I Killed the Player of the Academy

he protestants, that talked about embracing demi-humans, failed.

  

  In the first place, the one that installed the restrictions on that demon girl was the saintess of the protestants, the 1st Princess. 

 

  If Hua Ran had gone berserk, people would talk about asking the 1st Princess to take responsibility, which would support the 2nd Princess, who had the same goals in mind as Xeruem.

 

  And yet all of that had crumbled down, all because those stupid pagans of the east did things like idiots!

 

  『You will become our never-forgotten martyrs.
My brothers.』

 

  That was what Renault Lusignan said after gathering all the members of the Chargers of the Cross that had infiltrated the city.

 

  『Through your courage, you will show what true faith is to the protestant traitors.』

 

  『Every breath taken by that wicked thing threatens our faith and the peace of our continent.
Through your blood and flesh, you will be creating a foundation as firm as a rock.』

 

  In other words, he was telling them to attack Hua Ran and prove how dangerous and violent she was by shedding their blood and flesh.

 

  Chairman Eriu Casarr of Merkarva, and the 1st Princess of El Rath Kingdom, who was at the same time the saintess of Zeon, had worked in cooperation to put a restriction on the Heavenly Yaksha and admit her into the academy.

 

  That was in alignment with the New Faith’s stance of having a social harmony with demi-humans, but the fear and wariness against demons were still very prominent in this world.

 

  Taking a demi-human into the academy despite the negative social perception of the continent was definitely a risky move.
What would happen if news spread about how Hua Ran had massacred more than a hundred people?

 

  Whether she was acting in self-defense or not didn’t matter.
The important thing was that a demi-human had brutally killed people.

 

  As long as they could spread a notorious news about the New Faith, one secret squad of the Old Faith was a cheap price to pay.

 

  Besides, the Chargers of the Cross was a secret organization that consisted of unidentifiable people.
After they were all dead, some might realize their connection with the Old Faith but there was no way of proving that to the public.

 

  But all of that would only work out if all the members of the Chargers of the Cross were to die.
In order to avoid being tortured, they even had to commit suicide with a hidden poison if they somehow initially avoided death.

 

  “Fuck… fuck…”

 

  And the captain of the Chargers of the Cross, Laurent Sarkozy, was a bit too old to walk the path of a martyr.

 

  『Brothers, your names will be forever etched into the Templar Archives as honorable martyrs.』

 

  Laurent wasn’t interested in etching his name or whatever.
You had to die the shittiest of deaths to have your name written there, did you not? That was the archive of names that old men read through over a hundred-year-old wine, while reminiscing about the young fanatics that they forced to death.

 

  The most disgusting part was how Laurent couldn’t even refuse the order.
He had grown up as a part of the secret organization and knew what not to do better than anyone else.
Even if he were to run away after ignoring the command, he would only get assassinated by a different organization and die a worse death.

 

  In the end, he had no choice but to charge towards his death as the so-called martyrs.

 

  “…Fuck.”

 

  It was in the middle of the night with shadow crawling up the buildings when a bunch of people with impure motives appeared on the empty fields of Merkarva Academy.
They appeared from underground, which had been dug next to a fake set of shops owned by the Old Faith. 

 

  Through the old hole, which they had dug out in order to one day attack the education facility of knights and mages that had fallen out of the religion’s influence, the 100 men led by Laurent infiltrated the academy and made their way to their destination.

 

  “We are all here Captain.”

 

  Hearing the words of his vice-captain, Laurent looked at his men that were wearing black robes over their faces.
They were the young fanatics that could sacrifice their lives anytime for their faith, and seeing them made him wonder if that was how he had been in his own youth.

 

  “Take out your holy swords…” he said as the hundred Chargers each took out a dagger from their clothes.

 

  Those daggers, which were quite shabby for holy swords, were painted in darkness and were giving off an evil aura of a cursed dagger. 

 

  In fact, the method of manufacturing these cursed items that the Old Faith laid their hands on after dealing with the wicked sorcerers hundreds of years ago, was re-framed as Xeruem’s secret skill after the witch hunt and the religious revolution.

 

  It contained a curse of mental aberration.
Even though it was a low-grade curse that wasn’t very effective on its own, it was one that amplified itself after being used multiple times.

 

  “One strike per person.
We will stab with these daggers.
Let’s move.”

 

  Right when Laurent was about to lead forward the fanatics that were ready to sacrifice themselves…

 

  “I don’t think this is a good time for a walk.”

 

  A bold voice of a different person echoed across and halted their feet.

 

  “…!”

 

  “…!”

 

  Laurent immediately lifted his head and turned to where the voice came from.
On the rooftop of a building that was close to their destination, the special dormitory, at around 40 meters above ground-level…

 

  “It’s time to sleep so let them rest.
They’re tired from all the festival and stuff.”

 

  …A wild beast wearing the robe of darkness was gazing down at them.

 

  He was smiling but the viciousness of his eyes couldn’t be concealed and the dense killing intent and the violent, oppressive aura of a carnivorous beast suppressed them.
Even though his tone of voice was very nonchalant like someone meeting an old friend, his eyes were burning as if he would rip them to pieces. 

