The Academy’s Crude Pink-Haired Martial Artist

The plan was perfect.

First, I was thinking of just killing half of them and asking what they knew, where they found out, and all sorts of things.

Of course, I didn’t expect him to blabber on about everything.

So, I thought I would just pull out what I knew one by one and confirm the truth with his reactions.

But, I couldn’t hold back my anger.

“Fcking bastard.”

I kicked the corpse of Paid with its head ripped off.

Thwack— As I watched the unpleasant sight of its body smashed against the wall, I lowered my gaze.

Wriggle wiggle—plop plop—

My small, soft fingers soaked in blood were moving just as I wanted.

“Ah, ahem. Hurm.”

My sharp voice came out just fine. There was no problem seeing, smelling, or tasting.

“Now I am Eliaernes Eustetia. In my past life, I was Ronan… Luzarack.”

My thoughts flowed smoothly, and there were no issues with my memories. The sensation between my legs… well, not much time had passed. It was just that I had moved a bit too wildly and spilled over a little.

“Hah…”

Finally relaxing, I sat down for a moment to catch my breath.

The illusion I had been trapped in… was pretty fcked up.

Dissociation illusion.

It sounds ambiguous, but once you get in and out of it, you instantly understand what the name means.

An illusion that erases my existence.

Various phenomena occurred, but the most fcked up one was.

The erasure of the self.

Literally, the ‘I’ disappears. And in that void, something else takes its place. A stone, a monster, air, wind, light, sea, insect, sound, demon race.

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All sorts of things devour my self.

Of course, such things could never dare to swallow my self. Even the World Tree lady gave up because of my strong ego.

But… it was a bit dangerous.

Dissociation illusion. It’s not a manifestation. It’s just a shabby magic that he prepared in the territory.

So, I didn’t pay it any mind.

I’m not weak enough to worry about such trashy magic.

Paid was at most a level 7 circle.

Of course, he’s higher than me, at a level that can embed ideation into mana, but it wasn’t a level that would make me feel threatened.

That said, I wasn’t letting my guard down either.

I suspected he might have a hidden trick, so I kept my tension.

Surely, that was the case, but getting out of the illusion was not easy.

The reason that such shabby magic could pose this kind of threat was.

Luxrina.

Because the magic of lust was added.

Why did that harlot’s magic suddenly pop up?

Potions.

Paid had drunk an unknown potion before casting the dissociation illusion.

That potion was of a very tiny quantity.

Barely a few drops.

The effect manifested immediately.

The infinitely weak presence transformed overwhelmingly, and both the amount and density of mana and magic exploded.

Rather than increasing, it was layered.

On top of Paid’s, was Luxrina’s magic.

Thus, the magic that consumed Paid wriggled as if it were alive.

Up until that point… well.

Let’s give a hundred concessions; it could be like that.

Legion commanders were beings that surpassed our cognition at the time.

I could believe that the magic that separated from them danced with a self-awareness or spoke.

However.

The gaze I felt within that magic.

That part, I couldn’t understand.

“Kaloso Behrhaigen.”

That gaze belonged to Kaloso.

That bat bastard somehow used something to see me through Luxrina’s magic.

Did he recognize me, the fact that I was reborn?

He might have already known.

According to the World Tree lady, Kaloso was also at the Demon King’s sealing place.

But.

Even if he did know about my rebirth, it would be impossible for him to recognize me.

Before I died, the Kaloso I knew… didn’t have the kind of eyes that could see souls.

It was the same for all of us.

So, we had no way of knowing what each other’s soul looked like.

Then… within the illusion.

In the past memories left by Arisa, how did that chimpanzee recognize me?

It wasn’t particularly difficult.

Or rather… it is difficult. I don’t know.

How the hell did he recognize me?

And, Kaloso.

Why did that piece of shit suddenly widen his eyes?

Was he just here to see his descendants?

No, that’s not it. Like Eustetia left by Arisa, Behrhaigen might not have his blood either.

However, we can’t rule out the possibility that he came to see Stella.

Stella Behrhaigen.

Perhaps surpassing Kaloso.

She might be the one to complete Akasha.

That son of a bitch would want her.

“…Stella will complete Akasha? Huh…”

Thump thump— I shook off my butt and stood up.

Of course, I can’t imagine that airhead completing Akasha.

But even if she can’t complete it, I have no intention of handing her over.

Stella is mine.

*

Looking down at Stella, who refused his invitation and remained sitting on the floor, Samaela chuckled.

“Aren’t you cold on the floor?”

“…Stop with the nonsense… let’s talk about our, our mama.”

In fact, Stella didn’t want to sit on the floor either.

