Chapter 1333: 91. Senior Fellow Disciple

"Teacher...... Mela?"

The enormous gears roared as they turned. Mela's pale white hair drifted without any wind. Although she wasn't emitting even the slightest terrifying aura, she already seemed like the supreme sovereign of this entire world.

There was no trace of cuteness or innocence left on her youthful face. Instead, it carried a hint of ancient weariness that she never showed in ordinary times. Her amber eyes flickered as though they had crossed the long river of time, gazing from a thousand years in the past upon the world of the present.

Mela stared intently at the alchemical cores on Muen's back. She was so completely focused that it almost felt as though, at this moment, everything else had ceased to exist for her...... This was an expression and bearing Muen had never seen before. The teacher closest to him suddenly seemed so unfamiliar.

So unfamiliar that a faint sense of panic even rose within Muen——he suddenly realized something.

It seemed he had never truly tried to understand this teacher of his......

However, there was no time to think deeply about it.

In merely an instant, all those unfamiliar qualities faded away.

Mela's little face softened, returning to that infuriatingly smug loli expression he knew so well. She stared with a half-smile at Muen, who was turning his head toward her with all his strength.

"What? Are you really that timid? Afraid I'll eat you?"

It happened so suddenly.

As though everything just now had only been an illusion.

Muen froze for a moment, then hurriedly squeezed out a smile.

"N-No...... It's just that Teacher Mela suddenly made such a huge spectacle. It was a little scary, that's all."

"Who do you think I went through all this trouble for?"

Mela sighed helplessly. "Do you have any idea how exhausting it is to operate all of this? Unless I'm dealing with someone troublesome, I usually can't even be bothered to move."

"So...... this was actually for my own good?"

Muen's eyes widened.

He'd had his face stepped on, his back stepped on, and suffered so much humiliation, and now she was telling him it had all been a good thing?

The soul of the corporate wage slave from Muen's previous life instantly sounded the alarm......

Oh no. This feels like PUA!

"In your eyes, am I really the kind of black-hearted teacher who only knows how to make her adorable disciple hate her?"

Mela sighed even more helplessly. An innocent expression that made one want to pity her appeared on her loli face. "Honestly, even if you're my most beloved disciple, saying things like that still hurts me...... Have you forgotten? It's been a very long time since you've done your routine maintenance."

"Main...... tenance?"

That unfamiliar word made Muen think for a full two or three seconds......

Only then did he realize what it implied.

And his expression immediately became horrified.

"Wait, you mean......"

"Yes. That's exactly what I mean. Although the alchemical cores have already completely fused with you, they're still artificial creations in the end. Some adjustments are necessary at every stage, especially now, when only one core remains unlit."

The ominous feeling in Muen's heart grew stronger.

"But does it really require this much trouble? You actually brought out a Divine Kingdom...... Fine, let's just call this thing a Divine Kingdom too. You actually brought out something like this? Just for some so-called maintenance and adjustments?"

There wasn't a single flower left in the Sea of Flowers now.

Beneath the ground were gears vast as stars, while countless intricate mechanical structures filled the sky.

The entire atmosphere was murderous and cold.

Just as Mela herself had said, unless she was facing an enemy even she considered troublesome, she normally wouldn't go to such lengths.

And this was supposedly just "maintenance"......

"But I already told you...... The alchemical cores need minor adjustments and maintenance at every stage, but you haven't done any for a long time. Naturally, we have to make up for all the previous sessions at once!"

Mela clapped her little hands together and spoke with playful cuteness.

"Multiple sessions?"

Muen's cheek twitched.

"Were there really that many? I seem to remember coming to the Sea of Flowers to report in after every major incident...... Fine, I didn't come after what happened in the Kingdom because Miss Dragon carried me off, but didn't you personally come over that time? If it was really necessary, why didn't you......"

"Enough nonsense."

Mela interrupted Muen, her expression suddenly turning cold.

"You're a grown man. Why are you whining and dragging your feet?"

"See?! Your true nature is showing! You're doing this on purpose! You just want to......"

"Shut up! We're starting!"

Mela raised her hand.

The entire Sea of Flowers roared once again.

