The Return of the Iron-blood Sword Hound
chapter-300

Chapter 300: Age of War Enthusiasts (2)

…Swish!

A single ‘whip’ pierced through Principal Winston’s heart.

Giggles echoed through the auditorium, filling it to the brim.

Intriguingly, a woman with glossy black tights and high heels, leaving a strong impression, walked out from behind the stage curtain.

Ms. Ouroboros.

There’s no need to explain that the whip that swiftly took Winston’s life belonged to her.

The moment she appeared, the people in the hall temporarily looked up in surprise.

It’s understandable; this was her first appearance in front of the public.

However, Ms. Ouroboros didn’t give the audience time to adjust to reality.

“Uh… Ugh!”

Winston, still on the stage, raised his arm while collapsing.

In an instant, a strong person in the realm of Swordmaster, became like this in front of everyone.

And then…

…Thud!

Ms. Ouroboros stomped on Winston’s body once again with her killer high heels.

A perfect execution.

Principal Winston’s heart burst that moment and he perished.

Crash!

The winter sword, ‘Orwell,’ Winston’s prized possession, shaped like a unicorn’s horn, fell to the ground.

“Ah, finally got my hands on it. The ‘key.'”

Ms. Ouroboros picked up Orwell, breaking the silence with a muttered monologue.

Screams were heard only now. Students, parents, and professors in the audience screamed in unison.

And facing all this chaos head-on, Ms. Ouroboros uncovered the mask that concealed her face.

Professor Banshee’s eyes widened as if about to tear up, as he stood in the front row.

“Pro… Professor Sadi!?”

Yes, the infamous villain who had caused a stir in Venetior. The heinous criminal who committed numerous crimes.

The true identity was none other than Professor Said, the troublesome figure of the academy!

“Hoho-hoho-ho. Killing people is so enjoyable.”

Amidst the commotion around, Sadi chuckled wickedly.

Then Professor Banshee exclaimed as if in disbelief.

“She’s truly gone insane now. Stabbing a knife into the back of the benefactor who raised and supported her.”

Principal Winston had supported and sponsored Sadi all this time, but Sadi killed him. She repaid kindness with vengeance.

Professors from the Principal faction, unusually, sided with Banshee and started expressing their anger.

“How could you do this to Principal Winston, who raised you from infancy when you had nowhere to go, you beast!”

“If it weren’t for Principal Winston, you would have been nothing by now!”

“You ungrateful wench! Truly, there’s no devil like you!”

“You’re just like your father! Blood truly can’t deceive!”

However…

“Ah, it’s getting noisy. I didn’t come here to hear ducks quack.”

Professor Sadi covered her ears with one hand. With the other hand, she moved the whip ever so slightly.

But by the time that subtle movement reached the tip of the whip, it amplified into an immense force.

The physical force transmitted through the whip’s end turned the ground near the professors standing on the stage into complete rubble.

Crack!

Inspectors and magicians who had considerable strength were thrown down like rag dolls.

Everyone noticed the liquid aura that was almost solid carried by Professor Sadi’s whip.

“T-That aura!”

“Looking at the density, She’s a Top Tier Graduator!”

“The fortunate thing is that she hasn’t reached the master level yet!”

“But her weapon is a whip, isn’t it…?”

Everyone paused, looking at the whip in Sadi’s hand.

In truth, weapons like whips, bows, and chain-sickles were quite irregular even among martial weapon users.

These kinds of weapons, ‘if handled well,’ could elevate one’s skill level to that of a master.

For example, a whip, with just a bit of force applied near the handle, could amplify that force as it traveled along its long body, eventually creating tremendous destructive power at the tip – a bizarre weapon.

The aura of a Top-Tier Graduator, starting from the whip’s handle and escalating towards the end, created a power almost rivaling that of a master.

Of course, gaining such power came with risks. Whips, with even a slight deviation, could easily lose control and end up attacking their wielder’s body…

“P-Professor Sadi was originally not a master of the whip, right?”

“Well, I’ve never faced a whip before, to be honest.”

“The abnormal increase in aura density of the whip, coupled with the unexpected nature of her unique weapon…”

“Regardless of her martial art level, it seems we should reassess her danger as that of a master.”

The surrounding professors murmured.

Then, Professor Banshee stepped forward.

“Are you insane, Sadi? There are numerous professors, students, and parents here. What can you achieve alone? You must be out of your mind to cause such chaos just because you want to die…”

“Tsk, old man. Didn’t I tell you not to call my name?”

