Reincarnated as Just a Human?!
Chapter 37: Defeat

Chapter 37: Defeat

Akash paused, his eyes narrowing.

He slowly lowered his hand, the mana dissipating in crackling sparks.

"...Who?" he asked, without turning.

"Arthur Gravestone."

"Headmaster?" Akash turned back, his gaze sharpening. "Why are you here?"

"Don’t kill him. We can use his body for experiments." The Headmaster began walking toward them, supported by a staff. Behind him, several other staff members followed closely.

"Like I’ll let you use this body," Plus One’s tone was almost mocking, despite his featureless face.

Akash turned to face him, eyes blazing. "Shut the fuck up. Don’t interrupt us, you shitty artificial entity."

Just then, the S-rank support squad entered PA-4. "Where are the enemies?" one of them, a man with glasses wearing a red coat and pants, asked.

Akash’s narrowed eyes fixed on them. "Where the hell were you all when this chaos was happening?" His mana pressure crushed down on everyone in the room.

"We tried to enter, but we got teleported to another location deep in the storage area of the school," a lady from the S-rank support squad answered. She had a large chest and, as she spoke, her body language made her chest bounce.

The S-rank support squad members took in the scene before them: broken test tubes, dried blood smeared across the floor, and Leon’s mangled body, missing limbs and glasses scattered around him.

The lady’s eyes widened in horror as she rushed toward him. "Hey? Are you alive?" She gently cradled Leon’s lifeless form in her arms, her heartbeat slow and steady despite the chaos. "Sir, he needs to be treated immediately."

Akash, standing nearby, clenched his fists. His gaze shifted to the headmaster. "You can see the carnage. Many students have lost their lives as test subjects. One died in battle, another is about to follow. And you still insist on using this being for experiments?"

"I don’t agree with you, sir. That’s why I’m going to kill him," Akash said, his mana surging again as he turned toward Plus One. But as he moved, something caught his attention.

"Fuck, his core... it’s missing."

"What?" One of the staff members, who was supporting Arthur, asked, his eyes narrowing. He wore a blue coat and pants, his expression bewildered. "How can that be possible? He’s an entity."

"It is possible," Headmaster replied, his voice steady despite the weak look in his eyes, a result of being mind-controlled for the past two weeks. "He’s not a true entity. He’s an artificial one. I’m not even sure if he’s truly an artificial entity at all. But for now, he is Plus One."

Akash’s eyes narrowed further. "Is that his name?"

"Alexia told me," the headmaster responded, his gaze distant as he processed the situation.

Leon’s body was rushed to the operation room in the hospital. Meanwhile, in PA-4, Akash found himself at a standstill. His abilities, limited by the lack of earth magic, rendered him helpless in tracking Plus One’s missing core. The other staff members, skilled in various types of magic, were just as helpless without the presence of earth magic users, and none were currently available.

Headmaster, seeing the gravity of the situation, sent the S-rank support squad to search for Plus One’s core, though the urgency in his voice couldn’t mask the uncertainty. Akash, exhausted from the intense combat, finally succumbed to his weakening life force. His body gave in, and he fainted, his strength drained beyond measure. The headmaster stood there, unsure of how to report the chaos to the EHO. The situation had spiraled beyond control, and words seemed inadequate to explain the full scale of the disaster.

Meanwhile, the public face of the battle was framed as a victory for EHHS, but it came at an unbearable cost. The school’s grounds, now a makeshift graveyard, bore the weight of so many lost lives. Hunters from the school, those who fought bravely and fell, were buried there, their names etched into the earth. Among them were the fallen students, their graves marked by silent tributes.

Leon was dismissed from his role as acting president, a decision made in the wake of the school’s inability to truly overcome the odds. But despite the official verdict, the resentment toward him lingered. The truth, however, remained stark. The school had lost for a number of reasons. One of the greatest was the absence of its most powerful hunters, who had been dispatched on missions to far-off planets. Another contributing factor was the battleground itself—the school, the very heart of their power, had become a battlefield. With Alexia, Lucas, and the staff unable to unleash their full potential amidst the chaos, the battle had already been lost before it began.

