The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 204

A group of people darted across the dark night sky.

They were a swarm of thieves targeting the ultra-rich, the enforcers who had turned their gazes skyward.

The number of enforcers cutting through the clouds numbered about fifty—quite a sizable band, even for regular thieves.

Such numbers were flying high above.

To rob a rare airship, one needed to soar through the skies.

Likewise, acquiring an airship for a raid was absurd.

If one had the financial means to procure such an expensive vessel, it would be hard to call them mere thieves.

They would rather be referred to as privateers with support.

There are various means to take to the skies.

One can employ flight magic, utilize personal jetpacks based on magical engineering, or even tame aerial monsters as alternative choices.

Among their methods, they were riding on wyverns, a species known as small dragons.

How such seemingly inexperienced people managed to ride a creature so fierce that even seasoned knights struggled to tame it was a mystery.

“Well then, shall we check it out?”

– Grrk!

Leading the pack was a thick, muscular man with one eye covered by a patch.

As he petted the wyvern’s neck, it spewed forth a small fireball.

While it paled in comparison to a dragon’s breath, it was a large enough fireball to ignite the deck of an airship made from quality wood.

– Ku gu gung!!

The fiery projectile was vehemently deflected before it could touch the deck, as if an invisible shield surrounded the airship.

“Ha! A defense system too? This is getting exciting..!!”

Though he could tell whose family it belonged to by the insignia drawn on the hull, he was unsure of how much loot there would be. Seeing the defensive feature, though, made it seem like the real deal.

It wasn’t just about the flashy exterior; there was strength beneath.

However, at this rate, it would be impossible to enter.

The man pulled out a short dagger-shaped artifact from his bag, swung it while flying with the wyvern, and the defense shield was nullified.

An artifact that could casually disable an airship’s defense wasn’t something a mere band of thieves would possess.

As the enforcers descended toward the airship, they raised their hands and cheerfully shouted.

“Okay… Let’s raid! Let’s plunder it all!!”

“Yesss, Chief!!”

But in moments like these, there was no denying they looked like thieves.

Once inside the airship, they were even more elated.

No people were visible, only golems.

This indicated real wealth, not merely some mediocre riches.

Just one of those golems casually cleaning would make everyone’s eyes go wide from its worth.

It would be beneficial to seize this airship intact.

Tangible items could be offered separately, while they could profit directly from the ransom.

“The passengers will be used as hostages, so don’t rough them up. But if they resist, it’s fine to kill one or two as a lesson.”

“Yes!”

The man at the front, the one-eyed chief of the enforcers, grinned wickedly.

‘Hehe, I’ll turn the hull over to that great one, and we’ll pocket the ransom for the young masters!’

Originally a brigand, he had been reborn as an enforcer robbing nobles after welcoming the ‘great one.’

They would either seize the airship whole or snatch valuable items and then let it drop while collecting the ransom for the passengers, selling the rest into slavery.

Once they started plundering, no one could trace them afterward.

Having successfully raided airships twice already, they were fearless.

No matter how grand a noble was, they became insignificant in the presence of the great one they served.

‘The insignia… must have belonged to the Perda family? Time to drain them dry.’

Already imagining vast sums of gold pouring in from the Perda family, the one-eyed chief stepped deeper into the hallway.

“Ugh!!”

As he entered, a scream from one of his subordinates echoed from afar.

Upon entering a guest room, a stout tree had wrapped around one of his subordinates, crushing him to pieces.

Inside, a man dressed lightly held a luxurious wand resembling a high-quality staff.

‘Is that a Perda?’

The handsome man with striking green hair looked on with a smile.

“Haha… Looks like you’ve made quite a mess of my welcome.”

Showing no hesitation in revealing his displeasure, he gently waved his staff toward the enforcer pinned by the tree.

“Ugh… Aaaah!! Chief, please save me… Aaaah!!”

In mere seconds, the person was crushed, much like squeezing juice from an orange.

Amazingly, although one person had been crushed to death, no blood splattered on the floor.

The tree restraining him absorbed all of his blood.

The leaves of the wood, which had absorbed all the blood, were no longer green but rather red.

It was the proud plant-based magic of the Perda family.

“Enforcers, are you? To have the audacity to raid an airship like this makes it a bit hard to call you thieves. Who sent you?”

Feeling quite displeased by the sudden appearance of thieves on his airship, which was also carrying VIPs, Perda was furious.

He wanted to grind them all to dust and use them as fertilizer for his plants.

“It’s not that we were sent… But traveling in such a fine ship is practically begging to be robbed.

If you surrender quietly, I might let you keep an arm or so, what do you say?”

Even after witnessing his subordinate being crushed to death right in front of him, he cracked jokes without batting an eye.

A pale aura began to blaze around the staff he held.

“Typical of lowly thieves, your joke skills are awful.”

