The Academy’s Deceased Ate It All

the game was at least enough to fill this wide cavity.

The one in front of me now, far from filling the cavity, was only the size of a hippo, I had once seen in a zoo.

Of course, it's huge from my point of view.

 

“…Ugh.”

 

Nidhogg turned its head away as if it had noticed that I had entered.

When several pairs of bright red eyes looked at me, I was somewhat horrified.

He turned slowly.

 

Let's check how fast it moves first.

I pulled my left hand, which was clenched in a fist, back, and with my right hand, I held a crowbar and pushed it forward as if to chase him.

It was a so-called crowbar.

 

It wasn't the kind used at construction sites, and it was lighter, so it didn't put any strain on my wrist, but it was shorter and relatively less powerful.

 

“… … .”

 

Nidhogg walked towards me, making an indescribable sound.

When he opened his mouth slightly, pieces of wood fell from it.

He must have been chewing on the roots of the World Tree.

As I watched him, I suddenly felt a sense of incompatibility in my arm.

 

“Hmm?”

 

When I looked down in surprise, the branch of the World Tree had come out of my arm.

The momentum was devastating, but the problem was that Nidhogg, who saw the branches of the World Tree, was also making a more ferocious sound.

 

As I wondered what the hell was going on, I heard an echoing voice from inside my head.

 

 

[The branch of the World Tree senses an unforgivable existence and begins to threaten it!]

 

[For the safety of the host and itself, the branch of the World Tree will unleash its power!]

[The protection of the World Tree permeates your body and soul temporarily!]

 

 

I didn't have time to ask myself what the hell had just happened.

 

It was because Nidhogg rushed right at me.

Fortunately, he wasn't at an unresponsive speed.

I managed to avoid it, and the fact that there was no scar on my body was the evidence.

And, thanks to the protection of the World Tree that I had heard earlier, my body felt much lighter.

 

I thought it might have gotten more agile because of its smaller body, but fortunately, it didn't seem like it.

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As I turned, I continued to swing the crowbar.

As if to keep pace with it, the branches of the World Tree stretched out of their own accord, threatening Nidhogg.

Unlike in my memory, Nidhogg, who became so weak, shrugged, as if even such an action threatened him.

 

What the hell, it's no big deal.

I thought so and continued to swing the crowbar.

Seeing Nidhogg back and forth over and over again, I thought it was stupid to be nervous for nothing.

 

And the next moment.

The next thing I knew, the right hand that had been holding the crowbar had disappeared.

 

“Huh? Ugh…
?!”

Startled, I fell backward, and Nidhogg's mouth swooped right above him.

What hit me first was the panic and fear that my wrist had been cut off, and the pain I had never felt before in my life, rather than the thought that my head might have been blown off if I had remained still.

 

“Ugh, argh…!”

 

In the movies, they scream like crazy, but I couldn't even do that.

It was too painful to even scream.

 

“Argh, fuck, grrr, hufff..
… .”

 

There was no blood.

Perhaps because of Nidhogg's poison, the section of the cut wrist was blocked as it was melting down.

Seeing the red, pink, white, black, and countless other colors mixed together just made me choke up.

 

“Crrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!”

 

In the midst of all this, I heard the breathing of a beast with a completely different atmosphere than before.

With the fear that I might die, I reflexively struggled to move backward.

And unlike the previous scene, I saw for the first time, the branches of the world tree that had grown bigger were constantly being called out in size as if to keep Nidhogg in check.

 

“Whoa, whoa… … .”

When I pressed as hard as I could under the severed wrist, the pain seemed to have eased a little.

I somehow managed to get up by urging my trembling legs.

If I stay still like this, the branches of the World Tree may not be the problem, but I may die.

I stuttered and muttered something.

 

“… … .”

 

As I whispered quietly, the branches of the World Tree stretched out some of them towards me as if they understood.

I quickly handed over what was in my left hand.

Then the branches of the World Tree took it as if it understood.

 

I looked at Nidhogg, who looked at me as if searching this way.

As soon as I let go of my left hand, a scream burst from me and I gagged one of the things that were tied to my belt in my mouth.

I clenched my jaw and glared at Nidhogg as if to kill him.

 

Son of a Bitch.

You're not gonna get away with this, you bastard.

I was able to somehow able to mumble that and managed to get to my feet.

 

It's almost blind, so it can only detect opponents by movement and sound.

I stretched out my left hand and picked up the hammer.

 

“Whoosh!”

When I threw the hammer as hard as I could and dropped it next to him, his head turned straight to it.

At the same time, I ran to him and threw my tools again.

 

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“Caaaaaaaaaah!”

 

He quickly pulled himself together and roared at me and opened his mouth.

It was trying to spit fire.

 

Then, before I could do anything, the branches of the World Tree were swung wildly.

And the barrel I was carrying flew right into Nidhogg's mouth and…
… .

 

Poooooof!

 

“kihaaaak!!!”

 

Nidhogg twisted in pain as the explosion erupted in his mouth.

 

That's enough.

Fortunately, it worked the way I thought it would.

I've heard that if you grind the head of a match clean, it resembles gunpowder, but to see it in action was even more powerful than I had imagined.

In addition to that, there were nails and small pieces of metal inside, so his mouth would have literally become a mess.

 

Because the outside of the body is hard, the inside is fragile.

Besides, his strength is at most two to three times mine.

There was no way it could not be fatal.

I had made two just in case, but there was no time to take out the other one.

I immediately twisted my back and put my weight on him and stamped him in his eye with the crowbar.

He screamed again with an eerie sensation.

 

“kiiihaaaak!”

 

I was thrown away by his struggle, but I quickly got up.

Perhaps because of the crowbar in his eye, he was twisting his body, with a painful roaring sound.

 

I took out another tool.

I had a feeling that my anger would subside only if I at least smashed his head.

 

* * *

 

“Gasp…Gasp…….”

 

I let out a rough breath and wiped my wet forehead.

It was because I had been swinging the tool for almost hours to the point of tearing the palm of my hand.

 

He was now almost gnarled and in a hideous form.

Originally, it wouldn't have worked, but it was possible because Nidhogg weakened beyond my imagination.

 

I kicked and kicked Nidhogg's corpse, which was now motionless, with all my might.

It was so hard that my feet have been hurting from kicking, but I didn't care.

I didn't even feel the pain of riding up from my right arm, perhaps because of excitement.

 

“Ha… … Ha… … .”

 

When I came to my senses, I noticed that the branch of the World Tree, which had been protruding almost as if it had swallowed up one of my arms, had disappeared into my body.

 

I looked around for a moment, and at some point, Nidhogg's body had disappeared, and there was a large door in front of me.

 

“Whew… … .”

 

I opened the door.

It was time to wake up from my sleep.

 

* * *

 

And when I woke up, in my right hand, there was a dagger that I had never seen before.