The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 309

– Boom!!!

“Whhhaaa?!”

It felt like Shaara’s body had suddenly fallen from the farthest sky.

The darkness that filled all directions and the solid marble floor were gone.

The fear that had pressed against her body vanished, and she returned to the repulsive smell and wet stone floor of the sewers.

In the completely dark sewers, the sun had risen.

“… A holy relic?!”

In Shaara’s hand, an old, crumbling staff had somehow appeared.

The brooch that had been pinned to her chest—a brooch that Atlas had insisted she wear to the party last week—had been shattered, but even without questioning it, Shaara realized that the brooch had transformed into a staff.

It was a tattered wooden staff one might find in the hands of a shepherd in the fields, but from that staff, Shaara felt a bottomless Sacred Divine Power.

It was a holiness that made her want to kneel and worship without thinking.

“You saw this coming, didn’t you?”

Even though Atlas had thoroughly tracked her down, he had anticipated that Shaara would be captured and had left a final insurance behind.

In the end, he had saved Shaara’s life.

“Ugh… You were wrong again, you damn old man!”

As the being hidden in the darkness vanished, a man in the sewers came into view.

Seeing the immense Holy Power that enveloped Shaara, he ground his teeth and drew a sword from his waist.

“You think that thing can protect you?!”

“Ugh!”

Black flames erupted from the man’s sword.

The Holy Power emanating from the staff would surely be able to block that attack.

Compared to the ominously flickering black flame, the light guarding Shaara seemed like nothing, but she felt a certainty that it would hold.

Yet, she didn’t know how long it would last.

Because this Holy Power was not generated by Shaara, there would come a time when it might run out.

In this situation where she could only pray, the man’s sword struck Shaara’s barrier.

– Crack!!

“Damn, this is so solid!”

As the man’s sword collided with the Holy Power, a loud noise echoed around them.

She had held out for now.

But what about next? What comes after this?

How long would this barrier last?

In a situation where panic could easily set in, strangely, Shaara remained calm.

There was a presence in her heart that gave her confidence.

‘You will definitely come to save me…’

It would be a lie to say she wasn’t afraid in this situation.

She was incredibly scared.

She had faced an unknown being and was attacked by a suspicious man.

She was unprepared, and it wouldn’t be strange if she died at any moment, yet the conviction like a solid faith resided in her heart.

She was someone who had predicted that it would come to this.

She was certain that somehow, before this barrier vanished, someone would come to help her.

– Crack, crack, crack!!

The sound of the black flames pounding against the Holy Power grew even louder.

It felt like the sharp blade might slice through her body at any moment, making her skin prickle with fear.

‘I’m… scared.’

The moment she escaped from the dreadful being, a knife fight unfolded right in front of her.

She wanted to scream, but she had no intention of crumbling like this.

She felt that resigning now would be like succumbing to the being she had just encountered.

All she could do was earnestly pray, but Shaara made a vow to survive at all costs.

“Let’s see if you can block this one?”

The man, who had been swinging his sword multiple times, raised his hand.

Although she could see nothing, the sight of the man instilled deep fear in Shaara.

From the raised hand, she sensed the same presence as the being she had seen earlier in the darkness.

It was invisible, but… it was too dangerous.

“What the hell are you using against a kid, you piece of trash?”

In that moment, an incredibly reassuring presence emerged behind her.

“Atlas?!”

The presence warmly enveloped the cringing body of Shaara.

– Clang!!

No longer could the man’s sword strike the barrier.

His sword produced an extremely sharp sound, as if it had collided with a different metal rather than the Holy Power.

It felt like his head might fly off before he could strike down, so he abandoned the unseen attack and raised his sword to defend.

Though she hadn’t seen him, Shaara had a feeling she knew who had appeared behind her.

——————–

The staff of the beggar, the insurance Atlas had left for Shaara, possessed the property of protecting people against evil.

It was one of the best relics to use, especially now that an attack by demons was anticipated, and it was good that it didn’t require any special qualities like other relics.

