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I got into school for nothing - Chapter 126

I got into school for nothing (126)

Lesson 26. Pushing Away When Getting Closer - 1

"What in the heck is that?"

Ban Yuwon, who had just finished his qi circulation and opened his eyes, blurted out a dialect he usually didn't use, completely flustered.

A mountain, it was toppling over.

It wasn't just rocks rolling, but a towering rock mountain was quite literally falling backwards!

"No, what in the..."

—You've done something similar, haven't you?

"Hey, I... that one just died on its own."

Just what in the world was Dokgo Yeon doing to make a mountain topple over like that? As he watched, he saw limbs sprouting from the mountain.

In other words, Dokgo Yeon wasn't fighting a mountain, but a colossal golem made of a mountain!

Ban Yuwon gaped like a fool, as he watched the mountain golem, which seemed unwilling to fall after just one or two tumbles, rise again, creating massive tremors throughout the area.

"If Dokgo Yeon hadn't been here, it would've been game over the moment that thing appeared, wouldn't it? This damn Tower, its balance patching is terrible!"

—Think of it the other way. Perhaps this *is* a well-balanced patch?

"...Huh!"

Ban Yuwon pondered her words for a moment.

What if Team Rebellion's combat strength was overwhelmingly superior to other parties', and that's why such an absurd situation was unfolding, despite being on a lower floor?

Of course, it wouldn't be like this for everyone, but what if Ban Yuwon's presence in Team Rebellion was precisely why the Tower could reveal its true nature at just the right time?

At the all-too-plausible hypothesis, Ban Yuwon broke out in a cold sweat.

"If it keeps going like this, it's going to be pretty tough."

—If you keep causing multi-shifts, then yes, that could happen, couldn't it? Won't it get even worse?

"...No, actually, that's better."

Ban Yuwon, who had been completely startled when he first saw the mountain topple, checked his internal code, confirming his Life, which had already reached 588, and forced a confident smile.

"The harder it is, the greater the reward, right? While others are boasting about just licking the Tower's surface, we'll gnaw our way through it from the inside out."

—Indeed, what awaits at the end of it all...

Cellon said with a faint, wistful voice.

Ban Yuwon subtly probed her.

"Do you, by any chance, know?"

—If I knew that, I'd be the Tower Lord by now.

Her words were undeniably true.

—But it's true that you're currently walking a path no one else has trodden for thousands of years. Compared to those who've done the same thing tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of times, wouldn't your chances of reaching the Tower's summit be higher?

"The summit, huh."

—Yes, just like my contractor...

Cellon's voice abruptly darkened.

Ban Yuwon realized his mistake.

To step on a landmine in such an unexpected place.

He saw the cursed inscription wrapping around the staff's surface pulsing like a vein, and gripped it tightly in his hand.

"You've fully recovered your mana, right?"

When you're depressed, a change of pace is always necessary.

And just then, a stress-relief target was rolling right before his eyes, wasn't it!

—Hey, don't just roughly touch a lady's body without permission!

"You said you weren't before, though. Let's just fire off a big spell."

—...Alright, here we go?

Magic, inherently, becomes more proficient the more it's used.

Unlike before, when he had to concentrate for at least tens of seconds, Ban Yuwon, in just a few seconds, poured all of his and Cellon's mana into it, creating a sphere of light—.

He hurled it, aiming for the center of the monster-swarming hill.

—Krrrk?!

—Kieeeek!

The armored monsters weren't foolish; they didn't want to suffer the same fate as before, so a few of them, with grim determination, charged towards the sphere of light, but—.

—Kiiieek!

—Kuheek!

The twelve streaks of rain that were sweeping across the battlefield repeatedly pierced into their bodies—stalling their movements.

Meanwhile, the sphere of light, having safely reached its target, caused a massive explosion that swallowed the entire area before anything could be done!

—Swaaaaaaaaaah

The sound produced by the exploding sphere of light wasn't just noise; rather, it was like an auditory hallucination, perceived by the ears as it devoured everything in its surroundings, instantly transforming the area into a void of silence.

Watching the monster-infested hill being swallowed by light, Ban Yuwon even felt a sense of awe.

