How to Take Revenge as an Academy Scoundrel

Chapter 44. The Art of the Sword.

– Whoosh!

The sword of Kim Do-jin, spinning as if it would fall to the ground, suddenly veered like a living creature, soaring toward Morgan’s neck.

“What the—!”

Morgan, startled, recoiled, but that too was within Kim Do-jin’s calculations.

– Thud!

Anticipating the opening, Kim Do-jin successfully plunged the dagger he held in his left hand into Morgan’s abdomen.

“Cough!”

Morgan screamed, retreating once more, and Kim Do-jin, with all his might, kicked the dagger embedded in that abdomen.

– Thwack!

Morgan’s body was sent flying backward by the force.

“No!”

The villains watching the fight from behind scattered in surprise, their eyes wide.

– Crash, bang, boom!

Such astonishing loyalty.

Morgan tumbled along the ground after being propelled for quite a distance, and the villains, witnessing this, turned to Kim Do-jin with eyes that had changed entirely.

“…What the hell is that guy?”

“He seems to be an Arc student, but…”

“Seeing that sword move in mid-air earlier, could he be a telekinetic?”

“Huh? Wasn’t there no telekinetic among the Arc students?”

Indeed, the villains’ interest lay in the sword that had altered its trajectory moments ago.

They seemed to misinterpret him as a telekinetic superhuman like the famous ‘Angelo Casano,’ but that was far from the truth.

To be precise, Kim Do-jin wasn’t moving the sword; he was manipulating the chunk of rock embedded within it.

‘Good thing I modified it.’

Students of ‘Arc’ were required to use standard weapons for fairness, but ‘Arc’ also actively encouraged the development of individual traits.

Thus, Kim Do-jin’s request to embed a rock within the sword was accepted, allowing him to catch Morgan off guard even with a standard weapon.

‘Hah…’

In any case, he had dealt with Morgan using a surprise sword technique, but two S-rank Awakened and eight A-rank Awakened still watched with keen eyes.

“Interesting.”

Dino Chiellini, as expected of a leader, quickly took charge of the situation.

“It seems I underestimated him. But… still reckless.”

Dino Chiellini, with a fierce resolve, commanded his subordinates to launch a full-scale assault.

Soon, the preparations for the ‘one-time teleportation device’ would be complete, and he was determined to handle this swiftly and escape unscathed.

“Search him!”

The nine A-class awakened ones, huddled tightly around the transmission platform of the ‘one-time teleportation device,’ surged forward in a chaotic rush toward Kim Do-jin.

‘This is tough, huh?’

No matter how formidable Kim Do-jin was, the tension of the moment was palpable.

‘…Let’s see what I can do.’

He longed for his original form more than ever, but now was not the time for such thoughts.

With every nerve on edge, Kim Do-jin surveyed the battlefield, soon facing the nine villains that approached him.

– Pahhat!

He unleashed a blinding flash, momentarily disrupting the enemies’ vision.

With his life on the line, he was prepared to use every means at his disposal.

“What the hell!”

The villains squinted and recoiled in surprise, but their retreat was short-lived.

“You little brat, using all sorts of powers!”

Their coordinated attack resumed with renewed vigor.

“Get him!”

Soon, nine blades flew from all directions, and the moment Kim Do-jin tracked their trajectories—

– Pahat!

He activated his ‘Time Transcendence’ ability.

– Buuung.

In an instant, the movements of his foes slowed to a crawl, about 0.3 times their normal speed.

And Kim Do-jin deftly weaved between the blades, moving to a safer position.

‘Got it.’

Under different circumstances, he would have chosen to counterattack rather than evade, but for now, his goal was simply to buy time.

He had no surplus mana to waste on breaking through their magical shields.

– Pahat!

As soon as he successfully dodged, Kim Do-jin released the ‘Time Transcendence’ ability.

“What?!”

The villains, who thought they had him cornered, turned back in shock, their faces a mix of disbelief and confusion.

“Am I mad?”

“…How did you dodge that, you b*stard?”

The villains hesitated for a moment, bewildered, but soon charged at Kim Do-jin once more, intent on his death.

And so it was for Kim Do-jin as well.

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– Pah!

Kim Do-jin deftly wielded his ‘Time Transcendence’ ability, evading their attacks, and as the same scene played out again and again, it happened.

‘Cough!’

Indeed, the limits of his mana were beginning to ensnare him.

‘I didn’t think I’d be this worn out!’

He had tried to conserve his mana as much as possible, but ultimately, it was insufficient.

‘Damn it… I feel like I’ve only bought myself about three minutes…’

Kim Do-jin couldn’t help but feel despair as he checked the dwindling MP.

‘Was it a mistake to step in? I can’t even get my revenge right now, and here I am trying to play the hero…’

To die like this, without even regaining his original body, felt like the most futile ending imaginable.

‘Damn it.’

His ‘Time Transcendence’ ability was on the verge of unraveling due to the lack of mana.

Kim Do-jin gazed at the slow-moving villains closing in from all sides, filled with deep regret, and tried to squeeze out whatever last strength he had to find a way out.

But just then.

– Woom!

Suddenly, a massive surge of mana plummeted from the sky, engulfing Kim Do-jin’s entire being.

‘What is this!?’

In an instant, his MP, which had been nearly depleted, was filled to the brim, and the power of ‘Time Transcendence’ surged to a new level.

‘Did I break free from the bindings!?’

With a sudden realization, Kim Do-jin turned his head to see Chairwoman Kate.

‘Just as I thought!’

There she was, having secretly released him, her palm outstretched toward Kim Do-jin.

He wondered how his mana had suddenly surged, only to realize that Chairwoman Kate had bestowed upon him the ‘Permanent Mana Enhancement’ ability.

