I Became the Academy's Disabled Student-Chapter 329: 10th time (3)

The 10th round and the Warden of the Purgatory Tower incarnated into a vessel.

Both situations were equally dangerous, but the Warden still lacked the certainty that he could eliminate the main body.

On the other hand, the 10th round had manifested permanently. There could be no catastrophe by allowing it to be released into the outside world.

This must be finished here.

Thanks to Hong Jinseon’s intervention, I was able to focus on the 10th round.

‘Still, I can’t waste time.’

The full strength of the Warden was still unknown.

Especially the Purgatory flames, which were more savage and ferocious than the flame I wielded. Even though I was the head of the flame, it was still extremely dangerous.

I had to finish off the 10th round as soon as possible and help Hong Jinseon.

I flapped my wings and headed toward Daera.

Her gaze, which had been pouring lightning without touching the blood sea, turned toward me. Her blue eyes scanned my condition before lowering.

Daera's expression twisted into a cruel grimace. Her trembling lips boiled with fury.

“You, why the hell is your arm like that?!”

Her gaze was fixed on my right arm. The flame was still burning, and horrific scars were beginning to show where it had burned through.

The situation had worsened since earlier. The flame’s restrictions were lifted, and with the Purgatory flames fluttering in the air, there was no stopping it.

[It’s fine. I’ll recover later.]

Honestly, I didn’t know. My right arm, which had exploded earlier after using the Three Elements, had healed and grown back before.

“No matter how much you say you’ll recover...!”

[I'm sorry. But we have to solve this first.]

I shook off my right arm, which was slowly losing its sensation. Daera, without a word, turned her gaze away.

The flame and lightning continued to pour out, narrowing the range, but the blood sea also expanded, engaging in a fierce tug-of-war.

At the center of the blood sea, the 10th round, unable to break free from the earlier attack, gripped his own head and moaned in pain.

“...Is that related to you?”

Daera’s eyes were fixed on the 10th round’s bloodied, contorted face.

And his face... was somewhat similar to someone else’s.

[Yes, he’s someone I know. I have to deal with him. So, Sajer, I’m sorry, but I need your help.]

Daera, whose voice was filled with urgency, remained silent, her lips pressed tight.

We’d only known each other for a little over ten days.

In such a short time, though I hadn’t heard the whole story, I could tell that Ihayul had a complex past.

Right now, there was no time to hear that complicated story. Daera, chewing on her lip, turned her head.

“Sigh... What do we do now?”

[Please reduce the blood sea from the other side. I’ll go inside and finish this quickly.]

Without a word, Daera unleashed a burst of lightning. I nodded as I felt the sharp sting against my skin and flapped my wings.

My body accelerated rapidly, crossing the blood sea. It was similar to before. The 10th round was still too slow to react to my speed.

I was blocked. It wasn’t that I couldn’t strike; I had restrained my strength.

My punch, filled with flame, was stopped by his blood-red armor. Crunch! The blood-formed armor cracked.

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The 10th round was specialized in large-scale battles and fighting hordes, but he wasn’t completely unskilled in one-on-one combat.

True Blood Expansion Ability

Blood Flowing Spear (유혈포저流血漂杵)

Grrr! The surrounding blood sea was absorbed by the 10th round. Some of it seeped into his body, enhancing his physical abilities, while some wrapped around him, forming thick armor.

“...You...”

The coarse voice emerged from the cracked blood helmet.

“...Is it really you?”

A faint return of reason. The eyes from beneath the helmet locked on to me. It wasn’t good news. His head should have been shattered by the earlier attack.

More than that, I thought about his question—“Is it really me?”

‘Really?’ An odd question, but considering who asked it, I could understand.

[Yes.]

Crack! Inside the helmet, instead of an answer, his teeth were clenched. The armor, drenched in flame, trembled violently.

The blood sea raged fiercely, echoing the emotions of its wielder.

