I Got Into School For Nothing - Chapter 62
I Got Into School For Nothing (62)
Lesson 13. Because I Must See You Kneel - 7
Regrettably, Ortima's judgment of the situation was swifter than Dokgo Yeon's movement, which sought to sever his neck.
“―Intervene properly! Are you going to let me die?!”
Feeling a sense of crisis from the death Dokgo Yeon had summoned, Russein Ortima clutched his empty right shoulder and screamed desperately.
The instant he spoke, a certain 'transcendent power' that had been bound with Ortima was unleashed, and the atmosphere of the entire dungeon rapidly shifted.
‘Surely, this is the Constellation itself... Tsk!’
Feeling the oppressive aura strongly tightening around her, Dokgo Yeon clicked her tongue and retreated from the spot.
She couldn't evade all the magical flames assaulting her from every direction, 360 degrees, but she managed to block them with the protective aura (護身罡氣) she hastily wrapped around her body.
Horrific flames of heat rushed in from all directions.
Dokgo Yeon, dissipating them with the aura of death she sent forth by flicking her sleeve, landed safely, composed her breathing, and scoffed.
“After all that swaggering, to end up begging a Constellation for help... Indeed, it's truly laughable to see someone incapable of doing anything without borrowing others' power.”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up!”
It's a relief I cut off his right arm before the meddler intervened, she thought leisurely, as she wrapped it in cloth and tucked it into her pocket.
Barely shaking off the fear of death with the Constellation's help, Ortima rose and glared at her as if he would kill her.
“How dare you, how dare you cut off my arm...! I'll tear off both your arms. You won't even be able to eat as you please unless you prostrate yourself and beg me!”
“As the saying goes, a frightened dog barks loudest, and that's exactly what you are.”
“You treat me like a dog?!”
The more she spoke with him, the more pathetic her opponent seemed, and a sigh escaped her lips involuntarily.
Even if he possessed infinitely less power, and even if he tucked his tail and ran from a strong opponent just the same, Ban Yuwon always exuded confidence and composure.
Yes, now she understood why her heart was drawn to Ban Yuwon.
It was because of that impressive attitude on the first day of class, when he avoided a duel with Irekto, yet acted without a hint of servility, and confidently promised a future confrontation.
It is rare to find someone who instills confidence that they will grow stronger.
―That spirit, truly magnificent.
As she stood before an enemy she could not immediately kill and reminisced about recent events, the voice of a high-ranked being resonated in her ear.
Naturally, it was the Constellation that had attacked her with flames.
After attacking with the intent to kill her, it brazenly offered praise.
―If you join Exodus, I will let you kill that man.
Boldly, in a voice audible only to her, it dared to make such an offer.
Dokgo Yeon couldn't help but laugh at those words.
If that bastard hadn't interfered, she would have cleanly killed Ortima, yet after disrupting that, it made an offer as if doing her a favor?
This was precisely why she loathed Constellations.
“All of them, this one and that one, acting as they please. If you're going to make an offer, you should at least burn out one of his eyes first.”
“What...?”
Barely managing to stop the bleeding through the manifestation of his Domination, Ortima, who had lifted his head, scowled deeply.
“Surely, Lamp of the Wandering Night?”
―Negotiations failed, then.
“Constellation, what is the meaning of this? You agreed to help me, yet you made an offer to that woman? Explain yourself, properly.”
―Do not fret, child of Ortima. Weren't you planning to claim that child for yourself anyway?
“Yes, she is mine! She is not a woman you can touch!”
―You speak interesting words. When you were begging for my help, when did you become so arrogant?
A minor dispute erupted.
If it had been Ban Yuwon, he would have sought a way to maximize their conflict here.
But Dokgo Yeon did not have a good enough personality to think of making them fight each other and then escaping.
If there were two bastards she wanted to beat, she would only be satisfied by beating them both to death herself.
For her, only a straight path was allowed; there was no roundabout way.
That was her pride.
“So, how long do you intend to just chatter? Do I look like a fish already caught?”
Above the short sword Dokgo Yeon drew, death gathered, forming a blade of eerie energy.
Ortima, startled by the sight, flinched and stretched out his remaining hand.
Dokgo Yeon reflexively unleashed sword energy, but a fiery barrier that bloomed in mid-air blocked it.
‘How long, how much more is possible?’
Her eyebrow twitched.
Five streams of sword energy shot forth simultaneously, but this time, too, they were frustrated, blocked by the flames.
―It would be a pity to break her wings like this...
While Dokgo Yeon was preoccupied dealing with the divine entity encroaching on the space and unable to keep Ortima in check, he achieved his objective.
He had likely tried to do the same thing earlier, but now it was certain.
