Academy’s New Guard is Unusual - Chapter 119

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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 119
The power of a Mana Stone Bomb scales with the grade of Mana Stone used.
However, in practice, even the Republic typically uses the lowest-grade Mana Stones when making Mana Stone Bombs. Even with the lowest grade, the blast is formidable enough.
But—.
‘She used an Ultimate-Grade Mana Stone.’
I gazed at the massive pillar of flame that seemed to pierce the heavens with genuine admiration.
Despite the Back Gate being quite distant, I could feel the oppressive heat.
It seemed Evelyn, her pride wounded by my claim that I couldn’t penetrate the Director’s Magic Circle, had unleashed an Ultimate-Grade Mana Stone in frustration.
Still, the Back Gate would remain intact.
‘The Director’s Magic Circle can’t be breached by raw power alone.’
The Director was an Archmage.
Just as no matter how many Knights layer their Aura, they cannot pierce a Sword Master’s Aura, even an Ultimate-Grade Mana Stone cannot shatter the Director’s Magic Circle.
But the effect was undeniable.
Piercing alarm—
[Emergency alert. The exam has been canceled. Students are to evacuate immediately under the guidance of the Security Corps. Emergency alert—]
An urgent announcement echoed from all directions.
“How… how did this happen?”
Milo asked, his face drained of color.
“Why play dumb? You’re the one who set it off.”
“Set it off directly—?”
“You pressed this, didn’t you?”
I held up the Red Button for Milo to see.
“Aaaaaahhhhhhh!”
Milo clutched his face with both hands and let out a scream.
Just then, flustered staff members and Security Corps personnel appeared. This seemed to be their first time in such a situation.
They clearly needed evacuation drills.
“Get your heads straight and guide the students!”
I infused my voice with Aura as I shouted, and the dazed Security Corps personnel and staff members snapped to attention, herding the students away.
Most of the students weren’t tense at all—they were actually laughing.
Relieved that the exam had been postponed.
“Come this way! Don’t push each other! Take your time!”
Staff and students formed neat lines and moved orderly. Security personnel surrounded and protected them as they proceeded.
The area around the Exam Hall emptied quickly.
“I… I actually detonated a bomb—.”
“Knocked the Headmaster flying at the Entrance Ceremony, and now you’re blowing up the Back Gate.”
“I told you, I didn’t know! Really!”
“And you’re shameless about it too.”
“You son of a—.”
Milo swallowed a curse that had risen to his lips, letting out strained sounds instead.
“W-what’s with the blown-out look?”
“Better you don’t know.”
“But what exactly is—”
“Come on, let’s head inside.”
I redirected the conversation for the sake of Milo’s mental health.
“I-inside where?”
“The Exam Hall.”
“The Exam Hall only opens when the exam begins. Since the exam was canceled, it shouldn’t—. Huh? Why is it opening?”
The thick doors of the Exam Hall swung open to either side.
They were automatic doors.
Inside the doors lay a thick darkness, just like in the Central Library.
“Let’s go inside.”
“Yes.”
Milo nodded vigorously.
Then, the air suddenly grew heavy. For a moment, breathing became difficult.
It was Mana.
Mana so thick and concentrated that its weight was palpable pressed down upon the surroundings.
‘An Archmage.’
I immediately wrapped my interior with Aura. The Aura bound me firmly.
The Mana’s pressure receded slightly.
Aura has an advantage against Mana, yet this weight—.
“Meow.”
A black cat appeared before me without warning.
There was only one cat with fur this dark and an unnaturally lustrous sheen.
An Archmage, and the mother of witches.
The Director.
‘The Director?’
The Director engages in even fewer external activities than the Headmaster.
In the game, except at official functions, it was difficult to even see the Director.
So why is she here—?
‘Tarot, then.’
Just as the Vice-Principal receives orders from the Foreign God through prophecy, the Director flips Tarot cards to divine fate.
Tarot is the Director’s sole motivation for venturing outside.
Tarot must have guided her to this place this time as well.
Then, the cat approached slowly, circling around me while sniffing.
“So you’re the first love my daughter was searching for.”
That witch must have contacted the Director already.
I made no effort to deny it.
“Yes, we met briefly.”
“Ah, I see. Then pardon my intrusion.”
The surrounding Mana concentrated upon me.
Aura is fundamentally opposed to Mana.
The common understanding was that no matter how high the magical hierarchy, one cannot pierce an opponent surrounded by Aura.
Yet the Director’s Mana pressed down upon me with ease.
‘She’s crushing my Aura altogether.’
It was a truly brute-force approach, befitting an Archmage.
Most high-ranking Knights would have collapsed unable to endure it.
Of course, I was no ordinary Knight.
I wasn’t as strong as the Director, but I had faced an Archmage before.
When I held firm, the cat’s whiskers twitched.
“Meow, my daughter asked me not to damage your face. Couldn’t you just come quietly?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“How particular of you.”
The cat sighed and dragged its paw across its face. Then its form began to change.
A young girl wearing a large pointed hat appeared, and the Director looked down at me with an annoyed expression.
The already oppressive Mana grew even denser. Even with Aura wrapped around me, breathing became labored.
‘She truly is the Director.’
It was no accident she was counted among the world’s strongest.
Normally, I would have no chance facing the Director head-on, but now I’ve absorbed a considerable amount of the Fragment of Foreign God.
If I used the Sword Boundary, the Mana would scatter, and if I seized that opening—.
‘It might be possible.’
However, the probability of success was still low.
There was no need to overextend myself.
Besides, I had something prepared in advance.
I reached into my inner pocket and withdrew an item.
