Genius Gamer Reborn into a Family of Heroes

Chapter 39

Graduation Assignment

As a sudden scream echoed from inside the church, Harang glanced at his wristwatch. Despite the early hour, it seemed the church was filled with worshippers.

Harang hurried to the church’s main entrance and charged at the two thugs guarding the door.

“Huh? What’s a kid like yo—ugh!”

Thud! Bam!

A couple of quick, well-placed strikes were enough to take down the thugs, who had only managed to draw out a fraction of their malevolent energy.

After swiftly neutralizing the thugs, Harang entered the church, where a scene of brutal violence was unfolding.

The congregation of ordinary worshippers was being attacked by the so-called believers, who were actually thugs disguised in religious garb.

‘These bastards…’

Harang found the sight of thugs beating innocent civilians revolting, but he knew he couldn’t act recklessly. A hasty move might result in him being overpowered.

He needed to slowly move to the points where he had set up the magic circles and use minimal spells to effectively curb their momentum.

‘I can’t take them all down with just a few third-rank spells. I need to stick to the plan.’

With a calm expression, he stealthily walked further into the church. Amid the ongoing violence, Harang assumed no one would pay attention to a kid like him.

Suddenly, someone grabbed his arm roughly and spun him around.

It was a clumsily-built thug who had been lazily beating an innocent civilian. Seeing Harang’s face, he shouted towards the back.

“Boss! Look over here!”

“Can’t you see I’m busy?!”

The thug, who had been beating someone, looked up angrily, but upon seeing Harang’s face, he approached with a curious expression.

“Oh, where’d you find this kid?”

“W-wait a minute, boss! We’ll be cursed if we mess with a child this young!”

“Are you insane? Do you think we really believe in that stuff? Cursed, my foot.”

“It’s more like the leader was looking for a pretty face for church propaganda last time. Remember? He asked us to find some suitable kids in the capital square.”

Hearing this, the thug who seemed to be the boss grabbed Harang’s cheek, turning his face side to side for a closer inspection.

“Indeed, this one could rival the finest dancers in the capital… Wait a second. This kid is a boy?”

If Harang had exposed his physique, his slightly broader shoulders and build compared to a girl would have quickly given him away as a boy.

But he was completely covered by his jacket at the moment. Additionally, his hair was loose and flowing down to his shoulder blades from working on magic, which could easily cause misunderstanding.

Seizing the opportunity, Harang gently placed his hand on the thug’s arm that was holding his cheek.

Crack!!

“Ugh!”

He swiftly twisted the arm in the opposite direction, preventing the thug from even screaming as his eyes bulged in pain.

“I’m going to let go of your arm now. But if you scream or call for help, your arm will become a twisted pretzel.”

Nod, nod, nod!

The thug quickly grasped the situation.

When Harang released his grip, the thug did not scream but instead glanced around nervously, trembling. He seemed to hope for assistance from other thugs, but the chaos was so overwhelming that no one noticed his predicament.

“Take me to your boss.”

The thug hesitated for a moment but then seemed to decide that taking Harang to his boss was the best option. He quickly stood up and, pretending to drag Harang along, led him to Maspoff, who was pretending to pray in the innermost sanctuary.

“What’s this? Who’s the kid?”

Seeing Maspoff up close, he looked more like a thug boss than a cultist. His knuckles were adorned with rings, and his body was covered in bizarre tattoos.

He looked downright menacing.

As Harang gazed up at him with calm eyes, Maspoff scrutinized him in return.

“Why bring a boy? Are you guys out of your minds?”

“Well, I thought he might be useful….”

“Didn’t I tell you not to bring just anyone? If we get caught by a noble, it’s all over!”

“But he doesn’t look that expensive….”

“You don’t know that yet! Hey, kid. Where did you come from?”

Maspoff’s face twisted into a grimace as he questioned Harang. Harang carefully chose his words.

The most important thing now was to separate Maspoff from the other thugs.

For that, he didn’t need much. Just a bit of truth mixed with lies for a good bluff.

“Outside….”

Pointing towards the church’s ceiling, Harang spoke, causing Maspoff’s eyebrows to twitch.

