The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 149

“Can you hold on for about 10 seconds, Amy?”

“I’ll try my best.”

At Amy’s request, she planted her feet on the ground and began to slice through the approaching demons.

Most of the demons were charging from the ground, so most of the dodging took place in the air, resulting in relatively less hellfire spreading on the ground.

She took a deep breath, feet firmly planted on the red earth.

From the ground she stood on, from the air she breathed, she began to greedily devour the hellish meridians.

A hot heat began to fill her entire body.

“Cough…!!”

Circulating the essences within her was hot, but this heat wasn’t just from her dantian; it was the heat felt on her skin.

Her body began to ignite.

[[[Finally, it stopped!!]]]

After stopping the teleportation, she stood still and gripped her sword, becoming a target for Asmodeus’s powers.

I was prepared for at least this much from the beginning.

“Atlas!! I’m on fire!!”

“Don’t come near!!”

[[[How about accepting the conditions now? I can end it here!!]]]

Seeing her body ablaze, I stopped Amy from trying to take off her anti-magic coat.

It would be a problem if she came too close and got ignited, and she was tasked with keeping the demons at bay.

Having demons buzzing around was a bigger issue than her body being on fire.

I endured the flames enveloping my whole body as much as I could.

After all, if I used my strength to block the flames, it would only backfire.

The pain felt on my skin almost broke my mental strength, but I gritted my teeth and held on.

Is this hellfire…? I won’t last long like this.

I need to finish this attack.

[[[No response. Then, the negotiations are off. At least I’ll leave your remains intact and preserve them for a thousand years!!]]]

A thick octopus tentacle extended towards me from Asmodeus’s body.

The attack was faster than usual, even though the technique was not yet complete.

If I concentrated for just 3 more seconds, everything would be ready.

In any case, I would lose my focus and accomplish nothing if I took damage, so I decided to let things happen as they may, pouring all my mental strength into the sword without even dodging.

Praying that my preparation would finish before Asmodeus’s massive, thick tentacle could reach me, I gripped Squirette even tighter with my burning, red-hot hand.

Amy swung the Aura Blade, trying to redirect the path of the octopus tentacle, but it bounced back.

It flew far enough to be concerning, but somehow she got back up.

Just 1 second remained, and the octopus tentacle was vividly in front of me.

Is it too late?

Would it really end here if I just had this final second?

“GAAAAAH!!!”

At that moment, someone burst forth, roaring fiercely through the swarm of demons.

Simultaneously, five sword qi flew in from across the red earth, smashing through the barrier and severing the tentacle Asmodeus had extended.

‘This is my chance..!!’

Without even looking back at where the sword qi had originated, I immediately raised my sword high.

Squirette began to suck in everything around it as if it had turned into a giant vacuum.

Everything that had a physical form, like dust and dirt, disintegrated upon contact with the swirling aura of the sword, and even the hellfire filling the surroundings was sucked in.

I didn’t care who had just dealt that strike.

I couldn’t miss this opportunity.

The vacuum stopped.

Surrounded by the white Aura Blade that had swallowed up vast amounts of hellfire, the devoured flames began to blaze around it.

“Take this..!!”

Swinging down with all my might, a torrent of heated light surged forward like a typhoon.

It sliced through the red earth, piercing the raging flames, and engulfed the massive Asmodeus.

First, the barriers defending his body collapsed with a crash.

The ferociously raging sword qi ground down Asmodeus’s flesh like a shredder.

Instead of searching for his main body through that enormous form, I chose to wipe it out in one fell swoop.

[[[Ugh… Aaaaah!!!! What is this..!!!!]]]

Asmodeus screamed.

His once mountain-sized body was being sliced down to size by the strike of a mere human.

The incohesive writhing forms that had been entangled like a puzzle fell apart one by one, while the remaining flesh was ground away.

Mountain-Slicing Technique, the technique of Titan’s Vision Swordsmanship that attacks over the widest area, unleashing a gigantic wave of sword qi packed with numerous blades, launched like a raging tempest.

As the severed flesh began to form a small mound, the storm of sword qi that felt like it would last an eternity gradually lost its momentum and began to dissipate.

Asmodeus did not die.

He endured the deadly blow.

For whatever reason—be it because I lacked strength or failed to find the main body—the sword qi only managed to slice away about half of Asmodeus’s physique.

Amidst the tattered pile of flesh, the figure of a demon with a large horn emerged.

That was the true form of Asmodeus.

Half of the massive body had been torn away, but the main form remained intact, ready to regenerate in no time.

Maybe he was genuinely alarmed, Asmodeus cried out, filled with excitement.

[Phew… I’ve endured for millennia. Seems like I was a bit short, huh!!]

As Asmodeus reveled in what he thought was victory, he gradually grew quiet.

It seemed he had seen something unbelievable.

[Huh…?]

What he was surprised to see was likely my figure, preparing for another attack of equal power to the previous one.

Immediately after the first attack concluded, the second Mountain-Slicing Technique crashed into Asmodeus.

[You said one attack takes 10 seconds… so how is that possible??]

I never said a single attack took 10 seconds.

I merely mentioned that preparing to finish him off would take about that long.

