I Became the Academy’s War Hero Chapter 70

“Keugh…!”

An overwhelming surge of mana erupted from my heart, spreading violently throughout my entire body—so strong it was almost impossible to control.

If this had been my first time experiencing it, I might have been completely thrown off by it alone.

Fortunately, I had thoroughly prepared for this very situation back at the Magic Tower.

Clenching my teeth hard enough to creak, I focused all of my mana into the hands gripping my sword.

Then, in one swift motion, I unleashed a slash.

Swaeaaek—!

Compared to the slashes I had used before, this one was at least three times larger.

And its power exceeded even that size.

Cheeeok—!

The massive cutting wave cleaved through the horse, the coachman, and even the heavy carriage behind them in a single strike.

Whether they had already resigned themselves to death or hadn’t even had time to react, there wasn’t even a dying scream to be heard.

The bisected carriage flew far off, slammed into the bridge’s outer wall, and bounced straight into the Arden River.

The two surviving horses panicked and bolted, while a cloud of dust briefly rose over the area.

Brushing off the bits of stone that had struck my chest, I called out casually.

It was a message directed at the enemy leader, who was surely still watching me.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit late to be pointing a dagger at me now?”

The wait wasn’t long.

No—he hadn’t planned to hide in the first place.

The enemy leader was walking straight toward me along the path the carriage had taken.

“You’re bolder than I thought, Eugene Carter.”

His body was completely wrapped in a dark cloak, making his build hard to gauge—but the murderous intent filling his eyes was impossible to miss.

‘I can roughly guess what’s going through your head.’

No matter how good one’s physical ability is, if they lack real combat experience, there are always things they overlook.

But Eugene Carter now had both—the experience of his past life and the know-how of a player. A veteran among veterans.

There was zero chance I’d fall for such a cheap trick.

‘Let’s see how much more he’ll reveal.’

There was no need to hide any further anyway.

Depending on how this went, he might even spill information about his employer.

So, smirking as much as I pleased, I asked,

“You guys got kicked out of Bernhardt, didn’t you?”

“That’s none of your concern.”

“Oh, I get it. You’re pissed because one of your men—someone like family—died. Fair enough. But this kind of job wasn’t part of your deal, was it? No matter how crazy Chloe Bernhardt is, she wouldn’t go this far.”

“…So you already knew.”

He admitted it without hesitation.

“This is a purely personal act of revenge, Eugene Carter. It has nothing to do with Bernhardt.”

“Let me guess—Bernhardt told you to say that?”

“Well… who’s to say.”

He drew a sharp awl from his cloak, his expression stiff as he declared,

“Abattoir never abandons family.”

“If someone heard you, they’d think I was the villain here.”

“Anyone who harms our family—dies in return.”

“Funny, considering it’s usually bastards like you who die first.”

That was when it happened.

The subtle, uneasy air around us suddenly shifted—turning into a clear killing intent.

I immediately ducked and deployed my shield with full power.

And not even a second later—countless poisoned needles rained down from every direction.

When the opponent stood tall with such confidence, Abattoir Schreder made a deduction.

The opponent was Eugene Carter. Even if he was a washed-up relic, his skill wasn’t something to be taken lightly.

It might have been luck, but he had survived a fight against three of our executives and walked away alive.

If we didn’t go all out, killing him would be impossible.

Arrogance only works if one has the strength and accomplishments to back it up.

And this man was making use of both the intelligence he gained through ties with the Special Task Force and Karbenna, and his experience as a war hero.

Most people have too much to lose.

Those who have much to lose hesitate. And those who hesitate—show openings.

They end up falling for bluffs, subconsciously overestimating their enemy’s abilities.

And when they die, they justify it with, “He was just too strong.”

But—

Schreder sneered.

‘None of that bluffing works on us anymore.’

For comrades who had already accepted death, there was nothing left to lose.

Now, let’s expose every trick you’ve got, Eugene Carter.

“……”

That was what he thought.

Until Eugene completely blocked the attack with an invisible barrier, rendering all the poisoned needles useless.

‘Does he have some sort of danger-sensing ability?’

Even a one-second delay would’ve let at least one needle slip through a gap. That’s how fast and precise the ambush had been.

It was impossible timing unless he had read every one of their movements.

A mix of shock and reluctant admiration escaped him as Schreder shook his head.

‘There’s no time for useless thoughts.’

The poisoned needles weren’t strong in terms of penetration.

Whether it was an artifact, magic, or a combination of both—whatever that barrier was, so long as he maintained it, the needles were meaningless.

They had to switch tactics quickly, break through that barrier, and disable his defense.

If they dragged this out, the disadvantage would be theirs.

If the noise spread any further, outsiders would surely intervene.

They had to end it before that happened.

Making his decision, Abattoir Schreder snapped his fingers—ordering all units to drop their invisibility.

Perhaps realizing they no longer intended to rely on poisoned weapons,

Eugene threw off the barrier like a discarded blanket and rose to his feet.

Hundreds of poisoned needles clattered to the ground.

The number of men Schreder had gathered for this final showdown totaled thirty-seven.

Six were still on long-term missions, and Ebelin—who hadn’t returned since the last battle—made seven absent. So every other member was present.

Even surrounded by nearly forty assassins, Eugene’s expression showed not the slightest hint of fear.

“I’d like to finish this quickly and still make it to the meeting, you know?”

In fact, his face was full of battle spirit—almost excitement.