‘Alright. With this, I can hold out for five minutes, no, even longer!’

With hope rekindled, Kim Do-jin began to stall for time once more, employing the same tactics as before.

“This damn witch!”

Meanwhile, Dino Chiellini, gripping Chairwoman Kate, unleashed his fury and slapped her cheek with a resounding crack.

“Ugh!”

Chairwoman Kate fell to the ground with a thud, pain radiating through her. Dino Chiellini, tightening the loosened bindings, shouted in frustration.

“What the hell are you doing, you useless b*stards! It’s been two minutes already! Nine of you can’t handle one damn kid!?”

The ‘one-time teleportation device’ was flawed in many ways, requiring the mana control of two S-class Awakened like Dino Chiellini.

Had it been otherwise, he would have long since taken matters into his own hands and dealt with Kim Do-jin himself, but the inability to do so gnawed at him.

“Damn it! Andrew! You get in there too!”

In the end, Dino Chiellini risked the increasing margin of error in the teleportation and sent in Andrew, another S-class Awakened who had been assisting him.

“Okay.”

Andrew, the vice-captain of the ‘Shadow Brigade’ 12th unit, was the next strongest S-class Awakened after Dino Chiellini.

“Ugh!”

Indeed, with Andrew joining the fray, Kim Do-jin found himself struggling.

‘Damn those Special Defense Agency agents! When the hell are they going to arrive!’

Kim Do-jin held on, barely managing to withstand the onslaught, waiting desperately for the arrival of the special agents.

And after what felt like an eternity, it happened.

“……!”

Finally, the reinforcements he had been waiting for began to appear in the distance.

However, it was not at all what Kim Do-jin had anticipated.

A strange dot, incongruous against the blue sky.

Kim Do-jin knew exactly what that dot was.

One of the best Awakened in all of South Korea.

The director of the ‘Special Defense Agency,’ Kim Jin-myung, was flying toward this very spot.

* * *

“Insane!”

The villains could hardly hide their bewilderment, tongues lolling in disbelief.

“What the hell is this guy!?”

It was no wonder they felt that way.

One S-class Awakened and nine A-class Awakened had all attacked at once, yet they hadn’t even managed to land a scratch in over a minute.

“Ugh….”

With ‘telekinesis’ and the ‘speedster’ superpower to boot.

It seemed to be a secret power that the South Korean government had been hiding all along.

“Captain! What do we do!?”

In the end, one of the villains attacking Kim Do-jin asked with a perplexed expression, and Dino Chiellini ground his teeth and shouted.

“Fools… Enough! They’ll only manage to dodge us at best. Just ignore it and come back! We’re escaping now!”

With that, the villains rushed back to their ‘one-time teleportation device’ in a frenzy.

Indeed, the mana had been fully charged, and now they could escape with just the press of a button.

But then.

“Escape?”

For some reason, Kim Do-jin spoke with a strange smile.

“I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

It was the moment the villains glared at Kim Do-jin, sensing something was off.

“Wait!?”

Now, sensing the terrifying surge of magic, the villains suddenly looked up at the sky.

“What the hell!”

A figure loomed above them, casting a shadow.

It was none other than Kim Jin-myung, the director of the South Korean ‘Special Defense Agency.’

“Ugh!”

The villains gasped, trying to flee in a panic, but it was futile.

– KWAANG!

Director Kim Jin-myung descended like a bolt of lightning, and the villains present were swept away like autumn leaves.

“Ugh!”

It was a sight reminiscent of a bowling strike.

Out of the eleven villains, eight were sent flying in all directions from the impact, while two were crushed under Kim Jin-myung’s foot, slamming into the concrete floor.

– Thud, thud, thud…

However, not all the villains present were caught in that attack.

“K-Kim Jin-myung!?”

Thanks to having captured Chairwoman Kate as a hostage, Dino Chiellini managed to escape the attack’s radius.

He widened his eyes in shock.

“How… how is this possible…!”

Dino Chiellini wished fervently that he had simply misread the situation.

But the man, appearing to be in his late forties with a robust physique and a finely groomed beard, was undoubtedly Kim Jin-myung, the director of the ‘Special Defense Agency.’

“Ugh!”

Though it was the first time Dino Chiellini had seen him in person, he had watched countless videos of this figure.

Confirming that the man before him was indeed Kim Jin-myung, Dino Chiellini let out a groan of despair.

– Srrng!

Suddenly snapping back to reality, he drew his sword.

Yet, the tip of that blade was cowardly aimed not at Kim Jin-myung, but at the slender nape of Chairwoman Kate.

“Don’t move! The moment you twitch, I’ll kill her!”

In response to Dino Chiellini’s threat, Director Kim Jin-myung shook his head disapprovingly.

“Pathetic.”

And right after that.

– Kwang!

He slammed Dino Chiellini to the ground, continuing his words.

“What do you think you can do?”

Dino Chiellini could only emit a choking sound, unable to utter a word or take any action.

“Ugh…!”

An overwhelming force that rendered his mana resistance meaningless.

Dino Chiellini was an S-rank Awakened, one of the twelve leaders of the Shadow Brigade, a formidable opponent, yet before Kim Jin-myung, he was nothing but a mere insect.

It was only natural, for even if measured as the same S-rank by the mana gauge, Kim Jin-myung was regarded by people as SSS-rank, a monster counted among the top ten in the world.

There were even whispers that he was the closest among those SSS-rank Awakened to EX-rank, making the current scene all too expected.

“…”

Meanwhile, the ‘one-time teleportation device’ had already been shattered, and the leader was subdued without having done anything.

Thinking there was no other way, the villains collectively let out a battle cry and charged at Director Kim Jin-myung.

“Uaaah!”

That somewhat lackluster battle cry echoed, but it was only for a moment.