The Academy’s Weapon Replicator - Chapter 180

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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 Weapon Duplicator of the Academy — Episode 180
Chapter 57: Sacrifice (5)
Frontdier fell silent for a moment.
Selena stood before him, smiling, yet something about her seemed distant, unreachable.
“Frontdier. This is the necktie you were wearing.”
“……Yes.”
As if she both knew and didn’t know, Selena held up Penelope’s Cloth, which she had wrapped around Frontdier earlier. He looked it over and took hold of the fabric.
“Selena, how did you move so quickly—”
At that moment, Monsters aimed at both of them charged forward. Frontdier’s momentum had stalled, and Selena had turned her back. It was only natural that the Monsters would rush toward them first.
Of course,
Whoosh.
Without even turning to look, Selena’s Needles, once launched, struck them all down without mercy.
“Cassian gave me his strength,” Selena said.
She spoke with an unchanged smile.
Frontdier watched that smile, then looked at her lips more carefully.
He saw the pallid complexion, the shadows etched beneath her eyes, and her shoulders and fingertips trembling with distress.
If she had merely been riding Cassian, Selena could never have reached this state.
Cassian was not a beast whose specialty lay in speed. Even at his fastest, they would not arrive before dusk.
“……You.”
Surely she hadn’t used Mangot’s technique.
Frontdier closed his mouth before he could speak. It would be strange for him to know about Mangot’s techniques. He had nearly let slip information he’d learned only from a game.
Selena’s Teleportation was fundamentally possible only for herself. And if she teleported alone, she could cover considerable distances—as when she traveled back and forth between Taeibun and Mangot in a single bound.
But if Selena were to attempt Teleportation while including herself, one other person, and a horse as well—
“Frontdier.”
Selena called to him again. The smile she still wore was pitiful. That smile had achieved near-perfection through trained composure, but perhaps that very smile was the only way she could appeal that she was alright.
“I have brought Malia as well. She should arrive here shortly. Cassian is waiting behind the walls,”
“Selena.”
Shh—
As Selena continued her report through ragged breath, Frontdier placed his hand on her head.
Selena, who had been moving her lips earnestly, fell silent.
“Thank you.”
“…….”
“You don’t need to report. I understand everything already.”
At his words, Selena’s lips parted and closed several times. Only then did she begin to steady her breathing, finally recognizing how exhausted her body had become.
Then, as if remembering something, Selena spoke again.
“But I still have something to report.”
“What is it?”
This time, Selena did not answer with words. Instead, she showed him through action, drawing something from her possession and displaying it to him.
“This is…….”
A long cord. Hanging from it, a metal artifact. Set at its center, a vivid black gemstone.
Selena nodded.
“Yes. It is Heukryeon.”
“……I was told this would take several more days.”
According to what Binkis and Edwin had said at the time, even by today’s reckoning, it would require several more days. So he hadn’t held any hope for it.
“This is a message from Saiber, who entrusted Heukryeon to me.”
“A message?”
—Frontdier will recklessly push himself forward anyway, so we need to make it as fast as possible. She said this, and everyone was motivated. I did well, didn’t I?
“That is what she said.”
“……Ha.”
Frontdier laughed.
Saiber had likely spoken in jest, but Frontdier knows that her words truly did help shorten the timeline.
Selena steadied herself and looked at Frontdier. “What will you do now?”
“The plan has changed.”
“Changed, you say?”
“Originally, I intended to conclude this battle successfully by any means, wait several days, and seize the opportunity to make a sudden assault on their stronghold.”
The stronghold—that is, the Fragment of Hel. To reach it, Frontdier had located the Portal position within the Barrier. He had intended to use the same Portal that government dark operatives like Lorie employed.
But Selena, whom he had expected would not arrive until after this battle, was already here.
“Right now, here and now, we will break through their forces and advance.”
At those words, Selena’s eyes widened in surprise. Yet she showed no panic. She did not voice the questions rising within her.

“Your arrival just now made this plan possible.”
Selena offered no response to his words of praise, merely bowing her head in silence.
“Frontdier!”
A woman approached him then.
It was Malia. The knights who recognized her face parted the crowd in astonishment, their hands immediately moving to guard against another monster assault.
“Mother.”
“The boy said he needed me, so I came. What’s happening? And why do you look like that?”
“Thank you for coming. I asked Selena to call you.”
“In a battle like this, someone else would be more useful than me.”
