BFBG 22

Chapter 22

Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately depending on how you look at it—

A situation where two beings at the absolute top tier of the world’s power clashed with full force did not occur.

Actually, it was only natural.

Since this was inside the academy grounds, Heneta couldn’t fight properly out of concern for students getting caught in the crossfire.

And Reaper probably didn’t want to fight in this situation either.

‘Judging by Heneta’s expression… she definitely didn’t realize Reaper and I were having a private conversation just now.’

Right now, Heneta only sees me as a hostage.

Then there’s no need to do anything else.

He just has to release me naturally and leave.

‘But is there even a natural way to let me go in this situation? It’d be weird to suddenly release me in this setup.’

If he freed me unnaturally here, Heneta would become suspicious.

What could he do to release me naturally without arousing suspicion?

“It wasn’t part of the plan for you to discover this scene, but… well, our objective’s already been accomplished. I suppose it’s fine.”

At that moment, Reaper suddenly pushed me forward.

…What is he trying to do?

“Then I’ll be going now. Until next time. We’ll meet again if the opportunity comes.”

“…You think I’ll let you escape?”

“You’ll have no choice but to.”

Reaper smiled faintly.

Then poured a massive amount of mana into me.

[Countdown to Death has been activated.]

[Countdown set to 10 seconds.]

[After 10 seconds pass, you will experience ‘Death’.]

‘This insane bastard…?’

Countdown to Death.

A planted instant-kill skill.

Sure, if he used this skill, nobody would suspect me…

But—

No matter what, isn’t this way too extreme?

What if Heneta can’t remove it?!

“I planted a time bomb inside this student.”

“You crazy bastard…!”

The exact words I was saying internally came out of Heneta’s mouth.

“If you want to chase after me, go ahead. Though if you do…”

“This student will die.”

Those were Reaper’s last words before he threw me into the air.

[Countdown: 10, 9, 8.]

The countdown began immediately.

“Well then.”

Reaper moved in the opposite direction from where he’d thrown me.

“Damn you…!”

Heneta looked once at Reaper growing distant, then at me.

She ground her teeth together before rushing toward me.

[7, 6.]

“Stay still! Don’t move your mana unnecessarily! Don’t even breathe!”

Following Heneta’s orders, I completely halted my mana and stopped breathing altogether.

“Good. Stay exactly like that!”

Then she placed a hand on my body.

And poured in mana.

Unlike Reaper’s mana, which evoked death itself, this was a pure crimson mana—clean and noble in color.

Her mana flowed into me.

It circulated through my entire body as though scanning it.

Then gathered around my heart.

[4.]

About three seconds had passed.

[3.]

And with only the final three seconds remaining—

“Damn it all…!”

Apparently, the removal wasn’t complete yet.

Heneta cursed.

I realized instantly.

‘If I stay still like this, I’ll die.’

Heneta wouldn’t make it in time.

I had to do something.

‘Heneta is trying to suppress Countdown to Death with brute force and destroy the skill’s structure.’

Then I could help.

‘The issue is simply the amount of mana.’

I replayed the movement pattern of Heneta’s mana inside my body.

Then added my own mana, as though reinforcing the mana gathered around my heart.

“You. Stay still—!”

At first, Heneta was startled that I’d ignored instructions and moved my mana.

But then she realized my mana had perfectly fused with hers.

And stopped speaking.

“You… how did… no. Right now…”

As my mana combined with hers—

The dismantling of Countdown to Death accelerated.

[2, 1.]

Then, with exactly one second remaining—

‘Please… break!’

Centered around my heart, the aura of death, my mana, and Heneta’s mana violently collided.

Piiiiiiiiing!

A ringing noise spread out from my heart.

And the energy of death shattered apart and began disappearing.

[Countdown to Death has been removed.]

“Done…”

Then Reaper’s mana was expelled from my body and melted away into the air.

Feeling it vanish, I let out a sigh of relief.

“…Hoo.”

Heneta also seemed tense; cold sweat dripped down her forehead.

As for me, thanks to my EX-rank Mentality, I didn’t get nervous enough to break into a sweat.

‘Seriously…’

That bastard Reaper.

If I hadn’t stepped in, I would’ve actually died.

At this point, wasn’t he genuinely trying to kill me?

‘No… maybe he simply trusted that if I were really Jeyraon, I’d remove it myself even in the worst-case scenario…’

If I had truly been Jeyraon, Countdown to Death would never have activated in the first place.

Even in the worst situation, Jeyraon could’ve dismantled it himself.

‘Considering Jeyraon’s mana control, cooperating like I just did would’ve been effortless for him.’

If I assume I’m actually Jeyraon, planting Countdown to Death is effectively zero risk.

That’s why Reaper could do it without hesitation.

‘Anyway, I survived.’

The process was utterly ridiculous.

But since the outcome was good, I should just accept it.

Besides, things being awful during the process has always been normal.

“Hoo…”

Just as I was letting out a long breath of relief, grateful to be alive—

“You!”

“…!”

Heneta suddenly shoved her face close enough that our noses nearly touched.

And stared directly into my eyes.

“Just now—you saw how I moved my mana and copied it exactly because you thought, ‘Oh, this should work.’ Right?”

The distinctive red eyes of a Red Dragon filled my vision.

I never thought I’d look into someone’s eyes and think this, but—

They looked like unbelievably expensive gemstones.

“I asked if I’m right! Answer!”

“Ah, yes. That’s corre—”

Her eyes came even closer.

Our noses had touched a while ago.

At this rate, our lips might touch next…

“So I’m right! And when you added your mana to mine, you observed the mana moving inside your body, understood my mana’s inherent properties, and altered your own mana so it could merge with mine?”

