Academys Villain Professor Chapter 296

[ … words ]

As the light flashed, Ho-cheol’s body was flung far away.

KWA-A-ANG—!

An intense pain that felt like it would shatter my body, a body flying helplessly.

And the sound followed after.

I collided with a building that had completely melted down and was now embarrassing to even call a structure.

Ku-gu-gung—

The remnants of the building, which had been precariously holding on, shook violently and then collapsed, raining down on Ho-cheol.

“Ugh.”

Ho-cheol, buried under a pile of rubble and concrete, groaned.

I finally understood the situation.

It was a ridiculously fast strike that made recognition impossible, let alone defense or counterattack.

Ho-cheol’s own attack, which compressed time, boasted overwhelming speed, but this was a different kind of undefendable strike.

I assessed my body’s condition and briefly analyzed the phenomenon and the result.

“He converted all the energy used for heat entirely into pure speed.”

The most threatening aspect of Byeong-hoo’s Sun was its temperature.

However, even the heat that could evaporate a building didn’t have a significant effect in the fight against Ho-cheol.

So, it seemed he channeled all the energy required for heat into other performance metrics.

“That’s incredible.”

Even if I knew that, growing in the desired direction was an entirely separate issue.

Ho-cheol pondered for a moment.

If I used my Trait at maximum output, I could somehow deal with that speed of attack, but fragmenting time that finely would put a considerable burden on me.

If that level of power and speed was his average attack…

“I’m really going to die this way.”

I wondered if I wouldn’t die from being exhausted from using my Trait rather than being killed by Byeong-hoo.

I shook off the ominous future and got up, pushing away the rubble.

Even though I lay contemplating for over a minute, Byeong-hoo didn’t throw any follow-up attacks at me.

He simply stood there, not closing the distance, watching Ho-cheol with his arms crossed.

Did he get a little less intelligent after turning into a monster?

If so, my winning percentage jumps significantly.

[You finally got up.]

No, he didn’t.

Ho-cheol clicked his tongue, a hint of regret in the sound.

Though his body had transformed into a monster, his two eyes, glowing red, still stared straight at Ho-cheol.

The reason he waited for me was utterly simple.

The emotion I felt from his eyes was close to enjoyment and exhilaration.

Since he had been completely dominated by me all along and was now, for the first time, completely overwhelming me, it was understandable for him to feel that way.

Perhaps he intended to exact revenge for when I just now kicked him and slammed him into the rubble.

[I respect your strength. I couldn’t figure out any way to win while belonging to the category of ‘human.’]

His voice reverberated.

Byeong-hoo, whose entire body had turned into the Sun—no, into light—now communicated in a way completely different from humans.

It felt as if his will was transmitted directly to my brain, rather than through a mouth and vocal cords.

And Ho-cheol had experienced this kind of communication before.

The Giant-type Monster in the Gate.

Could it also have been a human who reached the end of Transcendence?

Ho-cheol asked that question.

“The category of human. If you continue with that Transcendence now, will you transcend humanity?”

[Perhaps. Perhaps not.]

Come to think of it, all the guys obsessed with that Transcendence used the form or Traits of monsters.

Multiple Traits like a monster, a body like a monster.

At the end of that was Byeong-hoo’s current appearance.

[Having reached this place, I finally understand.]

Byeong-hoo uncrossed his arms and pointed both hands at Ho-cheol.

[You. You must be killed here.]

“Can I say one thing too.”

[Is it your last wish?]

Ho-cheol tapped the ground with his toe and nodded.

“Can you take the pretense out of your technique names? Aren’t you embarrassed, being an old man who’s lived long enough?”

Let There Be Light—that alone was a bit ridiculous, but he had to say it in a foreign language too.

It was embarrassing.

[A trivial last wish.]

Simultaneously, a pillar of light fell towards Ho-cheol once more.

As expected, I couldn’t react.

But before that, Ho-cheol drove his feet deep into the ground, at least avoiding the disgrace of being thrown back.

If I couldn’t see the attack and react to it, then… I had to analyze the attack, predict it, and find a way to counter it.

And that was the field Ho-cheol was most confident in.

He gripped the Purple Crystal Sword in an Inverted Grip and instantly closed the distance.

***

Kwa-ang—!

“…Damn it.”

Ho-cheol, who had been pushed back, wiped his mouth and muttered.

The only reason I was still alive was thanks to my concentration soaring to its absolute limit.

