Chapter 82

After smashing Professor Barkio, I walked straight out of the classroom.

My compatibility with Professor Barkio is the worst imaginable.

Especially since I’m the worst enemy for a multi-element mage like him.

‘It’s like my body has become immune to most magic by now.’

If only Barkio had focused on his magical research and not clung to his past,

there’s no way I could have even dared to challenge him.

But Barkio just let himself be blinded by his own glory days.

Intoxicated by his past, he stopped honing his magic and grew complacent.

As a result, his magical skills even regressed from what they used to be.

‘Perhaps he became fixated on the Magic Tower because he knew that deep down.’

He was just turning a blind eye to it.

A twisted dream often leaves behind such an ugly aftermath.

‘So, he ended up losing to Lucas too.’

Of course, Lucas didn’t beat Barkio as easily as I did.

I was able to see through Barkio’s arrogance and carelessness after years of being away from real combat and landed multiple successful attacks.

In contrast, Lucas barely managed to defeat him after a grueling battle.

Still, as a professor, Lucas is a tough nut to crack without some strategizing.

‘Well, I basically fought him with a built-in advantage.’

My stack of resistance stats accumulated solidly over time.

Even though the stats aren’t visible to the naked eye, they’ve definitely built up within me.

The most pronounced one for me is my resistance.

Physical resistance, fire resistance, electric resistance, ice resistance.

After putting my body through hell, it seems I’ve stacked up every kind of resistance.

‘Especially to ice.’

As I covered my right eye, I felt the flow of ice magic.

It was the remnants of the Ice Dragon, which forcefully blocked Barkio’s ice magic the moment he cast it.

He probably got pretty annoyed that someone dared to use ice magic against him.

Thanks to that, I became practically immune to lower-level ice magic.

‘Things have calmed down a bit now.’

I was treated like an ice bomb by Sharine.

This goes to show that I must always keep the remnants of the Ice Dragon in mind.

Occurrences like today could happen again, so I need to stay more vigilant.

BOOM!

In the meantime, another explosion reverberated from the direction of the Student Council.

The members of the Student Council cannot breach the blockading members.

So now it’s time for some separate characters to appear here.

Originally, it would have been Lucas and his crew, but this time it’s probably Isabel stepping up…

“Kyaaaaaa!”

At that moment, I saw the blockading members being swept away in an instant.

‘Oh.’

This is moving way faster than I expected.

I quickly leaned out to see the scene of the blockading members rolling on the floor.

Just then, my jaw dropped at what I saw.

The ones breaking through the blockade were more powerful than I had imagined.

At the front was the lazy genius, Ban.

Every time his sword moved in the moonlight, the blockade members couldn’t even put up a fight and were swept away.

There aren’t many kids who can stand up to Ban’s sword technique.

Even the carefully selected blockading members wouldn’t stand a chance against him head-on.

The genius of geniuses, Sharine Sazarith.

Each time she moved the tip of her staff, she blasted starry projectiles that sent the kids flying.

Even I, with my high resistance, found it hard to handle the power of those projectiles.

The blockade members had no chance of withstanding that.

The top talents in Martial Arts and Magic Arts stood as a disaster for the students.

But it wasn’t just the two of them.

Even if she was up against Poara’s Spirit Sovereign, Beakiring Monem, a second-year Special Studies student contracted with a top-tier spirit, was impressive.

Then there was Pasen Zaviros, the towering son of the Grand Knight Captain, wielding a hefty sword.

And of course, Isabel’s friend Lina, among other notable names from Jerion Academy.

Before their advance, the blockade members were like leaves blown away in the autumn wind.

They were the crème de la crème in the school.

No way they could put up a fight.

And right in the center was Isabel Luna.

Amidst the talented members, she fought gracefully like a butterfly.

‘What the heck, how did she gather such elite members?’

Even as a seasoned veteran in the game, I couldn’t gather these kinds of talents at this point.

Clearly, it was Isabel’s ability that brought them together.

‘No wonder she’s the main heroine.’

She has a knack for attracting people.

‘What do I do now.’

No matter what, the blockade shouldn’t be suppressed this quickly.

The bigger the commotion, the more prominent the fact of the blockade becomes.

Moreover, it would take some more time for the blockade members still rummaging through the professor’s office and the Student Council room.

I quickly racked my brain and then stood tall above the window.

I tightened the bandages around my disguise.

Sharine is over there, so this is a double impersonation.

There’s no other way.

Though I’m a low-tier villain who has exited once, I’ll have to pull the card again.

It’s just a stalling tactic for a low-tier villain.

I slammed my feet against the window ledge and jumped.

I soared through the air with my robe billowing around me.

THUD!

Then, just in front of the blockading members, I landed with a thud.

Having jumped a considerable distance, the shock resonated, but I quickly regained my posture.

I slowly raised my head.

