“Specialist? What a joke. How dare you say such words in front of me?”
Andrealphus had completely changed his appearance.
His size, once ten meters tall, had shrunk to just over two. The bird form vanished, transforming into an extremely handsome human.
The first attack had failed, but that wasn’t the only reason for his transformation.
Having a size closer to that of humans actually gave him the advantage in combat.
He took a deep breath, puffing out his chest. And as he exhaled, his breath turned into a hurricane.
Whooooom—
A storm of wind blades swept toward the humans.
That was only the beginning.
Andrealphus was a master of magic and illusion.
Each of the hundreds of eyes he possessed acted as a catalyst for spellcasting.
Eyes opened across his arms and hands.
Some summoned flames, others lightning, wind, rocks.
It was a spectacle of rapid-fire spells and explosions: a true magical storm.
The power was enough to leave not even bones behind.
However—
Slash!
From within the storm, a red-tinged sword burst forth.
Its path sliced through space itself, severing Andrealphus’ neck. His body and head separated, fading into an illusion.
“It’s not hard to predict what ugly creatures think.”
He reappeared about 50 meters away, mocking Grad.
“Die.”
As he extended his hands, the earth rose and clapped together like two palms.
Boom!
Grad was launched upward with the rubble, and black lightning struck him from above.
Crash!
The knight withstood the pain and charged forward. His aura and the lightning clashed, canceling each other out.
“So, you do have a trump card.”
The distance between them vanished in an instant. Wind blades flew at him, but all were deflected.
Slam! Another slash tore through the barrier—and Andrealphus—at the same time.
“I told you, the thoughts of repulsive beings always fit in the palm of my hand…”
Thirty meters farther, Andrealphus reappeared, quickly crossing his arms. A wave of red aura stopped just in front of his face, shattering his shield. Five of his eyes shut simultaneously.
That moment of hesitation allowed Grad to close the distance.
When Andrealphus raised his hands, Grad threw sand in his face.
“Tch…!”
The eyes shut reflexively.
Slash!
His neck was severed once more. This time, Grad predicted his next position and swung again, but it wasn’t like before.
“How disgusting… your actions are the most revolting.”
“How disgusting… your actions are the mo—”
“How disgusting… your actions are the m—”
Echoing voices, dozens of copies, illusions or clones. All surrounded Grad from above.
“Hmph.”
Grad didn’t flinch and pushed his aura to the limit.
Vrrrm—
His sword vibrated, roaring with power.
He released all his energy in one blow.
His style was brutal, unlike Altrierc’s refined form—rough, raw, violent.
And for that very reason, more destructive.
Thousands of aura fragments exploded outward, obliterating all the clones.
Boom!
“There you are.”
Grad lunged at the one survivor holding a shield.
But that was the trap Andrealphus had laid.
“Welcome.”
His chest opened, revealing a massive eye.
Grad turned his gaze away—but toward another trap: a third eye appeared on the demon’s forehead.
A wave of demonic magic surged over him. For a moment, Grad felt a strange emotion.
“Kh…!”
But he shook it off immediately.
“W-What…? How?”
Andrealphus was stunned.
His human form was meant to ambush Aint, to fight at equal size—but most of all, to seduce.
Beauty was his greatest weapon. Through illusions and charm, he had enslaved countless humans a thousand years ago.
And yet—
“…What did you do to me, you damn pretty boy?”
It didn’t work?
Desperate, he tried to seduce the others.
“Andromalius wasn’t like this.”
But—
— Kyuu?
Not one of them fell under his spell.
“Ridiculously handsome. God will punish you by making you grotesque. And no, that’s not envy.”
No one was fooled.
The iron knight, the “ugly hunk of scrap metal,” could never understand beauty.
His natural enemy, Aint, was immune to his magic.
Grad had an unshakable mind.
The mage, however, truly disturbed him.
“What the hell are you?”
“Me?”
The mage smiled.
“I am the representative of the Dragon God, sent to purify all demons.”
“The… Dragon God?”
It couldn’t be.
Slash!
A red slash exploded before him, nearly shattering his shield.
“Damn you…!”
Before he could finish cursing, another slash split him in two and hurled him to the ground.
“Ughhh!”
The demon coughed up blood, his body covered in wounds. The enemy’s energy was devouring his magic, preventing him from regenerating.
“W-Wait!” he cried, desperate.
“A draw! Let’s call it a draw! I’ll withdraw right now!”
“…What are you talking about?”
“Garbage. As always.”
Aint raised his sword.
“Demons and corrupts shouldn’t be allowed to speak.”
“No, wait! Let’s make a deal! I can’t die like this…!”
Slash!
The demon was cut in two.
***
“No, wait! Let’s make a deal! I can’t die like this…!”
The demon’s scream shook the entire Academy.
Slash!
Immediately, a slash that tore through space itself unleashed a white light that devoured everything around it.
“Well now.”
Sizzle.
Professor Dominique groaned as the light bit into his magic, devouring it.
Crack— His half-twisted neck snapped back into place.
“Now that Andrealphus is dead, won’t you at least let me go?”
“If you give me around ten billion gold, I’ll consider it.”
“A student extorting a professor—the academic authority has truly collapsed. If the First Emperor who founded the Academy could see this, he’d weep in the underworld.”
His physical state couldn’t even be described as normal.
