, it’s not a door with particularly high mana resistance. Kicking the wooden door down, I enter. The broken wooden door reverts to metal.

I step further into the lab area. Before entering the office, I encounter Instructor Venus sitting in the lounge.

“Room 211, why are you instigating a rebellion?”

“Do you really need to ask?”

I check my physical condition. I’ve used more than half my mana getting here. This fact…


Whoa, that’s huge.

“No matter how much I think about it, I can’t figure it out. You were an outstanding one. Not only skilled but also sharp. And loyal too… That’s what I thought. You were destined to rise. I intended to make you ascend. So why did you betray me?”

“Betrayal? Please. I knew from the start you never trusted me. Rise? Sure, I’ll rise alright. But crawling like a dog under you won’t change no matter what. I’m done cleaning up after you.”

“Fool.”

Venus pulled a bead from his pocket. A magical artifact controlling the slave seal. The bead glowed in response to his mana, yet nothing happened.

“…You broke the slave seal?”

“It took quite some effort. Deciphering encrypted seals, interpreting each magic array, reversing them, and even introducing new ones. I wanted to quit halfway because it was so damn frustrating, but… I finally cracked it.”

“You broke it? Don’t make me laugh! This is a magic array created by an 8th-grade Great Mage!”

“I spent two years struggling with this thing. After investing that much time on a single magic array, failing would’ve been more embarrassing for me.”

Venus’s face turned bright red. He wasn’t just angry; I could see the inferiority complex flash across his face.

Zzzt zzt zzt.

Noise crackled from the communicator on Venus’s shoulder.

-Venus Instructor! The communication room and armory have been seized! All external contact has been cut off! We’re engaging enemies in Conference Room 3! We need support! Venus Instructor!

Venus didn’t respond to the transmission. He stared at me and slowly spoke.

“211. Let’s forget everything until now. Go ahead and kill the enemy.”

He pulled an ampoule from his coat and injected it into his thigh.

POW!

“Screw you. You’re my enemy.”

The drug flowed into his body.

[Overload]

The astral plane ripples, senses expanding. The amount of information processed by the brain instantly tripled. My mana surged violently as 50 mana conduits activated all at once, beginning to overload.

[Electric Field]

I stomped my right foot. Electricity shot outward in all directions from me. It didn’t take long for the break room to fill with bluish electrical currents.

Now that the stage is set, let’s use it.

Venus seemed to sense something and layered barriers around himself while creating icicles to throw at me as a deterrent. Twisting my body, I dodged them and continued weaving the spell.

My overloaded mana conduits screamed in pain. I clenched my teeth. This was expected.

[Thunder Bolt]

The electricity filling the break room gathered toward the ceiling, compressing. At the moment when everything seemed to freeze, a colossal bolt of lightning struck down from the ceiling.

BOOOOM!

Direct hit!

But Venus was unscathed. His melted barriers revealed his fierce, distorted face.

“Your preparation time was too long. I clearly taught you before that obvious grand spells aren’t threatening.”

“Of course I remember. Whose teaching would I forget?”

Crackkk.

Blue sparks leapt from the cooling ceiling.

Sensing the omen, Venus’s eyes widened.

And the second Thunder Bolt prepared above the ceiling shattered it and descended upon Venus.

“Ghhhhhhh!”

Venus reacted. In that fleeting moment, he raised his left hand, shrinking the barrier to the size of his palm to block the Thunder Bolt.

His reaction was astonishingly fast, though not perfect. His left arm burned black. It was clear his left arm couldn’t be salvaged.

‘Although I couldn’t kill him instantly, taking out his left arm makes things more favorable for me.’

Keeeeeeeng.

As the mana conduits wailed, I prepared another spell.