Academy’s New Guard is Unusual - Chapter 68

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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 68
Milo’s first memory was being beaten by a drunk man.
The reason: he’d picked up and eaten a piece of bread the man had thrown away. In broad daylight, a child was getting beaten, and no one stopped him.
— Spit. Filthy little orphan.
Because Milo was an orphan.
In the back alley, an orphan was like a stray dog. When people were angry, they’d beat you; when they were in a good mood, they’d throw you a scrap of bread. That was the kind of existence you were.
He’d heard his mother, a prostitute, had abandoned him. But Milo didn’t believe it.
There must have been circumstances beyond her control.
When things got hard, Milo would imagine his mother—a woman whose face he’d never seen.
And by the time he finished imagining her, the hardship would be over.
‘She must have bright blonde hair. Kind, I bet.’
Crack!
A Mace whistled past his eyes.
‘Damn. That caught the head.’
Milo shook his head to clear the daydream. The Mace blow to his skull must have knocked him out for a moment.
Of all times, why remember that now.
A strange shriek—something like “Glory! Glooory!”—echoed from far off. His eardrums felt shot.
It was fine. His fists still worked.
He threw another punch. The opponent’s head snapped around. In that opening, a second Mace came for him.
Milo didn’t dodge. In a brawl like this, dodging just made things worse. Instead, he closed the distance.
Bang! Mace and fist collided. His Aura-wrapped knuckles drove the Mace back.
But there wasn’t just one. As soon as he blocked one, three more Maces came at him.
Now it was a real street fight. Milo moved on pure instinct. The Maces pounded him, and Milo’s fists pounded back.
No matter how tough Milo’s body was, it couldn’t match the fanatics’ monstrous recovery. Still, he gritted his teeth and held on.
Then a Mace jabbed at his solar plexus. As the pain dropped his guard, his opponent reached out and grabbed him.
Milo kicked on instinct, driving his heel up hard. It connected perfectly on the man’s groin—old habits from the back alley, when desperation was your only advantage.
Crack! Something snapped with a sickening sound.
Milo braced for another attack, but it didn’t come. He looked up and saw the fanatic’s mouth hanging open.
The same man who’d laughed and shouted about glory even with his neck twisted wasn’t laughing now. That open mouth released only a thin, strangled wail.
‘That’s it!’
Milo didn’t hesitate. He stomped down on the man’s groin again.
“Ghk!”
The man collapsed, barely breathing. Milo ground his heel in, crushing it completely.
Eventually, the fanatic lost consciousness, foam flecking his lips.
“He’s a demon!”
The remaining fanatics stared at Milo in horror.
Milo bared his teeth at them and shouted.
“Groin!!”
They flinched. Milo dropped into a fighting stance and charged.
“G-glory!”
“Groin!!”
From that moment on, Milo targeted nothing but groins with surgical precision.
The fanatics who’d charged without defense, even with their heads cracking open, now covered their crotches. But Milo was a specialist.
He methodically destroyed each one’s groin.
How many groins did he wreck before—
“Done!!”
Andy jumped up.
Beneath Andy lay pages covered in dizzying diagrams. Milo wiped the sweat from his brow. “It’s finished?”
“It’s finished?”
“Yes! Yes, it’s done! Um… why are those people like that?”
Andy pointed at the collapsed fanatics, all of them clutching their groins unconscious.
Milo snorted and answered.
“I crushed their groins.”
Andy tilted his head, puzzled. “But even when their necks got twisted they were fine… They really passed out just from taking a groin hit?”
Just from a groin hit? Milo’s eyes narrowed. As a man, he couldn’t let that comment slide.
“Anyway! I’m casting it right now!”
Before Milo could argue, Andy pressed both hands down on the Magic Circle.
The Magic Circle began pouring out light.
Dizzying letters writhed. Diagrams shook wildly.
‘Hmm, magic, I guess.’
Milo didn’t understand a thing, but he nodded knowingly anyway, keeping face.
Soon the Magic Circle erupted in brilliant light. A blinding flash shot through the ceiling and into the sky.
Strange patterns painted themselves across the clouds.
“S-success! We completed Hell Rain!”
“Impressive.”
Andy’s voice trembled with excitement. Milo still didn’t understand, but he matched the mood.
Then something extraordinary happened in the sky. Flames began writhing in the cloud marked with that strange pattern.
The cloud darkened crimson like it was about to burst. Even to Milo, it looked ominous.
The cloud split with a sickening crack, and through the gap, flame-wrapped stones began falling.
The shower of fireballs was spectacular.
“This… this is magic?”
Milo stood slack-jawed, staring.
Boom!
The ground shook violently as one fireball impacted.
The destructive power was immense.
The problem was the location.
“Wait… isn’t Grave and Evangeline over there?”
“I… I suppose so?”
“Is that okay?”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Milo pointed at the fireballs slamming into the chapel. “That’s going to be fine, right?”
“…I’m not sure?”
Andy’s eyes slid away from his gaze.
* * *
Boom!
“What in blazes is that!”
Evangeline pointed at the shattered ceiling in alarm.
Dozens of fireballs were raining down from the sky.
It was an apocalyptic scene of devastation.
Hell Rain.
‘…He actually cast Hell Rain?’
I’d entrusted the Magic Circle for Hell Rain to Andy, but I hadn’t expected success.
No matter how brilliant a future Archmage Andy might become, right now he’s still just a child.
Even with my preliminary sketches, having Andy complete a high-tier spell like Hell Rain should’ve been impossible in his current state.
