I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 632

Something is coming.

The moment Melvin felt that, the strange energy wafting from afar swept through the tent, climbed up the ridge, and quickly scanned over their bodies standing at the summit before passing by.

His spine chilled, his fingertips trembled, and cold sweat broke out involuntarily.

Melvin looked down toward the crater with an increasingly pale gaze.

The invisible energy that swept over the mountaintop flowed down like an avalanche toward the area below.

The subjugation forces, drunk on the joy of victory, simultaneously found themselves clenching their mouths shut without realizing it.

Silence spread like an epidemic over the scene that had been full of cheers, smiles, and joy.

It was even strange, as if everyone was playing a coordinated game.

People shuddered each time the energy swept past. Even the devout and physically trained holy knights and priests were no exception.

A magician in his mid-thirties with crimson hair,

Alon Pablo, who held the title of Red, turned around as if finding it interesting.

"Something else has come."

Unlike others, his reaction was indifferent.

People often say that Alon Pablo, the Red Magician who handles fire, must have a very hot temperament but he was quite the opposite: extremely rational and cool-headed.

This allowed him to quickly make judgments about the strange phenomenon currently unfolding.

"And it's very dangerous. We thought we'd captured a monster, but was the real monster something else?"

"Hahaha! I was just thinking this ended too uneventfully, so this is perfect!"

Responding next to him was a man with pink hair who had shaved half his head bald and wore piercings in his ears.

Despite his punky style and seemingly frivolous appearance, no one reproached him because he was the magician who held the title of Purple.

The Purple Magician Coilwatt.

He moistened his tongue with his long lips. He had come because they said he could fight an 8th-rank monster, but he was dissatisfied that it ended in such a mundane form as God's Stake.

Now, unexpectedly, a new event had arisen—how could he not be pleased?

"Something's coming! Holy Knight Order, prepare!"

"Everyone, stay alert!"

"May the light protect us."

Priests and holy knights covered the surroundings with a warm light of holy power from various places.

Only then did people's trembling subside, and they could breathe properly again.

Bentum, the commander of the Light Guardian Holy Knight Order who was watching the scene, narrowed his eyes sharply and quickly scanned the surroundings.

'Where is it? Where on earth is it?'

While others were trembling from the unknown force, Bentum was different.

He rather felt that someone had naturally infiltrated among this subjugation force.

'It's quite dangerous. That energy just now was no ordinary thing. It might even be more dangerous than the Blood-Drinking Vampire we were worried about.'

More dangerous than a monster with the power of an 8th-rank magician?

Even as he thought this might be wrong, Bentum didn't disregard his instincts.

"Can you see it?"

Asking beside him was Valute, Bentum's longtime friend and a knight directly under the Lumos family.

"No. I can't see it yet. But I can tell. It's definitely here."

"To think it would approach without any intention of hiding, even with a force this size."

Most people would be puzzled by the two men's words.

An uninvited guest had infiltrated among the subjugation force, yet they said it didn't come secretly but had no intention of hiding?

But Bentum and Valute thought differently.

The opponent entered proudly through the front gate and had no intention of hiding his existence.

Yet why couldn't people discover or recognize him?

It's not just very small things that are invisible to people's eyes.

Conversely, if the power and presence are too enormous, the field of vision becomes so full that nothing is visible.

That was the current situation.

But skilled individuals were different.

They sensed the discomfort of this phenomenon and were desperately searching for the one who had sneaked in here.

"The hunters are moving too."

"They're unrivaled when it comes to tracking."

Just then, a purple lightning bolt rising high into the sky was visible in the distance.

The lightning seemed to soar high into the sky before splitting thinly and finely into thread-like strands.

Tens of thousands of lightning threads covered the surroundings like a cage and began to search for the beings inside.

"That ruffian is finally making a move."

"With that level, he should surely be able to find it."

But even as time passed, Coilwatt showed no sign of having found anyone.

This meant that even after deploying such magic, he still couldn't find the opponent.

"What the hell? Why isn't anything being caught!"

Seeing Coilwatt irritably huffing and puffing, Alon thought something was strange.

It's not affected by Coilwatt's tracking like this?

The thin electric current lines deployed now were a tracking technique that no human could possibly avoid.

Coilwatt’s magic was to capture and follow the flow of bioelectricity running inside the human body.

Any living person, any breathing creature would inevitably be caught.

Yet nothing is caught.

'Is it really human?'

Isn't the monster that's not human currently sealed?

With that thought, Alon turned toward the direction where Grandel was sealed by God's Stake, and involuntarily widened his eyes.

"Wh-what?"

There he was.

A person standing still in front of the white cocoon, gazing at it.

Black long hair, an elegant frock coat with black and white tones, and a tall stature.

Even from behind, one could sense he was a noble person with considerable beauty.

But it was not at all a suitable attire for the current scene.

To begin with, until that man reached this place, none of those who surrounded this crater had recognized his existence.

-Whoosh.

Hot heat rose around Alon's body, and sparks scattered.

It's him.

The very culprit who caused this strange sensation in the entire subjugation force.

'Cardinal Patricio. I thought he was cleverly hiding the fact that there was something more.'

Whatever the case.

If he's uninvited, it wouldn't matter if he were killed.

Alon didn't bother to inquire who the opponent was.

Rather, he felt a sense of crisis that if he didn't kill him right now, it would be dangerous.

So he gathered the flames rising around him to form a giant spear.

