Academy’s New Guard is Unusual - Chapter 107

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 107
‘The Table of Truth has already made an appearance.’
In the original game, the Table of Truth didn’t show up until well into the middle stages.
For them to emerge this early was unexpected.
The difficulty had spiked dramatically.
Still, it wasn’t a major problem for me.
The Table of Truth’s specialty was drawing on their own life force to deploy Black Magic of a higher rank than their station.
But while they could elevate their Black Magic level using life force, they couldn’t raise the rank of their contracted Demon.
At best, they’d have high-rank Demons, and those posed no real threat to someone who could summon Priests.
They were only marginally more troublesome than ordinary Dark Mages.
In other words—
‘A Quest Event.’
The difficulty was comparable, but the reward had doubled.
I couldn’t help but hum. And on top of that—
“I hear there are two more Dark Mages out there.”
“Two more, you say? But how did you find that out?”
“The Dark Mage confessed.”
“A Dark Mage confessed? Aren’t Dark Mages fond of pain? Doesn’t torture not work on them?”
“Trade secret.”
“Ah, I see.”
Milo nodded, his face betraying incomprehension.
I laughed softly and released my grip.
“We split up here. The Dark Mage might catch on and bolt. You two head to the Chapel near the Rear Gate.”
“The Chapel near the Rear Gate! Understood!”
“If they try to escape, stall for time. I’ll get there as fast as I can, so don’t you dare catch them. They’re mine.”
“Yes! We’ll do nothing but buy time!”
What was surprising was that Ludrick complied without protest.
“Why so cooperative?”
“…It’s my choice.”
Ludrick answered unhelpfully.
He seemed to be going through adolescence.
Milo soon dragged Ludrick along and moved out.
I headed in the opposite direction.
According to the information provided by the Dark Mage, this was where the leader of the three was located.
‘If I play my cards right, I might earn a bonus reward.’
The last reward I’d received was an increase to Kuga’s capacity. If I completed three more Quests, there was a good chance another reward would come my way.
‘I wonder what it’ll be.’
For the first time in a while, I felt anticipation as I walked.
The Chapel where I’d captured the Dark Mage earlier was nearly abandoned, but this Chapel was twice as large and bustling with people.
Among them, I spotted a familiar uniform.
Pristine white robes—the Disciplinary Affairs Department.
Since the department head was appointed by the Vice-Principal, the Disciplinary Affairs Department was practically under the Vice-Principal’s authority.
The presence of the Disciplinary Affairs Department meant this was a Chapel managed by the Vice-Principal.
I had no idea how a Dark Mage had managed to hide in a Chapel guarded by the Disciplinary Affairs Department, but getting entangled with them wasn’t desirable.
It risked drawing the Vice-Principal’s attention.
‘What should I—’
Just then, a Disciplinary Affairs staff member gestured at me.
“Hey, you there! Security Corps member!”
I approached, deliberately hardening my expression.
“Perfect timing. Keep watch here for a moment, will you? I haven’t had a chance to eat yet. Things have been hectic lately.”
Without waiting for my response, the staff member walked away.
‘The Vice-Principal must have assigned Disciplinary Affairs staff to professors, leaving the department understaffed.’
This shortage had created gaps like this.
‘My luck’s holding.’
I muttered a joke to myself and examined the interior of the Chapel.
Evening prayers were in full swing. There were quite a few people inside.
Clang.
A metallic sound rang out, barely audible.
Strange. According to the Dark Mage’s information, this one was supposed to be the biggest of the three, yet the response was weaker than before.
Could it be—
‘Is it sulking?’
This time, there was no metallic sound. It seemed genuinely offended.
‘What kind of demon sulks.’
It was ridiculous, but it didn’t matter. I’d confirmed the Dark Mage was here.
This was a place guarded by the Disciplinary Affairs Department. I needed to handle this as quietly as possible.
The problem was finding the Dark Mage among dozens of people.
In truth, it wasn’t that difficult.
Dark Mages have distinctive characteristics.
