Chapter 82

Kaina, who was staring at Pierbo who had been knocked out for a moment, said in an embarrassed voice.

“Um…… I am sorry, but could you trouble yourself once more, Student Darc?”

Ultimately, Roan had to treat Pierbo for a third time.

— Uaaah! Darc!

— Damn it, if only I were slightly more proficient in healing holy arts!

— I am sorry!

Naturally, the watching students made a fuss again.

Roan listened to those sorrowful voices, swallowing the anger rising inside him.

‘If you are so sorry, study hard normally!’

***

“Ugh…… Just when on earth is this class going to end.”

Pierbo, who suffered excruciating pain again after receiving Roan’s style of treatment, staggered up.

‘I wonder about that too.’

Roan also wanted to agree with his words, but for now, he whispered in the lowest and most threatening voice possible.

“Launch the easiest and simplest attack to deflect. That way, we can finish this with the least amount of pain.”

It was a fight where neither side stood to gain anything by revealing everything.

It was easier to coordinate beforehand.

“……I understand. Even I recognize a savior.”

Since Pierbo was also a black mage skilled in underhanded tricks, he quietly accepted Roan’s proposal.

“Now, if you have gathered your senses, Student Darc, come back!”

The two exchanged one last glance and stood in their respective positions.

‘Still, I shouldn’t make it look too staged.’

Roan roughly planned out the practice.

If he immediately used a strike after merely deflecting the basic attack magic launched by Pierbo, it was highly likely that Kaina would not be satisfied.

Especially since there was a reason she had assigned the practice to Roan in the first place.

On the other hand, it made even less sense to target the blind spots by flashily using movement techniques like Kaina.

‘After blocking the attack, bind his movement with a curse and then strike.’

That would be the most efficient, and it would look as if he was moderately venting his anger.

Holy punishment arts, which packaged curse magic, were perceived as just as brutal even among priests.

Meanwhile, Pierbo was having his own thoughts as he faced Roan.

‘Whew, he looks brutal.’

Of course, Roan did not have scars or tattoos all over his face like him.

Rather, if one looked closely, he had a handsome face, but the natural vibe radiating from him was enough to make even Pierbo feel slightly intimidated.

‘What a waste. If he were a black mage instead of a priest, he would have completely controlled the back alleys of a few decent cities.’

……If Roan had heard it, he would have been appalled, but Pierbo was thinking such thoughts without a care.

In any case, that was Pierbo’s impression of Roan.

Gratitude toward his savior?

As mentioned before, Pierbo was extremely skilled in underhanded tricks.

‘If I cared about such things, I wouldn’t have become a black mage in the first place, kid!’

There was no way Pierbo, who had burned down several villages and kidnapped children to use for experiments, would possess such feelings.

Rather, since he was facing a student, he intended to inflict at least a serious injury.

Even better if he could kill him.

‘If he’s going to let his guard down on his own, I’m grateful.’

Pierbo chuckled inwardly and created the Black Arrow he had used in the demonstration with Professor Kaina.

Although it looked identical to that time on the outside.

Swish─

‘Kekeke…… This is my, Pierbo’s, special Black Arrow.’

It was a modified version that would detonate grandly upon impact, scattering shrapnel all around.

Glance─

As the Black Arrow appeared above Pierbo’s head, Kaina turned her head and examined it closely.

‘D-Did she notice?’

Pierbo was startled for a moment, but fortunately, Kaina let it pass without saying anything.

‘Right. How could she recognize this? Even if she is the Demon Inquisitor Kaina, she is just a stupid inquisitor.’

No matter how great a heretic inquisitor she was, she wouldn’t be able to notice the subtle shift in black magic energy.

In particular, Pierbo had done his absolute best to ensure that the modification wasn’t noticeable.

Wearing a fishy smirk, Pierbo said to Roan.

“Are you ready, kid? Don’t cry when you get hit.”

— Boo! You black mage bastard!

— You’re the one who shouldn’t cry after being beaten by Darc!

— Darc is far more brutal than the likes of you!

