I Possessed a Broken Academy Instructor

Chapter 158

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Chapter 158

Homunculus.

Commonly ‍‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‍known as the “Dwarf in the Flask.”

Their ‍‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‍lives began with experimentation and ended with experimentation.

From ‍‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‍the moment they were born, they possessed every skill and knew countless pieces of knowledge.

‘Then... ‍‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‍what are we?’

Born ‍‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‍as test subjects, yet beginning as humans.

Each carrying only the techniques implanted into them.

Puppets injected with knowledge meant solely for combat.

—Hound is different from ordinary superhumans.

Their very foundation was no different from that of other superhumans.

But in the end, the unit members were nothing more than byproducts created in the process of producing the “finished product.”

‘That's right. Byproducts.’

The researchers placed no value on their compatibility or stability.

No.

They probably considered them worthless.

Throughout more than a hundred experiments, the only thing they cared about was the completed product.

An experiment that ground down fifty thousand boys and girls.

Yet in the end, only around five hundred survived.

The Hound unit formed from those survivors earned countless military achievements during the Third Galactic War.

But the outcome was incomparably miserable and pitiful.

‘Are we monsters?’

Unable to answer that question, Jin Crow could only silently stare at the tragedy before him.

Ratatatatat!

A platoon clad in black military uniforms reinforced with powered exoskeletons fired indiscriminately down the corridor.

The muzzles of their rifles were aimed at none other than Hound unit members.

Yet standing behind them...

Was also their Battalion Commander, Jin Crow.

“B-Battalion Commander!”

“......”

“At this rate, we can't hold them back! Please make a decision!”

A Staff Sergeant wearing a black steel military cap, with his face completely concealed behind goggles and a mask, shouted at him.

Jin Crow looked toward his shoulder.

An overlocked insignia bearing a black hunting dog.

Proof that he too belonged to Hound Battalion.

Even if their duty was support and disposal during emergencies...

Jin Crow could not simply disregard them.

“......”

He turned his gaze toward the end of the corridor.

Had they sensed the decision he had reached?

Or had they finally realized that their gunfire was doing nothing more than provoking the enemy?

The members of the Support Company under Hound Battalion slowly retreated while never lowering the guns aimed toward the end of the hallway.

Jin Crow finally drew a military combat knife suited for the narrow corridor and gripped it in reverse.

“C-Captain... sir... Ghk.”

Every light had already been shattered by gunfire, leaving the corridor shrouded in darkness.

Then—

Recognizing the accumulated damage throughout the mothership and the power outage, the ship's Mother AI activated the emergency lights all at once.

Red illumination bathed the corridor that had been consumed by darkness.

“It... hurts... Captain... sir... Ghk. Kyaaaaaaa!”

At last, what entered Jin Crow's vision...

Was one of his unit members.

A pitiful figure that had once been human...

Yet could no longer remain either human or a complete monster.

“K-Kill... me... Plea... KIEEEEEEE!”

She had been a small girl.

But her body had swollen as though her flesh had rotted away.

Her arms had transformed into semicircular masses resembling shields split cleanly in half.

Her mouth had torn open.

Her eyes had gone blind.

The walls lining the corridor were embedded with the crushed corpses of dead soldiers.

A truly horrific sight.

Recognizing her identity, Jin Crow bit down hard on his lip.

“......Shin Ye-hee.”

One of the final ten members assigned to Hound.

The youngest among them.

‘Rhinotoros. The Shield That Tears Flesh Apart.’

That was the information regarding the OOPArt implanted within her.

True to that title, the bodies of every soldier who approached her had not merely been struck by a shield.

They had been shredded apart.

Filth dripped from her rotting flesh.

Pus.

Brain matter.

Blood.

They flowed along the grooves in the steel floor until they soaked Jin Crow's combat boots.

Gritting his teeth, he tightened his grip on the combat knife as he looked upon Shin Ye-hee...

Who had completely lost every shred of reason.

“KYAAAAAAAAAA!”

