I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 714: The Will to Unite (2)

"Hmm. But this is quite strange. According to my plan, those two should have been dominated by my authority."

Salesin looked back and forth between Clinton and Luther.

A gentle smile still lingered on his face, but his red eyes were as cold as could be.

"It's a sad thing. I believed that if it were Prince Ivelon, he would gladly become a companion in the new world I'll create. Unfortunately, it seems I'll have to destroy the Exilion Empire with my own hands."

"Do you think we'll just stand by and watch that happen?"

"This has nothing to do with your will. If I say I'll do it, then that's what will happen."

To speak so casually about destroying a nation - he was arrogant to a sickening degree.

But Salesin had the power to make his words reality.

"Well, I'll just elevate some bureaucrat who listens to me well enough to royalty and create a new nation. Just like 500 years ago."

Salesin spoke of erasing a nation as lightly as clearing stones scattered on a roadside.

The expressions of Luther and Clinton hardened.

For those two, who were more loyal to the Empire than anyone else, Salesin had blatantly touched their reverse scale.

"If you don't like that, you'll have to do your best to defeat me. Though I don't think that's possible."

Salesin's words weren't directed only at Luther and Clinton.

The Selmore sisters, Surna, Alex, and Helia too.

It was tantamount to a declaration to everyone gathered here.

That if they couldn't defeat him here, they would all die.

People with their own beliefs and goals rushed toward Salesin, and the battle began anew.

Clinton unleashed countless spells, obscuring Salesin's vision.

He truly possessed tremendous magical skill befitting a 7th-tier Grand Mage. Each spell he used was lethally powerful.

What was even more remarkable was the delicacy with which he controlled mana itself.

Even within the storm of various elements that filled their vision, Luther, Alex, and Surna were completely unaffected as they reached Salesin.

This was proof that Clinton's magical control had truly reached its limits.

Taking advantage of the moment when their vision was obscured by magic, Surna, Luther, and Alex's swords each aimed for Salesin's vital points.

However, Salesin had already noticed their approach.

By swinging the sword of light in his hand widely, he knocked all three swordsmen away at once.

No, it seemed like he did that.

"Huh?"

The sensation he felt through the sword of light wasn't very satisfying.

Salesin could understand the reason.

It was because the three who should have been slammed into the cavern wall stayed only slightly pushed back.

"You deflected my sword in that situation?"

Not just one, but three of them.

While Surna could be said to have adapted to the sword of light due to her authority, Luther and Alex were completely unexpected.

No, Luther could do that. He was the continent's greatest swordsman and the strongest knight among current humanity.

But Alex was unexpected.

A young man who hadn't lived even half as long as Luther had deflected his sword of light.

This was the sword of light that could face even 7th-tier magic head-on.

Its power was stronger than a bare-handed human fighting against a tsunami.

It should be the natural order that an ant, no matter how hard it tries, cannot block an elephant's footstep, yet Alex looked fine with only minor injuries.

"Swordsmanship that transcends logic. Truly worthy of being called a prodigy of nothingness."

Come to think of it, among the swordsmanship Alex used was Tempest, Luther's secret sword technique.

Since Luther wouldn't have taught it directly, it meant he had mastered it on his own.

This was an absurd talent that matched Surna's authority.

"You're somewhat tempting."

Salesin's gaze turned toward Alex.

"I was just thinking I needed retainers befitting the new world. The previous Holy Knight Commanders who followed me all died because they were too weak. I need someone to fill that empty position. You seem to have sufficient qualifications - how about it?"

"Sorry, but I don't accept love calls from men."

Alex said, spitting out the blood that had pooled at the corner of his mouth.

"For someone who says that, you seem to follow my youngest sibling well."

"That's different. Leader and I are bound by romance. But I don't feel anything like that from you."

"Is that so? That's unfortunate."

Salesin said with a bright smile.

"Well, if I knead your brain a bit with my authority, you'll listen well."

The sword of light moved.

The sword of light swung toward Alex traced a perfectly straight trajectory.

