I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 722: What Awaits at the End (3)

It sounded like the small chime of a bell and also like the morning bell that opens dawn.

It was a guide that leads the dead on their path to death.

And it was also a mother's embrace that warmly holds all those who grieve.

'What...what is this?'

Salesin felt puzzled.

Everything felt hazy as if floating in the air.

A mental attack? No. It was something qualitatively different from that.

He looked at Rudger before his eyes.

Rudger, with a sword pierced through his heart and eyes wide open, showed no change in expression after that as if time had stopped.

An illusion? That wasn't it either. The sensation he felt in his hands was definitely vivid. There was no way he couldn't distinguish that.

'But how exactly?'

Right after, the world came crashing down.

The scenery that melted and flowed away revealed what could be called the 'real reality' beyond the curtain.

And Salesin was able to realize that it wasn't him who had thrust the sword, but Rudger.

Near his heart where black filth was overflowing, Rudger's sword stick was embedded.

A sword stick with a crow's head carved on the handle, looking luxurious just by sight.

It was unbelievable.

"What, what is this...?"

Before he could even voice his questions, Salesin's wings disappeared and his body fell helplessly.

-Crash!

A dust cloud rose as Salesin was slammed into the ground.

His body was still refusing his will as if he had just awakened from a dream.

After struggling for a while, Salesin finally regained his senses and tried to get up when silver chains flew from somewhere.

-Clank!

The silver chains bound Salesin's arms and legs, neck and torso, fixing him to the ground.

"What now!"

Salesin frowned. These silver chains were not ordinary chains.

They bound the soul and prevented it from reaching the great flow.

It was a power that only necromancers could handle.

"Finally caught you."

Setadel, who had been hiding his body until now and waiting for this opportunity, spoke while holding a lamp in one hand.

"Setadel!"

"You should know, right? That these chains are the worst compatibility for your weakened current state."

So what Setadel was aiming for was the soul that had been accumulated for a long time, contained within this precarious vessel.

But even Setadel couldn't easily recover or seal a soul of this caliber even if it had been weakened to its limit.

-Crack! Crackle!

As if to prove this, the silver chains binding Salesin's body began to creak and crack one by one.

"You damned traitor!"

More fragments fell from near his heart, widening the hole and more black liquid overflowed.

It was such a large amount that it was impossible to know where in that body it had been stored.

Then Rudger flapped his black wings and slowly landed.

Rudger's cold gaze looked down at Salesin.

It was a completely contrasting situation from when Rudger was trapped in prison and first faced Salesin.

Salesin looked up at Rudger and asked.

"What exactly did you just do?"

Instead of answering, Rudger turned his head to one side. Salesin's gaze naturally followed in that direction.

There stood Franz, holding a small bell stained black in one hand.

Clara Cowen's adopted son and one of the Dream Walkers, a genius of dream magic who could take the position of master of the Dream School if he wanted to.

He who had not shown himself until now had finally appeared.

"That's...!"

However, what surprised Salesin was not Franz.

Salesin's gaze was fixed on the black bell Franz held in his hand.

It looked like an ordinary bell at first glance, but Salesin could feel the divine power flowing from the bell.

"A divine artifact! How exactly?"

What Franz was holding was one of the three divine artifacts possessed by Noxana, the goddess of night and death.

It was another divine artifact [Lullaby] that formed a pair with [Nursery Rhyme].

[Lullaby]'s ability was simple to overlay dreams onto reality.

True to its name as a lullaby, it was a divine artifact that made opponents fall asleep and have dreams that felt real.

What Salesin thought he had killed Rudger just moments ago was also a dream he had due to the divine artifact.

The master of dreams did not discriminate against people.

Even if it was a monster that had accumulated filth for over a thousand years, her compassion embraced him.

"There's no way you can handle a divine artifact in reality. Especially a human!"

"I'm no longer an ordinary human."

Golden energy flickered in Franz's eyes.

