I Became The Academy’s Joker Character

Chapter 35

—–CROW—– 

Around the time Eleanor and her party were clashing with the [Hades King], Alexios opened his eyes, greeted by a chilling coldness.

“Hello, Alexios. Are you alright?”

“…”

Alexios closed his eyes again to gather his thoughts. He remembered abandoning his party members and charging at Oz, and his eventual defeat. He remained silent, observing his surroundings until he grasped the current situation.  Once he had, Alexios addressed the most pressing matter.

“Arieta, stop talking like that. It’s creepy.”

“Mean.”

Perhaps due to the memories from the monastery, Arieta’s tone felt awkward to Alexios.

“I wasn’t expecting a lap pillow, but couldn’t you at least have put a cloak under my head?”

“One is mine, and the other is from Oz, so no.”

“…You’re seriously ill too.”

Alexios sighed at the Saintess’s bare face.  How could *this* be the Saintess, a source of comfort for people? To Alexios, she looked like nothing more than a whining child. It felt like he had gained another annoying little sister.

“Why did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Why did you hate Oz so much?”

“Well…”

The simplest answer would be “just because.” But it wasn’t an issue that could be defined so easily. Alexios knew. Oz wasn’t that cruel. Even if he didn’t consider them family, Alexios had.

“Maybe because I didn’t understand.”

“Me neither.”

Arieta lowered her head. She couldn’t understand why Oz was distancing himself from her. He didn’t seem to dislike her, so she couldn’t understand why he was pulling away.

“It’s a bit different for me.”

Alexios grumbled at Arieta, then continued in a lower voice.

“Just what is he thinking?”

Looking at Arieta’s dejected form, Alexios tried to gauge Oz’s intentions.

‘Why did he distance himself from everything?’

Hadn’t everything started with Oz leaving the monastery to get Arieta back?  So why was he distancing himself from even Arieta? Was it really necessary? Until now, he had thought it was Oz’s belief, waiting until he fulfilled his promise.

‘But by what standard?’

But Oz was distancing himself from everything. Not just him, but Arieta too.  But some were different.  He couldn’t understand the criteria.  If it was strength or status, there was no need to ignore Alexios.  He could take down the rest of Oz’s party members single-handedly, excluding Oz himself.

“You’re lucky, Alexios. At least you settled things with Oz.”

“Well… I’m not sure if it’s really settled.”

At Arieta’s complaint, Alexios’s doubts deepened. Why now?  Alexios had challenged Oz countless times. But each time, all he received was the bitter humiliation of defeat and Oz’s attitude of distancing himself from everything. But something had changed.

“Hey, Alexios.  What happened with Oz?”

“…”

“It’s not just because of what happened before, is it?”

Lies didn’t work on the Saintess. Alexios sighed, seemingly troubled.

Yes, he had to tell someone eventually.

“I tried to understand. I knew I was weak and useless back then.  So, until recently, it was more like a challenge.”

“Yeah, I know, I’ve seen and heard things. But…”

“…”

Alexios seemed to swallow the words he was about to say. He was worried about saying it to Arieta, who liked Oz.  After hesitating for a while, Alexios finally voiced his doubts to Arieta.

“I…”

This outburst was just a trigger. He had heard such contempt and disregard hundreds of times in his life.  If he couldn’t endure that much, he wouldn’t have become the [Fist King].  The reason he held animosity towards Oz wasn’t that.

“I thought… he might have killed Master.”

It was suspicion.

“What…?”

“That’s why I couldn’t even defend myself when my fellow disciples, who thought I killed Master, chased me out.”

“What are you talking about…?”

“How many mages do you think could kill Master?”

Alexios had fled to Scientia, framed for the death of his master, the previous [Fist King].  The reason he became the prime suspect was because he had remained silent despite witnessing his master’s killer.

“The one who killed Master was around my age.”

Alexios had believed in Oz.  That’s why he had remained silent.  He couldn’t say anything until he was certain.

“He was wearing a mask, but he had a similar build to Oz, with black hair and sky-blue eyes.”

But the situation was too suspicious.  The timing was too perfect.  The time when Alexios wasn’t with his master, the previous [Fist King].  The exact time he had gone to challenge Oz and returned.  He had walked back, but Oz had a more efficient means of transportation: magic. Teleportation was a high-level spell, but Oz, the [Successor of the Mage King], could likely use it. But even ignoring all that, there was something he couldn’t help but suspect.