Crunch! Everywhere was filled with thorns. It was much faster than before. The thorns were too close to dodge. Reading the prelude, I poured flame into them, burning away some of the thorns.

Not all of them were burned. The thorns that survived pierced through, and I blocked them with my strength and the wings of the sky.

“Why, why...!”

Attacks came from the front as well. The 10th round had pulled out a spear from the blood sea. The sharp spearhead aimed directly at my neck.

‘Close combat?’

I hesitated for a moment, but then swiftly drew the Purification and swung it. The crystal orb glowed brightly, and the White Night stored inside joined the spearhead, forming a crescent moon-shaped attack.

The golden spearhead shot upward and severed the base of the spear. Scrape! The 10th round’s face twisted in pain.

“Aaaah─!”

Screaming, the 10th round charged at me. The severed spear and melted armor had been restored in no time.

Bang! The Purification and the spear clashed. The result was similar. The spearhead was crushed.

The 10th round didn’t care at all.

He simply charged toward me, aiming his spear to kill, swinging and even using his fists and feet.

Though his movements were close to wild fighting, his physical abilities and skill made every impact dangerous.

With each clash, shockwaves rocked the surroundings.

The ground cracked like a spider’s web and sank, and the stones caught in the aftermath turned to dust.

“Why! Only you...!”

The 10th round’s voice twisted my face. Although his face was hidden beneath the helmet, I could clearly see the expression within.

Bang! A punch collided with my head, and the Purification and spearhead clashed again, embedding into the blood sea.

“You! Why me...!”

My head throbbed. My neck felt like it was about to snap. The sounds ringing in my ears made my chest feel dizzy.

Gritting my teeth, I threw another punch. Thorns rose from the 10th round’s armor.

Crack! My punch shattered the thorns. I blocked other thorns with my strength and wings.

Not all of them were blocked. The thorns stabbed into my body. The pierced areas turned black almost immediately, and the dead blood melted into my body.

Bang! My fist broke through the thorns and drove deep into the 10th round’s chest.

“Gah!”

His armor crumpled. The shock that pierced his chest made him cough up blood.

That wasn’t all.

Whirr! The flame from my fist engulfed the 10th round. His armor melted like chocolate, and the fire that burrowed into the armor burned his flesh.

The blood sea surrounding us? It couldn’t fully act with the flame pouring down and the lightning that kept striking.

“Ughhh...!”

The searing pain made me foam at the mouth. I instinctively reached out.

It was immediately blocked. My attack scraped through empty space, and my punch was driven back into his chest.

Bang! His chest caved in, and he was pushed back. In that brief moment, my fist hit his jaw and pressed down on his chest.

I had to retreat.

My dizzying thoughts gave me a single directive. It was dangerous to fight up close with someone wielding flames.

My opponent’s skill was far superior to mine.

The 10th round’s strength wasn’t in close combat, but in manipulating the environment with the Corpse Mountain Blood Sea and raining down the Interlinking Thorny Vines from all directions.

Through repeated manifestations, the blood sea expands.

In the growing blood sea, the Blood Worms emerge and increase the army, while any target even slightly grazed by the attack succumbs to the Hemolysis poison.

Other abilities include Blood Origin Bone Marrow, Spinal Blood, Crushing Blood Explosion, Iron Blood Mutation, and Blood Sacrifice...

There were many methods. The strategy was to retreat and apply pressure. If nothing else, escape from this position.

And finally, if I could break through the real world, I could leave.

“Ugh, aaah─!”

But I didn’t retreat. My battered body pressed forward. Ihayul moved forward as well.

There was no reason to retreat.

Ihayul had no leeway, and Ihayul didn’t want to retreat.

“I’m going too!”

A frantic brawl without much strategy. The 10th round, who had been pushed back helplessly, gritted his teeth.

Face-to-face with the person in front of me.

I immediately recognized who it was. It felt like looking into a mirror.

But it was different. Not identical.

Black hair and white hair. Tall and short.

