“Fernan Pellenberg.”
Haha. Professor Dominique let out a laugh.
“So you’ve finally arrived. The very one who hasn’t stopped tormenting me.”
“That’s not something someone who tried to drag others down with false accusations should be saying.”
“Me, you mean?”
“I just heard that Aaron Frain was you, professor.”
The professor wouldn’t know what I’m feeling right now. Rage, euphoria, jubilation.
Fernan was struggling to contain the flood of emotions. There he was, the bastard. If he hadn’t acquired the Dragon Heart, it would’ve been him who got crushed into ruin. The one who would’ve made him rejected by his father, lose all his fortune, and end up humiliated in front of Aint.
That’s why this moment was so delicious.
This plan hadn’t been clumsy or improvised. When Aint told him what had happened, Fernan realized it was all meticulously crafted traps, like the mechanism of a clock.
Expelling the headmaster, using Aria to lure Aint, using the fireworks to summon demons, and on his side, sending another demon to eliminate him.
If Fernan hadn’t obtained the Dragon Heart, he would’ve died, and everything would have gone exactly as Dominique had planned. The Academy would’ve crumbled, the Empire would have descended into prolonged chaos, and the demons would have spread their power to destroy everything.
The worst possible ending. Perhaps even that future Andrealphus showed Luina would’ve become reality.
That’s why this moment felt so satisfying—he had smashed Dominique’s grandest plan head-on.
“Professor, it’s been ten years since you infiltrated the Academy, exactly nine as a member of the faculty. That must hurt, doesn’t it? Seeing everything you’ve prepared for nine years fall apart before your eyes.”
I, on the other hand, am happy.
“Because I can crush your plan with my own hands.”
I also know very well what it feels like when a plan you’ve spent years preparing falls apart—rage, frustration, shock.
Fernan smiled coldly. Dominique’s face darkened.
“I think I’ll sleep well tonight. Ah, although I suppose you will too, professor.”
Because today, here, you’ll sleep forever.
Clap, clap, clap—
Professor Dominique applauded.
“I admit it. Fernan Pellenberg, you’ve won. I don’t even know how you defeated Flauros. Everything went off track from there, and not foreseeing it was my mistake.”
Fernan chuckled. It wasn’t a mistake—he just didn’t have luck. After all, discovering the First Pope’s legacy had been pure chance.
“So, tell me, could you reveal what you used?”
“You don’t really think I’ll tell you, do you?”
“I figured.”
Professor Dominique frowned, feigning disappointment.
“In that case, there’s no point in continuing this conversation…”
Crack—
Dominique’s body was frozen solid.
“You talk too much, Fernan. So this was Aaron Frain?”
It was Professor Rosalia. And Fernan had never seen her so furious. Aaron Frain had destroyed her research and tried to ruin her life.
“He was actually an avatar.”
“Avatar? And his true identity?”
“Dantalion. Demon number 71, Dantalion.”
“I see.”
Rosalia brought a new cigarette to her lips.
“Then there are two demons in the Academy.”
“How frightening, professor. Even knowing my true identity, you still intend to hunt me down?”
“Of course.”
Rosalia traced a magic seal in the air.
“I’m back, and I brought a leopard cub with me.”
────!
A pillar of icy light descended like a lance.
***
“…A golem?”
Its sudden appearance was startling, but oddly familiar.
“Fernan?”
The pendant Fernan Pellenberg always wore around his neck. It looked exactly like that.
In the distance, Fernan was rescuing Luina.
So it was his. Fernan had arrived.
He had never expected so much from a student, but this golem was different. The overwhelming pressure and presence made Professor Grad’s heart race.
— Kyuu.
The golem looked him straight in the eyes. With a challenging gesture, it seemed to be telling him something.
“You want to help me?”
— Kyu, kyu.
It shook its head. No.
“You want me to help you?”
— Kyuu.
It nodded firmly. Grad let out a disbelieving laugh.
“So you’re asking me to support you?”
— Kyuuu!
The golem roared joyfully, confirming it with delight.
“Ha, damn it. What an insolent golem…”
At that moment, the demon rose.
The golem raised its massive pre-prepared sword high. A wave of green aura lit up the sky.
────!
A deafening crash shook the battlefield. The strike sent Andrealphus tumbling across the ground, unable to withstand it.
“…I’ll support you!”
It was the pure force of its immense size.
Grad understood that he could never deal such a devastating blow as that golem could.
Like trying to cut down a tree—where a knife needs dozens of cuts, a greatsword needs just one.
Against that colossal demon, his sword was just a knife.
— Kyuu!
The golem roared in triumph and charged again.
“How dare you!”
The fearsome peacock spread its feathers wide.
“A pile of junk that doesn’t even know the A of beauty, how dare you defy me!”
The eyes opened.
Magic solidified, becoming hundreds of blades flying toward the golem—toward Wooden.
Clang, clang.
Some were deflected by its sword. Others struck directly. The result was the same.
