The Academy’s Ankle Reaper

“Where is this…?”

It was a place I had never seen before.

I was all alone in a room without even a single window.

River was laid out on a perfectly rectangular altar.

The stench of blood filled the air, and countless bizarre objects lay scattered around me, their meanings completely lost on me.

“Ugh… I’m bound…”

I wasn’t just lying there.

River’s hands were tied, connected to the altar by chains.

I felt as if I recognized this scene from somewhere.

It looked eerily similar to the ritual of demon summoning I had seen during dungeon practice.

“Right… Russell-san…!!”

I recalled the last memory I had before losing consciousness.

Lucia Russell witnessed River being dragged away by the Sword Master and tried to stop it.

And… she took the Sword Master’s Aura Blade head-on.

“Ugh… ughhh…”

When I regained my senses, tears were streaming down my face.

Is Lucia alive?

I had no idea how powerful the Sword Master’s sky-high Aura Blade was.

I had never seen one that powerful before.

The Sword Master’s attack, which came crashing down, burned everything in a straight line and knocked me out cold.

Lucia had attempted to block that with just a single sword.

No matter how solidly the Russell family was reputed to be within the Empire… could Lucia have survived a blow from the Master?

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

It wasn’t just Lucia.

Thoughts of everyone at the Academy who had suffered from the Clover Kingdom’s terror flooded back to me.

There was Amy, who had charged in to stop the demons, and Atlas, who suddenly transformed into a demon during a duel, and everyone who had been attacked by demons.

“Well, well, look who woke up just in time.”

Just then, the Sword Master walked in through the door.

His appearance hadn’t changed since I first saw him.

Same build, same face, same personality; the only difference was a few strands of gray mixed into his hair…

His nonchalant walk was infuriating.

“Don’t glare at me like that. It’s irritating for me too.”

“You said you wouldn’t touch anyone else… ah…!!!”

I tried to jump down from the altar and rush at the Sword Master, but I couldn’t get close because I was bound by chains.

I tried to gather my aura to break free, but the Sword Master approached me and swung his left hand.

– Thwack!

“Ahhh!!”

He hit my head with great force.

My body was thrown backward, crashing into the solid altar, blood dripping from my forehead.

Though he acted as if nothing happened, I could tell the Sword Master was in a really foul mood.

“I never intended to say such things. If you’re going to hate someone, hate the first sword of the Empire instead. It’s because that bitch suddenly came that the schedule got moved up…”

From the very beginning, the Sword Master had intended to drop the bomb of demons onto the Empire.

I couldn’t understand his actions.

The Clover Kingdom was a weak nation.

The Sword Master had been brutally defeated by the Empire’s First Sword and barely escaped with his life thanks to the Church’s mediation.

This was something everyone knew if they had studied the continent’s history even a little.

There was no way he would go unscathed after doing such a thing.

The Empire would surely use this incident as an excuse to swallow the Clover Kingdom whole.

At the front would be the Empire’s First Sword, and with the strength of the Clover Kingdom, halting the Empire’s advance would be impossible.

Has the Sword Master gained newfound confidence that he could defeat the First Sword?

He claims she’s not scary, but every time she’s mentioned, fear and inferiority still show on his face.

“I’m running out of time; I need to take my treasure inside you. The Essence of Werewolf that’s passed down through the Seymour family… no, I mean the Essence of the Wolf God.”

“The Essence of the Wolf God… that’s just a legend!!”

I knew what the Sword Master was talking about.

It was a tale that had recently come out of Atlas’s mouth.

Among the families that had strived to obtain werewolf powers, the Seymours were included.

According to the family history, the Seymours had a bond with a wolf with golden fur long ago and inherited the essence from that golden-furred wolf, transforming the once-white wolf Shimoa into a golden one.

The Seymours have consistently produced powerful individuals, but they have never stood at the top even once.

Though they were called prodigies, growing up with an overwhelming aura, they all saw their growth spiral downward once they reached adulthood.

“You say it’s just a legend…”

But the Sword Master scoffed at the mere notion of it being just a legend.

“Why do your eyes shine with a golden hue whenever the full moon approaches?”

He grabbed my face and scrutinized my eyes.

Her amber eyes shone distinctly golden in the dark today.

“Those who possess the traits of a werewolf… all have their eyes glow yellow on the full moon…”

“How could I not distinguish the number of werewolves I’ve killed till now? You don’t realize how grand a treasure lies within you.”

“Your family has just not utilized that great treasure properly…! So, I’ll make good use of it for you.

If I take the essence of the divine, even the Empire’s First Sword wouldn’t be my match!”

Just then, someone walked in from behind the Sword Master.

“Now, introduce yourself. This is the great individual who has come from the church to perform this grand ritual.”

“The Church…?”

A man dressed in a large, hooded robe bowed his head toward me.

As I watched, I felt one certainty.

That man could in no way be from the church.

He wasn’t wearing a skull mask, but he was dressed similarly to a preacher of the Demon Church.

“Is that… person from the church?? No way..!!”

“You don’t need to concern yourself with that. Now, let’s proceed with the ritual.”

“Understood, Sword Master.”

The Sword Master lifted my bound hands high and laid me on the altar.

I tried to struggle but his arms didn’t budge even an inch.

“What are you trying to do…!!”

“Your life will be completely fine, so don’t worry. Just stay still for a bit.”

I was filled with fear.

Fear of the Sword Master’s heavy arms pinning me down, fear of being trapped in this unknown place as a sacrificial offering for some bizarre ritual—everything terrified me.

But I couldn’t resist at all.

“Then, let’s begin the ritual.”

As the robed man clapped his hands, the massive magic circle surrounding the altar began to glow.

Various offerings scattered throughout the magic circle lit up, and their light split into two streams, one aiming for the Sword Master and the other for my body.