Malia’s voice wavered as she took in the state of the battlefield. The situation was indeed dire. She couldn’t think of anything she could do to help right now.
“Mother, you only need to do one thing.”
“What is it?”
“Grant me Shared Senses.”
Malia considered his request for a moment, and what came to mind was the “Fireworks” incident from before.
The monsters that had poured into the Constellation Academy, their retreat, and then Frontdier’s technique—placing each fleeing monster down one by one. That had only been possible because Malia was there.
But for him to need that now meant—
“Don’t tell me, Frontdier.”
Malia bit her lip and stared at him. Even without words, Frontdier could read her thoughts. He said nothing. She was right.
“No. You’re thinking of crossing the Barrier? I won’t allow it.”
“Mother, this is our chance to drive them back.”
“Look at yourself! You’re in no state to fight!”
Malia’s voice rose as she looked at his face.
A face drained of all color, eyes bloodshot, tears and saliva staining his cheeks from pain. His whole body trembled faintly.
Even if his Mana recovered this instant, the damage already done would remain.
“Mom.”
At his words, Malia closed her eyes and turned away.
“If we wait any longer, many more will die.”
She knew in her mind that he was right, but no mother allows her son to walk into certain death.
“Trust me.”
So Frontdier spoke.
“I’ll return without a scratch. Just as I did when the Academy was attacked. Just as I did on the school trip.”
Malia was one of the few who had witnessed Frontdier’s accomplishments from the closest vantage, and most frequently. For that reason, she could understand him. She knew his strength.
“……If it must be this way.”
Malia placed her hand over Frontdier’s eyes. Light bloomed from her palm, and slowly she withdrew it.
Frontdier spoke.
“Now please evacuate to a safe location. And keep checking your phone.”
Thus Malia descended below the Barrier, protected by the knights.
Watching her go, Frontdier turned his gaze back across the Barrier.
The Cyclops was still there. Unable to find rocks nearby, it plodded toward this place with heavy steps.
Selena noticed this and looked at Frontdier.
“Sir Frontdier. You don’t look well.”
A dry laugh escaped him. Was she really saying that while looking the way she did?
……But thinking about it, Frontdier himself had no idea what his face looked like. In the end, they were in the same boat.
Weaving
Rank – Legendary
Dragon Heart
Frontdier manifested a Dragon Heart and swallowed it. Penelope’s Cloth in his grip flared with light.
His condition didn’t recover immediately, but the agonized screams his body had been making from Mana depletion gradually subsided.
“You seem somewhat better.”
“How are you?”
“I’m fine.”
Selena replied flatly. But her face and body looked anything but fine. Not quite as badly as Frontdier, but having come this far, Selena had pushed herself well beyond her limits.
“……Selena, even if you’re not fine, hold on. I need you. Keep up with me.”
“Of course.”
The answer came without hesitation.
Selena lifted her head, her captivating eyes catching the sunlight as she spoke.
“I will follow you to the very end of Hell itself.”
At that, Frontdier laughed again. She really was planning to say things like that forever if he didn’t correct her.
Frontdier opened his mouth to address Selena.
“Selena, there’s something I’ve wanted to tell you for a while now,”
Don’t say something so clichéd. Just as he was about to speak.
“……?”
Frontdier saw Selena’s eyes waiting for his next words.
He met her gaze—Selena tilting her head, uncertain what he meant to say.
“…….”
After studying those transparent eyes for a moment, Frontdier turned his face forward again.
“……Hell.”
And a quiet murmur.
Soon enough, Frontdier accepted Selena’s clichéd words.
Right. In a war like this, such words were necessary. Then Frontdier too had to give an answer worthy of them.
“I won’t send you to hell.”
At Frontdier’s words, spoken forward once more, Selena looked at him—his weary face, his transparent eyes, the light in them that doubted nothing she said.
Confirming all of it, Selena smiled faintly. Frontdier didn’t see it, but it was a smile so sad it broke something in the chest.
Frontdier drew breath. Mana flooding from the Dragon Heart blazed with light.
“Cassian!!”
Frontdier’s voice rang out like thunder. It was the manifestation of his Aura.
Cassian raced over, and Frontdier and Selena climbed onto his back.
“Selena, do you see the one-eyed giant ahead?”
“Yes, and how hideous it is.”
“Right. There are no other monsters near that ugly brute. Because it’s so hideous. It’s the same in high society—no one approaches the ugly ones.”
“Monsters and humans operate by the same logic, then.”
