Can’t move aside.
That was what I was about to say as I reached for my blade.
They were assassins too.
And mages referred to assassins as “sewer rats.”
Agreed. Before ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) they slipped away into hiding, it’d be best to kill them all while they were still gathered.
But just before I could act, a voice erupted from the far end of the Bureau hall.
“...The hell you mean, go? You trash.”
Still unaware of the situation here, Balmung spoke from where his head was pressed into the floor.
Like he was chewing on dirt.
“...You bastards aren’t going anywhere. I’ll kill every last one of you.”
All the gazes that had been focused on me suddenly shifted to Balmung.
“Well, well. Look who found his tongue.”
“...The one with the mouth is you, Hitahil, you son of a bitch...”
“What did you say, asshole?”
“...Don’t tell me you forgot? That time you shoved your head between Edward’s legs, begging for your life...”
Balmung, the insider, started airing the organization’s filth.
Nibelung Family’s expressions hardened. In Hitahil’s eyes, a murderous gleam began to burn.
“...Balmung! Watch your damn mouth! You trying to die?!”
One of the underlings shouted in panic.
At the same time, the Disciplinary Bureau grew tense. Balmung had just dumped oil onto the flames they’d been desperately trying to smother.
And it wasn’t just one barrel.
“...What? Can’t deny it, can you? Hah... I was just a kid, but I remember it all.... Damn, I should’ve taken a photo back then...”
That’s when I changed my mind.
I would remain a bystander.
The moment Balmung started talking, the 【Script】 logs of the gang members exploded.
And it was all deep, confidential intel on the Nibelung Family.
“Balmung, you little shit!! If you don’t shut that mouth, I swear I’ll come in there and crush your skull!”
“Do it... yeah. Come on in... try me, motherfucker... Disciplinary Bureau! Open the damn cell!”
Balmung shouted, then hacked up a painful breath.
“Cadet Balmung! Please, just shut up!”
“Why should I....”
“Please! Can’t you see we’re trying to keep this from turning into a war!?”
“Shut up and open the fucking door already.... They disrespected the Academy. They insulted me.... Fine, sure, I’m a screwup too in this shit Academy.... But they should’ve at least respected the Professor.... Just the Professor...”
Apparently, Nibelung had disrespected some professor. And Balmung had seen it.
Considering how he used to swagger even around me, it made sense.
“...Hey!! You motherfuckers, get in here...!! I’ll kill every last one of you, huh!?”
Balmung howled like a beast and thrashed. Clang! Chains rattled.
“......”
At that, Hitahil’s face twisted into something murderous.
“...Please, calm down. We’ll handle it from here, so the Nibelung Family can just—”
The Bureau scrambled to push the Family members out.
But apparently Balmung wasn’t done.
“...You dumbass, Hitahil. Did you know...? That Chief Gurten slept with your wife...?”
Gasp!
Balmung began unloading everything he’d learned during his days as a top-level insider.
“You piece of shit! You think you can say whatever the fuck you want?!”
“Balmung, enough already! You’ve crossed the line!”
Underlings panicked and yelled.
It didn’t matter.
“...The line? Hah, did you even suspect? Fuck... Even I knew when I was a kid, there’s no way you didn’t.... Remember during that Dark Palace event, when you asked why I looked so scared...? Of course I was scared, dipshit...”
“Hey! Balmung!!”
“Behind the curtain, your wife and Chief Gurten were buck naked together. Of course I panicked, you fucking idiot. Wouldn’t anyone...? Oh right, she’s turning ten soon... but hey, you sure she’s your daughter...?”
“You—You insane bastard!!”
The underlings lunged at him in fury.
The Bureau had to physically block them.
The two sides collided.
“Move! I’m cutting that bastard’s tongue out!”
“P-Please, keep your distance!”
“Move! Or shut that lunatic up already!”
The gang members threw themselves into the fray.
Some thought, Well, this was bound to happen.
At that moment, the executive moved.
“Sir! You can’t...!”
“Let go.”
“Sir...!”
Hitahil’s face was blank.
“You’re not letting go?”
He swatted the underling’s hand away. Shing! He drew his sword and walked toward the cell.
The Bureau Director stepped up, blade drawn.
“Stop and leave, now.”
