I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 715: The Will to Unite (3)

"Hmm?"

Salesin let out a sound involuntarily at an unfamiliar sensation.

The identity of that sensation was none other than a sense of crisis.

Crisis? Could there be a situation where he would feel a crisis?

Salesin's gaze naturally turned toward Rudger.

From the figure holding out his wounded palm toward this direction, Salesin felt a strange feeling.

He hadn't used magic, nor was he struggling desperately to open the blocked heaven’s gate.

He had simply wounded his hand and sprinkled blood into the air.

That was all, yet Salesin felt that something was wrong.

At least the Rudger he knew was never someone who would perform such meaningless actions.

There was always a fitting reason for every action.

'Something is coming.'

The moment Salesin finished preparing by further strengthening the divine power wrapped around his body.

A massive heat source was felt from beyond.

What pierced through the dark clouds and penetrated Galahad Castle was red lightning.

-Kwarrrrung!

Because it flew faster than sound, the ear-splitting noise rang out belatedly only after the red lightning struck.

At that spectacle, Clinton's eyes widened.

That red lightning appeared to be a simple strike at first glance, but within it were magical elements so intricate and complex that even he, a 7th-tier mage, could hardly estimate the spells bundled together.

Moreover, the origin of the magic was at an immeasurable distance.

The fact that it couldn't be detected even with his excellent mana detection ability meant it must have flown from at least outside the island.

'This is...8th-tier magic? Was she alive?'

A smile of joy formed on Clinton's lips.

Not only had he witnessed legendary magic with his own eyes, but the fact that the being he so respected was still alive made his heart race.

Just as Clinton, a 7th-tier mage, recognized the magical aesthetics imbued in the blood lightning, the 6th-tier mages also gleaned something.

"Wow, crazy..."

"This is... magic? What the hell..."

Caroline and Elisa couldn't close their mouths, their faces showing astonishment beyond admiration.

Sedina, Casey, and Marias were the same.

Even to the colour mages, this magic felt like the very essence of magic that they couldn't even dare to attempt to imitate.

Its power went without saying.

Nothing remained where the red lightning had struck and passed.

The collaborative magic of Sedina and Casey that had been binding Salesin also disappeared without a trace.

Red flashes that numbered in the hundreds per second flickered painfully bright.

The noise of the lightning alone made the atmosphere ring, and the entire space vibrated thunderously.

There wasn't even a smell of something burning.

In the face of overwhelming firepower, even odors completely disappeared, leaving nothing behind.

It was truly magic that created a level of void space.

However, surprisingly, even within such transcendent magic, Salesin did not die and remained alive.

"This was honestly dangerous."

For the first time, the smile had disappeared from Salesin's face.

Salesin, who had remained unscathed in any attack as if existing in another dimension, had taken proper damage for the first time.

The robe on his right arm had been completely burned away by the lightning, and his completely exposed right hand was also full of burns and small wounds.

Even he, who could recover from most wounds, found Grandel's magic effective enough that he couldn't easily recover.

"Right. The pure-blood vampire remained. I thought she had become an empty shell who could do nothing after suffering damage to her soul, but to think she had left such a trump card."

If he hadn't felt something amiss from Rudger's actions and prepared for the shock, he would have suffered more serious damage.

But Salesin did not die.

Though he had suffered a major wound on his right arm, this much would naturally recover over time.

"On the other hand, you've used up your most important card here. Since you couldn't finish me with that, what do you plan to do now?"

Salesin asked Rudger with a smirk.

Everyone held their breath and watched Rudger's reaction.

Rudger stood quietly in place, staring blankly at Salesin.

It would have been better if he had said even a word, but his reaction was as if he had become a statue.

The one who felt a faint sense of unease at this sight was none other than Clinton, whose magical tier was the highest in this place.

"Are you right now...?"

Clinton realized that Rudger wasn't glaring at Salesin.

While it was true they were looking in the same direction, what Rudger was seeing was something entirely different.

He was now tracking the remnants of mana with his eyes.

Only then did Clinton realize that mana still remained clearly, though faintly, around Salesin.

'No matter how powerful the magic, for the remnants to be this thick and last this long?'

Something was strange.

The next to notice the anomaly were the colour mages, who saw the world with different eyes than others.

In their eyes, the traces of mana carved in the air after Grandel's use appeared like an instruction manual kindly left for someone.

More precisely, it was the blueprint that composed this magic.

How to use it and how to deploy it.

The kindness of the magic's user was so thickly imbued that it could be felt.

'A blueprint.'

Casey didn't deny the example that came to mind involuntarily, but she couldn't help but feel puzzled.

That was 8th-tier magic.

No matter how kindly it was taught, there was no way they could follow it.

If everyone in the world could implement magic just because it was taught to them, only grand mages would remain in this world.

In the end, talent was important.

Particularly, those with the talent to reach the realm of grand mages were realistically few enough to count on one hand even across the entire continent.

But Casey Selmore suddenly thought of a man.

Wasn't there one?

A man with immeasurable talent that couldn't be estimated.

One who had crossed countless lines of death and trained to the extreme, growing to unfathomable depths.

Everyone's gaze turned toward Rudger.

-Whoosh.

Shadows rose from Rudger's body like flames.

The shadows that instantly devoured from his toes to his shoulders eventually gathered on his outstretched right arm.

-Tsssssss.

Even for Rudger, this case was different, as his palm began to burn.

However, Rudger did not stop.

