Chapter 285 : Chapter 285

Chapter 285. The Archdemon of Envy (1)

Envy.

Jealousy.

Envy turns into resentment, and resentment becomes hatred.

No matter how strong a human may be, once they are ensnared by envy, they become laughably fragile.

How delicate the human heart is.

The Archdemon of Envy chuckled softly.

The noble and the vulgar.

The seasoned and the clumsy.

The good and the evil.

No one could escape it.

“Foolish humans!”

An exclamation burst from the mouth of the Archdemon of Envy, Leviathan.

Humans!

Thanks to humans, he had grown strong.

His power came from humans.

More precisely, from the ugliness of human envy.

Leviathan burrowed deep into the inner world of the 8th Prince.

He was confident.

Confident that he could draw out the prince’s filthy emotions.

“What about you?”

Just how much ugliness was he hiding?

Leviathan’s reptilian eyes gleamed in the darkness.

Unlike Asmodeus, he had no intention of tempting the 8th Prince.

Nor would he appear in his dreams like Belphegor.

The method he chose was to hide within the 8th Prince’s darkness.

The 8th Prince would never realize that someone was inside him.

As if it had always been there.

As if it were a part of himself!

He would never notice.

“Heh heh, this will be fun.”

Leviathan grinned.

The 8th Prince was sleeping as though dead.

When he opened his eyes, something interesting would happen.

Leviathan waited patiently for the 8th Prince’s consciousness to return.

***

Radel felt his consciousness grow clear.

“So you are telling me you just stood there and did nothing while he was fighting the hydra?”

Someone’s voice reached him.

She was sharply scolding the other person.

“Are you out of your mind? If you were right there, you should have helped! Why on earth did you do that?”

“There is no reason to explain myself to you.”

“Because of you, Radel—!”

It was not hard to tell who they were.

‘Inette and Leon.’

Judging by the atmosphere, he seemed to be lying in the Academy’s treatment room.

He must have been moved there after losing consciousness following the boss fight.

“And what? No-chant casting? Are you actually insane?”

“That is an unpleasant thing to say.”

Leon’s irritated voice followed, but Inette did not stop.

“What is unpleasant is this side! You suddenly told him to use no-chant magic? Even seniors say no-chant magic is difficult!”

Inette had a point.

Not every mage could use no-chant casting.

Moreover, in the modern magic world, which prized speed and precision, no-chant magic held little value.

Even the slightest misstep wasted Magic Power and resulted in failure.

In urgent situations, it was common sense that properly chanting a spell and succeeding was better than attempting no-chant magic and failing.

That was why it had long been removed from the Academy curriculum.

“Are you some kind of professor? Why are you making him do that? Who do you think you are?”

“He was the one who asked me to teach him.”

‘Well, that is not quite right.’

What Radel had asked for was the essence of magic, not no-chant casting.

If anything, Leon could be surprisingly shameless at times.

“That is ridiculous. Even if Radel did ask, letting it go until he ended up like that makes no sense!”

Inette’s voice gradually sank.

Radel instinctively felt that the situation was becoming serious.

It was fine when Inette was fuming as usual, but when she became calm, that was dangerous.

For someone like Inette, growing quiet meant she was approaching real anger.

‘This is bad……?’

When Inette truly got angry, things became genuinely dangerous.

He needed to get up and stop her—fast.

Twitch.

Only his fingertips moved.

He could not lift his body.

Radel grew anxious.

Perhaps it was his imagination, but the air already felt hotter.

When Inette had failed to control her emotions as a child, she had once burned everyone around her to the ground.

It was written in Armandy’s notebook.

Radel was not oblivious to how careful Inette had been ever since.

No matter how well she handled the Crimson Flame now, she never removed her black gloves outside of combat.

Inette’s voice flowed out, calm to the point of being cold.

“Be honest. You wanted Radel to die while attempting no-chant casting, did you?”

Danger.

Radel desperately put strength into his fingertips.

He had to get up.

Before Leon answered.

Before Inette truly exploded!

But Leon spoke first.

“……He succeeded.”

The atmosphere shifted.

“What?”

“I mean I saw him perform no-chant casting with my own eyes.”

Leon added, making no effort to hide his displeasure.

“You are worrying excessively. I know his body better than anyone else. Even if I do not want to admit it.”

Inette inhaled sharply in surprise.

Leon, having cut off her words, continued in a slow voice.

“I judged that he would not die. If you understand, then stop talking nonsense.”

There was someone else who was shocked by Leon’s words.

Radel himself.

‘I succeeded at no-chant casting?’

Now that he thought about it, he really had not chanted during his final attack.

Radel tried to recall the sensation from that moment.

The feeling of pulling all his remaining Magic Power into his hand.

He had instinctively thought that his fist needed to become stronger.

Not the stone—his fist.

Then Magic Power had wrapped around his fist……

And his fist truly became stronger.

Making the fist stronger.

A similar scene surfaced in Radel’s mind.

A scene where blue Magic Power swirled around someone’s fist.

The owner of that fist had been a dwarf professor wearing a helmet.

‘It was enhancement magic!’

Realizing the nature of the magic he had used, Radel shuddered.

