The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned

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Chapter 93: A Common Occurrence (5)

“Just one snap of my fingers, and I could turn everyone in the village into demonic beasts.”

While Professor Elisha and Harris were conversing, I pondered over Harris' words in my head.

‘That means the poison inside the villagers only activates when a specific signal is given.’

In other words…

‘Without that “special signal,” the poison the villagers consumed won't take effect.’

It’s more like a bomb than a poison.

If it’s not a situation where the effect triggers naturally over time…

‘There’s a way.’

The poison the villagers consumed won’t activate without the specific signal.

Thus, there are two options:

Kill Harris before he can send the signal or block the signal itself.

‘The former is too risky.’

No matter how powerful Professor Elisha is, a hero ranked ninth in the Tri-Nation rankings, she wouldn’t be able to suppress a bishop-level monster without giving him a chance even to snap his fingers.

That leaves only one option:

‘A magic barrier that blocks all mana.’

I need to cut off the signal Harris is sending entirely.

It's like not taking the detonator away from the bomber, but rather blocking the signal that activates the detonator in the first place.

‘A magic barrier that blocks all power is an advanced spell that even most professors of the Magic Department can’t cast.’

But who am I?

I’m the self-proclaimed top disciple of Senior Sophia, the genius of theoretical magic who solved two out of the three great riddles of the Grand Sage (even if it took me a thousand years to figure out).

Casting a barrier that blocks mana?

It’s no big deal.

But…

‘With my current mana, I can only spread the barrier over a 20-meter radius at best.’

Even though my mana has increased significantly recently, the magic barrier that blocks power consumes an enormous amount of energy, so I can’t spread it wide enough to cover the entire square where the villagers are scattered.

‘I can’t get too close to Harris, either.’

The magic barrier was designed for defense, so it only blocks magic coming from the outside in, not the other way around.

‘If Senior Sophia were here, she could instantly modify the spell to block magic going from inside out.’

Unfortunately, I don’t have her level of magical intuition.

‘I need someone to distract Harris while gathering all 100 villagers in one spot.’

It might seem impossible to gather all the scattered villagers into a 20-meter radius barrier in a split second, but…

‘There is someone.’

And that someone is standing right beside me.

[So… you want Candidate Dale to distract Harris while I gather the villagers in one place?]

Elisha Baldwin, the Spider with Mystic Eyes, raised an eyebrow at me as she repeated my telepathic message.

[It’s a ridiculous plan.]

It was barely even a plan, more like a crude idea.

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One slip-up, and everything would go up in smoke, a dangerous gamble.

Logically, it made more sense to capture Jackal’s underling right here and now than to risk it on a flimsy hope.

But…

[Candidate Dale… You’re really something.]

For some reason, the suffocating sense of urgency that had been tightening around me just moments ago had completely vanished.

[Fine. I’ll go along with your plan.]

As Professor Elisha’s voice echoed in my head, I couldn’t help but smirk.

[Focus. We only get one shot at this.]

Leaving Professor Elisha behind, I dashed toward bishop Harris.

“W-wahhhh!”

I screamed as if I were terrified out of my wits.

“Hm?”

“Please spare me! I’m just a candidate and have nothing to do with Professor Elisha!”

I shouted with a desperate expression.

“I only followed because they said I’d get extra points, and now they’re telling me to fight demonic beasts! I don’t even have my official hero license yet!”

“Haha. This situation has gotten quite amusing, hasn’t it?”

Harris chuckled as he watched me grovel.

Even though I had gotten quite close, he made no move to trigger the "detonator" planted inside the villagers.

‘That’s because I’m no threat to him.’

I was just a small fry who got caught in the net Harris had spread to catch the big fish, Elisha Baldwin.

No matter how much a tiny fish like me flailed around, it wouldn’t make sense for him to pull the net up prematurely.

‘But he won’t let his guard down that easily.’

Harris wasn’t a fool.

Even if I was just a candidate, there was no way he would completely drop his guard around someone Elisha had brought along.

The moment I made any wrong move, he wouldn’t hesitate to trigger the bomb he’d planted inside the villagers.

‘So…’

I just need to make him completely drop his guard.

And creating an opening by luring my opponent into a false sense of security was something I’d honed to perfection in my previous life.

“To turn one’s own student into a demonic beast… That wouldn’t be a bad picture, either.”

Harris snapped his fingers, pointing at me.

I felt the faint magical signal from his hand flow into my body.

And then…

“…Huh?”

Seeing no change in me, Harris tilted his head.

“Oh, right. You didn’t drink earlier, did you?”

Only then did bishop Harris realize that I hadn’t drunk the poisoned cider, and he smirked, stepping toward me.

