The Academy’s Deceased Ate It All - Chapter 194:

Minerva.

Arguably the most dangerous of all the Seven Evils, she was also the one I knew the least about.

The original Minerva was not meant to be defeated.

Minerva, her arch-enemy Venus, and Yuno.

These three beings disappeared after battling and fighting each other, or they were said to have been sealed by Ariman at some point…To put it mildly, they were beings who disappeared at some point in the story, creating a significant turning point.

Even in the settings book, there was a separate file questioning how to defeat Minerva because many people, like me, had no clue.

All we know is that she possesses fraudulent powers in the name of perfection.

Overwhelming physical abilities.

A dragon.

Female.

Proud and arrogant personality.

How was this fair?

I once asked Svengali what Minerva was like.

He pondered the question for a moment, then answered with a declaration.

[She is a child.]

He then went on to explain.

[She’s literally a child. If she doesn’t get her way, she throws a tantrum. She’s stubborn, angry, and has a very high opinion of herself, even for a lizard with no nose. Didn’t I tell you that you have a huge ego? It’s said she was sealed because she lost a bet with a human and sealed herself. Besides that…she’s frighteningly skilled at anything involving combat and inexperienced at everything else.]

He chuckled, then muttered mockingly.

[She’s not even good at counting. I used to look down on her for that. So did Margot…Come to think of it, maybe that’s why she wanted to chew us both up so badly. Eh, she doesn’t deserve an apology.]

…It didn’t help, but I did manage to gather one thing.

She’s proud.

So, let’s stroke her ego, break her composure, and find an answer.

It was the perfect plan.

I leaped from the square, using the shadows to hide myself, germinating the seed of the World Tree in the process.

I tapped into my own memories of wielding the sword, infused it with as much mana as I could muster, and with my newly acquired skill, Mastery, I thrust it instinctively toward the weak spot.

Minerva’s power is not yet broken, but I have the ability of the Seven Evils.

That meant I could land an attack on her.

“What?”

But my ambush was foiled perfectly.

All she did was blink and close her eyelids.

That’s all it took for my sword to be blocked by her eyelids, and the blade was sliced in two.

I was so surprised that I threw the halved sword at her and immediately backed away.

“…What, my attack didn’t work? I put all my strength into it…?”

As I was muttering, Svengali replied.

[It’s just because his body is so strong.]

“What?”

[You wouldn’t even be able to make a scratch on her body unless you had an artifact or legendary item. Me, Margo, and Milited were always running away from her, unable to do anything when she came at us. Do you think we’re so dumb to attack a being we couldn’t touch?]

“Holy shit….”

So you’re saying my attacks didn’t work because I wasn’t strong enough?

I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but objectively speaking, I was never at the bottom.

Moreover, even if the sword Ye-Seul had provided me was not an artifact, legendary weapon, or anything like that, it was no inferior item.

On the contrary, it was something that most hunters and heroes couldn’t even afford.

However, I could not inflict any wounds on Minerva.

All of my strength and efforts were not enough.

Perhaps I should have used King of Thorns to boost my own specs, or maybe I should have used the only other legendary weapon I had, Nidhogg’s Fang, to deal her a meaningful blow.

But….

‘Nidhogg’s Fang was handed over to Ye-Seul and….’

The key to this operation was her, not me.

I had to play the role of a decoy, and the moment I found Minerva’s weakness, Ye-Seul would wound her with Nidhogg’s Fang, nullifying her powers.

In other words, I had one choice from the start.

Just when I thought I was in for a rough time, Svengali whispered.

[Beware of the smoke she breathes.]

[She can dissolve any creature into a handful of blood instantly.]

I nodded, knowing what he meant.

That was why I’d taken the risk of hiding Ye-Seul in the shadows and why I’d approached her.

There was no way she could have taken the poison of the Seven Evils with her bare body and come out unscathed.

My job was to shake off the poison and get right before Minerva.

As long as I do that, my job is done.

As I thought so, I was about to use King of Thorns.

[You…!]

Minerva muttered in a voice that sounded like she was overcome with emotion.

Her amber eyes widened as she stared straight at me, seemingly expecting something.

[You…! Yes, yes, yes, you couldn’t have done that, you couldn’t have broken your promise to me…! Alas, indeed…! What a fool I was!]

She shook her head and flapped her wings, her tail flicking and thumping against the ground.

She looked intimidating.

But it wasn’t an act of anger or something, more like…

[What the hell, is that monster actually happy right now…?]

Svengali muttered in disbelief.

I was also surprised and didn’t know how to react, so I was just gauging the timing.

[You!]

Minerva stretched and stuck her head out at me.

Her eyes seemed to be smiling at me.

[You have come so far to fulfill your promise to me! Yes, I had faith in you; you could not have deceived me, could you? Now, then, finish what you left undone….]

“…What are you talking about?”

[Huh?]

I sincerely don’t know what she’s talking about.

Is she mistaking me for someone else?

“I’ve never seen you before. Are you mistaking me for someone else?”

[What are you talking about? There is no way I am mistaking you for someone else.]

Minerva looked away and muttered something like that.

Then she shook her head as if she had realized it.

[Ah, so this is the joke you were talking about? I can understand it now. But this one wasn’t amusing.]

With that, she looked around.

She didn’t even bother to look at the Ten Strongest or Aegis, who were watching her warily.

[This is…not a very fitting place to fulfill a promise. Now, get on my back. Usually, I wouldn’t give this privilege to anyone, but I don’t care if it’s you. For now, let’s find someplace secluded and quiet…….]