And then all eyes from Isabel’s party trained on me.

I had suddenly appeared, splitting the dark night sky.

Of course, with a look that stands out, attention is inevitable.

“Isn’t that Bickamon-senpai?”

Seeing me emerge between the moonlight, Isabel’s friend Lina reacted.

She looked at my face and muttered, ‘Still so handsome…’

“Bickamon-senpai, you’re in quite the rush, could you step aside?”

Pasen, the Grand Knight, respectfully requested even from someone expelled like me.

That was very knightly manners.

But.

“Sorry, but this area is off-limits to unauthorized personnel.”

I smoothly raised my arm through my robe and firmly blocked the path.

At the same time, I quickly scanned those gathered around.

As soon as Sharine saw me, her eyes widened in surprise.

Being the master of the Milky Way, she must have seen right through me.

But I was still disguised under the bandages.

So, she would only think I had disguised as Bickamon.

There’s no way she could ever suspect my true identity as Hanon.

She probably just figured out I was Hanon.

As for Ban, he looked intrigued.

He must have gauged my abilities by seeing my moves a moment ago.

Ban has recently taken quite an interest in swinging swords again.

His newfound excitement towards a new enemy was evident.

And lastly, Isabel.

For some reason, she was smiling slyly.

Isabel already laughs a lot.

But this smile seemed far from appropriate for the situation.

It was a smile that formed the moment she saw me.

“What does one have to do to be considered an authorized personnel?”

Why did her laugh strike me as oddly coy?

Isabel has definitely changed a bit.

“Not a chance.”

I cut her off sharply and slammed my foot marked with the magic seal down on the ground.

THUD!

With that, the vibrations coursed out through the earth.

BOOM!

The combination of the magic seal and the mysterious energies amplified the magic seal’s effects.

“It’s magic!”

Lina cried out and kicked off the ground to leap.

As did the others, springing up in response.

If you get caught in the vibrations, your posture gets compromised, so they reacted immediately.

However, floating in the air is also a loss of balance.

CRASH!

The moment my foot hit the ground, the magic seals engraved on my body erupted in succession.

As I soared from the explosion’s force, the massive knight stood to block my path.

Pasen twisted in mid-air, trying to stop me.

His massive sword swung toward me.

However, swinging a sword at me is the worst decision he could make.

THUD!

My hand clashed with his massive sword.

‘I’ve got something charged up from earlier.’

It was the thunderstorm stored away behind my bandages.

It was the electricity from Barkio’s lightning magic.

“Surely, you won’t die from this.”

The lightning magic from Barkio surged from my hand, wrapping around his sword.

BOOM!

Before he could react, the black lightning erupted and scorched Pasen black.

BAM!

Pasen fell, spewing black smoke from his mouth.

No matter how tough a knight he is, he couldn’t withstand Barkio’s lightning magic.

As I landed on the ground, everyone stared at me with wide eyes.

“That’s high-tier magic, isn’t it? How on earth can you do that without a staff?”

Beakiring, who’s studying spirits while being well-versed in Magic Arts, squinted at me.

“I’m sure Bickamon-senpai could only handle low-tier magic.”

Lina seemed caught off guard, as if she knew of Bickamon’s original capabilities.

Thanks to the magic seal and Barkio’s lightning magic, I had instantly transformed into a high-tier mage.

Not too shabby.

If they’re mistaking me for a mage, they’ll be more cautious in combat against me.

‘Let’s keep this flow going.’

Just as I thought that, I suddenly felt a chill run down my spine.

In that moment, a blade of darkness slashed just past my chin, coming from the shadows.

Looking down, there stood Ban.

Even amidst all the surprise, Ban had closed the distance on his own.

Flick! Whoosh!

I hurriedly dodged his swinging sword.

That guy Ban has gotten way better since last time.

And though I’ve improved my physical abilities a lot as well,

dodge and weave is still proving to be challenging compared to that practice bout we had.

‘Just how much has he been holding back.’

His growth is worth praising, but having that sword aimed at me is driving me nuts.

What’s worse is that I’m recognized as a mage right now.

I can’t block it with my body.

‘Guess there’s no choice.’

Just as I was about to use Barkio’s leftover lightning magic to create an opening,

Ban’s sword suddenly bent toward my chest in an instant.

It was a phantom blade technique utilizing sword energy.

He’s already reached such a level!

I fell for his trick.

With no options left, I moved my arm.

Using my body’s hidden capability, it wouldn’t be visible to others.

In that gap, I braced myself with my iron muscles.

CLANG!

Then, both Ban and I opened our eyes simultaneously.

Between us, an axe stood blocking the way.

The one wielding the axe was a small-framed girl with flowing red hair.

The girl, inexplicably masked, had a forehead glimmering in the moonlight just above her mask.

“I-I’ll handle this!”

Seron Parmia.

She suddenly appeared.