I Became the Academy’s War Hero-Chapter 27 : Love for Comrades, Love for Country (6)

Chapter 27: Love for Comrades, Love for Country (6)
The stench of decaying corpses mixed with the musty odor of mold stabbed sharply at my nose.
On both sides, veins of erosion stretched endlessly, giving me the eerie feeling of stepping into the belly of some living creature.
The staircase ended sooner than expected, but what awaited inside was far worse.
“……”
Rotting cocoons were swarming throughout the vast, sprawling cave.
Belfor and I, having already witnessed countless horrific scenes on the battlefield, watched without flinching or gagging.
Walter, however, wasn’t nearly as composed.
“Urgh…!”
Since the late-night snack the day before, he hadn’t eaten much, so there wasn’t anything for him to actually throw up.
Drooling as he dry-heaved repeatedly, Walter let out a rough sigh and muttered under his breath,
“…If something jumps out here, I’m seriously gonna cry.”
He wiped the spit from the corner of his mouth and stared straight ahead.
The further we went in, the more wretched the scenery became.
Each decayed corpse crawled with insects, and the ones left for long had already turned into little more than bones.
The strands of erosion climbing the cave walls weren’t in good shape either.
Judging by their condition, whatever had lived here had long surpassed its active period.
We pressed on, tense and alert, for about ten minutes.
At first, the grotesque view had been unbearable, but after a while, it lost its impact.
Even for me, someone who had been deeply immersed in MAGA, this speed of adaptation felt strangely unnatural.
‘…It was the same right after I possessed him.’
The thought made me smile faintly.
I hadn’t expected a typo to lead to possession, but when I opened my eyes in this world, I hadn’t felt much panic.
Why was that?
‘Eugene Carter isn’t exactly someone you’d meet in real life.’
Was it because this world embodied the essence of youthful passion?
At first, I thought it was simply that.
But thinking about it again, there was a different, deeper reason.
‘…Because I was someone with no attachments to reality.’
A father who abandoned me, a mother who died young. My life in the orphanage had been uneventful—nothing more. Survival itself had been the only concern, leaving no room for dreams or goals.
If I had to name one… perhaps saving them all had been my dream.
Maybe that’s why I ended up here.
My purpose—my dream—wasn’t in reality, but in this world.
“……”
While I was lost in thought, the other two were chatting idly about trivial things.
“Remember when you were the only one who got caught? Couldn’t even climb over the fence? Damn, I still regret not being there to see it in person.”
“Hey, you guys should be thankful! If I hadn’t stepped up to take the blame and buy time, you’d all have been expelled!”
“Yeah, and we paid you back by getting you those herbs, didn’t we?”
Stories from our days in Karbenna became the main topic.
Three idiots gathered in an empty cave—nothing to hold them back.
Soon enough, the memories began to pour out nonstop.
And of course, the last story was about me.
“That nice old Professor George from Magical Engineering—Carter was the first and last guy to ever piss him off.”
“Oh, I remember the field exchange at the Magic Tower! Carter here got locked up on the 17th floor for stirring up too much trouble!”
Basically, it was just gossip.
Watching the two laugh hysterically while teasing me, I couldn’t help but smile faintly.
“You two seem to be having the time of your lives.”
The guy who’d been gagging moments ago was now bright as sunshine.
And the one who’d been ready to run for his life acted like this was his private room.
‘Not that I can say much myself.’
Strangely, I didn’t feel annoyed at all.
Maybe it was because most of the memories from that time were good ones.
While I kept that content expression, Belfor suddenly scowled.
“Hey, seriously, just curse already. You acting like this is creeping me out.”
“Yeah, what if someone else’s soul actually got into him?”
Flinch.
Walter’s sharp remark made my heart jolt for an instant, but I quickly regained my composure.
“What was it called again…? Oh right, necromancy! You got cursed by a lich’s spell!”
“What kind of crap are you spewing.”
I muttered back, checking the Status Window only I could see.
We had almost reached the end of the long-stretching cave.
“Alright, let’s focus up. Looks like we’re nearly there.”
At my words, both of their smiles vanished instantly.
Unlike the narrow passage, the end of the cave opened up widely.
At its center lay a dense, ash-gray monster’s nest.
It was roughly spherical but had spikes protruding from every side.
Below it, the roots of corrosion were completely exposed.
“Hey, you see that?”
“…Yeah.”
Right there at the far end where the nest sat—
We found the artifacts that had been missing without a trace before.
“……”
“……”
“Well, at least all the effort paid off! Let’s hurry and—!”
I quickly grabbed Walter by both shoulders before he could rush ahead.
Belfor tightened his grip on his spear, eyes sharp.
Walter, now understanding the situation, stepped back and raised his wand.
I leveled my rapier at our opponent.
The monster emerging from behind the nest silently picked up one of the artifacts.
Grrrrr….
At the tip of its crude, single-edged blade shimmered a dense killing intent.