“…Are you saying you can just take my magic head-on and send it back? A heap of junk incapable of comprehending true beauty!”
Andrealphus roared in fury.
He opened his beak and spewed a torrent of demonic magic. This time, even Wooden couldn’t take it lightly.
The golem raised its sword in front of itself and charged at full speed.
But suddenly, a red slash intercepted the attack’s path. The dark beam just grazed Wooden’s head, deflecting it slightly.
────!
Wooden’s enormous sword pierced through Andrealphus’ body.
“What an incredible golem! Such devastating power! Brother! How the hell did you make something like this?!”
The heir to the continent’s greatest mage family was shouting with joy even in the face of a demon.
Of course, no answer came. But it didn’t matter—he was already unleashing his own magic.
A holy light. Simple, inefficient, but the most effective against demons and monsters among all he possessed.
The white flames surged into the wound Wooden had opened.
“Ahhh! My feathers! My body! My perfect, immaculate beauty!”
“Luina already gave you that scar. Don’t pretend it’s the first.”
Die.
Grad smirked and struck again.
Feathers scattered, flying in every direction.
“My feathers!”
Each one became imbued with demonic magic, transforming into blades attacking from every angle.
“Ugh…!”
Grad wrapped his body in aura and deflected one. His arm trembled from the impact.
As he lost balance, the others swarmed in.
“Professor!”
Just before they struck, a holy shield spread around him.
The barrier shattered instantly, but it bought enough time for him to recover.
Grad gritted his teeth and cut down the remaining blades. And at that moment, an open path lay before him.
“Behold my beauty. Though you, vile human, will never comprehend it.”
Hundreds of eyes stared at him.
“……!”
A strange power invaded his mind.
Even if a demon couldn’t shatter his psyche in an instant, it was enough to weaken his body and make him stumble.
“Die, ugly, inferior human.”
Andrealphus’ sharp claws slashed toward Grad.
“Professor!”
— Kyuu!
Wooden’s sword slashed across Andrealphus’ chest. Holy light clung to his feathers.
Even so, Andrealphus didn’t retract his claw.
His will to finish off the annoying Grad—or at least mortally wound him even at the cost of injury—was absolute.
However.
Screeeeech—
Something massive flew so low it nearly scraped the ground with its belly.
Like a stone skipping over water, it snatched Grad just before the claws struck and shot upward into the sky.
Boom! The bird’s talons struck the ground in vain.
“…What is this?”
It was a bird.
A white bird with two pairs of powerful wings.
Two figures rode on its back.
One was someone Andrealphus had never seen before, and the other was that ugly human who should’ve been pulp beneath his claws a moment ago.
“…A Saintbird?”
But more than his survival, what drew Andrealphus’ eyes were those two pairs of wings.
A memory from a thousand years ago flooded his mind.
The nightmare of that damned human who, mounted on a Saintbird, exterminated demons.
“No… it can’t be, you…?”
And to make matters worse, that opponent also had the same blond hair.
Instead of answering, the man raised his sword. A white aura enveloped it.
Andrealphus shuddered at that familiar and deeply repulsive energy.
“That cursed power…! Armian! You damned bastards, damn you…!”
Why is he here?
Damn Dominique! Hadn’t he said Aint Armian wouldn’t show up until the end?
“Die.”
Aint Armian stared him down, increasing the pressure even more.
The cursed power that swirled around him began devouring Andrealphus’ demonic magic.
‘This isn’t looking good…!’
He realized something was wrong.
That’s why he had to kill him before things got worse.
It was said that that human was Armian’s only hope.
If he killed him here and now, he, Andrealphus, could claim victory.
‘He hasn’t matured enough yet…!’
So this was the moment, before he did.
And above all, if he managed to kill him with his own hands, his prestige among the demons would rise even higher.
The moment Aint swung his sword, a black light enveloped Andrealphus.
“Where are you…?”
And from that radiance emerged the figure of a handsome man.
Before he could react, that man appeared before him and struck Aint with all his strength.
────!
Silver shrieked and plummeted downward.
A massive crater burst open, lifting a cloud of dust, and Andrealphus descended immediately to finish off Aint before the giant golem could react.
He extended both hands. His skin tore open and dozens of pupils emerged.
Each one casting a spell, all unleashed in a storm that engulfed the crater where Aint had fallen.
And not satisfied with that, he dove into the crater himself.
─────!
The impact and explosion, unmatched by anything before, shook the entire Academy.
But within the dust cloud that swallowed the area’s center, Andrealphus couldn’t laugh.
“What repulsive thing is stopping me?!”
“I don’t know why you suddenly took human form…”
Because a man—from his appearance to his manner of speech, lacking the slightest hint of beauty—had stood up and was facing him.
“But if it’s a human, then that’s my specialty.”
Damn it, he’s going to smash my head in.
Grad Xanth, the one who once nearly rivaled the Mercenary King, growled in fury.
____
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