I Became a Murderer in the Academy. - Chapter 22

In fact, the definition of a monster wasn’t that difficult.

A being that harbors magical energy in its body is a monster.

If it contains magical energy, it’s called a monster.

That’s why it can exist in any form.

There are countless types, and each individual seems to have different characteristics.

This is what I read in a book.

“Hmm…”

But I wonder if I can really call that thing the same kind as me.

It felt like a different, alien power compared to the monsters I had seen before.

It clearly contained magical energy, but it didn’t feel like I was dealing with a living being.

When cut, it divides and stretches out to attack.

Did it think it could win against me with sheer numbers?

I fell into deep contemplation while maintaining minimal defense against the attacks pouring towards me.

The subject of my contemplation was profound.

It was about whether the being attacking me was a monster or not.

It was close to a kind of self-suggestion.

If I truly recognized that thing as the same as me, I wouldn’t have the confidence to harm it.

For now, after much observation, I could conclude that the black shadows I was facing were not living beings.

These are just fragments split from a single entity.

They’re like avatars controlled by the main body existing somewhere in this place.

Avatars are not living beings.

My criterion for judging whether something is alive was based on memories.

I didn’t consider something that I couldn’t read memories from or absorb memories from when killed as a living being.

So I cut them down.

After cutting them down, before they could fuse again, I ran towards the depths of the cave.

I decided to find the main body of the shadow.

But at that point, I fell into contemplation once again.

“……”

Unlike the avatars, the main body of the shadow was clearly a living being.

If I proceeded like this and faced the main body, I wondered if I could kill it then.

At that time, I would have to make a decision.

***

There’s a knife in my hand, and there’s a human.

He is a very bad human.

Not content with killing many humans, he tried to kill an animal I was close to and even swung a knife at me.

What is this? Is he trying to fight?

We were the same species, but the hostility was clear.

There’s a justification for killing him.

If I don’t kill him, someone else will die.

Then, can I stab this human?

If so, could I do the same to a monster?

I don’t know.

I just close my eyes.

If it’s something I must do, I close my eyes and deny its identity.

Surprisingly, the sensation of stabbing with a sword isn’t much different, whether it’s a human or an animal.

Even I, who had killed numerous other species, couldn’t distinguish what I was stabbing if I closed my eyes.

Humans and animals look the same in the black world that unfolds when I close my eyes.

I stretched out my hand, holding the knife.

But it still took a lot of courage to do so.

***

After crushing the high-grade magic stone, the mana in my hand was more abundant than ever.

Blue-green wind follows my movements.

I cut down the pouring shadow tentacles with the wind.

Deep in the cave, I stopped at a fork that split in several directions.

That’s because the giant shadow monster poured in from all directions.

Monsters as strong as a first-class mercenary formed a pack.

I changed the direction of the dagger in my hand.

I judged that it wasn’t a situation to moderately control my strength.

I brought the blade of the cheap dagger to my other wrist.

Applying a bit more force to cut my wrist, blood flowed out of the wound.

‘How long has it been since I used magical energy?’

It must have been quite a while.

I could subdue most enemies without unleashing it.

I burned the flowing blood and released the magical energy from my body.

The opponent is the source of magical energy that covers this entire cave.

Between me and this nameless monster, which one harbors more magical energy?

I decided to test it.

My magical energy, infused with my blood, has a red tint.

I mixed it in an appropriate ratio with the mana extracted from the high-grade magic stone.

A strong gust of wind blew, enough to carve the cave walls.

In this underground tunnel where no one visits, a red wind blows.

I accelerated by wrapping the wind around my body.

With my petite body, the red afterimages are the only trace of my existence.

It didn’t take 3 seconds to clear all the approaching shadows.

They were finely cut by the wind, then scattered.

And the scattered shadows that couldn’t reach me left black stains on the cave walls and floor.

Was the main body not here either?

Even so, it’s an amazing ability for a single entity to handle this much.

At that point, I could guess what was down here.

It’s too bizarre to be a normal monster and has vast power.

And that alien sensation I felt earlier.

It was something a bit different from magical energy.

To my knowledge, there was only one cause of this.

“……Seed of the Demon King.”

It’s a monster that contains a part of the king who reigned as the absolute ruler of the continent about 20 years ago.

Having made the Seed of the Demon King my enemy, I continued the battle in the cave that was like his headquarters.

The maze-like space is easy to get lost in.

So, I had to vibrate magical energy to grasp the structure.

It wasn’t easy to find and attack the main body whose location I didn’t even know.

I circled the same place for a while, dealing with the endlessly surging shadows.

“Ugh……”

I brushed off the black stains clinging all over my body.

No matter what, my stamina is bound to be depleted.

It might have been different if my body was in a normal state.

Right now, I was in a state of extreme hunger.

If I wasted more time here, I might go berserk like that time.

So, I decided to unleash a bit more magical energy.

Red magical energy covers the surroundings.

Using it makes me honest to my instincts.

That’s why I didn’t particularly like using it.

But it was necessary.

I had to find the needle in the haystack.

I was curious.

How does the monster know my location and move the shadows?

The main body doesn’t move.

It would have revealed its location to me if it had moved, so that much was certain.

I picked up a cut shadow with my hand and observed it.

No matter how I looked at it, it didn’t have eyes.

As I looked closely, I could find something strange.

“……?”

Is this magical energy overlaid on the shadow?

Unextinguished magical energy remains on the cut surface sliced by the sword.

Whether it had just left the main body, I could feel a faint warmth.

Are the shadow and the main body connected by magical energy?

At least the shadow I was holding in my hand seemed to have its connection with the main body cut off due to being sliced by the sword.

I immediately grabbed another shadow with my hand to check.

And my prediction was correct.

The shadows were connected to the main body in some form.

If it could know my location, I could also estimate its location.

I jumped in the direction the shadow pointed.

-Bang!

It’s a strong leap, enough to dig into the ground I kicked off from.

The shadows can’t catch up with my speed, wrapped in wind magic.

Is this all there is to the Seed of the Demon King?

It was certainly strong, but not unbeatable.

Having succeeded in locating the main body, I closed the distance through the shortest route towards it.

As I got closer, the concentration of magical energy increased.

It would have been difficult even to breathe for an ordinary person.

Of course, it had no effect on me since I’m a monster.

Around the main body, there were shadows much stronger than before guarding it.

Even the floor to step on was covered with shadows.

The stickiness on the soles of my shoes was very unpleasant.

So, I decided to break through quickly.

“Wind.”

I wrap all the red wind around my body into my right hand.

I mixed in magical energy to increase the firepower.

The power of the magic I’m using now easily surpasses that of a skilled magician.

I threw a punch with all my strength like that.

Along with the wave of wind extending forward, the shadows that burst apart fell in droves.

I stepped lightly on the pieces of shadow and moved forward.

The Seed of the Demon King was right below here.

I was now tired of finding a way down in this maze-like cave.

So I decided to break the floor.

But since there was no mana left, I had to hit it with my bare fists.

Since I no longer had mana, I wrapped it in magical energy.

It’s to prevent my hands from getting numb.

-Crash!!

Breaking the floor, I fall downwards.

Then, red eyes looking up at me from below stood out.

The main body I faced was much larger than I thought.

No wonder the shadow avatars were huge, having come from something like this.

“……So you’re the main body.”

I took out another high-grade magic stone from my pocket and grasped it in my hand.

Again, wrapping red wind around my hand, I surrendered my body to gravity.

Now, it was time to prove who was stronger.