Chapter 303: Respectful Teacher Seira
Tokyo Bay.
The coastline of Tokyo, the capital of Japan, where the Shuo Hero Academy is located on an artificial island.
The calm surface of the water suddenly started to churn violently.
Patsutsutsutsuts!
A spatial crack appeared in the seabed.
Flash.
A red gleam sparkled from within the abyss-like black gap.
The magical shockwave flowing from the crack created a whirlpool in the sea.
[Crurururururur…]
A chilling roar seeped from within the crack.
Swish.
Two massive red reptilian arms burst out of the crack.
Patsutsutsutsuts!
The arms twisted and tore apart the crack.
The existence within the giant gaping chasm was revealed.
A gigantic red dragon with seven crowned heads and ten horns.
A monster boasting an unrealistically enormous physique, like something out of a kaiju movie.
Omega Rank Otherworldly Species, Apocalypse Red Dragon.
[Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!]
As the seven heads of the Apocalypse Red Dragon let out a terrifying roar, the waters of Tokyo Bay quaked.
The red magical energy naturally flowing from its body dyed the blue sea crimson.
A massive whirlpool erupted on the surface of Tokyo Bay.
The surrounding air vibrated, and the blue sky was quickly covered by dark clouds.
Flash!
Rumbleeeeeeeee!
With the thunder, red lightning struck the sea.
Swoosh!
At the center of the colossal whirlpool in Tokyo Bay, the seven heads finally appeared.
Its unrealistically gigantic body soared out of the water.
[Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!]
The mouths of the seven heads opened wide in unison, and their seven-part roar shook the sky.
Chwarrrr.
The massive pairs of wings spread wide, completely covering the sky.
Kwarrururururung!
With the thunder, red lightning struck the dragon’s body.
The moment Professor’s trump card, the Apocalypse Red Dragon, descended to the ground.
Japan Hero Association Combat Situation Room.
There was a huge screen displaying the map of Japan and Tokyo in front, serving as the main monitor.
[Emergency! Emergency! Emergency!]
Weeeeeeeng.
The red siren echoed throughout the entire Combat Situation Room.
Association staff members, wearing headsets and typing on keyboards while observing the monitors, moved busily before the screen.
At the back of the situation room was the association president’s special seat.
In his usual empty seat sat its current owner.
Japan Hero Association President, Shinozaki Ichiro.
His dark green eyes scanned the scene in the situation room.
To Ichiro’s right stood Meiou Nakayama Sojiro, the Vice President and second-in-command.
Unlike his usually relaxed demeanor, he seemed unusually tense.
“Analysis of the suspected Omega Rank Otherworldly Species’ magical wave is complete! Video acquired!”
“Dimensional species mana wave analysis complete! Video acquired!”
The operator team leader, who was typing away at the keyboard alone to the left of the Association President’s seat, reports to Ichiro.
“Location?”
Ichiro asks.
“Tokyo Bay artificial island, right in front of Shuo Hero Academy! I will stream the video to the main monitor!”
With the operator team’s urgent voice, a blurry video appears on the main monitor.
Thanks to the overwhelming mana shockwave, the surveillance equipment is disrupted, resulting in a video full of noise.
A monstrous form with seven heads and two pairs of wings emerges above the violently churning waves.
“Kyaaaaaaaaa!”
A chilling roar flows from the main monitor.
[Crackle, crackle, thud.]
The video cuts out amidst the noise.
Ichiro’s expression hardens.
“President, this is…”
Sojiro Nakayama trails off with a serious expression.
“There’s no doubt about it. It’s an Omega rank dimensional species.”
Ichiro’s face stiffens.
The last appearance of an Omega rank dimensional species was ten years ago in France.
Back then, the Omega rank gate had unleashed the Omega rank dimensional species, Fafnir, which had driven France, already a hero nation rivaling Japan, to the brink of destruction.
If it weren’t for the sacrifice of the Black Prince, Raul Napoleon Bonaparte, a member of the Five Crowns, and if NATO hadn’t mobilized heroes from Europe and the United States, at least France would have perished that day.
“The king of the dimensional species, capable of destroying an entire nation just by existing, has shown up in Japan, right in front of Shuo Academy…”
Ichiro’s eyebrows twitch.
