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Chapter 76




Chapter 6: In the Name of Glory (12)
***
Borka had already said it was too late, but the professor thought differently.
‘For someone who seemed to have given up, you were initially trying to leave quietly, right? At first, before I hit you, you didn’t transform and only tried to subdue me and escape. Clearly, you were aware of the Inquisition members lurking around here.’
Just to stay alive? If that were the case, you would have gone wild the moment you were caught by the Inquisition’s paladins. If the rumors are true, being dragged away means death. But the fact that you were here in the Inquisition’s annex without resistance suggests otherwise. What did the werewolf, who came to the city to find his family, think when he saw the Inquisition members who capture werewolves?
“Lastly, you wanted to check the Inquisition’s underground prison, right? You were probably worried that your family, who were dragged into the city, might have been brought here. But to risk your life to enter the Inquisition... Were you that desperate? Or—”
“Three years. Three years! I’ve wandered this city, filled with hatred, ever since I left my hometown, three years!”
Borka interrupted the professor, his breath heavy with the fury of a furnace.
“I believed they were good merchants. They gifted glass ornaments to the village women and shared snacks with the children, the kind of merchants who wore warm smiles!”
Swish!
Borka didn’t stop attacking as he spoke. His claws, sharp enough to slice through solid granite, narrowly missed the professor’s waist.
“It was a misunderstanding, I thought there were decent humans! I treated them well and allowed them to stay in the village! I didn’t even know they had poisoned the feast they offered as a token of gratitude!”
Swoosh!
“Damn! You’re so fast! So, they killed their own kind and kidnapped the children!”
“You don’t understand! It wasn’t something that could be expressed with a simple word like ‘death’!”
Bang!
The attacks grew faster. The professor, using a thick pillar in the middle of the room, took advantage of the slight delay when Borka’s claws grazed the pillar, grabbed his arm again, and quickly threw him. He didn’t dare to pin Borka down and slam him as he did before because the resistance from Borka’s arm was too intense. Borka’s gray fur had turned silver, radiating a dangerous aura.
‘Mana, or is it spirit energy? This guy is completely different from before he transformed.’
Borka, thrown like a cannonball, flipped in mid-air and landed gracefully, crouching on all fours like a wolf. He then pushed off the wall and charged at the professor, a predator’s attack, but many times more ferocious and swift. Instinctively, the professor knew that if he tried to grab him, his arms would be sliced off.
The professor sighed and focused all his strength into his right arm.
“Damn. I was trying to win in a cool way, given the audience.”
[That’s not the level to be concerned about. The more he gets stronger, the more you might lose if you don’t act. Just beat him up without hesitation.]
“Who wouldn’t want to? There’s no Mute’s blood here.... Ugh!”
Crack!
His arm, now more than three times its original size, was pulled back, and Borka, charging like a javelin, was closing the distance, aiming for the professor’s neck.
“Human! I hate you all!!!”
“Screw it! Don’t die, Borka!”
Swish!
Just as Borka, with his silver fur flying, was about to sink his fangs into the professor’s neck, the professor’s massive right arm, poised like a loaded bullet, swung and a loud crack echoed through the air.
Crunch!
.
.
.
A moment of silence. Then,
BOOM!!!!!
Borka, hit squarely by the professor’s full-force right hook, flew through the wall like a missile.
BOOM!
BOOM!
Rumble.
Rumble.
.
.
.
.
The professor, hearing the distant sounds of something being destroyed, scratched his head with his left hand, his right hand having been shattered.
“Tch. He must be dead.”
[Paul. You should have aimed higher.]
“I deliberately aimed to the side. If it was a home run, he would have gone over the Inquisition’s wall.”
The professor, squinting, looked beyond the destroyed wall of the Inquisition’s dormitory.
“Wait, is he still alive? I can see something twitching in the distance....”
- Nam Barthol: That’s rigor mortis, sir.
- Speed Wagon: Even freshly butchered beef jerks around when you cut it.
- Soy Sauce Guy: Don’t die! (Full Power)
- Jokass: Did you see his eyes flash when you hit him? I thought, ‘Is that the eye of a killer?’
- Take a Look: After drawing out all the hatred, he kills them. It’s like a kind of enlightenment ritual. Still, he did a proper ceremony for the Inquisition’s hero, in a way.
“No, I didn’t mean to kill him. Just seeing how he holds his own, he’s not a regular guy. It would be a waste if he died. I was just... stronger than I thought. I wasn’t this strong before?”
[Our body is still growing. If you hadn’t wrestled with Borka, you would have had to tear your muscles to shreds today to suppress the infection. It’s a risky body, but the rewards are clear. By the way, it seems you destroyed a few more Inquisition buildings. Did anyone get caught in the crossfire?]
“...Well, they should be fine. Given the current situation, all the Inquisition members would have gone out for morning prayers. They should be fine, right? Probably?”
The professor, rubbing his shoulder with his left hand, which was now useless, stepped over the broken wall to find Borka.
Rumble, rumble!
“M-monster... The Inquisition sold us out to the hands of monsters...”
The other squad members, seeing the professor, who was missing an arm and laughing to himself, were trembling in fear at the terrifying scene.
***
Click! Click!
“Halt! Identify yourself! This area is under the control of the Light Paladins...”
“Ah, right. Given the commotion, the paladins would have to act or it would be dereliction of duty.”
Following the trail of destruction from the large hole in the squad dormitory, the professor finally found Borka. Surrounded by paladins who were emitting a menacing aura, Borka was still embedded in the wall.
[Oh, he’s not dead.]
“Not only is he not dead, but he seems conscious.”
Squish!
At that moment, Borka’s transformation ended, and his body shrank, falling from the wall.
The professor, pushing through the paladins, skillfully caught Borka with one hand as he fell.
“Ugh!”
Clang!
“Stop! This beast caused a disturbance in the sacred grounds of the Inquisition and must be severely punished—”
Whoosh!
The paladin’s words were cut short as the professor’s necklace, which he pulled from his neck, illuminated the dark surroundings with a holy light.
“I am an Inquisition hero.”
“B-but, the holy relic, why, how...”
“I was training the squad members. Is there a problem with that?”
The paladin seemed to have a lot to say, but in the presence of the glowing relic, he finally closed his mouth.
“...This is the abode of the servants of Rohar. Please, restrain yourself. If you need to educate the heretics, please inform us. We have many effective methods.”
“Yeah, sure. Thanks.”
The professor, ignoring the paladin’s words, left the cowering paladins behind and slung Borka over his shoulder.
Thud, thud, thud, thud
“...Cough! Grrr....”
“Wow, you were really awake. Are you tougher than me?”
The professor, heading back to the squad dormitory with Borka slung over his shoulder, heard him groan and speak.
“...Kill me.”
“No. You’re coming with me to catch the queen. You have to survive.”
“Pfft!”
Borka groaned again, turned his head, and spat a mixture of blood and phlegm at the professor’s face.
“Don’t... get too cocky. Even if you can restrain my body, my soul...”
“Tch, you’re frustrating, stupid, and dirty. -1 point.”
Borka, slung over the professor’s shoulder, erupted in anger at the professor’s words.
“Grrr— If you want to insult me...!”
“No, it’s not an insult, it’s a fact. You couldn’t find the kidnapped children in three years, right? You haven’t even