“I came in because the knights in uniform told me to.”

“…What?!”

As Maspoff’s face froze in shock, Harang activated his magic.

[Fire Burn]

[Firecracker]

The ceiling exploded, and the debris rained down on the thugs.

“Damn it! A magician!”

Maspoff had few options. Believing someone had come to capture him, he decided to flee!

“Damn, I’m getting out of here first!”

“Leader!”

“Damn it, we too…!!”

If Maspoff had been a bit calmer, he would have realized the magic wasn’t very powerful.

Harang’s spells were nothing more than fireworks, designed to explode and bring down the ceiling that had been weakened with sword cuts. The power was not substantial.

However, creating 100% truth only required 1% of lies.

‘Damn it, they really came for me?!’

Harang’s bluff had successfully deceived Maspoff.

As someone on the run, it wasn’t unusual for him to think the knights would come after him. Moreover, seeing the ceiling collapse from such powerful magic gave him no time to doubt and only urged him to flee immediately.

Harang watched Maspoff leave the church, then looked around.

‘So many thugs.’

Harang could have attacked Maspoff right away, but he wasn’t confident he could take him down in one strike. If he failed, the other thugs would overwhelm him. Thus, he chose not to chase him.

Staying calm and not greedy, Harang drew Cheongwolheun from his chest and swung it.

Slash!

“Argh!!”

The arm of the thug who had grabbed him earlier was cleanly severed and rolled on the floor. Harang didn’t stop there, destroying the thug’s limbs before speaking in a cold tone.

“Live with a broken body for the rest of your life and atone. Pray to the god you believe in.”

“Ugh, ugh…!”

Looking to his left, Harang saw the feeble thug who had first spotted him. The thug fell to the ground in fear.

Harang had no intention of cutting him down. This thug was the only one in the church who had barely used violence.

“I’ll let you go. Run away and find a real church to atone for your sins. Stay there until all the malevolent energy leaves your body.”

“Y-Yes!!”

As the weak thug fled, Harang tied his hair into a ponytail like Hero Kaladan and swiftly dispatched the remaining thugs inside the church.

Stepping out the back door, he found a truckload of thugs still tangled up and unable to escape properly.

[Ice Road Walk]

Harang extended his hand, activating a blue magic circle. The alley floor began to freeze over.

“Argh?!”

“You idiot! Don’t push me!”

Under normal circumstances, thugs with even 2-star aura would have easily dealt with such a spell by channeling it to their feet. However, these thugs, having strengthened their auras through heretical worship, couldn’t manage such techniques.

Moreover, with so many of them tangled together, even those attempting to maintain balance with their aura ended up tripping and falling.

[Ice Spikes]

As Harang snapped his fingers from bottom to top, the thugs scrambling to escape the alley screamed in pain.

“My, my foot…!”

Sharp ice spikes about 5 cm tall had sprouted from the ground, piercing their feet! Those who were only wounded in their feet weren’t a major concern, but those who had fallen suffered serious injuries, some hitting their heads hard.

Of course.

Such minor magic had no lethal power and thus couldn’t cause significant harm.

Magic was merely supplementary.

Slice-!!

Harang charged at the terrified thugs, slashing his sword wildly.

“A, a magician! There’s a magician!!”

“Damn, it looks like the guys in the back are down! The knights are chasing us!!”

By using both magic and swordsmanship in the narrow alley, Harang created the illusion that multiple knights were pursuing them!

The thugs didn’t even think of resisting Harang. Instead, they zigzagged through the alley, trying to escape.

Although he missed most of them, Harang’s pursuit wasn’t over yet.

[Mash Wall]

A wall rose from the ground and crumbled, collapsing the alley and trapping the thugs underneath.

In a wide-open space, the wall would have been easily broken or avoided with punches, but in the cramped alley, the tangled thugs couldn’t act nimbly.

“Ugh! Come help push this! It’s not as heavy as it looks!”

“You handle it! I’m out of here!”

“Wait, you bastard!!”

Although a few thugs could have easily broken through the weak wall if they worked together, they lacked the cooperation.