With a shriek like steel scraping across a chalkboard, the girl—

No.

The monster that had once been her—

Charged down the corridor.

Jin Crow swung his combat knife.

The blade infused with Psyonic Energy effortlessly sliced through her throat.

Immediately afterward, he stomped on her solar plexus with his combat boot.

“KIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

Blinking her clouded eyes, she sank the grotesquely overgrown fangs protruding from her mouth into Jin Crow's Achilles tendon.

Yet Jin Crow showed not the slightest reaction.

He calmly drew the pistol from his coat.

Placing it against the swollen forehead where her brain should have been, he whispered quietly.

“......May you find peace.”

At that moment...

A single tear of blood formed beneath the eye of the beast lying at his feet, waiting only for death.

It slid silently down.

Bang!

The gunshot echoed.

The monster that had single-handedly massacred an entire support platoon collapsed into nothing more than a pitiful lump of flesh.

Silence fell.

Yet no one dared cheer for victory while looking at Jin Crow's back.

No.

Even the members of the Support Company, whose duty was to dispose of Hounds during emergencies, felt exactly the same.

“......Goddamn it.”

Through his goggles, the girl who had become a monster remained in view.

Just yesterday...

She had awkwardly made chocolates with her own hands and passed them around, asking everyone to take care of her.

Though they despised both their mission...

And the Composite State that had created and maintained such a unit...

They could not bring themselves to think any further than that.

Naturally.

The Composite State...

And “those people”...

Were walls far too immense for a mere individual or even an entire battalion to oppose.

...Perhaps they had simply grown numb.

Things like this were no longer rare for them.

Perhaps because of that...

The platoon leader, a Staff Sergeant, approached Jin Crow, who remained silently staring at the girl's corpse.

Or rather—

He tried to.

“Captain, we'll handle the recove—”

—GRAAAAAAAAH!

—Bill! Get a hold of yourself! Please!

—Ah... aaah, Sebastian!

The screams erupting from every direction drowned out the sounds within the corridor.

〔T-This is bad! Every platoon member in Sector 6 has entered a Collapse State! Requesting reinforcements—! GRAAAAAAH!〕

〔Two Hound Second Platoon members in Sector 3 have entered Collapse State! Reinforcements! P-Please! S-Save—!〕

Urgent distress calls tangled together over the radio.

The Staff Sergeant stood frozen, clutching the communicator.

When no further responses came...

He looked blankly toward Jin Crow standing beside him.

“Battalion Commander... Th-This...”

“Support Platoon. Delta.”

“......Yes.”

“Do you... does Delta Platoon remain loyal to me?”

“......”

Their gazes crossed.

Every one of them snapped into flawless salutes within the narrow corridor.

Standing before Jin Crow, the Staff Sergeant gritted his teeth, already sensing the order that was about to come.

Walking forward slowly, Jin Crow gave them his final command.

“I will locate and subdue those who have not yet collapsed. Escort them... and escape.”

...There was no refusing.

“Special Anti-Knight Warfare Unit, Hound Battalion, Delta Platoon Leader Staff Sergeant Lowell! I will obey the Battalion Commander's orders!”

The aging vessel was so old that repairs were nearly impossible, as it wasn't even registered in the military database.

Its interior had become a grotesque landscape drenched in blood and littered with corpses.

Yet...

Those corpses could hardly be called human.

Every one of them still wore the unit insignia bearing the black hunting dog.

But nearly all had uniforms ripped apart.

Bodies grotesquely swollen.

Hideously deformed.

They resembled chimeras more than people.

“Cough... Ghk...”

A mountain of corpses numbering well into the hundreds.

Standing atop it...

Were only Jin Crow and Ean Yung.

Blood streamed down, clouding both their vision.

The shattered ship echoed with countless alarms as emergency lights flashed rapidly, warning of imminent destruction.

Bathed in that crimson glow reflecting across one another's faces, they stared at each other while releasing overwhelming killing intent.

Crunch.

Ean Yung ground his teeth so hard they seemed ready to shatter.