He had been trying to access his inventory.
Dokgo Yeon let out a hollow laugh as she saw dozens of small orbs pop out from it.
“Since you can't touch me directly, are you going to use objects instead? ―Come at me, all of you. I'll kill you.”
“Just as I said, I will take both your arms. I won't touch your face, so be grateful!”
In the agony of losing his arm, Ortima was not in his right mind.
Astraea (Astraea), a total of 24 orb-shaped artifacts, containing all his concentrated Domination.
―Swoosh
Each of the orbs, imbued with dreadful power, was made from metal extracted from meteorites―meteoric iron―and having contained his energy for a long time, they moved at the speed of his thoughts.
“Shatter, and kneel. That is the proper posture for you.”
―It can't be helped. I have many children to look after... It'll hurt a little.
Twenty-four iron orbs alone were formidable enough, but even the Constellation's flames, which left no trace no matter how she tried to attack its true form, constantly bloomed in the air, suppressing her.
But of course, Dokgo Yeon neither fled nor retreated.
“No one can make me kneel!”
Sword energy imbued with death bloomed in layers like flower petals in the air.
She cut down and killed all the dozens of iron orbs rushing in indiscriminately, and the divine flames that burned unreasonably.
Perceiving everything approaching her with transcendent senses, she successively struck down and shattered them all.
No, it wasn't just that.
“Guh?!”
The death she manifested spread.
The aura of death that had pierced the orbs struck by her sword energy even affected Ortima himself, who was wielding them.
The same was true for the Constellation, whose flames had been cut.
―...How, how is this possible? I feel my influence waning.
“Do not back down, Constellation. Remember, my trust in Exodus has already diminished by more than half!”
―Little Ortima, greedy child. It seems thanks to you, even we will suffer losses.
Ortima, fearing her sword energy might touch his body, kept retreating further and further, only attacking her by controlling Astraea.
The Constellation, Lamp of the Wandering Night, bound by a promise it had no choice but to fulfill, even as it furrowed its brow at the faint influence the energy Dokgo Yeon generated exerted directly upon it, piercing through the distant, high wall of providence, it continued to create even larger flames to envelop her.
“You feared me so much, yet you dared to claim me as your woman!”
The death enveloping Dokgo Yeon roared.
Among the iron orbs that comprised Astraea, the central one, holding the strongest power―the primary star―lost its power and fell to the ground.
The remaining twenty-three iron orbs and the dark-red flames all simultaneously bounced off, scattering in all directions.
Some of them grazed Ortima's cheek, drawing blood.
“Guh―?!”
The fact that he had been pushed back by a single person, even while borrowing the power of a Constellation, and had been wounded yet again, enraged Russein Ortima to the extreme.
“Dokgo Yeon...! Dokgo Yeon. Dokgo Yeon, Dokgo Yeon!”
“Do not utter my name so casually, you trash!”
Dokgo Yeon's entire body was dyed black.
Death, sharply exploded, pierced one of Ortima's eyes.
Since he dared to covet death, was it not utterly natural for him to pay the price?!
“Keough.”
At that moment, Dokgo Yeon coughed up dark, dead blood.
This was because she, too, could not completely control the dense death she had summoned.
Seeing that, Ortima's eyes widened.
He finally realized that Dokgo Yeon had been bluffing, that she had actually reached her limit!
“You're cute, Dokgo Yeon. Even that sight of you, stubbornly raising your tail like a cat, I like it...!”
―You'd do well to subdue her instead of talking, young Ortima. My limit is drawing near!
“Hah.”
Before she knew it, the flower ornament that had protected her had shattered.
But Dokgo Yeon's eyes were far from emotions like despair or surrender.
That her martial arts carried inherent dangers she had known well enough from the moment she 'set her direction'.
“It's laughable how you already boast as if you possess me. You like me...? I've heard many lies from those who pretend to be magnanimous men, but you, you are especially disgusting among them...!”
Centered around Dokgo Yeon's body, a vast black aura surged.
Ironically, the moment she took even a small step closer to death, the energy she wielded amplified even further.
But perhaps the next clash would be her last moment of retaining sanity.
‘Just a little... just a little closer.’
The cross-shaped pupils suspended within her eyes flashed fiercely, and in the next moment.
“As promised, I will first take both your arms!”
―This is my last effort, so you'll have to handle the rest yourself.
“Wretch...! Come and take them!”
An innumerable shower of meteors, born from the fierce flames and twenty-three iron orbs combined, poured down!
This was the moment she had awaited, as she raised her sword, preparing for a perfect counterattack―.
“No!”
Suddenly, seized by someone who appeared from behind, she was flung beyond the dungeon wall.
“W-what?!”
―Th-this... dungeon!
