The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 353

Monsters generally have a booming cry of some sort.

While it can be used to threaten opponents and serves as a weapon in itself, most Great Demons possess a special ability that allows them to convey their thoughts directly to everyone around them, rather than just using vocal cords.

Leviathan, the Great Demon, should also have such power, yet he neither howled nor conveyed his thoughts.

He merely demonstrated through his actions.

“Everyone, deploy Defensive Magic..!!”

“How do we stop that mass!!”

“Then retreat back inside the Academy’s Barrier!”

As Leviathan started to recognize the professors as foes, they panicked and fled back inside the Academy’s Barrier.

Everyone felt despondent that their attacks had no effect, but I was just relieved they had done that for me.

Thanks to the professors drawing his attention, I had enough time to prepare.

As Leviathan extended his heads towards the professors who hadn’t escaped yet, the power that had been condensed in my Aura Blade was released all at once.

“Ugh..!!”

-Swish!

With a single slash, three of Leviathan’s heads were severed.

I increased the power to the point where it could leave an effective impact based on the damage I had just inflicted, and it worked remarkably well.

Let’s remember this sensation and adjust my output once more.

“Oooh…!! Is that a Master? Not a single scratch after that grand spell.”

“U-uh… Should we evacuate the students since we aren’t helping at all?”

The professors were startled to see an effective hit against Leviathan, but I felt uneasy.

Even after losing three heads, Leviathan hadn’t uttered a single word.

Does this mean it doesn’t even hurt?

“If he’s just holding back, then please let out a cry for mercy before turning into rags…!”

His stillness was unsettling, as if he were unaffected.

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Late at night, a horrific battle raged above the sea.

Due to the nature of my unique power, fighting in the sky is much easier for me, but constantly traversing the surface of the sea was a nuisance.

Leviathan was a type of Great Demon that relied on pure physical prowess rather than any specialized powers wielded by other Great Demons.

While his powers—like the Power of Domination that allows him to control anyone, or the Power of Proliferation that enables unending multiplication—seemed more impressive, they were still incredibly powerful.

Leviathan’s unique ability is to grow to an enormous size; he was already in a gigantic state thanks to his power.

Getting bigger doesn’t just mean inflating like a balloon; his weight increases proportionately with his size.

A massively enlarged body is a terrifying weapon in itself.

Just by moving, Leviathan would cause the seawater to churn, creating gigantic waves, and with a mere lift and slam of his body, he unleashed destructive power on par with 8th circle attack spells.

Each of his strikes was deadly enough to kill, but thankfully, they didn’t follow complex trajectories.

Though Leviathan’s movements looked slow, it was merely an illusion due to his size; considering his dimensions, he was moving at a terrifying speed.

His gargantuan frame moved with such velocity that his skin was covered with hard, sharp scales, making even the slightest brush against them razor-sharp.

Ultimately, moving on just two legs has its limits, and when Leviathan decided to flatten his opponent, the very space to dodge vanished.

Ironically, distance meant nothing to me.

-Swish!!

Dodging his descending body, my Aura Blade sliced through Leviathan’s scales and flesh again.

The small reef I had been standing on just moments ago was no longer a reef, but rather a flat terrain.

As I continued battling near the Academy, I was fine, but I’d need to redraw the area map.

I needed to finish quickly, but it showed no signs of concluding.

The slashes I had unleashed weren’t just ordinary cuts; they stretched about 10 meters long.

In a typical situation, a single strike like that would have ended even the most powerful demon.

Countless of those slashes struck Leviathan, leaving numerous marks, but none had inflicted a fatal wound.

He was far too colossal.

What might be a fatal wound to a rat was merely a scratch to a whale.

I would need to hack him into pieces, but with a size like that, it’s no easy task.

That’s why I had been targeting his heads, but even moving his great bulk was laborious.

The most bothersome thing was my uncertainty about whether my attacks were actually having any effect.

Normally, after this much hacking, a creature would either scream in agony or lash out in fury, yet Leviathan remained eerily silent, merely showing actions without sound.

Thanks to my spatial shifting abilities, as long as I didn’t let my guard down, I shouldn’t be hit by Leviathan’s attacks, but the fact that my strikes continued to miss was continuously grating on my nerves.

“Really frustrating, huh?”

It annoyed me that my attacks were not registering.

Even a Master isn’t invincible.

The peak of Aura Blade is an ultimate attack skill reachable with a single sword, but despite its simplicity, I often failed to achieve the desired effect.

But this time was different.

What I sensed from Leviathan was a completely different kind of powerlessness.

No matter how much I struggled, it felt like I was a tiny speck of dust in the palm of Buddha; no matter my attempts at resistance, nothing seemed to change.

Most people might break down here, but if I crumbled over such things, I would never become a Master.

I could still unleash stronger attacks.

I could still move faster.

The anger that was burning inside ignited the light within my Aura Blade to shine brightly.

As I dashed towards Leviathan’s hulking form, I smashed my Aura Blade into him, slicing through his scales and flesh.

Sharp shards of scales flew off, but before they could hit, I raced forward to carve out more of Leviathan’s flesh with the brilliant Aura Blade.

Determined to tear apart one side of his scales, I relentlessly attacked Leviathan.

But he appeared to regard my efforts as nothing, his gaze shifting away.

All seven of his heads had been directed at me in the onslaught, yet now his attention turned towards the Academy.

It was as if he concluded I posed no threat whatsoever.

“Ha… You’ve got to be kidding!!”

Charging towards Leviathan, who emitted blinding white light and shifted toward the Academy, I aimed another powerful slash at his neck.

However, this time, it went slightly awry for a simple reason.

Leviathan had suddenly bent his upper body down.

I wondered why he was suddenly diving beneath the surface but soon realized the reason.

“Is he… swinging his tail?!”

As he lowered his upper body, he began to raise his tail that had been hidden below the water’s surface.

It was monstrous, eclipsing even the pale moonlight, and it looked like a mountain rising in the middle of the ocean.

Given the angle, it seemed like he intended to smack the Academy’s Barrier with that thing.

Just the mere drop of such mass would unleash tremendous destruction; if he added force to that, what kind of calamity awaited?

In my mind, I visualized the ultimate destruction spell—Meteor Strike.

“U-uh… Principal!! Look out!!”

“No… No!! All professors, deploy Defensive Magic now!!”

The principal, witnessing Leviathan’s tail soaring into the sky from within the Barrier, was in a panic.

We attempted to add as much Defensive Magic as we could to absorb the physical impact, but the sheer mass left us feeling dizzy.

Could we really stop that?

There are plenty of spells designed to withstand physical attacks, but the Barrier of the Academy was already set to its highest limits.

What could a few mages do now…

Ah, the tail is starting to descend.

“Brace for impact!!!”

-KABOOM!!

Unable to withstand the overwhelming size of Leviathan’s tail, the Barrier and the Defensive Magic created by the professors were obliterated in an instant.

With all the Defensive Magic shattered, only the Barrier remained; Leviathan lifted his tail once more.

If this next attack hits, the Academy’s Barrier will indeed shatter, and that massive body will crash down, dealing irreparable damage to the Academy.

This time, I absolutely must land a blow.