The magic Professor Beven had demonstrated.

The image of his fist turning blue and cleaving through rock was still vivid.

And the words he had spoken to Radel and Gusto.

‘From now on, you will start by learning to cast magic without a staff. The difference between having a staff and not having one is enormous. Mana concentration, Magic Power control, release, deployment, application—everything must be done on your own without the staff’s assistance. Only after crossing that threshold can you learn true enhancement magic.’

At the time, Radel had not understood those words.

Using magic without a staff had sounded impossible.

Magic was completed through a staff and a chant.

It was not easy to abandon that fixed idea.

But Leon’s brutal lesson forced Radel to let go of everything.

The moment he tried to chant, an attack flew at him.

Unlike enhancement magic, the staff itself was allowed, but the problem lay elsewhere.

Whenever he held a staff, he reflexively tried to chant.

‘In that case, I should hold something else instead of a staff.’

That was when Radel’s eyes fell upon a stone.

Having discarded both chant and staff, all he had left was pure Magic Power.

With the help of Hayden-style Intermediate Potion restoring his Magic Power, it was a gamble worth taking.

That gamble led him to attempt enhancement magic—

And to do it with no-chant casting.

Radel repeated to himself the essence of magic he had realized.

‘Magic is will.’

At the moment he threw himself at the hydra, a single will had dominated his mind.

To bring the hydra down!

That will had taken precedence over any chant.

The instant Radel understood that, a familiar notification sounded.

Ding.

[You have drawn closer to the essence of magic.]

[The hidden skill advancement condition of Hayden’s Normal Mana Training Method has been unlocked.]

‘A hidden skill advancement condition?’

There was another hidden condition in his ancestor’s mana training method?

Radel opened his eyes, wanting to check it.

He wanted to properly see his status window.

But he did not realize how many people had been waiting for him to wake up.

Slide.

“Radel, you are awake!”

Professor Lilian, who had entered with Gusto, clapped her hands when she noticed Radel’s condition.

Clap!

Her reaction drew everyone’s attention.

Radel had thought only Inette and Leon were there, but the treatment room was more crowded than expected.

Leon’s followers who had cleared the dungeon together, and the large-built friends as well.

It seemed they had been holding their breath because the tension between Inette and Leon had been so intense.

“Your Highness, are you feeling any better?”

Gusto approached Radel.

His arms were filled with recovery potions.

“We were delayed while bringing the professor.”

“And there are still friends left in the dungeon. Of course, we were worried about you the entire time.”

Professor Lilian chattered as she pointed at the potions Gusto was holding.

“These are my get-well gifts! I won them by beating Professor Cailin, so you can expect great effects.”

Radel was genuinely pleased.

If they were Professor Cailin’s potions, they were certainly no ordinary brews.

“Thank you, Professor.”

“It is nothing. More importantly, I am worried because you keep collapsing, Radel. It feels like your Health is lacking. At this rate, we might need some special training just for you.”

A dangerous gleam shone in Professor Lilian’s eyes.

It felt like something terrifying was about to happen.

For example, she might suggest one-on-one sparring to increase his Health…….

Radel hurriedly changed the subject.

“Professor, then when will we be informed of the results of this class?”

“Oh, you do not need to worry about that. Your team cleared the dungeon the fastest! That is why I prepared an amazing reward.”

The first-years’ expressions darkened at her words.

They all thought the same thing.

‘Not the Praise Stamp again, right?’

But what Professor Lilian pulled from her robe was not a Praise Stamp.

It was a single sheet of paper, rolled up.

She handed it to Radel.

“Why do you not open it?”

Radel unfolded the paper.

“……Academy Autumn Festival Booth Participation Application?”

Professor Lilian’s eyes sparkled.

“That is right! Radel and Leon, who defeated the boss monster first, are the recipients of this reward. The two of you will take the lead and open a combat magic major booth together!”

Radel realized Professor Lilian’s scheme and was horrified.

Under the excuse of rewarding the fastest team, she was trying to force Radel to run a booth—

And she had tied Leon to it as well!

Summoning magic.

Alchemy.

Cryptozoology.

Radel had narrowly avoided festival booth offers from major professors one after another.

But if he got caught by Professor Lilian here, he would be forced to operate a combat magic booth.

That could also jeopardize his relationships with the other professors.

Most importantly, it would move him farther away from his dream of an integrated major booth!

‘My Supreme Deity 3-piece set could disappear!’

Radel steeled himself and looked at Professor Lilian.

“Professor. Regrettably, Leon and I cannot serve as representatives for the combat magic major booth.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Professor Lilian’s smile turned sharp.

It carried the pressure of someone ready to force the issue if the reason was insufficient.

But Radel confidently pointed at Leon.

“Leon already promised to open an integrated major booth with me. Right, Leon?”

Leon’s gaze wavered.

Of course, no such promise had ever been made.

But even Leon could easily imagine how absurd Professor Lilian’s combat magic booth would be.

Leon’s mind turned into chaos.

That wicked, scheming bastard—

Or that suspiciously battle-crazed professor.

Leon forced his unwilling mouth open.

“……Yes.”

It was the moment his life truly went off the rails.