Sadi interrupted Professor Banshee’s words.

Certainly, there were elite students in this academy, as well as outstanding professors and parents who had raised and taught these exceptional students, who were stronger than most adult knights or magicians.

Although it was a school, in reality, it was an institution that revered the extreme of martial arts.

It operated with a bureaucratic structure, divided into grades and classes, but solid like a military organization when it came to strength and systems.

However, Professor Sadi was still smiling leisurely.

“Hoho-hoho. When did I ever say I came alone?”

Upon hearing those words, the faces of everyone were filled with doubt and unease.

At that very moment.

Thud! Thud! Crash!

A tremendous noise echoed throughout the auditorium.

It was a shockwave generated from a distance, at the magical barrier.

Gradually, terrifying faces began to appear through the windows of the auditorium.

A robust figure with a sinister impression, a beauty exuding decadence, a frail old man, a child with a wicked smile on its face, and so on…

Although they differed in age, gender, and physique, they had two common characteristics.

Firstly, they were all heinous criminals pursued by the empire.

Secondly, they had all managed to escape the authorities and concealed their appearances skillfully.

In an instant, a shiver ran down Professor Banshee’s spine.

‘I’ve heard that the crime apprehension rate in Venetior has sharply declined recently. Could the reason be…?’

The faces of the criminals who had invaded the auditorium were all those who had been declared missing, resulting in the conclusion of investigations.

‘Jack the Reaper,’ ‘Wolf of the Informant,’ ‘Tiger of Champawat,’ ‘Hermit of Powolga,’ ‘Sam’s Son,’ ‘Serial Killer Pierrot,’ ‘Fashionista,’ ‘Devil of Lorelei,’ ‘Frog Dissector,’ ‘Hillsides Assassin,’ ‘Green River Murderer,’ ‘Bloody Mary,’ and many more…

These heinous villains, whom the Venetior Imperial Guards had failed to apprehend and had let slip through their fingers, were now gathered here.

Surprisingly, they all directed looks of admiration, affection, and fear toward Sadi, who stood in the center of the stage.

“Oh, Your Majesty. We’ve broken the magical barrier as you commanded.”

“Now, please torment me a bit more.”

“Hit me with the whip, step on me with heels, mommy-”

Eyes, regardless of age or gender, were covered in heart symbols.

It seemed like Sadi had given them powerful indoctrination and training, both mentally and physically. With a mischievous smile, Sadi commanded them.

“Everyone, explode.”

In unison, the villains replied, “Yes, Your Majesty!”

Simultaneously, all the villains began holding their breath.

They simultaneously unleashed their internal magic power, and the result was, of course, a magical surge and a massive explosion.

Boom! Boom! Crash!

With a violent explosion, the auditorium collapsed.

Amidst the shower of steel bars and rubble, Sadi chuckled.

Banshee deployed a shield spell to deflect falling debris.

Still, with a puzzled expression, he asked, “Why the hell are you doing this? Have you truly gone mad?”

This question contained both an understanding of the criminal psyche of Sadi and the intention to buy time until reinforcements arrived.

Of course, Sadi was aware of Professor Banshee’s intentions, but she responded mostly cheerfully.

“It’s not me who’s gone mad; it’s the world.”

“…What?”

“I’ve been waiting patiently to sound the alarm in this crazy world.”

“What were you waiting for?”

“This moment. More precisely, for the Principal to return and gather the parents. That way, my message will be better received, won’t it?”

At that, Professor Banshee narrowed his eyes.

In a cold voice, he said, “Is it because of the ’47 Person Incident’ after all?”

Sadi smirked and nodded in response.

“You knew? Old man, your intelligence is impressive.”

Professor Sadi spoke again. Her gaze was directed towards the students behind her.

“The naive piglets of your academy probably understand that incident as nothing more than a coup d’etat by blind fools blinded by power. But the reality is quite different.”

Her words made the students recall the content of a presentation by a top student in a previous class.

-‘The ’47 Person Incident’ occurred 35 years ago, around the time when the empire was recently unified into one.’

-‘It was an unprecedented major event led by 47 individuals, each representing the head of a noble family, hence called the ’47 Noble Families Incident.”

-‘These 47 people instigated a coup, massacring countless people and even infiltrating the imperial palace in a rebellion.’

-‘In the end, 46 out of the 47 were summarily executed on the scene, and the surviving one is currently imprisoned in the ‘Nouvelebag’ prison.

-‘The purpose behind their coup remains unknown, but it is generally speculated that they aimed for the seizure of the imperial throne.’

