The Academy’s Doomed Young Lord Dies Ten Thousand Times

Chapter 40 - Judgment for Judgment (1)

In , Judgment was not a particularly important boss. As a boss that appeared in the side content of bounty hunting, it didn't even have a proper script that intuitively showed the story to the player.

However, in , after defeating Judgment, the player could obtain his journal and items in his hideout…… and from these, the following could be learned.

Judgment was a promising low-ranking knight in the past, but he was a victim of the times who was framed and exiled after resisting the injustice of his corrupt superiors.

Up to this point, one might see him as a simple victim of good intentions, but the problem was what came next.

Judgment couldn't bear the injustice of being framed and went mad, and right after that, he came into contact with ‘a certain being.’ From the description, it was depicted as a divine, supernatural being, I believe.

And receiving power from that being, Judgment degenerated into a half-human, half-beast monster that hunted knights.

This was the story of Judgment that could be inferred. This too was just an inference, but although there was no hard evidence, it was close to an established fact.

I drew the gun from my coat. That gun was the 『Outlaw++』 I had obtained during my outing with Arien last time.

『Outlaw++』

-Grade: Epic

-Durability: 72/72 (Cannot be repaired)

-Attack Power: 450

: A masterpiece-grade firearm that can bring overwhelming superiority in close- and mid-range combat with top-class single-shot firepower at the cost of durability.

It originally had firepower comparable to a unique-grade weapon, and with the masterpiece upgrade, it was a handgun that reached 6 to 7 times the power of weapons of the same class.

I put a considerable distance between myself and the wall, and aimed the gun with its formidable power at the wall.

And, I fired.

KABOOM-!

Right after a destructive gunshot that was unbelievable for a handgun rang out, dust and dirt spread throughout the sewer.

And through that acrid dust and dirt, a hole pierced through the wall faintly came into view.

‘I’m in the right place.’

Inside…… there was the figure of a man.

No, would it be right to call that being a man?

A head that coexisted with the form of a lizard head and a gray, squishy, maggot-like texture.

Something that was still fully alive and moving with that on its shoulders was there.

Its back was hunched, and it was making a bizarre sound that was unbelievable for a human.

“Haaaah……”

It let out a sound like a human sigh, and then drew a shining sword from within the dust. It was a sword in the shape of a melting bone.

In its other hand, a navy-blue, squishy form was shimmering.

‘A lump of mana.’

It was just as I had seen in .

Just by looking at that form, one might not be able to call it a person.

But I had no choice but to think of it as a person.

“……Ah, you foolish things. You are too slow to notice, too slow……”

Even if his pronunciation was a bit slurred, the guy was speaking in human language.

“This power of…… judgment…… bestowed upon this Judgment…… will not be taken away…… again……”

Shing-!

I drew the sword from my coat.

『Spellbinder』

-Grade: Epic (Unique)

-Durability: 500/500

-Attack Power: 75

-Unique Ability, [ Spellbinding ]: Consumes 3 durability to deflect an enemy’s magic.

: A sword that allowed an old knight to stand against mages, who are called the natural enemies of knights. It is very well-maintained.

The 『Spellbinder』 that Jeduin gave me. It felt like I was drawing it for the first time in a while since escaping the first regression.

“Well then, shall we have a go.”

***

I drew my sword, but I didn't rush in immediately. It wouldn't do any good to rush in now.

‘Judgment’ was a balance-type enemy with an average stat of B and all its abilities evenly distributed. And that meant, excluding skill, it was superior to me in every aspect.

As I stalled for a moment like that, Judgment, without any interference, released the wriggling mana in its left hand.

“Revenge…… Judgment……”

After Judgment’s gloomy voice echoed, the dark navy-blue, wriggling lump of mana transformed into the shape of a chain.

And, that chain-.

Whoosh-!

It flew at me and lodged itself right in my chest.

I didn't dodge the chain, but stood my ground and took it. It was a pattern that was impossible to dodge in the first place, anyway.

However, there was no external wound or impact. In the game, this pattern didn't do any damage either.

This was Judgment’s opening pattern, the Shared Chain pattern—and one of the main reasons that made Judgment an infamous boss.

The effect of the Shared Chain pattern was simple.

‘It makes all of one’s own stats, excluding Skill and Intelligence, identical to Judgment’s stats.’

Through this pattern, a character with high raw stats loses their advantage. The problem was that in , with the exception of one, all non-magic characters had high stats.

Skill, which had a significant impact on combat, remained unchanged, but Judgment’s own skill was also A. In other words, competing with skill was also difficult, so in a normal situation, it was just a debuff.

This was how Judgment screwed over non-magic characters…… but. It had a slightly different meaning for me.

《 Stats 》

[ Strength: D- > B ]

[ Agility: C+ > B ]

[ Stamina: D- > B ]

[ Intelligence: B ]

[ Mana: F+ > B ]

[ Skill: B+ ]

For me, whose every stat except for Skill, Agility, and Intelligence was stuck in the gutter, it was rather a huge buff.

‘Well, it was painful that even if I used 『Moment of Decisive Battle』, it would have no effect.’

Anyway, hearing the story, you might think, is a magic character the counter?

But the second opening pattern remained.

“Judgment…… is my right……”

A voice like scraping metal, or a boiling sound. It was the signal that Judgment’s second opening pattern was activating.

*Goooo-.

