The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 263

Rex, who had been so confident while provoking me, couldn’t hold on to that image for long.

The reason was simple.

He was weaker than me despite his confidence.

“J-just wait!! Wait!!!”

As he panicked and reached out with his sword, Rex’s arm once again split in two.

Rex’s basic swordsmanship was frustratingly similar to Cronos’s.

His level had also reached an extremely high state, almost identical to Cronos.

With the power of the Great Demon at his disposal, Rex surely had to be strong, but I was one of the people who knew Cronos’s Vision Swordsmanship, or rather, Titan’s Vision Swordsmanship, better than anyone.

Just a brief glimpse of how Rex moved his shoulders or legs allowed me to clearly identify the techniques he would use, their weaknesses, and their attack ranges.

Even at a perfect level of mastery, this trait put him at a disadvantage against me, and Rex would sometimes modify techniques on a whim.

He would use a technique that had to be executed perfectly in a flashy manner or employ a counterattack technique while charging in for an attack.

Though he might think that’s stronger, the techniques honed over hundreds of years lost much of their power when twisted like that.

Another method Rex could use, which was completely useless against perfect swordsmanship, was the wide-area attack from his powers.

But I decided not to worry about that too much.

The power of area destruction was a power of the Great Demon Satan.

According to the Devil Slayer author at the Academy, the exact name is “Power of Destruction.”

It is an intangible force exhibited by the Great Demon Satan that destroys all substances below a certain level upon contact.

Although it’s called an intangible force, its nature of destroying everything it touches made it appear distorted simply by being fixed in the air.

Keeping it from directly touching my body was easy enough.

And most importantly, that Power of Destruction doesn’t destroy everything.

It can only destroy “substances below a certain level,” so it doesn’t properly exert its effects on anything that exceeds that level.

It’s not some kind of instant-death cheat that can be easily wielded.

As long as I keep in mind that the “certain level” is set arbitrarily based on the caster, it’s a power that can be avoided with careful observation.

Moreover, my Aura Blade techniques, which reached an extreme level, exceeded that certain level, allowing me to attack while disregarding the power.

For daring to mock my height while wearing Cronos’s face, Rex was mercilessly sliced apart for about three minutes straight.

“Dammit…!!”

Once his arms and legs started getting chopped off, he couldn’t regain his stance before being cut again, trapping him in an endless cycle of attacks.

“When compared to Cronos, there’s really no difference.”

The level of strength was similar.

I had become much stronger than back then, capable of breaking down walls, but Cronos had changed only in regeneration abilities and powers.

Ah, that’s not Cronos.

But looking at Rex continuously reminded me of Cronos.

Same face, same body, same voice, and even the same swordsmanship; it was unreasonable to say I wouldn’t think of him.

Additionally, it was strikingly coincidental that the very place where our swords collided was precisely where I last faced Cronos.

It felt like I was wrapping up an unfinished score, and my blood boiled.

“Do you think this is where it ends!!”

Rex blocked the approaching Squirette’s attack with his arm instead of his sword.

Was he going crazy, or did he think he had something to rely on?

Just before the clash, his arm was engulfed in black magic.

-Klang!!

A clear sound resonated, reminiscent of steel colliding.

“Then I need to step it up.”

Rex placed his hand on his face and whispered to himself, as black vapor began to seep from his body.

I had doubted he could withstand my attacks, but it seemed he had another trick hidden away.

“My role was to capture you, so I was hoping to take it easy! But to be so reckless…”

“I’ll show you the might of the Demon Church’s greatest…!!!”

“Demon Church’s greatest? You?”

I couldn’t understand why he was all of a sudden acting like he was going to spare me after he had just cut off one of my legs.

But it was indeed true that he had a hidden power, so I steeled myself and prepared for what was next.

The fact that he called himself the greatest of the Demon Church made me tingle with tension.

What came to my mind was the horrifying Dragon Undead that soared through the skies above the capital.

It couldn’t even be sliced through by solid bones, which had been a real headache; was he claiming to be stronger than that?

If so, I might need to be more cautious.

Indeed, just moments ago, even with a regular Aura Blade attack, Rex had managed to block it with his arm, so there seemed to be potential there.

The magic seeping from Rex’s body began to transform him.

Muscles swelled and Rex’s already enormous body grew even larger.

Black scales erupted from his entire body like a scale armor, and sharp claws blossomed from his hands.

Then, elongated horns sprouted from his forehead.

He transformed into a hybrid of human and dragon-like features.

“Dragon…?”

Yes, he certainly looked strikingly similar to Hulan, the Dragon Beastman.

But the difference was that this Dragon Beastman was releasing a terrifying aura of magic.

While I knew Satan used dragons as a symbol, I was seeing this kind of transformation for the first time.

“Now… this is the real deal. No crying or begging will save you now!!”

Once his transformation was complete, Rex raised his sword once more.

This time, no bright blue aura engulfed his sword.

