I Became the Academy’s War Hero Chapter 52

The beast that revealed itself before the two was one I was also quite familiar with.

A B-rank beast — Delusio Corpse. Its size ranged from two to three meters, and its reddish-brown, hardened shell was tough enough that most blades couldn’t even scratch it.

Its actual threat level was closer to A-rank, but since it was rarely seen even in the Beast Habitat Zones, it was classified a rank lower.

‘…Or so it’s said, but it’s a creature I’ve seen countless times as part of special events.’

Especially in the episodes related to Rubia, it appeared almost every round as a branching boss.

MAGA battles were turn-based by nature, and aside from a few rare exceptions, most fights had stat-adjustments that ensured the player rarely lost even to powerful enemies.

But this wasn’t a turn-based world, and there were no stat adjustments here.

What could easily be done in the game might very well be impossible in this place.

Considering that, if I gauged the two’s current abilities… their chances of victory weren’t very high.

Eugene Carter and Rubia Magnus — both were undeniably gifted, but not yet to the level where they could face a B-rank beast.

‘Now then… let’s see how they overcome this predicament.’

The boy spread his arms wide and sidestepped slowly.

Then, in a whispering tone, he asked Rubia,

“Can you run?”

She looked at her left leg, bruised and swollen blue, and forced a nod.

The joint was so puffed up that it was obvious she had twisted it.

Eugene seemed to realize this as well, shaking his head.

“No good. Even at full speed, it’d be close. In that state, it’s impossible.”

“Th-then what should we do?”

“What else? We fight.”

He drew a dagger about twenty centimeters long from his waist.

As soon as he showed his intent to fight, the beast clashed its pincers together with a screeching sound, stirring up a racket.

To a beast, humans were both enemies and prey.

Hostility and killing intent were its default state — though its approach varied depending on its opponent’s perceived level.

When facing a foe it couldn’t easily defeat, it would use any means necessary.

When facing prey it could easily tear apart, it would toy with them slowly — as though savoring the play.

Judging by its behavior, it was already confident of its victory.

Seeing the beast hesitate to attack right away, the boy gave a faint smile.

Of course.

‘There’s no opportunity better than carelessness.’

While quickly scanning the terrain, Eugene asked again,

“List your main spells. All of them.”

“I-I’m not really good at any of them….”

“Quickly!”

“B-Barrier! Wood Needle! Frozen Spear! Paralyze Field! Mud Swarm! Ignite Field! And, um…”

Under Eugene’s pressing tone, Rubia rattled off six types of magic in an instant.

“Enough. That’s plenty.”

The boy leaned close to her ear and whispered something lengthy, then smiled with fiery determination.

“Let’s add one more line to our legend.”

Leaving the visibly tense Rubia behind, Eugene strode forward with confident steps.

The beast flinched for a moment — as though surprised that the humans it expected to flee with their tails tucked were instead advancing to fight.

I focused all my attention on every movement they made.

This was a battle I absolutely could not afford to miss.

It wasn’t that they had fully blossomed yet, but this was a rare chance to witness, with my own eyes, a fragment of their former glory that had only lingered faintly in my memories.

A brief silence passed.

Clang!

With the beast’s first offensive, the probing battle began.

Kiing!

Ting!

The boy met the excited swings of the pincers and tail with only the minimal necessary movement.

Even one solid hit could tilt the fight fatally against them.

So Eugene chose a combat style focused on evasion — countering only when absolutely unavoidable.

Even so, the difference in size was too great; he was gradually being pushed back.

In contrast, the Delusio Corpse’s fighting style was utterly straightforward.

It attacked with its pincers and tail to create wounds, then injected venom through the openings.

Its chitinous exoskeleton was lined with tiny hooked spines — even a brush against bare skin could lead to serious injury.

It was not only highly defensive but also possessed impressive regenerative abilities, barely flinching at most attacks.

On top of that, the forest was its favored terrain.

For these two, still unseasoned as they were, the odds of defeating it without injury were… at best, twenty percent.

That was my honest assessment.

‘Still, there’s no way they can outlast a beast in a battle of endurance… so what’s your next move, boy?’

Though it looked like a drawn-out standoff, in that short span of time, Eugene had already gathered a wealth of information.

Without taking his eyes off the beast, he began his briefing.

“As expected, the pincers are the hardest, and the gap between the torso plates is the weakest.”

“…You mean, in terms of durability?”

“Yeah. I’ll keep creating openings, so try hitting it with your spear or needle.”

“Ah, got it!”

The moment the briefing ended, blue mana began to surge from Eugene’s entire body.

‘That ability is….’

The outpouring mana soon solidified into a tangible armor that wrapped around his torso.

Mana Armor.

It was an ability that drew internal mana outward and manifested it as armor.

