I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 634

Patricio wondered if he had seen it correctly.

What Rudger held in his right hand was clearly a hammer.

Considering that what had tried to emerge from that black hole was a heretical god, that hammer seemed somewhat out of place.

But Patricio couldn't help but be shocked, because he felt an indescribable divine power emanating from the hammer.

"What is that...?"

As Patricio stood in shock, Bentum, the captain of the Light Guardian Paladins, screamed as if having a seizure.

"Paladins! Do not be afraid! The being before us is our main enemy, a heretic! Strike down this heretic who wields the power of gods!"

His voice carried enormous power.

His shout, filled with holy power, quickly swept across the battlefield, pushing away the ominous energy.

The frozen expressions of people returned to normal, and those who were terrified were instilled with stability.

Calming the agitation of thousands of troops with a single cry was truly befitting the dignity of the Guardian Holy Knight Captain.

Of course, Bentum was sweating profusely, seemingly exhausted from using such power, but his steel-like physique, trained for many years, allowed him to endure.

The direct Paladins who had been with Bentum each drew their weapons.

Maces, swords, cross-shaped shields, and more.

A warm light overflowed from each of the Paladins holding their weapons.

Thanks to that light, Bentum felt his panting breath calm down.

"Everyone, prepare!"

Bentum shouted and was the first to jump down into the crater.

Seeing this, the Paladins followed Bentum one after another.

Despite wearing thick armor, the Paladins moved swiftly as if wearing light clothes.

Just as they jumped into the crater, they quickly approached Rudger, leaving behind pure white afterimages.

Bentum, who stood at the front, raised his shield in front and thrust his lance toward Rudger's heart with his right hand.

Just when it seemed like Rudger was standing still, unable to respond.

-Crackle!

A bluish current arose from the hammer in Rudger's hand and blocked Bentum's lance.

That wasn't all.

Bentum gritted his teeth and tried to push his lance forward, but the lightning began to melt his lance gradually from the tip.

"A holy artifact forged with holy power?"

Bentum was shocked to see his lance melting.

As the weapon of the Holy Knight Captain, that lance was not a simple spear but one of the church's holy artifacts.

When imbued with holy power, it would shine with brilliant light, demonstrate several times more destructive power, and was sturdy enough to not yield to special weapons wielded by master-level knights.

Such a holy artifact not only failing to penetrate the opponent's defense but also breaking apart—Bentum couldn't help but be surprised.

-Crackle!

As the current grew stronger, it melted Bentum's lance and struck his shield.

Bentum filled his shield with holy power, raised it high, and firmly planted his two legs on the ground.

Like the lance, the shield he held was also a holy artifact of the church.

As if to prove this, the lion statue engraved on the shield opened its mouth wide and, with a roar, spewed forth a wave of holy power.

It was an attack powerful enough to turn even rocks 30 meters away into powder.

The power of a holy artifact that could instantly separate bones and flesh if aimed at a human but it was torn to pieces the moment it touched the lightning.

Before Bentum could be surprised again, the lightning struck the shield.

Despite having planted his legs into the ground up to his ankles, Bentum could not withstand the impact and was thrown backwards.

Seeing this, the Paladin members who were following were surprised and widened their eyes.

They hadn't expected their captain to be defeated in a show of strength at the forefront.

But they did not stop rushing toward Rudger.

With determination and resolve to do their part since their captain had cleared the way, they thrust their weapons imbued with holy power toward Rudger.

It was then that Bentum, who had been thrown back and was coughing up blood, shouted.

"Cough! No! Stop!"

Although Bentum warned them like that, it was already too late.

The Paladins were surrounding Rudger from all directions and charging at him simultaneously, and at almost the same time, lightning from the hammer in Rudger's right hand shot up high into the sky.

-Rumble!

A huge streak of lightning crossed the sky but Rudger, the source, stood still in place.

Yes.

Rudger Chelici was just standing there, as if nothing was wrong.

Around him, black burnt marks of what 'used to be' Paladins were etched on the crater floor.

What just happened?

The soldiers of the Bretus Holy Kingdom, who had watched the whole process from above the crater, all doubted their eyes.

The Holy Guardians had disappeared.

With just one lightning strike, their existence—from the armor they wore to the church's holy artifacts they possessed—had been completely annihilated.

It would have been better if they had been pushed back and rolled on the ground due to the enormous power, or if the holy artifacts had broken.

The scene of people turning to ash and disappearing when the lightning flashed seemed somewhat unreal, making it hard to believe even after seeing it.

"W-what..."

As someone who grasped the situation opened their mouth.

Purple lightning shot up high into the sky from the center of the subjugation force.

"Kyahahahaha!!"

Laughing like a madman with purple lightning wrapped around his entire body was Coilwatt, the violet mage.

"Yes! That's it! This kind of opponent has to come out to make it interesting!"

Coilwatt felt like he was going to go crazy from the adrenaline rush coursing through his body.

It was as if he was feeling the tingling sensation of electricity scorching his entire body in real-time; Coilwatt was captivated by the lightning Rudger had just shown.

"I was about to go crazy from boredom!"

The reason Coilwatt had joined this subjugation team was because of the promise that he could fight an 8th tier mage.

Coilwatt was feeling tedium in this world.

It was too boring, monotonous, and dull.

He lacked peripheral pleasure. No matter where he went, there were only weaklings. There was no one who could make him feel good.

After becoming a violet mage and being able to wield lightning constantly, his threshold for pleasure had become too high.

Like drinking seawater when thirsty, he always craved for more intense pleasure.

There was only one thing that could satisfy that craving.

Feeling the fear of death through battles with strong opponents.