When activated, massive Holy Power could be sensed, allowing them to know where she had been kidnapped.

The holy knights, including Atlas, sensed the use of the staff of the beggar, and they were once again startled to learn that it was in the underground sewers.

The use of the staff implied that Shaara was in a quite dangerous situation.

With no time to waste, Atlas recklessly jumped into the unknown depths of the sewers.

It was very dangerous, but he trusted his instincts and ran.

And he succeeded in arriving just in time.

“Can you recognize me?”

“Yes… Atlas.”

Shaara, tightly gripping the staff of the beggar, did not look well.

On the surface, she bore no wounds, but her expression was vacant as if something terrible had happened to her.

Shaara was being attacked by the man in front of her.

The man swinging his sword had his face obscured by a hood, but even just seeing his jaw was enough to recognize who he was.

It was Rex, wearing the shell of Cronos.

“You got away last time, huh? This time, I won’t let you escape; I’ll kill you, so don’t worry.”

“This wasn’t part of the plan, though…?”

Just moments before, Rex, who had been swinging his sword with a terrifying presence, stepped back as soon as he saw my face.

Last time, he had acted so arrogantly, but it seemed he had learned some manners in that brief time.

I pushed the slightly shorter Shaara behind me and raised my sword towards Rex.

“Wait, wait! I’m still not ‘prepared,’ you know? So how about we call it a day and meet again next time?”

Rex, facing an incoming aura blade aimed directly at him, looked flustered.

He waved his hands and put his sword back in its sheath, showing his palms.

That was nonsense in front of an opponent who could slice him to pieces at any moment.

A quick glance at Rex’s face peeking out from beneath the hood revealed that the wounds he had received last time were still unhealed.

Seeing that, a few guesses formed in my mind.

“Why can’t you run away like last time?”

“Ah… it’s not like that.”

Sweat dripped down Rex’s forehead.

He didn’t seem very skilled in psychological warfare.

Was he mentally around ten years old? It felt like I was dealing with a kid.

Last time, he had certainly been able to flee in the blink of an eye, but it seemed that the space teleportation used by the demons was also affected by the spatial barrier placed on the Prigia Domain.

I pondered for a moment.

I considered that letting Rex go might not be such a bad choice after all.

I had already assessed Rex’s strength last time, so if he couldn’t teleport away, I could definitely kill him.

The concern was that there was another person besides me here.

Someone weak who had no means of defending themselves, like Amy or River.

‘The staff of the beggar won’t hold out for long.’

Even though the relic was still protecting her, it wouldn’t last long.

If the effects of the staff wore off during a fight, she could end up getting killed.

Sending Shaara to the saintess with my teleportation would keep her safe, but… in that brief moment, Rex—who had at least expert-level skills—could escape the Prigia Domain right away.

And such chances wouldn’t come often.

Looking at him, it seemed the injuries from last time hadn’t fully healed yet.

‘… I need to end this before the staff’s power runs out.’

Whether or not the power of the staff had diminished could be sensed even without looking when I felt the Holy Power.

The moment I resolved to kill him, the aura flowing along Squirette’s blade surged violently.

“Dang…!”

Rex, who knew what that meant, fled without looking back.

I had to resolve this quickly, so I couldn’t afford to let him get away.

The aura blade drew a white line in the air.

“Graaaah!!”

Rex tried to run, but he got his legs chopped off before he could go far.

Turning his back to us while running was practically asking for death, yet Rex didn’t seem to notice the small detail and was just terrified of facing me.

“Why don’t you puff up like before? What are you running from?”

“Don’t… come…!!”

Rex crawled on the ground after falling down.

The wounds on his legs had already started to heal, but he wouldn’t be able to move for a while.

I needed to finish this.

The moment I raised my sword, a strange presence appeared from beyond the wall.

– Boom!!!

“What the hell is…?!”

The wall of the sewer shattered, and a gigantic arm reached inside to grab Rex.

An ultimate demon had destroyed the barrier and had thrust its arm into the sewers.

