[Chapter:28][Art is an explosion. Kaboom.(II)]

Silence.

For a moment, the whole campus fell silent.

"…"

"Am I…dreaming…?"

Misuzu looked at the scene before her in a daze, before moving her hand and pinching her best friend Toshimi's cheeks.

"Ouch."

"Oh…it's not a dream after all…"

Even with her cheek being pulled quite painfully, Toshimi couldn't give much of a reaction, as her mind was still reeling from the shocking scene before her.

And she wasn't alone, as whether it be the sadistic purple haired woman, or the pink haired 'genius', or the blonde bimbo…

"No way…"

"…ha ha…I suddenly feel like…like I'm in an anime…"

Kohta had no idea how correct yet also incorrect his words were.

"Ah…now I remember…where I saw those guns…"

The group collectively looked at Saya, whose face paled as she muttered,

"Those…they are weapons from an anime called Hellsing…"

While most didn't understand, those few that did, felt their eyes widen as they glanced back at the scene.

The scene of one vampire fighting against and completely decimating an army on his own…

Suddenly, such a scene coincided with what they were watching…

The scene of one man with a creepy, hair raising grin obliterating an army of thousands of 'zombies' on his own…

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

*boom!*

'The last one…'

Echo's grin slowly disappeared as he lowered Jackal, which was hot enough to singe any normal human's hand just by touching it.

And the same with Casull, which had fired God knows how many shots in the short few minutes that constituted the slaughter.

Both guns were hotter than most metals could take without melting, yet, as expected of Alucard's weapons, Hellsing's finest creations, they were still completely accurate and fully operational.

'Four thousand five hundred sixty seven.'

Looking at the literal mountain of corpses before him, filled with those of all ages, from adult teachers, old janitors, to young students, high schoolers, middle schoolers…

Even, little boys and girls that barely came to his knees…

Even Echo felt his heart skip a beat at the scene of carnage before him. Yet, strangely, it didn't make him uncomfortable.

Rather, he felt…

'Excited?'

He blinked as he felt the unexpected excitement and joy, feelings he had only ever experienced when with his family, slowly receded.

'I wonder…'

While he had a few thoughts on how that happened, however, it wasn't as important. The more important thing was to take the spoils of his battle.

'Good thing I left them I guess…'

A wave of mana, invisible to the non-supernatural residents of the world he was in, emanated from him, as visible pale grey specks of light emerged from his body.

"Wh-what!?"

"Hiii!"

The group that had been staring at him blankly jumped at the sudden supernatural sight, forgetting that a single man not only making corpses disappear, but slaughter over a thousand enemies on his own wasn't any less supernatural.

What made their skin crawl, however, was the what appeared when the countless specks of light converged together…

*clatter* *clack* *clack*

Tens of bony creatures, vastly different from ordinary skeletons, cackled, as wisps of eerie pale grey light shimmered within their bony structures. Unlike ordinary skeletons, one could visibly see just how far stronger, denser, and more powerful these bones were. And the grey light slowly yet surely revolved throughout their bony bodies, making their whole structures shimmer and glow a dim, creepy, and almost frightening glow.

"You know what to do."

As if waiting for the command, the wisps of light within their eye sockets flashed, as the very next moment, with a resounding *boom!*, a shockwave of wind erupted from their bodies just as they disappeared.

In mere seconds, over seventy skeletons gathered up and placed the 4,000+ corpses within his inventory, before disappearing into the campus, making certain preparations.

"…"

Without a word, Echo turned around, his face impassive and his eyes once more covered by his glasses. Those in the group, especially Rei who had lost her 'boyfriend' right in front of her to seemingly similar undead creatures, wanted to ask him several questions.

Yet the threat of death, his indifference to their lives, and the very fact that he alone could kill them all before they could even blink, forced their questions to be stuck within their throats.

"Here."

Shizuka, who still had the same clumsy and air-headed smile on her face even though Echo could see her emotions say otherwise, jumped as she frantically caught whatever he threw to her.

"Drive."

"E-eh? A-Ah, yes, of course."

Fumbling for a moment, she quickly walked to the bus and opened the door, before walking in. Echo followed her closely, and the group, despite having several reservations, even fearful, could only follow along.

*rumble*

The bus slowly came to life, as the engine roared. Just as they were about to set off, however, several people suddenly came from within the campus.

"Wait! Wait for us!"

"Help! Don't! Don't leave!"

