The Academy’s Weapon Replicator - Chapter 137

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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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Academy Weapon Replicator – Chapter 137
Chapter 42: The Deception Operation (3)
A few hours earlier.
I opened my mouth as Isamaya and I drove together.
“There’s a possibility I’ll be attacked by Indus.”
“What, what?”
“It’s more than a possibility—the likelihood is quite high. When that time comes, I need you not to panic.”
“No, no, no, Frontdier, what are you suddenly talking about? The plan was for us to attack first while keeping you hidden.”
Isamaya cried out in alarm.
I kept my expression stern as I spoke.
“One of their leadership holds a deep grudge against me.”
“So? How does that make you a target for kidnapping?”
“It’s not just a grudge—I destroyed one of his hearts.”
“One of his hearts? What, is he some kind of monster? Multiple hearts?”
“Yes. Three.”
Isamaya’s mouth fell open with a small sound. Her face showed she couldn’t quite believe what she’d just heard.
Of course, I already knew that Kraken wasn’t aboard the Aerial Railway. But it made good material to convince Isamaya.
“He said he’d make me a sacrifice.”
“A sacrifice?”
“Yes. He said it was necessary for the revolution. That’s why he didn’t attack me when we met in the gymnasium.”
I don’t know why Indus wants to make Frontdier a sacrifice. This is a different scenario from the game.
But if all they truly needed was my life alone…
Kraken could have attacked me then. He could have severed an arm, lopped off a leg, or run me through the abdomen.
But he didn’t. Even as he threatened me with speeds I couldn’t react to, he didn’t actually commit to a real attack.
That couldn’t be mere carelessness. Given his brutal nature, he’d sooner take one of my limbs as a matter of course.
“So I thought about it. What if this ‘sacrifice’ they speak of needs to remain alive and in relatively intact condition?”
“…And then?”
“Teacher, if your enemy has a necessary sacrifice and you want to use it without killing it or leaving a mark—what would you do?”
As I posed the question to Isamaya, she narrowed her eyes.
The answer came quickly.
“…Kidnapping?”
“Exactly. Once we arrive in Crofol, if they initiate the Card Operation, they’d have planned to abduct me in the chaos among the students and teachers.”
Moreover, if they hid among civilians and approached disguised as a Business Card victim, the students couldn’t easily retaliate. An abduction would be simple.
“But you’re here. You won’t be going to Crofol.”
“Right. So it’s better if I reveal myself.”
“…Reveal yourself? Wait, Frontdier, you—”
Isamaya turned her head toward me. Dangerous while driving, but I understood her reaction.
I spoke.
“If I reveal myself, Indus will realize their operation has fallen apart. With me in plain sight, they’ll try to abduct me immediately. That way, innocent civilians in Crofol won’t get caught up or hurt. The field trip can proceed without incident.”
“Have you lost your mind? Absolutely not. You’re a Constellation Academy student. You expect me to sit back and watch you get kidnapped? Don’t talk nonsense.”
“I’m telling you this for a reason, teacher.”
I looked at Isamaya.
She was angry. That a student would willingly throw his life away.
It was certainly righteous sentiment for a Constellation Academy teacher, but it wasn’t appropriate now.
“One student versus all of Constellation Academy’s students and the citizens of Crofol—you know which side matters more. You’re the coldest-headed person in Constellation.”
“…!”
Isamaya’s pupils wavered.
I smiled.
“And honestly, you don’t like me much. I’ve always been an insubordinate student to you.”
“That’s purely—”
“A matter of personal feeling, not fact. I understand that well. That’s why I’m telling you this.”
I know Isamaya’s character. She never lets personal emotion bleed into her duty. Everyone wishes they could do that, but it rarely works out. She’s different. She can perfectly compartmentalize work and personal life.
“So when that situation arises, contact the other teachers right away. Indus won’t carry out their operation in Crofol. They were trying to use me as bait to target the principal—they might attempt it recklessly on the Aerial Railway instead.”
“…So that means.”
I nodded.
“We’re drawing out Heldrey from the Zodiac. On the Aerial Railway.”

