I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 670: The Adversaries (1)

"Oh ho ho. What on earth is going on?"

Victor Dreadful laughed at the alarm signaling an external intrusion.

Although it was a reflexive laugh, he was inwardly flustered.

"This place should have been hidden in utmost secrecy, not somewhere that could be found even if someone leaked the information."

Yet, intruders had appeared.

This meant that among them was someone with exceptional insight into mechanical engineering, similar to himself.

"Oh ho ho. This is truly interesting. To think there would be someone else who could find such a place besides me. Or perhaps it's not even human?"

Victor stroked his beard once and glanced behind him.

"Right now, I'm sending out the prepared test subjects, but from the looks of it, I don't think they'll hold out for long."

The test subjects were created to attack enemies from within.

Considerable time had passed since they left to block the intruders, but the external alarm showed no signs of stopping.

In other words, the test subjects had failed to eliminate the intruders.

As if to confirm this suspicion, a series of 'thump, thump' sounds could be heard from afar.

Eventually, with a crushing sound, the corridor partition of the secret laboratory was destroyed.

The opponent knew where he was and was coming for him.

"It's truly a shame. If only I had that thing I was making with Nikolai, it wouldn't have come to this."

Even thinking about it again, he regretted the divine machine device that Nikolai had failed to complete properly.

If it had been him, he could have made it more splendidly, much more successfully.

But there was no need to dwell on what had already passed.

Victor had many things he was creating and still needed to create.

"Since it's come to this, I should face the intruder."

-Bang!

The door to the laboratory where Victor resided was smashed.

What entered with clanking footsteps was a massive steel robot.

"Hooh."

As the smoke cleared and the figure was fully revealed, Victor felt admiration and curiosity rather than surprise at its imposing presence.

"Impressive. Don't tell me you made this using those metal scraps piled outside?"

"Are you Victor Dreadful? You look exactly like someone who would experiment on people."

"Oh ho ho. This is surprising. To think the one who detected my whereabouts was a dwarf girl."

Sheridan was riding atop the robot.

More precisely, she was wearing it like a suit.

'It's similar to that Magia Giant they were making at Isla Machina.'

The Magia Giant, which combined the advantages of a steam golem and a powered suit.

What Sheridan was wearing was exactly like that.

The only difference was that it had been slightly modified from the design of the Magia Giant for mages to better suit a dwarf like herself.

But considering that the components of that powered suit were made from materials scattered near the entrance, the assembly skill that Sheridan demonstrated was worthy of being called the pinnacle of the world.

'But how? It's not something you can make just by fitting parts together.'

One could create something resembling a powered suit in form.

But for it to actually move and output high power was an entirely different matter.

Victor's gaze turned toward the center of the powered suit and the strange power that glowed faintly from within.

"What exactly is that?"

"What is?"

"You're using an unusual core. It's not a magical stone, but feels a bit different. Hmm. So you made such a suit on the spot using the special properties of that core..."

Victor quickly realized what the cube-shaped core embedded in the center of the suit was.

"Oh ho ho! I see. I thought it looked familiar, it's similar to that person's!"

A man from Victor's memory came to mind: First Order Leslie.

The magnetic core, which could be called the crystallization of the metal magic he used, looked exactly like that.

"It looks much better than Leslie's, so I suppose a more skilled mage made it for you?"

"Well. Rather than admiring it now, shouldn't you be more concerned about your life?"

Sheridan couldn't help but be surprised at Victor's insight despite her sarcastic response.

She hadn't expected him to recognize it at a glance.

Indeed, the core of the massive suit Sheridan was riding wasn't a magic stone, but a magnetic core.

The powerful metal cube created by Rudger.

Through it, she had combined discarded metals to create a machine in the form she wanted.

Sheridan's suit wasn't just imitating the appearance; it boasted tremendous output and power.

"Oh ho ho. I see. Well, I don't intend to just take this lying down. Let me show you something magnificent as well."

Brass-colored liquid began to squirm and move around Victor.

With a smooth surface resembling melted metal, it moved this way and that before rising up behind Victor in the form of a mass.

It was a Liquid Golem, a product of the science Victor had created.

Science versus science. Engineering versus engineering.

Two people standing at the apex of talent collided.

"So we need to go inside here."

This was the real passage connecting to the inside of the fortress.

The final barrier that no other Holy Emperor bloodline could open.

Naturally, the condition to open the door was to resonate with the power of the god.

And currently, only Rudger was capable of doing so.

"Sealing formula 1st stage release."

A small hole appeared above Rudger's head.

It was a hole similar to what had appeared before, but this time it was too small.

Just big enough for a person's finger to barely fit through. Naturally, such a small opening wasn't even detected by the gods' senses.

But it was enough for the god's power flowing from beyond to cross over.

Rudger placed his palm on the stone door.

The moment the god's power permeated the inside through the stone door.

-Drrrrr.

The circular stone door rolled sideways with a rumble and opened.

From the outside, it looked like just an ordinary stone door, but the appearance revealed inside as it opened was completely different.

"It looks like a well-maintained temple."

Surna whistled as he saw the interior landscape.

It resembled a temple that had disappeared long ago.

Thanks to the moss and plants on the ceiling emitting a soft sky-blue light, there was sufficient illumination.

Rudger and Surna headed toward the center of the temple.

The two had finally arrived at the heart of the Bretus Holy Nation where no one had ever entered until now but this wasn't the end.

More precisely, it was just the beginning.

"Heathcliff. You've been traveling around the continent looking for something."

Rudger silently turned to look at Surna.

