The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 54

“Gah…?!!”

Zeke Albion opened his eyes, feeling as if his chest was being crushed by an invisible weight, only to find someone looking down at him.

The moonlight was obscured by clouds, so he couldn’t see who it was, but an incredibly eerie aura surrounded the figure.

“Wh-Who are you?!”

Zeke quickly reached out, forming a spell.

The spell took shape into a powerful water cannon, a 4th Circle spell that could blast even a heavy golem backwards.

Whoever this was, breaking in at midnight made them an enemy for sure.

“How dare you come here without fear… Taste the power of Albion!!”

It took only about three seconds for a spell capable of overpowering a mere infantry squad to be ‘completed.’

A large droplet of water appeared at his fingertips.

“Shh, this is a hospital.”

-Splash!!

The sound of glass shattering echoed in the air.

The spell Zeke had formed fell apart before it could be released.

It was as if the very magic had been erased.

“H-How?”

“Your hands are pretty reckless.”

As the magic dissipated, a hand clad in black gloves gripped Zeke’s neck.

“Ugh?!”

It was only after he was caught that he realized it.

The hand was… incredibly small.

With fingers as slender as a child’s, there was an immense strength behind that grip, like being crushed by a machine.

The mix of those two entirely different sensations was terrifying.

“Surprised you’re still alive. Don’t you have something to say to me?”

Moonlight filtered through the curtains, revealing the pale blonde hair of the figure looking at Zeke with icy blue eyes. In their other hand, they held a club, easy to swing with one hand.

“Y-You… Atlas?!!”

“Enough. You’re already a dead man… Don’t blame me.”

Atlas raised the club they were holding.

“Why are you doing this to me? What grudge do you have against me?!”

“What kind of grudge does a fool like you expect?”

Zeke realized immediately what Atlas meant.

It seemed they’d figured out he’d tampered with the duel arena’s settings.

“Did you think I wouldn’t know? Where you were brought from… Right, you don’t remember.”

His last memory was of the control room.

Being brought here meant someone dragged him from the control room while he lay there looking pitiful with a talisman containing spells for tweaking the settings.

He had forgotten this due to life-threatening injuries and Edgar’s defeat, but he had committed a serious violation of school rules.

Fortunately or not, Atlas didn’t appear to have any intention of taking him to the principal.

“I was curious about who made that little setup, but now my curiosity is satisfied..!!”

With one hand still gripping Zeke’s neck, they lifted a pillow to cover his face and raised the club.

“………!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

He couldn’t see what Atlas was about to do, but the intent to muffle his screams was evident, sending fear right through him.

-Smack!!

“!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

A jolt of pain struck like lightning up his spine.

The ache spread from his injured lower body all the way to his brain.

Instinctively, his back arched like a bow.

He tried to scream, but no sound came out.

The pillow fully muffled his mouth, preventing his cries from escaping.

“Oh…? What’s this?”

“Huh… Huh…?!!”

Atlas lifted the thin blanket that had been covering his lower body.

“What’s this? The heir of Albion… is missing a ball?”

Zeke’s face contorted in disgust at the remark.

The fact that he had only one testicle was a closely guarded secret, even in the hospital.

“Gah… Gah… Don’t… don’t make jokes like that….!!”

“With it missing so clearly, how can you call it a joke?”

Another shaking, unbearable pain rushed through Albion’s body.

“?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Ugh, gross… Just hold still. I really hate touching guys’ stuff.”

Atlas firmly squeezed the area where Zeke’s surgery had stitched him up.

He could feel the presence of the remaining testicle vividly, but the pain was on another level entirely.

“Stop…!! Please, stop…!!”

Zeke Albion’s face turned pale as he begged for mercy.

He couldn’t use magic.

He had just been casually crushed by Atlas, who had closed the distance directly.

Even trying to use magic now would only mean Atlas’s attack would be faster.

Threatening him with the power of his family was futile.

“Stop…? Do you still not get it? How can you inherit a family with such cluelessness?”

“What are you talking about?”

Atlas looked overly disappointed, as if something didn’t sit right with him.

With a phony tone, he said, “’I’m sorry for everything, can you please stop?’”

It seemed Atlas was unhappy with the way Zeke was pleading.

“Go on; try it.”

Atlas urged him, but Zeke couldn’t get the words out.

In this situation, where he had to humbly request something, it only felt right to do so with his superiors.

He didn’t want to bow down to a little brat who was shorter than him and only strong because he had a grip on him.

That was his last shred of dignity.

“If you can’t do it, then it’s goodbye to the last one, too.”

But as Zeke hesitated, Atlas began to tighten his grip again.

“Uaaah…!!! I’ll… I’ll do it…!!”

Out of sheer horror at the thought of being crushed, he finally threw away his last shred of pride.

————————————————————-

It didn’t take long afterward.

It wasn’t like he was going to teach like with Prigia; it was merely enough to remind Zeke of his ‘fear’ and his weaknesses that he didn’t want anyone to know.

It would be impossible to investigate why he only had one testicle after this.

He heard that even within the family, they wanted to keep such injuries a secret… They would want to keep it hidden until they died.

Investigating something like that would mean revealing that fact to someone else.

The bullet, which was the greatest evidence that could pinpoint Amy, had been recovered.

Noble princes who had never faced real turmoil easily crumbled if their reputation or safety was even slightly touched.

He thought seriously about turning him into a zero-testicle man, but if it went to zero, there would be no turning back, leading to an uncertain risk of what he might do.

It’s easier to control someone who has something to lose.

“Ugh, this feels awful.”

Ultimately, the procedure worked well, but the sensation left on his hands was unsettling.

Maybe he should have just burst them instead.

But since he had taken the chance, he needed to finish it up.

“…How did you get here…”

He decided to check on Edgar’s hospital room just in case.

He had received treatment, but since dying would make things messy, he wanted to see if he was alright.

Despite being hooked up to various equipment with IVs and oxygen, as soon as he sensed Zeke’s presence, he quickly opened his eyes.

“Seems like you’re alright if you’re talking.”

He seemed to have been treated quite well.

As long as he recovered from the aftermath of the complete paralysis, he would be discharged soon.

“Wait…!!”

“Why?”

As Zeke turned to leave, sensing no further need to stay, Edgar caught his arm.

“Have you… been inhaling that gas…?”

“Yeah.”

“H-How could you still move after that…?”

“If your aura is strong, you can push out that kind of poison.”

It was kind of a different story, but in conclusion, it wasn’t false.

People do become less susceptible to poisoning when they reach a certain level.

Edgar smiled wryly after hearing Zeke’s answer.

“I thought I was… getting stronger, but I was just imagining it…”

It was true that Edgar had gotten stronger than before.

He must have felt the rise in his own abilities, and thus when he saw Zeke’s slowed movements, it all lined up with his ego, making him rejoice.

But now that he knew it was all an illusion, Edgar looked particularly bitter.

“I don’t know who it was, but if they intentionally set the arena to match your height… Sorry about that.”

“You have some guesses, huh?”

“…”

He had just finished dealing with the trickster, so it would be interesting to find out if Edgar had a clue.

Edgar wore an expression indicating he had some idea of who it was.

“Still, your skills are better than before. I managed to win, so don’t be a nuisance asking for another duel.”

“You…”

It was true that Edgar had improved, evidenced by the determination in his eyes when Zeke praised him.

It felt like he was about to say something annoying, so Zeke braced himself.

“Not a duel, but… could we have a spar or something?”

“Ugh, no thanks.”

“I’m not interested in babysitting you.”