Neither composing the spell, nor weaving and rearranging mana, nor endlessly overworking his brain.

Perhaps because he had fitted together hundreds of complex blueprints and circuits in his head through mental calculation alone, he tasted the metallic flavor of blood at the corner of his mouth.

Yet Rudger did not stop.

It was a terrible process where his mind seemed ready to split and his head to become mush.

Still, without giving up and continuing forward, he finally completed it.

Seeing this spectacle, Salesin's eyes widened.

"That's impossible."

This was Salesin's reaction upon seeing the mass of black flames formed in Rudger's right hand.

"To use magic that transcends one's own tier. That's realistically impossible."

"Did you forget what kind of magic I use?"

Rudger flashed a bloody smile at Salesin.

"Even I find it difficult to compose this through spells alone in the orthodox way. So I added a bit of an expedient. I mixed in a little ancient magic performed through faith, conviction, and miracles alone."

If Rudger's magic was one giant puzzle, his magic would have been a shoddy form with missing pieces in several places.

He had simply filled those lacking parts with expedients.

But that didn't mean the 8th-tier magic lost its luster.

Even if made through expedients, 8th-tier was still 8th-tier.

"This...!"

Salesin tried to draw a sword of light in his right hand and swing it.

However, immediately after, the stinging pain felt in his hand belatedly reminded him of his wound.

'That vampire!'

Could it be that he was aiming for this situation in the midst of all that?

Salesin's arrogance as an absolute being, thinking he would never be wounded, had caught him by the ankle at this moment.

That subtle reaction delay gave Rudger the opportunity to use his magic.

"Let's see you take this too."

8th-tier original magic [Dark Lightning]

Black lightning engulfed Salesin.

The dark lightning that cut through the sky extended beyond the clouds and echoed throughout all of Bretus.

The soldiers who had been maintaining equipment on the coast after the seawater receded watched the spectacle with astonished expressions.

Following the red lightning, now black lightning had struck.

They couldn't imagine what was happening in that Galahad Castle.

Even if they returned to their homeland and reported this fact as it was, people probably wouldn't believe them.

"What on earth is happening up there?"

Queen Yekaterina, who had participated in the holy war under the pretext of supporting the allied forces, muttered while looking up at Galahad Castle.

She didn't know what was happening.

However, she could tell that man was inside there.

'I don't think you're the demon lord. There must have been some circumstances.'

Yekaterina was in a sound state, not brainwashed.

While the leaders of various nations seemed to have been brainwashed, some including Yekaterina were not.

This was thanks to the priests.

Salesin had sent priests to use the power of brainwashing, but the priests didn't listen to those words and only pretended to cast brainwashing.

The priests couldn't refuse Salesin's orders, but they could move according to their personal judgment if it was an order from a corresponding authority.

And naturally, it was Catherine who had instructed the priests to only pretend to cast brainwashing.

It wasn't that they didn't cast brainwashing completely, but they cleverly followed Salesin's orders by only pretending to cast it very weakly.

Thanks to this, Yekaterina could take to the battlefield like this after hearing all the facts.

'Nothing will change just because I'm anxious like this.'

Her role was to spread a defense line here and prevent the allied forces from advancing.

The hordes of Cryptids that had been overflowing also began to decrease in number at some point, and soon became invisible.

Therefore, there was nothing left for those remaining to do, and they could only wait while offering earnest prayers.

In fact, several soldiers were kneeling in place and offering prayers.

Yekaterina looked at them with pitying eyes.

Did they really know?

That the one they so revered and served actually regarded everyone except himself as insects and desired to dominate them.

'Please win.'

So she too would pray.

For that man who must be continuing his fierce battle more than anyone.

May only peace remain on the path ahead.

The magic Rudger deployed created great aftermath.

A hole so large that the scenery outside could be seen beyond the cavity had been pierced.

-Thud.

Salesin's burnt right arm that had remained in the air fell powerlessly to the floor.

Though Grandel's magic had only injured his right arm from, this time everything had disappeared leaving only the right arm.

Though Salesin had transcended the laws of the world, 8th-tier was also magic that transcended laws and logic.

It was sufficient to become a sharp spear that could reach his heart.

"Huff. Haa."

Rudger breathed roughly.

Cold sweat flowed down his entire body. To use a single magic, he truly had to exert all his strength.

Though it was such a painful process that he wondered if it was really okay to do this, seeing the result was quite satisfying.

"Heh, heheh. To think I'd see 8th-tier magic this close in my lifetime."

Clinton let out a hollow laugh.

"Should I call you Grand Mage now?"

"It's burdensome, so please just call me normally."

Rudger said while catching his breath.

Looking at his palm, there was a severe burn. It was a wound that occurred from not completely controlling the dark lightning, but even this was welcome in the current situation.

Since the meridian to the next realm had been opened, it was a natural reaction.

"Finally, have we won?"

"My goodness. I still can't believe it."

Even the survivors reacted as if they couldn't distinguish whether this was a dream or reality.

Still, it was when they were feeling relieved that it was all over now.

Rudger narrowed his eyes at the strange sensation that pierced his mind.

'What is it?'

Anxiety rushing in like a tsunami pressed him.

Since Salesin had fallen, there shouldn't be anything left to worry about, so why?

Rudger's gaze turned toward Salesin's right arm, which had fallen on the floor.

And that arm wriggling as if alive and then pointing its finger toward them happened almost simultaneously.

"Everyone dodge!"

No sooner had Rudger's warning fallen than massive light erupted from Salesin's right arm.