Beneath Shuo Hero Academy lies a top-secret underground ruin known as Broken World, unknown even to ordinary citizens and many heroes.
The source of the meridian covering the entire world.
A spring from which infinite mana flows.
A vast power that, depending on its use, could annihilate the world must not fall into the hands of a dimensional species.
It must be stopped at all costs.
That wasn’t all.
“Rin, my beloved daughter is in danger!”
Rin, the daughter cherished by the Association President, is at Shuo Hero Academy.
His benefactor, Kim Deok-Sung, was also there, as well as his rival, the Son of the Sword Master, Kurosawa Yuji.
And there were hero candidates responsible for Japan’s future as well.
They must be protected.
“I’m issuing a Code Red.”
Code Red.
The highest-level command issued by the Japan Hero Association when an Omega rank gate or Omega rank monster appears, declaring a national crisis.
Gathering heroes from both the association and defense companies.
The operator team paused momentarily at the first Code Red declared since the great disaster.
“Code Red issued! Code Red issued!”
“I hereby declare the mobilization of heroes in the name of the association!”
The command room quickly returns to busy activity.
Seeing this, Ichiro stands up.
“I will contact the President directly. Let’s go, Sojiro.”
Ichiro’s gaze is fixed on the Omega rank dimensional species on the monitor.
“To Shuo Hero Academy.”
“Understood, President.”
Ichiro leaves, heading towards Shuo Hero Academy.
*
“Junior! Please collapse for my ambitions! Ugh!”
Bang!
Senior Kasumi unexpectedly fires a purple mana orb at me while saying something nonsensical.
Amidst the chaotic cavalry battle, just as I’m taken aback by Senior Kasumi’s sudden attack…
“Deok-Sung, I will protect you, your future wife! Haah!”
An ice wall rises beneath me with a battle cry.
Rin is using her freezing gift.
Crack! Boom!
The mana orb collides with the ice wall.
At the moment the ice wall shatters with a deafening sound.
Chilling.
Chilling.
A sinister energy strikes my entire body.
A sense of threat I’ve never felt before jolts my instincts and senses.
[Partner······.]
The Black Prince speaks in my mind.
Every hair on my body stands on end.
[Something is coming. It’s the same feeling I had right before I died······.]
Just as the Black Prince said that.
Beeeeeeeee!
The buzzer announcing the end of the match blares.
Along with it, the students instinctively halt.
“Did the match just end out of nowhere…?”
“Eri, this feels ominous.”
“Ughhh…”
Rin, Eri, and Makoto, who were supporting me, mutter anxiously.
They weren’t the only ones.
Students buzzed with confusion at the sudden buzzer.
But I wasn’t flustered.
I had sensed it ever since the Black Prince spoke earlier.
New World League.
They had, after all, committed an act of terror during the Sports Festival cavalry competition, just like in the original story.
The problem was the identity of the enemy.
[Attention all students and staff of Shuo Hero Academy, as well as esteemed guests. An Omega Rank otherworldly being has appeared 500 meters in front of Shuo Hero Academy. As of this moment, all competitions are to be halted, and we ask you to follow the directives of the instructors. We repeat······.]
My face hardened upon hearing the subsequent emergency broadcast.
Omega Rank otherworldly being.
A being that only appears in Volume 15 of the original.
A monster that requires multiple EX Rank heroes to deal with.
Like a giant monster from disaster movies, it’s a living calamity.
It was a piece sent by New World League to Ivan Antonov, who schemed to instigate a Third World War in the original story.
And now, such an Omega Rank otherworldly being is appearing?
A monster that could only be stopped if the association issues a full-scale mobilization order is already here?
“Omega Rank otherworldly being?”
“What the heck?”
“Suddenly in front of the academy?”
Voices of the buzzing students filled the main arena with anxiety.
[······Partner. Be careful.]
A surprisingly calm voice of the Black Prince resonates in my head.
It’s not something I want to hear from a guy, but I can’t simply ignore it.
‘Don’t worry.’
Still, I couldn’t disregard him.
[Okay. Partner. If something happens, this Black Prince will help you, so just relax.]
Relax, my foot.
Ignoring the following words of the Black Prince, I spoke to Rin, Makoto, and Eri, who were carrying me.
“Let’s get down for now.”
We can’t continue the cavalry competition like this.
“Got it, Deok-Sung.”
