The Academy’s Doomed Young Lord Dies Ten Thousand Times

Chapter 27 - Gargoyle Subjugation (3)

The playable characters of , that is, the protagonists, were heroes. It might sound obvious, but the core of this statement was that even with their unique and diverse personalities, the identities of these protagonists ultimately boiled down to the single word ‘hero’.

The reasons each character became a hero were varied.

Due to innate goodness, a destiny passed down through generations, to reclaim one's past, to break a clan's curse, to achieve an ideal, to gain freedom, and so on.

However, even among these protagonists, there were two figures who had somewhat unconventional triggers.

And one of those two was none other than Yuna.

The reason Yuna was unconventional was simple. At the starting point, Yuna was nothing more than a girl with exceptionally outstanding talent, who bore no mission or purpose.

In other words, she was in a position contrary to other characters who had clear reasons to 'become a hero' from the early stages.

There were various elements that guided Yuna onto the path of a hero, but among them, the one that opened the floodgates to her becoming a hero was none other than the expectations and trust from those around her.

Those who recognized the value of Yuna, who was just a failing student, early on, or even if not that, those who felt a personal liking for her, supported Yuna both materially and spiritually, and in the end, Yuna overcame her frustrations to repay that trust.

That is how Yuna properly confronted her talent and skills, and by showing the heroic quality of 'repaying expectations,' she began her own epic.

Of course, it wasn't that Yuna became a hero with just that one realization.

The existence of a hero had various virtues besides repaying expectations. A sense of justice, one's own ideals, realizing the reason one must fight, and so on.

But at the least, probably no one would deny that Yuna's realization of her desire to repay expectations was the first step in her becoming a protagonist of , and a hero.

While being with Yuna, I simply imitated the expectations that had been directed at her in the game.

Saying it like this makes it feel like I used the pure-hearted Yuna. But that didn't mean my expectations were fake.

It was just that I knew Yuna would naturally succeed. A belief without a shred of doubt, isn't that also a form of expectation?

Fwaaaah-!

While confronting the Gargoyle, I could feel a powerful flow of magic from Yuna's direction.

"Thankfully, it seems I wasn't too late."

I muttered so, and checked the remaining time of 『Moment of Decisive Battle』.

[ Time Remaining: 08.43 ]

Just over 8 seconds. If it had dragged on any longer, I would have been defeated after the skill's duration ended.

The only thing I was worried about was not knowing how much time her awakening would take... but this was within a safe range.

However, there was no time to lose focus. The Gargoyle, which had been catching its breath after spewing its breath just moments ago, was charging at me again.

Kuaaaaaaa-!!

Just as I was about to raise my sword to respond.

"Duck!!"

What I heard was a familiar voice, shouted at the top of her lungs.

‘I’ll be in big trouble if I don’t duck.’

I quickly assessed the situation and ducked down. And then—.

*Pew-.

Kwaang-!

Immediately after, I heard the menacing sound of something flying about a hand's breadth above my ducked body, followed by a huge explosion.

And when I raised my head, the Gargoyle was smashed into the distant wall.

"...This strong?"

Well, I knew she would get unimaginably stronger, but... honestly, I was dumbfounded.

‘She’s too strong.’

If I hadn't dodged, that power would have instantly ejected me to the waiting room.

Good thing I dodged. Yep.

***

At the same time as she realized a small, single wing had sprouted on her, Yuna noticed another change.

And that change was that her own magic had been replenished to its peak, and beyond.

In fact, in 's first awakening event, Yuna's magic temporarily rises to A. Though it doesn't last permanently.

Yuna raised her sword. She didn't know the reason, but it was obvious that she had to support Rain, who was confronting the Gargoyle, now that she had gained power beyond her peak.

"Duck!!"

Feeling her magic, which was filled to more than its peak, Yuna shouted so and swung her sword wide. The sword, which had condensed pure magic.

She had never learned it, but Yuna knew instinctively that this was the most efficient way to use her magic.

Then, a stream of light shot out from the sword, and...

Kwaang-!

