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Chapter 69: Academy Heroine's Right Diagonal Back Seat

Chapter 69


Yoon Si-woo's sword slashed at Sator's leg.


“Argh!! Damn you!!”


With an ugly scream, Sator collapsed to the ground.


As he rolled on the floor, clutching his leg and screaming, Yoon Si-woo looked down at him and muttered.


“Don’t make such a fuss over a broken leg. Considering what you did, you deserve much worse.”


From Yoon Si-woo's perspective, he was being lenient.


Honestly, he wanted to execute Sator on the spot, but he restrained himself, only breaking his leg to prevent escape.


After all, he couldn’t do something like that in front of Sator's child.


Not that the child seemed to care much anyway.


Sylvia looked at Sator with an indifferent expression.


Sator, who had been screaming, glanced at the two watching him.


Their eyes looked at him like he was a crawling insect, a failure.


Sator felt something boiling inside him that was more intense than the pain making him writhe and clutch his leg.


His hands left his leg and moved to his neck.


Scratching at his neck, Sator muttered.


“What... what the hell... I'm not a failure. Don’t look at me like that. I'm not a failure. I'm not...”


Next to where Sator writhed on the floor was a container he had set down earlier.


It was filled with demonic energy that he had intended to inject into the test subject.


Sator grabbed the container that was beside his head.


The only thought filling his mind was that he had to succeed in his plan.


So, the action Sator chose was,


“I AM NOT A FAILURE!!!”


He smashed the container against the ground with all his strength.


Cracks formed, and the demonic energy of hundreds of demonic beasts burst forth.


The demonic energy from the container quickly spread, engulfing Sator and spreading in all directions.


At that moment, starlight flashed.


The spreading demonic energy, which was about to envelop the man tied to the chair, was halted by light emanating from Sylvia's outstretched hand.


One of the few beings with a natural advantage over demonic energy, the Star Spirit.


If she had had enough time to chant her spell, she could have purified the energy completely, but hastily summoning the spirit’s power made even halting the spread of hundreds of demonic beasts’ worth of energy difficult.


They had to escape the building before the energy spread beyond her control.


However, to maintain the current state, she couldn’t move, so Sylvia shouted to Yoon Si-woo.


“I can’t hold on for long! Move the immobilized people outside first!”


“Hang on a little longer!”


As the suspicious black energy burst from the container, Yoon Si-woo had already sliced through the iron bars and chains confining Scarlet, cradled her, and leapt through the hole in the ceiling, disappearing.


Sylvia bit her lip and looked at the demonic energy she was suppressing.


She couldn’t help but be shocked by what her blood relative had done.


Spreading such dense demonic energy was a suicidal act intended to kill everyone here, including himself.


Yoon Si-woo, after leaving Scarlet outside, returned, grabbed the middle-aged man tied to the chair, and leapt back up.


A loud noise came from within the demonic energy he was suppressing.


“Aaaah! Ahhhh!!!! Light! This brilliant starlight of hope! Yes! The World Tree has acknowledged me! I am not a failure!”


Sylvia could see Sator faintly through the starlight and demonic energy.


He was lying on the ground, bleeding from holes in his body, intoxicated by the dense demonic energy.


However, perhaps due to his delirium, he was cheering, looking at the starlight he summoned rather than screaming in pain.


Sylvia clicked her tongue at the sight.


It was problematic if he went mad like this.


There was still so much they needed to hear from him.


Even if they somehow purified him, the question was whether they could get proper answers.


“What will you do with him? Can he be saved?”


Yoon Si-woo, who had returned to the basement, asked Sylvia, looking at the demonic energy.


“If we purify him quickly, I think we can save him. We need to hear more from him, so please try to bring him out.”


Yoon Si-woo, who was about to approach Sator, saw something on the ground emitting a red light.


The chains and bars he had cut to free Scarlet.


In an instant, Yoon Si-woo felt an urgent need to get out of there.


Sometimes he got this feeling.


Like when training with Lucy, seeing an opening to attack, but feeling that he would die if he did.


Lucy called it intuition.


And Yoon Si-woo knew that most of the time, ignoring it led to bad outcomes.


“We don’t have time to save him. We need to get out of here.”


“What? What do you mean?!”


Yoon Si-woo, grabbing Sylvia, who was concentrating on suppressing the demonic energy, jumped up.


“Ahhh, the light of hope! I too have been chosen by the World Tree as an Astra! I don’t need Sylvia anymore! With the power of the witch and this light, I will reclaim the Eternal Forest and become the head of the great Astra family! Hahaha! Ahahaha!!!”


Sator continued to cheer at the starlight until the moment Sylvia was moved by Yoon Si-woo, causing the starlight to scatter.


“-Ah?”


Sator waved his hand at the suddenly disappearing starlight, but it didn’t return to his grasp.


“No... No! Why! The light! My light of hope! Cough, cough...”


Sator wiped his mouth as he suddenly started coughing.


He realized it wasn’t just a cough but hemoptysis as the pain of his insides being shredded hit him.


