BFBG 22

Chapter: 22

Should I call it fortunate?

At least the two strongest beings in the entire world didn’t end up fighting each other at full power.
Well… that outcome was natural.
Since we were still on academy grounds, Heneta couldn’t fight seriously without risking the students.
And Reaper wouldn’t want to pick a real fight under these circumstances either.

Judging from Heneta’s expression… she definitely hasn’t realized that Reaper and I were secretly talking just now.

Right now, Heneta sees me as nothing more than a simple hostage.
In that case, there’s nothing more Reaper needs to do—
he just needs to release me naturally and leave.

But how is he supposed to release me naturally in this situation?
Just letting me go outright would be suspicious.

If my release feels unnatural, Heneta will get suspicious.
How do we make her let me go without raising suspicion?

“Getting caught by you wasn’t part of the plan, but… well, we’ve already achieved our objective.
So it should be fine.”

Suddenly, Reaper pushed me forward.

…What is he trying to—

“Then I’ll be going now. Let’s meet again next time—if the chance comes.”
“You think I’ll just let you run?”
“You won’t have any choice.”

Reaper smiled faintly—
and flooded my body with mana.

[The Death Countdown has been activated.]
[Countdown set to 10 seconds.]
[Upon expiration, you will ‘perish.’]

This crazy bastard…?

The Death Countdown—
a planted instant-death skill.

Sure, using this would keep suspicion away from me…
but isn’t this going too far!?

What if Heneta can’t disable it in time!?

“I’ve implanted a time bomb inside this student.”
“You crazy bastard—!”

Heneta said exactly what I’d been thinking in my head.

“If you want to chase me, be my guest.
Of course, in that case… this student will die.”

With that, Reaper tossed me into the air.

[Countdown: 10, 9, 8…]

The countdown began.

“Well then. Farewell.”

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

“Damn bastard…!”

Heneta looked between the fleeing Reaper and falling me,
gritted her teeth hard enough to bleed, then rushed toward me.

[7, 6]

“Don’t move! Don’t circulate your mana! Don’t even breathe!”

I completely stopped my mana flow and held my breath just as she ordered.

“Good. Stay exactly like that!”

Heneta placed her hand on my body,
and injected mana into me—
not the ominous deathly mana like Reaper’s,
but a pure crimson mana that poured into me like living flame.

The mana scanned through my entire body,
then gathered toward my heart—

[4]

About three seconds had passed.

[3]

Only the last three seconds remained—

“Damn it…!”

She still hadn’t fully dispelled it.

I knew instinctively:

If I do nothing, I die.

Heneta wouldn’t make it in time.
I had to help.

Heneta’s trying to forcibly crush the skill structure with pure power.

If that’s the issue—
then I can assist.

What’s lacking is mana volume.

I replayed the exact path her mana took through my body
and added my own mana on top of the mana gathered at my heart.

“You— I told you not to mov—!”

At first, Heneta was startled that I was circulating mana despite her warning,
and tried to scold me—
but she stopped mid-sentence
when she realized my mana was resonating perfectly with hers.

“You— how did… no, later.”

My mana merged with hers—
and the release of the Death Countdown accelerated rapidly.

[2, 1]

With exactly one second left—

Please… dispel!

The death aura around my heart, Heneta’s mana, and my own mana
clashed violently—

Bzzzzzzzzz!

A ringing sound shook my chest,
and the death aura shattered like glass and began to dissipate.

[The Death Countdown has been dispelled.]

“It… worked.”

Reaper’s mana was expelled from my body and vanished into the air like mist.
I let out a long breath of relief.

“…Hoo.”

Heneta wiped cold sweat from her brow—
she must’ve been extremely tense.

I didn’t sweat, of course—
my Mental Rank EX made me incapable of that kind of nervous reaction.

Goddammit…

That bastard Reaper.
If I hadn’t stepped in, I would’ve actually died.
Did he seriously intend to kill me?

…No. If I were truly Zeiraon, I never would’ve let the countdown activate in the first place.
Worst case, Zeiraon could’ve just dispelled it himself.

Considering Zeiraon’s mastery over mana,
what I just did would’ve been trivial for him.

So from Reaper’s perspective,
implanting the countdown in Zeiraon was basically zero-risk.

Well… I survived. That’s what matters.

The process was absolute hell,
but the result was good—
so I’ll let it go.

Honestly, things have always been messy anyway.

“Haaaa…”

I let out a long sigh of relief—

“You!”

“—!”

Heneta leaned so close her nose nearly touched mine,
staring directly into my eyes.

“Just now—you saw how my mana moved and copied it to help, didn’t you?”

