I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 633: The Gate of Heaven (1)

At Rudger's words, Grandel fell silent.

Rudger's plea for her to live was merely desperate, but that's precisely why it properly shook her heart.

Especially when seeing the face of that foolish disciple who wiped away her tears, yet couldn't wipe away the sorrow dwelling in his own eyes.

She simply couldn't bring herself to say she wanted to leave.

"To so ruthlessly trample on your mother's dream like this. You truly must be the most unfilial son in the world."

"Yes. I'm fine with being unfilial. As long as you can live."

"Live for what, I ask you. I no longer have any purpose or dreams left in life."

"You probably don't have any right now. It would be just as bewildering to suddenly be asked to find something that wasn't there. Even so..."

Rudger raised his head to look up at the night sky.

Countless stars embroidered the sky above.

They spread out following a certain flow, forming the Milky Way.

This cage is so stifling, yet what lies beyond is so beautiful that he often finds himself looking up without thinking.

"The world is vast. Beyond this place, there exists even more. So I promise you. If we escape this cage and reach the wide garden, or the even wider wilderness beyond."

Someday, if we could cross that distant sea of stars.

If only we could reach its end.

Yes.

At that time, surely.

"Mother, you'll be able to find a new reason to live. I promise."

Grandel opened her eyes wide, then soon gave Rudger a gentle smile.

"As always, your words flow like a mountain stream."

Though her tone was critical, Grandel's voice had softened considerably.

"I'm tired. I need to rest my eyes for a moment."

"Yes, sleep well, Mother."

Though Grandel appeared fine on the outside, she had suffered considerable damage to her soul due to the God’s Stake.

Since her soul hadn't completely perished, it would recover with time, but for now, her soul was in an unstable state, making rest essential.

"For the first time in a while, I feel like I might dream."

"Have a good dream. When you wake up, everything will be over."

"Yes..."

Grandel answered in a small murmur before closing her eyes.

Soon, gentle breathing sounds filled the air.

"Aether Nocturnus."

Rudger called his magic hand.

Aether Nocturnus, understanding what Rudger wanted, gently embraced and lifted Grandel's body.

Aether Nocturnus asked its master with its eyes if he could fight properly without it.

Rudger chuckled at his usually greedy magic hand's concern.

"Don't worry."

Today I really plan to do it properly.

"Hahaha! How splendid!"

What broke the silence that had been dominating the audience then was Cardinal Patricio's laughter.

Having reached the outside of the crater, he was looking down at Rudger with an expression full of ecstasy.

"To destroy a God’s Stake with just your power alone. As expected of his bloodline, is that it?"

"Cardinal Patricio Romulo."

"My, it's been a long time. You were so young before, but now that you've grown, I almost didn't recognize you."

To Patricio's words, which seemed as if he had been waiting for him, Rudger quickly surveyed the surrounding forces and asked.

"Was all of this bait to lure me?"

"Of course it was. But I never expected you to come out like this in person. Alone at that. I thought at the very least you would have brought other subordinates you had prepared, but this makes me feel like gathering this many people was in vain."

Patricio had planned this entire situation.

Grandel, too, was nothing more than a means to an end, bait to achieve his goal.

What he was truly after was just one thing: Rudger Chelici.

No, Heathcliff van Bretus, another descendant of the Holy Emperor's bloodline.

The expression disappeared from Patricio's face, which had been thoroughly mocking Rudger.

"You shouldn't be alive."

"..."

"You should never have existed in the first place. An illegitimate child born unintentionally. That's what you are."

Patricio shook his head.

"No. It would have been better if you were just an illegitimate child. But you're not just an illegitimate child, but a manufactured Holy Grail. Nothing more than a tool meant to contain divinity."

That's why he wanted to kill Rudger.

He had conspired with others to poison him as an infant, and when that failed, he tried other methods of assassination.

But Rudger, as if blessed with some kind of protection, survived through all those threats without dying.

In the end, they even took him to a remote location where no one could rescue him and dropped him into an old well.

Who would have known?

That a Vampire of true blood, who had secretly come to the Bretus Holy Kingdom, would find Rudger there and take him in.