“...Don’t move and I’ll kill you first.”
“Please, let’s not escalate this. I’m sorry. But—”
A spark jumped from Hitahil’s body.
Crackle—!
Clear killing intent. So sharp it stung the skin.
Then, the tip of his blade stabbed through the Bureau Director’s abdomen.
Thunk!!
The blade sprouted thorns like a hedgehog, protruding out of the Director’s back.
A choking sound—followed by a spray of blood.
But at the same time, shuriken flew from all directions and pierced Hitahil.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Each hit with explosive force. Though Hitahil dodged most, one embedded in his forehead and burst open.
That became the signal.
“Kill them all!!”
“Fuckin’ hell!!”
“Stop them! Stop them!!”
Chaos erupted.
Gangsters and agents clashed, firing guns and swinging blades.
Some Bureau agents shielded bystanders with their bodies.
One thug slipped through the mess and smashed the cell lock.
Then he stomped on Balmung—Thud! Thud!—slamming his head into the ground multiple times.
But Balmung bit the guy’s ankle.
“Aaaaagh!!”
Blood sprayed all over his face.
The blood was violet. Poisoned. It got into his eyes. Balmung cried out in pain.
All of this happened in just seconds.
But the chaos died just as quickly.
Amid the roaring noise and flying blood, a single, quiet voice pierced through clearly.
“ Who started this? ”
Those charging in froze. Those pinning others down lost their strength.
Then came an unbelievable sight.
The floor, walls, and ceiling twisted and crumpled on their own, turning into sword-like protrusions aimed at everyone.
A man stepped in through the grotesquely warped wall, entering the building.
Hiaka Academy, Black Abyss Division Chief.
Ranked 214th. A Grandmaster nearing Challenger-level.
A large, decadent-looking middle-aged man.
The same man who offered me 200 million Hika over 7 years.
“...Huh?”
Senior Professor Betelgeuse.
“Why so quiet? I asked who started this.”
He scolded them like children. Bureau and Nibelung members immediately backed off.
“Was it you?”
“N-No...”
“Then you?”
“No, sir...”
“So nobody started it. And yet, here we are fighting.”
Snap!
With a finger flick, all the twisted structures returned to normal.
Was that Restoration magic...?
As a bystander, I was quietly impressed.
In this world, [Alchemy] altered the state, composition, and form of matter. And Betelgeuse’s mastery of it was godlike.
“You’re not kids. What the hell are you doing fighting inside the Bureau?”
Betelgeuse separated the two groups and sat down casually.
At that moment, both sides felt relieved. Finally, it was over. As expected of the great Senior Professor.
“Hitahil.”
“...Yes, Division Chief.”
“Return for now. Let’s settle this matter amicably.”
“...Understood.”
Even Hitahil bowed his head.
In front of overwhelming power, rage means nothing.
At least, that’s what we thought—until it wasn’t.
“...The hell you mean, leave?! Fuck you!!”
It was Balmung.
Poisonous blood dripping from his eyes, he screamed with both eyes bloodshot.
He’d broken free during the chaos.
“Balmung! Please, stop!”
“...Shut up!! Where do you think you’re going, Hitahil, you fuck?! Off to see someone else’s kid at your house!?”
“B-Balmung! Hey! Lock that gate!”
“Don’t!!”
A Bureau agent scrambled to lock the door. Balmung grabbed the bars and smashed his head against them.
“Open it!!!”
Bam! Bam bam bam bam!
His scalp split and blood poured out.
“Open up! Open up, you bastards!!”
People panicked, whispering that Balmung must not know who had arrived. The poison in his eyes must’ve blinded him.
Betelgeuse read their thoughts, sighed, and shook his head.
“Balmung. Stop.”
A calm voice that hit like a slap to the ear.
Everyone believed Balmung would quiet down.
“Eat shit!”
So when he shouted that, everyone was horrified again.
“Balmung. If you go further, it won’t end well for you. You know this. Your—”
“Shut your damn mouth, Division Chief Betelgeuse!! Who the fuck are you to control me?!”
Now even the Nibelung members looked pale, along with the Bureau.
At that moment, I realized:
Not even Betelgeuse had earned this Doberman’s loyalty.
He had never been acknowledged by this beastman’s descendant.