Beyond mere prediction and expectation, a near-precognitive reaction allowed me to dodge and block the unseen and unreactable attacks hundreds of times.

My reaction outpaced my consciousness, but even that was slowly reaching its limit.

Attacks coming in at angles and timings that were impossible to completely block had to be endured with my body, and the damage accumulated steadily.

My stamina had fallen to its limit, and I’d bled more than that, with no more Trait energy left to squeeze out.

Unlike myself, who felt like I was about to collapse at any moment, Byeong-hoo was still intact.

There were some effective hits, but honestly, it was impossible to gauge how effective they were.

After all, Byeong-hoo wasn’t even human anymore.

Unlike the beginning, when he still had limbs attached, Byeong-hoo’s current form was even vaguer than that.

The sight of something resembling an arm protruding from a giant Light Sphere was considered bizarre even among monsters.

The only remaining trace of humanity was his left eye.

I no longer felt any human form, emotion, or will.

He just moved with an almost obligatory motion, intent on killing Ho-cheol.

“This is maddening.”

Ho-cheol suddenly twisted his body to the side.

Simultaneously, light struck the spot where he had been standing, creating a massive crater in the ground.

I narrowly avoided it, but the force of using my Trait to forcibly move my body caused my legs to give out.

In the end, Ho-cheol’s body crumpled.

He collapsed, gasping for breath.

[End—]

Ho-cheol had no more reserve strength.

Both Byeong-hoo and Ho-cheol knew it well.

Ho-cheol barely lifted his head and looked straight ahead.

Byeong-hoo reached out a hand, aiming at Ho-cheol.

Particles of light gathered in his palm.

However, Ho-cheol wasn’t just looking at Byeong-hoo in front of him.

His half-detached consciousness was seeing something completely different.

A Trait blooms in extreme situations.

What appeared before Ho-cheol was a door, clearer and smaller than ever.

The wall I had never crossed before.

No, Ho-cheol stood before the wall I hadn’t dared to cross.

This was the final hurdle toward that Transcendence.

I could open that door and step through right now.

But an instinctively felt uneasiness had kept me hesitant until now.

A strong anxiety that I could never return once I stepped through this door.

And that anxiety became a certainty today.

Because the ultimate end beyond this door was Byeong-hoo’s current pathetic state.

The door was not simply a path to Transcendence.

It also meant crossing the line that a human being should uphold.

It meant losing human form, mind, and existence, and becoming a monster.

To survive against a monster, shouldn’t I have to become a monster myself?

If I simply died, it wouldn’t be the end.

Byeong-hoo.

No, that creature he had become probably wouldn’t stop.

It would then harm others I cherished.

The mouthless door whispered.

To survive, to protect those you hold dear.

Isn’t the path of a human something you can discard anytime?

Ho-cheol slowly placed his hand on the doorknob.

With just a light push, the door would open, and Ho-cheol could step beyond it.

But at that moment.

Ppu-deu-deuk—

Vines erupted from the ground and coiled around Byeong-hoo’s entire body.

Because both men had focused their consciousness to the extreme only on each other, external interference was a completely unexpected situation.

Ho-cheol, at least, immediately realized who intervened.

Byeong-hoo’s body glowed faintly, bursting the plants that wrapped around him.

But immediately, more roots and vines shot up, continuing the attack.

[Int—]

Now there was no voice even.

Only a faint will could be felt through weak vibrations.

Byeong-hoo’s body radiated an even stronger light.

The lights traveled backward along the vines that erupted from the ground.

The light flew between buildings far away, causing a massive explosion.

The faintly heard voice was quite familiar to Ho-cheol.

And from the opposite side, two arrows flew, aiming for Byeong-hoo’s temple and eye.

Although they evaporated before reaching him, Byeong-hoo’s gaze turned in that direction.

Da-yeon, who met his eyes from atop a building, immediately fired a wire backward and escaped.

And then, the frost that instantly settled over his entire body.

[—Interference—is–pointless]

The all-out attack, risked at the cost of their lives, bought only a mere ten-some seconds.

Byeong-hoo raised his palm, pointing it in the directions they had escaped.

[—kill—them—all—]

Just as a blinding light was about to explode from his palm.

Tap—

“Hey.”

Ho-cheol grabbed his wrist first.

“I’m still alive. You should finish this one first.”

Byeong-hoo irritably swatted Ho-cheol’s hand away and retreated.

Even though Ho-cheol hadn’t used his Trait just now, his speed was ridiculously fast, fast enough to momentarily lose track of his movement.