A hot scarlet spear, easily 30m in total length, shot toward the intruder's back.

At that moment when everyone around was bewildered by Alon's magic that was instantly deployed and fired.

Alon's eyes widened to the breaking point at the scene that unfolded next.

-Swoosh!

The flame spear disappeared.

This wasn't a common 2nd or 3rd-rank level magic.

Alon's magic, which directly handled flame itself, couldn't be compared to such trivial spells.

His flame could make anything it touched burn eternally without extinguishing.

Yet it disappeared.

As if it had been annihilated, not even the commonplace sparks scattered.

Ironically, Alon's magic became a signal flare revealing the intruder's presence.

"Who is that?"

"How long has he been here?"

As the subjugation force murmured in confusion.

Rudger, who had been standing still in front of the white egg, opened his mouth.

"Quiet."

With that one word, everyone closed their mouths.

Then people looked at each other.

What? Why did you stop talking?

And you, why did you suddenly go quiet?

They criticized each other with their eyes, but they didn't understand that they themselves were in the same situation.

It was a strange and ridiculous sight but no one could laugh, nor could they get angry.

In that subtle situation, the only one who did his job was Rudger.

He extended his palm toward the white egg sealed by God's Stake.

Seeing this, Holy Knight Commander Bentum let out a sigh.

He knew the man was crazy, but wasn't that a deranged action?

To extend a bare hand toward the God's Stake seal?

This wasn't just some sacred object that sealed something.

It was a fearsome object that would crush the soul of anything it touched, turning the flesh into a mere shell that's only alive.

For a human, their soul would crumble and disappear the moment they touched it.

Such thoughts changed as the surface of the white egg began to crack under Rudger's palm.

-Crack! Crackle!

"The power of God's Stake is... being pushed back? Is this possible?"

Bentum muttered in disbelief.

Meanwhile, black cracks widened on the white egg, and then it shattered into pieces like glass breaking around Rudger's palm.

A black crack opened on one side of the egg.

Rudger slowly walked into it.

Those who witnessed this all swallowed hard.

They didn't even think about stopping Rudger or following him.

It was because of the ominousness emanating from that black space itself.

Rudger, who entered inside the seal, saw Grandel lying peacefully in the darkness.

A posture of peaceful sleep, just like when she normally slept in a coffin.

There were no wounds on her body, and her clothes were intact.

She was even breathing with a slight wheeze, and her complexion was good.

But Grandel didn't move at all despite Rudger approaching.

"Master."

Rudger knelt on one knee beside Grandel.

"Is this the end you wanted? Something so low that it's not even worthy of being called death, where not even the soul can be saved?"

Rudger gently stroked Grandel's cheek with his hand slowly and gently, as if handling a precious family member.

"Did you arbitrarily end our promise just to meet such an ending?"

Rudger's voice gradually trembled.

It was an emotional appearance that Rudger usually didn't show.

Anger, self-blame, regret, sorrow.

After all those emotions stormed through, Rudger's choice was singular.

"I simply cannot stand by and watch."

Due to God's Stake, Grandel had suffered a significant blow to her soul.

But it wasn't too late yet.

Grandel was a being far superior to humans, of higher rank.

Even though she was sealed by God's Stake, her soul didn't immediately perish.

If he had been a little later, her soul would have disappeared from this world with no way of salvation.

Rudger raised his energy.

The white energy that rose around his body washed away the black space created by God's Stake and

-Crash!

The large egg created by God's Stake completely shattered, and its white fragments fell to the ground with a thud.

The night sky was revealed.

Rudger wounded his palm and then dropped the blood flowing from it onto Grandel's lips.

The drops of blood meticulously dropped seeped between Grandel's red lips.

And Grandel, whose eyes had been closed all along, slowly opened them.

Red pupils, hazy as if just waking from sleep, turned toward Rudger.

"Ah, Heathcliff."

Grandel smiled at Rudger with a silly grin.

It was a face showing maternal love, something she had never shown before.

Rudger felt his heart tear even more at that sight because it meant that her mind was no longer whole, unlike before.

"I told you not to come. Yet, you came in the end."

The moment Grandel saw Rudger, she realized that in the end, couldn't die again.

And Rudger had finally come to save her.

"Why? I thought I could finally end it now."

"Because the death I promised is not like this."

"Death is just an excuse. I just wanted to rest. Just like now."

Tears rolled down between Grandel's pupils.

"I wanted, to rest."

"I know."

"You know? What do you know? I, who even grew attached to you while being with you. I, who became too weak to stain your hands with blood. How can you know me, who eventually broke the promise and ran away!"

Grandel shouted at Rudger almost like a child throwing a tantrum.

Having suffered a blow to her soul from God's Stake, she was now half out of her mind.

Rudger silently listened to Grandel's anger.

And when Grandel finished speaking, he carefully opened his mouth.

"Mother."

"......"

Not 'Master' but 'Mother'.

It was a word Rudger usually called Grandel to appease her anger, but now it was different.

Rudger spoke with sincerity to his master who was also the mother who raised him in this life.

"I just want you to live."

"Living is pain for me."

"I know. Even when everyone disappears in time, you will remain in this world unchanged."

"Even knowing that...!"

"Still, even so."

Rudger spoke with all his heart to Grandel.

"A child wants their parent to live."

"......"

"No matter how hard and painful it is, even if the future waiting ahead seems only bleak."

Rudger wiped away Grandel's tears with a warm touch.

"Still, I would like you, mother, to live."