Both the first and second attacks could be prepared in 5 seconds.

I had intended to fire twice from the start, which is why I had asked for about 10 seconds.

Asmodeus, with his main body now exposed, had no time to recover, and the second deadly strike hit him before he could do anything.

[Aaaaah!!!!]

Asmodeus’s body began to disintegrate.

And the massive, horned demon that was buried in between was also struck by the second deadly blow.

[Did you think you could die here…?]

Letting out a pitiful wail, Asmodeus’s body was swept away in a wave of light, reducing him to a mound of meat.

“Hah… Hah…”

The hellfire that had clung to my body completely faded.

Asmodeus’s power had been released.

The area was devastated by the aftermath of my Mountain-Slicing Technique.

Leaving deep wounds on the blood-red earth, demons that had tormented souls even to the netherworld vanished without a trace.

Though I bore burns all over, making each step painful, I pushed forward with determination.

Yet, I had to see with my own eyes the death of Asmodeus.

One could argue that with his power gone, Asmodeus had perished, but certainty was needed.

[Huh??!]

“Of course… he’s still alive…!!”

[How the hell is he alive?! I burned him completely!!]

“I could say the same to you!! You’ve lost your entire lower half, how are you still kicking..!!!!”

Both of us were acting like fools, pointing fingers at each other.

My body was a wreck, burned by hellfire.

The delicate human flesh charred by flames capable of searing souls caused agonizing pain even when still.

Under such injuries, a regular person would’ve already died, yet I was alive and moving.

Asmodeus’s true form wasn’t in good shape either.

Having taken several deadly blows, its limbs had all been severed, one horn had flown away, and only the upper torso remained.

Only a small portion of its head and upper body were left, but it too was still alive and moving.

“Hold right there…! I’m going to end this…!!!”

[O-Don’t come near..!!!]

With the swarm of demons that had been decimated, Asmodeus’s voice no longer sounded layered.

Left alone after all his protective creatures had vanished, Asmodeus was now filled with fear.

As I staggered toward him with Squirette in hand, he screamed and tried to flee.

“Amy, we have to catch him!!”

“Yes!”

Despite only having his upper body remaining, Asmodeus floated in the air, escaping quickly.

If I were in good condition, I could have caught him with a single teleport, but right now, it wasn’t possible.

Asking Amy, who was stumbling after taking a hit from the tentacle, she immediately turned and fired a shot at Asmodeus.

-Bang! Bang! Bang!!

[Huh?! Protect me..!!]

The bullets Amy fired missed the mark.

The demons that had gathered around switched their target and clustered around Asmodeus, effectively blocking him from the shots.

[Hah… I’ve endured for millennia… at the hands of a mere Master.]

Even Amy, unsheathing her mithril longsword to attack, found her strikes ineffective against the now coalescing Asmodeus’s true form.

Even using Saint McKinto’s fire wasn’t enough.

“Hah… Hah…”

At this rate, I’d be attacked again by a rejuvenated Asmodeus.

It was far quicker for the Great Demon to recover in this hell than for me to heal using the essences within my body, making me overwhelmingly disadvantaged.

Every single step pained me, yet I somehow gripped my sword and forced myself to rise, trying once more to ignite the aura.

“You look like you’re struggling… mind lending a hand?”

At that moment, someone passed right in front of me.

Hearing the voice, it was the mysterious figure who had just unleashed five deadly strikes.

He revealed his thick forearms from under his ragged robe and showcased his sharp claws.

Those claws looked sharper than any fine sword, glaringly bright white as if glowing.

“… Master?”

“Urgh!!”

With a powerful swing of his arm, five sword qi erupted from his claws, obliterating the swarm of demons in one blow.

The demons had no defense left; without the barriers, they crumbled without resistance.

Was that his sword (劍) power… or should it be called claw (爪) power?

And among the falling fragments of the demons, the little figure of Asmodeus was nowhere to be seen.

“Damn, he got away…”

Seems he managed to escape in the commotion.

“Um… Are you alright, Atlas?”

“I’m fine. I can hold on.”

When Amy saw my battered state and began to tear up, I reassured her that it was nothing.

Though it didn’t seem to comfort her at all.

Naturally, I was far from okay.

Having only been exposed to the Great Demon’s power for about 10 seconds, finding a single healthy spot on my body was tough.

I picked up an object that had fallen among the crushed flesh.

It was a horn of Asmodeus that had been severed by my sword qi.

“I couldn’t imagine there’d be a person amidst this swarm of demons.”

The ragged man who had helped us approached.

I felt a gaze from above.

He must have been over 2 meters tall.

I decided to greet him with familiarity after recognizing him from his earlier attack.

“Hah… Thank you for your help.”

“Challenging such a thing is no ordinary courage.”

I knew who he was, but he didn’t know who I was.

We had met once, but at that time, I was wearing the Squirette’s stealth armor, so he would not remember me.

The hulking man threw back the hood of his tattered robe, and I saw blue scales covering a body full of bulging muscles, with small horns sprouting from his head—a humanoid dragon.

“…Do you know where we are?”

He was Hulan, the wandering Master famous as the Dragon Beastman.