“Let’s skip the foreplay and go all in.”

Schreder focused mana into the tip of his awl and nodded slightly.

“…That’s what I was hoping for.”

At their leader’s signal, Abattoir’s full force charged toward Eugene in unison.

Annihilation or a stalemate. Or, a slight disadvantage.

Thinking one of those three outcomes and charging into battle, the assassins couldn’t help but stare dumbfounded at the scene unfolding before them.

Clang! Ching!

Even though they were clashing similar blades, only their weapons were being shattered.

Crack!

Shields and armor weren’t faring any better.

Kraaaang!

The enemy’s blows roared like cannon fire, ravaging each man’s life.

Not even five minutes into the real clash, nine of their men were already corpses.

‘Was it a misjudgment…?’

It was true that Eugene Carter was a person of interest.

But it had been less than five days since the first ambush.

Even if he had trained up in that time, there had to be limits.

They had thought that if they threw their full strength in, assassination would be trivial.

The underworld reputation of the violence syndicate Abatua wasn’t made up.

Those who didn’t know the realities of the underworld might have thought of them as nothing more than a band of common thugs.

But the quantity and quality of those we had killed had no match across the entire empire.

Among them, of course, had been men with greater fame and skill than Eugene Carter.

So why—

‘Why can’t we kill him?’

Schreder was hiding his expression but was growing increasingly anxious.

Whether aware of that or not, Eugene grew stronger and more merciless as the fight went on.

Crunch!

“Ugh…!”

He snapped the right arm off one bold attacker and then twisted the left until the man’s neck gave.

“What are you doing? Not coming in any further?”

Then, without hesitation, he drove the sword in his other hand into the enemy’s side.

“Aaaargh!”

Blood gushed out and soaked the ground.

Eugene kicked the writhing man’s rump and sent him flying beneath his legs.

Diving into the gap that opened, an assassin tried to strike from behind, but Eugene, without even seeing it, dodged and lightly hooked the man’s leg to trip him.

“Guh!”

“How cowardly—attacking from the flank like that?”

Kraang!

Kraaaang!

“…….”

“…….”

Seeing their comrade’s skull crushed and his body slumped, everyone reflexively took a step back.

“T-that guy’s insane….”

“…So we really can’t win?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to withdraw our forces intact and wait for the next chance…?”

“You going to disobey the captain?!”

“Abatua was disbanded as of today! Doesn’t that mean there’s no captain or anything anymore?”

“Those bastards…!”

As the subordinates argued in a panic, a massive ice spear descended diagonally from the line of fire and targeted the enemy.

Eugene casually brushed the spear tip that came within an arm’s reach, changing its trajectory.

Crack!

The ice spear shattered into pieces the moment it hit the ground.

“…….”

At the same time, the four executives strode up toward Eugene.

“Useless ones.”

“You’re in the way, step back. Revenge will be enough with just us.”

“Heh heh, you go scout around.”

“Please wait a moment, captain. We’ll finish this quickly.”

Three-seat, Abatua Berger.

Six-seat, Abatua Wicked.

Seven-seat, Abatua Manuel.

Eight-seat, Abatua Kinier.

The four executives charged straight up to the enemy’s face in one breath.

“Kuh…!”

There was no difference between beasts and humans.

Compared to them, everyone else felt utterly weak.

I twisted the neck of the tall assassin who had fought to the end until he died instantly, and I stood tall on the bloodied earth.

Blood still flowed from several corpses.

Because I had intended to see some blood in the first place, a fair amount had splattered across my body.

Among those marks, my wounds were only a few scrapes.

I breathed slowly to roughly gauge the passage of time.

‘I think about twelve minutes had passed, right?’

An immediate answer came from inside.

— It was thirteen minutes.

‘…That’s getting dangerous, then.’

— Even so, it should be manageable up to twenty minutes.

‘Really?’

— It would be the effect of the training in the Mana Tower.

‘That’s a relief.’

— Still, don’t get too complacent. You’ll have to move quickly even after you go.

What obvious words.

I readjusted my grip on Lukezax and gestured toward the enemy captain.

“You were planning to draw them out and then strike, huh? Too bad.”

“…Too bad. We’re grateful, really.”

“What?”

Just then.

The pools of blood that had been gathering here and there began to converge around the captain.

“You freed all the seeds of blood I’d trapped, so you did this.”

“…So I accidentally walked into my own trap?”

I hadn’t anticipated this.

I hadn’t expected to face an opponent who used blood arts so soon.

The gathered blood transformed into crimson tendrils and a mist of blood.

I gathered a good portion of it into my right fist and the enemy closed in on me in a single stride.

Kraaaang!!

“I’m Schreder of Abatua.”

“Damn, spare the introductions.”

I parried precisely with my blade yet was pushed back a meter….

‘This one’s not going to be easy.’

This world didn’t have standardized classes or jobs like some games, but even so, blood mages were rare in MAGA.

In this world, blood carried not only nutrients and oxygen but also mana.

Naturally, a lot of magic power was contained in blood, and using it in battle more than doubled its potency.

Immunity to ordinary injuries or bleeding came as a bonus.

With less than ten minutes left, a body more exhausted than at the start, and a tricky ability user—

Even while recognizing all these unfavorable conditions, a smile didn’t leave my lips.

‘It’s been a while since I’ll have a proper feast…!’

While delivering a slashing strike, I flew toward Schreder.