What the hell is going on?
Valoshi Vienderk was confused.
Until just recently, everything had been a cheerful festival. The fireworks meant to crown the celebration lit up the sky beautifully.
But it didn’t take long for it to turn into hell.
The Saintbird transformed into a peacock, and a demon descended.
Valoshi didn’t know how to react.
Was he supposed to face a demon without the chancellor present? Wouldn’t it be better to flee?
He had no intention of risking his life in a losing battle.
But he couldn’t keep hesitating. He saw Professor Grad charging directly at the demon.
‘If it’s Professor Grad…’
He was a Royal Knight. Most people didn’t know, but there were those who did.
‘Kimaris was also defeated by the border count Bercheff and the Mercenary King.’
Even if the chancellor wasn’t there, the Academy had dozens of professors.
All were strong enough to stand out anywhere on the continent. With a Royal Knight at their side, it would be enough to defeat a demon.
“And besides, I could confirm with my own eyes if the power of Armian is real.”
Until now, he’d only heard about it in rumors. He couldn’t pass up the chance to see it for himself.
However—
‘Where are the professors? And Aint?’
Contrary to what he expected, the only ones fighting the demon were Professor Grad, Luina Bercheff, and Jace Vines.
No sign of the other professors. No sign of Aint, the supposed natural enemy of demons. Something was wrong.
‘The corrupt planned something.’
A chill ran down his back. They had to find Aint and the professors.
But where?
Monsters were everywhere. The demonic magic released by the enemy clouded his senses.
“Valoshi Vienderk?”
“Senior Almon. Is that Prince Ludger?”
“Yes, he was exposed to demonic magic and lost consciousness for a moment. Where were you headed?”
“I was looking for the professors, since they’re nowhere to be found.”
“That’s odd… But can you at least escort us to the infirmary? I’m carrying the prince and can’t fully protect him.”
“Of course.”
While searching for the professors, Valoshi had come across Almon, Ludger, and Ahgrot.
He couldn’t refuse Almon’s request to help escort the prince, so he joined them for a while.
Then, a flash of icy energy appeared in his vision.
“Sister?”
Hadn’t she left with Fernan Pellenberg outside the Academy?
And right after that—
Boom!
An incomparably loud roar shook the sky as a golem fell from above.
— Grrrrroooaaar!
It crushed the demon and roared.
At that incredible sight, Valoshi understood.
‘There’s something more.’
His sister wasn’t the type to run from a demon.
She had always been firm, even against their fearsome father—firm enough to negotiate with him and leave the family.
And with no support, she had become the youngest professor at the Academy.
‘Then, her goal must be…’
Sooner or later, Rosalia would return to the family. How was he supposed to receive her when she did?
With a smile? With tears? With anger, resentment, or regret?
His heart was in chaos.
Whatever the case, if Rosalia had left the demon behind to go somewhere else, she must have had a good reason.
‘Did she find the professors?’
Or maybe Aint.
With that thought, he realized he was already following Rosalia’s mana trail.
***
“W-why a betrayal…?”
Plop—
The last assistant, who had held out until the end, collapsed to the ground with eyes wide open.
Finding the missing professors after the demon’s descent seemed like a success—but it was a trap.
He hadn’t just taken down the professors—he had also taken down the assistants.
The one they trusted the most.
“The word betrayal is only used for those who were ever on the same side.”
Dominique personally closed the unconscious assistant’s eyes.
“I was never on the side of humans.”
On the top floor of Ravidus Hall, Professor Dominique had forced dozens of professors and assistants into an artificial sleep.
He calmly walked out, sat on a chair, and poured himself tea. He added sugar and milk, stirring it slowly as he observed the scene he had created.
“How beautiful.”
A blackened sky.
Andrealphus unleashed.
Monsters raining down in droves.
Screams and death everywhere.
The Academy crumbling.
This was what he had been preparing for over ten years.
The fall of the Academy. Turning the Empire’s cradle into its grave.
The professors would die as if in peaceful sleep, and the Academy would be destroyed.
The Empire would lose its future generations and take a long time to recover.
“And I even got rid of Fernan Pellenberg…”
When everything was over, he’d just need to finish off Aint alongside Andrealphus.
Although some plans had gone awry, everything was still nearly perfect.
So he believed.
— Kwoooong!
Until a gigantic golem fell from the sky.
Until it struck and crushed Andrealphus.
“…Huh?”
The freshly served tea overflowed from the cup. But Dominique didn’t stop it.
“…A Saintbird?”
In the sky was a majestic bird, with two pairs of wings, the sacred symbol of the Empire.
“Why…?”
The golem had jumped from its back.
Wasn’t that Saintbird Aint’s? Then what was that golem? Had Aint created it?
No, impossible.
Aint was hopeless with magic. He couldn’t even construct a simple magic circle, let alone a golem.
And yet… that golem looked strangely familiar.
“A necklace?”
Yes. It was the necklace. The same one Fernan Pellenberg always wore around his neck.
“Fernan Pellenberg?”
Had he returned alive?
Dominique jumped to his feet. The cup and teapot fell to the floor.
Impossible. He had sent Flauros after him. Even if crude, his strength was undeniable. How could he have lost?