Without hesitation, he pointed his pistol at Jin Crow and shouted in despair.

“Then we should've just killed them all!”

“......”

“Don't you understand?! The moment they turned a blind eye to our existence, every citizen of the Composite State became an accomplice!”

“......You still don't understand.”

Jin Crow casually discarded his combat knife.

Picking up a longsword lying nearby, he leveled it at Ean Yung.

“......Escape. That's an order.”

Jin Crow stood without a single wound.

Every unit member gathered in the lobby had already been put down.

Proof of that lay in the countless corpses scattered everywhere.

Each bore a single bullet from the pistol he always carried lodged between the eyes.

Ean Yung understood.

He understood it had been mercy.

But at the same time...

A revolting, ugly inferiority complex rapidly consumed every gap in his emotions.

“H... Haha......”

A hollow laugh escaped him.

Ean Yung knew as well.

Unlike himself, who was merely a failed product with comparatively high stability...

Jin Crow was the closest thing to another completed product after her.

Which was precisely why...

He knew he could never defeat him.

Not even if he tried until death.

Lowering his gaze, he looked upon the brothers and sisters who had died as monsters somewhere in the endless reaches of space, never even remaining human.

At last, tears mixed with blood streamed from Ean Yung's eyes as he quietly spoke.

“Truthfully... it wouldn't have mattered to you either way, would it?”

“......Ean Yung.”

“You never had to worry about Collapse. We were the ones who had to fear disposal. You were fundamentally different from us.”

“Ean!”

Thud.

The pistol slipped weakly from Ean Yung's hand.

Without another word, he turned and headed toward the escape craft.

Then—

Tilting his head slightly from within the shadows, he spat bitterly toward his superior...

And his closest friend.

“You never understood us from the very beginning.”

“......”

Jin Crow offered no excuses.

He merely turned away...

Walking in the opposite direction to search for more survivors.

Then—

The moment their shadows stretched toward opposite paths—

KWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!

A tremendous explosion engulfed Hound's mothership—

Wolfschanze.

Step.

Unfeeling brown combat boots crushed the rubble of the collapsed building beneath them.

His footsteps seemed light.

Yet uneasy.

Filled with superiority.

Yet impatient.

But Ean Yung did not hurry.

Within the eyes glimmering beneath his unkempt red hair was an almost insane certainty...

That Jin Crow had survived.

“Battalion Commander... you've become awfully weak.”

At the same time...

He was equally certain Jin Crow was no longer in perfect condition.

Unable to use even the OOPArt Abilities that every Hound should naturally possess...

He was now nothing more—

And nothing less—

Than a Quad Gear Special-duty Officer.

A faint presence stirred beneath the collapsed rubble.

Perhaps because of that...

Ean Yung slowly lowered himself onto one knee.

Aiming toward the ground, he once again increased the output of the OOPArt Ag-Kelte.

“......We were still alive.”

He wanted to ask what had happened to him.

But instinctively...

He already knew.

The Jin Crow he once knew no longer existed.

Perhaps because of that...

Shrrk.

With an expression that seemed uncertain whether he was laughing or crying, he tore the Staff Sergeant insignia from his uniform.

Then he whispered toward the old nemesis lying unconscious beneath the rubble.

“It's over, Jin.”

At that very moment—

CRAAACK!

A hand wrapped in the shredded remains of a ruined leather glove burst through the rubble and seized Ean Yung's mask.

Before he could even react, the mask was ripped away as a black-clad figure rose to his feet.

“Ah.”

Looking down at Ean Yung's involuntary gasp, Jin Crow spat the dust and blood filling his mouth onto the ground.

“You were always like this.”

Then, gazing with utterly still black eyes at the grotesque scar that had been hidden beneath the mask, he spoke.

“......Too damn noisy.”

At that moment, clutching his head splitting with pain, Jin Crow frowned deeply before adding.

“Ean Yung.”

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NOVEL FULL

I Possessed a Broken Academy Instructor

Chapter 158

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