"And the fact that you've come this far means you've finally gathered everything. The Relics scattered all over this world."

"Yes. You wouldn't be unaware of it either. Since you saw them gathered once 500 years ago."

Surna nodded in acknowledgment.

"That's right. Because back then, it shouldn't have happened."

"You seem to know what these Relics actually mean."

Rudger said that as he took pieces of the Relic out of his pocket.

The total number of pieces gathered was 7.

If brought together, they would form a small disc-shaped Relic. Surna spoke with a voice filled with emotion upon seeing it.

"You, who gathered this, would also know who created this Relic."

"The gods made it."

"Yes. The Relic was an item created by the gods. To them, it was like a kind of toy. But the Relic you possess is different. It was created by the combined power of several gods. That means, in that one, the power of the gods resides simultaneously."

"Unlike other Relics, it was created with a different purpose from the beginning."

Rudger's gaze turned to Surna.

"And you know the true use of this Relic."

"Right. You who gathered it would vaguely know too, wouldn't you? What the purpose of that Relic is."

"A key to break the cage."

"Breaking the cage, huh. Looking at what Lumensis is doing now, it fits perfectly."

Surna said as he looked around the underground temple.

"Aren't you curious why such a precise mechanical device is hidden inside the Bretus Holy Nation, which has no deep knowledge of machines or science?"

"I've been curious for a while. Why does such a space exist under the fortress."

"This place existed before the Holy Nation was formed. And the inner city of Galahad was also built for such a purpose."

I see.

Wondering who created this place, the answer came easily.

"Before the Bretus Holy Nation, in the distant past, the gods created it."

"Yes. Especially, a god who had deep knowledge in creating things paid a lot of attention. They prayed that no misfortune would occur in this land they created together."

"Misfortune, huh."

"For instance, if one god monopolized all authority and manipulated the world as they pleased."

This place was a provision for that.

A provision to prevent any evil being in the distant future from trying to shape this world as they pleased with omnipotent power.

"This place is essentially an altar. And what needs to be placed on that altar is the Relic you possess."

"Lumensis, who already knew this fact, deliberately built the Bretus Holy Nation above this altar to prevent any accident."

The darkest place is under the lantern, as they say.

Who would have even imagined that beneath the Holy Nation, there would be an altar that could bring down the Holy Nation?

"Was this why you interfered with Plante and the Ancient Kingdom's affairs 500 years ago?"

"Yes. The method of using the life force of the World Tree was praiseworthy, but it's not enough. After all, the Relic you possess was originally an item meant to be used right here."

"Why didn't you gather this yourself?"

Rudger was curious about that.

If he knew the importance of this Relic, Surna should have collected it himself and possessed it.

"I told you. Only a permitted person can use this item. And I, despite appearances, am not human."

"You could have had someone else do it."

"Someone else? Who exactly would I trust to entrust this to?"

Surna let out a self-deprecating smile.

"If I had possessed it, this Relic wouldn't have found its owner. Veiled by darkness like me, it wouldn't have returned to its original owner."

"Are you saying I'm the original owner?"

"Since you've come this far."

There was certainty in that voice.

"When you first came into contact with this fragment, didn't some kind of reaction occur?"

"..."

Rudger slightly flinched at Surna's words.

The reaction when he first touched the fragment.

Even though it was more than 20 years ago, he couldn't forget it.

A dry well. A damp and chilly place where light barely entered.

Back then, waiting only for his death in that place, he had discovered a fragment that sparkled in a faint light.

The moment he grasped it as if bewitched Rudger had witnessed the 'miracle' the fragment bestowed upon him with his own eyes.

"From your reaction, there seems to have been something. What exactly did you see?"

"What I must reclaim."

"What's that?"

It wasn't a precise answer, but Surna decided to be satisfied with the fact that Rudger wasn't completely concealing it.

"I believed that the Relic would eventually find its rightful owner. So I tried not to touch it."

"It might have fallen into Bretus' hands, no?"

"Yes. It actually did. The fragment you first acquired must have been obtained from here. But look at it now."

Surna spread his arms wide.

"Everything has been made to flow correctly. That's what this world is. Not a prison confining possibilities, but a place where one can freely unfold a better future."

"For a demon, you speak quite hopefully."

"Rather, it's you humans who are too harsh. People of old were all full of romance."

"I can't deny that."

Thinking about the methods people of ancient times attempted to learn magic, it was exactly like that.

They unhesitatingly did things that seemed idiotic.

In their purpose, there must have been passion and romance to achieve something.

"Lumensis is trying to fix this world in its most beautiful form as he remembers it. That was the purpose of the order and its believers. But the moment those believers failed to overcome their desires and chose their own paths, Lumensis made a decision."

"Since there's no one to trust, he thinks of directly intervening in the mortal realm."

"Yes. A vessel to contain his power and personality, that's you Heathcliff."

Surna walked to the center of the altar with a slight smile and raised his head.

The look in his eyes as he gazed at the soft light pouring from the luminous moss attached to the ceiling was somewhat distant.

"But before that, Lumensis was deeply shocked by the betrayal of someone he trusted. It was partly his own karma."

"Saint Arkenis..."

"Lumensis' apostles have been humans from the beginning. Perhaps that's why they had two types of authority."

One was the authority of brainwashing used by Salesin.

The other was the Saint [Judgment Eye].

More precisely, it was the authority of [Future Sight].

"The girl who saw the future rejected Lumensis' will, and things happened when she didn't kill the demon who was opposing her."

As Surna spoke, the scenes of the old past were projected in his eyes.