What did he do this time?

He poured attacks toward Ho-cheol as if on guard.

But Ho-cheol very easily dodged the invisible attacks just by crouching or shifting his steps, closing the distance again.

Ho-cheol, who had approached close enough to touch him, straightened his back and glared at Byeong-hoo.

Ho-cheol ran a hand through his hair.

His blood-sticky palm firmly held his hair back.

“Again, again. I almost made a mistake. Making mistakes, regretting, reflecting.”

Ho-cheol muttered self-reproachfully, yet smiled simultaneously.

Ten seconds.

The time they had created wasn’t a mere ten seconds.

How arrogant it was to think I alone protected everyone.

More than I protected them, they also protected Ho-cheol.

And that was clearly because I, and they, were human.

It was possible because we were connected as people.

“I’ll live as a human to the end.”

Ho-cheol turned his back on the door that still tempted him in his consciousness.

“If I win, it will be with human technique. As the human Jeong Ho-cheol.”

The involuntarily opened door, the shriek emanating from it, sounded like the cry of a monster.

[You—]

Byeong-hoo waited for Ho-cheol, as if telling him to try his final struggle.

However, Ho-cheol clenched his fist instead of picking up the weapon that had fallen to the floor.

In the end, even a great Awakener will seek the weapon they rely on most in the final moment. And that, as always, was my own body.

[Are–Not–Sane.]

I couldn’t properly understand him.

But I generally understood.

He was probably calling me crazy.

Ho-cheol chuckled.

The fact that I could laugh even in this situation confirmed it.

“I agree.”

I was completely crazy.

***

“…Ha.”

Ho-cheol slowly lowered his fist.

My exhausted palm was already covered in blood.

He staggered and then slumped down onto a nearby pile of rubble as if his strength had given out.

It was a very unguarded posture and attitude, but it was okay now.

Because his opponent, Byeong-hoo, was lying on the ground even more defenseless and powerless.

Having returned to a human form, he was sprawled out on his back, staring blankly up at the sky.

Still unable to believe it, he mumbled.

“Did I… lose?”

“I don’t know.”

Ho-cheol replied curtly.

If he transformed again, calling it Transcendence, or did some crazy stunt, Ho-cheol genuinely had no way to stop him now.

I barely subdued him by selling out even my future.

Now, I genuinely didn’t have the strength to lift a finger.

I just vaguely hoped that the Sword Demon had mostly completed the evacuation.

Fortunately, though, Byeong-hoo also seemed unable to move, only turning his head to look at Ho-cheol.

“…I can’t believe it.”

What he couldn’t accept wasn’t the realm of winning or losing.

From the first encounter until this moment.

Ho-cheol never revealed a trace of malice or killing intent.

Byeong-hoo knew well how difficult it was not to show killing intent or malice to an opponent, even in a situation where you were about to die.

In the end, unable to hold back, he asked.

“Why. Didn’t you kill me?”

Ho-cheol answered without hesitation, almost spitting it out.

“Even a guy like me got a chance, reflected, and changed. Shouldn’t everyone get a chance?”

“…If I don’t change. What will you do if I do the same thing again?”

“Then what.”

Ho-cheol pondered for a moment, scratching the back of his head.

“I’ll stop you again. Until you give up. Still, next time, don’t cause a mess in the city center like this, do it somewhere in the mountains, okay? What a complete disaster.”

In Ho-cheol’s eyes, a firm conviction was reflected, but Byeong-hoo could see something else.

That was a madness and stubbornness greater than his own.

Victory in the immediate present belongs to the one with greater power, and victory in the distant future belongs to the one with superior mental strength.

But in the end, the winner is the craziest one.

And Ho-cheol was overwhelmingly dominant in all three.

I was utterly defeated.

As a hero, as a villain, and as a human.

“How do you beat a guy like that?”

Muttering this, Byeong-hoo turned his head back to look at the sky.

The real sun shone brightly down upon his head.

“Damn it.”

The sun was too brilliant to look at directly.

He covered his eyes with the back of his hand.

“I.”

He murmured in a small voice.

That conviction and will of Byeong-hoo, which would not break even in death.

“…Lost.”

The end was declared with one brief word.

“Seriously. Took you long enough to admit it.”

Only then did Ho-cheol also relax and lie down on the pile of rubble.

From afar, the sound of urgent running and voices could be heard, as if someone was approaching.

But before that, Ho-cheol closed his eyes.