I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 719: For the Very Last (4)

A strange silence flowed between Arkenis and Rene.

They recognized who each other was at once.

It was almost an instinctual or fateful realm where no ordinary thinking or reasoning was involved at all.

"You are..."

Rene looked at Arkenis and pondered how to address her.

Toward such Rene, Arkenis smiled gently and greeted her.

"Nice to meet you. You must be the owner of this era who inherited my Judgment Eye."

"Uh, I am..."

"You don't need to be so tense and flustered. Rather, did you bring those people over there?"

"Ah, yes. That's right."

After Salesin appeared, Rene immediately used space magic to move the people who were in the spire to the outer areas of the castle.

It was an action taken to prevent them from getting caught up in anything, and as a result, it was the right answer.

Students like Julia wouldn't have been able to retrieve even their bones from the march of destruction created by the others' fighting.

But Rene didn't stop there.

The moment she saw Salesin's power, Rene instinctively knew that they wouldn't be able to defeat him as things were.

She hadn't looked into the future with the Judgment Eye. The moment Salesin interfered, even the Judgment Eye became useless.

An invisible future.

But no matter how positively she tried to view the situation, it wasn't good.

That's why Rene decided to follow her heart.

To receive help from others, Rene used space magic.

And so she brought people one by one.

Hans and Pantos, Pasius, Roina Pavlini, Whiron, and so on.

Thanks to their appearance providing some breathing room, Sedina was able to have time to heal the others.

"Well done."

Arkenis smiled with her eyes toward Rene.

Rene, perhaps embarrassed, couldn't answer immediately and only nodded her head slightly.

"Your name was Rene, right? What do you see in your eyes?"

Rene quickly understood the meaning contained in Arkenis' question.

"I can't see properly. Like thick fog has descended, nothing is clearly visible."

"How does it compare to the beginning? There must have been some kind of change."

"A little, it seems like beyond the fog has become brighter."

"That's exactly it. The actions you took created a brighter future."

"I did?"

Instead of the surprised Rene, Catherine asked.

"But is that even possible? The future changing. Until now, the future seen with the Judgment Eye was always the same."

"That's right. I was the same way. No matter how far into the future I looked, the future was unchanging and fixed. Rather, if I tried to change it, it led to bigger problems."

The future was ultimately a branch that extended in the best possible form.

The moment you tried to change it, you would deviate from the best and head toward second-best to worst forms.

And naturally, there was more evil than good in this world.

"But now it's different. At some point, the future stopped being fixed and began to change. Just like how I couldn't see this future where I would wake up so perfectly fine."

"That means now is..."

"A very important turning point. The inflection point where the fixed future began to change fluidly."

Arkenis said to Rene.

"The reason the future you saw is hazy fog rather than fixed, pitch-black darkness is also for that reason. Depending on what choices we make, the scenery beyond the fog that we arrive at will change. So we must not lose hope now."

There was power in Arkenis' voice.

As if she truly deserved to be called a saint, listening to that voice filled with conviction naturally made one feel courage welling up.

They had to create the future and move forward.

And the only way to do that was to defeat Salesin, who was trying to close off the future.

'Something's strange.'

Salesin thought as he defended against the incoming magic with his vast divine power.

The endless struggling of these bugs was continuously putting him on the defensive.

The fast-footed knights were the most annoying bugs.

If he had to compare them, they'd be like mosquitoes.

-Clang!

Most aura blades couldn't penetrate his skin but not all knights were like that.

-Slash!

A scratch appeared on Salesin's neck.

"Damn, it was shallow."

Alex muttered regretfully. The wound on Salesin's neck healed quickly, but his red eyes sank coldly.

That swordsman is indeed dangerous.

"Where are you looking?"

Then Luther thrust his sword from behind his head.

Salesin raised his hand to block the sword filled with storm. His pure white palm tore and blood flowed.

"Are you still only relying on that divine power? We're not fighting thoughtlessly either."

Before Salesin could say anything, a massive anchor fell vertically.

-Crash!

