[21st Round] Weight Class
“The teachings of a clumsy slime? That’s not even funny! If you want to taunt me, be honest and say this is your ability, foolish Demon Lord!”
KRRR!
Biology Teacher, who returned his bent skull to its original state, lost his temper.
He simply couldn’t admit that Master Mollan was better than him.
“How disgusting.”
“Shut up!”
“Prove it with your skills, not your mouth…”
“Haaaaaahhhh!”
Noticing signs that he was about to transform again, I instantly took a spatial jump to ensure I wouldn’t be late this time.
But an incredible phenomenon distracted my attention.
The teacher’s white hair suddenly fell out.
Hair loss, to use a more noble terminology.
In layman’s terms, baldness.
The light reflected from his shiny scalp blinded me.
“The horror…”
Bang!
I was so surprised that I involuntarily gave him time to complete his transformation and throw a punch to my stomach before I could hit him.
I actually felt it this time.
Fshuh!
Using my wings, I jumped back, but that didn’t mean I would just rest.
Bang!
I struck another blow.
This time, however, I was no longer aiming to surprise him with speed. I delivered a powerful hook coated with dark matter.
CRRR!
Biology Teacher’s jaw, which the distortion of space had shattered, instantly recovered.
“Hmph! Is that all?”
I heard an arrogant laugh and received a kick to my side almost at the same time.
Bang!
I felt the pain claw its way through my spine!
“Hmm…”
Fshuk! Fshuk! Fshuk!
I compressed space, breaking the distance between us.
Were my ribs broken?
This was like the first time since my dear friend Noebius unilaterally beat me with his Taekwondo.
His honest and courteous fighting style, in which opponents took turns exchanging blows, reminded me of Sword King Alex from the 4th curriculum.
“Your thoughts are correct. During the 2nd curriculum, when Alex was still a Hero candidate, I taught him how to fight. He forgot my lessons after he was killed by Demon Lord Pedonar, which caused him to lose his memory, but he still instinctively follows them.”
“So it was you.”
It was the Biology Teacher who turned Sword King Alex into a barbarian.
Bulky muscles that seemed about to burst like a balloon, smooth bald head, and swollen veins…
He truly did look like a savage barbarian.
“I’m not a barbarian! I have become the pinnacle of evolution! When you reach this evolutionary stage, mating becomes unnecessary. Therefore, thick hair, which women like so much, also becomes useless.”
“…”
“Hey! Say something!”
“Well… At least you really became stronger.”
My bones were still ringing.
“I can’t revert everything from this transformation, which means regrowing my hair will take hundreds of years.”
“Oh…”
“Be prepared, Kang Han Soo. You will now feel the full power of a perfect being!”
“Wait!”
“What?”
“I want to make a substitution.”
“Substitution?”
“Look up.”
“Up? Ah! What is that flaming flesh?!”
How crude.
That was the cutest creature in all of Fantasy.
“Wah!”
BAM!
Captain Fantasy’s sturdy ass, falling from the sky like an asteroid, crushed Biology Teacher.
▶ Perplexity: My senior looked pretty strong after he turned into a bald barbarian…
‘It’s all an act, Trainee Teacher!’
I could admit that he had become quite strong despite his pathetic and vulnerable scalp.
But people should never forget why weight classes existed.
The bigger one was, the stronger they were.
No matter how hard the anchovy tried, it wouldn’t be able to defeat the blue whale.
Did that person who pretended to be a biology teacher not know such basic knowledge?
“This is really disappointing, isn’t it, Biology Teacher?”
“…”
Crushed by Captain Fantasy’s ass, he didn’t answer.
He was pressed in like an ancient fossil. His bones, strengthened as a result of his final evolution, allowed him to retain the shape of his body, but his biological activity had completely stopped.
Of course, his death wasn’t permanent.
Art Teacher and Biology Teacher’s souls could no longer return to the faculty lounge, however, which meant they would be used as teaching aids instead…
… In the form of the Hero’s companions.
For them to get their jobs back, the director would need to oust Ssosia and me and retake control of the system.
