I’m the Slit-Eyed Character at the Academy, but I’m not the Mastermind – Chapter 102

I had a good reason for choosing to fight a 4th grade demon.

Not just because Rodelin’s party must not die.

‘It’s about enduring turns.’

Aka the endurance quest.

If you last a certain number of turns, someone appears to save you or the opponent has a special reason to leave the battlefield.

A common and clichéd scenario, but for me at this moment, it was an excellent cliché.

[Hidden Quest]

— Defeat the 4th grade demon, ‘Bineus’.

Reward: [Demon’s Blood], 300exp, 30 gold

Penalty: Death

As expected, the hidden quest window popped up.

Let’s see. Good rewards, manageable penalty (?), and…

“…”

I rubbed my eyes. There must have been something wrong with them.

Anyway, having slit eyes causes a lot of problems. Hahaha!

But then.

— Nope~ Not enduring~ You have to kill~.

It wasn’t written like that, but it might as well have been.

My body shivered. The pressure was overwhelming.

From a manly man declaring a fight with a 4th grade demon, why did I suddenly become a coward?

Well…

‘This isn’t an endurance type of quest!?’

A quest I never even imagined.

I was sure a hidden quest like ‘endure for a number of turns’ would pop up.

But it wasn’t?

‘This is too much! Even if unique quests attract more aggro, this is over the top!’

This is just a dead-end!

Give me back my common and clichéd quest!!

‘…Can this be canceled?’

Bineus, contrary to appearances, is considerate, so he might accept my apology.

“Keke, Lord Bineus. It seems there’s been a misunderstanding. What I meant was not…”

“Shut up. I’m barely restraining myself from tearing you apart right now.”

Ah, I see. It can’t be canceled?

My death seems to be confirmed.

‘To kill that monster. This is too much!’

My current level is 27. And Bineus’s level is…

[Lv. 73]

A simple calculation shows a whopping 46 level difference.

Considering it becomes harder to level up as you go, that difference is probably even more significant.

A calculation failure.

It wasn’t me who did something stupid.

The developers who included such a hidden piece and made the quest weird are the crazy ones.

“…I cannot understand. You dare to fight me.”

Yes, I don’t understand either.

“What’s with the 2nd Legion risking their lives? I’ve heard the insolent ones have increased, but this is too much.”

Blaming me?

Oh? Are you angry?

Wouldn’t this not have happened if you hadn’t come in the first place?

“Keke, didn’t you say if I had a request to just ask? That’s all I did.”

“There’s a limit to requests.”

“Didn’t you say human requests are usually modest… You’re single-handedly undermining the prestige of demons.”

Shaking with anger.

Was the factual assault too much even for a demon to bear?

“I didn’t want to get involved with the 2nd Legion, but it seems I have no choice.”

Flutter-.

The crouched Bineus spread his wings.

A crocodile standing on two legs, with a pair of massive bat wings.

The whole body shimmered with unidentified magic symbols.

This was Bineus’s true form.

Flutter-.

Bineus took to the sky.

His intent to kill me was palpable.

‘Tch, I have no choice but to fight.’

It’s a difficult situation, but I have no intention of giving up.

The reason I decided to fight Bineus was because I had a strategy to successfully endure the turns.

‘Let’s just endure for now. I’ll think about what comes next later.’

If my prediction is correct, a great flame will soon rise from behind Bineus in the pentagram.

Whoosh-.

As expected. To the top right of the pentagram, a green flame ignited.

‘4th grade demon, Scorching Bineus.’

Yes. I know how to defeat this demon.

He’s the demon you encounter when you visit the Galton region in chapter 3.

Why didn’t I know Bineus was Lizbel’s familiar?

‘How would I know if they didn’t tell me?’

Bineus attacks and kills humans entering the Galton region without reason.

To enter the Galton region, you had to kill Bineus, so there were occasional fights, but in none of those cases was the name ‘Lizbel’ mentioned.

So, it was natural not to know.

I learned it while talking to Bineus just now, but in this situation, it’s utterly useless information.

“Zero! Toying with me! I’ll burn you!”

Whoosh-.

This time, to the bottom right of the pentagram, a green flame ignited.

Top right and bottom right. A total of 2 flames have ignited.

‘That’s Bineus’s demon magic.’

[Demon Magic] varies from demon to demon, each with its unique characteristics.

In Bineus’s case, flames ignite one by one in the pentagram behind him, and when a total of 5 flames ignite.

‘The ultimate magic, Meteor Shower, activates.’

Blazing meteors adorn the sky as they fall. The range is…

‘The entire map.’

An unavoidable wide-area attack and Bineus’s most powerful magic.

The damage doesn’t even matter. My current level is 27, and my stamina stat is 61.

I’d die just from a graze, not to mention a direct hit.

If Meteor Shower activates, it’s as good as death.

Bineus’s [Demon Magic] sounds unbeatable just by hearing it.

But it’s not invincible.

After all, he’s a demon that can be defeated in chapter 3.

If you know the strategy, he’s definitely worth a try.

‘Three key points in defeating Bineus.’

First, you must continually disrupt him.

Bineus’s [Demon Magic] ignites a green flame each turn, and after 5 turns, it activates.

However, if he takes damage in between, the flames reset.

It starts again from the first flame.

Second, use the 5 turns efficiently.

Attack, defend or evade, and heal.

Unless it’s unavoidable, attacking when 4 flames have accumulated, on the 4th turn, is ideal.

It resets the 4 flames Bineus painstakingly accumulated, not only efficiently using turns but more importantly.