“The one who killed Master said this.”

The black-haired man, standing amidst a pool of his master’s blood, spoke in the same voice as Oz.

“-Too late. You’re still foolish and useless, Alexios.”

Cold, sky-blue eyes within the expressionless mask.  The same color as the eyes that had looked down on him with such arrogance, crushing his dignity. Those words felt like a dagger piercing his heart.

“I didn’t think Oz was the culprit, but…”

Seeing Oz crushing a professor who looked like a martial artist during practice, the suspicion resurfaced.  That’s why his frustration and suspicion had built up, leading to his outburst.

“He’s definitely hiding something from us.”

With those words, Alexios sat up. He decided to bury his doubts for now.  Considering Oz’s performance in this fight, he didn’t think Oz was the one who killed his master.

“More importantly, tell me, Arieta. What did he say before he left?”

“…He told us to follow slowly with Alexios.”

“What? He wasn’t protecting me, he was waiting to use me? He called me valuable before, but he changes his words all the time.”

“But I’m a valuable escort target.”

“Indeed you are.”

Following Alexios, Arieta, who had been kneeling demurely, slowly stood up. A considerable number of the dead were approaching them.

“I still can’t understand what that bastard is thinking.”

Alexios muttered, watching the [Hades King]’s soldiers appearing one by one from the forest.  A large army of zombies, ghouls, and skeletons, all dead from the .

“…How does he even predict these things?”

*Crack*—!

Along with Arieta’s song, the [Fist King]’s bombardment began.

* * *

I traversed the forest of the exam hall, searching for Marie. With [Observation], it wouldn’t take long.

“Li… ving… one…”

“Aren’t you a bit too fast for that sluggish speech?”

*Crack!*

I smashed the head of the dead, who looked like a slow zombie but swooped down like a hawk eyeing its prey.

“My, my, I wasn’t very gentlemanly.  My apologies.”

I was so startled that my fist flew out before my magic.  Fortunately, Arieta’s divine spell was still active, so I didn’t lack strength, but as a mage, my previous action wasn’t ideal.  Lately, it seemed like I was engaging in hand-to-hand combat more than using magic.  It wasn’t a good sign.  Wasn’t it barbaric?

“Li… ving… one…”

“Hah!”

*Crack!*

I crushed the joints of the zombie, which continued to reach out even with its head smashed. I was foolish to think it would stop with just a smashed head. Its brain was already rotten.

“There are more than I thought…”

The number of dead swarming towards me sent chills down my spine. I momentarily worried about leaving Arieta behind, but then realized I wasn’t in a position to worry about her.

“Should I have just abandoned Alexios?”

Arieta’s divine spell was only R-rank in terms of offensive power, but against the dead, it was unmatched. The dead, just by hearing Arieta’s song, would collapse on the spot. Her song was a form of salvation.  It was only natural, as those who had fallen into hell would look up to heaven.

Intermediate Magic

[Storm Blade]

I cut through the ribs of a skeleton rushing through the trees with a blade of wind, exposing its core.

*Bang!*

I crushed the core of the skeleton, which was leaning back, resisting the burst of wind.  With this, the skeleton’s soul should have returned to where it belonged, be it the Underworld or heaven.

“This is definitely more convenient.”

Arieta’s divine spell also enhanced my magical power, but mindlessly swinging my limbs was more convenient.  Until the effects of the divine spell wore off, I could probably get away with being a bit barbaric.

“No one’s watching me anyway…”

That was the biggest reason.  Despite appearances, I was quite conscious of how I appeared to others.  Even when casting trivial spells, I maintained a straight posture, so it was more comfortable when I didn’t have to worry about others’ gazes.

“Li… ving… one…!”

I grabbed the wrist of a new skeleton charging at me, seemingly seeking revenge for its comrade, and swung it at the other dead.  I had always wanted to try this.

*Crack!*

But it didn’t last long.  The skeleton’s joints were weaker than I thought, and it quickly came off.

“Oh dear… Well, whatever.”

It didn’t matter. The place was crawling with the dead, and half of them were skeletons. I had been hesitant to touch the zombie-type dead, so this was fine.

“Still, it’s better to conserve mana here.”

