I Became a Mafia in the Academy
chapter-229

Chapter 229

Upon arrival at the entrance to the Etna volcano, the meetings of the various factions began.

The usual stuff, like who will go in first and who will cover the rear.

With the exception of the fire giants, each faction decided to take the byproducts of the monsters they defeated, but surprisingly, it was the criminal faction that said they would be the first to go.

“We’re going to take the lead, anyone object?”

“We’re going to take the lead, anyone object?”

“Venezia has no objection.”

“Me too.”

Luca and I simultaneously declare our stance.

It’s a good deal for the do-gooder, but they’ve given it away.

It’s not hard to see how Venezia would make such a choice.

‘Meat shields.’

The intention was to use them as canaries in the coal mine.

And it wouldn’t matter if the byproduct was anything other than what they expected.

After all, the true goal of Venezia and Medici was the Essence of Fire, not the byproducts in the dungeon.

It might help stop or control them if they tried to escape.

And the reason I agreed was simple.

Not only was my target not a byproduct of the monsters, but there wasn’t much to be gained by taking the lead.

“Hmph, the concessions are faster than I thought, thanks.”

She says with a grin.

Her intention, too, was to take the lead, presumably to control the ‘criminals’ who wouldn’t stick together.

“So that means that between us and Corleone Junior’s side, we’ll have to take up the rear……since we’re more…….”

“We’ll be working separately.”

“……?”

His brow furrows as he listens to me.

Well, it’s not like I don’t understand his expression.

There must have been orders from the Medici to put us in the middle, to control us directly.

Criminals in the front and Venezia in the back.

If it was just the three of us in there, we’d be stuck as tools, unable to do anything but help explore the dungeon.

“That’s quite an alarming statement to make right before we leave.”

He tries to stop me somehow.

But

“What the hell, it’s only three of them, anyway. I’m all for it.”

At this point, the cat mask raises her hand and winks in our direction.

“That’s two to one. Rest assured, I’m not saying I’m going to leave you alone, I’m just saying I’m going to have a little more freedom, and it’s easier for me to solve the ‘mission’ you’ve given me.”

This was a contractual relationship, not an employment relationship.

Luca rolled his eyes at my words and started to think about something.

“……All right, then, Mr. Corleone Jr. and his associates will move to a separate wing, but I want you to make sure you have my back until we begin this ‘mission’.”

“Thank you for your understanding.”

He took a step back, apparently deciding it wasn’t a good idea to start a fight with me.

“I suppose we’ve decided who goes in first, so can we start?”

Cat Mask stretches and rises to her feet, and Luca nods as he too rises to his feet.

“Then let’s make this raid a success.”

He shakes his head in determination.

I simply smirk in response, then head over to where Michaela and Elena are.

“Junior, is the meeting over?”

Michaela, who had grown tired of calling Corleone Junior, now called me Junior.

“As we talked about on the way here, we’re not exactly on the same page. Normally, we’d be in a position where we’d have to go to dangerous places to provide support, but……we don’t know what all these guys here are thinking, so we don’t have to risk it.”

Michaela nods at my words.

“That’s the right call, Junior, because there’s no way they’ll think otherwise, and if anything happens, I’ll make sure Elena’s safe as soon as possible.”

“Well, I won’t be in the way either!”

“Okay, then let’s get ready. It looks like that…… is about to leave, too.”

The waiting raid parties finally began to enter the dungeon ‘Temple of Fire.’

* * *

In contrast to the clear skies outside, there was a cloudy, ashen sky overhead.

Ash and sparks scattered all around. The trees were dead and twisted, and the ground was smoking furiously.

“Definitely, this looks like the last place we came in.”

I wonder if it helps that they’ve already attempted to climb Mount Etna. Elena muttered to herself as she looked around, more relaxed than the first time.

“But the monsters that come out will be different from the ones we saw last time, since this is a pagan shrine and home to ‘the giant’.”

“Ah, yes.”

Elena nods and naturally walks beside her, noticing that Michaela is looking more nervous than she did last time.

And then Luca’s voice comes out of thin air.

-From now on, we’re going to run to the ‘giant’s bedchamber’ where he is. I’m going to start running first, and then we’re going to pick up the pace, so get ready!

One by one, the others begin to get into position and prepare to run forward.

-Elena.

Pen stretched himself up to run alongside Elena, and then carried Elena on top of him.

“Thanks, Pen.”

-Hold on tight.

And then he transformed his back into stirrups and handles to make sure she didn’t fall off.

His entire body was made of metal, making him look very versatile.

That’s what a Tier 1 spirit should look like.

Everyone is ready to run, each waiting for a signal from.

-Let’s go!

With Luca’s shout, the horde of about fifty people began to run as fast as they could towards the front.

“Woah!”

-Don’t fall!

The sudden acceleration sends Elena’s body rocking back and forth on Pen. Panicking, she fumbles a few times, then grips the handle tightly and lowers herself.