Rubbing my throbbing forehead, I sighed in exasperation.
“…What a pain in the ass.”
Even so, a smile refused to leave my lips.
The moment I saw it, I immediately recognized the type of beast.
A prime example of the humanoid-type monsters—
a Werebeast.
Since it could handle artifacts, its rank was at least B or higher.
Judging by its appearance, it was mimicking a striped hyena.
Kyaaaak!
Its enormous, over three-meter-tall frame was covered in thick, gray fur.
In combat, monsters generally possessed intelligence on par with, if not superior to, most humans.
Among them, Werebeasts ranked on the higher end of that spectrum.
In fact, at those higher levels, finding a monster incapable of wielding a weapon was rarer—so the fact that it held an artifact wasn’t what surprised me.
My shock came from something else entirely.
The single-edged sword that monster was holding… was one of my current objectives.
“…Isn’t that Lukezax?”
Walter asked, rubbing his eyes in disbelief.
I silently nodded.
Lukezax. A high-grade artifact—a single-edged sword that transformed its shape according to its user’s physique.
Another key trait: among all existing magic swords, it boasted the highest mana efficiency.
For those whose total mana capacity lagged behind their combat ability, there was no better artifact.
‘I was thinking about just retrieving the necessary artifacts and running away…’
But attempting a running battle against a Werebeast inside this cramped cave would be suicidal.
Even turning your back on a low-rank monster was as good as asking to die.
In other words, there was no choice but to fight.
“Well… I don’t have to spell it out, right?”
Both of them silently nodded.
We naturally began to adjust our positions.
I took the front line, Belfor stood three steps behind me, and Walter positioned himself ten meters back.
Eugene Carter’s aptitude for long-range combat had been sealed along with the Mana Heart.
Though I had since trained my body to higher endurance, it still wasn’t ideal for battling a B-rank monster.
I did have Illusion Swordsmanship as a hidden card—but using it recklessly was out of the question.
Having Belfor, who could handle both close and mid-range combat, support from behind was the logical tactic.
Walter, who preferred long-range engagements, had to adapt; in tight spaces like this, maintaining formation and leaving no openings was crucial.
Thus, his role was primarily to provide support rather than direct firepower.
Kyaaaah!
As if refusing to let us prepare any further, the monster roared and charged first.
I wrapped my body in mana and met the downward swing of its blade.
“Kh…!”
Concentrating every nerve into my toes, I barely managed to keep from being blown away.
Once I had fulfilled my role perfectly, Belfor gave a brief nod—as if to say “Now.”
Swoosh!
His spear ignited as it shot forward toward the monster’s vital point.
About three minutes into the skirmish—
Watching from behind, Walter Clark couldn’t help but feel a quiet sense of awe.
The combat style of humanoid-type monsters like Werebeasts tended to be fairly straightforward.
Relying on overwhelming physical prowess, they usually dominated through sheer power and instinct.
Most people, when faced with such foes, avoided direct confrontation.
They would swarm the enemy with numbers, weaken its body, or concentrate firepower on its core in an instant—just as humans did when hunting beasts.
But Eugene Carter’s approach was the exact opposite.
With reflexes that outstripped even a Werebeast’s animalistic senses, he countered every one of its strikes with surgical precision.
It was a display of pure tactical judgment.
‘…When that left foot comes forward, a gap naturally opens on the right flank.’
So he twisted his torso left, creating space for Belfor’s strike.
Even though he could’ve pressed forward and crushed it, the Werebeast was forced to retreat after exposing that opening.
Next came an upward slash from below.
If met head-on, it would lift your body and throw your balance off.
So Eugene left the defense to Belfor and slipped inside the monster’s guard instead.
Naturally, the Werebeast tried to retaliate with a kick.
But in a clash between bare flesh and steel, the latter always prevailed.
Humanity’s countless strategies forged through millennia of battle against monsters—
Eugene embodied every one of them in motion.
There was no arrogance in his movements, no overconfidence—
only faith in his allies.
It was hard to believe this was the same man who had been a recluse less than two weeks ago.
‘…No matter how many times I see it, it’s ridiculous.’
What a waste it would’ve been to throw away such talent.
A faint smile formed on Walter’s lips.
Catching the brief lull as the monster faltered from its accumulating injuries, he activated a binding spell at the perfect moment.
Thick wooden vines burst from the ground, wrapping tightly around the Werebeast’s legs.
It struggled violently, slashing its sword to break free.
As one of those diagonal cuts came swinging low—
Eugene’s sword emitted a strange surge of mana.
Slash!
The Werebeast’s right wrist was severed cleanly.
Kieeeek!
And then—
Eric Belfor did not miss the perfect opening.
Thrust!
His spear pierced straight through the monster’s core—the very spot he had been targeting all along.
With that final scream, the creature collapsed in a heap.
The battle in the underground cavern had come to an end.