“Hey.”

[Huh?]

I quickly forged a bow and arrow from the branches of the World Tree and shot it at the Minerva.

The branch of the World Tree wasn’t able to wound her.

[What, you want to have a fight here already. You’re so impatient sometimes. Why don’t we go somewhere where it’s just the two of us….]

“What the hell are you talking about?”

She still looked at me expectantly.

“I swear I’ve never seen you before. I don’t even know who you’re confused me with, so why the fuck are you talking down to me, you ungrateful reptile?”

[…Why, why, why, didn’t I tell you that jokes like that aren’t funny…?]

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

[I told you Minerva had a big ego.]

And for whatever reason, she seemed very attached to her promise with the person she confused me with.

Well, then…

“Oh… no, no, no. Oh, sorry. I just remembered.”

Frowning slightly before nodding, Minerva rolled her eyes nervously as I spoke, then replied cheerfully.

[Heh, is that so? Yeah. No wonder. How much time has passed since that day….]

“But did you really believe that promise?”

[…Huh?]

I stared at her, chuckling in disbelief.

“No, it’s just that… I’m sorry. Honestly, it was just something I said to get out of the situation, and I didn’t think you’d believe me all this time.”

[…Stop.]

Minerva looked at me, shuddering as if trying to hold back her anger.

[No matter how much I love you, don’t say those words; no matter how much I love you, I can’t bear to hear anything that would tarnish that promise….]

“No, I mean, there’s nothing to tarnish it?”

[What….]

“Why did you think I’d keep a promise to a beast like you in the first place? Look, I’d completely forgotten about you until now, and I can’t believe you’d actually think I meant it.”

A roar that could literally shake the heavens and earth erupted deep within Minerva’s body.

It contained all the anger and betrayal she felt and had the power to crush the entire city.

[I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you!!!]

With those words, Minerva turned toward me and screamed as she lost her mind.

Immediately afterward, she launched herself at me.

As I scurried away into the shadows, Svengali muttered quietly to himself.

[What the hell do you think you’re doing? That Minerva was begging and clinging to you, and now she’s raging that she’s been abandoned…?]

“Fuck you. I felt bad.”

I swore harshly as I watched Minerva crush the place where I was.

I wasn’t kidding. This time, I really felt terrible.

[Now you’re extending your spell to the Seven Evils…But I’m a man, yet I can’t get away from you…]

“Please don’t say something disgusting, even in this situation.”

“Ji-Hyuk.”

Then I heard someone calling me from the side.

It was none other than Ye-Seul.

She was the only one in my shadows.

Everyone else was a short distance away.

It had been agreed that it would be better to wait until Ye-Seul had destroyed Minerva’s power, so they hid until she signaled that the operation had been successful.

“…Will you be okay?”

She looked up at me with concern.

“Even if it’s not okay, I have to try. And you, Ye-Seul, you are not to come out until I tell you to.”

“Huh?”

“She’s still got some of his poison in her. I think I’ve gotten some of it out, but… there’s probably still more, and I need to get rid of it before you come out.”

“…Yeah.”

Ye-Seul blushed slightly and nodded.

[How nice for the boyfriend to be worried.]

…Thanks for the unnecessary explanation.

“…By the way, were you acquainted with Minerva?”

“No, I’m not. This is the first time I’ve spoken to her.”

She can recognize a lie when she’s told one.

So she must have realized that what I said was the truth, not a lie.

“She’s weird. I wonder if it’s because she’s a monster that she has strange delusions and obsessions….”

“…….”

There was a lot I wanted to say as she shook her head in disgust, but I managed to hold it in.

“So what am I supposed to do now? I heard earlier that your attacks don’t work… Do you want me to give this back?”

I carefully restrained her from handing me the Nidhogg’s Fang with both hands.

“No. That’s for you to use.”

“Then….”

“You’ve seen this skill before.”

“Oh.”

She nodded in understanding.

So far, she was the only one who had seen the King of Thorns with her own eyes.

“You’ll be in trouble for a while after this.”

Those words were the signal.

Immediately, thorny vines began to pierce my flesh near my heart and wrap around my entire body.

Soon, I could vividly feel the indescribable sensation and energy I had felt before radiating through every vein in my body.

[…I hope we don’t get caught and attacked together.]

To a stranger, my current form was a monster.

With that thought, I slipped out of the shadows.

“Cheer up.”

With a click, Ye-Seul carefully placed her palm on my back.

My skin had turned hard and sharp, but I could still feel her.

Her hand was soft and warm.

(…Okay. Thank you.) (TN: This Ji-Hyuk in King of Thorns form.)

With those words, I immediately slipped out of the shadows.

At the same time, Minerva’s tail swished in front of me as if she already knew where I would be.

‘Should I grab it with both hands, kick it out of the way with my feet, or just dodge it?’

As I pondered this, I heard Svangali quietly mutter to himself.

[Now that I think about it, Minerva’s appearance earlier was similar to that of… that unfortunate woman who devoted herself to Han Liang and was eventually abandoned.]

I was slow to react to the words.

When I regained my senses, I had been hit by Minerva’s tail and had reflexively grabbed onto it with both hands with all my might.

(Ouch…!)

[…What the hell, can’t you get your head out of your ass?]

Knowing this fucker couldn’t escape my wrath later, I exerted force in my hand and felt Minerva’s scales crush.

Hearing her roar in pain, I immediately launched myself at her head.