‘……Is that a compliment?’

Listening quietly, Roan tilted his head.

Although the crowd was in a frenzy, Pierbo didn’t even bat an eye.

For black mages, the jeering and fear of the public were nothing but a pleasant thrill.

……Or so the crazy black mage Pierbo thought to himself.

Meanwhile, Roan felt a slight mismatch as he looked at Pierbo’s Black Arrow.

‘That’s a bit different, isn’t it?’

No matter how he looked at it, it did not possess the energy of a basic Black Arrow.

It was clearly modified.

Hummm─

His false divinity vibrated lightly as if in agreement.

Roan cast a sidelong glance at Kaina.

Kaina, who was staring at Pierbo for a moment, had no particular reaction.

‘Is it fine?’

Since Kaina possessed an astonishing sensitivity to black magic, she would have stopped it if it were dangerous.

Contrary to Pierbo’s expectations, those who had fought black mages while crossing the line between life and death like Kaina could smell black magic incredibly well.

Roan nodded toward Pierbo.

“Whenever you are ready.”

Summoned in one hand was the basic strike skill ‘Skeleton Soldier’s Club’ using black mana.

Pierbo immediately launched the Black Arrow, slightly lowering its speed.

‘How is it? Since it’s slow, it looks like I went easy on you, right?’

Although the speed was relatively slow, it was still fast for a student to dodge.

If he tried to block it with that club, he would get seriously hurt.

Because the Black Arrow, packed with Pierbo’s dirty tricks, would instantly detonate a basic strike skill like that.

“?”

However, even though Roan clearly saw the Black Arrow flying toward him with both eyes, he did not show any movement.

‘Was he only good at healing holy arts?’

While Pierbo was thinking that, the Black Arrow slammed straight into Roan’s chest.

Booom─!

With that level of explosion, it was bound to be instant death.

However.

Tap, tap─

“W-What?!”

Despite the exploding Black Arrow slamming into his chest, Roan began to run toward Pierbo completely unscathed.

No, had he deflected it with his summoned club instead, Pierbo wouldn’t have been this shocked.

He deflected a modified magic spell with his bare body?

Was his Black Arrow so weak that it would be deflected by a cloth school uniform instead of armor?

While it was a shocking matter to Pierbo, an attack of this level was no different from a toothpick to Roan.

‘I even deflected Gulba’s axe!’

Although the level of urgency was different from back then, this attack was still too weak and slow.

‘More than that, so he committed this kind of stunt…….’

As expected, he shouldn’t have trusted a black mage like Pierbo.

Even though he had proposed the deal out of consideration!

While Pierbo was panicking, Kaina barked.

“Trash! Unless you are looking down on Darc, clash with everything you have!”

It meant he should launch as much as he wanted without worrying about her.

‘That crazy inquisitor! She knew and still let it slide……?’

What kind of professor in the world would know of such danger and say nothing to the student?

Pierbo, stunned, created three or four more exploding Black Arrows and fired them at Roan.

They were much faster and sharper than before.

Dash─

However, Roan, who was tempered by numerous mountain climbs, closed the distance with Pierbo quite rapidly.

Although it wasn’t a mysterious movement skill like Kaina’s, it was a sufficiently aggressive movement.

In an instant, the Black Arrows rushed in on Roan.

Bam-bam-bam──!

This time as well, Roan didn’t even swing his club, but deflected them by utilizing Gulba’s defense technique.

Although the explosions and shrapnel were slightly annoying, there was no strain on the defense itself.

In the first place, since the quality of Roan’s black mana was incomparably superior to Pierbo’s, he was in a much more advantageous position.

At the same time, he cast a curse magic spell to prevent Pierbo from moving.

‘Rotten Hand of the Dead!’

It was the Rotten Hand of the Dead he had used to stop Vulcan.

If Pierbo had quietly accepted his proposal, Roan had intended to end it with just paralysis, but even a good deed was useless if the recipient rejected it.

‘Rotten Hand of the Dead! Rotten Hand of the Dead! Rotten Hand of the Dead! Rotten Hand of the Dead!’