Alex raised Copy Cat, trying to deflect the sword of light as much as possible.

The light trajectory that had been straight bent slightly but still swept elsewhere.

He had succeeded in deflecting the sword of light once again.

However, Alex had to use all his strength just for this, while for Salesin, this was merely light harassment.

Salesin swung the sword of light again.

There was no way Alex, whose stance had collapsed, could block this.

That's when someone stepped in front of Alex and blocked the sword of light in his place.

It was none other than Luther Wardot.

"Put strength firmly in your legs, young man. For a knight, the lower body is life."

Luther, who faced the sword of light with his sword that compressed swirling aura to its limits, threw advice toward Alex.

"Commander Uncle!"

Alex's eyes widened as if he hadn't expected Luther to save him.

What was more surprising was the blood flowing from Luther' s lips.

Even Luther couldn't completely deflect Salesin's attack, having sustained considerable internal injuries.

"Young man. Focus. Don't take your eyes off our enemy."

"...Thank you. I won't forget this debt."

"And you can see it with your eyes, can't you? That intense power surrounding the Holy Emperor's body."

Alex nodded silently.

"No matter how many times I reconsider, it's regrettable. That such talent couldn't bloom in the Empire."

"It did bloom in the Empire. Just not in the light, but in the shadows."

"When we return to the Empire, I'll have to catch those people from the cadet training center like rats. I'll either find out exactly how much they've been corrupt or completely overturn everything."

"Uncle. That's a story for when we safely return."

It's coming.

The two split left and right without either taking the lead.

The trajectory created by the sword of light swept through the gap they left.

Salesin rolled his eyes to find Alex, but there were those who wouldn't just stand by and watch.

"Aren't you ignoring me too much?"

Clinton said while preparing his next spell.

Salesin answered with a smile.

"Not at all. You're quite attention-grabbing for a bug, so you don't need to be too discouraged."

"Hehe. Those are generous words indeed. But what if you get stung by a bug while being so careless?"

"Is that possible?"

"Making that possible is what beings called mages do."

Salesin reached his hand toward Clinton.

An invisible, formless energy swept over Clinton's body.

"Kheup!"

Clinton's body bent forward.

It was because Salesin's authority had greatly shaken his brain.

"I have no intention of going easy on you because you're old."

Just as he was about to dominate Clinton's mind and make him self-destruct, Clinton lightly tapped his temple with his index finger.

His trembling body returned to its original state, and Clinton gazed at Salesin with a much calmer look.

"Hmm. As expected, this power called authority is very troublesome."

"What did you just do?"

The authority should have worked properly, but Clinton had overcome the brainwashing with his own power.

"Well, it's nothing special. I just flowed mana into my brain and temporarily twisted the brain's structure to block the brainwashing."

Though he spoke lightly, it was by no means a simple task.

If done wrong, it was dangerous enough that he could have lived as an idiot for life.

Just from the fact that he had executed such a dangerous method on himself so casually, one could see that Clinton hadn't achieved 7th-tier for nothing.

Blood flowed from Clinton's nose.

"Hmm. It seems there are such side effects. I must have gotten too old."

Clinton clicked his tongue.

"So I'll have to get some help from the young people."

A pink magic circle appeared above Salesin's head.

A dark red magic circle was generated beneath his feet.

"This is..."

How could he not notice such massive mana condensing?

Salesin realized that Clinton had intentionally drawn attention for this from the beginning.

The pink and dark red magic circles connected to each other, presenting tremendous pressure from Salesin who was caught between them.

It was magic made of pure mana that was merely strong.

But it was also the manifestation of overwhelming physical force that would crush the opponent to death with high-density mana.

It was magic that Elisa and Caroline had cast by joining hands for the first time.

Pressure that would compress even a knight with a superhuman body into a single finger joint the moment they entered.

However, Salesin was only slightly surprised but perfectly fine.

No, he was even calm about it.

