I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner – Chapter 244

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟒𝟒

Elders, including Baek Ji-bong, began to deploy their most powerful rituals as they had planned.

However, even then, they could not hide their bewilderment.

“Ji-bong-hyung-nim, what is this . . . . . . .”

Even the 11th elder of the Hwang family, Hwang Cheol-ho, who is considered a hard-line actionist, had a grim expression on his face due to the powerful demonic energy.

Cheong Gil-yeong, the elder of the Cheong family, also let out a sigh of frustration.

“Baek Ji-bong, you really dragged me into this.”

“. . . Don’t be ridiculous. We have to get past him in order to establish the Great Barrier Formation.”

Unlike the other elders, Baek Ji-bong, who had already witnessed his power once, seemed to have made up his mind.

The other elders followed suit and took up battle positions, and soon something emerged from the broken cocoon.

Pale white hair and a pale complexion.

However, even considering that, the young man standing there had a very beautiful appearance.

At that strange sight, the elders’ eyes widened again.

And then, at that moment, an enormous flow of demonic energy began to be felt from the hand that he raised.

“Ugh, ugh!”

“Agh!”

“Help me, help me . . . . . .!”

Puhaak!

As if they had suddenly gained magnetic power, the three exorcists who had been sucked towards it were pierced by the sharp nails that had sprouted.

And in an instant, they were drained of all their nutrients and left lying on the ground as withered mummies.

“T-This!”

A blow that even the four elders at the forefront had not been able to react to.

Bi-gang, who had dealt with three exorcists in an instant, seemed to be thinking deeply about something, and then opened his mouth and spoke.

“Taoist bastards . . . . . . . is that all you’ve got?”

Human speech, and in Korean, no less. Through that one word, the elders realized several things.

That he had absorbed the memories and knowledge of the three exorcists who had been sacrificed.

And that he had the intelligence to do so first and foremost before the battle.

Finally, that he was not at all intimidated by the number of exorcists present.

“. . . Everyone, give it your all. He is a very difficult opponent.”

“What do you say. I will definitely take him down even if I die first.”

Whoooosh!

A strange pattern emerged from the body of Hwang Cheol-ho, who was the first to step forward.

As a signal, the other elders also began to unleash the rituals they had prepared.

The moment of the inevitable battle had finally arrived.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

I literally got goosebumps all over my body.

Even though I knew enough about him, the moment Bi-gang first appeared, my body froze for a moment and I couldn’t move.

「𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙠𝙖𝙞 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧?」

It’s definitely at a fearsome level.

Of all the enemies I have faced so far, the most powerful individual entity was Luke Pensallot, but Bi-gang was on a level above even that Luke.

「. . . 𝙊𝙣 𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩, 𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙘 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙠𝙖𝙞.」

If they were at the same level, it would naturally be the yokai who would have much higher specs than a human.

In ordinary cases, it was possible to overcome that with knowledge and skill, but against an opponent like Bi-gang, even that was impossible.

He must have had the intelligence to match that power as well.

“All members of the 4th squad! Don’t panic and move according to the plan!”

Choi Myeong-seok, the captain who was commanding us, surprisingly managed to withstand the guy’s momentum and gave orders.

Unfortunately, however, it was impossible for most of the people.

“4th squad! What the . . . . . . .”

It didn’t take long for Choi Myeong-seok’s expression to harden as he looked around.

That was because he could clearly read the emotions of despair and submission on the faces of the other exorcists.

“Snap out of it, everyone! If we do this, what will happen to the main force that is facing that guy in front?!”

“I-It’s impossible.”

“What?!”

“Even I, who am the top of the 3rd-grade, am trembling just from looking at him. How can this kind of ragtag squad perform their roles?”

Such tendencies were even more pronounced in the support team, which was supposed to back up the main force.

As they were a group of relatively low-level people, they had completely lost their fighting spirit after being overwhelmed by Bi-gang’s aura.

「𝘽𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙤𝙠𝙖𝙮 𝙚𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧.」

When I took a quick look ahead, I saw that even some of them were in a state of complete panic.

In particular, the screams coming from the vanguard were gradually instilling fear in all the members of the punitive force.

In such a situation, I looked at Laura, who was standing next to me.

Honestly, it is too much of a burden to leave it all to her alone.

However, Laura nodded and walked into the middle of the support team without any hesitation.

“Everyone, snap out of it.”

Although it was not a very loud voice, her words mysteriously reached the ears of everyone present.

That too must have been a derivative effect of her Way of the King trait.

“If you call yourself an exorcist, don’t look away and stare straight at the enemy in front of you.”

“W-What nonsense? Don’t you feel this aura? We’re no match for him!”

In an instant, a variety of hostile words were directed at Laura.

Compared to the transcendent enemy who was simply insurmountable, the girl in front of them was far too easy.

Their reaction was understandable, in a way.

However, I was not worried.

I don’t know what happened in the meantime, but from what I can sense, she has now fully awakened her trait and has the qualities of a true king.

“If the enemy is strong, are you going to run away?”