A Golden Elysium Emblem.
“…Meow?”
The Director’s eyes widened upon seeing the emblem.
What I had produced was a medallion of the Patron’s Hall of Honor.
Elysium Academy had established the Patron’s Hall of Honor to encourage donations.
However, due to the academy’s nature, there weren’t many privileges it could offer patrons.
After much deliberation, the benefit they came up with was: ‘The Director will not attack first.’
In other words, the Director cannot attack me.
The Director moved her hand, and the Mana that had been swirling like a typhoon vanished as if it had never been.
As if nothing had happened at all.
“Ah, you’re a new member.”
The Director bowed respectfully and greeted me.
“Yes, I recently joined.”
“An excellent choice. Say, would you care for some tea?”
The Director snapped her fingers, and a blue chair and table materialized before me.
She had compressed Mana with such intensity that it became tangible.
I glanced around with just my eyes.
Milo stood with his mouth opening and closing at a sluggish pace.
Not just Milo—everything around me was moving slowly.
‘A Mana Domain.’
An Archmage creates her own world with Mana. This is what is called a Mana Domain.
It seemed I could afford to relax somewhat.
As I sat, a teacup and teapot floated before me.
The cup was filled with a blue liquid. It was Mana.
‘The Director’s tea.’
Tea made from concentrated Mana.
I took a sip at once. The taste was quite pleasant.
“What sort of relationship do you have with my daughter?”
The Director asked from across the table.
“She kidnapped me under the pretext of fusing Black Magic with magic, and conducted experiments on me. She implanted a Fragment of a Demon’s Heart directly into me and I died about a hundred times.”
“Ah, a natural meeting then.”
Natural—.
I bit back a curse. My opponent was a witch.
“Where is she?”
“I’m not entirely sure. If I summon her, she’ll come. Shall I?”
The Director asked, staring intently at me.
That damned witch would try to kill me the moment she saw me.
Of course, I intend to deal with the witch as well.
But if that happens—.
‘The Director will move.’
The Director refrains from attacking Patron’s Hall members only if they don’t attack first.
If I kill that damned witch, the Director would surely consider it an attack on herself.
“I prefer natural meetings.”
“What a shame. The girl seemed to miss you very much. Do let me know if you change your mind.”
Then—.
Ding!
[Sudden Quest] Save Evangeline from the Chasm
Objective: Rescue Evangeline from the Chasm!!!
Evangeline’s quest had appeared.
It seemed Evangeline had fallen into a Chasm.
All the students had evacuated, and the Exam Hall had just opened.
Yet Evangeline had fallen into a Chasm—.
It sounded odd, but it was unavoidable.
‘Evangeline always gets caught up in Chasms that open nearby.’
Misfortune was Evangeline’s fate.
Evangeline could stumble over her own legs even on level ground, and whenever a Chasm opened nearby, she’d get caught in it regardless of the circumstances.
It was one of the reasons Evangeline displayed chuunibyou behavior.
‘Though her dramatic tendencies do seem excessive.’
Just then, our eyes met. The Director’s eyes were as round as a cat’s.
‘This works out perfectly.’
In the game, the Director possessed a very useful ability.
Namely, Tarot.
The Director could see the future through Tarot.
More precisely, she showed the ending that would result if the current situation progressed as is.
This was a good opportunity to check our progress.
“Could you read the Tarot for me?”
“How do you know about Tarot?”
The Director stared fixedly at me.
It was a look of caution.
“Your daughter told me.”
“Ah, I see.”
The Director accepted this without hesitation and nodded. Then she naturally withdrew a deck of cards.
It was a deck so worn I couldn’t even guess how long it had been used.
Each card bore a different illustration of a cat.
A cat wearing a crown, a cat eating food, a cat with its head severed—.
“I’ll draw three cards. One shows the present, one the near future, and one the distant future.”
A card suddenly flicked out from the deck.
It depicted a cat wearing a pointed hat and a cat in Security Corps uniform facing each other seated.
‘The present.’
Another card emerged.
It showed a cat in a blood-soaked Security Corps uniform carrying a pink cat on its back.
‘So I rescue Evangeline and return.’
I didn’t love the image of me carrying her on my back, but it wasn’t bad.
In the end, what mattered was the final card.
Then the last card appeared.
Depicted on it was a continent laid to ruin.
No explanation was necessary. It was apocalypse itself.
‘A Bad Ending.’
The Director stared fixedly at me.
Seemingly watching for my reaction.
Of course, a Bad Ending was unfortunate, but we’re still early in the story.
There was no reason to be overly concerned.
“Thank you for the reading.”
I placed a gold coin on the table and rose to my feet.
The Director then spoke in a flat voice to explain:
“This card represents the apocalypse. The worst of all endings, where nothing remains.”
“Yes, so it appears.”
“…Doesn’t it concern you?”
The Director asked, tilting her head. In her gaze lay a profound sense of helplessness.
Among all Archmages, the Director is the strongest.
One might think helplessness unbecoming of such a figure, yet helplessness was the Director’s predominant emotion.
The Director had seen that Apocalypse Card for hundreds of years, every single time.
No matter what she did, the Apocalypse Card would always emerge at the end.
It was natural for her to feel helpless. Centuries upon centuries of helplessness had layered upon her.
No amount of words could resolve such helplessness.
So—.
“I’ll draw again next time.”
I spoke briefly and rose.
“It will be futile.”
The Director murmured listlessly.
I looked down at the Director and spoke:
“Care to wager on it?”
…A wager?
The Director slowly blinked.
I suppressed the smile tugging at my lips.

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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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