“Yes. That’s ri—”

“Oh my! You adorable thing!”

The principal hugged me immediately.

“Where did such a treasure come from? You—you’re a first-year student this year, right? What’s your name? How long have you studied magic?”

Suddenly, I recalled the principal’s settings in the game.

Former Red Dragon Lord.

Current Last Dragon and principal of Garam Academy.

What Heneta loves most is students of Garam Academy.

The second thing she loves most is seeds of potential.

In other words, dazzling talent.

To put it simply—

“You. Did you apply for a scholarship? If not, do it immediately. No, forget that. I’ll apply for you myself.”

She was obsessively fond of talented students.

“So Heneta suddenly appeared and I wondered how things would turn out… but somehow, it ended well?”

After escaping the academy, Reaper was greeted by Yodala.

“…Yodala.”

“Oh my. Look at your expression. Isn’t that face way too scary?”

Even Yodala had never seen Reaper look like this.

“I understand. You already acted disrespectfully toward Master, and then added another offense by planting Countdown to Death.”

His anger was probably directed toward himself.

If Reaper hadn’t doubted Master, he wouldn’t have gone to apologize today.

If he hadn’t gone—

He wouldn’t have run directly into Heneta.

And he wouldn’t have used Countdown to Death on Master.

“It’s okay. Master will understand. Master couldn’t have predicted Heneta returning then either.”

Considering Heneta’s personality, Endrich’s abilities, and the peculiar nature of Endrich’s territory—

Heneta’s return should’ve been tomorrow at the earliest.

That’s why Reaper had confidently gone to see Master today.

“If it were current Master, maybe Master would even praise you for handling that variable well…”

“Yodala.”

Reaper called her name again in an icy voice.

“I’m not angry at myself right now.”

His eyes became even colder.

“The reason I’m angry isn’t because I offended Master twice.”

“It’s because I realized there’s a traitor among the executives who betrayed Master.”

“…A traitor?”

Yodala asked in confusion.

“Think carefully. According to our calculations, Heneta should’ve returned tomorrow at the earliest.”

“Right.”

“But she came back today. Why?”

Even recalculating, the possibility of Heneta returning today approached zero.

“Well… why indeed? If Heneta returned today, she must’ve started preparing to escape at least twelve hours ago. And twelve hours ago she would’ve still been near the entrance…”

Heneta’s personality.

Giving up midway and retreating?

After being furious at Endrich?

Impossible.

“There’s only one answer. Someone inside Black Night leaked information to Heneta.”

Someone aware of the entire plan told Heneta:

“Black Night is trying to tie you down and do something inside the academy.”

That’s why Heneta returned impossibly early.

“We need to find that traitor.”

Reaper’s eyes filled with killing intent named “Death.”

Darkness spilled from them.

“Hmm. Sounds a bit like a leap in logic to me. But your instincts are usually right. So you’re probably correct.”

At times like this, Reaper’s intuition was frighteningly accurate.

Based on past experience—

There was a high chance a real traitor existed.

“Then only Master should be informed.”

If information spread carelessly and reached the traitor—

They might never find them.

Only Yodala, Reaper, and Master should know.

“There’s no need to report it. Master already noticed.”

There was no way Master missed what Reaper noticed.

“True. You’re right.”

Yodala accepted immediately.

“…A rat inside, huh. Now I’m irritated too. To betray after receiving Master’s grace?”

Her pupils split vertically like a snake’s.

“Whoever it is, they should become snake food, like the rat they are.”

“No. I’ll kill them.”

“Slowly.”

“I’ll make each individual cell die one by one.”

“Oh. That’s better. Fine, I’ll leave them to you.”

Killing someone cell by cell.

Just imagining it was thrilling.

“So how’ll you investigate? Doing everything alone like usual?”

“No. This time I’ll accept some help.”

Yodala looked surprised.

“What’s this? Usually even if the world flipped upside down, you’d insist on handling everything yourself.”

“…The situation is what it is.”

“And I realized something.”

A small realization.

Was trying to solve everything alone actually arrogance?

Even the great Master didn’t do everything alone.

“Never thought I’d say this, but… I kind of like the current you. You’ve got a tiny bit—just a tiny bit—of Master’s vibe.”

Leadership.

The quality of someone who could manage people.

A faint pressure unique to those who stand above others.

“Too much praise.”

Though Reaper said that, his expression loosened slightly.

“So then, Yodala. I’d like to ask you to investigate the single-digit ranked executives.”

“Ranks 1 through 9. Excluding you and me, that’s seven people. Fine, I’ll investigate.”

“Yes. If you need cooperation or background checks…”

.

.

.

[The seed of the Final Boss planted inside Reaper begins to sprout little by little.]

Afterward—

The principal dragged me to the principal’s office.

“So. You were Jian Belomata.”

The principal nodded as if things finally made sense.

“The vice principal said an extraordinary genius had enrolled, so I had expectations. But I never imagined this level.”

Heneta looked at me like she was admiring a precious jewel.

‘She likes me even more than in the game…’

As mentioned before, Heneta likes talented students.

And in the game, players usually start with overwhelming talent.

That’s why Heneta shows enormous favor toward the player from the beginning.

But even in the game, it wasn’t to this extent.

Does that mean my current talent surpasses all the playable characters I used before?

“But there’s one thing I’m curious about.”

Heneta smiled.

Was it my imagination?

Her smile felt strangely frightening.

“According to the vice principal, Jian Belomata was already complete as a swordsman…”

“And only recently took his first step into magic.”

Her smile deepened.

Then she slowly continued.

“Maybe I’m mistaken…”

“But you don’t look like a swordsman to me.”

For an instant—

My heart dropped.