Harang had calculated this psychological response.

“Damn it, let’s go back… Ugh!”

Slice!

The fleeing thugs and those partially trapped under the collapsed wall all became Harang’s targets, their heads swiftly severed.

“That, that kid… He’s a magician.”

“Go! Go kill him!”

“Are you crazy? You go kill him! I’m getting out of here!”

“Argh!!”

By this point, some of the thugs realized that the one causing all this chaos was just a small boy, not even reaching their chest height.

However, it changed nothing.

“Run away!!”

He neither ran nor shouted. He simply cast spells with a cold expression and swung his sword, enveloped in blue sword energy, executing them.

Wielding a blue two-handed sword larger than himself, the boy approached like a grim reaper of terror.

* * *

……Aaaagh!!

Hearing the distant screams carried by the wind, Castia, who was waiting for the priests’ tracking magic, snapped his head up.

“What’s that?”

He immediately drew his sword and leaped onto a tall building. A priest landed next to him.

“Something’s happening over there! Let’s move!”

After a few leaps across the shantytown rooftops, they arrived at a church deep in the slums.

Churches weren’t uncommon in such areas, but this one seemed odd.

“It lacks the typical religious symbols! Suspicious!”

When they burst through the church doors, the stench of blood overwhelmed them.

Beggars and commoners lay sprawled on the floor, bleeding, while several large thugs dressed in church robes were huddled in a corner, groaning.

“A battle took place here…”

The inquisitor observed the scene with sharp eyes.

The ordinary worshippers and beggars were in their usual clothes, their bodies bruised and battered as if they had been beaten. However, the thug-believers bore wounds from blades.

“It seems the believers dragged in commoners and beat them. But someone appeared and subdued the believers with magic and blades. Hey! Are you okay? Your wounds are severe…!”

As the priest approached a fallen civilian and began to pray, Castia shouted.

“Wait, pursuing the heretics is the priority!”

“If I don’t pray for them immediately, they won’t survive! Pursuing the heretics is important, but the most important thing is human life…”

“Damn it! What do these peasants matter? Start the tracking magic now! If he gets there first, I’ll…”

“…Your Highness.”

The inquisitor closed his eyes and clasped his hands together.

“We follow the voice of God, not the commands of Your Highness.”

Castia, furious, clenched his teeth, but he couldn’t bring himself to strike the priest.

“Damn it….”

“What’s going on?!”

Fortunately, two inquisitors who had decided to act separately arrived in haste.

“Wh-what happened here….”

“It appears the heretics have converted a significant number of believers in the meantime!”

“They’ve taken in a whole bunch of slum thugs at once…!”

Inquisitor Captain Reizen Holtz calmly approached a fallen thug-believer and placed his hand on him.

“The energy I feel is between 2-star and 3-star. These were individuals with some degree of power, but through violence and blood rituals, they’ve grown stronger.”

“Even so, they’re only 3-star at most…”

Castia swung open the back door.

“What the…!”

He was astonished. Dozens of thug-believers lay bleeding profusely at the back entrance. Even if they were all 2-star, facing such a large number would have been challenging for any 4-star swordsman.

“It’s fortunate we found them early. If they had expanded their influence using these thugs, a much more formidable heretic force might have arisen.”

Reizen expressed his doubt.

“Judging by the traces, someone came here and swept through the thug-believers. But…”

Most of the thug-believers lying in their own blood had wounds from blades, but some bore burns or signs of lightning strikes.

“It seems a swordsman and a magician came. This means it wasn’t Prince Harang. We need to contact him…”

“We don’t have time for that!”

Why would he share the credit with that brat? Reizen seemed to think time was of the essence and prepared to pursue immediately.

‘Over there!! Kill him!!’

Hearing the thug-believers’ shouts from outside, Reizen quickly spoke.

“The heretics have fled, but we can still pursue them! We’ll protect the severely wounded here and deal with the believers. Your Highness, follow the direction this compass points!”

“…Alright, understood!”

The unique compass Reizen handed him was an artifact that pointed towards the strongest dark magic in the area. It had been inactive until now, but with the dark magic thick in the air, it would be very useful!