That aside…
“The Imperial Palance’s come to an end…” The Giant Empire’s once-mighty infrastructure turned into a squashed cake when Captain Fantasy flopped on it.
I didn’t want to do this, but I was left with no other choice. Ssosia would just have to fix it.
It didn’t seem that sad, though, did it?
Even before Captain Fantasy was summoned, the giants had fled the building due to the ensuing turmoil.
“Wah!”
He used to stand on his two plump legs, but he changed after gaining the Essence of Fire by swallowing Phoenix, the First Elf.
Fshuh!
Spreading his fiery wings, he flew into the air.
“It’s that baby!”
“What? Baby?”
“Really!”
“The baby descended from the heavens!”
“Long live the divine baby!”
The delighted giants who recognized Captain Fantasy, who first appeared 2,000 years ago, gave him a thunderous ovation.
He was quite popular.
I decided to let him wander around for a bit instead of immediately making him go back.
“Don’t shout too much.”
“Wah.”
“And don’t take anything from the ground and eat it!”
“Wah!”
“I think you’ll be alright.”
It was time to find Home Economics Teacher.
I had spent too much time pretending that I was caught up in the childhood provocations of Biology Teacher.
▷ Anxiety: Her dishes have always been delicious. Other wives criticized her for her uselessness in battle, but I immediately saw her true worth when we first met. She delighted friends and companions with her cooking. That is more important than battles.
‘Thanks for the interesting story, Fugitive Senior.’
However, Home Economics Teacher being useless in battles couldn’t be farther from the truth.
“They look like food scattered all over the place…”
The giant warriors who tried to prevent her from escaping from the imperial palace were neatly cut into equal slices, turning them into steaks.
One shouldn’t look down on her just because she was a non-combat cook.
▷ Type: Skill
▷ Name: Cooking
▷ Rank: G
▶ GG:?
▶ G: Can cook anything.
▶ ZZZ: Always finds the best ingredients.
▶ ZZ: Prevents spoilage of cooked food.
▶ Z: No ingredient cleaning required for the dish.
▷ SSS: Summons freezer.
▷ SS: Summons Bonfire.
▷ S: Prepares food faster.
▷ A: Eliminates toxic substances from products.
▷ B: Eliminates cooking odors.
▷ C: Eliminates bitterness in dishes.
▷ D: Slows down the spoilage of cooked food.
▷ E: Enhances the taste of cooked food.
▷ F: Can cook well.
It was all about the G-rank effect.
The ability to cook anything.
There was no rule prohibiting her from using giants as ingredients for cooking, which meant she could beautifully slice them like she just did now.
That was a good way to fight.
▷ Shock: How does she do it with her delicate hands…
‘Just imagine how she twists the head of a chicken or guts a fish with her graceful hands, Fugitive Senior.’
Only instead of chicken and fish, she now sliced giants.
▷ Depression: Say no more…
As he struggled to recover, I focused on locating Home Economics Teacher as fast as I could.
It wasn’t hard to find her, though.
I just needed to follow the giants’ corpses.
As expected, at the end of it…
“Aaaaaghhh!”
… Wait. This wasn’t what I expected.
Like a bug whose limbs were ripped off by a curious child, Home Economics Teacher was being torn apart.
Only her head hadn’t been separated from her torso.
If she were an ordinary person, she would have died long ago.
I didn’t need to find who did it. The perpetrator was right in front of me.
“I wondered where a giant as colossal as you were hiding, but you weren’t hiding at all.”
I thought Giant King Phoenix, having grown for 2,000 years, would be as huge as a young Noebius.
But that wasn’t the case.
He was no different from an ordinary elf.
He spoke, his tone bold.
“What made you think I was going to hide, Hero?”
▷ Race: Giant Elf Overlord
▷ Level: 999+
▷ Job: Emperor (Tax Collection = Exp ↑)
▷ Skills: Size GG, Physical Strength G, Eternal Youth G, Recovery ZZZ, Vitality ZZ…
▷ Status: Bored, Relaxed, Transformation
His cockiness was understandable.
