My Disciples Think I’m Strong – Chapter 168

“You… what are you doing…?”

I stared blankly at Soro, who was plummeting toward the ground. Caught off guard by the unexpected attack, Soro had no chance to respond and fell helplessly.

“Sirius! What in the world are you doing!!”

Manes shouted, and Sirius scratched his black hair. He looked at Manes with dazed red eyes as if it were a time of wisdom.

“Ah… you see, that woman hit my arm earlier, and it really hurt. So I just wanted to give her a little lesson…”

“Don’t be ridiculous! Do you even know what situation we’re in—”

“Don’t worry too much, Captain. I’ll definitely take care of them.”

He said, pressing a dagger against my neck. But even as I stared at Soro blankly, Pasma did not let his guard down.

I reflexively deflected his dagger. Following that, I unleashed a flurry of strikes, but Sirius deftly evaded them with a backflip.

“…Now that the objective is achieved, let’s do this properly, Praus.”

He clashed the two daggers he held. He took a stance that suggested he would charge at me at any moment, preparing to use his skill.

“Here I go!”

Just as Sirius was about to dash toward me, several shadows appeared behind him and pressed their swords against his neck.

“Stay still, before I kill you.”

“…?”

“How dare you attack the Captain?”

Figures clad in black clothing surrounded him, intent on not giving him a moment’s chance to move, with blades at his throat.

“What’s going on here?”

“If you move, you’ll die. Stay still until Lord Ter arrives.”

Their gaze turned toward me.

The atmosphere felt lethal, sending chills down my spine. As our eyes met, the shadows placed their hands over their chests.

Then, the garments they wore changed to pure white. I had suspected this from the moment they mentioned the Captain—were these guys from the White Light Corps?

“We are the White Light Corps. Praus, you’d best stay quiet.”

“…Hmm. Even if I stay quiet, my disciples won’t exactly follow suit, I think?”

“Cough!”

Before I could finish my sentence, I heard a scream from behind. With a thud, something fell, and silence followed briefly.

“Master, we’ve taken care of all of them over here. They’re nothing compared to the Demon Tribe.”

“Now we just need to deal with those guys, Master.”

Oh, what a nice timing.

Iris wiped the blood splatter from her face with her knuckles. Her clothes remained spotless, as if enhanced with automatic cleaning magic.

“…Praus, don’t interfere right now.”

“Who do you think you are? You all came here to kill the Master too, didn’t you?”

Tina scoffed, oozing killing intent, causing the members of the White Light Corps to hesitate.

“…If you withdraw what you have up there and surrender, we might consider your circumstances. I’ll advocate to His Majesty the Emperor on your behalf.”

So they want to negotiate peacefully, huh? They must be rattled.

Among nobles, the Black Light Corps is seen as the inferior version of the White Light Corps, but that’s only true in terms of the Captain’s abilities. The power gap among the members isn’t that great.

Yet, with just the two of us, we’ve completely dismantled the Black Light Corps, so it’s only natural they feel threatened.

“That’s what they said, Master?”

“I don’t see who it is that should be considered here. Do you think I would do such a thing to earn your consideration?”

“Do you seriously want to challenge the Empire to a full-scale war?”

I intentionally let out a snicker.

“How absurd. The full-scale war you speak of will end before it even begins. Just looking at that falling thing makes me think a fight would never cross my mind.”

They had nothing to say. They merely glared at me, aiming their swords. Well, seeing and feeling it with their own eyes makes it hard to refute.

“And even if that thing wasn’t here, we’ve taken care of the Black Light Corps ourselves. Do you really think things would turn out differently for you?”

I ruffled Tina and Iris’s hair. The swords of the members facing us wavered minutely.

“We need to show an example—”

“Enough of that, Praus.”

Just as Tina and Iris were about to take action, a familiar voice rang out from behind.

With white hair fluttering, Ter approached with evident hostility. He seized the atmosphere, and beside him emerged Soro confidently.

