Mesugaki Tank Enters The Academy

Chapter 235

After smashing the boss of Floor 100 with my mace imbued with divinity, I received the reward for conquering the dungeon for the first time.

The reward for the second-semester dungeon was simply the best of the best.

Gold coins.

With a party of four, that amounts to 100 coins per person, so I now had 400 gold coins in my possession all at once.

Despite holding such an overwhelming amount of money, I felt nothing but emptiness in front of it.

If this had been during the last auction... no, even then I wouldn’t have been able to buy a slab. The opponent was one of the wealthiest magnates on the continent.

<Why does it seem weaker than the necromancer I saw last time?>

‘If we’re just talking about raw specs, it probably is.’

The reason that creature was bothersome to deal with was solely because it was a gimmick-type boss.

If you bypass the gimmicks, the actual specs aren’t impressive.

I tossed the heavy leather pouch into my inventory and lightly replied to the old man while waiting for the message window to appear.

With the complete conquest of the academy dungeon, my victory was already assured. So I thought I would receive my reward, but the lousy deity remained silent.

What’s going on? I tilted my head in confusion and opened the quest window again.

[Teach the Second Prince a Lesson!] [The Second Prince of the Soladin Kingdom has challenged you! Show him his place!] [Subdue the Second Prince!]

Rereading it, the conditions for quest completion seemed rather ambiguous. It didn’t say to win against the Second Prince but to subdue him.

There’s a huge gap between winning and subduing.

The former doesn’t concern itself with what the Second Prince thinks, but the latter is different. To clear the latter, the Second Prince needs to acknowledge his defeat deep down.

If that phrase means exactly what it says, things are going to get troublesome.

As everyone often says, ominous predictions never turn out wrong.

Even when I stepped out of the academy dungeon and received congratulations from Zoe and the others, no reward was given.

Even when the dungeon professor, looking like he was half out of his mind, came to commend my achievements, the same was true.

No reward was provided. Instead, a meeting time with the dungeon professor was scheduled for later.

Hours passed, and by the time the sun began to set, the same was true when the Second Prince came outside to check the rankings.

Even though he recognized his defeat, the lousy deity remained silent.

At this point, I could only be certain. The word "subdue" truly means what it says.

So, I provoked the Second Prince. I made him swing his weapon at me.

The Second Prince is an idiot, but he’s also a martial artist. He’s someone who values individual strength as his own worth.

To subdue someone with such a lofty pride in his own strength, it would be easiest to crush him head-on.

As soon as the Second Prince stepped outside the dungeon, I initiated a confrontation to trample his pride.

Seeing the desperate black aura trying to pierce through the divine shield surrounding me.

The Second Prince’s sword is heavy.

In terms of raw power, it’s at a level incomparable to Frey’s current capabilities.

While Frey may excel in pure swordsmanship, if they faced off, I think Frey would lose.

It would be difficult to overcome this disparity with skill.

If he had been in perfect condition, he might have been quite threatening.

But that’s only if he were at his best.

After the exhaustion of scaling to Floor 60 without rest, the Second Prince's sword would never breach my shield.

“Even a second-year’s aura isn’t much.? What can you possibly cut with this?? It seems like it would just bounce off a beetle’s shell.? Oh, Beetle Prince?”

With a grinding sound, the Second Prince tightened his grip on the sword.

He probably thought of pressing down on my shield with his own strength, but I wouldn’t allow that.

I didn’t mind a contest of strength, but that would only lead to a stalemate.

And that would be problematic.

I needed to completely overwhelm the Second Prince.

He must think he has lost without being able to do anything.

I need to shatter his pride.

Subduing the opponent means exactly that.

I kicked the Second Prince's exposed abdomen, which was wide open due to his focus on my shield, sending his body flying into the air.

It must have been an unexpected shock, but the Second Prince elegantly performed a roll and landed on the ground without a scratch.

As the distance between us widened, a brief moment of calm emerged.

However, no one intervened between us.

I had warned everyone in advance that this would happen.

The professors who were observing the situation, the other students, and my friends including Zoe, all watched this battle in silence.

Normally, at this point, someone would sense something unusual, but the Second Prince had no room for that.

The taunt of the Mesugaki skill had worked on Karia, the boss of Menestail.

The Second Prince, who was incomparably weaker than her, wouldn’t be able to withstand such taunts.

His rationality had already flown out the window.

The only thing in his mind was singular.

He wanted to smash me.

He wanted to teach that damned Mesugaki a lesson.

It’s truly unfortunate, but he wouldn’t be able to fulfill his wish.

This battlefield is not for me to be taught a lesson, but for me to teach the Second Prince one.

“Lucy Alrn!”

With a bloody scream, the Second Prince charged at me fiercely.

With a body that could easily be double mine, and the overwhelming muscles that made it up, he charged forward, amplifying his strength with the magic beneath him.

