I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 636

'Is this a dream?'

Patricio Romulo felt like he was dreaming.

Otherwise, what was unfolding before his eyes couldn't possibly be real.

A human couldn't possibly wield the power of a god.

No, even if one could wield divine power as a Holy Grail, it was realistically impossible to handle the powers of multiple gods like that.

A miracle?

Would it be appropriate to explain that spectacle with the word 'miracle'?

What Rudger had shown was so astonishing that it seemed more like an act that mocked true miracles.

The purple magician Coilwatt and the red magician Alon Pablo died with a single blow.

Each died by the element they wielded and that was with the supposedly absolute advantage of elemental affinity.

Instead of humans serving gods, gods serve a single human.

What a terrible irony.

'Where did it all go wrong?'

Faced with a sight that denied and mocked the laws of the world before his eyes, Patricio couldn't wrap his head around how things had come to this.

He thought all the plans had been perfect.

They had used the bloodsucker as bait to find the Holy Grail that the Order had been chasing for a long time, and they had summoned him.

It wasn't like they lacked manpower either.

They had gathered everyone they possibly could.

If a fight broke out, they could overwhelmingly win, and if it didn't, that was fine too.

After all, he had already achieved enough by eliminating the bloodsucker.

But what was this?

The bloodsucker wasn't dead, and the Holy Grail created by God had become an entity coveted by gods.

Two magicians with colour titles were dead, and the Order's proud Holy Knight Order was falling without even being able to use their strength.

"Don't be ridiculous!"

With a coughing sound, Holy Knight Commander Bentum shouted as he spat blood.

He glared at Rudger with glistening eyes.

Considering the prowess Rudger had shown, it wouldn't have been strange to flee immediately, but as a devout believer, he wasn't afraid.

Bentum's strong will and well-trained body didn't lose courage even in front of Rudger.

"How dare you speak of divine power in the presence of Lord Lumensis! All heretical gods have disappeared! They have lost their status and even their names have been erased, all of them are dead!"

"Holy Knight. Those names are merely forgotten by you. They have not forgotten their own names."

And Rudger, who could hear their voices.

He knew all the names of the forgotten gods.

"Is that all? The gods of this world are not just the forgotten ones. Beyond this world, beyond the distant stars, more gods exist."

"Blasphemy!"

Bentum didn't believe it.

For him, who only served the main god Lumensis, even the existence of heretical gods was enough to make him furious.

And now to say that more gods exist beyond that world?

Though he shouted with his mouth that Rudger's words were false, Bentum knew he wasn't lying at all.

The abilities Rudger had shown proved it.

The hammer of lightning, the spear of the sky and the golden sun were powers not even recorded in the ancient texts of the Bretus Holy Nation.

Gods from another world.

A new world existing beyond this one.

For Bentum, who firmly believed that Lumensis was all there was to the world, it felt like his life was being denied.

Instead of accepting that truth, Bentum chose to reject it.

He wanted to prove that the path he had walked, his faith, this belief, was not wrong.

Bentum summoned holy power into his hand.

It became a sword shining with golden light.

Discarding the shield that remained only in fragments, he created a golden shield of holy power in his empty hand.

The wounds on Bentum's body healed rapidly.

He glared at Rudger with unwavering eyes, then stepped toward him.

-Kuung!

Bentum, pushing off from the ground, moved so fast that not even his afterimage was visible.

Physical ability was what made holy knights superior to regular knights.

Attacks using holy power were less powerful compared to a knight's aura, but the enhancement and blessing through holy power granted a far superior body than that of a knight.

Right now, Bentum's physical abilities were stronger than anyone else present.

"Disappear, heretic!"

Bentum brought down the golden sword toward Rudger's crown.

Rudger looked at Bentum with indifferent eyes and lightly flicked his finger.

Bentum was thrown back even faster than he had charged in.

After rolling on the ground several times, he tried to get up, but his limbs wouldn't move.

