The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 37

The dungeon that began to rampage turned into complete chaos.

The reinforced concrete walls and columns crumbled down.

As the magic that was weakening the dungeon collapsed, monsters began to pour out uncontrollably.

The dungeon altered its structure like a living creature to consume the students trapped inside it.

“Die already!!!”

“Uwaaaah!!!”

Inside the mess of the dungeon, my senpai and I ran around without restraint, slicing through monsters.

A thick Aura Blade formed on Andy’s sword, chopping apart the monsters left and right.

Since Andy was a member of the Royal Knight Order, where only Knights who reached the level of Expert or higher could become regular members, he was handling himself exceptionally well.

When I mentioned that a Great Demon was descending, there were some who initially suggested we should all run away, and I almost killed them for saying that.

“What kind of instructor just sits there and watches while everything’s in chaos? Have you been retired for ten years? Do you want to die in my hands? Handle this properly!”

After grabbing him by the collar and having a serious conversation, he started fighting well.

We were searching for and rescuing students who were trapped in the constantly transforming dungeon.

In my hand, I clutched an artifact shaped like a compass that detects life reactions.

It was an artifact I had prepared in advance for today.

With the walls of the dynamically changing dungeon being smashed and monsters being slaughtered, the rescued students followed us closely, struggling but with their eyes shining bright.

“Wow… So this is the Royal Knight Order…”

“To think… the instructor looks different…”

Everyone gazed at Andy with admiration.

I was just wielding a longsword, but Andy’s sword was glimmering with a thick Aura.

We moved similarly, but while I was smashing rock walls without using the Aura Blade, it was entirely natural for students to find Andy, who towered impressively while radiating Aura, more cool… Damn it.

I was doing something even more impressive without the Aura Blade, but how could they possibly know that?

I spread my presence in all directions, but when I no longer sensed anything around me, I stopped and asked Andy.

“We’re all gathered now, right?”

“No, I still can’t see Seymour…!”

Now that I thought about it, River was missing.

Suddenly, a place popped into my head.

It was the hidden room where we had just slaughtered the remnants of the Demon Church.

If River was destined to be a protagonist… there was a high chance he was there.

“Ugh… I have a hunch, so I’m heading out first! I’ll do something about it!!”

“Then thanks…! Alright, everyone! Let’s escape quickly!!”

““““Yes!!! Instructor!!!!””””

As Andy destroyed the walls of the dungeon with his Aura Blade, he dashed straight for the exit, and the students followed closely behind him.

As I tried to find the hidden room again, the waves of magic spread throughout the entire dungeon once more.

This was some incredibly dense magic, not like regular demons.

“I really think a Great Demon is descending. What the hell is it eating to come out!!”

Then, something suspicious caught my eye.

The seal of the Boss Room that had been sealed was now twisted.

Dark magic was swallowing the Boss Room whole.

The Boss Room was becoming nothing more than a sacrifice.

“Did they perform another ritual so quickly after I wrecked everything?!”

I had just smashed everything with great care, and to think they could perform a ritual again in such a short time—how ridiculous.

This is why I hate those cultists.

It’s like if you see one cockroach, there are countless others hiding.

I had to find the two of them quickly.

———-

Though the entrance to the hidden room had changed, it wasn’t hard to find.

Knowing that the room is located under the Boss Room, all I had to do was drop down.

I sensed a presence of a person.

It was Amy’s presence.

Was River somewhere else?

But I had no choice but to focus on Amy right in front of me.

A dark energy gathered in the hands of the Great Demon.

Amy didn’t move.

A black stake made of magic was jammed into her leg.

At this rate, Amy would die.

“Y-Ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya!!!!!!!!!!!!”

She couldn’t die.

She shot at me a couple of times, but no matter how I looked at it, Amy is a Devil Slayer.

Though she may not be the same person as Hayden Parker, she’s following a semblance of his narrative.

Destined as a protagonist, she’s like a canary in a coal mine to me.

During crucial events from the original story, there would always be precursors surrounding her.

Now, seeing her appear in the Devil Slayer getup gave me even more motivation to keep running like this.

If I hadn’t seen her like that, I would have just slacked off after killing all those Demon Church creeps.

