The Villain’s POV in the Academy

Chapter 98

‘What a truly bizarre team composition.’

Joshua Patton gave that assessment as he looked at the children Aaron Stingray had brought.

Students personally selected by Aaron from Trinity Academy.

He had expected them to be exceptionally talented, and was full of anticipation, but after examining the lineup, something felt off.

Should he say they all seemed to be missing a screw?

First, the silver-haired girl who appeared to be the leader.

Iri Elisbell.

Choosing a ‘shield’ as a weapon to fight monsters was strange enough, but what was more odd was the peculiarly low amount of detectable energy.

The comprehensive module level shown on the scanner was around 10 at best—maybe even lower. He couldn’t fathom how someone with such a low substitution rate intended to face trolls.

Second, the brown-skinned girl.

Raina Alton.

This one was too ordinary. Her comprehensive module level was average, and her substitution rate and habitual movements all seemed to be at the level of a typical first-year Academy student. She was so plain that it was hard to understand why Aaron had selected her.

Third, the only male in the team.

Silence.

His LED mask hid his face, but at least he had a strong character identity. His substitution rate seemed decently high, and his skills didn’t look bad either—but to Patton, the problem lay in his role.

‘He seems to be modeled as an assassin type… is that really okay?’

Even if his personal skill was fine, his position wasn’t ideal when considering team synergy.

In a team with only three combatants, if one went into stealth, the remaining two would bear all the burden.

It essentially meant two people had to deal with all the incoming enemies on their own. He couldn’t understand why the team had been built that way.

The fourth was a girl with long hair.

Miyu.

Thankfully, he had heard some rumors about her.

He had some connections with the Technology Division, and through them, he’d heard they’d brought in an incredible genius. There were even whispers that the now-missing module researcher director had been after her.

Her body was small, and her appearance was somewhat gloomy, but since she was a genius, he figured it made sense.

However, the last one was the biggest problem.

A young woman in a full-body Wizard suit.

Ciel.

‘That’s… not human.’

She had so many biological parts that at first, the scan identified her as a regular human.

But something felt off, so he double-checked—and sure enough, she was an android. Not even a combat one.

‘Huh. She’s a basic maid android?’

He scanned her face and searched the shopping mall, and thousands of listings popped up, sorted by lowest price.

She cost barely 200,000 credits—a price cheap enough that he could buy her himself with just a few clicks. Free shipping, too.

He’d be shocked even if someone had spent millions of credits to get a Wizard-type android, and yet they’d modified a maid android? Would that thing even function properly?

‘Her expressive face and speech patterns—did they install an emotion expansion pack? No, more likely…’

He was struck by a horrifying realization.

Error Unit.

Irregulars whose overly advanced AI had developed to the point of mimicking human emotions, eventually believing they were human.

‘Why the hell would you bring something like that…!?’

The other team members were still human, so he could let it slide. But he simply couldn’t comprehend that android.

Why give Wizard functions—something that only made her more dangerous—to something that should’ve been sent straight to the factory for disposal?

‘I thought Aaron Stingray had mellowed after his near-death experience… Did something go wrong with his brain instead?’

That rational suspicion didn’t last long.

Once the operation began in earnest, Patton was forced to revise his thoughts.

Aaron Stingray had already darted off on his own to retake the Production Colony, and the Stingray Special Class members scrambled to prepare and deploy accordingly.

Combatants Iri, Silence, and Raina dashed out at high speed the moment the barrier opened.

‘Th-They’re faster than I thought?’

Silence and Raina were understandable, but Iri—despite her low substitution rate—moved with startling speed.

He had planned to follow them leisurely and observe from the rear, but he found himself having to sprint unexpectedly.

‘Her pure specs must be quite something despite the low substitution rate.’

Though taken aback, he quickly grasped the situation.

He hadn’t expected such a huge gap between her detectable energy levels and her actual ability. No wonder Director Aaron had chosen her—Patton began adjusting his evaluation internally.

But as the students engaged in full-scale combat, he could only be even more shocked.

‘W-What in the world is that…!’

The first [Mystic] they encountered was the “Spine Flora.”

A plant-type monster with thin stems and leaves like reeds, and eyes the size of soccer balls resembling reptilian creatures.

It could fire thorns at near-supersonic speed from a stationary position—its signature trait.

As soon as the three entered the point, they were showered with a hail of thorns like bullets. It was a rookie mistake—charging in without checking the interior conditions first.

But what came after was astonishing.