With just one flick of Rudger's finger, all his limbs were broken.

Originally, his physical strength was enough to pulverize rocks, and with the added holy power, it was even more enhanced, yet this happened.

'My body, it's not healing.'

He tried to use holy power to connect the broken bones somehow, but it wasn't as easy as he thought.

His holy power, which instantly healed most wounds, was not working effectively, as if blocked by something.

This was because when Rudger threw him away, he didn't simply attack but infused his attack with holy power.

The holy power from another world was eating away at his body, interfering with his healing.

Rudger raised his finger toward Bentum again as a blue light formed at the tip of his finger.

'Ah, no.'

Just as Bentum was about to struggle desperately, someone deflected the blue flash that Rudger had fired.

-Kang!

The bent flash crossed the sky and disappeared into the distance.

Then, with a massive explosion, a blue pillar rose.

The pillar, which rose as if to pierce the sky, annihilated everything around it.

The one who deflected Rudger's attack was Valute, the commander of the direct knight order under the Lumos family, and Bentum's close friend.

He stared at Rudger with a face full of composure.

"That was quite an interesting strike. But I couldn't just stand by and watch my friend fall."

Valute spoke, trying to maintain calmness, but the corners of his eyes trembled.

'Damn it. Just from blocking that attack, my right arm has been completely shattered.'

He was holding a sword, but that was it.

The muscles were torn, the bones were fragmented, and he couldn't wield the sword with this arm anymore.

'Moreover, the sword's edge is completely gone. It's a special material sword forged by a master craftsman, and it's like this just from deflecting one attack?'

He didn't even block it, but just tried to deflect the force at an angle.

The actual damage Valute experienced wasn't even 1/100 of the blow Rudger had delivered.

'1% of that power, and my weapon and arm are ruined. What kind of monster is this?'

He intervened to save Bentum, but Valute was overwhelmed with regret, wondering if he had walked into the gates of hell.

Valute shook off his uneasy thoughts.

Even if they tried to escape, that man was planning to eliminate everyone present.

They had to somehow fight while they still had forces remaining.

When Valute signaled with his intact left hand, the knights began to move.

They knew they feared Rudger, but they couldn't run away.

The Lumos family's knight order was especially known for being stubborn, so they never fled from enemies out of fear.

"We are the knight order of the Lumos family. You're prepared, right?"

Valute deliberately mentioned Lumos to Rudger.

He hoped that if he was human, he would show some reaction upon hearing the name of one of the empire's three great ducal families.

If his heart wavered even a little, they could gain a 1% advantage in the fight, so Valute had to do something.

"Lumos?"

When Rudger reacted, Valute thought he was right.

But he was puzzled by what Rudger showed next.

"Ah, yes. Kayden Lumos. I've been thinking about that man for a while. For my future goals, whether I should eliminate him or not."

"What? What on earth are you—"

"This is a good opportunity now that I've become omnipotent. Don't you think so? Kayden Lumos."

Rudger spoke, staring at Valute, or more precisely, at the brooch on his chest.

And just as everyone was wondering what was happening.

Kayden Lumos, who was watching everything through the remote artifact, widened his eyes.

"'How on earth?' is your reaction, I see."

Before Kayden Lumos could give any instructions, Rudger spoke first.

"You must be at the Lumos family mansion right now. You'd think there's no way for me to find out your every move from outside the empire's borders, right?"

Kayden Lumos sat in his seat, quietly listening to what Rudger was saying through the artifact screen.

He wanted to check if Rudger was just testing him or if he really could see him.

Rudger moved in response to Kayden Lumos' reaction, as if he had no choice.

"Do you still think I don't know?"

Kayden Lumos, sitting on the large master's stone in the Lumos family mansion, turned his head with an incredulous look at the voice coming from right beside him.

"How?"

Rudger was there.

Kayden looked straight at the artifact screen.

Rudger was there too.

It didn't make sense.

How could the same person be in different places at the same time?

