The Academy’s Weapon Replicator - Chapter 152

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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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The Academy’s Weapon Duplicator Episode 152
Chapter 48: Conflagration (3)
While the fighting raged inside the Residence.
Hagly was chasing Heldrey through the woods.
“How much further do you plan to run?”
Heldrey had already fled beyond the Residence grounds. Hagly pursued him as he darted between the trees.
“Hagly! You fool! You still cling to revenge?”
Heldrey shouted at Hagly as he ran.
Hagly replied.
“Everyone in Mangot gathered because we dream of revenge. Surely you know that.”
“Foolish!”
Crack!
Without breaking stride, Heldrey spun and kicked a tree trunk behind him.
The impact split the wood with a terrible screech, sending chunks and splinters cascading down on Hagly.
Hagly parried and dodged the debris with casual flicks of his hand, pursuing relentlessly.
‘Both arms truly are destroyed.’
Hagly examined Heldrey’s form closely. The bandages wrapped around both his arms caught the eye.
“What happened to your arms, Heldrey?”
“That’s no concern of yours!”
It seemed clear that Heldrey’s panicked flight from Hagly stemmed from those injuries. Had he been whole, he would never have turned tail before such an opponent.
Even if Hagly were formidable, the day one saw Zodiac Heldrey fleeing like a coward would likely never come again.
‘…Well, it is amusing, though.’
This should be enough.
Hagly raised his right hand and bent his fingers into an intricate shape.
In an instant, a massive curtain of shadow unfurled before Heldrey—seamless and unmarred.
“Fleeing into a place so rife with shadows, like a forest. You’ve lost your judgment, Heldrey.”
“…Do you truly believe you can kill me?”
Heldrey stopped running and turned to face Hagly. His Aura rippled outward, scattering the surrounding leaves and earth.
Witnessing that formidable power, Hagly’s eyes narrowed.
‘That tremendous Aura. I thought losing both arms might make him like an old man with broken teeth, but it seems that isn’t the case.’
Then who could have inflicted such wounds on Heldrey?
Hagly swallowed hard. While Heldrey had seemed manageable in flight, he remained Heldrey even with both arms severed.
Yet conversely, this was an opportunity that might never come again to end Heldrey’s life.
Even if Hagly were to sacrifice both his arms as Heldrey’s were now, Heldrey would still die here.
“The Continent will pay the price for its sins. You shall be the first.”
“That the past Empire had some blemish in its history changes nothing! How could your mad revenge ever be justified? You’re all just lunatics consumed by vengeance!”
Heldrey’s cry. Hagly smiled and shook his head.
“Such things hold no meaning anymore.”
“What?”
“Who is right and who is wrong, what is just and what is not. No one in Mangot concerns themselves with such things.”
Hagly’s gaze was beyond cold—it was hollow. A vacancy that didn’t even register the temperature of coldness.
“You speak truly. We are nothing but murderers mad with revenge. After we set fire to the Continent, none of us know what will become of us.”
“…I should have killed you all then.”
“Well spoken, sir.”
Hagly slowly drew his Mana upward as well, both hands this time. His fingers bent into a strange configuration, wrists crossed and pressed together.
The killing intent of both rose and swelled, ready to bare their fangs at each other, when—
“──Hey, old man.”
Whoosh!
Thump.
A sickening sound of air torn horizontally in two.
The moment that sound reached them, Heldrey looked down at his chest.
“…Cough.”
Blood spilled from his mouth as he coughed.
A Great Divine Spear lodged in his chest. The weapon that had pierced Heldrey’s heart gleamed with an eerie light.
The sound of footsteps drawing near from a distance. That leisurely gait revealed who it was.
“Did you really think you could deceive me?”
Renzo approached, his breathing harsh and ragged.
Heldrey fixed him with bloodshot eyes.
“How did you…find this place…!”
Heldrey would die soon—he knew it well. And yet that knowledge only deepened his bewilderment.
Why had Renzo come here? How could he have possibly arrived?
“Well, Ares told me. If you’re asking why I’m so fast, I suppose I just ran hard to get here.”
“……!”
Ares. The name of the God of War.