The fake and the real.

“If I had been real like you! I could’ve done... better...!”

I didn’t know who I was speaking to, but it was a weak excuse, filled with undeniable jealousy.

“I too...! Truly...!”

If I had been real, if there had been better circumstances, if my true soul had settled, without the notion of being a fake...

So much better...

“Hah.”

The punch that had been flying wildly suddenly stopped. The power I had been holding back faded.

The 10th round’s body, which had been desperately pushing forward, crumbled.

It was the perfect opportunity. To make up for the mistake from earlier, I needed to sever his head and body.

[......]

Ihayul hesitated. I couldn’t act on it. The blackened fist trembled as it burned.

At that moment, the 10th round let out a hollow laugh. His breath was labored, shaking his head.

“...It’s a lie. You can’t do better.”

The 10th round was proud of his growth.

Unlike most of Ihayul’s past experiences, he had not lived kindly. He had done evil.

If necessary, he killed people to gather materials and plunder.

After all, he was a fake, right? Whether he killed or not, it was meaningless to him, so he used others for his growth.

That’s how he grew and fought against the Warden of the Purgatory Tower, and then died.

That truth was utterly despairing.

Was it a regrettable fight? Was there lingering regret? Was it an unfair fight? Could he have won if he did better?

“No... I don’t think I could win...”

It didn’t seem possible to win.

Even after all that, it didn’t feel like I could win.

So I didn’t run. I hadn’t reached the point of retreating yet.

I instinctively knew the real answer: I wanted to understand if victory was possible in this situation. Could I win? Could I prove myself, even if I was surrounded by all of this?

Ihayul, with his lips tightly clenched, bit back the urge to speak and simply nodded.

[...Yes.]

“Why apologize...?”

The sound of the blood sea was muffled, as it grew darker and darker.

There, in the vast blood sea, Ihayul’s face appeared. It was covered in burns, blood, and the effects of Hemolysis, his complexion gradually draining away.

“Sorry, I’m just being stubborn. It’s my fault you got hurt so badly, and I let the Warden of the Purgatory Tower escape.”

The 10th round, with a bitter smile, weakly lifted his hand. The Hemolysis poison that had been injected into Ihayul’s body slowly faded.

“...Can I ask you just one thing?”

The voice was faint, as if he were already dying. Ihayul hesitated and opened his mouth, then slowly nodded.

[...Yes.]

“When... when is it now?”

[Still 200 years... just before the second year of Siyoram.]

“Ha, hahaha... insane...”

The 10th round laughed at the answer. Two hundred years, just before the second year of Siyoram. It was an unbelievable answer.

“You... you would be different.”

Indeed, the fake and the real were different. There was no denying that difference.

The 10th round opened his lips.

There were many more questions to ask.

So why was I fake? Who created this fake world? How many more like me existed after me?

“...It’s hard now.”

He didn’t ask. Shaking his head, the 10th round extended his hand. The remaining blood sea gathered into his hand.

It was a potential threat, as an attack could come at any moment, but Ihayul didn’t stop him.

Eventually, all the blood gathered in his hand, compressed into a bright red gemstone.

The 10th round, with great effort, extended the gemstone to Ihayul. Ihayul cautiously took it.

“My abilities are lacking, and I can't do much. At least take this and use it for yourself.”

[Thank you... I’m grateful.]

His voice trembled as he spoke, a far cry from the person he had been just moments before. There was no way it was a trick. The emotions in his voice were too genuine.

‘The skills, potential, and character... the fake Ihayul was far more... no, that’s not quite right.’

Even among the fake Ihayuls, there had been those with excellent personalities.

The 9th and 10th rounds, who had faced their limits after the 8th round, were the ones most lacking.

That fact seemed almost absurd.

As his eyes closed, his consciousness drifted away.

It felt similar to the sensation when the Warden of the Purgatory Tower had killed him.

But unlike then, oddly enough, he felt a strange peace.