But she didn’t want to sit next to Samaela.

So, Stella wanted to get up from her seat and run to Pina, wanting to break that incomprehensible ritual.

Of course, she couldn’t do that.

Her legs wouldn’t cooperate.

She was scared. Terrified. Breathing was difficult.

It felt like the woman in front of her would kill her. Even now, that incomprehensible sense of unease seemed to tighten around her whole body.

With such thoughts, Stella couldn’t stand up. She hated herself for being so paralyzed by mere fear, but hatred couldn’t surpass fear.

Seeing Stella like that, Samaela swallowed his laughter.

In reality, Samaela was restraining Stella’s body with the mana infused with his ideation.

Every time he spoke, he choked Stella’s breath and tightened her body with unseen ideation each time he turned his gaze.

Her legs won’t cooperate, and she’s sitting there?

Same here. He bound her with ideation.

Knowing that Stella wouldn’t be able to get up, he whispered for her to come closer to him.

It was partly for enjoyment, but also to mess with her mind and cloud her judgment.

“Where should I start the story?”

That said, I’m not about to lie from now on. He decided to tell only the truth.

In the current situation.

He thought that an absurd truth would be a deadlier poison than a well-crafted lie.

“I must say something about why our niece was born, and why she must be born a Behrhaigen.”

“…What?”

A person cannot be born for a reason.

No human has a purpose or a mission before being born.

They can’t decide or know in advance.

That’s the way of heaven (天理).

Yet, Samaela’s words were strange.

Why she was born for some reason.

Why she had to be a Behrhaigen ‘only.’

Those words sounded exactly like… she was born out of necessity.

“Do you perhaps know the story tied to the name ‘Stella’?”

Her mother, Jeniela, gave her that name.

The night Stella was born was when countless stars shone in the sky. The stars shining like diamonds embedded in black velvet celebrated Stella’s birth.

From those stars, Stella’s name was derived.

A star. A child who shines like a star. A child blessed by the stars.

That’s the story she heard.

Stella loved the stories her mother used to whisper to her while holding her before bed, about the moment she was born.

“Blessed by the stars, shining like a star… Hah! Ah, ahem. Sorry, sorry. Yeah. I must be thinking that way. My sister could have told me like that.”

Chuckle chuckle— Samaela wore a nasty smile and licked his lower lip.

“It’s not that.”

“…What?”

“Akasha.”

Her captivating voice sank.

“You were born to complete Akasha.”

Akasha? I have no idea what that is.

There wasn’t even time to wonder what it was.

Samaela’s next words stopped Stella’s mind.

“Or rather, saying you are a ‘created’ being would be a more fitting description for you.”

Breath, cut off. My heart felt like it was going to burst as I struggled to breathe. My vision went white. My consciousness faded, and my hands and feet grew cold.

“W-what does that mean?”

“Who do you think made you? Why you, of all people? Before telling you those things, do you know what Akasha is?”

I don’t know. There’s no way I could know.

Akasha is a name that was lost 400 years ago.

“The fifth element. Ether. The pinnacle of magic. The end of sorcery.”

The source of the universe.

Everything.

“That’s what Akasha is. In fact, nothing is precisely known about Akasha. Even ‘that person’ couldn’t complete Akasha.”

“W-what… who… who could…”

Stella didn’t know what to ask.

The end of sorcery. That person. Akasha. Her existence to complete it. The reason. Stella.

What was the beginning of this story?

What brought this story up?

“Our niece. Jeniela’s daughter. Stella Behrhaigen. Where were you created? Who created you? Why did you become a Behrhaigen?”

Jeniela Behrhaigen.

Mother.

“Human’s filthy desire created you.”

Samaela’s smile deepened.

“Stella. You weren’t born from Jeniela’s womb. You were created against the laws of nature, inside a cold… incubator, in a fluid. So, who committed such a thing—”

For a moment, Samaela’s words were cut off.

Her captivating smile; her calm face was enveloped in questions. Soon after, it twisted.

She clicked her tongue and stood up.

Her dark hair fluttered as she turned away.

At that moment.

Boom!

A thunderous sound echoed like a bolt of lightning struck inside the labyrinth. Thick dust rose. Small stones scattered around Stella’s thighs.

“Who the hell are you?”

“Today I keep getting the same question.”

A clear voice was heard.

Stella looked at the owner of that voice.

“Eliaernes Eustetia.”

“How… did you get here?”

Did she kill Paid and come here?

There was no need to think. In her right hand, she held Paid’s severed head.

With a thud, Eliaernes tossed it towards Samaela and giggled sweetly.

“I ran here until my feet sweated. You bastard.”

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