Chapter 114

Chapter 114

I Became the Academy Mafia Chapter 114Bloody Clown's expression froze when he heard my answer.

“W-what did you just say...”

“Do you want to hear it again? I meant exactly what I said. Instructor Ji Su-hyeon said you were fucking weak when she evaluated you.”

She definitely said it like this, right?‘What? Bloody Clown? He's just some minor villain who can spit explosive gas and use a little magic. If it weren't for his disguise ability, he'd be nothing... take that away and he's so fucking weak it was almost anticlimactic.’But that was only by Ji Su-hyeon's standards.

Generally speaking, Bloody Clown could never be called a weak villain.

Named characters weren't called named characters for nothing. He was also a rare case capable of using multiple abilities, and there was no doubt he was a troublesome villain responsible for countless terrorist attacks and battles.

The only reason someone could call him weak was probably because that someone was ‘Ji Su-hyeon.’‘Well, that's not what's important.’The most important thing right now was probably that my provocation had worked perfectly on him.

Even now, the bastard's face, painted white, was visibly turning red.

“H-how dare! How dare that b-b-biiiiiitch evaluate me like thaaaaat!!”

“Seeing you get angry, I guess it's true?”

I didn't know it would work this well...

This should make things easy.[Bloody Clown's anger has reached its limit, triggering a Hidden Quest!]【Hidden Quest】[Festival of Blood and Explosions][Stop and subdue Bloody Clown, the heinous villain and terrorist who escaped Niflheim!][Objective: Bloody Clown's death or incapacitation.][Reward: 「Skill: Clown Makeup」]

At last, the quest window appeared before my eyes.

Things were beginning to unfold exactly as I'd intended.

“That biiitch! Where is she! That woman I need to blow up and kill right now!”

“You came all the way to Sector C, so I don't know why you're looking for Instructor here. In the end, there's already a place you're going back to.”

“A place I'm going back to? Kahahaha! How amusing. Niflheim! Are you telling me to return to that hell?”

No, not there.

More importantly.

“Niflheim is hell? You really are good at jokes, being a clown and all.”

It seemed he was misunderstanding something...

“Now that you've messed with Calione. Calione decides which hell you're allowed to go to.”

Because that was the price for messing with Calione.

“Kah─! You! Just who are you to say something like that? This is so absurd that I feel like all my anger is disappearing. A brat like you dares──”

“──The heir and Enforcer of the Calione Family. Eugene Han Calione.”

This should be enough stalling.

I gathered the aura that had been overflowing and scattering into the air until now, then shoved it into [Midas's Gloves]

as though hammering it in.

Thanks to the bracelet old man Kwak Chun-sik had given me, infusing the aura happened quickly.‘The Hidden Quest’ had appeared for certain, so dragging this out any longer would only make Alessia, who was suffering behind me, suffer even more.──I'll finish it in one blow.[Bloodline Ability: 「Calione」 dominates 「Midas's Gloves」.]

The black gloves covering my hands began turning red and changing.

Blood-red knuckles that radiated ominousness just from looking at them.

“E-Eugene Han Calione? Don't tell me, you're──”

Leaving behind the bastard's startled reaction, I charged straight at him and thrust out my fist.

“M-Mime!”

Once again, the bastard spread his palm and created an invisible barrier to block my attack.

But I was clearly different from before.

The aura wavering at the tip of my fist struck the wall and, like a heavy pile bunker slamming into it, generated a massive shockwave that spread outward.

“Kugh...! You should have realized it from your previous attack. You can never break through my Mime!”

“True, I was a little lacking in strength before.”

But perhaps because he'd layered his power, the bastard somehow managed to hold on.

So I had prepared one more thing.[Narrative Engraving activates!][Engraving

-Wolf (Hunter of the Night): He is a wolf who hunts his enemies beneath the moonlight. He charges even at enemies larger than himself without yielding, and is a hunter who leads countless packs.]

A burning pain came from my right shoulder, but instinctively realizing that I could move it, I immediately shifted that energy to the tip of my fist and loaded it into the knuckles.[「Engraving Skill: Howling」 is created.][「Engraving Skill: Red Wolf」 is created.]

