I got into school for nothing - Chapter 308
I got into school for nothing (308)
Lesson 60. Master of the Family - 3
Cruel Prominence, the head of the Prominence family—a prestigious lineage spanning millennia, a house whose fate was intertwined with an ancient, top-tier Constellation—coughed up blood at the sensation of something connected to his very soul tearing apart with a sickening *snap*.
"Agh— Wh-what is this."
He knew without even needing to inspect his internal state.
Just now, the contract binding him to the Constellation had been torn apart like a piece of paper.
The longer the contract endured, the more it defiled one's spirit and body with the Constellation's magic, known as a 'Constellation's Stigma.' And even though the Prominence family was well-prepared against such corruption, they could never entirely prevent it.
For a family head, in particular—one who had sustained the household through long ages of cooperation with a Constellation—merely the forced dissolution of the contract brought forth the agony of twisted organs and shattering bones.
Not only had his immediate power plummeted to less than half, but his soul had also suffered fatal damage, rendering him unable to re-contract with any Constellation ever again.
Stumbling, he first erected a fiery shield to parry Ban Yumi’s attack, then shifted his gaze. The Constellation’s avatar was suffering in a similar manner, proving it hadn't feigned madness and dissolved the contract to capture Ban Yumi alive.
If so, the only remaining answer was—.
The destruction of the contract stored within the family's secret vault.
"Ulrike Prominence! Have you truly resolved to burn this family to the ground?!"
He shouted, spitting blood.
His daughter hadn't moved an inch from where she stood, yet only those of the family head's bloodline knew of the secret vault's existence.
Furthermore, the only one who could open the secret vault was... much to his fury, the master of the Unquenchable Flame.
There was no way those wretches could have found the secret vault, much less destroyed the contract within, without his daughter—obsessed with a man—joining hands with them.
"Phew, Yumi, are you okay?"
"Hah, huff, somehow... I should have killed him just now."
As if to confirm his prediction, a woman in black tights appeared beside Ban Yumi.
Ban Yumi felt a pang of self-reproach. Anneri, who had borrowed her flames, had successfully completed her mission, yet she herself had failed to kill the family head when he was at his most vulnerable.
Yet Ban Yumi’s attack hadn't been entirely meaningless; Cruel Prominence’s physical condition had worsened considerably because he'd forcibly drawn power to defend against her while his insides were twisting.
"Kuaaaargh!"
"Young Lady!"
Indeed, some of the Prominence combatants, writhing in pain behind him, even met their deaths at Ulrike’s hands.
Though she suffered just as much from the contract’s dissolution, Ulrike had prepared for this moment ahead of everyone else. She had managed to compose herself and move with speed.
Amidst the chaos, Ulrike, who had beheaded at least a dozen combatants, broke through the forming encirclement and joined Ban Yumi’s side.
As the members of the Rebel Force stared blankly at Ulrike, she calmly spoke to Anneri.
"Remember everything I've done and tell *him*. Tell him I was deceived, too, and that I'm on his side."
"Of course. Sir Yuwon will be proud of you."
Anneri’s reply was laced with no small amount of sarcasm, but Ulrike pretended not to hear it.
From the start, she had no interest in what someone like Anneri thought of her.
Having betrayed what she needed to betray, and abandoning her goal of seizing Ban Yuwon for herself, she now clung to a single hope.
To somehow reach his side, his closest sphere, and finally earn his attention.
For that, beheading the remnants of a prestigious family who had already betrayed her meant absolutely nothing.
"Ulrike... you foolish girl! He doesn't care what happens to you!"
"It was the same for you, Father. If you truly cared for me, you should have told me beforehand."
Ulrike’s tone, having already cast aside all her worries, was so excessively calm it was frightening.
It was the thought process of a madwoman, utterly incomprehensible to an ordinary person. Yet, ironically, Cruel understood that from her perspective, such a judgment might indeed be the best course of action.
He, too, had committed countless insane acts under the sole conviction of elevating Prominence to the apex. How could he possibly pretend not to understand a family tradition that prioritized only one’s own objectives?