Though his clothes bore signs of blood, he didn’t appear to be in pain, perhaps having consumed a potion.

“What is going on, Sirius? Attacking your own side?”

“Ah~ what? Why are you still alive?”

In the tense atmosphere, a clear sense of disappointment echoed. Sirius’s face twisted into a snarl, reflecting the provocation.

“I won’t ask you twice. Why did you try to kill my sister?”

“What?! Did you forget? Seriously, that’s too harsh! You hit my arm! My arm! You have no idea how much it hurt. Honestly, I might’ve killed you on the spot if it had bled!”

Sirius sputtered an explanation that no one could comprehend. The tension grew palpable.

“…The Crown Prince’s judgment in keeping such a scoundrel around should be reconsidered—”

“Hey! How dare you speak of His Highness like that?! Apologize at once!”

“Don’t interrupt me.”

Ter stretched his hand toward the injured Manes.

“You died fighting fiercely against Praus’s forces.”

“What?”

“‘Pressure’.”

At that moment, as he curled his outstretched hand inward, Manes’s body crumpled, exploding as parts of him fell outside the city walls.

What was once Manes was now just scattered flesh, organs, and blood.

“Pressure, huh…”

It sounded like a nature-based magic skill, but it was actually wind magic that Ter had customized for himself.

The principle behind the Pressure skill was to gather the surrounding air with wind magic and then unleash it explosively.

“Anyone else want to talk?”

“Master, that’s dangerous. May I kill him?”

Tina readied the All-Cutting Sword. Seeing that, Ter gestured toward Maria.

“It would be wise to stay still. Unless you’d like to see your valuable disciple die.”

“Seems that way, Master.”

Maria remained unwavered, confident even with her life being threatened, believing I would somehow handle it.

Ter mostly had skills that involved coordinate assignment and fixed area effects. In a static situation like Maria’s, his advantage would be at its worst.

I sighed and was about to speak when Soro shouted loudly.

“Ugh… Sirius, you bastard…! Did you coat your dagger in poison?!”

“Sis, just calm down and rest. The antidote hasn’t fully spread.”

“I’m going to kill him!”

Soro conjured a thin, sharp icicle, perfectly sized for a critical hit.

“Die!”

The icicle hurtled straight toward Sirius’s forehead.

Thud!

“Wha?!”

But the one struck by the thrown icicle was a member of the White Light Corps. He tilted his head back, evading the blow while the blade grazed his neck, drawing blood, which dripped to the ground.

Sirius’s eyes widened in shock.

“You’ve also wounded my body, huh? You piece of trash!”

With a swing of his dagger, he severed the forearm of the member who had pressed the blade to his neck.

As their focus faltered upon seeing the floating arm, Sirius swiftly pressed daggers against both sides of the member’s neck.

“Die!”

As the member’s arms crossed, his head flew off. Using the fallen body as a stepping stone, he kicked another member charging from behind and sent him reeling.

With a crunch, he tilted the man’s head back completely, skewering his exposed neck with the dagger.

“Gah!”

The member’s face turned pale, possibly from poison, and he collapsed while frothing at the mouth.

“You bastard!”

Caught off guard by the unexpected counterattack, the members hesitated for a moment, but soon regained their composure and charged at Sirius. However, Sirius didn’t go after them; he aimed straight for Ter.

“Earlier, I think I heard something about the Crown Prince. That person gave me my freedom. No one can insult them!”

The White Light Corps members tried to intercept him but failed to catch up to his overwhelmingly superior speed.

“I’ll kill you!”

For Ter, whose skills mainly centered on coordinate designation, his close combat ability was bound to be weak.

…Many might think that.

In reality, his fighting style involved putting his sister and members at the forefront while he supported from behind.

But he understood the downsides of his magic specialty better than anyone and learned one technique to resolve it.

That technique was swordsmanship.

“‘Attraction’.”

As he pulled his hand inward, Sirius’s dash faltered, and he was dragged toward Ter as if helpless.