"Why? Is it fascinating?"

Rudger walked slowly.

He lightly traced his fingertip along the long table covered with a tablecloth in front of Kayden’s seat.

The tablecloth left a faint mark along his finger, as if to prove that his presence here wasn't an illusion or fake.

"It's a type of spatial magic. Normally, it's something I couldn't and shouldn't use, but from inside the cage, especially now that all the seals have been released, I can use it exceptionally."

"Just what is your true identity?"

"Don't you know? Haven't you heard from Cardinal Patricio? Heathcliff van Bretus. That's my real name."

"I knew there was a bloodline, but this power..."

Rudger stared at Kayden, who trailed off, with a cold gaze.

No, rather than cold, it was closer to being devoid of any emotion.

Truly a state of no-mind.

Kayden even thought that this was more frightening.

Lumos never forgets a grudge.

That's what he'd been repeating to his children, thinking about what happened with Rudger that day.

That's why he sent Lumos family troops for this Grandel subjugation mission.

To kill Rudger's master and to kill or capture him.

But everything went awry.

"Did you want revenge on me? For humiliating you and your child in front of everyone that day?"

Rudger spread his arms wide.

"Yes. That's why I came in person. I appeared before your eyes like this. Now what will you do?"

"..."

"You look very conflicted. I heard Lumos never forgets a grudge, but now that the opportunity for revenge is given, you're just standing still?"

"That power of yours shouldn't exist."

Rudger snorted at Kayden’s words, which were spat as if he wanted to devour him.

"Is that all you can say? So you say it shouldn't exist, but how will you enforce that?"

"Do you think Lumensis will leave you alone?"

"Ah, yes. Lumensis. I thought you had something to rely on, and indeed, that makes sense."

Rudger nodded slightly, admitting that Kayden’s words weren't exactly wrong.

"You're right. Until now, Lumensis, who has been desperately looking for me, now knows I'm alive, and even sensed that I've used this power. I can no longer hide from his gaze either."

As if to prove it, between Rudger and Kayden, a dim, pure white light began to rise.

At that sight, Rudger's eyes grew colder, while Kayden’s face became faintly elated.

"Lord Lumensis. Are you bestowing your grace to watch over these young ones?"

Rudger had completely released the seal and gained power equivalent to a god.

It was because he had created a pathway between the dimension where gods reside and this world.

Through that pathway, he could borrow the power of various gods, but that didn't only work in Rudger's favor.

Lumensis could also intervene.

The power bestowed by Lumensis seeped into Kayden.

Kayden’s navy blue attire turned pure white, and his body shone as if he were a saint.

And this phenomenon didn't just happen to Kayden Lumos.

Inside the crater where Rudger was currently staying, a pure white light began to descend upon the subjugation force.

Lumensis' grace erased fear from people and bestowed courage and strength.

"Lumensis watches over us!"

"Kill all the heretical gods!"

"Let's purify this world!"

No, beyond that, it even evoked infinite reverence and madness.

Kayden, who had gained power, showed a cold smile.

"Yes, you're right. Lumos never forgets a grudge. Never."

"Getting power seems to have given you confidence."

Rudger shook his head as if Kayden’s behavior was pathetic.

"Can you take responsibility for those words?"

"Responsibility? What do you mean? About never forgetting a grudge?"

"Yes. If you're going to utter those words, don't you have someone else to resolve things with before dealing with me?"

Who?

Even though Kayden showed a genuinely puzzled expression, Rudger didn't seem to care much.

He had been expecting such a reaction from him.

"Come, Flora."

The moment Rudger called that name a shadow rose beside Rudger, and Flora appeared.

Seeing Flora, Kayden narrowed his eyes.

"You, could it be..."

"Lumos never forgets a grudge. Then the one who should resolve that grudge first is."

Rudger placed his hand on the shoulder of Flora, who had a slightly dazed expression, at his side.

"This child, isn't it?"