‘This is exactly what I wanted!’

A chance to find and eliminate the heretic criminal on his own!

‘He hasn’t arrived yet.’

Although the thug-believers bore blade wounds, they were 2-star to 3-star fighters.

‘That brat is only a 3-star at fourteen. He’d struggle to handle even one of these thugs. Whoever dealt with them, it’s convenient for me!’

Running through the alleys, Castia saw dozens of thugs groaning and collapsed.

Eventually, he came to a fork in the road, with the thugs lying in a line to the left while the compass pointed to the right.

‘He abandoned the believers and fled alone!’

Grinning, Castia gathered his strength and leaped forward.

The compass wavered as if the target was moving through the alleys, but Castia’s speed over the rooftops was far superior. It wouldn’t take long to catch up.

“Found you, heretic!!”

Boom!

Castia landed with a resounding noise in front of the heretic dressed in a black robe, pointing his golden sword at him and shouting.

“I, Castia Asadin Maus Herrael, the second prince of the Herrael imperial family, will judge you, heretic.”

The heretic, Maspoff, shuddered under his robe but then relaxed upon seeing Castia’s face.

“…Damn it, why did it have to be a prince? If I kill a prince, they’ll hunt me down until I die.”

“Hah, you speak as if you think you can win? No way! The paltry dark power you gained from worshipping your heretical god cannot withstand the sword of the imperial family.”

“But if I just run away, they’ll come after me again. So instead of killing him, I’ll just beat him up…”

Maspoff muttered to himself and then, as if resolved, glared at the prince with his red, gleaming eyes.

“Now you’ve come to your senses… Ugh!”

Saaa!!

Castia’s hand trembled for a moment, overwhelmed by the chilling killing intent that enveloped his entire body. It wasn’t just a display of spirit; it was pure, murderous intent emanating from a desire to truly kill him.

Whoosh-!

‘…Huh?’

In an instant, Maspoff sprang toward him, throwing a punch. The loud noise from Maspoff’s initial leap echoed in Castia’s ears.

Boom! Boom-boom-boom!!

The immense impact shattered several shacks in the slums, and Castia, who was sent flying backward, vomited blood.

“Ugh!”

It didn’t take long for him to understand what had happened.

As he heard footsteps approaching, Castia struggled to lift his head. Maspoff, with a red aura around his fist, was looking down at him.

‘What, this isn’t just a 4-star level…?!’

Although the aura around his fist flickered and disappeared quickly, it was enough to gauge his strength.

A 5-star martial artist.

A martial artist using dark power, known for being much more destructive than those who trained with regular mana.

‘…I was careless.’

If he hadn’t underestimated his opponent, even a 5-star martial artist could have been manageable.

Regretting his negligence, Castia tried to get up, but Maspoff didn’t give him the chance, relentlessly pummeling him with his fists.

“Ugh, urgh…!”

There were no refined doctrines, no intricate techniques unique to long-established martial arts families that combined swift hand movements and explosive power.

It was simple.

Even though he was just swinging his fists wrapped in 5-star dark power, it was hard enough to follow with his eyes, and the destruction was beyond imagination.

Boom! Crash! Castia, unable to properly counterattack, was slammed into a wall, vomiting blood as his vision started to fade.

‘Damn it…’

Maspoff approached the fallen Castia, clicking his tongue as he seemed about to pass out.

“I hold no grudge. I have to escape too, so I have no choice…”

“Enjoyed yourself and now you plan to run?”

Maspoff flinched.

Castia also struggled to turn his gaze upon hearing the familiar voice. Behind him stood Harang, covered in wounds, his armor torn to shreds.

His tied-back hair was half undone and blood trickled down his cheek and shoulder, indicating the severity of his injuries.

‘Could it be that Harang dealt with those thuggish cultists alone…?’

Harang?

Even that was an impressive feat, but it was futile. If the inquisitors didn’t arrive in time, Harang would be killed by Maspoff.

‘I, my achievement, I must resolve this…’

Despite his efforts to stay conscious, the prince ultimately blacked out.