I Became the Academy’s War Hero Chapter 46

Although he had taken a fatal wound from the surprise attack, thanks to the quick first aid, Abattoir Vicious managed to avoid instant death.

However, he remained unconscious for quite some time, and by the time he opened his eyes again, much had already happened.

It didn’t take him long to grasp the situation, but even after doing so, nothing changed.

Watching the beast mutants bare their sharp claws toward Eugene’s group, Vicious steeled his resolve.

‘…There’s no way I’ll make it out alive.’

He had more or less guessed it ever since the ambush failed, but he hadn’t expected that the beastification drug had already been used.

Once the drug was used, there was only one way for them to make it back alive to the Organization.

To eliminate the target and completely erase all traces of the operation.

But the enemy was effortlessly countering every desperate move they had made at great risk.

Not only had they fended off those powerful mutants, but they were also retaliating, gradually gaining the upper hand in the fight.

And in the end, they even managed to knock out their commander, Abattoir Maledic.

From this distance, he could even see blood splattering—calling it being “knocked out” was just a euphemism. Realistically, the man was already dead.

“……”

They clearly had no intention of letting any of them live.

Even if, by some miracle, they offered valuable intel in exchange for their lives—

Upon returning, Bernhardt would still hold them accountable for the failed mission.

Even if they somehow captured the target, in their current state, they couldn’t possibly subdue those beast mutants.

The control over the mutants lay with Maledic, and since he had lost consciousness without passing on the seal, the moment those nearby mutants were discovered by Karbenna’s main force, their fates were sealed.

No matter how much they tried to cover it up, rumors would spread.

Soon, word of this incident would leak to the outside.

And when that happened, Bernhardt would act as if they had nothing to do with it, severing ties with them without a moment’s hesitation.

In other words, there was no longer any path for all of them to return alive.

However—

If one of them could sacrifice themselves to save the other two—

If such a possibility could be created—

‘…Then how could I not choose it?’

Having made up his mind, Vicious began transferring every last bit of mana from his body into the remaining spare mines he carried.

Four in total.

They were originally meant for an ambush against another target, Eric Halenber, but that no longer mattered.

If he used all of them at once, it would certainly inflict a fatal wound on the target.

But that alone wasn’t enough.

‘Erasing all traces of the mutants is part of the mission too.’

To do that, he didn’t have enough firepower.

Which meant that to carry out the mission perfectly, he needed an amplifier.

And for Abattoir Vicious—

That amplifier was none other than his own life.

A forbidden art that only a select few from his accursed family could use.

It consumed the medium’s life force entirely to amplify the power of the explosion, even allowing control over its direction.

The resulting explosion would span a radius of over 300 meters, reducing every living being nearby to ash in an instant.

Vicious let out a bitter smile.

“Never thought I’d end up using it here, of all places…”

It was only because of a mission ordered from above that he’d come into conflict with his target. Whether the man lived or died, he couldn’t care less.

The same went for Bernhardt. They were merely his employer—what happened to them didn’t matter.

But saving his comrades was a different story.

No matter what anyone said, to him, they were family.

‘…If it’s to save my family, then it’s worth using.’

Once all preparations were complete, Vicious deliberately revealed himself with a provoking remark.

At the same time, he secretly signaled Evelin with a glance to retreat from the scene.

Across from him, Eugene Carter seemed to sense something and instantly tightened his grip on his sword, charging forward.

Evelin, catching the cue, dashed like an arrow into the forest.

Meanwhile, Vicious threw himself head-on toward Eugene.

Eugene succeeded in slashing cleanly through the opponent’s neck with his first strike.

But by then, the trigger had already been pulled.

While Walter Clark was marveling at the overwhelming tide of victory—

Rubia Magnus, who had been tense from the pressure of her first real battle, sensed a faint but distinct feeling of unease emanating from the enemy.

The exact same magical residue she had felt during the previous explosion.

Its meaning was clear as day, and Rubia hurriedly dashed to Eugene’s side.

The moment the assassin—who they thought had been taken by surprise—boldly revealed himself, Eugene too sensed the same strange feeling.

Without hesitation, he swung his sword, slicing the man’s neck cleanly in two.

Slash!

At the same time, Rubia raised her wand, aiming it between Eugene and the assassin.

Their judgment was correct—and more importantly, fast.

But cutting off the man’s breath wasn’t enough to disable the detonator.

In an instant, the entire area was engulfed by a tremendous roar.

KWA-AAAAAANG!!

The explosion that followed was incomparable to the previous one, swallowing all three of them whole.

“Kh…?!”

Thanks to being positioned in the rear, Walter barely managed to deploy a barrier in time, but the sheer intensity of the blast overwhelmed it, sending him flying far back.

The beast mutants, deprived of any protection, didn’t even have time to scream before they turned into pure white ash.