Only that made Coilwatt feel alive.

But this operation to subjugate the Blood Vampire had ended too anticlimactically.

As if following a well-written script, there wasn't even a proper fight.

And now, what's this?

A big fish appeared from a completely unexpected place.

Even though it's just one person, he can't be taken lightly.

The power of the lightning that vaporized the Paladins would be hard to find even if you searched the entire continent.

But so what?

Coilwatt grinned. He too could handle lightning of such power.

And that's not all.

He is a mage of color.

If he wished, he could freely command the lightning of nature as he desired.

"Let's fight! Your lightning! My lightning! Let's see which one is stronger!"

Coilwatt, wrapped in violet lightning, stretched his arms toward Rudger.

The lightning wrapped around his body flowed through his arms in a spiral pattern, then thrust its head toward Rudger like a snake's mouth.

Rudger swung the hammer in his hand toward the violet lightning.

-Flash!

With a dazzling light, blue lightning rose up as if reversing the sky.

Coilwatt's violet lightning and Rudger's lightning collided in mid-air, emitting a massive shock.

Light burst, energy spread, and consecutive loud explosions rang out.

The sight of the lightning mixing and spewing thunder was like two giant snakes fighting to bite each other's necks.

The end of that fight was a draw.

Coilwatt felt not anger but rather greater pleasure at the fact that his attack had been blocked.

"Ah! Good! More! Let's do more! That's not your full power, is it?"

Violet stems connecting heaven and earth formed around Coilwatt's body.

Lightning striking from a cloudless, dry sky was absorbed into Coilwatt's body, making him shine even more brilliantly.

Right now, Coilwatt was wrapped in enough power to move Isla Machina by himself for several days.

Power exceeding 10 billion volts.

What was even more frightening was that the lightning he handled was not 'imitated by magic' but lightning that existed in nature itself.

Literally, the lightning of nature.

Its speed was one-third the speed of light, 100,000 kilometers per second.

The fastest attack that, the moment it's unleashed, reaches and even annihilates the opponent in a few seconds.

Coilwatt thought Rudger wouldn't be able to respond to his attack.

But somehow, the lightning he shot was beginning to be sucked into the hammer in Rudger's hand.

"What?"

What is happening right now?

"How is my lightning...?"

Coilwatt is a violet mage.

A violet mage refers to a single elemental user of the lightning attribute.

He can only use lightning magic, but all the lightning in nature follows his will.

It means he can make forked lightning strikes in a straight line, or wield it in a ring-like manner.

If he aims it at an opponent, unless they cast a defensive spell, it will definitely hit.

The lightning being absorbed, as if being sucked in, was not the picture he had in mind.

'Wait. It feels similar to that black hole from earlier.'

Regardless of Coilwatt's surprise, Rudger looked down at the lightning imbued in his hammer, and then smirked.

"You call yourself a lightning mage or whatever, but you're less impressive than I thought."

"What?"

Veins bulged on Coilwatt's face.

Rudger's recent words had touched his pride and sensitivity.

"Still don't understand? Lightning, you see."

Rudger extended his hammer toward Coilwatt.

"This is what it's all about."

-Flash!

Lightning shining from the hammer was shot toward Coilwatt.

Even though it was an attack thrown as if to check, not full power, Coilwatt felt a chill down his spine.

He tried to block Rudger's lightning by exerting his ability to control all electricity at will, but.

'This doesn't work.'

Instinct preceded rational judgment.

As Coilwatt was unified with lightning, he could move at a speed comparable to it.

Thanks to this, he was able to see and avoid Rudger's attack.

It wasn't a reaction after seeing with his eyes, but the electric current wrapped around his body that made him move reflexively.

Regardless of what the opponent's attack is, the electric field around his body captures it and makes him automatically avoid it.

Incredible reflexes, and speed beyond that.

Coilwatt, the violet mage, was also the fastest mage.

But even though Coilwatt avoided Rudger's attack, he felt cold sweat running down his spine.

'That guy. He attacked deliberately so I would dodge!'

Coilwatt bit his piercing-filled lips.

To toy with the lightning of himself, a violet mage.

When in life would he ever experience such a thing?

A feeling of shame, like scraping the deepest part of his bones with a blade, washed over him.

Coilwatt activated an even stronger spell to wash away the humiliation.

"You should have killed me for sure with that attack earlier. This is what lightning is about? I'll make you regret that statement."

-Crackle. Crackle!

Charges surged around Coilwatt's center.

Purple lightning wrapped around his body, again and again. As the density of the electricity became excessively high, its color deepened, and overflowing power flowed out to the surroundings.

"Everyone, step back!"

"Get away if you don't want to be swept up!"

Light that was hard to look at with bare eyes enveloped Coilwatt's body, making his figure invisible.

All that could be confirmed with the naked eye was the vague figure of a person trapped inside a purple sphere.

Coilwatt had now become the incarnation of lightning itself.

Currents that couldn't be contained inside the purple sphere crackled and shot outward.

As soon as that tiny, slender spark-like thing touched a magician who hadn't evacuated in time, it left only ashes behind.

That small electric thread had the power of lightning raging within a storm cloud.

Coilwatt had thousands of layers of such lightning wrapped around his body.

"N-now it can't be stopped. If Coilwatt is this serious, everything in this area will melt before it ends."

A magician who knew Coilwatt's power muttered in terror.

Coilwatt, who would start rampaging like a madman without distinguishing between friend and foe, was nothing short of a nightmare on the battlefield.

Rudger quietly watched Coilwatt's appearance and then raised his left hand, which was not holding the hammer.

Pure white light in the form of lightning fell through the black hole and was grasped in Rudger's hand.