Salesin raised a sword of light with an annoyed expression and struck upward.

The dark-colored anchor was hit by the sword of light and its direction bent vertically.

At that moment, the anchor chain attached to the anchor moved with a rattling sound and wrapped around Salesin's body.

Pantos brought down a harpoon with both hands over Salesin's brow.

-Crack!

The thick, large anchor chain couldn't withstand Salesin's strength and shattered into pieces.

Pantos, who was caught up in it, was the same.

The moment he tried to eliminate the bothersome beastman, Alex blocked him, and the moment he tried to attack Alex, other knights blocked him.

When he tried to deal with the knights, the mages were the problem. All sorts of magic that confused the five senses made Salesin's mind fierce.

Meanwhile, the knights who had recovered their bodies tried to target his openings again.

'Why won't they fall?'

Salesin's gaze turned toward Sedina.

She used plants to make herbs or recovery powder and scattered them around.

The injuries that Salesin created quickly recovered and they immediately jumped back into the front lines.

It wasn't just Sedina. He could also see Bellaruna combining nearby herbs to make optimal recovery potions.

'Even if they recover like that, they can't restore the mental strength of those who were injured. How exactly?'

The more injuries one sustained, the more mental strength was shaved away, and eventually one would fall into a state of despair.

That was natural, and that's how it should have been.

But look at those fighting now.

When they fell, they got up again, and each time they did so, they desperately tried to bite at Salesin.

They didn't become weak despite experiencing pain.

Rather, they burned their will to a strange degree.

Weren't they afraid of pain?

Even though they might die, why do they keep charging?

They could just bow their heads. They could just submit.

They could grasp wealth and honor incomparable to others, so why exactly?

'Minor injuries won't do. I need to cut off their breath at once.'

But even that wasn't easy.

Especially Selina, who had synchronized with the spirit of darkness, was the problem.

"Help me, Esmeralda."

When Selina extended her hand, the darkness that had been rippling like a mirror behind her stretched like taffy and swallowed Salesin's light.

Surprisingly, that darkness nullified the destructive light that Salesin emitted.

The darkness weakened by that much, but the important fact was that it nullified Salesin's attack without any particular damage.

'That darkness swallows a certain amount of light regardless of how strong my power is.'

Darkness that necessarily swallows a certain amount of light regardless of size was persistent and stubborn as if it were its given destiny.

'I never knew the existence of a spirit that defies logic would be this annoying.'

Impatience gradually began to erode Salesin.

If things continued like this, he would lose his vessel again at the end of a war of attrition.

"Then I'll finish it first before that happens."

When Salesin showed signs of trying to do something, the knights retreated.

It was an excellent judgment.

If they had foolishly tried to block him head-on, they would have been swept up instead.

"But it's useless even so."

Salesin bent his upper body.

Light burst through his skin. As the number increased one by one, Salesin's entire body's skin disappeared and turned into light.

Selina frowned at that tremendous amount of light.

"I, I can't swallow all of this! Everyone take cover!"

Salesin exploded all the power dwelling inside at once.

He didn't care that the vessel containing himself would break from the aftermath.

-Crack!

With the sound of glass breaking, the lights containing fragments of Salesin scattered in all directions.

They couldn't be taken lightly.

Each fragment contained compressed divine power that could easily erase an entire village.

The knights sensed they couldn't block or deflect them and began evasive maneuvers.

The mages gathered together and built up defensive magic to strengthen their defenses.

Selina created mirrors of darkness and surrounded the front.

Just with that, the flying fragments were eaten by the darkness and disappeared.

But there were cases where they couldn't completely avoid them.

Namely, Sedina and Bellaruna.

Salesin deliberately sacrificed one more of his vessels to attempt self-destruction, and among them, he made most of the aftermath head toward where Sedina and Bellaruna were.

From the center where traces of the explosion remained, Salesin, who had quickly regenerated his body, looked toward the direction where Sedina had been.

Seeing that sturdy trees had sprouted nearby, they seemed to have tried to defend, but it was the wrong choice.