The 10th round’s body, lying still with eyes closed, gradually melted into darkness.

When the last of the dark liquid, which had pooled on the ground, vanished, only a straw doll and fragments of a discarded artifact remained on the floor.

And the blood-red gemstone that remained in Ihayul’s grasp.

'...'

There was a tightness in Ihayul’s chest. It wasn’t just from the wounds; it was more psychological.

He bit his lip, carefully placing the straw doll into the pocket dimension.

The five Tower Masters had observed. Their goal was to deliver as much information as possible to him.

That was all.

Predicting the path of a typhoon and the damage it would cause, they never thought to account for the victims in the virtual world.

But there had been a shift. In the virtual world, someone had realized that they were fake, that the world was fake.

Who could have predicted this? That an AI in the virtual world would come to know the truth?

It was a completely illogical case. A seemingly impossible scenario, but a victim had arisen.

The 2nd round, the 5th round, the 10th round...

“Priest.”

As I stood there in a daze, I felt the presence approach. It was Daera, who had been suppressing the blood sea for me.

“It’s over, huh?”

[Yes...]

I wiped my eyes and responded. Daera, unaware of the details, silently reached out and gently stroked my hair.

Her careful touch, trying not to harm the wound on my head, made my eyes feel unexpectedly itchy.

Another presence approached. It was Hong Jinseon, who had been dealing with the Warden of the Purgatory Tower.

“Son-in-law, are you alright?”

“...Son-in-law?”

Hong Jinseon, looking at my body, full of wounds, furrowed his brow. Daera blinked in confusion.

Hong Jinseon shook his head as if embarrassed.

“I’m sorry. I let the parasite get away. It suddenly burned and vanished after I had been holding it.”

[Sadness]

[Yes... I sensed it too.]

[You don’t need to apologize.]

The Warden of the Purgatory Tower, who had been held by the strong Hong Jinseon, had suddenly burned and disappeared.

I had tried to block it with the power of space, but it hadn’t worked.

‘Is that the Tower’s power?’

It wasn’t exactly an individual power, but rather a shared ability of the Tower. Thanks to the ongoing observation, I could somewhat read it.

‘But it must have taken a lot of energy.’

It felt like a force had been exerted from a location not too close to the Tower, forcibly summoning the vessel trapped within the Tower.

There must have been so much power used, but with such a backup, they were able to act so confidently.

“Son-in-law, I don’t know where this place is, but I think we should start moving.”

“Uh, yeah... Right, Priest. If we stay here, more monsters will start gathering.”

“...Priest?”

A puzzled expression crossed Hong Jinseon’s face. Before they could exchange words, I nodded and gripped the Purification.

[Yes... We need to leave soon.]

I raised the Purification. I cast a simple healing spell on the two of them and, just as I had been preparing, activated the power of space.

I tore a hole in the barrier of the pocket dimension.

Before, it had been impossible, but now that I had gathered information, it was feasible.

The destination was... a location just a little away from the entrance.

The power of space surrounded Daera and Hong Jinseon. They both floated into the air.

“Eh? Eh? What’s happening? Ah! Priest? What now─!”

“Son-in-law? What’s going on...”

[I'll follow right away.]

Both looked toward me, their eyes wide. Before they could break free from the power, I quickly slammed down the Purification.

Boom! The power activated. The new forms of the two disappeared.

“Hey! Priest, you─!”

Daera’s shouting was cut off. Her startled shout was swallowed up as I stepped back.

‘...I had to send them out.’

I needed to provoke the outbreak of the pocket dimension now.

If the two stayed inside, they would be caught up in the outburst, getting swept into the entrance with the monsters.

If that happened, it wouldn’t be nearly as dangerous as it seemed.

By the way, Daera had intended to send them out before they reached the core.

It would be impossible to open a hole near the core.

Kicking off the ground toward the core of the pocket dimension, I channeled mana into my left arm for the preparation.

The protector’s proving grounds created a huge reverberation.