“Understood, Master.”
“Okay, my lord······.”
Rin, Eri, and Makoto nodded and gently set me down.
“Civilians, please evacuate to the designated shelters! Students, gather in the main arena by class!”
From afar, Mayuzumi-sensei held a megaphone, sorting everyone according to the manual.
It was the same reaction as when the Omega Rank otherworldly being appeared in the original story.
As I swallowed hard, at that moment.
[Crackle, crackle······.]
Static echoed from the speakers.
[Tap, tap.]
I heard the sound of something hitting the microphone.
My brows furrowed.
[Ah, hello? To all the students of Shuo. And to the esteemed······.]
A voice I’ve never heard before, yet somehow familiar, reaches my ears.
[······Teacher Seira.]
Teacher Seira?
My brows furrow deeper.
Then that means the owner of this voice is······.
[Your student, Professor.]
It was indeed him.
Professor.
The traitorous student who betrayed Yoshizaki Seira.
Ranked third in New World League, responsible for famine from Four Horsemen.
The true identity of the culprit behind the Shuo Hero Academy Sports Festival terror I had been worried about had finally been revealed.
The culprit behind the Hero Academy Sports Festival terror has finally revealed their true identity.
[Of all people… ]
The voice of the Black Prince echoes in my head.
“Ugh…”
I hear someone next to me biting their lip.
It’s Seira.
Dressed in a gym uniform, she has her head down, fists trembling violently.
Seira’s red gaze meets mine.
[Partner.]
The Black Prince speaks in my mind.
[Our dear sister, at least hold her hand.]
Seira’s eyes quiver.
I can see her hands shaking uncontrollably.
[In the name of this Black Prince, I’m asking you, just this once.]
The Black Prince pleads.
This isn’t the Black Prince’s usual personality.
Damn it.
With the stakes this high, I have no choice.
Sighing internally, I reach for Seira’s hand.
“Y-young lady…”
Seira mutters softly.
Her face turns beet red at that moment.
Zzzzt.
Amidst the noise, the Professor’s voice comes over the broadcast.
*
At the same time.
On the rooftop of the Old School Building at Shuo Hero Academy.
There he stood.
A handsome man with dark gray hair slicked back, wearing glasses and squinting.
The Professor.
Flap.
His gray coat billows in the autumn breeze.
One of his glasses reflects the view of the main arena of Shuo Hero Academy.
I can even see Seira inside.
Seira holds hands with Kim Deok-Sung.
The face of the mentor flushes like that of a teenage girl.
“…”
The Professor bites his lip.
That role was meant for him.
As the mentor’s disciple, he was supposed to be the one, like a son or brother.
A dark emotion rises within him.
Why is the mentor turning a blind eye to his great cause?
[… Jude, I still care for you. But the path you’ve chosen… that New World is clearly wrong.]
When he stabbed the mentor’s heart with the pain of betrayal and spoke of the New World.
Seira’s response echoes in the Professor’s ears.
The Professor’s hands tremble.
He can’t stop here.
To restore everything to the way it was.
To give his mentor happiness.
To reclaim his place, Operation Dragon must continue.
The Professor moistens his cracked lips and broadcasts his voice throughout Shuo Academy via the Bluetooth earpiece.
“Cutting to the chase, I’ll get right to the point. Mentor, please come to the Old School Building. Whether you come alone or with others, I don’t care, but in the face of the Omega Rank otherworldly being, Apocalypse Red Dragon, I don’t think you would choose to divide your strength just to face me. Because…”
The Professor believed in his mentor.
He believed in her extraordinarily kind personality.
An Omega Rank otherworldly being.
In the presence of a monster able to contemplate the destruction of Japan, his mentor would not choose to dilute her strength for him.
She would definitely come alone.
“…because you’re a Five Crowns.”
His mentor is a hero.
In this false world, a hero is a being that sacrifices the individual for the sake of the greater good, to protect everyone, making them a tragic existence.
That’s why the Professor unleashed the Omega Rank otherworldly being into Tokyo Bay.
“I’ll be waiting. At the Old School Building. Master Seira.”
Clap.
The Professor cuts off the broadcast.
His heart races.
It’s soon.
Very soon, he will meet his mentor.
The view of Shuo Hero Academy reflects in the Professor’s glasses.