Hearing the shouts for help, they looked back to see another group of students, along with one teacher, running towards them.

"Shido…sensei…"

Rei spat the name of the teacher with clear distaste, but unlike in the original, when she would have vehemently disagreed to saving him, didn't bother doing so.

Instead, her eyes flashed as a mischievous smile appeared on her face, looking at the running teacher, and the man who was currently occupying the whole of the back seat, lying down without a care in the world.

As for how the group made it out? Of course, it was due to the orders given to the skeletons by Echo.

'I still need you, Shido. So I'll protect you, till I squeeze out all the usefulness out of you.'

Echo's eyes flashed as a disturbing smile appeared on his face for a moment, thought for better or for worse, Saeko, who was the only one that had been paying her complete attention to him, was the sole observer of the smile.

And strangely, rather than being frightened, she squirmed as her face reddened a little.

The approaching group, soon enough, made it to the bus, and quickly climbed on. With the ground free of 'zombies', however, there was really no need for hurry.

Though, of course, due to the lack of bodies, the other group didn't know that.

"Go! Go! Quickly!"

"Start the bus already!"

Shizuka didn't bother responding as she stepped on the pedal, making the bus jerk forward before it rushed towards the gate. Just as the bus was about to break through, however, the gate strangely began to open.

Looking at it weirdly, Shizuka and Kyoko, who was sitting beside her, caught sight of a similar yet slightly different skeleton gazing at them while waving its hand.

"Is that…?"

Saya as well managed to see that scene, making her gulp as she felt her knowledge and common sense take another hit.

'Corpses rosing from the dead…guns that shoot infinite bullets…bullets that can burst heads like balloons…making corpses disappear…taking on thousands of zombies and slaughtering them without even a scratch…magically appearing skeletons…and now a fucking skeleton just waved its hand at us while opening the gate…'

She didn't know about others, but for the prideful genius with vast amounts of knowledge, the events of the last few hours had all but shattered Saya's common sense.

Then, she looked at the man who was responsible for most, and perhaps, even all of those events.

And speaking of the man in question…

"It's time."

The bus was relatively silent, causing Echo's murmur to be heard by all those in it. Seeing him get up, the original group quietened down as the other group looked at the stranger curiously.

"Excuse me, but who are you? I don't think I've seen you before…"

He ignored Shido's question, making the teacher frown.

Echo looked at the school, that was rapidly being left behind by them, and asked,

"Did you know?"

"…"

"Know…what?"

Echo tapped his glasses, causing them to darken even more, as he grinned.

"Art…is an explosion."

"???"

But before any of them could question the strange sentence…

"Kaboom."

Their school, Fujimi Academy, which had turned into a nightmarish slaughter house within just a few hours…

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

"…it…exploded!?"

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

Many of those in the group stared at the bright flames and dust and ash in a daze, and even the ever so savvy Shido couldn't utter a word in the face of the explosion that not only levelled the humongous school campus and all the buildings in it, but also demolished several houses and apartments around it.

"That…how…why…"

While the other group was dumbfounded, the original group suddenly recalled the skeletons.

'So that's why they went inside…'

They had originally thought those creepy yet extremely powerful skeletons had gone in to kill and collect the corpses of the 'zombies', but as it turned out, it wasn't their only purpose.

'Oh?'

Echo blinked at the sudden notification he received.

((Quests updated.))

Looking at his Quest window, he saw three quests that changed.

. . . . . .

[[Saviour(II)]

Objective : Gather 10 survivors together (not including those gathered in previous one)

Reward : [Skill Level Up Card]*3

((Report?))

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

[[Terminator(II)]

Objective : Kill 10,000 'zombies'

Reward : [Skill Advancement Card]*3

((Report?))

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

[[Part 1 : Escape from the Dead]]

Objective : Escape the school on bus, but in a way completely unlike in the original

Reward : Skill [Driving(Lv-50)] | 1 Lottery Ticket

((Report?))

. . . . . .

'Report.'

((Obtained Item [Skill Level Up Card]*3.))

((Obtained Item [Skill Advancement Card]*3.))

((Acquired Skill [Driving(Lv-50)].))

((Obtained [Lottery Ticket]*1.))

Looking at the rewards in his inventory, Echo nodded as he used the skill level up cards in the one skill he couldn't use freely.

((Using [Skill Level Up Card]*3…))

((Skill [Fate Breaker] levelled up!))

'Well, that's go-'

Several notifications soon interrupted his thoughts.