Those enormous gears began to turn, and Muen sensed an unimaginable force gradually gathering and closing in on him......

"Clench your teeth...... I'm going to go in hard!"

Mela once again smiled brilliantly.

"Mm...... Wait...... If you're going to be that rough......"

Muen let out one final wail.

But even that cry could only be pitifully scattered by the wind.

Then, amid vibrations and roaring that seemed capable of shaking the entire world, an unimaginable agony ruthlessly......

Violated his nerves.

For several hours straight.

......

Time passed quickly.

But for Muen at that moment, it felt unbearably long.

When everything finally calmed down, Muen was completely sprawled across the ground, unable to lift even his little finger.

All he could do was stare blankly and numbly at the artificial blue sky that had returned overhead. Two clear trails of tears slipped from the corners of his eyes, passed through his temples, and left behind two sorrowful traces.

Completely broken.jpg.

"You're a grown man. Why are you acting like such a woman?"

Mela disdainfully nudged Muen with her jade-white foot.

"Still alive? If you're alive, hurry up and pull yourself together. I still have something important to tell you."

"......Still alive."

Muen struggled to get up, nearly grinding his back teeth to pieces.

Damn thousand-year-old bastard loli. One day, I'll repay this pain twice over!

Thirty years downriver, thirty years upriver—never underestimate a cowardly blond!

"Are you sure you're not on your period lately?" Muen asked through gritted teeth.

He was already suffering this badly anyway.

A little more pain hardly mattered.

At this point, he might as well stop caring altogether.

"Oh my, my period?"

Mela pursed her little lips and spoke pitifully.

"What kind of filthy things are you saying to an innocent and adorable little loli who's only ten years and ten thousand months old?"

"Fuck off!"

"Ah, you really don't know how to appreciate kindness. I've been in a good mood lately, which is why I helped you take care of so many things at once. Did you seriously think I was trying to hurt you?"

"For example?"

"For example, after repeatedly undergoing large-scale flesh regeneration, it's very easy for hidden injuries and abnormal tissue growth to remain in obscure parts of your body. I helped clean those up while I was at it."

Mela nodded solemnly.

"For instance, the length of that thing of yours had clearly become abnormal. Obviously a deformity. So I directly restored it to its former three-centimeter size. No need to thank me. It's what I should do."

"What?"

Muen's expression changed drastically as he hurriedly looked down......

Thank goodness.

Thank goodness.

Nothing had changed.

"You bastard, you......"

Muen's fists hardened once again.

"It was just a joke. Don't get angry. After all, you're about to go on another long trip. We won't be seeing each other for quite a while afterward, so I won't have any way to toy with...... any way to deepen our bond. As your teacher, I'll still get lonely."

Mela shrugged.

"A joke? Who the hell jokes like that? Do you have any idea how serious the consequences would've been if that were true...... Wait, a long trip?"

Muen finally reacted and asked in confusion:

"What long trip?"

"I told you. The important matter."

Mela snapped her fingers.

A projection of a towering, majestic tower appeared before Muen.

"Next, you'll be making a trip to the Origin Tower. Something major is going to happen there."

"The Origin Tower?"

That familiar name instantly put Muen on alert.

"So suddenly? What kind of major event? Don't tell me it's related to an Evil God."

"Oh? You're pretty smart. You managed to guess that much."

Mela raised an eyebrow and said:

"Although the major event itself hasn't happened yet. It's simply that someone there was recently discovered to be colluding with an Evil God."

"Colluding...... with the Love God?"

Muen instantly jolted, the words his senior had told him surfacing in his mind.

A coincidence?

"We still don't know which one it is. The investigation is ongoing. But the reason this matter managed to alarm even me......"

Mela raised her head and stared at the tower.

"The person colluding with the Evil God is named Arman Guderian. He's a genuine veteran Truth-Rank Grand Mage with an extremely high standing throughout the entire world of magic."

"He even spent some time as a temporary student of mine, and I gave him a few pointers."

"So, in a certain sense......"

Mela turned back.

A meaningful curve appeared at the corner of her lips.

"You could say he's half a senior fellow disciple of yours."