Indeed, there were no other monsters near the Cyclops. Not because of its ugliness, of course, but because each of the Cyclops’s movements was so massive that others feared being swept up in them.
“Which means if we fell that brute, we’ll have a brief opening to break through that mindless monster wall.”
“Naturally. The ugly one is even uglier in death.”
“Exactly. I’ll handle that exceptionally hideous one. You deal with any of the moderately ugly ones that might approach from the sides. Learning to turn away the ugly—that’s a crucial skill in high society too. Might as well learn it now.”
“Understood.”
Exhale.
Frontdier and Selena breathed out deeply in unison, each gathering in their Aura.
Frontdier lowered his head close to Cassian.
“Cassian, I know you’ve been through much getting here, but hold on just a little longer. I won’t let you be hurt.”
Cassian nodded. Seeing that, Frontdier spoke.
“We’re going to break through that monster wall. How we move—I’ll leave that to you.”
Cassian was a steed of wisdom. There was no need for detailed commands or reins. With sufficient balance in the saddle and strength in the lower body, both hands remained free.
Both Frontdier and Selena possessed that capability.
“──Go!”
Immediately after Frontdier’s cry.
Cassian pounded across the mountain of monster corpses and charged toward the Barrier.

* * *
And Angen saw it.
“……!”
His pupils flickered visibly.
He’d already known that Frontdier had joined the battle. And that Silvain had hidden this fact.
His first instinct at all of it was anger, but seconds later came something closer to pride. Silvain hiding Frontdier meant Silvain acknowledged him. It meant Silvain had judged that Frontdier was absolutely necessary on this battlefield.
Moreover, watching Frontdier fight had given Angen a measure of reassurance.
Frontdier could attack from range. Anyone fears death. Frontdier would too. Soon enough, he’d fall back and fight with his specialty—Weapon Throwing—from a distance. At least then he wouldn’t die senselessly.
But Frontdier didn’t know how to retreat. He fought from the front, blocked falling boulders, and—even from here—was clearly straining himself with reckless, foolish acts.
And now he was riding a horse across the Barrier, of all things.
“No! Frontdier!”
Roaaaarr!!
Angen cried out toward Frontdier, but an Ogre cut off his path. Of course, it wasn’t just one. Angen was in the most precarious position of anyone here.
All the vilest and most savage creatures on this battlefield had attached themselves to Angen. There was no other way to stop him.
This single Ogre alone would take five strikes to fell—and that Angen could kill it in five blows spoke to his strength—but there were too many, and he couldn’t break from his position.
‘Frontdier……!’
Meanwhile, Frontdier charged forward on horseback. From his direction, he was clearly aiming for the Cyclops. But even if there were no monsters around the Cyclops, they carpeted the ground everywhere else. Before he could even fell the Cyclops, he’d be swamped by the pouring tide of monsters.
“Run! Frontdier, you—!”
In the depths of the battlefield where his voice couldn’t reach, Angen watched Frontdier’s back. He watched the monsters pour down like a tsunami.
And then.
Weaving, Heukcheon
Rank – Divine Position
Mjolnir.
Born in that hand—a hammer wreathed in lightning.
Crack!
First, lightning fell from the cloudless sky, and sixteen creatures burned and collapsed beneath it.
As he swung the hammer, lightning arced from the point of impact, piercing through twenty-three more.
Even those that drew close to Frontdier found their joints twisted grotesquely by a gesture from the woman seated behind him—eleven in all.
Frontdier cleared the perimeter, and Selena finished the monsters that clawed through the gaps he created.
Cassian’s pace never faltered. He read the chaos ahead with instinctive clarity, finding the optimal path forward without hesitation.
Frontdier moved at dizzying speed through the blood and tissue of the fallen, the sand-wind rising from the earth parting before him. His eyes burned a brilliant blue with Mana, and his flushed face passed within inches of Angen’s gaze.
Angen saw him, and in that moment understood. Frontdier’s weapon, the overwhelming power he wielded, the staggering Mana that radiated from him.
And the iron principle that had guided him all this while—never to act without reason.
“……Frontdier.”
Angen found himself remembering.
A single statement from his other son, Artzie, who had always commanded his absolute trust.
—At the very least, he will not come back dead.
At those words, Angen drew forth his Mana.
Then came the roar that tore through the battlefield—his voice, vast and commanding.
“Roach Knights!!”
The cry of the family head, Angen.
This order was absolute—it bound even the captain of knights, Silvain.
“Clear the path before Frontdier!!!”

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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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