As with all techniques of that type, its mana consumption was dreadful, so unless one had both abundant mana and exceptional recovery, most people didn’t favor it.

At present, even I didn’t possess the Mana Armor skill.

‘He must’ve absorbed it through Mana Devour once, then lost it due to the curse.’

The boy dashed at the enemy with a speed incomparable to before.

Pushing off the surrounding trees, he leapt into the air, gripped his sword with both hands, and brought it down.

Kwaaaang!

The burst of smoke cleared in mere seconds.

Krrrk, krrrkkk!

It would’ve been nice if that single strike had finished it, but of course, the creature wasn’t that easy.

The beast caught the blade with its left pincer and tried to slice at Eugene’s flank with the other.

Its tail, aimed at his heart, writhed as if it could pierce through him at any moment.

At that very instant—

When the beast was about to shred the boy apart—

Enduring tremendous pressure, Eugene gritted his teeth and shouted,

“Now!”

At the same time—

Spikes and spears erupted from the ground and the air alike.

Kieeeek!

It was an improvised strategy, but its completion was remarkable.

With prey that had rushed in so recklessly, there was no reason for the beast not to go all out — naturally, it attacked at full force.

If it had kept both sides in mind and maintained its defense, there would have been no opening to exploit.

But a complacent beast was never that thorough.

Thus, their decisive blow struck true, landing precisely on the creature’s greatest weakness — the gap between its torso plates.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to deliver a fatal wound.

The spear pierced through the thick chitin and caused some cracks — but that was all.

In pain, Delusio Corpse flung Eugene aside and thrashed violently.

Panting, Eugene motioned toward Rubia.

“Haa… quickly, finish it…”

“Yes!”

But the beast, sensing danger, reacted far faster than Rubia’s chant.

It narrowly escaped the radius of the Paralyze Field and avoided the following rain of ice spears.

Seeing this, Eugene clicked his tongue, frowning.

The mana armor covering his upper body had already vanished.

Rubia lowered her gaze, looking ashamed.

“S-sorry. If I’d just been a bit faster….”

“…No, you did well.”

Then, staring at the beastly scorpion that now radiated open killing intent, he gave a wry smile.

“We should’ve finished it when it was off guard… this is troublesome.”

“Sh-should we try to run away now? It’s wounded too, so maybe it won’t chase recklessly…”

The boy shook his head, echoing the thought in my mind.

“A prey that hurts its predator and then runs? That’ll only make the bastard angrier. We need to end it here.”

I agreed.

The problem was that their biggest advantage — the beast’s carelessness — was now gone.

Worse yet, it had fully recognized Rubia’s threat level, making it much harder to recreate the previous situation.

Continuing the fight half-heartedly would only lower their chances of survival.

In terms of raw combat ability, durability, stamina, terrain familiarity — in every category, the beast held overwhelming superiority.

The moment they failed to end it early, at least one sacrifice became inevitable.

“…At this point, the only way is to burn it out with fire.”

Resolute, the boy began to walk slowly toward the enemy as he spoke.

“Paralyze Field, Mud Swarm, Ignite Field. Those three should do it.”

Perhaps understanding his plan, Rubia silently nodded.

“And when you get the chance, make sure to kill it. Don’t worry about me.”

“……”

“If we don’t kill it this time, next time we both die. At least one of us has to live, right?”

“B-but…”

“Well, it’s not like I plan on dying to some bug anyway.”

Kiiiek!

As if unwilling to allow any more strategy talk, the beast lunged first.

It charged straight at Rubia with ferocity, only to be flung back several meters by Eugene’s slash.

“You don’t take your eyes off me when I’m in front of you, filthy insect.”

Kyaaaak!!

The taunt worked — but the situation now was far worse than before.

The mana armor that had once covered his entire upper body now only shielded vital points.

The beast’s fighting style had also shifted — instead of attacking solely with its pincers and tail, it began pressing forward bodily to overpower him.

Eugene used the surrounding terrain and occasionally relied on Rubia’s Barrier, but he couldn’t stop their formation from steadily collapsing.

Yet despite the worsening tide, his expression remained perfectly calm.

‘…He’s planning something.’

Looking closely, I realized that within about a hundred-meter radius of the battlefield, debris was gradually piling up.

Most of it consisted of Rubia’s Wood Needles and fallen trees, but the closer to the center, the more traces of Mud Swarm there were.

After around ten minutes of battle, the area within fifty meters was crawling with sticky mud.

From that point on, the boy deliberately kept the beast from straying beyond that zone.

But even that had its limit.

From a distance, Rubia shouted urgently,

“I-it’s ready now, Eugene! Hurry…!”

“Then do it now!”

Fixing his gaze coldly on the beast, he answered without hesitation.

At that split second, while their tense exchange continued—

Kyaaaak!

Delusio Corpse’s sharp tail flew straight toward the boy’s heart.