The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 242

Night fell.

I had previously visited my parents’ grave after breaking through the Snow Country.

At that time, I was dressed in black mourning attire, unable to wrap my head around the fact that they had both died almost simultaneously, so I didn’t even bring a flower to pay my respects.

The grave of the two had not seen a single blade of grass grow.

And even now, months later, there was still no sign of any grass on their graves.

-Here lies Cronos, the Giant, Lord of the Great Blade Mountain.

An unassuming stone bore a brief epitaph. They could have added more flowery language; it was almost obsessive how plain they liked things.

Considering it was the grave of a high noble ruling the Blade Mountain, it was extraordinarily modest.

But… given my situation where I had to dig, I appreciated the absence of unnecessary embellishments.

I held a makeshift shovel, probably picked up from somewhere.

Yeah, I’m going to dig it up now.

I had missed my timing during the day talking to Metios, but now, when there were hardly any people around, was my chance.

.

.

.

Digging up a grave alone is some serious hard labor.

Naturally, it wasn’t just lightly covered with dirt; the coffin had to be buried deep to prevent leaking, so I had to dig for hours.

At least, that would be the case for an ordinary person.

-Sluuuurp!

With a shove, the aura-infused shovel dug through the earth like it was soft ice cream.

If it were this shovel, I could probably dig through rock as well.

I thought momentarily that I should have hired an earth-element magician, but quickly shook off that thought.

I just wanted to see that damn old man’s face one more time.

If he was buried correctly, he had probably decomposed down to just bones by now.

Sigh. I didn’t really want to admit it in my heart that this person was dead.

If I were to die after all the nonsense I put myself through, what would happen to me, the one left behind?

If I’m going to die, shouldn’t I show all the ugly sides of myself first so someone could think, “Wow, I definitely shouldn’t live like that”?

I still had issues to resolve with that person.

What I saw could just be an illusion.

Even if it was a vision my heart created to avoid admitting that person died so pathetically, it wouldn’t be strange at all.

Digging up a grave because the face of some random person I happened upon resembled my dead father was indeed the action of a madman.

But ultimately, it was Cronos himself who turned me into this madman.

If you’re so keen, why don’t you just come back to life and stop me?

I didn’t want to be bound by the past.

There were people I wanted to move forward with.

So I wanted to confirm at least that he was dead and shake everything off.

“Ha… So it is.”

Coming back to my senses, I was already digging down to the coffin.

I had dug deeper than my height, but due to some law, I could step anywhere without issue, so digging wasn’t a problem.

The coffin was huge, considering the deceased’s height, exceeding 2 meters.

The emblem of the Blade Mountain, symbolizing the Titan, was emblazoned prominently on the coffin, making it look more like a door than a coffin.

I thought the expression of it being a door between the afterlife and this world might actually hold some weight as I used all my strength to lift the coffin lid.

And…

“Ha… Haha…”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the absurdity.

Yeah, I wasn’t losing my mind.

The sharp senses honed in that dark tunnel surely saw the truth.

“It’s empty, damn it…!!”

Inside the large coffin, there was nothing but luxurious fabric; no corpse in sight.

“Phew….”

I let out a sigh.

My head throbbed.

Now that I assumed Cronos wasn’t buried here, various thoughts swirled in my mind.

First, Cronos faked his death and joined the Demon Church.

Second, Metios handed Cronos’s corpse over to the Demon Church.

Third, the Demon Church stole Cronos’s corpse.

Whichever it was, it made me want to puke out of disgust.

While staring at the coffin, I found more definitive evidence.

“Pentagon… traces of demons.”

A spell from the Demon Church was drawn onto the fabric attached to the coffin.

————————————-

Amy wasn’t particularly sensitive enough to be unable to sleep just because her sleeping arrangements changed, but she found it hard to fall asleep.

She thought to herself that some amusing things were happening since the summer vacation began.

The daughter of the Dragon Lord, the Demon Church hiding underground, Dragon Undead, the battle with the Empire’s strongest swordsman, and she even visited Atlas’s hometown.

‘Casey is strong.’

-She was said to be a high-ranking officer of the Royal Knight Order, so that level of strength is to be expected. From the Expert rank at the highest level, those techniques become commonplace.

Thoughts of Casey’s sparring from earlier that day came to mind.

