I got into school for nothing - 364
I got into school for nothing (364)
Lesson 71. To Return to Normalcy - 4
―I cannot forgive you for trying to use me as a mere component in your plans.
Aire's silver-glowing eyes pierced through Rasteil.
He clenched his teeth and cried out.
“You are a True Dragon...! You must never bow to a human――!”
―I have no intention of bowing, but neither do I intend to fight my partner.
Rasteil's abilities, inherited from the essence of magic possessed by a True Dragon, were indeed formidable――but they could not compare to Aire, the last True Dragon he himself had awakened.
The moment defeat became certain, Rasteil began searching for an escape route. However, Aire, who had been taught spatial magic by him, blocked every single attempt.
Now, physically restrained in her grasp, he felt his vast magic power slowly freezing, and his body trembled.
―But rest assured, even if all the True Dragons imprisoned in the Tower die, the lineage of True Dragons will continue.
“W-with you as you are now――!”
Aire didn't wait for Rasteil's reply. She froze him, shattered him, and killed him.
Just like that, another head of one of the Ten Great Families had died.
Ban Yuwon, just in case, completely recovered Rasteil's concepts before calling out to Aire.
“Aire, you need to normalize Melodia. You'll become the new family head. Can you do it?”
“There's no way I can't do what even that scatterbrain from the Prominence Family managed.”
Aire, having quickly taken on her human form and landed beside him, slowly replied as she absorbed the concepts Ban Yuwon reprocessed and offered her.
“No, my sister was from a Prominence branch family, for starters. You're of a completely different lineage.”
“It's fine. Given the current state of Melodia――they'll probably welcome me.”
“Right, so you're saying it's a complete mess right now.”
Perhaps it was due to having experienced Authority amplification earlier, but Aire, now able to completely collect and more perfectly process an enemy's concepts, swiftly extracted and absorbed only the necessary memories of the Melodia family head. She repeatedly nodded, organizing the process for normalizing Melodia in her mind.
Then, she suddenly looked at him and asked.
“Yuwon, it's not much time left, is it?”
“Probably. Thanks to you arriving in time, we didn't miss the family head...”
“Right. When that time comes, the Academy will no longer have a reason to exist.”
Ban Yuwon didn't bother to reply.
Indeed, if he put his thoughts into action, the current Union Academy couldn't be maintained.
From the very beginning, freely interfering with all dimensions to select students and gather them in one dimension was the power of the Tower of Babel――the Union Net.
“Yeah, well, we have something to do together soon.”
“Something to do.”
“Ah, ahh...!”
Aire said that, gazing intently at his face.
Even Asha and Kang Miyeon, who were also on the spaceship, perked up their ears.
It was probably about a very important 'plan' for the future that Ban Yuwon had also been gradually thinking about.
As he swallowed hard, growing tense, Aire chuckled softly and kissed his cheek.
“I'll tell you then. For now, Melodia comes first. Lend me them.”
She said, changing the subject.
The 'them' Aire referred to were his vassals, who were fiercely battling and pushing back against the 1st Generation Dragon Fang Soldiers.
Ban Yuwon sighed in relief internally and readily nodded.
“Sure. If you need concepts to create Dragon Fang Soldiers, too, should I prepare some for you?”
“No, just one for now. I'll refine that one first, then create more perfect Dragon Fang Soldiers.”
He wondered what she meant by 'one,' but then nodded upon seeing Penteus, the son of Echion, whom she had legitimately inherited during the previous council attack, crying out as he fought other Dragon Fang Soldiers.
―KWAHHH! I curse you! I curse youuuuu!
“Yeah, he's fighting well.”
“No, that's a bit much.”
Perhaps feeling some empathy for Penteus, who was crying out and fighting against those who were once his allies, irrespective of his own will, Asha shook her head and said.
“Aire, objectively speaking, it seems like we're the bad guys right now.”
“I believe there's no good or bad in the struggle for survival.”
―That's a phrase often uttered by those who commit evil deeds.
The Dragon Fang Soldiers fought valiantly despite losing Melodia's support, but with their strongest among them trapped by Ban Yuwon's vassals, they couldn't withstand the attacks of the reinforcements, who joined one after another, following Yumina and Rucell.
―I... I surrender...!
―If it's a new order, there's no choice but to follow...
Excluding the Dragon Fang Soldiers endowed with unique codes, the Quinodons, who were merely regular soldiers, did declare their surrender.
But Ban Yuwon's vassals, now further empowered after successfully hunting even Udaio and Hyperenor, the 1st Generation Dragon Fang Soldiers, scoffed and continued to hunt down the rest of them.
―Kuaaagh!
“I know the loyalty etched into your very bones.”
“Dragon Fang Soldiers never serve anyone but their master. So, be content with serving the Lord alongside me, by dying and becoming a part of me.”
With perfect physical abilities and having absorbed all the magical prowess accumulated by the Dragon Fang Soldiers, they deftly wielded elemental magic and even special magic, not spending a single second to deal with the Quinodons.
Despite being newly born, perhaps because their raw materials were so formidable, their performance boasted an overwhelming power even among Ban Yuwon's vassals, making Ban Yuwon clap in impressed admiration.
Although an absurd amount of resources was consumed to develop the Authority amplification device just once, considering that they were the result, it was undoubtedly a very profitable venture.
Soon, all the 'hunting' ended, and Lilyth, having been dispatched as the Dragonbone Battleship, returned. Seeing the five vassals kneeling neatly on one knee before him, Ban Yuwon nodded and said.
“I suppose you'll need names.”