At the moment Sirius stepped into Ter’s striking range, Ter unsheathed his sword and swung.

Clang!

But an S-Class is still an S-Class. If it were anyone else, they wouldn’t resist the surrounding pressure, but Sirius was different.

In that brief moment, he managed to read Ter’s attack and defend against it.

Seeing Sirius fly away, Ter threw his sword and pointed at him.

“‘Repulsion’.”

With his shout, the sword shot off swiftly. Though Sirius attempted to block it with his daggers, he couldn’t easily deflect the sword bolstered by Repulsion.

“Get lost…!”

As Sirius painfully blocked the blow, his gaze briefly shot up.

“Ugh…!”

In the air, Soro was preparing his stance with an ice sword conjured by his magic.

“‘Ice Dragon Strike’!”

An ice dragon’s head formed and surged toward Sirius. With no chance to evade, Sirius had to take the full brunt of the attack.

Boom!

A tremendous crash echoed across the city walls as dust exploded upward. Soro landed beside Ter.

“Ugh…!”

Sirius groaned as he rose from the crater, clearly bleeding profusely, with ice embedded in numerous wounds. It looked like moving quickly would be tough now.

Watching the S-Class fighters from both factions, I suddenly pondered.

How did it turn into a fight between the ‘White Light Corps and Black Light Corps’?

It seemed there had been some conflict between Soro and Sirius, but considering their behavior in such a significant situation, it’s apparent Sirius’s character is quite remarkable. The story’s author who created such a character is just as impressive.

In any case, this was excellent for me.

If the White Light Corps and Black Light Corps fought, I would be the one to gain.

Having brought down a faction even before the Succession War began, that would be the best outcome possible.

“Is this a case of catch as catch can?”

“Catch as catch can? Using complicated terms, I see.”

“…Maria, just drop it already.”

I made a note to get Tina to read more books as I spoke to Maria.

“Seriously! I thought my arm was going to come off!”

The moment Maria’s staff pointed downward, the meteor began to move. It was heading straight for the Magic Guild Facility. There were only about ten seconds until impact.

Those witnessing the flaming meteor accelerating began to stop fighting.

“Praus!! Stop immediately!”

“Everyone, charge! We have to stop that!”

Soro and Ter shouted desperately as the members sprang into action.

“Tina, Iris. Handle Ter and Soro. I’ll take care of the remaining members.”

Sirius was in a state of incapacitation. With his arm frozen, he wouldn’t be able to fight properly.

“Got it!”

“Understood!”

It was time to end this fight.

“‘Phantom Dance’.”

The impeccably honed Phantom Dance weaved through the members, causing them to lose limbs while avoiding fatal wounds.

In the meantime, the meteor hovered over the Magic Guild Facility, where all the magicians seemed to be uniting their powers to fend off the meteor’s attack.

“We have to stop it!!”

Ter urgently clenched his hand toward Maria. Upon seeing this, Tina murmured as she drew her sword.

“‘All-Cutting Sword’.”

Swoosh!

The invisible sword wave severed Ter’s right forearm.

“What?”

With a dazed sound, Ter’s gaze wavered at the sight of his severed arm.

“Ter!!”

“Where are you looking?”

In that brief moment of distraction, Iris pierced through Soro’s defenses.

“‘Phantom Spike’.”

Iris’s blade penetrated Soro’s abdomen.

“Ugh!”

Given the current circumstances, if the heroes had grown even close to their game levels, the S-Class siblings would’ve won.

But the heroes had become much stronger than anticipated, fully equipped with the ultimate weapon.

Against such heroes, a raid by the S-Class siblings was simply an unbalanced contest of levels.

As Soro suffered a severe wound, the meteor that had been faltering loomed to crash down again.

And then, it happened.

The transport scroll I held began to glow. I quickly stepped back, maintaining my standoff with the members. Simultaneously, I pulled the transport scroll from my pocket and read its content.

“I propose a deal.”

Reading the content, I couldn’t help but smile.

Now the initiative of this deal belonged to me.