Though Renzo possessed Divine Power, for a god to intervene in human affairs to this extent was unthinkable.
And that spear just now. Heldrey hadn’t sensed any warning whatsoever, taken completely unguarded. No matter that he’d lost both arms, no matter the severe depletion of his mental faculties, no matter that an enemy stood before him—not even noticing the attack was incomprehensible.
‘Surely, surely…… Hestia!’
Heldrey suddenly remembered his goddess.
“Hestia!”
Thud.
Heldrey fell to his knees. The butt of the spear shaft touched the ground. Blood would not stop flowing. Heldrey felt his life draining away.
“Have you abandoned me as well?!”
His cry—a scream from a place with nowhere left to go—echoed through the forest. That he hadn’t sensed the aura of a spear that size. Hestia must have veiled his eyes and ears. There was no other explanation.
After that hollow, unanswered cry,
Heldrey died.
The death of ‘Zodiac’ was that inglorious.
‘……No. It wasn’t because of the god.’
Hagly, who had witnessed it all, swallowed hard.
‘I didn’t know either. I read no sign of it.’
It wasn’t only Heldrey who hadn’t noticed the spear flying.
Hagly, too, only realized the spear had been hurled after it had already pierced Heldrey’s heart.
That spear—now he sensed an enormous amount of Mana. A tremendous presence bore down upon the forest.
But that presence only revealed itself after Renzo released it, or rather, after it struck Heldrey.
It hadn’t been invisible. Nor had it vanished and reappeared.
It simply concealed that formidable Aura until the moment of impact. A property that ignored the human radar of Mana Detection, traveling unseen.
‘Renzo, what are you trying to become?’
Based on the information Mangot possessed, Renzo was not this kind of person. Certainly he was dangerous and unpredictable, gifted with strength, but ultimately just an individual.
Moreover, that very unpredictability he was known for Mangot had thought might actually serve their Uprising. He’d even considered it an advantage.
But now.
Could Mangot truly control Renzo’s unpredictability? Hagly could not give a certain answer.
“Hey.”
Then Renzo opened his mouth.
“Where is that bastard.”
“That bastard?”
“Frontdier.”
From Renzo’s lips came words Hagly hadn’t anticipated.
What? Hadn’t he come to settle business with Heldrey? Why was Frontdier’s name coming from Renzo’s mouth?
“……He should still be at the Residence.”
“I see.”
Hagly answered honestly. To make Renzo an enemy now would be foolish beyond measure. Frontdier’s analytical ability was important, certainly, but not as much as Hagly’s own. From Mangot’s perspective, it was the same.
“Good. This time I’ll finish him. Frontdier.”
Renzo walked off grinning wickedly, already indifferent to Hagly’s presence.
Precisely because he made no attempt to hide his tremendous Aura, Hagly felt oddly reassured.
With his presence so openly displayed, Jay and Yeoljeoggi would naturally flee on their own.
It was a shame about Frontdier, but there was nothing to be done about it.

* * *
The people at the Residence had been nearly eliminated.
Of course, the expression was far gentler than the reality.
Unlike Frontdier, Yeoljeoggi had neither the inclination nor reason to spare their subordinates, so most had been slaughtered brutally.
“Jay. What should we do with these?”
One of Yeoljeoggi’s members spoke to Selena, as the rest surrounded the unconscious Thomson, Skyler, and Kian. They remained especially vigilant, knowing these three possessed the ability to use Portal.
The reason these three had lost consciousness was simple.
‘That woman, or was it a man? Kraken, they said. That one attacked his own allies.’
Kraken had seized the moment of confusion to use these three as a shield for escape. Caught off guard by the sudden assault, the three had been helpless. Judging purely by the speed of attack, there was likely no one who surpassed Kraken.
‘Should I call it cowardly? Or should I count it as mercy that they weren’t killed?’
Kraken could have killed these three as well, but hadn’t. That would have been simpler. The thoughts of monsters were utterly incomprehensible.
Selena spoke.
“Kill them. Whether they’re Indus or whatever, we are the Uprising, after all—”
Selena was about to continue when,
He lifted his head at the tremendous force bearing down on the Residence.
