I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 684: Faith Penetrating (1)

Terina's expression hardened.

It was clearly the same posture, the same power with which she had swung her sword.

She had done it that way, and Alex had followed suit exactly as if looking into a mirror, so it must have been the same.

But the results were not the same.

'I was pushed back?'

Was it because Alex was a man and she was a woman, so this happened due to the difference in physical conditions?

That wasn't it.

Knights, regardless of gender, already possessed physical abilities that transcended the realm of ordinary people.

Among them, Master-level knights, especially Terina who used this heavy and large zweihander, had strength far greater than others.

In contrast, Alex was more inclined toward technique rather than strength.

A head-on confrontation between the two should have been a hundred percent in Terina's favor.

It definitely should have been that way.

'To push me back with my own swordsmanship?'

Terina felt a strange sensation that couldn't be expressed in words.

'Commander Luther.'

Why was she suddenly reminded of that time?

The day when Luthers gathered her, Pasius, Johann, and Leonhart for a match.

At that time, Luther had been looking at the other commanders with a consistently dissatisfied expression.

In the end, he seemed somewhat satisfied and stepped back, but there was an unavoidable compromise and concession within him.

Why was that?

Terina recalled the information that Luther had visited Leathervelk before that.

Leathervelk. Royal Street. Oliver Twist. And Alex who worked under him.

"So that's it."

That day, Luther had only been observing the seed of a talent that hadn't existed until now.

"It was you."

Terina seemed to understand what Luther had thought when he faced Alex that day.

The moment he saw a seed that might grow into something unknown, he must have had many concerns.

Should he crush it now?

Or should he help nurture it?

'An unparalleled genius with an environment that can only harbor resentment toward the Empire. Someone who would inevitably become a threat to the Empire in the future, but at the same time, as a fellow knight, he would be curious to see how far his talent could go.'

And she could also guess what choice Luther had made.

Luther Wardot was not a man who made decisions according to his own thoughts.

Instead, he throws a question at the other person and then he watches to judge whether they are worthy or not.

And the fact that Alex was not only alive and well but also using the Tempest that Luthers used meant:

He had passed the trial set by Luthers and won his approval.

'In the end, a monster has been born.'

But there wasn't just one such monster.

On the opposite side of the First Gate City.

At a considerable distance from here, she caught sight of a blue stream-like aura and a simultaneously chilling cold aura surging in the corner of her vision.

Johann Oceans and Leonhart Kimbell were fighting with all their might.

Yet the fact that no victor had emerged and the fight continued suggested that their opponents were not to be taken lightly either.

But now wasn't the time to worry about them.

Alex, who had not only taken her swordsmanship but also demonstrated greater strength than her own, approached her like a fire fallen on her foot.

"You don't look happy. Is that how the Protector of the Empire should be?"

Alex sneered at Terina's hardened expression.

Terina tried her best to collect her emotions, but it wasn't easy.

Even Terina, who maintained her cool and analyzed situations rationally even in the most terrible incidents, found it difficult to maintain her composure.

It couldn't be helped.

The fact that she was pushed back meant that Alex had the upper hand in terms of technical mastery.

Not only had the opponent in front of her perfectly replicated the swordsmanship she had honed and polished for a long time in just one day, but he had also used it better.

This was a huge psychological blow.

Especially for Terina, who was a Master-level knight, the impact was even greater.

The effort she had put in to reach this position was more than others, and her talent was exceptional, so she rarely encountered such walls.

If it had been her before meeting Luther Wardot she might have broken down mentally and lost the will to fight.

"Shut up. Demon Lord's lackey."

What did it matter if he had perfected the swordsmanship better?

That doesn't change what she had to do.

"I will defeat you and go to stop the Demon Lord. That's all."

"Really?"

"What do you mean?"

"If you really intended to defeat me, you should have used any means necessary, not just try to block me by yourself."

Alex's eyes gleamed sharply.

He saw through the truth that Terina had been harboring and hiding subconsciously.

"That old man using swordsmanship in the Second Gate City is the same. He deliberately makes it flashy, but doesn't actually try to end the fight properly. As if he's trying to show off that he's fighting."

"......"

"They say that people fighting in a war each have their own story, but that's a bit different. What are you plotting? No, rather... you don't seem to be under mind control?"

Terina didn't bother answering, but her silence was enough of an answer for Alex.

"I see. So this fight isn't just rolling along according to the Holy Emperor's intentions."

Terina wasn't exactly a complete enemy.

But that didn't make her an ally either.

In other words, defeating her here wouldn't change the situation much.

Alex pondered.

Dragging out this stalemate fight wouldn't be good for him anyway.

While Terina was holding him back, other enemies would cross the First Gate City and reach the fortress.

'The youngest seems to be blocking hard with his friend.'

But they probably wouldn't hold out long against the massive offensive.

This side needed to retire as many enemies as possible to make the situation roll a bit more comfortably.

'Then I have to end this quickly.'

As Alex made up his mind, a chilling killing intent emanated from his body.

Alex's sword, Copy Cat, enveloped in ashy aura, drew in Terina's Giant Killer.

Terina tried to resist, but that attraction wasn't something easily withstood by force.