At the same time, a deafening sound that seemed to devour the surroundings began to ring out from the knuckles.

A sound that seemed to forcibly shake the air around us enough to tear the eardrums apart at any moment.

At the same time, the red aura of the bloodline ability spread outward riding on the sound and began consuming the surroundings.

Bzzzzzzzz───!!

Sensing instinctively what was about to happen, I immediately ducked my head.

And the aura vibrating rapidly at an ultra-high frequency.

Boooooooooom───!!

An explosion erupted from my fist and blew away everything, including me.

I tried to put strength into my lower body so I wouldn't be blown away, but the aftermath of the explosion was beyond imagination.

Thanks to that, my body flew backward and crashed into the ground.

“Ha, hahaha! Hahahaha!”

Even so, I couldn't stop myself from laughing.

Because the place where the bastard had been standing until moments ago was caved in as though it had been bombarded.

“Young Master!”

Apparently having seen me get blown away, Alessia, who had stayed behind, approached and checked my condition.

“Young Master! Are you all right?”

“Uh... thankfully?”

I didn't know whether it was thanks to DisPater, which I was wearing, or whether the technique itself worked that way, but I hadn't been injured by the explosion.

At most, my fist was throbbing?

When I actually looked at my fist, it was red-hot from the heat.

Well, even that seemed to be healing quickly thanks to the trait [Natural Healing(C)].

The sky I saw while lying flat on my back was dyed even redder than usual.

It seemed that the aura I'd forcibly suppressed until now had spread through the surroundings from the attack just now, causing this phenomenon.

Perhaps because of that, the previously white moon had turned red, and the surrounding scenery was bathed in crimson light, strange yet beautiful.

“...”

If I followed my heart, I wanted to rest like this.

But it wasn't over yet.

Resting had to come after everything was finished.

“Young Master. Over there.”

As I struggled to raise myself, Alessia glared toward the crater with hostility and drew a dagger from its holder.

“K-kihih! Wonderful! Wonderful! What a truly beautiful...! Explosion that was! Kih! Kihihih!”

Like something from an old zombie film, a phlegmy voice and a blood-covered hand appeared from inside the crater.

Something red slowly, ever so slowly crawled toward the top of the crater.

Its condition was utterly miserable, scorched all over as though burned, but the bastard crawled out of the crater as if it were nothing, stood on both feet, and looked toward us.

“...

Explosion resistance.”

I'd suspected something when the Hidden Quest completion message hadn't appeared. Apparently the damage had been reduced because of the explosion resistance he possessed from the beginning.

Still, judging by his state, it hadn't been completely nullified.

“I never expected you to show me such a magnificent explosion... I suppose I should return the favor as well?”

Shouting that, the bastard shoved a hand into his soot-covered bag and threw something toward us as though scattering it.

“Please, I hope you all enjoy my explosions as well!”

Animal-shaped balloons burst from the bag and began flying toward us.

There were easily dozens upon dozens of balloons.

They came from every direction, blocking every blind spot, and anyone could see they looked impossible to avoid.

At that, Alessia stepped in front of me with a determined expression.

She turned toward me and smiled reassuringly.

“Don't worry. Young Master, I will protect you.”

“Alessia.”

No matter how strong Alessia was, if she took a bombardment like that head-on, not even a trace of her would remain.

“W-what, what, what beautiful loyalty! Please, engrave upon my eyes just how far your loyalty goes!!”

Seeing us like this, the bastard apparently thought it was already over, because he shouted excitedly in a theatrical tone, and the sight was utterly sickening.

I exhaled briefly and stepped forward.

“Alessia. Step back.”

“No. I will protect the Young Master──”

“You're in the way.”

I pulled Alessia behind me and looked at the balloons rushing toward us.

“An explosion should be answered with an explosion.”

Snap─![「Engraving Skill: Red Wolf」 activates.]

When I snapped my fingers, something began slowly rising from the ground bathed in red light.

-Awooooo───!

A red wolf surged upward in an instant.

There was already plenty of aura scattered throughout the air from the battle so far.