“O-Of course not, rather than die . . . . . . .”

“Then would you act the same way if that enemy targeted someone precious to you?”

Most of the exorcists gathered here naturally have someone precious to them.

Laura’s words were aimed exactly at that.

“It may not be appropriate to mention this here, but I am the princess of Spain. However, despite that, I decided to stay in Korea after much deliberation.”

“. . . . . . .”

“Because there are precious people here that I also want to help.”

Abruptly revealing her status and her reasons, the exorcists began to stir slightly.

And Laura took advantage of that to give them a reason to be brave.

“The exorcists of the main force are fighting the enemy with their lives even at this moment. Also, the elders of the great families are unharmed. To them, not to us, he is not an invincible opponent.”

Those words certainly made sense, so even those who had been completely panicked calmed down a little.

And before long, the bright spiritual power that flowed out from Laura began to envelop everyone.

Whoooosh!

“So straighten your trembling legs, clench your fists with all your might. If we help them as we planned, they will somehow manage to fulfill their mission as well.”

It was a strange feeling.

The words themselves became strength, and it felt like it was instilling endless courage.

At the effect of the Way of the King trait, which was much stronger than I had expected, I clenched my fist tightly, as she had said.

「𝙄𝙛 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝, 𝙞𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜.」

Laura had fulfilled her role perfectly.

In fact, under the command of the squad leaders who had regained their senses first, the exorcists of the support team were somehow recovering their formations and preparing their rituals.

So from now on, it was our turn to do our part, the four elders, Yoo Ha-on and her party, and us.

“How is your condition?”

“. . . Perfect.”

“I’m fine too.”

Seo Ji-an and Arietta nodded, and I responded to them as well.

“The timing to enter will not be long. Be prepared.”

Saying so, I slowly stared at the front where Bi-gang would be.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

“Cheong Gil-yeong, are you okay?”

“Tsk, it’s just a scratch, so don’t worry about it and do what you have to do.”

Bi-gang was really strong.

Even Baek Ji-bong, who had been worried about Cheong Gil-yeong, had had a few close calls, so there was no need to say more.

「𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙠, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙜𝙪𝙮 𝙞𝙨 . . . . . . 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙣.」

He was different from the yokai he had seen so far.

As if he had fought countless battles with exorcists, he seemed to know all their tricks and fought with such precision that he didn’t show even the slightest gap.

Whoooosh!

Thud!

Even when he was occasionally hit, it was not enough to exceed his recovery power, and on the contrary, the main force on this side was gradually losing power.

“. . . You call yourselves taoist, but you’re nothing but little mice.”

“Hmph, you must be pretty picky.”

Crackle!

As they had such frivolous conversations, it felt like they were dealing with another human being, not a yokai.

Without a doubt, this was the first time in Baek Ji-bong’s life that he had faced such a strange and powerful enemy.

Thud!

Crackle!

“. . . Tsk.”

A large-scale attack ritual fired by the support team intercepts the guy who has seized the opportunity.

To be honest, all the elders, including Baek Ji-bong, felt a considerable sense of relief at that.

「𝙏𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩, 𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 . . . . . . .」

「𝙇𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙.」

「𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙞𝙩, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙟𝙤𝙗!」

The moment he first encountered Bi-gang, Baek Ji-bong felt that all his plans had gone awry.

After all, it didn’t seem like they would be able to do their part in front of an opponent who even scared them.

However, after a little while, the support team’s demeanor suddenly changed and they began to lend their strength at the right time, which was truly fortunate.

“. . . Troublesome.”

Of course, no matter how many times they gather their strength, it won’t work on the monster in front of them.

However, as he himself said, he can be made troublesome.

And for the elders, that split second of time was really a big help.

“There’s no need to go out of your way.”

Kwaang─!

Baek Ji-bong, who had been glancing around, suddenly saw Bi-gang violently sprinting, shattering the floor and blurring the elders’ view.

The direction he was heading was none other than the support team.

However, the elders, who had already realized early on that the guy was exceptionally intelligent, had already somewhat predicted that he would make such a judgment.

“I’ve been waiting!”

Ttiiaak!

Contrary to his image as an extreme actionist, Hwang Cheol-ho’s specialty is in writing rituals.

The large-scale ritual that he deployed stopped Bi-gang’s movement, and Baek Ji-bong and Cheong Gil-yeong immediately tied up his legs perfectly.

Taking advantage of that opportunity, the grand spell of the 7th elder Baek Sang-hwa, who was one step away from the battle, exploded on Bi-gang.

“Immaterialization and Annihilation Array.”

Translator’s Blog

Blog

• Lost in Translation: When Your Brain Goes on a Tangent While Reading Light Novels
• The Ultimate Isekai Checklist: From Denial to Acceptance (and Maybe a Little Indigestion)
• The Post-Webnovel Blues: When Your Brain Craves More Than Just a Happy Ending – Beat the Meat
• My Early 20s Emo Profile: A Journey Back to Myspace (And Why It Still Haunts Me)
• Naruto Runners Storming Area 51: A Weeb’s Perspective