"I kept you in this position to make you pay for your actions, but it was my mistake. I should have dealt with you earlier."
"So you were thinking that, after all. Thank you for solidifying my conviction, Father."
Listening to the exchange between father and daughter beside them, the faces of the Rebel Force members grew confused, their minds reeling.
A daughter backstabbing her father for her own desires, and a father regretting not killing that daughter earlier—was this truly a father-daughter relationship?
What exactly were the family relationships they'd known until now...?
"Come to think of it, there's also a sister desperate to get her own younger brother under control, so such family relationships might indeed exist," Anneri murmured.
"Seriously, if you hadn't been helpful this time, I would have killed you...," Ban Yumi retorted, gritting her teeth.
Ban Yumi, who had replied with gritted teeth to Anneri’s whisper, regained her breath and stepped forward once more.
The flames that had waned and faded due to exhaustion once again flared crimson, enveloping her sword blade.
Was it just her imagination? She had certainly heard that the contract binding the family and the Constellation had vanished, yet for some reason, she felt her Authority had been strengthened.
This was because the Constellation’s historical attempts—its desperate struggles to claim the Unquenchable Flame for itself—had been utterly thwarted, finally allowing the Authority’s true essence to return to its perfect state. But Ban Yumi had no way of knowing this.
"We must kill that avatar first."
Ulrike spoke in a sharp tone, her every word dripping with the sentiment, "I didn't even want to speak to you," as she gripped her whip.
The whip was covered in sharp, ground metal fragments. The moment she injected mana, a fiery aura bloomed above each individual blade.
—Not content with betrayal, you dare oppose me? This generation's Prominence is truly a mess. Indeed, there's no choice but to take the Unquenchable Flame as a new host and rebuild the family.
"Nonsense! I cannot let the family collapse by merely following your will. I will capture her alive as you wish, so cooperate with me! Cooperate with me, the true master of this family that has endured for thousands of years, not merely its Authority! And all Prominence warriors, annihilate my enemies!"
At the same time the family head reprimanded the Constellation’s avatar, he commanded his retainers.
The command was to capture and immediately kill all enemies except Ban Yumi.
Even Ulrike, his own daughter, was no exception.
However—while half of them fearlessly threw themselves forward, the other half hesitated, unable to move readily.
These were the ones who had witnessed the flames blooming on Ban Yumi’s sword blade immediately after the contract was severed.
"The lost flame of Prominence..."
"It was a cruel incident. Even those who walked the path of the sword were once members of Prominence."
Although it was true they had supported the Prominence family by following the family head’s orders, they ultimately supported the Prominence organization as a whole, rather than solely the family head’s bloodline.
What had sustained the Prominence family was the Constellation, but the reason that Constellation became twisted was precisely because of the Authority Ban Yumi possessed.
Now that they had realized anew what was truly important, it was only natural for some to hesitate.
These were precisely the people Ban Yuwon had originally intended to persuade by bringing his sister forward, and witnessing the 'daughter' of the family head betray him right before their eyes further fueled their hesitation.
Just over 20 years ago, that incident where, for the dirty reason of eliminating powerful rivals and seizing power for themselves, they had virtually annihilated a branch family.
Even those who had followed the family head then, believing it better to unite under one powerful ruler to strengthen the family, even if it meant some casualties, were now having their minds changed by the disappointing display of the family head and his bloodline.
More than anything else, the loss of the contract was the biggest reason.
When they were dominated by the Constellation, they had no choice but to follow the family head, who received the Constellation's strongest support. But now that the Constellation’s Authority had been lost anyway, there was no longer any need to.
"Tch, these bastards...!"
Cruel Prominence, noticing the unrest among his family members, gritted his teeth.
If he could just quickly eliminate the enemies and subdue Ban Yumi, he would be able to quell their unrest.
While he and the Constellation’s avatar were preoccupied with restraining Ban Yumi and Ulrike, unable to move freely, the members of the Rebel Force revealed all the power they had saved until now, desperately buying time. He couldn't do that.
Especially annoying was that woman in the revealing clothes, presumed to have directly destroyed the contract.