No matter how much he thought, he couldn’t find an answer.
Even with a golem like that, and even adding Rosalia, Flauros shouldn’t have fallen.
That was how he had planned it all.
Then why? How?
“Why are you here, Professor Rosalia?”
Dominique snapped his head around. At the end of the hallway, someone walked slowly toward him, and their eyes met.
“Is it strange for a professor to be at the Academy?”
“Isn’t it strange that a human who should’ve been devoured down to the last scrap of flesh is still alive?”
“So you admit you’re the one behind all this. I was uncertain. The Professor Dominique I knew wouldn’t do something like this, but now I can feel the demonic magic.”
Scrape— Professor Rosalia dragged a chair, sat in front of him, and looked him straight in the eye.
“Sit down. How long are you going to make me look up at you?”
“I’ve always thought you were truly fascinating, Professor Rosalia. Alright, I have many questions too.”
Dominique snapped his fingers. The broken cup reassembled and reappeared in front of him. He poured tea and added milk.
Rosalia, watching, brought a cigarette to her lips.
“Since when?”
“From the beginning.”
“You’ve been a corrupt from the start?”
“You seem to be making a mistake.”
Dominique smiled calmly.
“I’m not a mere corrupt.”
“……!”
For the first time, Rosalia’s face faltered.
“So you can make that face too, Professor.”
“You… what are you?”
“That, you’d best hear from Aint Armian. I think he’ll survive this battle.”
“What…?”
“The truth is…”
Dominique paused, took a sip of his milk tea, and continued.
“Today is the result of a plan I’ve worked on for a very long time, though things got accelerated.”
Because of Fernan Pellenberg and Aint Armian.
“According to plan, this was supposed to happen two years from now. And yet, everything fell apart again because of those two.”
“For someone like that, you seem pretty calm.”
“Do I really seem that way?”
Then you’re gravely mistaken.
He brushed his face, and in an instant, his expression changed.
Rage, confusion, rage, confusion, rage, confusion, rage.
An extreme mixture of fury and disbelief. Something impossible to see in the Professor Dominique Rosalia once knew.
The demonic magic pouring from him was so suffocating that even Rosalia felt a chill.
Saying he wasn’t a mere corrupt was, indeed, the truth.
“Right now, I’d like to tear apart not just you, but everything around me—and yet, I’m holding back.”
“Out of curiosity?”
“Let’s say yes.”
Will you answer my questions?
“What happened to Flauros?”
“What do you think?”
“A meaningless question.”
The mere fact that Fernan’s golem was here already spoke for the outcome. And Rosalia would never leave a defeated demon alive.
“Then I’ll ask something else. How did you kill him? It’s not that I underestimate the professor, but with your level, it was impossible to defeat Flauros.”
“Fernan had a good artifact.”
“Yes, I can see that. But it’s not enough. Not with that golem, not with you, not even with Fernan together.”
Click. Rosalia lit her cigarette.
“And are you so sure of that? We’re standing here, aren’t we?”
It was true. Fernan, Wooden, and Rosalia were strong, but even so, they weren’t enough to completely contain a demon.
That was why they were demons—the ones who had terrorized the continent a thousand years ago.
But Fernan had something else. That would be the fatal mistake of Dominique and the demons.
“You’re hiding something. What is it?”
“And why would I tell you?”
“For the camaraderie of colleagues who worked together at the Academy?”
“What an absurd joke. Aren’t you the one trying to kill all the professors?”
“Precisely out of camaraderie, I left them like that. So they’d die in their sleep, painlessly. I had the courtesy to care about that.”
Dominique smiled again. He stood up from the chair.
“It’s been a pleasure, professor.”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“If you and Fernan are here, it means my plan has failed. Flauros must be dead, and with that unknown thing, even Andrealphus will end the same.”
And then there was Aint.
Just as he finished speaking, Aint appeared riding the Saintbird, diving toward Andrealphus.
“Well now…”
Dominique clicked his tongue.
“Nothing’s going right. I waited so long for this moment, only for it to end so pathetically.”
“And now you’re planning to run away?”
“I’m not the kind to stubbornly cling to failure.”
“Nothing will go your way in the end.”
Crack—
Dominique’s feet froze solid.
“You’re not getting away.”
“This reminds me of that time in the library, when you froze me, professor. Well, technically it wasn’t me, but still…”
“What are you…?”
Crash— Dominique shattered the ice with ease, and his body dissolved into an illusion.
“Stop!”
An icy storm surged after him, but the body vanished again.
And then—
──!
His staff clashed with a sword. The blurry figure of Dominique regained its true form.
“Student Luina.”
“I’ll eliminate you here and now, demon Dantalion.”
The voice of the sword-wielder roared with fury.
“Luina?”
Luina Bercheff. Champion of the jousting tournament and, aside from the professors, one of the most dangerous figures in the Academy.
And right after, another appeared—someone Dominique feared as much as Aint.
“Where do you think you’re going, professor?”
After leaving the Academy in ruins.
“You have to pay compensation before you leave.”
How much money from House Pellenberg had been invested in the Academy?
With a murderous expression, Fernan stepped forward toward him.
____
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