However, Sadi raised her index finger.

“My grandfather and the other 46 people who launched the coup were motivated by nostalgia for a past era.”

“Nostalgia?”

“Yes. The era of ‘Warring States,’ where might was the only truth, and only the strong survived.”

Sadi’s eyes began to gleam with madness.

“Exactly, the ‘Warring States era.'”

At her words, Professor Banshee and everyone else swallowed hard.

Before the unification of the empire, the continent was in constant turmoil due to wars between countless nations.

Various individuals were addressed as kings, numbering in the hundreds.

It was an era of constant creation and destruction, where several nations would emerge and vanish every day—a time of brilliance and extinction.

In that age, the logic was that the strong prevailed, and strength made all the decisions.

If wronged, one had to grow stronger to seek revenge, which was considered virtuous and honorable.

Revenge, personal sanctions—everything happened in a world ruled by the logic of power.

…But after the unification of the continent, this pattern changed significantly.

In times of peace, strength was not necessary.

In its place, laws were revised, and a bureaucratic system emerged.

Even if weak, as long as one was clever enough to pass various exams, they could rise to high positions and stand above those, who were stronger than them.

Large-scale wars disappeared, and revenge or personal vendettas were considered dangerous.

For a time, even the “abolition of the sword” or “abolition of magic” was seriously considered.

“Peace turns humans into pigs, no different from livestock. Wasn’t the existence of humans originally created to become the beings of all creation who grow stronger and fight to win? But in this world, there are many things that don’t deserve the title of human, yet they dare to roam around in human form.”

Professor Sadi declared with gleaming eyes.

At this, Professor Banshee and others silently acknowledged her words.

However, Banshee still asked, “But why did you kill Principal Winston?”

Principal Winston had been a benefactor to Sadi since her childhood.

He was the uncle who always helped her and even helped her evade punishment when her grandfather, Marquis Sade, was sentenced to Nouvelebag prison for the crimes of the ’47 People Incident.

Professor Banshee harply criticized her, “Is this your only response to someone who treated you kindly when you were left alone after losing your entire family overnight?”

But Sadi just snorted.

“It was Winston who captured and threw my grandfather into prison. He suffered injuries from a mana surge in a battle against my grandfather. Did you think I wouldn’t know?”

“…!”

“A truly despicable man. And, anyway, he was the symbol of the school, so he had to be killed.”

Sadi shrugged her shoulders.

The academy was a means of incorporating martial power into the system, a subtle trick to weaken martial artists and make them submissive. It was simply a clever strategy by those in power to suppress and control the power of martial artists, disguised as “promotion.”

“Those who wield swords and use magic should roll on the battlefield, build their strength, establish a lineage, and even found a nation. There’s nothing to do here other than waiting to be thrown like a piece of meat with bones.”

“If that’s the case, should we engage in life-threatening sword fights over trivial conflicts, praising personal revenge as honor? How would powerless civilians survive in such a society? It’s not some barbaric society.”

“What do you know? Why should the powerful ones consider the circumstances of the weak? Why do the powerless always want something for free and whine about it? Why don’t they complain about monsters or natural disasters? Just because they are of the same race? Because words and communication work? Are they only brave against those who understand words and grovel before those who don’t? What a cowardly and contemptible logic!”

Sadi snarled, grinding her teeth.

“In that case, I will become your natural disaster! I won’t even let you think about whining! Just accept it, you damn pigs!”

As Sadi swung her whip, another storm of aura swept through the hall.

In addition, the number of criminals pouring in through the cracks in the auditorium was increasing.

“Sister! I love you! Please look at me!”

“Oh, Queen Sadi! I would gladly offer my whole self for you!”

“Oink-oink! Oink-oink-oink-oink!”

Seeing the large number of criminals that had been secretly apprehended and skillfully turned into obedient servants by Sadi, it was clear that her abilities were truly exceptional.

At that moment.

…Slash!

The heads of notorious criminals who were rushing forward were severed and fell to the ground in an instant.

…Slash! Thud- woosh! Thud!

And one by one, the heads continued to roll. A cascade of collapsing criminals.

The nightmares that once spread fear throughout the empire were dying so easily.

Even Sadi, the ruler of all, couldn’t help but stiffen her expression.

Then.

…Swish!

A black gust of wind filled with violet blooms.

A man with common black hair and blood-red eyes, with a single strand of red aura emanating from the edge of his sword, stood blocking the path of countless war maniacs.