"Did you forget? Even the Wind Elemental Lord couldn't do anything to me. You can't even scratch me with such a simple attack."

Even raising atmospheric pressure to tens of millions of times normal, Salesin was unaffected.

Such mere physical attacks didn't apply to Salesin, who had escaped from the laws of this cage.

"Wow, look at that. Does he look fine to you?"

"If you have time to mutter like that, contribute more mana."

Caroline marveled at Salesin's appearance, while Elisa frowned and scolded Caroline.

Salesin manifested light to escape from this binding magic.

Just by showing his will to escape, Caroline and Elisa's mana was greatly shaken and cracks appeared in the magic circle.

Clinton immediately flowed his mana into the magic circle to reinforce the breaking magic circle.

But that was merely a stopgap measure to buy a little time.

The magic circle shattered into pieces and mana scattered in all directions. Clinton, Caroline, and Elisa were pushed back by the impact of the explosion.

It was then that water poured down like a waterfall from the sky.

Casey Selmore sprayed water, covering Salesin's entire body.

"This again?"

Just as Salesin was about to ask if she wasn't tired of it, a large tree began to sprout from beneath his feet with a creaking sound.

The tree transformed like a basin, catching both Salesin and the pouring water.

Salesin tried to escape from within it, but it wasn't as easy as he thought.

This wasn't an ordinary tree. The water Casey handled also contained tremendous mana, and this tree was the same.

It was magic used by a mage of the same colour as Casey Selmore.

Green liquid began to mix with the water trapped in the basin made of wood.

-Tsssss.

The water dyed green produced pure white smoke just by touching the air.

It was a deadly poison that caused intense chemical reactions just by contact with oxygen.

The dissolving acid that would melt even glass seemed like it would dissolve anything it contained, but even that didn't work on Salesin.

"Is there perhaps a way?"

Clinton asked Rudger, who had just landed beside him.

"I have thought of several possibilities in my head."

"What are the odds?"

"Extremely low."

"How about showing that power you used back then?"

"If I use that, I won't be able to handle the aftermath. Besides, that bastard won't just leave it alone. Buy me some time."

"It's too harsh to work an old man."

However, Clinton didn't particularly object to Rudger's words.

"Let's talk after this is over."

Elisa looked at Rudger with a complicated expression, left those words, and moved with Caroline.

Rudger chuckled at those words. Well, that was natural - it was uncertain whether there would be a "later."

'Creating that will be our capability.'

Rudger took out his sword stick and swept it across his palm.

Red blood beaded on the wound carved into his palm.

"It's shameless to ask for help after coming this far, but I still ask you."

Rudger threw the blood grasped in his hand into the air with all his might.

Leathervelk's safe house.

There, a doll-like girl was sleeping as quietly as death.

From her pale skin to her beautiful blonde hair, if her chest wasn't rising and falling ever so slightly, one might mistake her for a corpse or a doll.

There were no signs before she opened her eyes.

Grandel slowly raised her upper body.

Her long blonde hair flowed down softly like a curtain.

Having sustained damage to her soul, Grandel was still in a state where she needed to focus on recovery.

Though she had opened her eyes like this, she was in a dreamy state like someone who had just woken up.

Her vision was jumbled and her memories were confused.

She couldn't distinguish whether she was sleeping or awake.

But even in such complex circumstances, there was one sensation Grandel clearly felt.

It was the distinct scent of her disciple's blood at the tip of her nose.

This was a kind of characteristic that only a True Blood vampire could feel.

And Grandel could feel her disciple's emotions from the scent of blood.

That child was hoping for her help.

With her hazy mind, Grandel raised her finger toward the window.

More precisely, toward the direction beyond it where Rudger's blood scent was coming from.

There was only one magic she could cast in her current state.

After this magic, she would probably have to fall into a long sleep again for recovery but that was fine as long as she could help that child.

"This is the last test I'm giving."

Grander cast the magic with a faint smile.

[Blood Thunder]

A red flash crossed the night sky of Leathervelk, dyed in darkness.