With a tremendous roar, the Gargoyle, engulfed in an explosion of white light, was sent flying.

"...Huh?"

And Yuna herself couldn't hide her astonishment at the scene. It was in the realm of instinct that she had fired the magic so naturally, but rationally imagining its power was closer to the realm of precognition.

And while Yuna was momentarily bewildered by her own power that surpassed her expectations—.

"You can't stop!"

The boy's voice was heard.

"Now's our chance. I'll create an opening, so let's finish it with the next attack."

Still a calm and rational voice. Hearing that voice, Yuna was able to face reality again.

"...Got it!"

Yuna, who answered bluntly, followed Rain who took the lead and charged towards the Gargoyle.

The Gargoyle, which had barely regained its posture, was in a state of aiming its weapon, holding a trident.

Whoosh-!

Cutting through the air, the Gargoyle's trident flew towards Rain, who was in the lead.

It was an attack that Rain, whose agility reached A from using 『Moment of Decisive Battle』, could easily dodge, but this time, there was no such thing as dodging the attack.

Klaang-!

Rain, who planted his feet firmly on the ground, swung his sword in time with the trajectory of the incoming trident and deflected the attack.

Then the trident, which was striking down vertically, and the Gargoyle's hand holding it, were sent flying up instead.

And that meant that for the Gargoyle, there was no means left to defend against an attack.

"It's open."

Rain, who took a rough breath after deflecting the trident, muttered so lowly.

Then he threw his body and leaped towards the Gargoyle's upper body—.

Slash-!

Squeezing out all his strength, he accurately cut the Gargoyle's heart area.

Then, a sphere emitting a red light from the cut part—that is, the Gargoyle's magic core—came into Yuna's view.

"That's..."

All monsters, without exception, have a supply organ that supplies magic to their bodies, that is, a magic core.

And this organ has the characteristic of being vulnerable to both physical and magical attacks, so it is also treated as the vital spot of all monsters.

However, as the rank of the monster increases, the difficulty of aiming for the magic core also increases exponentially.

As the grade went up, monsters would protect their magic cores with hard membranes, or reduce the size of the magic core itself to the extreme.

The Gargoyle's case was the former. The size itself was large enough to be 'easy to aim for,' but to deliver a significant blow, one had to remove the hard outer shell and then pour firepower into the even harder magic core.

Due to the characteristic of being doubly protected by strong durability, even veteran knights would shake their heads at the difficulty of aiming for a Gargoyle's magic core.

"Now!"

Rain's eyes, who was in the middle of landing after leaping and cutting the Gargoyle, met Yuna's.

The calm pupils, still showing no anxiety or doubt, came into Yuna's sight.

"...Hah."

Yuna couldn't help but let out a dry laugh. What a consistent guy, she thought.

His eyes held no possibility of failure, nor any anxiety about it.

What was there was only blind and absolute trust—and expectation, without a shred of doubt.

Thinking about it again, she couldn't understand. How could he trust her so much after seeing her for such a short time? She couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

But the girl knew. That there was no kind of lie in that trust.

That that trust was the signpost that had returned the girl, who had been trapped in self-doubt, to her path.

"Since you keep looking at me with those eyes, I have no choice...!"

Yuna, who smiled with the corner of her mouth raised, squeezed out all her remaining magic.

The pressure exuded by a mid-to-high-level monster, what was all that?

The durability that even veteran knights found tricky, what was all that?

The one standing before the Gargoyle now was a girl who received love and blessings from the world.

A failing knight who would one day spread her wings and finally be reborn as a hero.

Once again, the single wing extending from the girl shone brilliantly. And the vast magic generated from that wing began to condense into her sword.

*Gwoooooh-.

And before she knew it, the sword held by the girl was enveloped in light, taking the form of a giant greatsword. Though it was a sword that flickered in an incomplete form.

Yuna gripped that sword and...

She swung it upwards diagonally just once.

And, a white flash engulfed the Gargoyle with a roar.

***

What was visible after the white flash and roar subsided were the remains of the Gargoyle, which could no longer be called a 'monster'. Only a rock fragment with residual magic remained in its place.