I wouldn’t have prepared so earnestly.

Yes, she’s basically the only alarm system in this world.

So I finally find her after searching so hard, and she’s going to die here in vain?

Absolutely not.

She needs to keep telling me about the precursors of dangerous events.

She has to survive healthily for a long, long time…!!!

Strength seeped into the hand gripping my sword.

My opponent is a Great Demon… simply shoving my sword into him would be pointless.

I poured my aura into the sword.

A glow began to swirl along the elongated blade.

The weak, flickering light gradually brightened until the blade itself became almost invisible.

When reaching the Expert rank, the Aura Blade encircles the sword like flames.

Expressing aura igniting comes from that, but the aura I generated felt entirely different from that.

The Aura Blade created in that way looked superficially like a sword made of light.

An immensely powerful, quietly stormy light sword.

When I first succeeded in this, it looked just like a lightsaber from a sci-fi movie in my mind.

My Aura Blade shot out like a ballista and pierced the side of the Great Demon.

– Fwoooosh!!!

“Ahhhhhhh!!!”

The Great Demon screamed as the Aura Blade pierced its side.

“What the hell are you doing to my canary!!!!!!!”

There are said to be three methods of killing a demon, two of which are widely known in the world.

The third method? No one can use it unless they truly understand it; hence it’s largely considered useless.

A method that only around ten people in the entire continent can perform during the same era, surpassing the ‘Holy Power’ and ‘Pure Substance.’

That is the Aura Blade that has reached the ‘Extreme.’

I pulled my sword out and leaped back to land in front of Amy.

The Great Demon clutched its side in pain.

Burn marks surrounded the wound, and black magic billowed out from the windpipe.

“Different than ‘Holy Power’… this pain…!! It’s electrifying….!! Hotter than the flames of Hell!!!”

Belphegor shouted like a madman, holding onto the wound in agony.

“Yeah… I’ve heard of it. Those bugs that can inflict pain on us… You’re the Master!!!!”

The Aura Blade, which had output that obscured the sword itself, is proof that I reached the realm of ‘Master.’

“Yeah, old man. Is it your first time seeing a Master at your age?”

I’m one of the only three Masters in the Empire.

———————————

The Aura Blade that reached the realm of ‘Extreme’ distorts reality.

The Master resides in a realm unreachable through mere skill or physical ability; it entails a mindset befitting a Master to alter reality.

Just like demons, who exist in another dimension, and divine beings, they defy the laws of the world.

The Aura Blade that has reached the Extreme twists the rules of the world, making it a fatal means against a demon, who is also an otherworldly being.

“Ah, it blew up again.”

The longsword which had looked perfectly fine just moments ago turned to black ash.

A regular sword can’t withstand a Master’s Aura Blade.

I had burned through one before, and now it had shattered again.

I could retrieve the sword I left at the Order, but sneaking into the Order just for that would be a death wish.

Fortunately, there was a sword made of Rare Metal right in front of me, so I ducked down.

Amy looked up at me with a face flooded with tears.

“Atlas… how…?”

“I just saw River too, but where did he go?”

“… He should be in the dormitory by now.”

“Then that’s a relief.”

Just like the last time Amy disappeared, she vanished again, but I had my doubts.

One worry was lifted.

I picked up Amy’s mithril greatsword.

“I’m borrowing this.”

Though it felt odd holding a thick sword that was differently balanced from the longsword I usually used, I endured it.

Having to carry a sword bigger than my height was annoying, but if even Amy could use it, it wouldn’t make sense for me not to.

As I took the sword, Amy looked at me with a surprised expression and asked.

“But… how did you get here?!”

– Crack!!!

“Ouch!!”

She asked so I smacked her lightly on the head first.

I told her to let me know if she had a hard time, but seeing her almost about to die alone had me angry.

There was so much I wanted to say, but I held it off until I could deal with the demon in front of me.

I condensed it down to one most important sentence.

“Shut up. Stay put or you’ll be in big trouble.”

Amy looked somewhat aggrieved, but I brushed it off and turned my attention back to the Great Demon.

I wouldn’t lose to the tactical old man dropped by the Demon Church.

The Aura Blade glimmered in the shape of the mithril greatsword in front of the Great Demon.