Chapter 1218

A grinding crack rang out. Hwidore had struck the evil god's avatar dead-on and was crushing it all the way down into the depths of its soul.

But the evil god did not fall. Instead, the blood-red aura surging from it grew even stronger.

-One of them has fallen!

Be careful, disciple of Osu!

Those fighting the other avatars elsewhere noticed the anomaly as well.

The avatars they had been fighting were all destroyed at once.

The cornered evil god was clearly squeezing out every last scrap of power it had left, even at the cost of taking losses.

Even though hastily reabsorbing its avatars like this would result in considerable loss.

The sky of the domain, which had originally been stained blood-red, returned to its natural color, and the distorted regions regained their order.

The evil god was even drawing back the power it had used to maintain the domain.

'So that's how it endured!'

Lee Han was grateful that he had chosen to delay the lightning spear.

The vision of the future he had seen moments ago had shown him.

The evil god taking the lightning spear head-on and still charging forward like a wild boar!

He had wondered how it could possibly endure, and apparently it had scraped together every last thing it had and used sheer vitality to withstand the attack.

■■■■■■...!

The evil god no longer even emitted telepathic waves in a form mortals could understand.

It cast aside the ego it had been so proud of and growled as it devoted itself entirely to primal power.

Sensing the threat, Saratan shouted.

-It's charging! Drive the lightning spear into it!

"Not yet. Wait longer."

-It's trying to cross through space!

Saratan could feel the evil god's power shaking off the coercion of the microcosms and attempting to break through space.

An enemy struggling desperately at the very end was truly terrifying. Even after taking Hwidore, it kept forcing its way closer.

But instead of driving in the lightning spear, this contractor gathered even more power. Lee Han intended to wear the enemy down and increase his own destructive force until he could kill it instantly in a single blow.

-You damned bastard!

In the end, Saratan gave up trying to persuade him and stepped in itself.

Before being sealed, this hornbeam spirit had boasted a hardness that no attack could scratch.

It had now lost most of its original power, but several fragments remained, and one of them was the Authority of Unyieldingness.

An iron-wall power capable of enduring any attack!

In an instant, dozens of branches sprouted in front of Lee Han's staff and intertwined into shield-shaped vines.

As the vines restrained the approaching evil god, a murderous roar answered them. Saratan's temper flared at the roar, and it shouted back.

-Hurry up and die already, you fucking beast!

■■■■...

***

The young prince sighed.

The situation was not good.

That tree spirit had pushed itself far too hard while weakened, and it would not be able to withstand the evil god's charge.

To help the disciple at the decisive moment, the young prince had been waiting silently, conserving even the strength needed to speak a single word.

And now that strength had to be spent for that wicked spirit.

The prince did not like that spirit. In fact, it was not only Saratan. He did not particularly like evil beings in general.

There were simply too many wicked beings, and as though they never tired, they multiplied endlessly. They showed no gratitude even when granted mercy, and whenever an opportunity arose, their eyes immediately began darting around in search of advantage.

But now...

He could not deny that the loyal retainer who had remained beside the disciple until the very, very end was that spirit.

That spirit might be wicked, but it was no coward. Unlike the young prince, who would disappear once the power of the picture weakened, Saratan was an existence that would continue helping the disciple afterward.

Perhaps fate had sent this young prince here precisely to teach him such a lesson.

That there was no need to hate someone excessively out of emotion merely because they were wicked.

The young prince raised his hand.

Their first meeting had happened like a miracle, and now a second meeting had come to pass like this.

If so, perhaps a third would not be impossible either.

"Be released!"

***

-!?

Saratan was startled by the sudden surge of power.

It had known that a considerable portion of the power it once possessed had been sealed within the core of this staff, but it had never expected it to return like this.

Had its resonance with the contractor torn away several layers of the seal and restored its strength?

It was unpleasant to admit, but Saratan could not deny it. Especially considering everything this contractor had gone through lately.

In any case, it was something to be grateful for. Saratan roared back at the evil god and exerted even more power.

-Now, die already!

Any longer really is dangerous! Even if you can't kill it, strike now!

Perkuntra shouted.

At this point, the issue was no longer whether the lightning spear could finish off the enemy, but whether the contractor's body could endure it.

With the restraints removed by <Microcosm, Dunamis>, this contractor was piling magic upon magic without limit.

Was this really going to be all right?

Lee Han understood the spirit's concern as well. The lightning spear had indeed grown so powerful that it was becoming difficult to control.

Naturally, he had a countermeasure.

'I just need to use Dunamis one more time.'

He had said three times at the beginning, so that meant there was still one use left.

Neither Perkuntra nor Mahuda had agreed to three times, but Lee Han had already completed the rationalization using Einroguard-style arithmetic.

At that moment, Professor Voladi appeared behind Lee Han.

Lee Han recoiled in alarm, afraid that the professor had read his thoughts and intended to knock him unconscious and send him to the rear, but fortunately, Professor Voladi had not used spatial movement for that purpose.

Professor Voladi grabbed the lightning spear with one hand.

It was to help control it.

The tremendous mana tried to burn away one who was not its master, but Professor Voladi calmly sacrificed one arm and gave the command.

"Now."

"Understood!"

The lightning spear, its control restored, writhed like a dragon as it compressed its trajectory.