Five hands burst from the ground and grabbed Pierbo’s limbs.

“Ugh, aah, aaaaaah── Aaaagh!!!”

That alone was enough.

— W-What is that?

Since Pierbo’s reaction was so wretched, the students were startled.

“Oh. Is that a holy punishment art?”

At the same time, a glint of surprise flashed in Professor Kaina’s eyes.

Not only was he already utilizing Professor Gulba’s signature defense technique excellently in real combat.

But he was even using a holy punishment art he hadn’t even had a class on yet.

‘I heard he frequently visits the library after school, but to think he even self-taught that…….’

Kaina could never have imagined that he was taking classes from Tady, the Lord of the Dead Forest.

…Of course, Roan had used the specific magic on his own.

‘Still, holy punishment arts are dangerous, so I should tell him to refrain from them.’

Had Roan heard it, his reaction would have been ‘Look who’s talking!’.

Because it was not something a professor who beat a teaching aid with a hammer with all her might should say.

Meanwhile, Pierbo, the victim of the curse, shrieked continuously from the unimaginable pain.

“W-What is this—finish this lightly—! Argh! What kind of holy punishment art is this! It’s a curse!!!”

Pierbo had been subjected to holy punishment arts at the time of his arrest.

It was absolutely not this level of pain.

Rather, this pain was similar to when one was hit by a curse in a fight between fellow black mages.

He was correct.

But everyone else merely dismissed it as the nonsense of a criminal black mage.

“Stop exaggerating! You bastard!”

Of course, Roan felt a surge of anger hearing Pierbo’s words.

Vulcan had charged forward normally even after being hit by that curse dozens of times, so wasn’t he exaggerating way too much for just five hits?

Furthermore, babbling about a curse was definitely a drag-down tactic to somehow pull him down with him.

Moreover, since the one who threw away the proposal was Pierbo himself, Roan had a clear conscience.

Roan increased his speed a bit more and closed in on Pierbo in an instant.

‘I need to shut his mouth completely!’

No one had noticed yet, but there was nothing good in letting him blabber further.

Roan vigorously swung the Skeleton Soldier’s Club in his hand.

Thwack─

Along with a cheerful cracking sound, Pierbo’s front teeth flew through the air.

“Ack! You…… you definitely…….”

Just as Pierbo was about to be dumbfounded by the unimaginable one-sided situation and Roan’s absurd skill.

‘This bastard is trying to add collusion charges to my list!’

Roan swung the club once more.

Thwack─! Whack! Crack─!

In any case, nothing good came of letting a black mage open their mouth.

‘A good black mage is only a dead blac……’

‘Ah, that’s not it.’

At any rate, a club once swung did not stop easily.

On top of that, Roan added appropriate commentary (?) in between.

“You black mage who deserves to be torn to shreds! Because of bastards like you……!”

He had simply trailed off because he was out of breath, but to those listening, it was different.

— That Darc is about to cry…….

— Hey, would you be fine if you were in his shoes?

The students, as well as the holy knights, were completely immersed as if they were watching a revenge scene from a touching movie.

Even Kaina was on the verge of feeling a bit choked up.

‘As expected, it was a good idea to let you practice, Darc!’

Thus, Pierbo, beaten by Roan’s club, collapsed again.

Thud─

“Ugh…… You are also the same……”

Pierbo tried to express his sense of betrayal that Roan was just the same as the other priests.

‘What? The same? A fellow black mage?’

Thwack─ Whack!

Thanks to that, he had to take a couple more hits from Roan.

When the practice ended like that, Kaina clapped her hands to bring it to a complete close.

“Splendid, Student Darc! At this rate, you’d be able to slaughter any half-baked black mages you encounter out there~”

Roan, who was panting as he looked down at Pierbo, was slightly taken aback by those words.

‘I only did this because this bastard was trying to snitch on me…….’

Although it was also because he had fired a cheeky Black Arrow.

He had absolutely no intention of beating up black mages who lived good lives.