“Ah...eh...?”


Sator looked around in dumbfounded agony.


The dark, demonic energy-filled basement seemed to tell him he had failed.


“No...”


Sator desperately denied it as he crawled on the floor.


“The light... There must be some light left...”


Then, something glowing in the darkness caught his eye.


Sator crawled toward it.


The glowing object on the floor was a restraint device.


A blood-red glowing stone, a Firestone.


A Firestone can absorb and store flames, but eventually, it must release them.


When it reaches its limit, it turns from white to red.


And the flashing red light meant that it was about to release the flames and to beware.


Seeing the light, Sator realized it.


That he had failed.


The shock momentarily restored his sanity.


"......Ah."


At that moment, flames erupted.


The basement filled with demonic energy, the building.


And the last dying scream of the elf filled with regret,


Was swallowed and vanished in the flames.


\*


When Luke opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the building engulfed in flames.


Just like when the laboratory burned down before, the fire seemed intent on leaving nothing behind.


Desperately, Luke struggled to rise to check on Scarlet’s safety.


He saw Scarlet unconscious, surrounded protectively by a pair of youngsters.


Breathing a sigh of relief, Luke looked at the students beside Scarlet.


One was the famous Astra heiress, Sylvia Astra, and the other was the male student he had seen in front of Scarlet’s house before.


It seemed that these two had saved them, but someone was missing, prompting Luke to speak.


“...What happened to Sator?”


“...Inside.”


“I see.”


Sylvia, looking uneasy, gestured toward the burning building.


Though Sator had committed terrible deeds, there was still a bond between them.


It was inevitable for Luke to feel bitter, so he answered quietly.


Sylvia watched Luke for a moment before asking,


“Are you Luke Aegis? Were you involved in this plan?”


Luke, slightly taken aback by the question, replied,


“You're the Astra heir, aren’t you? Didn't you know?”


“Your reaction suggests you are involved. I found out everything today. That Scarlet was an experiment. So I have many questions. Will you answer them?”


“...But first, let me ask you something. What’s your relationship with Scarlet?”


Sylvia lowered her head slightly to look at Scarlet.


Caressing the ring on her left index finger, she replied slowly but firmly,


“Scarlet is my most precious friend.”


Seeing her expression, Luke realized.


Even though she must have heard about Scarlet’s connection to the witch from Sator, she genuinely believed what she said.


The male student who had once professed his love for Scarlet still had the same expression as back then, so Luke felt he might be able to trust them.


Scarlet would need friends like them to live a normal life.


“Didn't the male student also say he was Scarlet’s friend? If you both promise me one thing, I’ll answer any questions you have.”


“...What’s the request?”


“Promise never to tell anyone else about what you heard today. Scarlet’s identity should not be known to others.”


Understanding his meaning, they both nodded and began their questions.


Every time Luke spoke, their expressions twisted.


Eventually, the male student asked Luke,


“...You once told me I would regret it. Was that just because of Scarlet’s identity?”


Luke gave a sad smile at that question.


“I mentioned Scarlet underwent various experiments, right? They took a heavy toll on her body.”


Deep, profound sorrow, yet something that had to be accepted.


“...She won’t live long.”


Seeing the children’s shocked faces after his words, Luke spoke with a sad smile.


No, he pleaded.


“Kids, one more favor.”


So that Scarlet could live like a person.


“Will you stay her friends until the end?”


So that she could spend her remaining time happily.


The children, on the verge of tears, nodded.


\*


Sometimes, learning the truth is a painful thing.


Unfortunately, truth tends to be that way most of the time.


\*


There are times when it feels like sleep paralysis, where you can’t move but your mind is awake.


What that means is, I was also listening to the conversation others were having.


I heard the uncle’s voice.


“I mentioned Scarlet underwent various experiments, right? They took a heavy toll on her body.”


“...She won’t live long.”


Listening to that, I realized the person who sent me here had a really twisted sense of humor.


Even if this is supposed to be an academy story.


“Even if she holds on, by the time she graduates from the academy...”


The lack of a future beyond graduation was quite sad.


At most, I had three years left.


That was the time I had remaining.




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Comments

  1. Thanks for the chapter

    ReplyDelete
  2. damn, that sucks

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm wondering how correct this statement of life expentancy is.
    MC is here because some entity decided it so.
    The original person is dead.
    So i have my doubts that the body MC's in is exactly the same as before, thus expectancy could be different.
    That is, if that entity isn't a cruel bastard, which considering the tone of the story, is not entirely out of the question...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Whatever the god of this realm is, they don't seem too kind

      Delete
    2. just leave it to the author... only he knows

      Delete
    3. It seems to be the limit of the body itself, so unless something changes, she should be gone in 3 years or so.
      However, this being a story, the author could easily find a way to fix this issue.

      Delete
    4. Something tells me Scarlet will fully evolve into a witch before this is all over. Who knows what the effects of that will be.

      Delete
  4. Considering how things have played out I don't expect that the Author will make her lifespan longer.

    ReplyDelete

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