Academy’s New Guard is Unusual - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

‘A curse, huh.’

I muttered, looking straight ahead.

Vicious curses targeted me like thousands of snakes. It was quite a menacing sight, but unfortunately, they couldn’t even touch my collar.

The moment the curses touched my pure white divine power, they scattered like dust.

Just as knights are weak to curses, curses are poison to divine power.

‘Who is it?’

People generally think black mages are crazy, but in reality, they were viciously calculating bastards. That’s because black magic uses life force, not mana.

The fact that such a black mage touched a military train meant they had a strong enough backer to pull off such a reckless act.

I loosened my hands and headed toward the source of the curse.

When I opened the door to the next carriage, there were suspicious bastards.

There were seven of them in total. Their faces were familiar.

The soldier who checked the tickets, the soldier who saluted Leon at the station, and even the guys who were waiting for the train with us…

‘The whole train was a trap.’

They seemed like bigger fish than I thought.

“Hmm? There was a priest.”

The black mage who saw me clicked his tongue. It was a relaxed reaction for a black mage facing a priest.

I could tell why immediately.

“Take care of him.”

As the black mage gave a short order, the guy behind him pulled out a long staff and aimed it at me.

It was a mage.

“O ice, bind the enemy’s breath.”

A cold chill spread along the staff. My legs were engulfed in the cold.

My divine power, which had easily melted the curses, couldn’t resist the magic.

The rest of them drew their swords. Aura bloomed from their swords simultaneously.

‘They’ve dealt with priests before.’

A knight and a mage—most priests wouldn’t be able to do anything against this.

But unfortunately, I wasn’t just “most priests.”

I tapped the hilt of my sword lightly. Aura rose along the scabbard, pushing away the cold.

“Aura-!”

The guys who looked like knights were shocked. The black mage, however, wore a sneer.

“My, it’s a half-baked priest. Don’t be scared. It’s just half-assed aura and divine power that’s only mimicking the real thing.”

“You seem to know a lot about battle priests.”

“Of course I do. It was the Theocracy’s stupidest move.”

The black mage openly sneered.

The Theocracy trained battle priests who used both aura and divine power to overcome elemental disadvantages. If one could use both aura and divine power, they would have the advantage in every matchup.

However, there was a problem.

Aura, which requires believing in oneself, and divine power, which gains strength by believing in a god, are difficult to reconcile.

In the end, battle priests became half-baked beings who were neither priests nor knights.

‘That’s what the Theocracy announced.’

Actually, there was a different real reason why the Theocracy gave up on training battle priests, but I had no intention of explaining it to him.

“He’s a half-baked one. Take care of him.”

As the black mage gave the short order, the guys who looked like knights rushed at me.

The one in the lead swung his sword honestly at me. It seemed he was trying to crush my aura with his, just as the black mage advised.

I willingly met his sword. When the two auras overlapped, he wore a vile smile.

“Stupid-.”

Clang! A sharp sound erupted, and the aura shattered.

Of course, it wasn’t mine.

‘One.’

I muttered to myself, watching the head floating in the air.

“Condensed aura! He’s at least a high-ranking knight! Don’t fight him alone!”

Another knight ordered urgently.

A high-ranking knight—how ridiculous.

I muttered a joke and swung my sword at the next guy.

“Ugh!”

The opponent twisted his sword urgently. It was a pretty good reaction.

I twisted my waist and pulled my shoulder. My muscles tore from the unnatural movement, but my divine power healed them quickly.

The sword that was being swung stopped abruptly in mid-air and changed into a thrust.

“What is this-.”

Shock filled the opponent’s eyes, then faded.

‘Two.’

I pushed him with my shoulder. The next guy flinched for a split second when his comrade’s corpse flew at him.

It was only a split second, but on the battlefield, it was a sufficient signal.

“Three.”

I said, looking at the black mage.

Fear appeared in the black mage’s eyes. It was a nice sight.

Just then, the black mage suddenly put on a determined expression.

“Back off-!”

The black mage shouted sharply and shook his hand.

Blood sprayed from his hand like a fountain. The blood sprayed into the air strangely stopped in place.

‘No way?’

My eyes sank deep.

The black mage pointed at me and shouted.

“Gate Opening.”

The blood that had stopped in the air fell to the floor. The blood, surging up like rain in reverse, bubbled up from the floor. Soon, the floor covered in blood melted, and something black and ominous revealed its existence.

A grotesque arm covered in something like pig hair—it was a demon’s arm.

“Gate Opening?”

“Heh, so you know about Gate Opening. You have an eye for things. Consider yourself lucky-.”

The black mage blabbered noisily. His face was full of pride.

He had reason to be proud. Gate Opening, which directly manifests a demon, was a fairly high-level black magic.

The problem was that his level wasn’t up to that.

“Tsk, you forced the Gate Opening. How stupid.”

I clicked my tongue and shook my hand.

The aura and divine power scattered.

“Hahahaha! You’ve given up! That’s right! You half-baked priest! Bow your head!”

The black mage laughed noisily.

I looked at him and held up three fingers.

“If you undo the Gate Opening while I count to three, I’ll kill you painlessly. One.”

I folded one finger.

“……What? You arrogant bastard, you’ve gone completely insane!”

The black mage laughed, even spitting saliva.

I whispered, folding the remaining fingers.

“Three.”

Clatter, a sharp sound like metal screaming erupted from all sides. Soon, black chains surged from my right chest.

Soon, black chains filled the inside of the train densely.

The concepts of fast or slow didn’t apply. It was as if the result was already determined; the moment they extended, they reached their target.

Two knights, the mage, and the demon’s arm were pierced by the chains without even being able to resist.

The demon’s arm struggled as if trying to run away, but the black chains dug in deeper.