Toward the space between the evil god's brows as it struggled free from the swamp of countless spells, the lightning spear surged forward. The mages present felt as though time itself had stopped for a moment.

Then the lightning spear struck the evil god directly.

Professor Voladi sensed victory.

White-hot light dyed the air and made it tremble as though it intended to burn everything away.

Normally, Professor Voladi would have maintained concentration.

The enemy had to be observed, and if it looked likely to survive, another vital point would need to be severed.

But suddenly, Professor Voladi felt the past flash through their mind.

It was a flood of thoughts that could not be stopped.

***

"The western vampire houses inside the fortress were annihilated. They said they would never surrender to the Emperor's bastard dog, so I told them to suit themselves."

"......"

"I searched the fortress and found the remains of your house. Thank the knights for their trouble later. I'll arrange the funeral."

"......"

"You seem to resent me."

The Skull Principal, in human form, spoke while looking at the disciple lying in the sickbed.

More precisely, it looked like something that combined a sickbed with a prison.

On one side were potions meant to restore the mage, exhausted and ravaged by a long campaign of assassinations. On the other were restraints keeping that same mage from escaping.

"Yes."

"I resent you too, so I suppose we're even. Stay there and resent me as much as you like. I'll walk around freely while resenting you. On second thought, I suppose that doesn't make us even. Let's say I won."

Voladi Bagreg fell silent for a moment as though choosing words, then asked.

"Why?"

"Hm?"

"Why do you resent me?"

Voladi Bagreg had more than enough reason to resent the Skull Principal.

The principal had interfered with the revenge again and again, and because of that, Voladi had ultimately not even been able to participate in the fortress subjugation.

But logically, it made no sense for the Skull Principal to resent Voladi Bagreg.

The person who had interfered resenting the person who had been interfered with.

"Most of my disciples have been shameless, but you're truly exceptional. Who was it that rescued you when you were locked up in the fortress dungeon? Anyone hearing you would think you escaped on your own!"

The Skull Principal berated the disciple in utter disbelief.

Fine. Voladi had rampaged like a lunatic and put the enemies on full alert.

But then the mage should at least have rested for a while and let the enemy lower its guard.

Instead, Voladi had gone straight into the fortress just because there were plenty of people there worth killing?

Because of that, before even worrying about the subjugation itself, the Skull Principal had been forced to agonize over a rescue operation.

The principal genuinely could not tell what this bastard had learned at Einroguard, or from the Skull Principal personally.

Enough that if anyone asked, the principal wanted to deny ever having been Voladi's teacher.

"I never asked you to save..."

"'I never asked you to save me.' Yes, that's what you were going to say!"

The Skull Principal raised both hands and mocked the disciple. Voladi Bagreg paused after having the intended words exposed.

"Stop saying such trite things. You weren't the first disciple like that, and you won't be the last. I save someone from drowning and they get angry asking why I saved them! Why {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} do I resent you? Why ask when you won't understand even if I tell you?"

"You still haven't answered the question."

"I don't want to. If you ever take on a disciple as shameless as you are, ask yourself then. There's only one thing I have to say to you right now."

"What..."

"The moment you're fully recovered, you're going straight to the punishment room!"

***

With those final words, the Skull Principal hurled the peeled fruit straight into the disciple's face and left.

After that, no accusations or investigations concerning what had happened in the west ever reached Professor Voladi.

Even though Professor Voladi had violated Imperial law every bit as seriously as the western vampire houses had.

Though nothing was ever said, Professor Voladi suspected that the Skull Principal had pulled some kind of trick behind the scenes.

After all, knights from the west would occasionally visit Einroguard and end up being chased out naked.

When the knight commanders who came to protest that treatment were chased out naked several more times, even the most troublesome Imperial officials eventually stopped asking Professor Voladi any questions about the western rebellion.

Time passed despite events that had seemed impossible to ever forget.

After leaving the punishment room, Professor Voladi finished several remaining papers on magical combat and wandered across the Empire.

It was to perfect their own magic.

During that time, an unexpected proposal came from the Skull Principal.

An invitation to return to Einroguard.

Kirmin happily welcomed the old friend back, but Professor Voladi always had one unresolved question.

Why had the Skull Principal invited someone like them to become a professor?

There were many outstanding combat mages in the Empire.

And among them, there could hardly have been anyone worse at teaching than Voladi.

Yet the Skull Principal never said anything.

Even if Voladi failed to teach a single student for an entire year, the principal simply let it pass. Professor Verdus complained so much about why only that one was being favored that it became conspicuous.

Professor Voladi had not asked back then, but now they thought they understood a little.

And perhaps they also understood why the Skull Principal had said that he resented them.

"Wardanaz."

Professor Voladi looked at the disciple.

Lee Han was covered in blood, without a single uninjured part of his body, yet his eyes were triumphant and a faint smile rested at the corner of his mouth.

For a moment, Professor Voladi felt deeply sorry toward the Skull Principal.

Why were there some things one could never truly understand until experiencing them personally?

"Thank you."

"...It was nothing, Professor."

Lee Han grinned as he answered.

Professor Voladi gave a small nod.

"And..."

"?"

Professor Voladi hesitated, then finally made the decision.

In a way, it was like spitting in their own face, but this was something they felt absolutely had to be said.

"The moment you're fully recovered, you're going straight to the punishment room."

"......"