That’s why I deliberately lowered the incantation tier—
‘But he actually succeeded with the real Hell Rain.’
Andy had deduced the original tier of the Magic Circle I’d reduced and cast the true Hell Rain instead.
Results beyond expectations. Obviously a good development.
“Excellent.”
“Excellent?! The fireballs are raining down right here!”
“I set the trajectory that way.”
“…What?! Why would you cast it here!”
“Because all of them gathered here.”
I pointed forward. Fanatical eyes rolled back, their mouths chanting about glory—they were still packed in front of us.
“But we’re here too!”
“To gather the prey, you need bait.”
“Huh?! Was I the bait?!”
“Quite excellent bait, actually.”
“Well, I suppose I’m good bait then— No wait! That’s not the point! What about us! What do we do!”
“Dodge well.”
“Pardon?”
“Follow me, then.”
I brushed off my hands casually and began walking.
Hell Rain. I almost laughed.
Then Evangeline collapsed behind me.
“…What are you doing?”
“My legs gave out!”
“What did you do to deserve that?”
“Of course I didn’t do anything—that’s the thing! My legs just won’t work!”
I paused. If I grabbed her carelessly, Evangeline might get the wrong idea.
So—
“Ack!”
I grabbed her by the collar. She dangled like a kitten held by its mother, swinging helplessly.
“What are you doing!”
“You said you couldn’t walk.”
“Wouldn’t you normally carry someone or pick them up! Who grabs by the collar!”
“Shameless.”
“What?! No, that’s not— Aaah!”
Boom! The explosion roared again.
I swung Evangeline slightly toward the flames.
“Let go?”
“No! This is perfect! Actually, grip tighter!”
Evangeline immediately thrust her neck forward.
* * *
‘Did he really just grab it like that?’
Evangeline stared at Grave, eyes wide, as he gripped her collar tighter without hesitation.
She was, without question, extraordinarily beautiful. Normally, men would be awestruck at the sight of her, treating her like a treasure—
‘But he grabbed me by the collar!’
What troubled her even more was the faint irritation in Grave’s gaze. He looked at her as though she were mere baggage.
Not that she’d done anything to deserve it, but—
‘Still, I’m incredibly beautiful, aren’t I?’
Boom! Another explosion echoed.
Fireballs poured down like rain.
Even the fanatical cultists screamed in terror.
Grave walked through it all with perfect composure, almost like taking a stroll.
What was strange was that none of the fireballs fell toward Grave.
As if he knew where every single one would land and avoided it perfectly.
“All magic is ultimately derived through calculation. Hell Rain may seem like it spills chaotic flames, but in truth, every trajectory is predetermined. Which means one can anticipate the paths. Just like now—”
Grave pointed ahead.
“Glory-y-y-yy!”
A burning fanatic charged toward us, his skin melting away while pure white light blazed through the gaps—a grotesque figure reaching out his hand to grab—
Boom!
A fireball struck him with perfect precision.
The shockwave and scorching heat washed over Evangeline’s hair.
“Fascinating, isn’t it?”
Grave gestured at the flattened fanatic, a hint of amusement in his voice.
“Not at all!!”
Evangeline shrieked indignantly.
“Another interesting property: once Hell Rain strikes a location, it never strikes the same spot twice. The Magic Circle that adjusts position is singular.”
Grave wasn’t even looking at her now.
Evangeline was deeply flustered.
“Holy Power is rooted in Life Force. That’s why Holy Power has an affinity against Dark Magic—Dark Magic requires Life Force to function. Mana has lower density than Life Force. When both exist together, Mana overwhelms it. This is why Magic has affinity against Holy Power. The Mana itself covers the Holy Power.”
Flames raged all around, yet Grave continued his explanation without emotion.
It felt like a lecture. Without realizing it, Evangeline yawned. She actually dozed off.
Soon, the surroundings fell silent.
“It’s over already.”
Grave clicked his tongue.
The chapel had transformed into a sea of flame. All that remained was white corpse fragments rolling across the scorched ground.
“Glory is raining down-n-n!”
Then the flames parted, and a grotesque monstrosity emerged—a beast with twelve heads.
Though covered entirely in flame, all twelve heads grinned brightly, chanting about glory. Some of them sang hymns.
Pure white light blazed brilliantly, nearly touching the sky itself. It felt like every bit of Holy Power in the vicinity had been concentrated into this one form.
The term “vicious” didn’t begin to cover it.
Even a demon crawling up from hell itself would look less grotesque than this.
“That’s it! I can sense it!”
“Ah, so we’ve found it at last.”
Grave’s lips curled into a smile.
“I’ll hold it down. You find its weakness.”
“Hold it? How do you hold something like that!”
A terrible monstrosity with twelve burning heads. A demon risen from hell itself. He’s going to hold it down—
Before she could protest, the beast charged. Each time its massive foot struck the earth, the ground wailed and flames erupted.
“Mana interferes with Holy Power, so the Mana in a Mana Bullet is no exception. Applied correctly, one can achieve effects like this. Mana Bullet.”
Grave fired a Mana Bullet at the beast.
A Mana Bullet is a basic spell, so its destructive power is equally basic.
The opponent, by contrast, appeared vastly more powerful. The Mana Bullet flying toward the beast looked like a needle.
Yet—
Boom!
The monster struck by the Mana Bullet collapsed as though paralyzed.
“Isn’t that fun?”
Grave gestured at the sprawled beast.
“Not even a little!!”
Evangeline cried out sharply.

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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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