"..."

Yuna stood frozen in the same spot where she had unleashed the attack, staring blankly at the scene.

"I really... did it."

It was a natural reaction. Vowing to succeed was Yuna's resolution, but that was different from directly predicting success.

A formidable power that she herself had not anticipated. Since it came from her own hands, how could she not be dumbfounded?

*Flump-.

The girl collapsed onto the spot where she stood. It wasn't intentional; her legs had simply given out.

"Huh?"

Yuna tried to get up again but could feel no strength in her legs.

"Why is it like this...!"

Just as she was giving her unresponsive legs a smack...

"It's magic exhaustion."

A calm voice, as always, came from in front of her.

"When the magic in your body is rapidly and drastically depleted by about 80 percent in a short time, it temporarily puts a strain on your body. Well, it's not serious, and you'll return to normal once your magic recovers."

Rain's face, when she looked up, was as calm as if it were a matter of course, despite the two students achieving the feat of taking down a Gargoyle.

"...You, how can you be so calm? We caught a Gargoyle. A Gargoyle, no less!"

"Didn't I tell you before? That it would be possible with the two of us."

"How dull."

A dry laugh escaped Yuna's upturned lips. Perhaps it was because she felt that his bland reaction was so consistently him.

"Hey, does this mean we're guaranteed first and second place?"

"That's right. With 173 points each, we should be in a safe position."

"Hah."

A satisfied sigh, it contained a sense of pride in what she had achieved for the first time at the academy.

Considering she was worrying about how to survive at the academy just a week ago, it was an achievement that was truly unbelievable.

And Rain, approaching Yuna who was lost in such thoughts, extended a hand towards the girl.

"Do you need help?"

At those words, Yuna took a moment to think.

Normally, with her easy-going personality, she would have accepted without hesitation, but being supported by Rain was somehow... well, it was something. Hard to describe.

"...?"

But there were no other options. Her legs weren't moving right now, and saying no when he offered to help would look bad.

"...Uh, yeah, okay!"

And so, Yuna walked alongside Rain, with one arm draped over his shoulder.

‘What is he thinking?’

Walking while being supported, Yuna turned only her eyes to look at Rain.

The boy she still couldn't figure out, but who had believed in her, was there.

The ticklish feeling that had arisen from his mysterious and calm demeanor had quickly vanished.

Yes, the girl still knew nothing about Rain properly.

From the environment he grew up in, to trivial things like what he liked, and—why he had such deep faith in her.

There is no such thing as unrequited goodwill. The boy had said he was helping her because he saw her potential, but Yuna's intuition was telling her there was something more.

‘I have a crispy premonition that there’s something more.’

She didn't know exactly what a 'crispy premonition' meant, but anyway, that's how it was.

'I want to know more. About this guy.'

That was the conclusion that emerged from this train of thought.

The boy was certainly suspicious, but the girl's intuition told her that he hadn't approached her with any bad intentions. Though it might seem like a rather vague thought.

She wouldn't distance herself from the boy. Then the only option left was to get closer.

But, there was something she had to say before that.

"...Hey."

Yuna turned her head slightly towards Rain and called out to him.

Then, the boy shifted his eyes towards Yuna and tilted his head.

"I'm listening."

"That..."

Yuna hesitated for a moment. There was a lot to say, but she couldn't figure out how to convey it properly.

There was so much to say. Thank you for recognizing me, thank you for helping me, thank you for training me…

And the one phrase that came out of such deliberation was surprisingly simple.

"...Just, thank you."

And it was gruff.

And at that one phrase, Rain raised the corners of his mouth.

"How dull."

He replied by returning the exact words Yuna had said earlier.

"You little..."

At that reaction, Yuna also grinned and nudged Rain's side with her elbow.

*Thud-.

The problem was that it wasn't just a nudge.

"...That hurts."

"Ha? Compared to the Gargoyle, that's a feather, a feather."

"Please consider the difference in strength between you and me..."

"Heh. Alright, alright-."

A pleasant smile spread across Yuna's lips. It was the first relieved smile she had made since entering the academy.