Of course, the sheer volume of golden character strings rising above it was an even greater source of awe.

"My efficiency seems to have increased since before, hasn't it?"

—It's proof that you've grown accustomed to photon magic. It means you can now gather and explode light more efficiently, even while expending the same amount of mana.

It likely wasn't just that, however.

Ban Yuwon surmised that because Cellon's emotions had been stimulated, the cursed inscription had amplified the power of light even further.

[The Proficiency of Photon Magic has reached 60.]

Concepts that grow without needing to be absorbed from others are precious.

Ban Yuwon smiled contentedly at the growth of his magic, and observed the devastation he had wrought.

Although there was a short interval, after two consecutive light explosions erupted, the armored monsters were visibly disoriented, stumbling about.

And then, even more surprisingly—.

"How... could this be...?"

"They're running away! They're retreating!"

"Monsters that caused a monster wave are running away—I've never even heard of such a thing...!"

"The Grand Archmage has completely driven away the monsters from the South Gate!"

"Waaaaaaaaah!"

Had the infection wave been completely dispelled, perhaps? The hordes of armored monsters were rapidly scattering!

"Grand Archmage! Grand Archmage!"

"The Grand Archmage will save this city!"

The soldiers who had climbed onto the city walls, prepared for death, now faced an unbelievable miracle and cheered in unison.

As the soldiers' voices, praising him, grew louder, Ban Yuwon felt a little awkward.

"I didn't intend for this to happen originally... Are monster waves usually this easy?"

—While it's true that the wave here wasn't particularly high-level, it's also definitely because I was there to support you!

She never missed an opportunity to boast about herself, that's for sure.

Still, after exploding one sphere of light, Ban Yuwon felt relieved that her mood seemed to have improved considerably.

"Hmm... I think this side should be fine now."

—I think so too.

He continued to recover his mana and observe the battle situation for a while, but it seemed unlikely that any more armored monsters would rush towards this area—the South Gate.

However, he couldn't relax just yet.

Not only was the battle still raging at the other city gates, but in the north, a mountain had transformed into a rampaging golem.

"Grand Archmage?"

"You all, keep guarding this place. I'll go assist my comrades guarding the other gates."

The soldiers looked uneasy as he prepared to leave the South Gate.

But to put it bluntly, there were no longer any threats remaining at the South Gate, so Ban Yuwon calmly dismissed the clinging soldiers and moved.

If Lilyth were here right now, he could scout and move around in all directions in an instant...

He unnecessarily opened his inventory, stroked Lilyth, who was currently in the form of a metallic egg, and then closed his inventory.

It seemed unlikely he'd face any major crises this time, so perhaps Lilyth wouldn't even need to hatch.

'Tikke, where looks most dangerous?'

Ban Yuwon conveyed his thoughts to Tikke using resonance.

As for where Tikke currently was, it was hovering high above the city, filming in all four directions: east, west, south, and north.

Through the combination of its Sevenfold Magic Cannon and projection magic, it could simultaneously focus and film on no less than seven different locations!

It could even perform close-up filming, as if shooting an object one kilometer away from a distance of one meter, and naturally, it could precisely snipe any target it detected.

Even with all this, Tikke's capabilities didn't end there.

'Because I've entrusted the concept recovery entirely to it too...'

Tikke was observing and controlling all deaths occurring in every direction—east, west, south, and north—and recovering all the concepts generated from them.

That was also why the concepts from the monsters that had died when Ban Yuwon detonated the sphere of light earlier had soared into the sky instead of being immediately absorbed by him.

Even now, Tikke was sucking up concepts surging from all directions, temporarily storing them.

It was observing the battlefield in real-time, reporting any anomalies to Ban Yuwon.

and if it detected anyone in danger, it would automatically provide covering fire—performing its all-rounder role without a hitch.

'At the East Gate, not only As Light but also Eve are rampaging, quickly reducing the number of monsters, and in the north, Dokgo Yeon seems determined to crush the mountain by herself... So, it's better to help Rucell, is that it? Got it.'

Having received an accurate report from Tikke, which was observing everything in all directions, Ban Yuwon immediately headed for the West Gate.

