I Became the Traitor in an Academy Story

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“Invictus is gone.”

Just that one line was enough to deflate the morale of all the heroes.

But that just couldn’t be true. There’s no way the Evil Society still had that kind of power left.

If they did, they would have broken through the siege ages ago. So, it’s more likely that Invictus didn’t get captured or defeated; they just got swept away by some ability.

Interdimensional transmission. Teleportation. A power capable of pulling someone out of a battle. Teleportation? Yeah, that wouldn’t work.

We’re talking about a madman who’s faster than a jet. There’s no way you could just teleport away from that.

And domination? No way. If they were dominated, we wouldn’t have had a chance to think about a defensive line; we’d be scrambling for our lives.

So, it was clear that those guys were pulling some kind of trick. Maybe they sent Invictus to another dimension like I experienced, or they used some kind of sealing ability.

But, in this urgent situation, it seemed there were hardly any heroes whose minds were sharp enough to think that far.

Me? I might have bought some time to think thanks to the drugs, but the others… they probably only had about eight seconds to figure something out.

And during those eight seconds, the enemy was closing in. So, yeah. I won’t blame them too much.

When people are in a panic, their brains don’t exactly operate at full speed. Even Minho hasn’t fully grasped why Invictus disappeared yet.

But, on another note, the heroes’ fading morale was definitely a bad sign.

Being heroes, they wouldn’t run away, but if their morale crumbles, their fighting spirit will dwindle too. I had to rally them somehow and boost their spirits.

The key to rousing people? Right, I remember. How could I forget? Swallowing back a bitter memory, I started manipulating the slime to create something.

It was a replica of lungs and a vocal cord.

There was no way my lung capacity could overpower this noise, so this was the only way I could hope to be heard.

I rushed over to Minho, still dazed, and threw myself at him, begging him to amplify my voice.

“Wha… now? What are you…? Oh, fine.”

Minho turned a bit red when I suddenly shoved myself against him, but he figured it out once he saw the bio-speaker stuck to my back and floated up.

Pumping air into both my real lungs and the replicas, I pondered over what to say that would resonate with them. Would this work? No, maybe this one’s better. Hm, this might do.

Ah, yes. This should work. I’ve heard that said often.

“Invictus is alive!!!”

The Heros Company are liars. The only parts remaining were ‘is’ and ‘alive,’ but the original phrase is supposed to stick in people’s heads the more short and intense it is.

Since Minho was covering his ears tightly, I yelled at the top of my lungs to continue rallying the heroes.

“Those vile villains just played a cunning trick to make it look like they won! Think about it, if they had the power to defeat Invictus, would we still be standing here?!”

So, they’re just feeding us cheap tricks. I shouted towards the heroes.

“That… might be true, but the evidence…”

As I shouted, someone in the crowd tossed a small question my way.

To be honest, the author’s statement had some truth. It’s all just speculation. There wasn’t solid proof.

But in rallying people, facts didn’t matter.

What mattered was whether the rousers had confidence in their opinion, how convincingly they conveyed it, and whether the listeners wanted to hear that narrative.

Oh, and also the volume of their voice.

“What evidence do you have that isn’t true?!! Do you really think those guys have been hiding their trump card up until now? In this moment where each breath could cost us our lives?!! Nonsense!!! If they were fighting for their lives, they wouldn’t be waiting for an opening!”

So, I picked out words that would sound enticing to them, speaking with confidence.

You want to believe that Invictus is alive, don’t you?

At this point, it seemed like my words had started to ignite their fighting spirit again.

They were grumbling about how dare someone deceive them and touch Invictus, and overall, it wasn’t the best vibe, but…

Who cares? What matters is that they’re pumped to fight right now. That’s the important thing.

Well, if Invictus turns up dead later, nobody would be able to complain since we had all rallied together so well.

I called out for them to hold their position, saying that if this place fell, everything we’ve worked for would be in vain, putting on a show of leading the charge.

But you know what? The atmosphere and tide are scary; even the heroes tasked with commanding began to organize their ranks under my orders.

So, I guess I could relax a bit about the fear of an easy breach.