The third point.

‘Additional damage.’

For each accumulated flame, 25% additional damage is taken.

Attacking while there’s one flame incurs 25% additional damage, two flames yield 50% additional damage, three flames 75% additional damage, and with four flames.

‘100% additional damage.’

In other words, it becomes possible to inflict double the damage. Of course, there were demerits as well.

If you make even a slight mistake, Bineus’s [Demon Magic] would activate immediately.

The field-wide magic, ‘Meteor Shower’.

With my current health, even a graze would be instant death.

It must be stopped at all costs.

Therefore, normally, I would have attacked when there were 3 flames, inflicting 75% additional damage with my strategy…

‘I have a secret weapon of my own.’

It’s a bit risky, but if everything goes as I plan, it will definitely work.

After all, fighting a 4th grade demon at level 27.

Winning without taking risks is impossible.

“Behold my power! Fireball!”

A basic fire magic spell. But its power was not basic.

A burning rock, seemingly about 2 meters in diameter, flew towards me.

I immediately placed my hand on my sword.

The first secret technique of the Lester Family Style.

One Flash.

Boom! Bang Bang Bang!!

The rock hit by [One Flash] literally exploded.

At the same time, stone fragments scattered in all directions.

Unfortunately, it didn’t manage to hit Bineus.

‘It’s the limit to neutralize it. I thought with an A-grade rating for One Flash, it might be possible to hit him.’

With the title effect of ‘Heir of the Fleur Family,’ I even receive a 20% increase in attack power.

But to only neutralize it.

‘This won’t be easy.’

Even as I thought this, my body was already moving.

Running forward, I faced the shower of stone fragments with my whole body.

“Keke, it’s my turn.”

I positioned my sword straight and took stance.

The basics of swordsmanship, middle stance.

The fourth secret technique of the Lucid Family Style.

Sky Splitter.

As I drew the sword downwards, a storm brewed in the previously calm sky.

The most powerful skill I can use with [Divine Imitation].

It was also my greatest attack at the moment.

But.

Spat-!

Bineus was no longer there.

He had dodged it.

Not by the breadth of a sheet of paper, but it felt like 5,000 sheets’ worth.

‘It must be because of the difference in stats.’

The grandeur that A-grade skills should exhibit is immense.

Splitting the sky, mountains, and earth is the basic of the basics.

However, the skills I use with [Divine Imitation] don’t show such grandeur.

Because my stats are despairingly low.

‘The downside of betting on potential.’

Still, an A-grade skill is an A-grade skill. It can finish off most enemies.

The problem is.

‘That’s beyond what was expected, damn developers.’

If I had known Bineus would appear, I would have raised my stats accordingly.

But I didn’t know. So, what can I do?

I have to take the beating.

‘The problem is that it’s me taking it.’

Anyway, for these reasons, it was natural for Bineus to dodge my attacks.

Not just the power, but the speed was too slow.

From Bineus’s perspective, my skills must seem like a turtle’s pace.

The preparation motion, casting motion, and the moment of activation.

Everything is visible, so it’s impossible not to dodge.

Especially, unlike [One Flash], which is flexible in angle and has a broad range, [Sky Splitter] can only be used vertically.

At this point, not dodging would be more strange.

“Tch!”

Though it was an action taken for experimentation, frustration welled up.

No matter how much I mimic, I can’t become the real thing.

I had just gained an opportunity to become real with [Fleur Family Style].

But I won’t use the Fleur Family’s swordsmanship.

Partly because it’s a C-grade, but also because I don’t know what effects the swordsmanship has, how the attacks unfold.

It’s not a skill I’ve seen in the game, and from the fight with Lérang, I only vaguely know about the 3rd and 5th forms.

I can’t recklessly use something when I don’t know what kind of skill will come out.

Whoosh-.

In the center below the pentagram, a third green flame lit up.

Normally, this is where I should stop.

There’s no guarantee of success when the fourth flame ignites.

But I have to endure.

The first secret technique of the Lester Family Style.

One Flash.

Whoosh-.

Again, Bineus easily dodged it.

Even though [One Flash] is versatile in angle and has a reasonably wide range.

It was now clear.

My attacks don’t affect Bineus.

“Kahaha! Your life is nearing its end!”

“Keke, is that so? How about enjoying it a bit more?”

“There’s no need to wait until you’re dead to have fun.”

Is he planning to play with my corpse? What a perverse hobby.

Both Bineus and I didn’t make any special moves, entering a reconnaissance phase.

Then.

Whoosh-!

On the bottom left of the pentagram, a fourth green flame ignited.

“Kahaha! Zero! Pay for insulting me!”

A desperate situation.

Everything went according to Bineus’s plan, and soon, ‘Meteor Shower’ would rain across the entire map.

But it went according to my plan as well.

And who said.

“Did I allow you to use your demon magic?”

Shurk-.

I used [Eye Opening] while simultaneously pulling out a pocket watch.

Specifically, the ‘Silver Flash’ shaped like a pocket watch.

Aiming at Bineus, I pressed the button, and a stream of mana shot towards him.

Swoosh!

“Kuk!?”

Bineus twitched.

Simultaneously, the four green flames at the pentagram began to fade.

“What, what is this…!”

Sorry to say, but my turn hasn’t ended yet.

Silver Flash requires no casting time.

Raising my sword, I took stance again and used [Divine Imitation].

The fourth secret technique of the Lucid Family Style.

Sky Splitter.

As the clouds in the sky split apart.

Crack!

Bineus’s left wing was severed.

–TL Notes–
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