Alexia and Lucas were once again hailed as heroes among the students. The story circulated fast—how they had taken down the rogue scientists and their men who were responsible for kidnapping and experimenting on fellow students. No one mentioned Akash. Not because he didn’t deserve the credit—he had been the one to truly turn the tide—but because Akash himself had refused it. He didn’t want to be seen as a hero again.

Meanwhile, Leon was undergoing emergency surgery in the hospital. The best doctors available worked on him, carefully removing the shards of glass embedded in his skin. The operation lasted four grueling hours. Unlike magical healers, these were real surgeons, working under strict physical limitations, not spells. They managed to stabilize him—but his eyes, arm, and leg were beyond saving.

---

Days passed.

A warm glow crept across Alexia’s face, pulling her slowly out of unconsciousness. She opened her eyes to the golden morning sun pouring through a wide hospital window. The room around her was quiet, painted in soft whites, with three beds beside her and three beds in front.

Her eyes scanning the room. Lucas was there, resting on the another bed beside her. Hiroshi lay unconscious in one of the beds. Kami was hooked to machines but stable. Squad 4 was there too—unconcious, but alive.

Everyone was here... except one.

"Leon...?" she whispered, then more firmly, "Where is Leon?"

Her voice echoed softly through the sterile room, unanswered.

"What happened to him? After we got kicked out of PA-4... did we win?"

A thousand questions surged in her mind, but the silence offered none in return.

The door creaked open quietly. A nurse stepped inside, dressed in a clean white uniform and carrying a tray of food. She was humming a soft tune under her breath, but stopped abruptly when her eyes met Alexia’s.

"Oh—you’re awake," she said, surprised, but quickly composed herself and smiled. "Ma’am, how are you feeling now?"

Alexia slowly moved her fingers, flexing her hands. Then her legs. No pain. Nothing broken. Everything was functional.

"I’m fine," she said after a pause, her voice calm and low.

"That’s good." The nurse approached with the tray. "Would you like something to eat?"

Alexia shook her head gently. "No, I’m fine. But... I do have a question."

"Sure." The nurse kept setting the tray on the bedside table, adjusting utensils, organizing with practiced ease.

"The other guy. The one who was with us in PA-4... where is he?"

The nurse paused, just for a second. Then resumed her movements. "He’s in a different room," she said quietly. "Room 306. Right next to this one."

Alexia glanced toward the wall to her right—just briefly.

"What’s his condition?"

A sigh escaped the nurse as she folded the towel on the tray. "The doctors saved his life, but... the danger’s not over. He lost both eyes, one leg, and an arm. His life force is critically low. It’s been four days since surgery, but there’s been no sign of movement. No improvement."

Alexia didn’t react visibly. She just sat there a moment longer, then slowly pulled the bedsheet aside.

"I’ll be back," she said casually, standing up.

The nurse looked up. "Where are you going?"

"Room 306," Alexia replied, already walking toward the door.

She didn’t rush, didn’t show panic. Just walked out calmly, her eyes lingering only once on the small sign above the next room’s door.

Alexia stood silently in front of Room 306.

She turned the doorknob and stepped inside.

Leon lay on the hospital bed, his body barely recognizable beneath the layers of bandages and medical equipment. Multiple IV drips were attached to his arms, steadily feeding fluids and nutrients into his weakened body. An oxygen mask covered his mouth and nose, his breath slow and faint. The heart monitor beside him pulsed steadily, but the rhythm was dull—too slow. Faint.

The room itself was small and quiet, with pristine white walls and a faint scent of antiseptic. A single bed was set in the center, a wide window beside it casting soft light over his pale face. The stillness was unsettling.

Alexia walked in and pulled a small chair closer to the bed. She sat down slowly, resting her arms on her knees, her gaze fixed on Leon’s face.

Her expression was unreadable—calm, as always. Almost indifferent. But her thoughts were not.

I couldn’t protect him, she thought.

Even though I was there... he had to handle Charlotte on his own. I stood by and watched my junior take on what should have been mine to face.

Her eyes didn’t waver as she watched his chest rise and fall faintly beneath the sheets.

And now... this is the result. He’s lost his light. Crippled. If my power can’t protect my comrades... or the people of this country...

Then dreaming about protecting this world is foolishness.

She let the thought trail off.

There was nothing more to say. Not aloud, anyway.

She continued to sit there, unmoving, as the monitor ticked on softly in the background.