"I am an apostle of Noxana, the goddess of dreams. A human who became a new apostle following Nirva. In a way, I'm in the same situation as you."

"An apostle of Noxana? Even so, bringing a divine artifact into this reality is...!"

"Right. That's impossible. With human power, that is."

Franz calmly conveyed the truth.

"I didn't bring this. It's the final arrangement that the goddess shot with all her remaining power before falling asleep again."

Before the goddess of dreams Noxana fell asleep, she shot one energy beyond the sky of the deep layers of Dreamland.

That was exactly the divine artifact [Lullaby] that Franz was holding.

"I had some trouble finding this. It could only be used once, so I could only use it at the decisive moment. But looking at the current situation, it seems I used it well."

The divine artifact [Lullaby] had exhausted its power and was slowly turning to powder and disappearing.

Franz drew a longsword from his waist.

It was the first time he had drawn it since receiving it from Surna, but the feel wasn't unfamiliar.

It was made of the same material as the dagger used to defeat Nirva, no, something even stronger.

A sword forged solely for this moment.

Franz's gaze turned toward Surna, who lay in the distance in a half-dead state.

Surna was watching him with her one remaining eye.

"Is today the day of our promise?"

Surna didn't answer. But his eyes, filled with intense will, were saying yes.

Franz gripped the longsword and slowly approached Salesin.

"Your hands have been at work, and you've received help too. I don't dislike it, but I can't say I like it either. But those feelings have already disappeared."

-Step.

Franz stood close to Salesin and gripped the longsword in reverse.

"But as we originally agreed, I will fulfill the contract. Because it's a promise."

-Stab!

Franz's longsword pierced Salesin's wound.

The longsword trembled and then flowed down as if melting into Salesin's body. Salesin's upper body shook greatly with a jolt.

The chains binding his body broke one by one.

"Kraaaah!"

Salesin's eyes rolled back and veins bulged in his neck.

The energy that seeped in as the sword melted was encroaching beyond his body to his very soul.

It was extreme poison. If he didn't immediately cut out and vomit a part of his soul, it would all be contaminated.

-Retch!

Black filth poured out from Salesin's eyes, nose, mouth, and even the hole in his chest.

After vomiting out the contents for a while, Salesin's pure white hair lost its luster and became dry, and wrinkles began to form on his face.

However, Salesin's eyes were fiercer than ever.

All the chains had been released due to his recent struggle.

Salesin sprang up from his position and lunged at Franz.

"You! You dare!"

Now that the divine artifact had completely disappeared was the opportunity.

Franz didn't even try to step back.

Before Salesin could question that behavior, he felt a strange sensation along his chest.

Looking down, he saw a disc embedded in the hole in his chest.

Pure white letters were densely written on the surface of the disc.

"Huh?"

Salesin couldn't help but utter such words.

It was Rudger who had embedded the disc in Salesin's chest as he lunged at Franz.

"Did you think there was only one divine artifact?"

Rudger, whom he had forgotten while focusing on Franz, had taken out a relic from his bosom and embedded it in his chest.

Salesin staggered backward.

He trembled with both hands trying to pull out the relic, but could only pitifully scratch its surface.

The pure white energy of the relic began to flow through Salesin's body.

"Aaaaaaaah!"

Salesin felt his head turn white from the pain of his soul burning.

This was the first time he had experienced such pain. It felt like his brain was being burned with a poker, bugs were biting him, and every cell was being torn apart.

"How, how...!"

Salesin asked with a trembling voice.

"The device you destroyed was meant to activate this relic, no, this divine artifact. Having destroyed it, you probably judged that there was no way to properly operate this divine artifact now."

That was why Salesin had anticipated victory.

"But you seem to be forgetting something. It's not only the device that's needed to handle this divine artifact. Something was just needed to bear the divine power originally contained in this divine artifact."

At those words, Salesin's eyes widened.

His pupils, overflowing with black liquid from burst blood vessels, trembled as if in disbelief.