((Skill [Mad Enhancement] reached the Max level!))

((Skill [3 Tomoe Sharingan] reached the Max level!))

((Conditioner met. Skill [Mangekyō Sharingan] learned.))

((Skill [Killing Intent] reached the Max level!))

((Skill [Bloodlust] reached the Max level!))

((Skill [Murderous Aura] reached the Max level!))

((Conditions met. Skill [One Man Army] learned.))

((Conditions met. Skill [Leader] learned.))

((Conditions met. Skill [Arson] learned.))

And those were just the important ones, as the level up notifications were far too many to count.

Looking at his Status, Echo couldn't help but grin.

. . . . . .

[[Status]]

Echo Howers

Titles : [He who went against Fate] | [The Outcast] | [The Forsaken One] | [Family Man] | [Silent Prince]

Level : 209 (00.00%)

Job : [Necromancer(Lv-9/100)]

HP : 15,818/15,818 (1,581.8 per min)

MP : 321,520/321,520 (48,072 per min) (801.2 per sec)

[[Stats]]

Strength : 719 (790.9)

Endurance : 719 (790.9)

Vitality : 719 (790.9)

Agility : 719 (790.9)

Intelligence : 4,019

Wisdom : 6,009

Senses : 719

Charm : 710

Stat Points : 0

[[Skills]]

[Summon : Bones(Lv-Max)] (!)

[Summon Skeleton(Lv-Max)] (!)

[Killing Intent(Lv-Max)] (!)

[Bloodlust(Lv-Max)] (!)

[Murderous Aura(Lv-Max)] (!)

[Mad Enhancement(Lv-Max)] (!)

[Strategic Combat(Lv-97)] (!)

[Breathing(Lv-Max)] (!)

[Aiming(Lv-99)] (!)

[Accuracy(Lv-89)] (!)

[Reload(Lv-91)] (!)

[Precision(Lv-81)] (!)

[3 Tomoe Sharingan(Lv-Max)] (!)

[Mangekyō Sharingan(Lv-1)] (!)

[Sneak(Lv-Max)] (!)

[Mental Arithmetic(II)(Lv-19)] (!)

[Gun Mastery(Lv-77)] (!)

[Basic Gunfighting(Lv-Max)] (!)

[Intermediate Gunfighting(Lv-72)] (!)

[Magic Sphere : Light(Lv-53)] (!)

[Magic Barrier : Light(Lv-79)] (!)

[Magic Constructs : Light(Lv-79)] (!)

[War Cry(Lv-Max)] (!)

[Leader(Lv-1)] (!)

[Arson(Lv-1)] (!)

[One Man Army(Lv-1)] (!)

[Fate Breaker(Lv-5)] (!)

[Driving(Lv-50)] (!)

. . . . . .

'Six new skills, one of which even reached the max level already…'

Looking at them, Echo called up their descriptions.

. . . . . .

[3 Tomoe Sharingan(Lv-Max)]

Type : Skill / Active

Description : The Sharingan grants the wielder two broad abilities, the "Eye of Insight" and the "Eye of Hypnotism", as well as two specific abilities that came at a cost, albeit prevented by [Gamers' Body].

Eye of Insight (I) — Increase learning speed of skills seen by 10,000% until skill level reaches that of the performer.

Eye of Insight (II) — Increase perception by 1,000%. Perceive 1,000% of targets' emotions. If 'Wisdom' of target(s) is lower than your 'Senses', read up to 1,000% of their minds, memories, thoughts, etc… .

Eye of Insight(III) — Predict the immediate future action of the target with an accuracy of 100%.

Eye of Hypnotism (I) — Increase subtlety of 'suggestions' induced through eye contact by 10,000%.

Eye of Hypnotism (II) — Increase effectiveness of 'suggestions' induced by 1,000%.

Eye of Hypnotism (III) — Directly gain 100% control of any target(s) with a cumulative Wisdom less than your Intelligence.

Izanagi : Allows the user to distort the line between reality and illusions, switching them. Can only be used once per eye every 1,000 days. Cool Down time is shared with 'Izanami'.

Izanami : Traps the target in an infinite loop disregarding their five senses. Can only be used once per eye every 1,000 days. Cool Down time is shared with 'Izanagi'.

Note : There are further stages / evolutions which will automatically be unlocked when skill level reaches 100.

Note : When using any one 'Sharingan', other lesser / greater versions cannot be used.

Cost : 1,000 MP per sec

. . . . . .