With a single flourish of his wand, four trees sprouted up from the floor.

.

.

.

.

The fight between Perda and the one-eyed chief was leaning against Perda.

– Kwa bang!!

“Ugh!”

A thick tree trunk was summoned to block the one-eyed man’s kick but was shattered easily, striking Perda’s abdomen and sending him flying onto the deck.

“You fight well for a young master, but that’s as far as you go.”

Perda grew the trees again, reaching out to the one-eyed man.

But as the aura blade of the one-eyed chief carved a glowing arc, all the trees were instantly turned to splinters.

While not an expert of the highest rank, he was certainly strong enough to stand on a wall.

“I’ll chop off an arm to send as a gift to your family!”

With a wicked smile, the one-eyed chief lunged toward Perda.

Thick vines surged from all directions, yet they couldn’t impede his way.

At that moment, someone rushed out of the hallway and attacked the one-eyed man’s side.

“Are you the chief?!”

It was Edgar, radiating intense heat from his body.

“Ugh?!”

– Clank!!!

In Edgar’s hand was the fiery magic sword Flamberge.

The one-eyed chief immediately turned around to counter Edgar’s strike, but his sword got entangled with Flamberge’s shimmering blade.

“I’m taking your sword…!!”

With a powerful swing, Edgar brought down Flamberge, which shattered the one-eyed chief’s sword.

“Don’t look away!”

Taking advantage of the one-eyed chief’s moment of disruption caused by the broken sword, Perda extended a vine to ensnare him.

Just one second was enough.

“Ugh?!”

A large gash opened up on the one-eyed chief’s back from Edgar’s Flamberge.

Though it was clearly cut by a sword, it left behind a bizarre wound, as if seared by a hot brand.

“Consider it debt repayment?”

“Wow, Edgar, you’re solid! Any amount is fine to add to the debt.”

Even with the burning hot brand-like wound stinging his back, the chief actually smiled.

“The flame magic sword is something the great one would find very delightful.”

Before the grinning chief, Edgar wrapped his aura around his sword, believing the blow wouldn’t seal the deal and readying for the finishing strike.

“You thieves boldly raiding the Empire’s nobles, your guts have spilled outside.”

“Let’s wrap this up quickly and return inside. There’s still much more to loot.”

“Hey! That’s far enough!!”

Someone flew in and landed onto the deck.

Both men instantly tensed, but they couldn’t move when they saw him holding a person.

“Looks like this girl’s life is in danger, so don’t move!”

“You… Let her go!!”

Shaara Prigia was seized by an enforcer, wearing only a nightgown in the shape of a dress.

Her petite frame looked like a doll, gripped tightly by the enforcer’s massive arm, which seemed ten times her size. Shaara flailed her arms, but the enforcer seemed unbothered.

“Ugh… I’ve been captured?”

“Why is security so weak here!! I will complain to your family!!”

“This bastard has a hostage..!!”

“Hey, don’t move! I don’t mind if you die!”

As the thick blade pressed against Shaara’s neck, Edgar froze.

While a calm person might have understood the situation, in a state of agitation, he felt she might genuinely get hurt if he provoked them.

Just then, a group of enforcers rushed onto the deck.

Fighting just the two of them was tough enough with the hostage, but with reinforcements, the situation suddenly looked grim.

“What’s with all of you? Did you come to help? That’s unnecessary.”

The enforcer holding Shaara laughed at the arrival of his comrades.

But what they said were words he had never expected.

“Chief! Run away! It’s not good here!!”

“What’s up with you… Why’d you come out?!”

“I didn’t expect this! I didn’t think it would turn out like this….”

“What? Can’t any of you speak properly?”

Each one looked pale as they babbled incoherently, and the one-eyed chief snapped at them.

It was already troublesome to have a wound on his back, and now his subordinates were acting like this, leaving him lost.

But the news they had to share was enough to drive anyone insane.

“Chief! Inside… There’s a monster!!!”

“They charged at us and didn’t take any injuries!!”

“All our men are dead! We’re the last ones!!”

“What?”

In that instant, seven thieves burst out from the outside, only to be scattered in an instant.

Each one was sliced apart at the neck, limbs, and torso in various ways—they had all been cut in different trajectories.

The once-human pieces of meat fell haphazardly, spraying blood all over the deck.

At the end of the continuous trails of blood stood a small blonde kid, holding a sword nearly as tall as himself.

Crimson blood dripped from the dense, dark blade.

‘How did I miss that…?’

In an instant, seven people were slaughtered, yet he had overlooked the trajectory.

The bodies, severed at different angles, had undoubtedly been cut not with one stroke but with seven, motions he had failed to witness.

With a flick of his sword, he wiped the blood off the air and coldly regarded the remaining enforcers.

“Are you the leader here?”