It wasn’t a battle; it was closer to a one-sided meal.

“Gate Opening?! How can a guy who uses divine power use Gate Opening-.”

The black mage stuttered with eyes filled with terror.

“Crazy! You transplanted a demon’s heart! To do such a crazy thing!!”

The black mage trembled as if he had seen a ghost. It wasn’t transplanted, but rather something I was afflicted with, but there was no need to explain this either.

As I approached, the black mage trembled violently.

“Y-you didn’t count to two!”

“Two is silent by default.”

“S-silent?”

“Let’s skip the trivial stuff. You, how did you use Gate Opening? It’s impossible with your trash-tier level.”

“Tr-trash?! Do you think I’ll answer! I am a follower of the Inverse Star! Pain is my ecstasy, and curses are my blessing, you stupid bastard!”

The black mage blabbered confidently.

Black mages were known for their terrifying patience. That’s why it was established that torture didn’t work on them.

“Everyone says that at first.”

I shook my index finger. Pure white energy burned along my index finger.

For the first time, fear appeared in the black mage’s eyes upon seeing the divine power.

“Threatening with divine power! That’s blasphemous! It should be prohibited by Theocracy law!!”

It was a bit funny for a black mage to be talking about Theocracy law, but it was true.

The Theocracy strictly prohibited using divine power for torture.

“It’s fine.”

I whispered into his ear.

“I’ve been excommunicated.”

The black mage’s face twisted hideously.

‘The Round Table of Truth, huh.’

I brushed the dust off my hands.

The Round Table of Truth was an organization composed of black mages among the Ten Evils of the Empire. In reality, they were a cult group acting as agents for outer gods.

If other black mages sacrificed 1 unit of life force to gain 3 units of power, the bastards of the Round Table of Truth sacrificed 3 units of their own life force plus 10 units of someone else’s to gain 5 units of power.

This was the reason that black mage was able to use Gate Opening.

At the same time, a question arose.

‘Why did the Round Table of Truth target Leon? Were they thinking of changing the faculty?’

In the original story, Leon loses an arm but still becomes a professor.

How could Leon have survived an attack that included a black mage who knew how to use Gate Opening?

“Where is the enemy-?!”

Just then, Leon appeared, shouting loudly. Seeing blood flowing from his lips, it seemed he had bitten his tongue.

Just biting his tongue couldn’t have dispelled a curse of this magnitude.

‘Ah, he has a talent for black magic.’

It seemed Leon had the potential for black magic.

That’s why the curse was dispelled quickly, and he must have escaped the trap. The black mage must have gotten scared of the unexpected variable and ran away-.

Picturing the situation, the reason why Leon could survive, even if one-armed, and become a professor was roughly understandable.

“Where is the enemy!! I, Leon, have arrived!!”

“You’re noisy.”

When I said that shortly, Leon blinked his eyes stupidly.

“Why are you speaking informally?”

“Captain Leon.”

“Why are you speaking informally-.”

I took the emblem out of my pocket. The golden radiance emitted from the emblem covered the train completely.

Leon, covered in the light, blinked his eyes stupidly.

“……A star?”

Leon’s face turned pale as a corpse.

‘The 444th Unit.’

Leon swallowed hard as he saw the number written on the emblem the man in front of him held out.

There is such a story on the front lines.

Mediocre guys get dragged to the front lines, excellent ones go to headquarters, and the best among them are deployed to the absolute front lines.

And beyond that absolute front line, there are those who operate in hell.

They are the units that use repeating numbers to block the curses of great demons.

The 111th Unit, 222nd Unit, 333rd Unit. And-.

‘The 444th Unit.’

It was the number drawn on the man’s emblem.

“Respects to the Empire-!!”

Leon desperately gave a salute reserved for generals.

‘I’m fucked. I’m fucked.’

Leon wanted to bite his tongue off right then and there. The various discourtesies and rudeness he had committed toward the man just moments ago flashed through his mind.

Just then, the man received the salute habitually.

“Captain Leon.”

“Yes!!!”

“I am on a classified mission under the Commander’s orders. I will report this as your doing.”

Stopping the black mage’s attack was a huge achievement.

To hand over such an achievement to Leon-.

‘He’s incredibly cool!’

Well, it was the legendary 444th Unit. A person worthy of being called a hero wouldn’t hold onto Leon’s small mistake.

“Yes!! Understood!!”

Leon let out a sigh of relief.

Just then, the man called Leon calmly.

“Captain Leon.”

“Captain! Leon!”

“Oh, you’re still standing?”

The man asked as if he were truly curious.

Still standing? What does that mean-. Leon realized the meaning belatedly.

‘He means for me to put my head on the ground!’

Leon urgently slammed his head into the ground. He heard a thud! sound because he slammed it so hard, but given the situation, he didn’t feel any pain.

“Now our eye levels match.”

At the man’s calm voice, Leon squeezed his eyes shut.

‘He totally held a grudge.’

He had spoken informally to a general of the 444th Unit. This wasn’t a mistake that would just end with his military life getting twisted.

‘Let’s nail myself to the Academy.’

And let’s never return to the battlefield. Leon vowed to himself.

“Right, you’re going to the Academy.”

“Yes? Yes!!! That!!! Is correct!!!”

“I have one favor to ask.”

Unlike his words, it wasn’t a requesting tone at all, but Leon had no choice but to nod while keeping his head on the ground.

“Please tell me! Anything!! I will do it!!!”

Leon shouted until his throat felt like it would bleed.

“Anything?”

The man’s voice asking that sounded just like a demon’s whisper.

He didn’t want to nod at all.

However, Leon had no choice.

“Yes!! Anything!!”

The corners of the man’s mouth curled up menacingly.