“……Renzo!”
Selena cried out, and everyone from Yeoljeoggi tensed, their eyes fixed on the entrance.
“Jay, we should return to Mangot for now.”
Someone among them offered a reasonable suggestion, and all nodded in silent agreement.
And yet.
Frontdier was here.
Selena found herself looking at Frontdier, still bound to the chair.
Seeing this, another person who had guessed her thoughts spoke up.
“The Ancient Language would be a loss, but it’s not worth risking all our lives for. Besides, even if we did risk them, we couldn’t save him.”
“……!”
Selena’s pupils wavered. Frontdier saw it.
His eyes utterly cold, Frontdier opened his mouth.
─Do I have to spell out even this?
“!”
Frontdier was screened by Selena, who stood closest to him. Only she could see the shape of his lips.
His face remained inscrutable.
Yet the meaning of those words carved deep into Selena’s heart.
─Get out.
If she stayed, Mangot would grow suspicious of her—something she already knew all too well.
But what was Frontdier thinking? Did he truly believe he could stand against Renzo with no Mana and bound as he was? Or did he have faith he could at least escape?
Or perhaps he’d accepted that everything was finished and was telling her to—
─Leave.
His lips moved again.
Selena bit down hard, then looked back at her people from Yeoljeoggi.
She managed to compose her expression into cold resolve, and spoke.
“We’re leaving.”
“Yes.”
At Selena’s command, she and Yeoljeoggi vanished from the Residence.
Soon after.
“Ah, there you are.”
Renzo entered the Residence, still radiating that terrible force.
Whoosh—
Thud!
In a single bound, Renzo reached Frontdier.
Still tied to the chair, Frontdier regarded him calmly.
“Well, Renzo.”
He spoke as one might greet a close friend.
“Sorry about before. An intruder got in the way.”
Renzo laughed at his words.
“One of our own intruders. The apology’s mine. Not much of a consolation, but I just crushed that leader of theirs.”
“……I see.”
Frontdier replied without emotion, and Renzo grinned.
“Now there’s nothing to interfere. Let’s do this again, Frontdier. This time, I’ll finally—”
“It’s impossible, Renzo.”
Frontdier cut him off, a slight smile playing at his lips.
“I have no Mana left.”
“……What?”
“When I came through the Portal, I felt something wrong with my body. I think my Mana was stolen.”
“……Heldrey’s doing?”
“Likely.”
Renzo’s expression darkened. He clicked his tongue sharply, his eyes gleaming with lethal intent as he gazed toward the distant Heldrey—though the killing aura he released there was pointless. He’d already killed Heldrey by his own hand.
“Kill me, Renzo.”
“…….”
“Here’s the life you’ve wanted so badly. Bound to a chair, helpless. You can beat me, cut me, bite me, tear me, savor me—whatever you desire.”
At his words, Renzo’s clenched fists trembled violently. Then he turned and stalked away with heavy steps.
Crash!
Bang! Crack! Smash!
He began destroying everything in sight. Expensive artworks, paintings, the Chandelier hanging from the ceiling—all shattered to pieces.
He stomped on the wreckage until it was utterly obliterated, then struck the walls and floor several more times before finally exhaling deeply.
“I’ll postpone it.”
“……I see.”
“Our match will wait for next time. There’s no sport in killing you like this.”
“Sport.”
“Besides, if you hadn’t been abducted by that Portal, I would’ve been in serious danger.”
Just before Kian had abducted Frontdier, Renzo would have been struck by sword auras coming from every direction—there was no doubt about it. The paralysis hadn’t worn off, and a single shield offered no defense.
“Well, even so, I would’ve endured it!”
Renzo spouted this baseless claim without hesitation.
“So consider this debt repaid. When we meet again, maintain yourself in perfect condition. I will kill you with every ounce of strength—and you will fight with every ounce of yours.”
With that, Renzo turned and walked toward the Residence door with heavy, deliberate steps.
Frontdier watched his retreating figure for a moment—something melancholy in that silhouette—before speaking.
“Hey, Renzo.”
“What?”
“While you’re at it, loosen these bindings for me.”
“Figure it out yourself!”

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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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