This wasn't something that could be blocked by mere trees like that.

Naturally, the trees were either burning or torn to shreds.

'Good.'

However, beyond the fragmented trees, the corpses he wanted weren't visible.

As if Sedina and Bellaruna had never been there in the first place, nothing existed.

"What?"

It was at that moment when Salesin was confused.

-Slash!

His chest was cut diagonally and crumbled with a sliding sound.

The fallen upper body turned into light and quickly returned to its original form as if rewinding but Salesin could tell that he had consumed another vessel because of the attack just now.

Including the self-destruction from earlier, two vessels had been lost in an instant.

"Who the hell is it!"

Salesin glared with burning eyes at the culprit who had sliced his chest.

Those red eyes captured the image of Rene.

Rene was in a stance of having swung her sharpened hand.

Rudger was beside her as well.

Seeing Rene's face, bewildered even after doing this, Salesin's expression twisted.

"...So it was you. Don't tell me that magic just now was spatial cutting?"

No matter how fresh regenerated, this wasn't a body that should be cut so futilely.

The fact that the cross-section was strangely smooth when cut was also like that but if it was spatial cutting, it made perfect sense.

But to think she could handle spatial magic to that extent.

"It seems like rather than precise attacks, the more rough approach suits better. Seeing how cleanly it came back, that is."

Rudger, who had taught Rene the method of spatial cutting from beside her, muttered.

It was a voice loud enough for Salesin to hear, as if to provoke him.

Salesin tried to say something, but frowned at the pain he felt traveling through his chest.

'The aftermath of the attack is still remaining?'

It wasn't phantom pain. Rather, the magic Rene used was still exerting influence even after he had regenerated.

"This is a dangerous ability."

Following the darkness that swallows light, now magic that cuts through space itself to deal damage to him.

"But you made a mistake. That single strike just now only heightened my vigilance."

Rene's expression hardened.

It was as Salesin said. The strike launched by surprise had luckily hit, but there was no guarantee it would produce the same result afterward.

Spatial cutting had outstanding power, but its trajectory was where Rene's hand blade was aimed.

If it was Salesin, he would definitely deduce the trajectory just by watching Rene's hand movements and immediately dodge.

'Other magic with space?'

Rene thought she needed to use new magic, but it wasn't as easy as it sounded.

Spatial movement was something she had instinctively learned when awakening her magic power, and in the case of cutting, she had barely managed to implement it because Rudger had taught her through crash course.

That was all.

Other techniques only circled in her head, and she wasn't certain whether she could actually implement them or not.

And to attempt that, Salesin's momentum was immediately ominous.

"If you had just stayed quiet and well-behaved, I could have let you obtain all wealth and glory as my future saint. To kick away such fortune with your own feet, humans really can't be helped."

Salesin extended his hand toward Rene.

"Then I have no choice but to dominate by force."

Rene's body trembled with a start.

It's coming. That authority of dominating the opponent's mind.

Having already heard sufficient warning, Rene reflexively tried to prepare.

'But how?'

Is it possible to dominate herself, who possesses the authority of the Judgment Eye, with the authority of brainwashing?

The two authorities were ultimately like siblings connected by the same root. She didn't think those equal powers would devour one side.

'Oh no!'

But Rene realized that Salesin's aim was precisely to create this opening.

Salesin had never intended to brainwash Rene from the beginning.

Because he knew better than anyone that he couldn't do so since she possessed the Judgment Eye.

Instead, where Salesin's brainwashing was aimed was at the other people around, especially the knights who couldn't properly protect their minds.

An invisible, intangible wave was shot toward them.

In the slowly flowing time, Salesin looked at Rudger.

—Rudger was sneering at him.

'Laughing? Why exactly?'

Does this mean he didn't react until this side activated the authority not because he couldn't, but because he deliberately didn't?

When Salesin's doubt reached its peak, two people who had been secretly hiding revealed themselves.

"My disciple!"

"I know!"

The joker card hidden until the very end.

Aidan and Madeline crossed and swung their sword-shaped staffs.