Iri swiftly unfolded her shield with fearsome reflexes, and the other two hid behind it without a hint of panic, as if they had been waiting for it.

Kwa-duk, kwa-du-du-du-duk–!

Thousands of thorns shot with force strong enough to pierce through the shield, and yet, there wasn’t even a scratch on Iri’s shield, nor did she seem pushed back by the force.

Instead, Iri pushed forward through the downpour of thorns like a tank.

She should have dropped her shield or lost her balance from the impact, but she didn’t waver—perhaps she was using a special module.

Having successfully escorted her teammates to cover where they could avoid the barrage, Iri raised her voice and gave instructions.

“Senior, Raina!”

“[Okay.]”

Silence immediately disappeared into stealth and slipped into the enemy formation, while Raina activated her module.

“Module Online, [Minigun.]”

Metal parts surged up from Raina’s body, and within moments, they assembled into a Gatling-style machine gun.

Despite the name, it was a monstrous weapon weighing 20kg, capable of firing 4,000 rounds per minute.

Raina pulled an ammo belt from the bag on her back with a metallic whirr and connected it to the minigun.

Meanwhile, Silence had slipped behind the Spine Floras and drew a blade from his wrist, slashing one of the rear monsters’ eyeballs clean in half.

Chaaak!

As fluids splattered and one creature collapsed, all the eyes that had been firing at Iri and Raina turned toward Silence.

“[Over here!]”

At that moment, Silence deliberately revealed himself, prompting the plant creatures to unleash another barrage of thorns in a frenzy.

Kwachik! Kwajijijik!

The monsters paid no heed to firing lines and simply shot wildly, resulting in many of them dying from friendly fire.

“[They seem to have intelligence, but it’s not very high.]”

Realizing this, Silence darted through the creatures, drawing their fire and leading them to shoot each other, while occasionally slashing with his blade to inflict additional damage.

Then—

“All set! Get out of there!”

As Raina shouted, Silence quickly escaped the enemy formation.

The moment he left the firing zone, Raina aimed the barrel of her minigun at the monsters.

“Firing!”

Before the plant creatures could turn their eyes back to Raina, her barrel erupted with fire. It was the moment the 4,000-round-per-minute firepower came to life.

Chwa-ru-ru-ru-ruk!

Raina slowly swept the barrel side to side, and in its path, the Spine Floras began disintegrating into dust.

A few came to their senses and tried to retaliate, but under such overwhelming firepower, they didn’t stand a chance.

Raina wiped the monsters from the space like windshield wipers clearing away rain.

Hundreds of plant monsters that had filled the factory interior were instantly reduced to ashes, and the lucky few that survived were swiftly finished off by Iri and Silence with a shotgun and pistol respectively.

After completely clearing the zone, Iri assessed the situation.

“Raina, how’s your ammo?”

“Used about half. I can probably go one more round.”

“Let’s resupply before we move. If we run into stronger or more numerous enemies than this, we might run low.”

“Yeah. That’s probably best.”

“Senior, how are you holding up?”

“[No problem. I can continue fighting immediately.]”

“That’s a relief. Let’s move, then. Ciel, handle the ammo resupply and cleanup. And open this door too.”

At Iri’s instruction, the door to the next zone slid open.

Soon, dozens of drones piloted by Ciel flew in and began spraying chemicals that erased mana, and started processing the remains of the Spine Floras.

Raina reorganized the extra rounds the drones had brought and packed them back into her bag, while Iri and Silence stayed alert, watching the surroundings.

Once the process was complete, Iri led the team into the next area.

Watching the entire sequence, Joshua Patton couldn’t help but exclaim.

‘Huh, wow. These kids are incredible.’

This might be why people talk about the Academy so highly.

It was a shame they hadn’t checked the internal situation thoroughly before entering, but the way they handled the sudden battle was nothing short of pristine.

Thanks to Iri’s quick response, no one was hurt.

Silence drew the enemy’s attention, and Raina’s overwhelming firepower wiped them out.

Afterward, the dozens of drones created by Miyu were expertly controlled by Ciel to clean up the mess.

Compared to most teams, they weren’t lacking at all.

‘……Maybe I really did misjudge them.’

This team—surprisingly well-balanced.

Of course, he couldn’t shake the feeling that adding one more member would improve things, but as they were, they easily passed muster.

‘But we can’t get ahead of ourselves yet.’

There were still plenty of enemies left.

The Spine Floras were just the beginning.

Otherworld Transformation and the troll horde—

The real fight hadn’t even started yet.