Centering on Judgment, a dark navy-blue hemisphere spread out in an instant, and before long, that hemisphere had completely covered the surrounding area.

This was Judgment’s second opening pattern, ‘Judgment Space’. Its effect was to block the use of magic within its range.

Yes. As you can tell by hearing it, this pattern was a pattern that blatantly screwed over magic characters.

Because of this, magic characters could only barely establish a fight after somehow getting outside the range. It was utterly vicious.

It would have been fine if Judgment's magic was also blocked within the area, but…….

KABOOM-!

From Judgment’s left hand, a dark navy-blue flame erupted.

*Tat-.

I quickly retreated and was able to avoid the flame by a hair's breadth.

‘This bastard can use magic.’

Yes, this pattern was infamous as a scumbag pattern where he set up a magic nullification space and yet he himself used magic.

To sum it up, it was like this. A boss who unilaterally used magic against mage characters, and stole the physical ability advantage from non-mage characters. It was no wonder he was infamous.

‘It doesn't matter to me, though.’

However, this time too, since I didn't use magic in the first place, it didn't matter. I could just deflect the magic Judgment used with 『Spellbinder』.

I raised the corners of my mouth in a smirk. And I pointed my sword at Judgment.

“Now, come.”

And, a moment later.

[……]

[System: You have overcome deaths.]

I didn't mention it, but there was one more reason why Judgment was an infamous boss.

And that reason was that, even setting aside all other factors, its own patterns were notorious for being a pain in the ass.

***

I said that, but even that wasn't a big problem.

‘I can get him in about ten to twenty times, give or take.’

Dying was still a painful thing, but as long as I had obtained 『Overcoming Ten Thousand Deaths』, I had to utilize this skill 100%.

《 Skill List 》

『Overcoming Ten Thousand Deaths[Unique]』

: When you die, you regress to a point before your death. The number of regressions is limited to 10,000.

: You have overcome deaths.

: Remaining Regressions:

: Upon regression, all statuses are carried over.

: Current Checkpoint: Episode 3

I had returned to the checkpoint. The date the checkpoint was set was Wednesday. And the day I went out to catch Judgment was Saturday.

In other words, every time I regressed, I had to repeat the three days I had already experienced.

Repeating things I had already experienced over and over again wasn't a very pleasant thing, but to be honest, it was closer to an opportunity. Because it meant more time to train.

‘The first main story is not far off, so it’s good to raise my level before then.’

And what I focused on during that period was marksmanship.

BANG-!

On Friday afternoon, a gunshot rang out in the training ground. It was the time every week when Acaite personally supervised my training.

[System: The grade of 『Marksmanship Proficiency』 increases to [C]!]

“You’re better than I thought, have you been practicing?”

“Yes, well.”

Acaite's reaction, which changed with each regression, that is, each time my marksmanship improved, was also a highlight.

Still, I tried to hold back as much as possible so as not to arouse unnecessary suspicion by showing too much improvement.

During the regressions, I didn't attend classes either. It would become a non-event anyway, so it was a waste of time to attend just for the sake of attendance.

……However, it seemed that I had attracted the attention of those around me because of that.

For example, in Khan's case.

“I thought you might be sick somewhere. For someone who attended classes so diligently to suddenly be absent for days.”

He said, bringing me a soup…… or something like it with unidentified medicinal herbs. No comment on the taste.

In Yuna's case, she even came all the way to the dormitory.

“You were so dedicated to school life it was like you sold your soul, why are you suddenly not showing up? What…… um, were you hurt by any chance? By, you know, the rumors and stuff.”

Ah, so that’s how it could be seen. From a normal perspective, it would seem like I was absent because I got depressed from the bizarre rumors.

“No, well…… my grades are in the safe zone even if I miss a few classes. Just for training.”

“Tsk…… worried for nothing.”

At my vague answer, Yuna roughly scratched her head and glared at me.

But I just chuckled at Yuna’s clumsy but sincere concern.

“You’re laughing? You’re laughing?? You’re laughing after making someone worry?”

Thwack-.

“……That actually hurts.”

I got some punishment in return for that.

“If you were hurt by any chance…… you can talk to me. Don’t overdo it like last time.”

Serene’s approach was similar.

……Um, it’s something I feel with every regression, but seeing their reactions stimulates a sense of guilt. It's not like I did anything to feel guilty about. Nope.

In Arien’s case, who I ran into in the hallway since we live in the same dormitory…….

“A message from Professor Albert. ‘Unexcused absence will be considered an infringement of the professor’s teaching authority, and the previously promised offer of the highest grade may be reconsidered’.”

“……Please tell him I will attend properly starting next week.”

Um, I unintentionally heard a very scary statement.

But it wasn't that Arien was just acting as a messenger.

“P.S., I inform you that I also felt considerable boredom or loneliness.”

She said so, in her characteristic machine-like tone.

In the original story, she wasn't a character who said such things, so I had no idea what had gotten into her.

Regina’s reaction was quite different…….

“Hm? I didn’t really care. You’re not the type who can’t look after their own rice bowl, are you?”

Regina said with a serene smile.

It was a statement that was so like her.

Well, anyway, those days repeated twelve times.

《 Skill List 》

『Overcoming Ten Thousand Deaths[Unique]』

: When you die, you regress to a point before your death. The number of regressions is limited to 10,000.

: You have overcome deaths.

: Remaining Regressions:

: Upon regression, all statuses are carried over.

: Current Checkpoint: Episode 3