So they continued to send pursuit teams afterward, but each attempt failed.

"I had been plotting to eliminate you ever since, but unfortunately, some unfavorable incidents occurred in our country, and I had no choice but to put it aside."

But he never gave up.

After the Bretus Holy Kingdom reopened, they set a trap to eliminate Rudger according to the plan they had prepared until now.

"You should not exist. Heathcliff."

"I should not exist, you say."

Rudger wasn't particularly hurt by those words.

If anything, it was somewhat surprising that a respectable Cardinal had tried to kill him.

From the beginning, Rudger had never once considered the Holy Emperor or others as family.

"So I would appreciate it if you would just die. For the sake of the people who came all this way and staged this small drama to see you."

Rudger couldn't help but laugh at Patricio's words.

What a ridiculous thing to say.

Wasn't it the Cardinal himself who kept this fact secret and summoned them arbitrarily?

Just look at the reactions of the people around.

The bewildered expressions at why Rudger appeared here.

But having come this far, they weren't ignorant of what they needed to do.

Everyone instinctively felt it.

Rudger was their enemy, and if they didn't kill him now, they might be the ones to suffer instead—that fear.

"Let me ask one thing."

"Hmm? Is there something you're curious about?"

"I know the previous Holy Emperor died and a new one was enthroned. Who was it?"

Since there was no particular need to keep that a secret, Patricio said as if it were nothing.

"Salesin van Bretus. The eldest son of the previous Holy Emperor."

"Salesin. I see. That would make him my elder brother."

"Are you done with your curiosities now?"

"Yes. However, I need to make a slight correction to what you said."

Patricio frowned, apparently annoyed that Rudger was playing with words even in this situation.

"What are you suddenly talking about?"

"You might think you set this trap to kill me, but it's the opposite."

Rudger's eyes turned red.

"The ones who will die here today are all of you."

Though he was speaking calmly, Rudger had been in a state of anger for some time now.

Using his master as bait to capture him, and even trying to annihilate his master's soul with a divine stake—all of it.

In an instant, it turned the cold reason that had helped Rudger endure everything until now into a sea of hot flames.

"You can look forward to it. I always keep my word."

"What is this? Are you trying to bluff now? In front of this many troops? Or do you have something you're counting on? Did Priest Remia say she would help you?"

The only helper Patricio could think of for Rudger was Remia.

A doll made from fragments of the Saint's power.

Despite that status, she held a high position in the church and interfered with him at every turn—abominable things.

Patricio disliked those so-called priestesses.

Even more, the fact that they couldn't refuse Rudger's words—who should be considered an enemy of the church—solely because he carried the Holy Emperor's bloodline.

'It's all because of the current fake Saint.'

A fake Saint forcibly created for the church's prestige.

Originally, the failed creations from trying to cultivate a Saint should have been disposed of, but that impudent Saint took them in, calling them her sisters, and that's how this mess started.

'But this too will all end. After eliminating that annoying tool, I must implore Emperor Salesin to remove the others one by one as well.'

All for the Bretus Holy Kingdom.

To create a paradise solely for humans.

"Alright then, everyone. Prepare yourselves."

At Patricio's command, the Holy Knight Order stepped forward first.

They each enveloped themselves with holy power, manifesting their blessings, and recited sacred prayers.

Holy power rose from everywhere but the aura that should have been compassionate was filled with killing intent.

Rudger remained still despite seeing this.

He didn't cast any other magic spells, make evasive movements, or prepare for battle.

He only murmured one phrase.

"First Seal Release Technique."

A black hole opened above Rudger's head.

People felt a chill at the sight.

A black hole suddenly opening above his head? It was a scene unbelievable even to the eyes.

Moreover, what was this unprecedented aura flowing from within the hole?

Patricio also felt goosebumps on his skin from that aura.

"Second Seal Release Technique."

Knockin' on Heaven's Door.

Meanwhile, Rudger's second seal was released.

The hole that had formed above his head grew larger, and a halo formed around the hole.

The force felt from within the hole strengthened.