“Thanks for listening to the noise, Minho. Now let me go, I have to get going.”

I tapped Minho’s hand lightly, and he willingly floated down while asking cheerfully.

“Running away?”

Well, since he brought it up first, he couldn’t help but be enthusiastic.

But that wasn’t it.

“No, I’m going to cut Arman’s head off.”

“…What?”

Minho paused, looking at me like I was crazy as he was about to let me down.

“If that idiot gets his head severed by someone else and not me, I won’t be able to sleep peacefully at night.”

That bastard took everything from me. So, I had to personally take his head. Only then could I live my life with at least some peace of mind.

“You don’t need to join me. You guys just have to hold the line here. It’s dangerous. And just so you know, don’t follow me. This is purely my selfish desire.”

“Blanca, that’s still really dangerous…”

As I took a breath and readied my toxins while hopping over the barrier, I left behind the warning that Heros Company would probably have something to say if he followed me.

I had to act without giving Minho time to notify the others.

In order to flourish without holding back, I couldn’t afford to have anyone around me getting hurt.

For my friends and for myself, it was best to work solo.

“Bring it on, trash!”

I dove between the throng of modified humans and abilities users that had surged to the front, unleashing fluoroantimonic acid and thorn-like slime all over the place.

Those exposed to high concentrations of hydrofluoric acid immediately stiffened and dropped, their skin melting away.

Those with thorns embedded in them were controlled by the slime, either getting knocked down by their own fists or succumbing to poison from having their legs immobilized, ultimately dying in agony.

If you’re facing those who aren’t afraid of death, just kill them quickly and that’s it.

Before my stock of fluorine ran out, I needed to take Arman’s head. That was all I could think about.

No matter how modified a human is, there’s nothing that can withstand extreme poison that penetrates to the bone and paralyzes the nerves.

If modified humans were in that state, you can only imagine how easy it would be to deal with mere humans.

Those daring to stand in my way were falling like leaves in the autumn breeze.

I walked over the bodies collapsing around me, sometimes grabbing one and swinging it to clear my path.

Humans rushed from all directions trying to stop me, but when it comes down to sheer lethality, there weren’t many abilities users who could outmatch me, so it wasn’t much of an obstacle.

But, maybe I had gone too deep in. One by one, things started grabbing at my ankles, tails, and wrists, trying to latch on.

My bones were getting soft, my muscles severely damaged, but I still wasn’t held back that much.

However, as I continued to feel my movement slow down bit by bit, I realized I was almost surrounded by a mountain of corpses.

Arman, that bastard must really be trying to bury me.

Since he couldn’t kill me, he must want to cage me in for now.

With more bodies piling up, no matter how hard I flailed, I couldn’t help feeling heavier.

I didn’t have that much slime left, so expanding it to clear a path seemed far off.

Dissolving them… at this point, that was definitely not an option. So, what am I going to do? Think, Blanca. Is this all I can manage?

While pondering various escape routes, suddenly, I felt the pile of corpses lighten.

And just like that, the weight kept falling off until…

“Blanca!!!”

The last voice I wanted to hear echoed in my ears.

“Didn’t I tell you not to come! What are you doing down there with all this hydrofluoric acid around?! Get out of here now!!!”

“I was prepared for that! I can hold on for a bit!”

“You call that preparation?!”

For a moment I was mad at Minho, but soon I realized the others were with him too.

A subtle wind swirling around him and the ice block that was clearly there to clear away corpses—it all made sense.

“You brought the others along?! One life on the line is enough!!!”

Since Changwon was keeping the kids safe up top, they wouldn’t get poisoned, but I couldn’t help being mad.

“And what about us?! You can’t just expect us to sit back and watch a friend walk into danger! Everyone knew about this; just keep going!”

But seeing Minho kicking away the approaching Arman’s forces while I barked my frustrations, I couldn’t even bring myself to be angry anymore.

“I… ugh, seriously. Don’t say anything later just because I ended up hurt!”

Since uninvited guests showed up, I had to change my plans and the poisons I intended to use heavily.

But, strangely enough, I also felt a sense of relief.

I wasn’t alone, after all.

 

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