Half of his body was covered in white frost, and his whole form was riddled with wounds, large and small.
“This isn’t what I expected. I thought I’d be praised for killing a demon.”
“Maybe you’re right.”
Dominique’s breath came out as icy mist. The frost covering his skin had already frozen his insides completely.
Were he not a demon, simply speaking in such a state would’ve been impossible.
“As always, Professor Rosalia, you’re ruthless.”
He collapsed with a dull thud. One of his legs, completely frozen, shattered into pieces.
“In the end, we were once colleagues, teaching students together.”
“Your mouth never rests for even a second.”
Should she freeze his tongue too?
“I don’t consider a demon a colleague.”
“You should abandon that prejudice that humans and demons can’t be comrades. Didn’t the Pellenbergs and demons get along well in the past?”
Dominique smiled, looking at Fernan.
“If you’re trying to sow discord, at least use something more recent.”
“A thousand years ago is recent to me.”
“You should consider our perspective. Humans live only a hundred years; do you really expect to manipulate emotions with something from a millennium ago?”
“True. I’ll keep that in mind for next time.”
“Next time? What a funny comment.”
There will be no next time, professor.
But Dominique ignored Fernan and continued.
“However, the Empire has seen demons join forces with humans from outside many times. Ah, now things get complicated.”
The frost covered him completely. From his feet to his neck, his whole body except the head was frozen.
That was the reason Fernan and Rosalia still talked with him rather than killing him immediately—he couldn’t escape, and might spill useful information.
“You mean Colomo, for example?”
“Seems like it’s no longer worth listening.”
Fernan bent down, meeting the eyes of the petrified Dominique.
“Fine, I’ll ask anyway—besides you, have any other demons already descended?”
“Do you know the phrase ‘what you fear becomes reality’?”
“I see.”
Fernan’s tone and expression changed.
“Then die.”
“Hehe… not even being treated like a professor anymore. What a pity. If I hadn’t sacrificed part of my flesh to summon Andrealphus, I wouldn’t have fallen so easily.”
“Regret always comes too late.”
“Cruel. After all, we had a bond…”
Rosalia’s frost reached him, freezing even his head.
Luina cut him in two, turning him into a shattered ice statue.
Professor Dominique’s body disappeared, disintegrating into black dust.
“……”
Fernan felt an indescribable wave inside.
Since the first day he obtained the prophecy book, a vision had haunted him—his own ruin.
A future where he allied with demons, betrayed humanity, was rejected by his father, and cast out with nothing.
An unthinkable, intolerable fate.
The more he understood that it had all been an elaborate trap by demons or corrupts, the deeper his fury grew.
How dare they?
Who dared?
To take away everything he had built?
To turn him into a ruined beggar?
That rage was his greatest drive.
The reason he so fervently supported Aint was always, ultimately, to avoid his own downfall.
To take revenge on those who sought to destroy him.
When he confirmed, through the prophecy, that he had avoided that fate, Fernan slept the best sleep of his life.
And today, at last, he destroyed the author of that trap. He severed the final thread tying him to that future.
Euphoria.
Joy.
Exhilaration.
None of it could be put into words.
“Your face looks weird.”
“What’s weird about it?”
“Your mouth is smiling, your eyebrows are furrowed, and your eyes look on the verge of tears… Are you crying? Were you hurt?”
It was true. They say when happiness is too great, one cries? A tear rolled down his cheek. Yet he felt no sadness.
“I’m crying out of joy.”
“Joy? Well, I suppose killing a demon is something to be happy about…”
Luina, awkwardly, handed him a handkerchief. As Fernan was still lost in the wave of emotions, she wiped his face herself.
“What a sight. But it’s not over yet. Don’t let your guard down. I’ll go check on the professors.”
Rosalia, cigarette between her lips, entered the Ravidus Hall.
“Maybe we should check on the other professors too.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
Fernan calmed his emotions. His body was exhausted, the Academy in ruins, but he thought he could sleep tonight as soundly as that one time…
‘Wait a second?’
A chill ran down his spine.
As if he had signed a contract, felt safe, and then remembered a poisonous clause hidden within.
“No…! Wait! Let’s make a deal! I’ve descended this far, I can’t die this way…!”
“Cruel. After all, we had a bond…”
Why? Without knowing why, Fernan compared the ends of Andrealphus and Dantalion.
One had begged desperately.
The other had accepted death calmly.
You couldn’t say which was “wrong.”
But wasn’t it strange that a demon who had managed to descend would accept death so serenely?
‘Flauros.’
He fought until the end to live.
‘Kimaris.’
The same. And Andromalius was no different.
“A fragment of himself as a sacrifice to summon Andrealphus…”
He suddenly recalled Aint’s words, about how Dantalion performed the summoning.
As soon as the idea struck, the dragon’s power stirred within him.
Fernan’s senses sharpened, his skin tingled, he perceived the invisible.
And in the distance—
“…Ha.”
High in the sky, he sensed a faint trace of demonic magic.
It hadn’t fully vanished, like Andrealphus’s had.
“Damn demon… pretending to be dead to stab me in the back?”
“…What are you talking about?”
“It’s an avatar, Luina.”
“…Eh?”
“Professor Dominique was just one of Dantalion’s fragments.”
Now that he thought about it, he never actually said he was the main body.
____
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