 

  “Accept your loss.
What you’re doing now is ambushing the winner after their ceremony of victory.
It is neither elegant nor commendable.
In fact, that’s what rats would do.”

 

  “Bastard…!”

 

  Despite the nature of the action itself, the fanatics had pride in themselves for doing this so they were enraged by his comment, but none of them stepped forward.
They all instinctively realized that fighting against that man here was not an option.

 

  “100 Chargers of the Cross, huh.
If you really wanted to go all-in, you should have brought the Templar Knights as well.”

 

  He immediately saw through them.
More importantly, how did he even know they were going to infiltrate tonight in secret?

 

  ————

 

  A spear came flying from somewhere and landed in the man’s hand as the silver spear then chillingly gleamed under the moonlight.
The chargers flinched upon seeing a 2-meter-long weapon suddenly appear from nowhere.

 

  “A, attack…!”

 

  In spite of realizing that he sounded like a third-rate villain, Renault still shouted that out loud.
Even the man standing on the roof seemed to have heeded to his call – after jumping up from the building like a high-jumper, he pulled his spear back with the moon behind him.

 

  The spearman flying in the sky pulled his right hand back as the dimensions started to crack around his spear.

 

  Orb of the Grim Reaper.

 

  His mana activated and gathered the demonic mana of the underworld through the orb as the spearman then tossed it with force.

 

  – Kwang!

 

  The javelin struck down and Laurent assumed that the spear would pierce through one of them.
There were a hundred of them there and someone was bound to get hit by it. 

 

  But what would come after that was more important.
After landing on the ground without his spear, the defenseless spearman would definitely be stabbed multiple times with the cursed daggers.

 

  The silver spear flew down in a straight angle.
It was one that would definitely take away the life of one of his men…

 

  “Huh?”

 

  It suddenly twisted in the air. 

 

  The spear suddenly started twisting and snapping at an unbelievable angle for a thrown weapon as it then drove straight into the ground.

 

  – Kwack!

  

  “…”

 

  “…”

 

  Zero casualties.

 

  He must be incredibly unlucky or something to hit no one with a hundred men clustered in one place, but regardless, the spear ended up in the ground without hitting anyone.

 

  “Hah…”

 

  Scoffs echoed from everywhere.
Seeing the nonsensical and unlucky turn of events for the spearman, the Chargers of the Cross mocked him and sneered in scorn.

 

  “You fool.
Where do you think you’re throwing that—”

 

  – Boom!

 

  It was then.
A shapeless layer of mana exploded out with the spear sitting at the center and traveled faster than they could perceive it.
When Laurent came into contact with that outburst of mana…

 

  – Kung!

 

  His heart dropped an inch.
It felt like his soul had been sliced apart by that burst of mana.

 

  “Kuk…!”

 

  It was an unblockable attack that didn’t even give them any time to respond but somehow, Laurent remained on his feet.
As a veteran with plentiful experiences and as the only person in the Chargers of the Cross that was at the level of a knight, he managed to withstand the feeling of his soul being hacked and sliced to pieces.

 

  “Kuhum…?!!”

 

  Laurent was shocked after looking around.
Not a single man was standing behind him. 

 

  “What the…”

 

  In just one move, a hundred of them were neutralized.

 

  “Magic?”

 

  “Fainting for non-knights, huh.
This is actually not that bad.”

 

  “——-??!”

 

  – Kwack!

 

  The spear traveled down like a mace.
Laurent quickly blocked the attack but the turbulent black aura of the spear suppressed him.

 

  “Kuuuukk?”

 

  It was the simultaneous activation of Shura and the Demonic Spear of Darkness.
The force behind the attack was so immense that Laurent fell down despite successfully blocking the attack.

 

  He was gasping for breath with his back feeling like it was being crushed when the man walked up and ‘scoffed’ like a longtime friend.

 

  “What’s wrong? Try a bit harder.
Go on! You can do it…!”

 

  Suddenly, he trampled down on his face with his boots.
Along with a deafening thud, the ground split open.

 

  “I am done with them.”

 

  After kicking Laurent so hard that his face might have crumpled inside, the man, Korin Lork, turned around and gave a shout.
In response, Lady Josephine slowly walked towards him.

 

  “I could have dealt with them myself though.”

 

  “There was something I wanted to test out,” I replied.

 

  “You mean that skill just then?”

 

  “It’s great for dealing with weaklings, right?”

 

  “…Anyway, thanks for your work, even when you haven’t fully recovered yet.
We will arrest them now.”

 

  Securities of the Academy suddenly appeared from the darkness all around, and began tying up the unconscious Chargers of the Cross.

 

  “Oh right.
They have a capsule of poison instead of their right back teeth for suicide, so please get rid of those.”

 

  “…”

 

  There were a lot of things Josephine wanted to ask him, ranging from how he knew about the hole the Old Faith had dug out over a hundred years ago, to the reason why he requested her to observe the Old Faith.

 

  “Huu…”

 

  For now, she just decided to be content with the fact that the boy was their ally and proceeded with arresting the unconscious Laurent.

 

  The moon began to set over the horizon.

 

  Night was coming to an end, and the unending heat of the festival was about to pick up once again.