While other members were merely struggling to defend themselves, that woman, however, using nimble movements and a secret technique to completely conceal her mana and hide, was beheading the retainers one by one.
"Yumi, can you see them?"
The family head wasn’t the only one who had read the unrest within Prominence.
Kang Eunyoung—Seira Dion Prominence—once a member of a Prominence branch and affiliated with the Knights, now the adoptive mother of Prominence’s next family head, spoke in a calm voice even amidst the frantic battle.
"There are those who are hesitating whether to accept you as the next master of the family. Now is the time to prove yourself."
"Mom..."
"You can do it, right?"
Instead of answering, Ban Yumi added power to the sword she held.
The crimson flame that bloomed on her sword blade began to absorb all the surrounding flames.
—Yes, that! I must make it mine, absolutely!
"Break their limbs! Sacrifice a part of yourself, Follower of Ten Thousand Kalpas!"
—I must save her, I must!
The Constellation, screaming as if in agony, divided its body into three, and was sucked into each of the three flame orbs the family head was wielding, strengthening them.
An artifact forged by permanently sacrificing the Constellation's very power.
The family head gathered them back together and concentrated all his power into them.
"Prominence, listen! Today I will seize that Authority and make Prominence even more complete!"
"I'm the next family head! I'll kill that petty, goat-bearded bastard who only cares about his own bloodline, and I'll become the boss of Prominence! I'm better than that damn geezer, so follow me, you mongrels!"
At her daughter’s... *grandiloquent* speech, Kang Eunyoung slapped her forehead.
She should have made her practice her rhetoric.
But fortunately, the members of Prominence, rather than her words, were focused only on her sword, which was devouring all the surrounding flames and gaining power.
Thanks to that, even the combatants attacking her party had lost their power to attack.
Just as the rapidly unfolding battle fell into a temporary lull, the family head shouted.
"For that, you are too weak!"
The Constellation's flame, condensed into a single point, shot forth.
It instantly pulverized the whip Ulrike had cried out and thrown, pierced through the illusion created by Anneri, and then clashed with Ban Yumi’s thrusting sword—destroying even that—and finally pierced Ban Yumi’s shoulder.
"Urgh—!"
"A mere youngster who can't even properly wield her Authority."
The family head, who had finally thwarted Ban Yumi’s Authority even by borrowing the Constellation’s sacrifice, stepped forward with a triumphant smile.
The three evolved orbs furiously clashed in the air, preparing to fire their second shot.
"Yumi!"
"It's okay, I'm okay..."
Ban Yumi, her right arm weakened by the pierced shoulder, switched her sword to her left hand and gritted her teeth. But perhaps because she had failed to stop the enemy despite gathering all surrounding flames, a hint of confidence had vanished from her voice.
"You can win."
"You cannot win. The flame you possess is too weak to ascend to the position of family head!"
"Your requested flame additive has arrived—!"
The moment Ban Yuwon appeared in the air with that voice.
The family head, more than anything else, shot flames to kill him first. But fortunately, this time Ulrike threw herself in the way and blocked it.
Ban Yuwon, seeing Ulrike unexpectedly sacrificing herself for him, thought to himself, 'I probably could have blocked it even without her.' Still, he diligently rushed to his sister and placed a red-hot orb against her tattered shoulder.
"Fly—rise up—Vermilion Bird—!"
"I really want to punch you right now—I love you, you son of a bitch!"
The effect of the 3000-degree crimson flame was undeniable.
Whoosh, the flames that erupted at Ban Yumi's feet instantly enveloped her entire body and vanished. Immediately after, a fully recovered Ban Yumi appeared, clad in a dress made of flames—what someone well-versed in unique Authorities would call 'Authority Armament'—and gripped her sword once more with her right hand.
"And you're dead, you motherfucker."
The family head looked at his daughter, sprawled on the floor, with expressionless eyes. Then he shot out a divine flame, created by destroying all his orbs as a price.
It coiled around the sword Ban Yumi extended and amplified her power.
"Ah."
The family head let out a short groan.
The next moment, everything of his burned away, leaving nothing but ash.
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