And at that precise moment, the dungeon was finally cleared, and the Constellation could no longer influence this space.
“No! Lamp of the Wandering Night, fulfill the contract!”
―Little Ortima, I did my best, so you, too, will have to pay a steep price. If you had offered more from the beginning, I could have used more power. How foolish of you...!
The Constellation's presence, having finished its arbitrary words, vanished emptily.
Ortima gritted his teeth, watching Dokgo Yeon, seized by the sudden intruder, move beyond his 'domain', and tried to fire Astraea, but―.
“Ah.”
It was already too late.
The dungeon, collapsing and vanishing.
The boundary of space-time vanished, and everyone inside the dungeon was flung outside.
“I will have you, Dokgo Yeon...!”
―Crunch
Ortima's hand, stretched towards Dokgo Yeon as she moved away from him.
It was caught and halted by several layers of thorny vines that bloomed in mid-air.
“Ugh, haah...?”
“Russein Rown-Palomer Aquinas Ortima.”
A chilling voice, as if it could truly embody murderous intent, tightly bound Ortima's entire body.
There are not many individuals who, with merely the presence of the mana they possess, could render a strong individual like Russein Ortima utterly immobile.
“You've lost an arm. It seems you'll need treatment. I'll send you to a safe place.”
“Yumina, Professor...”
“Be careful not to omit honorifics. That's minus 20 points.”
Yumina smiled.
With a look that spoke of her utter regret at not being able to kill him immediately on the spot, she said.
“While I was away, you supposedly directly jumped into the dungeon to rescue my students. I'm so grateful, I could almost cry. This kindness, I will absolutely never forget.”
Absolutely.
Saying that, Yumina gave a sweet smile, then activated spatial teleportation magic, and sent him to the infirmary of the Tolmon Imperial Palace.
Russein Ortima had originally prepared excuses for every situation, and even preparations to turn the tables on the Class 11 group, but... .
No matter what he did, he instinctively knew the ultimate price awaiting him was death, and fell silent.
This was thanks to the death Dokgo Yeon had infused into him, which lingered and warned him, but he was unaware of it.
* * *
“Dokgo Yeon!”
“...Ah.”
Meanwhile, Dokgo Yeon, who had been hindered from her final clash by being seized by another's hand and thus flung out of the dungeon, saw Ban Yuwon, who spotted her and immediately rushed over, and couldn't help but let out a small laugh.
“What the hell happened to you...! No, why are you with Anneri?! It's that woman again!”
“Ah, no! I know it looks like a misunderstanding, but I'm really not an enemy! I saved Dokgo Yeon!”
Turning around at Ban Yuwon's flustered voice, she could see Anneri Dedota, who was tightly clutching her shoulder.
Her actions just before entering the dungeon had made her wonder if she might not be an enemy after all, but... she still clicked her tongue.
“If you had just left me alone, I could have perfectly lured them in and killed them, you fool.”
“If you had truly killed him there, something irreversible would have happened. Besides, it's true your life was in danger, wasn't it? It was too great a risk to stake your life against him.”
“I had a contingency... Hmph, it's fine now.”
Dokgo Yeon shrugged Anneri off, and seeing Ban Yuwon approaching as if to support her instead, she gave a small laugh and said.
“Ban Yuwon, you don't need to make such a serious face.”
Dokgo Yeon took out the Candy of Life she had carefully kept in her pocket, tossed it into her mouth, and bit down.
The immense life force contained within it instantly spread throughout her body, and she felt it suppressing and eradicating the death that had dared to violate its master's spirit and body.
She had secretly anticipated this outcome, knowing the efficacy of the fruit used as an ingredient, but the effect was beyond her expectations.
Not only did it cleanly suppress the after-effects of her martial arts, but it also soothed her energy and even advanced its nature.
“...Are you feeling better?”
“Thanks to you. Ah, this is a gift.”
Dokgo Yeon, to Ban Yuwon, who was still looking at her with worried eyes (how long had it been since anyone had looked at her like this?), with a little gratitude, a little embarrassment, and a little mischief, handed him two gifts.
“What is this!”
“Absorb it quickly before anyone sees.”
“I was already doing it... What's this iron orb now? What on earth is the concept contained within it...?”
“I told you it's a gift.”
She had brought them along, thinking they would be helpful to him, even amidst the chaos.
“Who on earth gives someone an arm as a gift...? Thank you.”
“I really like how honest you are.”
“You're starting to sound like my mom... No, it's nothing.”
As expected, Ban Yuwon seemed highly satisfied with Ortima's arm and Astraea's primary star that she had brought.
Dokgo Yeon smiled contentedly, thinking that her gift-picking sense wasn't bad at all this time.
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