“Why are you acting like a child?”
“—Cut the crap!!”
He roared.
The entire Bureau rang with the sound.
“What gives you the right to lecture me?! You said nothing when my father died! You tried to use the Dormant Dragon cadets! What the hell do you know that gives you the right to preach!?”
“I told you. What happened with your father—”
“Shut the fuck up―!!! Open the door!! Open this fucking door!! You piece of shit!!”
Balmung smashed his head against the bars again in a fit of rage.
Everyone in the Bureau fell silent.
“Nibelung Family, please step outside.”
“Ah, yes...”
Following Betelgeuse’s command, the Nibelung members exited.
As a bystander, I thought it was fine so far.
Balmung was tiring himself out. The conflict had cooled down.
But what happened next wasn’t fine.
“Guh...!!”
Suddenly, something changed.
Balmung clutched his chest.
He collapsed, head hitting the floor.
And then—
──── .
A pitch-black aura erupted from Balmung’s body.
Like light.
Black light—such a contradiction. Yet that’s exactly what it was.
“Whoa!?”
“W-What the hell!?”
“What’s going on with him!?”
Agents shouted in confusion.
Only two people recognized it for what it was.
Me and Betelgeuse.
That’s...
The Stigma of the Black Star⚉.
The mark hidden within Balmung was releasing a dark, destructive aura.
My thoughts raced.
The Black Star⚉ symbolized darkness, oblivion, fear, and curses... fittingly, it had more debuffs than any other star—thirty in total.
It breaks composure, intensifies crises, floods adrenaline, and destroys individuals and groups through curse mechanics.
My guess—Curse No.81: Curse of Self-Destruction.
● 1st-Year Dormant Dragon Cadet Balmung [Curse of Self-Destruction]
As if to confirm it, his nameplate changed.
Now I understood why he’d been acting so irrationally. The curse had already been eating away at him.
Someone had cursed Balmung. And judging by the Black Star⚉ Stigma...
“Uhh, t-the aura’s getting stronger...”
“What... What is this? Is it a [curse]...?”
The intensifying pressure made people tense up.
Those who sensed the murderous intent panicked.
“Senior Professor...! That...!!”
Even Betelgeuse’s usually calm expression tightened.
“It’s a curse.”
“W-What?!”
“The Black Star⚉’s Stigma has been converted into a [Curse]. At this rate, his primal instincts will awaken.”
Betelgeuse’s tired eyes narrowed.
“...Troublesome.”
He was right. Curses in the 80s are extremely dangerous.
I’d stayed a bystander until now because I calculated that no one would die. I needed the information. And I got it.
But this was different. A cadet couldn’t possibly contain such a high-tier curse.
“Ghhhk!!”
Balmung groaned, head still on the ground.
He writhed, while agents shouted in panic.
“Balmung! What’s wrong with you?!”
“It’s me, Vulkan! Vulkan! Don’t you remember?!”
“Just calm down....”
That’s when it happened.
“Fuck off!!”
Balmung lashed out at those trying to help.
CRASH!!
His wild swing bent the iron bars. One agent got clipped and hit the ground hard.
“AAAGH!!”
A scream.
“Vulkan!”
“Shit!”
“I-I’m fine...!”
“The hell you are! Call the medics!”
I narrowed my eyes. He was now attacking even those trying to help. A clear sign the curse was worsening.
“Balmung, that bastard...!”
The Bureau agents were furious.
Even knowing it was a curse—they were mad. Balmung had crossed a line.
And he was getting more dangerous. The bars he couldn’t break before had almost been destroyed with that single blow.
A difficult situation. What should I do...? Stigmas can’t be suppressed with holy magic. Forcing them down only spikes the heartbeat until it kills the host.
Buzz—
Just then, something stabbed into my mind. Like a sudden noise. Then—
< Professor Dante. >
A soft voice echoed inside my mind.
I turned my head.
Betelgeuse was looking at me.
He had used 『Silent Mind Speech』, a technique only top-tier martial artists could wield.
< Can you help? >
What the hell...?
Help? How?
< I’m in trouble. He doesn’t listen to me anymore. >
Betelgeuse glanced at Balmung.
Then slowly turned back to me.
< I heard he listens to you. >