"What! Don't tell me you're using the swordsmanship without even changing the form?"

"There's no reason to use only your swordsmanship with this sword in the first place."

Giant Killer was merely the optimal form for Terina's swordsmanship, but that didn't mean it couldn't be used for other styles.

Tempest executed with Giant Killer was just like that.

If the original Tempest was a very precise and refined current, the one executed with Giant Killer was a very crude form of storm.

It lacked finesse, but it certainly had power.

Terina, unable to properly maintain her balance, was proof of that.

A massive attraction occurred around Alex, starting to suck in everything around.

"Don't resent me too much. Isn't this what fighting is all about? And don't worry. I'll send your subordinates along nicely too."

Terina tried to stick her Giant Killer into the ground to resist, but she couldn't completely prevent being gradually drawn toward Alex.

"Kugh!"

At this rate, she couldn't avoid being sucked into that vortex.

'If I, the only breakwater, fall, the entire Night Crawler Knight Order will collapse.'

No matter how fierce their joint attack, the current Alex could easily sweep them away.

'I need to explode my aura here to create distance.'

Excessive use of aura would cause internal injuries, but in a situation like this, she had to accept that.

The moment Terina pulled up her Giant Killer.

-Flash!

A pillar of light fell from the sky.

The pillar of light, made of high-density divine power, aimed precisely at the crown of Alex's head at the center of the vortex.

Alex gave up attacking Terina and moved to intercept the pillar of light.

A whirlwind containing ashy aura collided with the pillar, scattering particles of light in all directions.

"Divine power?"

"Who could it be?"

The Night Crawler knights, who hadn't even dared to interfere in this fight, looked around at the sudden appearance of an uninvited guest.

It wasn't someone who suddenly appeared to help, but someone who had been hiding in this place from the beginning.

The identity of the intruder was even more surprising.

"You, you? How did this happen?"

"Caiden. You, light from your body."

"E-Eliza! Since when have you had divine power?"

It was the Night Crawler Knight Order that was emitting the dazzling divine power.

"What."

Terina was bewildered.

It wasn't all of them, and compared to the total number of the knight order, there were barely 10 of them.

But the fact that they existed was important.

Knights who handled aura, and moreover, security bureau agents who had been active in Night Crawler for a very long time, using divine power.

'Could it be?'

An anxious thought flashed through Terina's mind.

"Hmm. So you showed your true colors when the commander was in danger. I guess you've been watching the situation from the beginning."

Alex rather muttered as if he had expected this.

Terina bit her lip. She had thought there might be brainwashed people within the security bureau, but this was completely unexpected.

'Not just brainwashing the mind but also granting divine power?'

No, it wasn't granting. It was a bit different from that.

The members using the sacred technique now had cloudy eyes with not a trace of reason showing.

"Is it controlling them remotely and using them like limbs? Some kind of puppet."

"How can you know that?"

"Because I can see it."

Alex's eyes, already properly awakened, were seeing something like faint threads connected beyond that divine power.

"The Church is really vicious. To think they'd use the Night Crawler as chess pieces like this. Ah, judging by your reaction, you didn't know?"

"......"

"Seems like you were somewhat aware. Just didn't know it would go this far."

Having stated the correct answer, Alex snickered once and then swung his sword wide toward Terina.

Terina blocked reflexively, and her body flew back considerably.

Immediately regaining her posture and landing, she realized that Alex's attack was different from usual.

'Did he deliberately knock me far away?'

Meanwhile, 10 Night Crawler knights stepped forward as if to surround Alex.

Knights handling golden divine power over black uniforms.

Shining rings above their heads strongly asserted their presence.

"I never expected it to turn out like this from the start. I didn't want this either."

Alex muttered to himself as if lamenting.

He slowly scanned the brainwashed knights.

After Alex's gaze fell on the last knight, time seemed to stop and freeze.

"...Enya."

His former lover.

In the end, they had to part ways, but still remaining in a corner of his heart, the person he loved.

She was now staring at him with an expressionless face, with a ring of light above her head and divine power around her body.

A total of 10 swords, including Enya's, pointed toward Alex and all of them were swords imbued with divine power.

Alex's eyes sank, and bitterness settled in them.

"Perhaps we couldn't avoid fighting from the beginning."

There might have been a way to resolve this nicely through dialogue but even if there was, Alex didn't choose it because now he had other precious comrades.

He couldn't betray his current comrades by getting caught up in old memories.

Did he think he wouldn't meet Enya on this battlefield?

'Not really.'

He had thought that the Night Crawler Knight Order would definitely participate in this holy war.

When the Empire took action, its knight orders would certainly follow.

However, while knowing this, he had still secretly harbored a desire that he wouldn't face her on this battlefield.

The battlefield was vast, and fights broke out everywhere so if they didn't face each other and fought in different places then they wouldn't have to see each other in such circumstances.

"It's all my greed. All my greed."

Alex returned Copy Cat to its original form and took his stance.

His eyes were shining colder than before.

"Now that you've shown your true colors, I'll have to do my best."

At that intense spirit, the brainwashed knights flinched and trembled.

It was because the instinct of their bodies felt fear and reacted reflexively.

"Otherwise, you'll all die."