Fundamentally, Dark Mages are gloomy. Unlike regular Magic, Black Magic stems from primal desire.
One cannot become a Dark Mage without a certain darkness.
There was another telltale sign.
‘Hair loss.’
Black Magic consumes life force. In men, this results in thinning hair; in women, the skin becomes sallow and wrinkles proliferate.
For Table of Truth Dark Mages, who burn through life force many times faster than ordinary ones, these signs would be even more pronounced.
Of course, high-rank Dark Mages could mitigate this somewhat, but there was no way the one here was high-rank.
Pick out a bald, gloomy man, or a woman with sallow skin and abnormally excessive wrinkles for her age, and you’d almost certainly have a Dark Mage.
I slowly surveyed the crowd.
Soon I spotted a gloomy bald man nervously glancing around.
Well, that wasn’t necessarily damning. Being bald isn’t a crime.
The problem was that there wasn’t just one bald man.
Three bald men clustered together.
To anyone’s eye, this was suspicious.
I casually drifted toward the trio of baldies, positioned myself behind the one in the middle, and spoke in a low voice.
“I’ll need to conduct an inspection.”
“…An inspection?”
The man asked warily.
“Yes, there’s been a theft. We have information that the suspect is bald. I’d appreciate your cooperation for a moment.”
“You’re saying you suspect me just because I’m bald!”
When the bald man raised his voice, all eyes turned to us. The other two baldies quickly tried to silence him.
“Just cooperate.”
“But—. Sigh… Fine.”
The bald man glared at me as if he wanted to kill me, then nodded.
“We’ll move to a different location. The prayers are still ongoing.”
“Understood.”
The bald man led the way, flanked by the other two.
We arrived at the Chapel’s Warehouse.
It appeared unused, thick dust blanketing everything.
“You dare call me bald! Die!!”
The moment we entered the Warehouse, the bald man dropped his pretense. The middle bald man reached toward me, though oddly, his hands were quite hairy.
Black Curse poured forth at me.
“So you were a Dark Mage after all.”
I laughed with satisfaction and swung my Security Staff.
Crack! A sharp sound rang out, and the middle bald man’s arm bent at an unnatural angle.
I didn’t stop there—I thrust the Staff forward. It struck the right bald man’s solar plexus. His face crumpled.
Simultaneously, I extended my leg backward. Crack! With a clean sound, the left bald man collapsed.
However, true to their nature as Dark Mages, they didn’t fall from the pain.
Instead, they unleashed even darker Curses.
Of course, my body was already enveloped in pure white light.
“This one’s a Priest!!”
“No wonder his hair’s so full!!”
The baldies burned with intense malice.
“I’ve received a report of a Demon on the premises. Summon it.”
“…A report? We haven’t even drawn the Demon Circle yet—”
The middle bald man asked incredulously.
“Why haven’t you drawn it? You’re slacking.”
“W—what are you saying?”
“Draw it now. You have the sacrifices, don’t you?”
“We do have them, but—how did you know that!”
“Does that matter?”
I spun my Security Staff, wrapped in pure white light, as I spoke.
The baldies exchanged glances rapidly. After nodding to each other, they clustered together like a certain mascot character.
Moving as one, they completed the Demon Circle with impressive speed.
Then each drew a Water Bottle from their garments and spilled crimson blood into the Circle. As the blood touched it, the Demon Circle trembled violently.
The reaction was intense relative to the amount of blood.
This meant the blood was of superior quality.
“They used a child’s blood.”
“Heh heh, you have keen eyes. It’s the blood of a child not yet weaned from its mother’s arms. Quite expensive blood!!”
The man bragged about it like showing off a luxury item.
I gripped my Staff tight. If I didn’t, I felt I’d crush his skull on the spot.
Soon the Demon Circle inverted, and a horrific arm jutted out—a Demon’s arm.
“Foolish wretch! You’re finished—!”
Ding!
The moment I heard that sharp sound, I kicked off the ground.
With Aura wrapped around me, my speed became uncontrollable.