Moreover.[「Bloodline Ability: Calione」 activates.][「Item: Ancient Berserker's Ring」 absorbs the user's blood to the maximum.]

My bloodline ability had already activated through the long battle, and the 「Ancient Berserker's Ring」, which made me stronger the more I bled, had activated as well.

In other words, right now, regardless of my injuries, I was overflowing with power.

“?!”

Their number had already reached the point of completely consuming the surroundings.

“Take care of them.”

When I extended my index finger and pointed at the balloons, the wolves became a single red wave and charged toward them.

Every time the wolves bit into a balloon, a small explosion erupted and swept away the surrounding wolves, but it didn't matter.

Because even now, more wolves continued to appear beneath the moonlight.

“W-what? What is this...”

Before anyone realized it, not a single balloon remained.

Bloody Clown stared blankly at the sight.

Until moments ago, he'd been grinning so widely it seemed his face would split while looking at me as though I were nearly dead, but his expression had long since frozen.

“Bite.”

The remaining wolves charged at the bastard.

He quickly stretched out both arms to perform Mime.

But.

-Grrrrr!

Other wolves had already reached him and bit into both arms, preventing him from raising them.

I knew full well that Mime's activation condition was a pose, so there was no way I'd let him do it.

“W-wait! Don't you need information about Plague?! I-if you just get these things off me──”

“Hey.”

“H-huek?!”

I trudged toward where the bastard was and looked at his expression.

He stared at me with a face filled with shock, something I hadn't seen until now.

But.

“P-please! I'll tell you everything!”

“You don't need to.”

“...

What?”

“If it's something you know, then I probably know all of it too.”

“H-huaagh!”

I kicked the bastard's body with a thud, pushing him back toward the crater he'd crawled out of.

“I know one bomber, and unlike you, he always says this.”

There was no day better suited for this line than today.

“Explosion is art.”

Personally, today was the one day I could agree with that statement.

“P-please──!”

“You've got explosion resistance, right? Don't die. You still need to experience a greater hell.”[「Engraving Skill: Howling」 activates.]

At the same time, short explosions began ringing continuously from the crater.

They weren't as large as the explosion I'd created through my fist the first time, but they were still considerable explosions.

With the continuing sounds of destruction, the crater kept growing wider and deeper.

And.【Hidden Quest Complete!】[Festival of Blood and Explosions][Stop and subdue Bloody Clown, the heinous villain and terrorist who escaped Niflheim!][Objective: Bloody Clown's death or incapacitation.][Reward: 「Skill: Clown Makeup」][Shocking Achievement!][You successfully subdued Bloody Clown with explosions, something that could be called the reason for his existence! An additional reward will be provided!][Reward Details]

-New Skill: Clown Makeup.[「Skill: Clown Makeup」: A clown is skilled at makeup to hide his emotions and identity. You can consume aura to alter the appearance of your face.][An additional reward is granted for the Shocking Achievement!]

-New Trait: 【Gunpowder and Explosions】[1. Gunpowder and Explosions: You are a specialist in gunpowder and explosions. You gain additional damage bonuses from firearms and explosives.]

“Just as I expected.”

Just like in the game, I received the reward given for defeating him with an explosion.

Since I used firearms as a secondary weapon, I'd always intended to obtain it someday, but thanks to him appearing right in front of me like this, I was able to obtain it early without much difficulty.

“Young Master...”

I turned at the voice coming from behind me.

There stood Alessia, barely managing to remain upright, looking at me with half-closed eyes.

“Alessia. Are you hurt anywhere?”

When I worriedly checked her condition, something landed lightly on top of my head.

“...

It seems I've been worrying for nothing all this time.”

“Alessia?”

Pat, pat─ her hand moved over my head.

“You're already strong enough that I no longer need to protect you, so I'm truly glad──”

Thud.

Her body tilted forward and collapsed into me as though embracing me.

“...

Alessia?”

Haa── haa──Her abnormal, ragged breathing came from within my arms.

At the same time, a green flare rose high into the sky.

“...

Rest for a moment. I'll be back soon.”

The flare shone green as though announcing that this place was the final destination.