‘So this was the sewer located at the western edge. I see now why it was so laissez-faire.’

Through the broken wall, the sky was visible.

The west of the Prigia Domain was bordered by a cliff, and the sewers had several ventilation shafts, one of which turned out to be this place.

With just a few walls broken, they could escape to the outside of the Prigia Domain at any time.

“Do you think I’ll let you go?!”

Before the ultimate demon could pull Rex out of the sewers, its hand was suddenly severed, slicing through Rex’s abdomen all at once.

– Ka-boom!!!

“Ugh?!”

Then, another hole opened up in the sewer.

As one hand got cut off, the other arm reached in.

I couldn’t let him escape like this.

Seeing that the other arm was reaching for Rex, I tried to rush in, but I heard a scream from behind.

“AAAHHH?!”

Suddenly, two huge holes appeared, causing the sewers to shake, and the ceiling began to collapse.

Beneath it, Shaara was precariously seated.

Though protected by the Holy Power, she would be crushed as soon as the debris fell.

“Oh no…!! Shaara!!!”

I had to get my priorities straight.

Saving her was more important than anything else.

This time, glaring at Rex, who was badly wounded from his chest down, I scooped up Shaara and dashed out of the sewers.

—————–

“Graaaah!!! Damn it… damn it!!!”

Rex returned, looking like a mess once more, just like before.

His plan had once again failed.

It was something he had prepared for years in order to obtain Shaara Prigia, and now it had all come to ruin.

Every informant who had infiltrated Prigia was dead, and all the doppelgangers had been wiped out too.

And the final measure—kidnapping using the drowned—the plan had also failed because Shaara possessed a holy relic.

It was frustrating enough to fail, but to meet Atlas again and get messed up like this was just salt on the wounds.

The injuries he’d sustained were still not fully healed.

For various reasons, Rex was filled with rage from head to toe.

“You were wrong about everything again. You said they’d obey as soon as they felt the presence of Satan.”

“It’s just a small distortion. Your defeat is simply due to the fact that you weren’t ready yet. Just as prophesized… Ugh?!”

The Demon Bishop of Satan attempted to wave his hand towards Rex, who was seething with excitement, but he didn’t care and grabbed the bishop by the neck.

“What you old man says is all wrong.”

“You little…! What are you doing?!”

The Demon Bishop of Satan used his powers against Rex.

The Power of Destruction that could crumble objects to pieces—even an artificial lifeform strengthened with a black heart, close to being a Master—would suffer fatal damage if directly struck by the powers of the Demon Bishop.

Given that Rex’s behavior had gone awry, it seemed he thought he should teach him a lesson this time.

“You’re so slow, old man.”

Of course, that was only true if it hit him.

“Graaaah?!”

Rex, dodging the Demon Bishop’s powers, struck the Demon Bishop’s body with the Power of Satan.

The dodge he had just performed was a technique demonstrated right in front of him by Atlas.

A technique to evade the invisible.

It was a quite shocking sight for someone who thought they were invulnerable, and unknowingly, Rex had memorized Atlas’s techniques, which had shattered his perception of strength.

“Ah… don’t go… if I disappear, Satan’s prophecy…”

The body of the Demon Bishop, hit with the same Power of Destruction, began to rapidly disintegrate.

The eyes visible beyond the mask trembled with the fear of death before disappearing.

“Haah… I should’ve done this earlier. I guess you never mentioned the prophecy entailed this, did you?”

Kicking the bloodied corpse of the Demon Bishop aside, Rex picked up the undamaged mask he had worn.

He had always spoken of Satan’s prophecy as if it were narratives about the distant future.

That Shaara Prigia would fall into a panic upon witnessing Satan, would kill her father, and then inherit the Golden Ball, collapsing the Empire.

What a load of nonsense; reality was entirely different.

Shaara Prigia had faced Satan and endured, while it was the Demon Church that was on the verge of collapsing.

“From now on, I am the Demon Bishop of Satan. A lot is going to change.”