My Security Staff, infused with Holy Power layered over Aura, swept from left to right—
Thud. The three baldies and one Demon rolled across the ground.
Ding!
Sudden Quest “Demon Hunting” completed….
I ignored the translucent window and picked up the scattered Water Bottles from the floor.
I set them upright and summoned my Holy Power fully.
Then I offered a brief prayer for the nameless children.
Of course, I knew it meant nothing.
But it was the right thing to do.
‘Now there’s just one left.’
I brushed off my hands and moved on.
* * *
‘What in—’
Ludrick was struggling to keep up with what was happening.
He’d clearly heard a Demon wailing.
Yet Grave had emerged completely unscathed. Moreover, he claimed he’d caught the Demon himself.
The problem was that when Ludrick peered inside the Chapel, it was indeed packed with ash—as if something massive had been incinerated.
“Did you really catch a Demon?”
The words spilled from Ludrick’s mouth unbidden.
“Hehe, the elder brother is exceptionally skilled with Holy Power.”
Milo boasted as if it were his own accomplishment.
“Exceptionally skilled with Holy Power?”
“Amazingly skilled. Especially when he channels Holy Power into his fists and strikes—”
Milo suddenly shuddered.
Milo, whose durability was unmatched, trembled at the thought.
That the same Milo had defied Ludrick even after taking his blows was telling.
‘Holy Power channeled through his fists?’
Wouldn’t that heal the target immediately upon impact? Why would he do something so pointless—
‘…To leave no evidence.’
Ludrick found himself trembling slightly without meaning to.
“Fine, let’s say he caught it because of his Holy Power—”
“‘Him,’ not ‘he.’ It’s ‘elder brother.'”
“Is that what matters right now?”
“Isn’t it the most important thing?”
Milo asked pointedly.
There was no getting through to him. Ludrick, frustrated, pulled out a cigarette.
That’s when several figures came running out of the Rear Gate Chapel.
At a glance, they looked up to no good.
“Here they come!”
Milo rushed forward without hesitation.
Ludrick grabbed him hastily.
“What are you doing?”
“Didn’t the elder brother tell us to hold them up?”
“You fool—I mean, granted the elder brother was telling the truth. But they’re Dark Mages. How exactly do you plan to stop them?”
Ludrick and Milo were Knights.
If their opponents really were Dark Mages who could summon actual Demons, the two of them were essentially useless.
“The elder brother told us to hold them, so we will.”
“What kind of—”
“Where do you think you’re going, you bastards!!”
Before Ludrick could finish his objection, Milo charged forward with a shout.
“Security Corps? Take them out!”
The figures unleashed black Curses at Milo. They were genuine Dark Mages.
Even as Curses poured down on him, Milo didn’t so much as attempt to dodge.
In fact, he—
“Let’s settle this head-on!”
He raised his Aura against the Curses.
Watching Milo’s entire body envelope itself in a blue glow, Ludrick was genuinely shocked.
‘When did his Aura grow so strong?’
Milo had previously been barely scraping by as a mid-rank Knight.
Yet judging from his Aura alone, he now approached high-rank.
It was impressive growth, but at the end of the day, it was just Aura.
Despite the momentum, Milo was completely engulfed by the Curses.
Ludrick bit his lip, adjusting his grip on his Security Staff.
‘Do I need to use it?’
Yet even as the Curses consumed him, Milo didn’t fall. Instead, he continued advancing toward the Dark Mages.
‘How is that possible?’
Curses are deadly to Knights.
It’s not for nothing that Dark Mages are called the natural predator of Knights.
How could he possibly endure taking Curses head-on like that—
Then light began radiating from Milo’s fists.
Pure white light.
Holy Power.
‘Did Milo know how to use Holy Power?’
Ludrick finally understood why Milo had charged recklessly into the Curses.
With Holy Power, there was no need to dodge—you could just rush through.
Then Milo glanced down at his fists and shouted in alarm.
“What is this?! It’s glowing!!”
Milo was genuinely panicked.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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