* * *
I’ve already deployed Menosorpho.
Even if I fall, I can fly using Mjolnir.
But Kian doesn’t know that.
In this world, magic that allows flight is extraordinarily difficult to master. Even Levitation—mere hovering a few centimeters above the ground—proves challenging for first-year students at Constellation Academy.
For mages, the difficulty is considerable; for warriors, it’s worse still. Even Quinie, lauded as an all-purpose genius, merely uses her fan to leap higher and farther—nothing more.
The kind of free flight most people imagine requires someone of Osprit’s or Elody’s caliber to execute properly.
For reference, flying magic varies slightly between schools of study and affinities, but generally divides into four stages: Levitation, Wing Flight, Flight, and Propulsive Flight. While Flight has limits on speed adjustment, Propulsive Flight allows the caster to increase velocity as much as their capacity permits.
“Wh—what are you—!”
I hurled myself toward the cliff edge, and Kian reflexively reached out. His reaction time was remarkable—his hand found my collar.
One.
Splinter!
The arm came apart. It fractured into the form of countless spiders. I grinned wickedly.
So, this Kian before my eyes was a dummy made of spiders.
Kian’s dummies are visually indistinguishable from the real body, but once force is applied, the situation changes. Since they’re nothing but a dense mass of spiders, they collapse under pressure and scatter immediately.
“Ugh!”
What had been Kian’s dummy shrieked and dissolved into spiders in an instant.
In that moment, both my feet left the ground entirely. I was simply falling.
‘So what will you do, Kian?’
Kian is desperately afraid of revealing his true form. Part of it stems from Thomson and Skyler both being in danger, but.
Kian himself is a massive vulnerability for Indus.
‘Now for the current situation.’
A dummy cannot stop my fall. Even if another dummy threw itself at me, it would be overwhelmed by the force of my descent and scatter into pieces.
So then, what will Kian do?
How important a ‘sacrifice’ truly is to you all.
Now it’s your turn to be tested.
Thud-thud-thud—!
Then something moved rapidly through the forest atop the cliff. It hurled itself toward me with force.
It was Kian. Though this too could be another dummy, this time… probably not.
Catch!
He grabbed my falling body. Kian’s form didn’t shatter or scatter.
“So there are genuinely reckless people at Constellation too. Not that I’m one to talk.”
Kian spoke, breathing heavily, his voice slightly rough.
—Found. Kian’s true body.
Kian believes he caught me, but I am the one who has finally caught Kian.
I seized Kian by the collar. Watching his eyes widen in shock, I shattered the necklace Heukryeon.
Weaving, Heukcheon
Rank – Main Role Deity Grade
Mjolnir
I grasped Mjolnir in my left hand and stretched it toward the sky. Through the harmony of Mjolnir and Menosorpho, Kian and I shot upward into the heavens.
“?!”
Kian’s bewildered expression was perfectly visible.
“You… you can use Flight magic…?”
“It’s somewhat different.”
There’s no need to explain. Once we leave Menosorpho’s range, all magic will vanish and we’ll fall, but it will take considerable time to reach that boundary.
Kian and I continued rising toward the sky. Not quite at the speed of Propulsive Flight, but fast enough.
I continued speaking as we climbed.
“Can you still stand on a ‘thread’ at this altitude?”
“…!”
Kian’s face drained of all color.
For Kian to stand suspended in mid-air, threads must be anchored on both sides. In other words, there must be some structure to attach the threads to.
At this height, no such thing exists, of course.
I spoke to Kian, whose complexion had turned ashen.
“You were planning to kidnap me, weren’t you?”
Kian seemed too bewildered to answer, his expression vacant.
I laughed. Though I shouldn’t say it myself, I think I smiled quite beautifully.
With the face of a villain.
“I’m simply curious what would happen if I reversed it—if I kidnapped one of you instead.”
That’s what I told Kian.
But I hadn’t targeted just any member of Indus.
I had deliberately hunted and taken Kian—to draw out Heldrey. This threat to Kian’s life, here at the top of the sky, served the same purpose.
‘For now, at least, this is manageable.’
Kian still believes I’m flying under my own power, but in truth, I’m hanging from Mjolnir.
Dangling from Mjolnir as I fly is inconvenient in every way. I’m using it for the purpose of flight, so I can’t operate Mjolnir itself. By the same logic, I can’t use one of my hands.
‘Why not try it?’
Theoretically, it’s possible. There’s a way for me to fly on my own.
Having settled on this, I radiated my Aura throughout my entire body.
Menosorpho actualizes magic within the magic circle’s range and allows it to move freely at will.
If that’s moving Mana, then a body wrapped in Aura should be movable as well.
In the Ethius world, Mana and Aura are fundamentally the same substance.
“Good.”
I transferred the sensation I’d honed controlling weapons and instead applied it to controlling my own body.
It felt strange at first, but I adapted quickly. My own body turned out to be easier to maneuver than weapons ever were.
I cancelled Mjolnir. Now I can fly without it. At least within Menosorpho.
Of course, Kian has no idea what changed.
“So, what now?”
I hung suspended in midair. If I let Kian go now, he’ll fall from this height and die. I’ll set threads to catch him just before impact to minimize the shock, but whether that’s enough—
“If you’re going to kill me, just do it.”
Kian lowered his arms. He released the hands that had been gripping me and let all tension drain away.
“Ha. Why would I kill you?”
“Isn’t that why you dragged me up to the sky?”
“No.”
I smiled, bright and cold.
“I’m dragging Heldrey here.”
“If you understand that much, you should know—don’t you? What kind of person Heldrey is.”
Heldrey would never come here. Everyone in the world knows his nature.
Kian spoke.
“A mere one or two Indus members dying won’t bring Heldrey.”
“Right. A ‘mere’ Indus member.”
“What?”
My smile never wavered.
To be honest, I was in a splendid mood. Kian and Indus alike were moving exactly as I’d predicted, saying exactly what I’d anticipated.
Watching that expression shift by the moment was, how to put it—thoroughly entertaining.
“I’m holding his granddaughter.”
“!”
“No need to drop you at all. Right here, right now.”
Weaving
Rank – Legendary
Excalibur
I wove Excalibur into being with bare hands, brazenly.
Watching Excalibur blaze brilliantly within Menosorpho, Kian’s eyes went wide.
“There you see.”
——And, as expected.
I felt it clearly—something approaching at a staggering speed, pouring out an enormous volume of Mana. That velocity, achieved through Propulsive Flight, was incomparable to all else.
Even I, whose sensitivity to Mana hasn’t recovered, felt my whole body prickling. Cold sweat rolled down my back, yet I laughed without fear.
When everything unfolds exactly as predicted, there’s nothing uglier than flinching.
“He’s coming.”
Zodiac Heldrey.
His arrival was imminent.

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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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