Even the lingering remnants vanished in the chain of successive explosions that followed.

At the center of the blast, a desperate struggle was unfolding.

Less than five meters apart, at point-blank range—ten times the force of the previous explosion.

Eugene Carter’s body should have been obliterated, bones and all, in the blast.

But two unavoidable forces barely held it back.

“Ggh…!”

She swallowed a groan as she took a step toward Eugene’s back.

It had been by the narrowest margin.

Regrettably, her Frozen Barrier had been slower than the enemy’s self-detonation.

Without its protection, Eugene’s body should have been reduced to nothing in just a second—

Yet, strangely, his body still held its shape.

As if it had somehow regenerated.

She was puzzled, but this wasn’t the time for questions.

Maintaining her barrier, Rubia closed the distance between them.

Bit by bit, she began to shrink the barrier’s range.

It was to reduce the rate of mana consumption—but the effect was minimal.

Within fifteen seconds of maintaining the barrier, the mana in her body had almost completely run dry.

‘Such absurd power…!’

The Magic Tower was a place where one couldn’t even enter without possessing a vast amount of mana.

And she—who had risen to the rank of a Special-Class Deputy within that very Tower—had exhausted her immense mana reserve in such a short time.

Something like this almost never happened.

It was truly a level of destructive power that defied belief.

“Eugene… sir…!”

After burning through her mana this quickly, the outcome was clear as day.

The moment her consciousness faded, the barrier would collapse, and she would die without a doubt.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t afraid of death.

But ever since she had chosen the path of a seeker, she had known that such a crisis would come one day.

So, at the very least, she thought she was prepared.

However—

If she were to die here like this,

what would happen to Eugene?

He didn’t have any aptitude for defensive magic. Could he possibly survive an explosion of this scale?

She hadn’t even repaid the debt from back then yet.

She hadn’t even heard the end of the story he had told her that day.

If she gave up here, she couldn’t guarantee his safety.

‘…That can never happen.’

Then she had to do it.

Even if it cost her life.

Clenching her teeth, she focused every last bit of her remaining senses on the right hand that gripped her wand.

Though the mana within her body had long since been depleted, the wall standing before them did not fade.

Even to Rubia herself, it was a strange phenomenon.

After what felt like thirty minutes but was only thirty seconds, the roar finally subsided.

Most of the trees that had taken the blast head-on were reduced to mere stumps, while the rest had one side completely blackened by fire.

Some of them cracked and toppled to the ground with a loud crash.

Crackle, crackle.

In the stillness that followed, only the faint sound of embers burning filled the air.

After some time had passed—

“……”

She felt a warm hand holding her own, and only then did Rubia release her grip.

A hurried voice reached her ears, but her consciousness was already too far gone—she couldn’t make out a word.

Eugene’s blurry figure filled her fading vision, and she forced a faint smile.

As if to say, I’m fine, so don’t worry too much.

As if to reassure him so.

About five minutes had passed since the great explosion.

“Ugh… What the hell is this….”

Far in the distance, Walter barely managed to push himself upright, but upon seeing the horrific scene before him, he sank right back down.

Even as he gaped in shock, a single thought crossed his mind.

‘Why… am I still alive?’

He had barely managed to raise a barrier, but the impact had been so great that the spell broke almost instantly.

Considering the sheer firepower that had turned this place into such devastation, it wouldn’t have been strange if he had been incinerated on the spot.

As he looked around, he quickly figured out why.

“……”

Every tree nearby had been burned pitch-black.

“Phew… Damn, I’m ridiculously lucky.”

He hadn’t been barely holding on—he’d been blown away by the initial shockwave, which saved him from being caught in the flames.

By pure chance, the area he had been thrown into was densely packed with trees.

Those trees had served as a natural fortress, sparing him from death—leaving him only with bruises and mild burns.

Rubbing his stinging skin, Walter made his way through the trees.

The closer he got to the center, the thicker the smoke and the hotter the air became.

After dispersing the haze somewhat with a wind spell, he was finally able to make out the location of the two others.

And then—

A voice shouted from the center, calling out to him.

“Hurry and get over here, Walter!”

It was his classmate’s voice.

“Ha! I knew you’d still be alive! Are you hur—”

As he ran toward Eugene, another figure came into view.

There, Rubia Magnus lay collapsed, limp and motionless.

Rushing to her side, Walter’s eyes widened in horror at the sight of her right arm—swollen red and beginning to split open.

“Don’t tell me… she blocked that explosion all by herself?”

“……”

Even he, who had been at the rear, would have met a gruesome end if not for the pile of trees shielding him.

To have endured that blast alone at point-blank range—being covered in blood from head to toe was no surprise at all.

At a loss for words, Walter fell silent.

Without replying, Eugene lifted her into his arms and gave a firm nod.

“We’ll talk later. Let’s get out of here first.”