A charge that anyone would struggle to follow with their eyes.

Yet I remained calm as I watched him.

The Second Prince was a character that could be used as an ally in the game Soul Academy, but I encountered him as an enemy much more often.

So, naturally, I was accustomed to the techniques he would use.

The perfect timing for the just parry of that charge is 0.8 seconds after he moved his feet.

So...

Now.

Clang!

The Second Prince’s sword, aimed to split my shield in half, simply bounced away into the air.

As a result, numerous openings appeared in the off-balance Second Prince.

If the Second Prince had been in perfect condition, he would have forcibly maintained his balance and continued his assault.

But in reality, even if he succeeded in the just parry, he wouldn’t be able to deal a blow to me.

However, the Second Prince couldn’t do that now.

Even if his rage made him forget his fatigue, his body still remembered it.

There are limits to what can be done solely by willpower. I didn’t let that opening slip by.

I used my shield, imbued with divinity, to strike.

The thick iron shield was an excellent blunt weapon in itself.

What would happen if that hit his face?

The Second Prince, upon seeing the shield heading towards his face, seemed to be certain of his future.

He unconsciously squeezed his eyes shut.

But the shield didn’t touch his face.

It stopped just in front of his nose.

I had deliberately adjusted it that way.

Why?

Because he needs to experience humiliation.

As I lightly tapped his nose with the shield, the Second Prince staggered back, clutching his nose.

Seeing the confusion and questions in his eyes made me chuckle involuntarily, even if it wasn’t intentional.

“Puhuhut? Puhahahat? You’re squinting your eyes like a child!? Our Beetle Prince is scared, isn’t he?? Would you like me to pat your head??”

“How dare you disrespect me!”

The battle continued.

The clash of sword and shield echoed.

The Second Prince was pushed back time and again.

The outcome was already clear.

He was utterly exhausted,

Taunted to the point of losing his rationality,

Swinging his sword wildly without thought, he couldn’t reach me.

He couldn’t surpass my shield.

How many times had we gone back and forth like this?

Once again, the Second Prince fell to the ground.

“Isn’t it getting tiresome? Would you mind giving up?? There’s nothing uglier than a man clinging desperately to a girl!?”

I called out as I watched the Second Prince, who was stumbling up after embedding his sword in the ground, but he didn’t respond.

“Your Highness…”

“It’s impossible!”

“Retreat for now!...”

The voices of the Second Prince's followers shouting from behind were similarly futile.

Consumed by his rage, his pupils had practically vanished. He had reached a state where he could no longer stop on his own.

This is getting annoying.

I never expected that the taunt would work so well that he would be consumed by it.

Once his rationality completely vanished, it would be impossible to subdue him.

Haah. Why does that idiot prince have to be so stubbornly resilient?

You’re not supposed to be like this!

I thought he would have given up and shouted that he was trash long ago, but I didn’t know why he was still holding on.

Reaching the conclusion that he needed to lose his mind to be taken down, I shot a glance at Luka among the professors.

I still lacked confidence in controlling my strength.

I was confident in smashing my opponent, but it was difficult to just make him lose his mind.

So I meant to ask the professor to step in and tidy things up, but Luka interpreted it differently.

“It seems the young lady does not wish for any intervention!”

No.

What is he saying?

I’m asking for help!

I’m asking him to intervene against the Second Prince?!

Why is he twisting it like that?!

“You want to finish what you started, right? You truly are the heir of the Alrn family!”

Hey. You’re doing this on purpose.

You’re trying to screw me over, aren’t you?!

That damned instigator!

“...Not yet.”

Just as I was about to raise my voice in protest, I heard the Second Prince’s voice.

After countless efforts, he managed to stand up on his own two feet and gripped his sword with both hands.

Then, a black aura enveloped the sword.

Not just any black aura.

It was an aura that bore weight, seemingly pressing down on the surroundings.

An aura with its own unique characteristics.

That’s something the Second Prince shouldn’t be able to use right now.

<Is this an awakening achieved in a near-extreme situation? >

Huh?

Huh?!

...

No, no, no!

Why is that idiot prince awakening in a crisis like a protagonist?!

Am I the villain?! The bad guy!?

No way!

That idiot is the one who’s been doing all sorts of petty things; why is he pulling off a cool scene?!

<To think I’d witness something I’ve seen in battle several times again.>

‘Grandpa?! Isn’t it a bit too laid-back for you to be a mere spectator?! This is a major crisis!’

<So what? It’s not like I can’t stop it.>

With a sigh, I listened to the old man’s completely unperturbed voice.

He really knows me too well.

Taking a deep breath, I gathered divinity at the tip of my shield.

What I was about to attempt was a clumsy reenactment of the hero who reportedly withstood the wrath of the evil god with just a shield.

Since I’m still not adept at divine martial arts, this reenactment would be far from perfect.

But it’s okay.

My shield isn’t weak enough to break from that level of attack.