All the while, there’s a lot of noise around her.

It’s only been about twenty seconds since we set off, but explosions and shouts have already begun to echo up ahead, as if announcing a battle.

-Don’t try to pick up anything that’s too far away! If we slow down, we’ll all die!

I was worried that the byproducts were slowing us down, but it seems the mercenaries are doing a good job.

Our methodical approach is as good as most small and medium guilds.

-3 minutes to go until the first peak!

Our goal is the sixth peak.

The main plan was to reach the Giant’s Bedchamber through it.

“Elena, prepare for a battle as soon as we reach the first peak.”

“Oh, yeah!”

-Ten seconds until we reach the peak! 9…… 8…… 2…… 1! Scatter!

In an instant, we reach the top of the peak, and everyone in the waiting formation spreads out.

The lake of fire spread out in front of us.

-Kiruk?!

-Kyaraarak!

-Kirrrrrr! Kirrrrrrrr!

All that’s rising there are fallen fire spirits and monsters like the Fire Drake.

Now, here’s what we need to do.

-Wipe them all out!

At the sound of Luca’s voice, everyone began throwing themselves into the volcano of fire.

“Sister.”

“You don’t have to say it, I know it.”

“Pen!”

As planned, Elena dismounted from Pen as soon as she reached the peak, and drew on her magic power to lead the way. Michaela follows suit, raising her holy power as well.

“Goodbye then.”

I leave them alone and step forward.

What I need to do is to open the first gateway to the fire giant. That is, to destroy the “fire wells” that exist on each peak.

[Activates the Black Mist skill “Shadowstep”!]

[User permeates the shadows.]

Shadows are all around me in this place of fire.

It’s not quite as good as the Mansion of Night, but it’s good enough.

Saving myself the trouble of fighting my way through the crowds, I dive beneath the sea of shadows and make a beeline for the well, pulling out the shotgun in my cube.

-Kirk! Chirp!

They huddled together to guard the well and seemed pretty protective of their spawning grounds.

“Let’s smash them all at once.”

There’s only one chance for the surprise attack to work.

After a few shadowy shifts, I reached the well’s vicinity, stepped out of the shadows, and aimed the muzzle of my shotgun at the monsters peering up from below.

[「Bloodline Ability: Corleone」 is activated.]

“Right. Let’s all look at each other, shall we?”

The red aura exploded as it recognized all the creatures around me as enemies.

Instead of releasing the aura as it is, I compressed it as a mass of black-red color that grew darker and darker appeared.

I place it in the chamber of my shotgun, polished and ready, and pull the trigger.

“Smile──”

Kwaaaaaang────!!!

The ground shook with a huge bomb-like explosion, and ash began to rise from the surrounding area.

A sea of gray smoke engulfed the battlefield in an instant.

This was also the reason why others found the Temple of Fire so difficult.

The more you fight, the more your visibility is limited.

But

“Elena-aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

I land on the ground and scream Elena’s name as hard as I can, calling out to her somewhere in this place.

Then

-Tinkerbell!

Elena’s voice rises from the ashen waters.

Using this voice as a cue, the magic around me begins to stir.

No, it’s not magic, but a breeze.

The cool breeze gathers and soon becomes a gale, sweeping through the neighborhood and taking control.

Venezia mages behind began to sweep the ash around us.

Once the ash was completely cleared away, the view was that of a battlefield, a battlefield that had been turned into a mess.

“Well destroyed!”

-All hands! Form up and move straight for the next peak!

At the first shout of the completion of the first mission, the men scattered around the perimeter resumed their original formation as if drawn by magnetism.

These are veterans who have seen it all before.

-Mercenary wounded 0!

“Corleone wounded 0.”

-Venezia light wounds 1. Keep moving!

The well is easily destroyed, thanks to the clean success of the ambush.

Deciding that further combat was futile, we began to sprint toward the next peak.

“As usual, Junior, was that your true strength?”

Michaela asks me as she comes up beside me as the formation tightens again.

I smirked in response.

“It’s a secret, by the way, did anything happen?”

“Nothing, thanks to Pen’s great work. Pen is more powerful than you think.”

As she spoke, Elena looked at Pen’s mounted form.

The cold appearance of Pen had changed in the meantime, and a red aura began to show through the gaps in its fur.

-Yummy! Delicious! Delicious!

“I think I can do this!”

Elena, perched on top of Pen, smiled broadly, oblivious to the soot on her face.

“You’re probably too young to be thinking about that.”

“What?”

-30 seconds to the second peak, ready!

“I know it when I see it……!”

I pull out my Tommy, not my shotgun this time, and pull the ready aura into it.

-3…… 2…… 1!

We reached the end of the peak and saw a familiar sight but there was something different than what we saw before…….

“Uh, Eugene. What the hell…….”

“This is the real Temple of Fire……!”

What stretched out before us was a sea of fire, spreading out so wide that the first peak looked tiny.

It was the Red Sea.