Indeed, even before he reached the city walls, the clamor of battle loudly hammered at his ears.

"Shouldn't we do something about that girl soon? It's too dangerous for her!"

"But it's also true that thanks to that mercenary, no monsters have crossed the city walls yet... Hey, keep shooting!"

"Throw whatever you can, arrows or rocks! Stop the monsters!"

Indeed, the intensity of the battle here was on a completely different scale than at the South Gate, which Ban Yuwon had practically cleared by himself.

As he ascended the city walls without hesitation, the soldiers flinched and moved aside.

"You, aren't you with that mercenary?"

"Try to stop her. She's looked exhausted for a while now, but she's still fighting without any thought of retreating...!"

"I told you, she's already infected! It's too late, we can't save her now!"

The soldiers were babbling on about Rucell, who was fighting alone outside the city gates, completely at their own discretion.

But to Ban Yuwon, Rucell seemed perfectly fine.

—Krrraaaargh!

Rucell, transformed into a giant exceeding three meters, was sweeping across the battlefield, swinging her broom-like tail—a truly overwhelming sight.

Although she was panting, having single-handedly maintained the defense line while rushing haphazardly across the battlefield, the infection wave didn't seem to be affecting her.

'What are the conditions for infection in the first place?'

—If the soul is contaminated, that's infection. To prevent this, one's soul rank must be ridiculously high, like yours—or one must have already pledged their soul to another being through a master-servant contract, like that beast-kin over there.

Cellon seemed to be saying intelligent things more often today.

But... what? Ban Yuwon couldn't just let that slide.

'Pledged her soul? Rucell, to me?'

—That's what a master-servant contract entails. You're not seriously thinking that girl made the contract just because she wanted to call you 'Master,' are you?

'Hmm...'

Honestly, he'd thought half of it was due to her Heart Furnace, and the other half was, well, something like that.

Indeed, ever since he had formed a master-servant contract with her, he had constantly felt a spiritual connection between them.

And from the moment he could control her Heart Furnace, he had already suspected it wasn't a simple contract...

'Suddenly, the pressure is mounting.'

—Wouldn't it be enough to just take good care of her? So, help her. She's struggling.

These were the words he had been waiting for.

Ban Yuwon first launched twelve streaks of rain onto the battlefield, then raised his staff and fired a pure white beam of light as if chasing them.

Its speed was quite literally that of light, and the results were overwhelming.

Tens, hundreds of armored monsters were caught in the beam, dying without even a death rattle, a sight that caused not only the soldiers on the city walls but even Rucell, who had been wildly swinging her claws and rampaging, to freeze in astonishment.

"Ugh..."

—Are you okay?

The effect was certainly outstanding, but Ban Yuwon gradually felt his head throbbing.

Wielding magic didn't just consume mana.

Rather, the expenditure of mental power was key.

The reason Cellon could boast every time he used magic was partly because she took on nearly half of the mental strain he would otherwise have to bear whenever he cast a spell.

"Guess those two consecutive spheres of light were really tough..."

—You knew that already. It's naturally difficult to fire two consecutive blasts at maximum power.

"Right, no more magic until my mental power recovers..."

If he couldn't use magic, he'd just fight with a sword.

As Ban Yuwon entertained such a Marie Antoinette-esque thought, just as he was about to leap down from the city walls—.

Tikke transmitted an image to him through resonance.

What was captured in Tikke's vision appeared directly before his eyes... Upon seeing this, Ban Yuwon instantly froze.

"These bastards... what are they?"

An enormous army of monsters was surging up from below the mountain.

The proportion of armored monsters among them wasn't particularly high, and even those were presumably the ones Ban Yuwon had scattered at the South Gate earlier.

So what were the rest of the monsters, then? They were bluish-skinned monsters wearing human clothes or armor—.

Humans who had been swept up in the infection wave and transformed into monsters!

"The casualties within the city... I should have prevented them."

—I know now.

Cellon declared with a pompous air.

—They're pushing out all the extras from the neighboring city who lost their chance to appear, all at once this time.

"I shouldn't have let you get exposed to modern culture."

Ban Yuwon sighed.

If it comes to this, he'd have no choice but to use the trump card he'd just prepared!