Her red dragon eyes filled my vision.
I never expected to think this about someone’s gaze…
but they really did look like exquisite jewels.

“Answer! Yes or no!”
“Ah— yes, that’s cor—”

Those eyes came closer and closer—
our noses had already touched—
another inch and even our lips might—

“And you added your mana to mine after analyzing its properties,
changing your mana to match so it could fuse—right?”
“Yes, that’s—”
“Ohhh! You adorable thing!”

The headmaster pulled me straight into a hug.

“Where did such a treasure appear from?
You’re a first-year, right? Name? Background? How long have you studied magic?”

Her enthusiasm reminded me of her in-game profile—

Former Red Dragon Lord.
Current Last Dragon and headmaster of Garam Academy.

Heneta loves Garam Academy students most of all—
and second only to that…
she loves raw potential.
In other words—

“Did you apply for a scholarship?
If not, do it immediately.
Actually—forget it, I’ll file it myself.”

—she’s absolutely obsessed with talented students.

* * *

“When Heneta suddenly showed up, I wondered what would happen…
but I guess you handled it somehow?”

Outside the academy, Yodala greeted the returning Reaper.

“…Yodala.”
“My, look at that expression.
Isn’t that a little terrifying?”

Even Yodala had never seen Reaper look like this.

“I get it.
You’ve already offended the master once—
and now added implanting a Death Countdown on top of that.”

His anger wasn’t directed outward—
but inward.

If Reaper hadn’t doubted the master,
he wouldn’t have gone to apologize today—
wouldn’t have run into Heneta—
and wouldn’t have ended up using the Death Countdown on the master.

“It’s fine. The master will understand.
Even he couldn’t predict Heneta returning today.”

Given Heneta’s personality,
Endrich’s abilities,
and the nature of Endrich’s domain—
her return should’ve taken until at least tomorrow.
That’s why Reaper felt safe approaching the master today.

“The current master might even praise you—
for dealing well with the unexpected.”
“Yodala.”

Reaper spoke again—
his voice icy cold.

“I am not angry with myself.”
His eyes grew even colder.
“I am angry because I discovered—
there is a traitor among the executives who has betrayed the master.”
“…A traitor?”

Yodala blinked in confusion.

“Think.
Based on our calculations, the earliest Heneta should’ve returned was tomorrow.”
“Right.”
“But she returned today. Why?”

Even recalculating,
the probability of Heneta returning today was essentially zero.

“If she came back today, that means she began preparing to leave at least 12 hours ago.
But 12 hours ago she would still have been in the outer zone.”
A woman that furious at Endrich—
giving up and leaving early?
Impossible.

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

Someone who knew the entire situation must have told her:

“Black Night intends to trap you and do something inside the academy.”

That’s how she returned impossibly early.

“We need to find the traitor.”

Reaper’s eyes radiated lethal intent—
the aura of ‘Death.’

“Mmm…
Sounds a little far-fetched—
but your instincts are usually right.
So I’ll trust you.”

Reaper’s intuition was terrifyingly accurate in moments like this.
Chances were high there truly was a traitor.

“Then we only report this to the master.”
“No need.
He must have realized it already.”

Of course—
if Reaper sensed it,
the master certainly had.

“Right. That makes sense.”

Yodala nodded.

“A rat inside…
I’m getting irritated too.
How dare someone receive the master’s grace—
and betray him?”

Yodala’s pupils split vertically like a serpent’s.

“Whoever it is—
as a rat, they deserve to be fed to a snake.”
“No.
I will be the one to kill him.
Slowly—
killing every cell one by one.”
“Oh.
That’s even better.
Fine, I’ll step back.”

Slowly killing cell by cell—
just imagining it was thrilling.

“So how will we investigate?
You handling everything as usual?”
“No.
This time… I’ll seek help.”

Yodala stared in shock.

“You?
The guy who would handle everything alone even if the world fell apart?”
“Given the situation…
I realized something.”

A small realization:

Trying to solve everything alone was arrogance.
Even the master didn’t try to handle everything by himself.

“Never thought I’d say this—
but I like this version of you.
You’re giving off a tiny—
very tiny—
hint of the master’s presence.”

Leadership.
The quality of one who commands others.
A faint sense of overwhelming authority—
the kind felt only from those who stand at the top.

“You flatter me.”

Despite his words,
Reaper’s expression softened ever so slightly.

“On that note—
Yodala.
I’d like you to investigate the top-ranked executives.”
“Ranks one through nine—
minus you and me makes seven.
Sure. I’ll look into them.”
“If you need cooperation or background checks—”

…