“Eagle Five... no, never mind.”
Kang Miyeon, who had muttered unconsciously, averted Ban Yuwon's gaze and fell silent.
Ban Yuwon, momentarily doubting her true age, found it too bothersome to think further and made a simple decision.
“There are already Dragonoids, so let's call you Inryong (Human Dragon), meaning 'human-made dragon.' Individual names can be given later, once your unique characteristics emerge.”
““Understood!””
He had said that because he couldn't just give them arbitrary names, nor did he have the leisure to think of five individual names right then and there. Yet, to his surprise, the entities reacted quite enthusiastically.
Perhaps it was because the idea of earning their own names directly stimulated their competitive spirit? If so, they seemed to have plenty of individuality already...
[Now, we have a big problem. The grand struggle of the Inryong to be the first to receive magnificent and beautiful names――]
“Don't just randomly lay strange foreshadowing, Lilyth.”
“Then I'll go right away. I think it's best to strike now.”
“Wait, Aire.”
Ban Yuwon thoroughly explained to Aire and his five vassals, now named Inryong, what he intended to do and what he wanted them to accomplish.
“Understood. It really isn't much time left now.”
““We'll be back, Lord.””
Once Aire and the Inryong departed, Ban Yuwon decided to first clean up the battlefield and handle what needed to be addressed immediately.
With the death of Rasteil, the Melodia family head, Earth returned to its original state.
The barrier created by the system managed by the Union Net vanished along with the reason to protect Earth, as Ban Yuwon had severed the connection between the Ziggurat and the Tower of Babel remaining on Earth and completely sealed those ruins.
The Melodia side, upon invading Earth, had also installed a new barrier to completely prevent anyone from crossing over to Earth. However, after it was breached by Aire and Stella, and then Rasteil ultimately died, this too became meaningless.
So, did that mean Earth was left defenseless? Not at all. Ban Yuwon had deployed a barrier that completely severed Earth from other dimensions――yes, a large-scale isolation barrier, just like the one Cheonma had once implemented in his own dimension.
―That was a neat spell.
“Thinking about it now, perhaps acquiring the spell that was sealed in the Tower was ultimately for this very moment.”
Ban Yuwon, smiling wryly at Dokgo Yeon's simple praise, checked the barrier's status, nodded contentedly, and said.
“It won't last forever, but for now, this should be enough.”
It would be problematic if it were permanent.
Because this barrier even blocks the system itself.
While Ban Yuwon absorbs and manipulates concepts with his Authority, Earth's superhumans rely entirely on their status windows; if the system is blocked, these status windows are also blocked.
Honestly, it seems a bit strange that they can't do anything without a status window, but――.
‘Ugh, seriously, there's no end to what I have to think about.’
Ban Yuwon sighed, realizing anew how preposterous the goal of destroying the Tower of Babel was.
Did those bastards from Exodus even consider the follow-up measures? Surely they didn't just believe that destroying the Tower would solve everything, did they?
He was desperately searching for data on those measures, but the fact that none were surfacing made him feel a growing unease that they truly were just a reckless bunch with no foresight whatsoever.
“You know, when it comes to buildings, you need to be more careful when tearing them down than when putting them up...”
“Master! If you're done tidying up, let's go see Father and Grandfather!”
Rucell ran up and hugged Ban Yuwon, who had been racking his brain, and said.
At her words, Ban Yuwon finally remembered that he had unceremoniously dropped Grandfather Ban in Korea, and he nodded.
“Then let's all go see my house, at least once. I bet it'll be a first for many of you.”
“Father, you're really so young. Yuwon and I have a wholesome relationship, and despite appearances, I rule a kingdom... no, that sounds like I'm bragging.”
“Father, so 'Father,' she says...”
The party's reactions were quite a sight to behold.
Asha grew incredibly tense at the prospect of meeting Ban Yuwon's father, after his grandfather, and was mentally rehearsing what she needed to say... Wait, our relationship isn't exactly wholesome, is it?
Yumina, perhaps feeling a pang of something at the fact that Ban Yuwon's parents were vastly younger than her, wore an anxious expression.
As for Mira.
“Yuwon! How was the prototype?”
“It was perfect. I have a lot to say about it――but are you sure it's okay for you to be here right now?”
“I made them study by themselves.”
It's genuinely terrifying to see that this girl has absolutely no attachment to her position.
Ban Yuwon sighed and led his entire party back to Earth.
They had finished their business at the Ziggurat's location, and since he had safely taken Grandfather Ban back to his home in Korea the moment he realized Melodia's invasion, their destination was, of course, Korea.
“Young Master! Something terrible has happened!”
“What is it now, Kiira?”
Kiira, whom he had sent to Korea to protect his family in case of an emergency, rushed out in a panic and grabbed him the moment Ban Yuwon arrived home with his party.
And then she said.
“Father's been kidnapped!”
“Whose father?”
“My father! Young Master's dad!”
Ban Yuwon was dumbfounded.
“Why are these women so eager to call my dad 'Father'... wait a minute.”
Ban Yuwon's expression hardened instantly.
It was because what she said was so utterly nonsensical that it took him a moment to process.
“Dad was kidnapped?”
By whom?
To Ban Yuwon, who countered with a question, Kiira squeezed her eyes shut, bowed her head, and pointed a finger skyward.
He frowned, wondering what it meant to tell someone who had just returned from space to look at the sky, but raised his head anyway...
He saw the Union.
The endlessly rising Tower was stretching towards Earth, and vividly, he could see it striking the barrier Ban Yuwon had installed halfway, causing cracks to appear.
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