Broken Possessors of Infinite Regression Academy

‘It’s disgustingly flashy.’

That was Mira’s first impression of the Starlight Sect’s Holy Knights, which he had only heard about.

They were all at least one head taller and bigger, and they all wore armor of the same color as the Holy Sword, all holding their shields and spears precisely, and they all wore swords that resembled the Holy Sword at their waists.

The icing on the cake was the particularly flashy and gigantic armor worn by the leader of the Holy Knights, which was 1.5 times bigger than the others. Anyone who saw it would have the same impression.

‘The Royal Guard wasn’t like that.’

The direction of the armor was different because they were the Pope’s guards.

While the Royal Guard pursued elegance and practicality, the Holy Knights’ armor was only focused on flashy looks. You could tell just by looking at the decorations stuck all over it.

But on the other hand, it definitely exuded an intimidating aura, and there were a thousand knights in such armor.

If this hadn’t been the Academy, or if they hadn’t been standing there waiting for orders, they would surely have been mistaken for an invasion or an attack by the Sect.

“So, you’re telling me to go to the Pope’s Palace?”

“Yes, Hero. Join us.”

Aria’s words were true, as Brynhild was talking to the leader of the Holy Knights. She looked very uncomfortable, with her arms  crossed and a blunt tone.

“What if I say no?”

“You’re mistaken. This is neither a request nor a suggestion, Hero. It is an order from the Pope, the source of the Holy Sword. As the bearer of the Holy Sword, you must obey the Pope’s command.”

“Since when has the Sect been the source of the Holy Sword? I’ve never heard of it.”

“Have you not heard the myth that the Goddess dropped a star to provide the material for the Holy Sword, and that She heated it with the hot sun and tempered it with the cold moon, and whispered to it with starlight to give it divinity?”

“Even a passing dog would know it’s a lie. Stop spouting nonsense and get lost. I’m not going to the Pope’s Palace, ever.”

“Let me say it again, this is not a request or a suggestion……”

The leader of the Holy Knights stopped talking. His silver and sky-blue helmet was turned towards them. However, he wasn’t looking at Mira. Rosalia flinched and hid behind Mira’s sleeve.

“Mira!”

Brynhild, who found it strange that the leader was looking at them, waved at Mira happily. Mira waved back.

The leader of the Holy Knights, as if enchanted, began to walk towards them. Thud, thud. His heavy footsteps echoed. As he approached, Mira could feel his enormous size.

‘……He really could be tall like the Chairman.’

Up close, he was even bigger. Mira had to tilt his head back to look up at him. It was partly due to the thick armor, but his basic body size seemed larger than a normal human’s.

The knight, who had stopped right in front of Mira, said as if he was commanding them.

“Come out in front. I have something to say to the Saint Candidate.”

Unlike the half-respectful attitude he had shown to the Hero, this was a command without even a hint of courtesy. Mira couldn’t help but laugh. Alexander, who had been so arrogant before, was just like this.

“What if I say no?”

Mira flatly refused. If Rosalia had wanted to talk, Mira would have stepped aside, but since Rosalia was hiding behind him with a scared look, he couldn’t.

“How arrogant.”

“Are you going to do it yourself, or are you going to bring all your subordinates with you? Is that also a command from the Pope? A show of force at the Academy, where the Chairman is a Dragon?”

“Show respect to the Pope. Disbelief in starlight is enough to be considered heresy.”

“Heresy?”

Mira scoffed inwardly. How could they talk about heresy when the whole Sect was bewitched by a succubus?

‘Well, from their perspective, it’s not wrong.’

In a village of the blind, the one with two eyes is abnormal. If the whole Sect was bewitched by a succubus, then not being bewitched would be abnormal, so from the Sect’s perspective, what he said might be true.

In the end, the fact that they were idiots wouldn’t change.

“I’ve warned you twice. Show respect.”

“I’ve said it twice, too. No.”

Mira noticed the knight touching the sword at his waist.

He had heard about it. The Pope’s guards had the authority to carry out summary executions, depending on the severity of the case, as they also judged heretics.

Of course, if they really tried to do something like that, he wouldn’t just sit back and take it. First, se would kill all of them and then think of the next step.

“……”

However, the knight seemed to have some sense of judgment, as the tense atmosphere that felt like it could explode at any moment ended with just a warning. The knight slightly turned his head away from Mira.

It was the direction where Rosalia was hiding behind Mira. A hand in a thick gauntlet reached out towards Rosalia, who was cowering behind Mira.

“Hey.”

Crack! Mira grabbed his wrist. Due to the difference in their basic body size and the fact that he was wearing heavy armor, he couldn’t grasp more than half of his wrist, but it was enough to stop his arm. The helmet turned towards her again.

“Are you going against the will of the Pope?”

“I’m following the will of the Saint Candidate.”

“……”

The knight seemed to have no intention of talking to Mira anymore, as he put more strength into his arm. Mira also put more strength into his arm. The standoff continued.

However, Mira was clearly at an advantage. The knight couldn’t grab Rosalia or pull his arm away, so it was a stalemate, but in reality, it wasn’t.

The students nearby murmured as they witnessed the standoff. It was natural for them to be surprised, as Mira was standing up to a Holy Knight, who was supposed to be equal to the Royal Guard, with just his strength.

-Kikiik!

“……!”

Suddenly, an ominous sound came from the knight’s gauntlet. The wrist he was holding was starting to dent. The knight tried to pull his arm away as he saw his armor denting.

Mira put more strength into his arm. The arm that was trying to pull away stopped in its tracks. The ominous sound grew louder. The gauntlet was denting even more.