Beyond that, countless presences were felt from inside.

People's fear reached its peak.

Sensing something dangerous, Patricio shouted.

"Attack!"

At the urgent cry that lacked the usual composure and politeness, the priests used holy incantations.

Light made of holy power was shot toward Rudger.

They were powerful attacks that, beyond destroying evil, could melt and kill even living beings with their physical force and heat.

Others attacked as well.

Hunters fired their prepared firearms, and magicians also cast spells.

The two magicians with colour titles each fired fire magic and lightning magic but just before they reached Rudger's body at the center of the crater, Rudger's final words echoed widely beyond the crater to the surrounding area.

"Third Seal Release Technique. Heaven's Gate Opening."

Open Heaven's Door.

The black hole above Rudger's head that had only been 2 meters in diameter expanded instantly.

It grew so large that it covered not just Rudger but the entire crater.

A massive black hole nearly 100 meters in diameter.

If the eerie force felt until now had flowed through just a pinhole, this time it felt as nakedly as if a massive gate had been flung wide open.

[With this, you have become completely omnipotent.]

The gods spoke in unison from within the hole.

All the attacks fired at Rudger from all directions were completely absorbed into the black hole.

Light imbued with holy power was sucked in, as were the flames and lightning shot by the color magicians.

It looked like a 6th-tier dark attribute grand magic had been deployed.

Dusk Demon Spirit was a 6th-tier grand magic, but it was just magic implemented with magical power.

But what they were seeing now, what on earth was it?

This wasn't magic. Nor was it a holy incantation, nor the psychic power that other species were said to use.

Something began to make sounds from within the black hole.

-Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

It sounded like joint segments being twisted, or like teeth biting into something.

The strange sound ringing in their ears raised goosebumps on everyone present.

Would one feel like this even if facing a biological predator alone in the wild?

Although no one was weak enough to faint at hearing this sound, everyone inevitably froze, forgetting their previous might.

Something.

Something exists inside that black hole.

-Slither.

Through the gap of the hole that was nearly 100 meters in diameter, something began to wriggle out.

Those things, resembling the tentacles of mollusks, were not just one or two.

The sight of them wriggling and protruding as if about to pour out like a waterfall from the entire black hole was truly overwhelming.

Whatever was trying to squeeze out, even that massive hole seemed woefully inadequate compared to 'its' size.

The protruding tentacles, upon closer inspection, were not ordinary tentacles.

They were massive ropes that seemed to be made by intricately weaving together human bones, flesh, muscles, and organs.

The sight of thousands of such things wriggling and protruding through the hole made it feel like one's optic nerves were burning.

Whatever it was, just as the thought occurred that everything would end the moment it came out through the hole.

"Stop."

The moment Rudger opened his mouth, the tentacles froze in place as if they had never moved.

"This time, I'm not borrowing your power."

At Rudger's words, the tentacles asked with intent.

Wasn't it the most optimized power for the current situation?

"No. The power I'm borrowing this time is something different. It wouldn't be fun if it ended too easily."

The tentacles trembled at the ends as if slightly displeased, but they didn't refuse Rudger's words.

As if time were reversing, the tentacles were sucked back into the black hole.

At that sight, everyone felt relief, but there was one person who couldn't feel relieved.

Patricio's lips trembled.

"God? Did you just handle the power of a god?"

"Yes."

Rudger lightly affirmed.

"You! In the end, did you fill that vessel with a heretical god?!"

"A heretical god? Are you referring to the ancient gods that you arbitrarily defined and erased from existence?"

"To contain such heresy! You! I thought you were dangerous before, but it's already too late to turn back!"

Rudger cast a deep sneer toward Patricio.

"What's so funny?"

"Isn't it amusing? You're speaking as if I've dedicated everything to that god."

"Then are you saying that's not the case?"

"No. Absolutely not."

At that moment, from the center of the hole hovering above Rudger's head, an immense energy was felt.

Just as people wondered what was coming out this time, with a booming sound, lightning struck and was absorbed into Rudger's right hand.

What appeared in Rudger's hand along with a dazzling light was a hammer that sparked with lightning.