She had seen Casey fight in the Hunting Festival before, but at that time, when faced with the demon bishop right in front of her, she hadn’t truly realized how impressive Casey was for withstanding everyone’s attacks alone.

She hadn’t been able to properly attack those being controlled.

One light attack from Casey felt on par with her current true techniques and strength.

‘Could I become like that?’

-Your talent is more than enough. I guarantee it. If you can surpass that maximum level wall, you could reach it right now.

‘Me?’

When a partner who doesn’t joke suddenly praised her, Amy was flustered.

Thinking she could reach the highest level right now was bewildering.

She felt she had reached the advanced stage recently, but had no idea how she got there.

After taking the herbal medicine Atlas had given her and encountering the Great Demons a few times, she felt like she got stronger all of a sudden.

She had no clue how she even reached the stage of advancement, so how could she be at the highest level?

Amy thought she didn’t resemble the image of the highest level in her head at all.

-You’ve had plenty of life-and-death experiences in actual combat, and your techniques have nearly been perfected under my guidance. You’ve consistently trained physically, and because you’ve already mastered several things from a young age, you’re mostly complete.

Her partner’s words were quite serious.

She had no idea, but apparently, everything was ready; it didn’t feel real.

‘What’s this wall supposed to be?’

That led her to a sudden curiosity.

She had heard that to rise from mid Expert rank to advanced, highest level, and then to Master, one had to overcome this wall.

But for Amy, who didn’t even know what she did to become advanced, the wall to reach the highest level or Master was utterly elusive.

She had faith that her partner could provide a clear answer, but somehow, the response she got only plunged her deeper into mystery.

-The wall is… you.

‘What do you mean by that…?’

-The fact that you can’t comprehend this indicates you have a long way to go.

It sounded somewhat sensible, but she couldn’t quite grasp it.

She tried to ponder deeply, but at that moment, she heard the sound of a window opening.

Surprised by the sudden intrusion, she turned to see a very familiar person climbing through the window.

“Atlas?”

“…”

It was Atlas who had come to the room.

Instead of a sword, he was carrying a shovel on his shoulder, and seeing the wet dirt on it, he must have just been using it.

What in the world did he have to do with a shovel at this late hour?

Atlas, looking extremely worn out, staggered over and collapsed beside her.

“… What happened?”

“Amy….”

The atmosphere felt ominous, and when I asked, Atlas grabbed Amy’s hand.

‘?!’

– He doesn’t seem normal…

His hand was freezing cold, shocking her.

It wasn’t just his hand that was cold.

His complexion was pale as he was drenched in cold sweat.

This was a visage Amy had never before seen from Atlas.

“Do you remember when I mentioned I saw something that proved I couldn’t possibly exist in that underground?”

“… Yes.”

She recalled what he had said.

Atlas had seen something in the tunnel that made him angrily storm out.

He had mumbled that he thought he imagined things when she asked about it, but the aura he had emitted back then was something she had never seen before.

Amy still had no idea what he had seen.

“I saw my father’s face.”

“Your father?”

-… Atlas’s father would be Cronos Titan, the former head of the Titan family. He was said to have died from a heart attack earlier this year.

Her partner seemed to know from the beginning about Atlas and what happened to his father.

“I thought it was over since I expressed my condolences at his grave and confirmed he was dead, but he was in that underground… involved in a ritual of the Demon Church. It’s absurd… I hoped it was just a mistake…”

“Atlas, surely…”

Once he said that, Amy realized why Atlas had come here, needing to confirm something.

If someone who thought their father was dead came in the middle of the night with a shovel covered in dirt, it could only mean one thing…

No, it couldn’t be.

No matter how much Atlas might seem, he wouldn’t go that far.

“I just went to ‘confirm’ it.”

That statement truly stunned her.

Digging up the grave of a dead parent…

Atlas might often do insane things, but he was a person with common sense.

He would know better than anyone how ethically wrong that was.

If that were the case, why was Atlas so shaken?

Was he haunted by guilt for being wrong in his assumptions, or was what he saw real?

He didn’t directly state what he saw.

Instead, he dropped a hint that allowed for speculation.

“Amy, it seems like there’s something the Demon Church is scheming somewhere in this mansion… no, somewhere around here.”