“……”

“I’m warning you, if you pull that out, you won’t like what happens. Your life is at stake, so if you want to try, go ahead.”

Mira hinted at a threat. The knight, ignoring his warning, began to draw his sword. As he did, Mira was about to summon the Eternity in his empty hand.

-This is an insult.

A chilling voice rang out from above. The students, who were not the target of the voice, trembled in fear, and the Holy Knights, who had been standing like mannequins, began to stir.

An incarnation descended. Behind him, a pair of wings larger than an average person’s body fluttered, and a tail as big as a human torso protruded from just above her buttocks.

“You don’t need to answer. Your fate has already been decided.”

It was Erestika, the Chairman of Bellium Academy.

A vicious aura flowed from her yellow vertical pupils, which were wide open. Her clenched fist trembled, and her teeth were bared.

“Did you think you could escape the wrath of the Dragon by committing such an insult in my Academy, which I built with my own hands, against my student?”

-Crack!

The ground cracked just from her taking a step. It was evidence that Erestika had no intention of holding back. Seeing this, Mira loosened his arm. The Holy Knight backed away.

The gauntlet he had been holding was badly dented.

“……You dented the star-infused armor with your bare hands?”

Rosalia whispered from behind Mira, who was looking at the dented gauntlet. Mira casually replied.

“I used a little strength. It wasn’t that soft. My palm is still burning.”

Heat was radiating from his entire palm, and his skin was probably red. It was obvious.

“No, you dented the star-infused armor with your bare hands? That’s not just a little impressive!”

“I’ve done worse things than this before.”

Rosalia, surprised, touched Mira’s hand. As they talked, Erestika approached the Holy Knight.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Chairman.”

The knight’s tone was half-polite, but his head was stiff and his knees were straight. Erestika exuded a murderous aura.

“Are you ready to die?”

“I know it may seem rude. I apologize for that. However, the Pope has ordered me to bring the Hero and the Saint Candidate, so I had no choice but to lead the Holy Knights here. We can’t afford to have another unfortunate incident like last time, can we?”

“I feel like tearing your limbs apart right now, but I’ll give you one last chance for the sake of the Starlight Sect’s hard work. This is your last chance to walk out of here with your two legs. Turn around and leave the Academy now.”

“I can’t do that. We must……?!”

Before the knight could finish his sentence, Erestika’s fist struck his chest. With just one punch, his armor shattered into hundreds of pieces, and his body flew like a bowling pin, colliding with the knights behind him.

The body that bounced back stopped after passing through 70% of the ten rows of knights. He was still alive, judging by his wriggling. It was amazing that he hadn’t died yet.

Eres looked at the knights who were struggling to get up and said casually.

“Your superior has just taken away your last chance to get out of here alive.”

He snapped her fingers. An opaque veil covered the entire Holy Knight Sect. It seemed to be for the purpose of preventing the other students from seeing what was happening inside.

Mira, Priscilla, Rosalia, Brynhild, and Aria remained inside the veil.

“So, I won’t show mercy twice.”

As Erestika was about to punch the closest knight’s head, a voice came from the air.

Countless light particles gathered, and an old man in a gorgeous robe appeared. Even though his face was old and haggard, his aura was real.

Moreover, he was not physically present, but only projecting his form through magic. The atmosphere he exuded was impressive, even though he was just wearing a robe.

‘Is that the Pope?’

It seemed that he was worthy of being called the Pope. Only someone with such an aura could be the head of the Starlight Sect.

“I would like to apologize for my subordinate’s inexcusable behavior before I speak, Great Dragon. My subordinates have committed an unforgivable sin. Their loyalty to the Goddess sometimes leads them to make such mistakes.”

Honestly, Mira was quite surprised to hear that. He had expected him to be arrogant and rude, but he was actually quite polite.

In reality, the inside of that man was the most sinister, but the fact that he at least knew how to pretend to be polite on the surface was already in the top 1% of the Starlight Sect.

“Drop the flattery. The only way to atone for the insult you committed in my Academy is with blood……”

“Yes, with blood. I will kill half of the Holy Knights.”

“What?”

Before Eres could even react to the surprise, the knights on the left stabbed their spears into the knights on the right.

Not a single one of them rebelled. Even as five hundred of their comrades were being executed by their own hands, they just died quietly inside their armor.

It didn’t take long for all five hundred of them to stop moving completely. In front of the hill of corpses, the Pope, in the form of light particles, spoke indifferently.

“Are you satisfied now? If you say it’s not enough, I will kill half of them again.”

“Do you not value life? Then, there is no point in continuing to take lives. No matter how many die, it will only mean that your parts are broken, nothing more.”

As Erestika, who understood the mechanism of their actions, expressed her displeasure, the Pope, who was looking around, made eye contact with him. The Pope’s face twisted as he saw Mira.

‘……What?’

It was a face full of jealousy.

‘Why is he making that face?’

Mira was bewildered. Rather than anger or hatred, he would have understood if it was anger. After all, it was as good as his fault that his son had died.

But why was he jealous? It was an unexpected emotion. What reason did he have to be jealous of him?

“I’ve heard a lot about you, but it’s the first time I’ve seen your face. Nice to meet you, Mira Crate.”

The Pope, who had been jealous a moment ago, suddenly changed his expression and came right in front of Mira to greet him. He didn’t seem to care about Erestika at all.

“Who did you hear about me from?”

“As you get older, you naturally become interested in the affairs of the outside world. There are ways to do it.”

Mira tried to test him, but the Pope, whose face had been filled with jealousy a moment ago, smiled like a kind old man, as if the jealousy was a lie. Mira was sure.

‘He’s up to something.’

Whatever it was, he was definitely up to something.