Intermediate Magic

[Stalagmite]

*Bang!*

I focused for a moment, then stomped my foot, casting the spell.  Stalagmites suddenly sprouted, restricting the movements of the dead swarming from all directions.  I could incapacitate the zombie and skeleton-type dead with just this spell. The problem was the higher-ranking undead, the commander-type.  A Death Knight and a Lich, observing the situation from amidst the horde.  They started to move.  Even for me, the higher-ranking undead were troublesome.  Moreover, the Lich was better at magic than I was. It was a high-ranking mage.

“How insulting.”

The Death Knight took position at the front, and the Lich at the rear, watching me warily.  It was hard to tell who the monsters were.

“But still…”

They were barely SR-rank. They were no match for me, with SSR-rank physical abilities thanks to Arieta’s divine spell.  I drew a spell formula in the air.  The Death Knight cautiously raised its shield and approached.  I wasn’t sure if it was a guardian or a warrior, but its reaction told me.

“A warrior? Then its durability must be lower than I thought.”

With overwhelming SSR-rank physical abilities, I snatched the shield from the Death Knight.

“Nice shield.”

Prejudice and carelessness.  These were the weapons I wielded best.

“Li… Huh? Hey, give that back.”

“Who took it? I’m just looking.”

The Death Knight, which had been sticking to its sluggish speech and the word “living one,” spoke fluently. But it seemed so dumbfounded that it froze, unable to comprehend the situation.  It was understandable.  Until just now, I had been casting spells, so it must have thought I was a mage.  Even though I had engaged in hand-to-hand combat, it was against low-level zombies and skeletons, so it probably couldn’t gauge my strength. It probably never imagined it would be higher than its own.

“The combination of warrior and mage isn’t as good as you might think.”

Being immune to allies’ magic was something that only happened in games, not in reality.  Magic could hurt even the caster at close range.  So, the combination of a warrior, with lower durability than a guardian and needing to get close to the enemy, and a mage was the worst possible combination. Of course, unless the warrior was specialized in ranged attacks like Alexios…

“You don’t have that ability, do you?”

“Gah?!”

If it had ranged attacks, it would have used them from the beginning.  But it had approached me.  Probably to buy time for the Lich to cast its magic. I pressed the borrowed shield against the Death Knight’s other arm, restricting its movement. Because of the close proximity and the size of the shield, the Death Knight couldn’t swing its sword properly.  Moreover, my strength far surpassed its own. If I pushed it towards the Lich like this—

“What…?!”

—the Lich would also be flustered.  It would hesitate whether to fire the high-level magic it had prepared. A Death Knight was a commander-level undead.  Recklessly sacrificing a high-ranking undead wasn’t a good idea.  The Lich would know that better than anyone. But it was also true that I was getting closer and closer. The Lich’s choice was obvious.

“Wait… Stop!”

It would blast both me and the Death Knight away with high-level magic before I got any closer.

“…Sorry, but I have no choice.”

The Lich finally cast its spell. I couldn’t see the Death Knight’s face because of its helmet, but I could sense its panic.  It probably never thought it would die like this.

“What?!”

Taking advantage of its panic, I lightly pushed the Death Knight away. This created some distance between us. Of course, this distance wasn’t enough to dodge a high-level spell.  But I had a way to block even high-level magic.

[Spatial Barrier Lv. 1]

I pushed the Death Knight away to create space for this.  [Spatial Barrier] enveloped my surroundings, so if the Death Knight had been too close, it would have been caught in the area of effect.  A moment later, the high-level magic cast from the Lich’s staff dyed the surrounding area red.  The high-level magic [Hellfire]. A spell with a relatively simple effect, but its firepower was among the top tier of high-level magic.

“Phew…”

The moment [Spatial Barrier] collided with the Lich’s [Hellfire], which reduced the Death Knight to ashes, it shattered into pieces.

“You lack the basics. A mage panicking and letting the enemy close the distance. That’s why you died at that level.”

“What…?! Impossible!”

The moment [Spatial Barrier] disappeared, I quickly dashed forward and grabbed the Lich’s face, slamming it into the ground.  Perhaps because it was a high-ranking undead, its durability was higher, and its head didn’t shatter like a skeleton’s.  But this was the end.  A mage couldn’t cast magic at close range.  They would die too.  But I was different.

[Mana Dominator Lv. 2]

[2/100 until guaranteed SSR-rank magic]

“W-Wait!”

[Gust Piercing]

*Crack!*

The magic cast right in front of the Lich pierced its skull, turning the ground upside down.

—–CROW—– 

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