“What a shame. If you had drunk it, you could have received the blessing of the Lord.”

“Hiiiii!”

I let out a pathetic scream and collapsed onto my backside.

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“P-please, spare me…!”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have time to play with you right now.”

“Gahhh!”

With a squelching sound, one of Harris’s tentacles shot out and pierced my heart.

A dull, meaty thud followed by blood pouring out like water from a broken faucet.

As Harris turned his attention to Professor Elisha, he left me crumpled on the ground, clutching my heart.

“So, what will you do now? Are you going to abandon all the innocent villagers?”

“…”

“Hm? Oh, I see. You’re concerned about the candidate, aren’t you?”

Harris chuckled as he glanced at the fallen candidate, then at Professor Elisha.

“Here’s some advice: In the future, choose your candidates more carefully, even if you’re just bringing them along as errand runners.”

He clicked his tongue in mock disapproval.

“No matter how inexperienced they are, a candidate this pathetic really tarnishes a hero’s reputation… Hm?”

“No matter if he’s just a cadet, looking this disgraceful… How can a hero’s dignity… hm?”

At that moment, Bishop Harris frowned and rubbed his cheek.

His fingers were covered in a thick gray ash.

“Where did this come from...?”

As he furrowed his brow and tried to brush off the ash on his hand—

Fwoosh!

A fierce flame flared up from the ash.

Harris dodged the incoming sword strike with a startled expression.

“W-What is this?!”

The cadet, who should have been dead, with his heart pierced by a tentacle, was now swinging his sword as if nothing had happened.

‘Wasn’t his heart impaled?’

No, he had definitely felt the sensation of his heart being pierced.

Through the tentacle that had run through his heart, he had even checked that his breathing had completely stopped.

‘But why?’

Why was the corpse, with its heart skewered, suddenly alive again and swinging a sword at him?

“Urgh…!”

Harris, known as the ‘Mind Eater,’ a demonic beast that devours brains, could absorb the knowledge and experiences of anyone he consumed.

He had consumed the brains of hundreds of humans, accumulating knowledge and experiences beyond what any normal human could attain.

Yet, even he couldn’t comprehend the current situation.

And so, he briefly forgot about Jackal’s order—to turn the villagers into beasts immediately if anything went wrong.

“Now!!!”

Dale’s shout echoed throughout the village square.

“Hoo.”

Professor Elisha spread her arms wide and took a deep breath.

“Bind them.”

With a quiet mutter—

Whirr, whirr, whirr!!!

Hundreds, thousands of strands of ‘web’ spread out in all directions.

The web swiftly coiled around the villagers, who had collapsed in despair, and pulled them in.

“Aaahhh!”

“Wh-What?!”

“Mommy!!!”

The villagers struggled as they were dragged, bound by the invisible silver threads, but they couldn’t escape from Professor Elisha’s web.

Whirr! Whip! Whirr!

The web spread throughout the entire village square.

Elisha gathered all of the 100 villagers into one place, bound by the web.

“It’s no use!”

Bishop Harris, belatedly regaining his composure, reached out toward the villagers.

With a snap of his fingers, he sent a magical signal toward the bound villagers.

“Cadet Dale!”

At Professor Elisha’s shout, Dale leapt forward.

Entering the gathered villagers, he spread his arms wide.

Fwoooosh!

A magic-blocking barrier spread out, and flames encased it.

The magical signal sent by Bishop Harris was swallowed by the flames and vanished.

“Huh?”

Harris widened his eyes in shock.

When he snapped his fingers, all the villagers should have transformed into beasts, but not a single one did.

“A magic-blocking barrier...?! How is a cadet using that?”

The magic-blocking barrier was an advanced technique that even most professors in the magic department couldn’t use.

And yet, a mere cadet without a hero’s license had deployed it?

That too, in an instant?

“What in the world…?”

Harris staggered backward, overwhelmed by the sensation that the hundreds of experiences he had absorbed were being entirely invalidated.

‘Damn it.’

According to the original plan, if Professor Elisha didn’t comply with the orders, he would turn the villagers into beasts to tie her down and then escape.

But the situation had completely fallen apart.

‘I have to retreat…’

Just as he decided to flee—

Whirr, whirr, whirr!

Hundreds of silver threads tangled around him like a spider’s web, enclosing the space around him.

The web-covered space trapped him like prey caught by a spider.

Step, step.

The faint sound of footsteps echoed.

Professor Elisha pulled out a cigarette from her coat and put it to her lips.

Click.

The cigarette lit with a red glow.

“So, what will you do now?”

Blowing out a cloud of smoke, the spider-eyed professor glared menacingly with fierce eyes.

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