“Haah?!!!”

A weird feeling akin to a large foreign substance entering my body sent chills down my spine.

Something long like tentacles was writhing inside me.

I couldn’t see it, but I certainly felt it.

That intangible force dancing around in my body reached my lower abdomen, and at that moment, my body began to shine with golden light.

“Oooo!! That is indeed the divine blessing…!! Yes, come to me..! Make me the strongest master now…!!”

The golden light radiating from my entire being began to narrow down, before bursting brightly in an explosion.

“Ugh.. What?!”

The Sword Master, who was nearest to me, was blown back violently.

The golden explosion expelled all the light emanating from the altar, turning the magic circle into a mess.

With the intangible force swirling inside me causing cold sweat to stream down, I was finally able to breathe properly.

The golden explosion obliterated all the forces that had invaded my body.

“What is… happening here?”

“Indeed, even a forgotten deity is a god. To resist this strongly…”

“Stop speaking nonsense and tell me what’s going on.”

As the ritual fell apart, the Sword Master, filled with rage, grabbed the man by the collar.

“The conditions to extract the essence are that the vessel must be a physically developed ‘adult’ and a pure ‘virgin’, and the night the essence is most activated is during a full moon… do you not remember?”

“That’s why we brought the Seymour family’s only daughter here, an adult virgin, on the night of the full moon…!! What could possibly be the issue? Is it that she’s not an adult yet!!!”

“The essence of the divine, which became separated from the body after adulthood, has reclaimed its place. It’s now impossible to extract it. Something’s amiss.”

Even in front of the Sword Master, whose mood suggested he might kill him any second, the man remained unfazed.

“The essence of the divine is the pure blessing of the god itself. In childhood, it ensures growth… thereafter, it functions to bring forth life. It becomes one with the vessel, making extraction impossible.”

“You said after reaching adulthood and completing sufficient growth, the essence would be able to be extracted as long as the conditions were met…!”

“That’s right. If the conditions are met… it’s normal for the essence to not establish itself right after the vessel becomes a developed adult… which means she is not a virgin after all.”

If it’s judged that she’s ready to conceive after her growth has completed, she becomes one with the essence again.

At that statement, my heart dropped.

Right after reuniting with the Sword Master after ten years, I had been so furious that I spent the night with Atlas.

Even then, I thought I’d be quietly returning to the Clover Kingdom two days later, so I had assumed there wouldn’t be any issue.

“There’s no way. I checked with a unicorn’s horn yesterday..! She’s a pure virgin!”

“Is that still the case…?”

“What…?”

Upon hearing that, the Sword Master drew his dagger again.

The dagger in the Sword Master’s hand… an artifact made from a unicorn’s horn reacts to those who are pure; for unclean individuals, it merely becomes a blunt dagger, but if held by someone pure, it shines to protect its owner.

It had definitely reacted when I held it yesterday.

“Prove it!!”

And this time… there was no reaction at all.

The dagger made from a unicorn’s horn had turned into just a blunt dagger without shining a bit in my hands.

“Ha..!! Did you desire to humiliate me that much?”

And the moment the Sword Master realized that, his face contorted with rage.

“Just in a single night..!! This filthy bitch!!”

“…I don’t know what you’re looking for from me, but I’m really glad that I didn’t end up in your hands.”

The Sword Master placed his hand at his waist.

A cold metallic sound echoed.

The Sword Master unsheathed his sword.

“Now there’s no use for you anymore.”

It seemed he intended to kill me as is.

I didn’t know what the Sword Master wanted, but it was clear he wouldn’t get it.

From now on, he would stand in the shadow of the Empire’s First Sword.

Or he would face her honorably and die.

It was a huge relief that he could no longer wreak havoc on the Academy people.

The sword was raised high into the sky.

It seemed he didn’t even wrap it in an Aura Blade. He simply intended to slice me down with cold metal.

It had been a life that meant nothing.

I had longed for the hero to take the lead, yet I had only been a puppet in someone else’s grasp.

I had admired a life dedicated to protecting the weak, yet I was the weak one needing saving.

Just flailing under unreasonable violence and then dying after a bit of a rebellion… what kind of worthless life was that?

‘I’ll take responsibility somehow.’

The last memory that surfaced was of the playful firework we had the night before.

The words he had flippantly thrown were enough to reassure me, quelling the anxiety I felt while being in the presence of someone like the Sword Master.

No matter how strong Atlas was, he wouldn’t be able to do anything against the Sword Master, but that didn’t matter.

Just being next to him, sharing warmth, made me feel so safe.

I probably wouldn’t be able to see him again… still, I wished I could at least see him once more at the end.

I waited for the cold blade to cut through my body, but no matter how long I waited, I didn’t feel anything.

Could it be that the Master’s swordsmanship is so refined that I wouldn’t even notice being cut? I had read about it in stories.

If that were the case, if I opened my eyes now, I would already be dead, either viewing the afterlife or merely having my soul detached from my body.

Just as I was about to slightly open my eyes again, a sharp metallic sound rang out.

– Clang!!!

When I opened my eyes, what I saw wasn’t some heavenly paradise.

A small back emerged.

It was tiny yet immensely broad and supportive.

He was blocking the Sword Master’s pale sword with the dark blade held in one hand.

His face, barely visible from behind, was as cute as always but exuded an incredible sense of reliability.

I thought I was definitely seeing an illusion or experiencing some last gasp before death.

I was convinced I had already died and was simply viewing the scene I wished to see at the end.

He was a person who shouldn’t be here.

“Atlas…?”

The words slipped out before I even realized it, and he placed his empty hand on my head, speaking in a low voice.

“Let’s go back.”

Those words felt extraordinarily calm… they were comforting.