Biology Teacher and Home Economics Teacher tried to finish their business without waking him.
His skills were terrifying. And the features of his race, which weren’t displayed in his stats, made him even stronger.
▷ Type: Skill
▷ Name: Size
▷ Rank: GG
▶ GGG:?
▶ GG: Infinite growth.
▶ G: Ability to become smaller.
▶ ZZZ: Decreased amount of excretion.
▶ ZZ: Eliminates hunger.
▶ Z: Gigantic in all the right places.
▷ SSS: Accelerated Growth.
▷ SS: Reduced need for food.
▷ S: The opportunity to get even bigger.
▷ A: Accuracy increases with size.
▷ B: Health improves with size.
▷ C: Endurance improves with size.
▷ D: Speed improves with size.
▷ E: Strength improves with size.
▷ F: Huge size.
The Giant King Phoenix’s cheeky smile grew wider when he noticed I checked his skills.
Biting on the Home Economics Teacher’s juicy thighs as if it was a chicken leg, he raised a question.
“You came for this woman, right, Hero?”
“Since you know, stop eating her already. Someone already owns her meat.”
What would Fugitive Senior think if he saw this scene?
▷ Rage: How dare he! Junior! Kill him now!
‘Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be fine.’
I opened a hole in space.
And Home Economics Teacher, who only had her torso and head left intact, fell into it.
No, wait.
Almost fell into it.
“Wow…”
Giant King Phoenix grabbed her by the hair within a split second.
He laughed. “I can’t just let go of this intruder, Hero. How many of my subjects do you think this woman killed? As emperor, I’m responsible for their deaths.”
“So?”
“Defeat me, and then you can take her.”
“Well, that’s easy.”
“Haha! Hero! If you think I am as helpless as I was 2,000 years ago, you’d be greatly mistaken. While you were sealed, I was constantly evolving, which ultimately allowed me to reach my current state!”
BRRRR!
Giant King Phoenix, who until now was just the size of a normal human, began to grow by leaps and bounds.
He grew larger, seemingly endlessly.
He wasn’t as big as Noebius at the end of his life, but he was huge enough to be mistaken for a mountain range if he lay on the ground.
This was his true form, which he assumed upon deactivating his ability to become smaller.
His eyes shone like two moons in the sky, but his gaze wasn’t focused on me.
He was glaring at the baby, whom the Giant Empire’s inhabitants were admiring in the distance.
“Ca! Pi! Tan! Fan! The! See!” Phoenix roared, his cry echoing throughout the Southern Continent.
The sweetest child in all of Fantasy didn’t hesitate to answer.
“Weeeh?”
“Come on! For two millenniums, I have been waiting for this moment! Today is the day I exact vengeance for the humiliation you gave me!”
“Uh-ah?”
“Stupid baby! Is your head only for decoration? Remember me already!”
“Wooo!”
Captain Fantasy, who finally remembered him, flew towards the Giant King Phoenix, flapping his fiery wings.
Phoenix was twice his size.
“Are you ready?” He shouted and jabbed the tip of his finger into the clumsy Captain Fantasy’s chubby cheek.
At that moment…
“Woooo!”
The two pairs of wings on Captain Fantasy’s back began to shrink.
And the smaller his wings became, the more his body grew.
Soon enough, Giant King Phoenix’s finger, which was previously buried in Captain Fantasy’s cheek, now reached only his plump thighs.
Raising his head to look up at him, he spoke in a low voice.
“What a big baby…”
“Whoooo.”
“It seems you still have room to grow. Perhaps we can just forget past grievances…”
“Wooooo-ah!”
“Have mercy… Aaaaaghhh!”
With the help of Giant King Phoenix, who admired the infant’s fluffy butt, Home Economics Teacher was safely deposited into my Demon Vault.
Due to a surprising diet, she even lost a ‘bite’ of weight.
‘Are you satisfied, Fugitive Senior?’
▷ Anger: Don’t call it a diet!
It was time to head east!