A dark aura coiled around the blade, enlarging it.

——————–

After transforming into a Dragon Beastman, Rex’s attacks wrapped in magic became overwhelmingly powerful.

The Aura Blade, now covered in magic, had several times the power compared to before, and his dragon-like physique had doubled his physical strength, sending shockwaves even from mere punches capable of exploding the ground.

“Haha!!”

Rex was ecstatic, flaunting his new powers with delight.

The once-silent mansion became a canvas for the destruction left in Rex’s wake.

With a solemn expression, he resembled a child gleefully playing with his toys.

And Atlas, his target, simply stood there absorbing all his attacks.

Atlas found Rex’s transformation fascinating and wanted to see just how far he could go.

At first glance, he seemed very much like Hulan, the Dragon Beastman Master, so Atlas was curious about whether his skills matched that degree.

Though Atlas was capable of completely dodging attacks the moment he used his teleportation ability, he’d chosen not to.

After enduring all the attacks, Atlas reached a conclusion.

‘It’s just an appearance similarity.’

It was certain that Rex had a truly threatening level of destructive power.

In that regard, it’s likely that he had comparable destruction potential to the Master.

That was ultimately all there was to it.

There was nothing further to be gained, and nothing left to see.

On Atlas’s sword, the pale light flickered back to life, rather than the bright blue flames.

“Uh?!”

As soon as the light intertwined with his sword, Rex’s arm, reinforced with dragon scales, was severed.

It wasn’t merely a single layer of dragon scale but augmented with magic on top of it.

He should have been able to block it with the previous attacks, yet it was sliced cleanly away in one strike.

While Rex’s Aura Blade was engulfed in dark magic, Atlas’s Aura Blade shone with a bright white glow.

Until just moments before, Rex had never seen a blade like Atlas’s that could effortlessly carve through all his defenses.

The dazzling white Aura Blade was entirely different from the swirling blue flames he was familiar with.

However, the severed arm didn’t fall to the ground.

From the cut surface, black magic spewed out, clutching the severed arm and reattaching it.

Though he feigned nonchalance, Rex was visibly startled and glanced back at Atlas.

He then took a slight step back in surprise.

Though he tried to maintain his composure, a powerful anger radiated from Atlas’s entirety.

The suppressed rage that had simmered beneath the surface was beginning to erupt.

“Ha…!! So that’s it! Now I understand why the Bishop wanted you!”

The intense emotions from Atlas, feelings he had never felt before, sent shivers down Rex’s spine.

“The overflowing anger… you must be the talent he has been searching for.”

Anger, indeed. Atlas had been holding back his irritation regarding everything since the very beginning.

The moment he realized Rex was the one who had tormented Metios, his head had been teeming with rage.

He had simply been patient, hoping to extract more information; he’d refrained from finishing him off right then and there.

But there was no longer any need for that.

Rex had now revealed all of himself, so he didn’t need to spare him any longer.

A pale Aura Blade radiated a sinister glow across Atlas’s face.

“Ugh?!”

Even after changing his form, in an instant, Rex’s body was minutely diced again.

Though he could regenerate, the pain was clearly evident.

Rex’s expression contorted in agony.

“Th-this is…!!”

Trying to attach his severed body parts again from the magic that gushed out from the cut surface, he saw Atlas delve into his robe.

What he pulled out appeared to be an ornament decorated with gold and jewels.

“Having seen this much, I guess they know how to handle the situation now.”

Immediately after, an overwhelming flash erupted from Atlas’s body, bright enough to burn one’s eyes.

“Ughhh???”

The flash that enveloped Rex’s body was the essence of Holy Power.

It was a waterfall of dense Holy Power, so radiant that it could blind untrained eyes, mercilessly scorching Rex’s body now filled with magic.

While Holy Power doesn’t affect ordinary people at all, releasing it with this intensity was sufficient to create problems even for normal individuals.

The edges of his wounds turned thoroughly crispy, and the magic that had gushed forth began to dwindle.

“Hol… Holy Power?! You bastard, were you a holy knight??”

“Eh… something like that.”

Since I’d been acting as the church desired, and receiving blessings from the Saintess, using Holy Relics, one could indeed call me a holy knight, despite the absence of any Holy Power clinging to my body.

Atlas gazed at Rex, now thoroughly charred like a rare meat, and as if struck by a brilliant idea, approached him.

“I couldn’t do it because my younger sibling was watching, but there’s something I have been wanting to try… since you look just like Cronos, I thought to try it on you. Is that alright?”

“Wh-what…!!”

As Rex barely clung to life, Atlas positioned the Aura Blade against his leg.

“Actually, you don’t even need to measure. I’ve been thinking about this for ages.”

And as if he’d already decided, he lightly drew a cut on Rex’s knee and raised the sword.

“Ugh… Aaaah!!!!!”

The noise of flesh being severed accompanied by a scream loud enough to shatter ears was swallowed by the dark veil of night.