"Originally, it was this Galahad castle that had to bear the divine power. But if it can just contain divine power, anything else is possible. Just like right now."

Rudger calmly stated the shocking fact.

To utilize a divine artifact, a vessel capable of withstanding such power was needed.

The first was Galahad castle.

Now that it was destroyed, Rudger was using Salesin's body as the second option.

"Kraaaaaaah!"

Salesin reached his hand toward Rudger.

But pure white flames ignited at the tip of his outstretched hand, turning to black ash and scattering with a crumbling sound.

"Save me! Please save me!"

Salesin begged.

"You know too, don't you! With this power, you can become a god of this world!"

Pure white flames ignited all over Salesin's body and consumed him.

This was a phenomenon caused by divine power overflowing to the outside.

"If only you and I join hands! Why are you trying to give that up! You can live above everyone, omnipotent like a god!"

Everyone held their breath and watched the scene.

Rudger spoke coldly to such a Salesin.

"I am human."

"...!"

"And I will continue to be human."

The flames flowing through Salesin's body intensified, becoming like a bonfire.

"No! Nooooo!"

"Don't worry. You won't spend the journey alone and lonely. That's what this divine artifact was made for."

The flames grew larger and stronger.

But those flames caused no damage to the surroundings.

The flames that seemed ready to expand soon condensed around Salesin and became a pure white sphere.

Soon the top of the sphere cracked like a hatching egg and a pillar of light shot up high into the sky.

The ice dome created by Marias Selmore and Clinton's magic circle were pierced by the pillar of light and instantly vanished.

The dark clouds were thus revealed.

When the pillar of light pierced through the dark clouds, the clouds tore apart with a ripping sound, creating a huge hole.

Beyond that was a pitch-black night sky.

And the light pierced through the center of that night sky.

-Crack!

The sound of something breaking vividly echoed in everyone's ears.

Rudger looked at the scene and muttered calmly.

"An arrow meant to pierce the heart of only one being."

The space struck by light shattered like glass.

The being hidden beyond it revealed itself.

"What, what is that?"

"This is crazy."

"Am I dreaming right now?"

Even Casey Selmore, who usually experienced various incidents and prided herself on having a strong heart, felt the strength leave her legs at the scene unfolding before her eyes.

The black sky had shattered, revealing a void space where no one knew what existed.

Beyond that, something enormously huge, impossible to estimate in size, was looking down at them.

The grayish-white thing looked like a giant overlooking this world.

The overwhelming presence felt from the giant gave a distant feeling that just looking at it with eyes would twist one's mind somewhere.

There was too much information coming through the optic nerves for the head to accept.

Everyone instinctively realized what that was.

That was a god.

A terrifying being that far transcended humans.

The chief god Lumensis.

They were now seeing with their eyes the god that everyone revered as the god of light and father.

But Lumensis was very different from what they had heard.

He didn't look benevolent, nor did he feel sacred.

Rather, he was closer to the opposite. He looked like a tyrant and destroyer who wanted to dominate and manipulate the world as he pleased.

Lumensis' eyes turned toward them through the shattered space.

They worried that if he just raised his hand and brought it down, the entire continent might be blown away.

At that moment, a pure white arrow pierced through Lumensis' heart.

It happened before Lumensis could even react.

────!!!!

Light exploded.

It consumed all of Lumensis, filling the void space and even tearing apart the darkness beyond the sky.

-Clang.

The sound of something breaking was heard.

At the same time, people felt that something that had been oppressing them since birth had disappeared.

Like invisible shackles or chains being released.

They looked at the sky.

The black sky burned in white light, scattering beautiful powder around.

Countless starlight filled the pitch-black void where nothing had been visible.

That starlight soon disappeared into the dawn's twilight.

"Behold."

Everyone looked at Rudger.

Beyond his shoulder, the sun was rising through the horizon.

Crimson light scattered, creating a purple boundary between the deep blue sky.

The colorless sky was dyed with natural light.

Why was it?

It was just an ordinary sunrise that could always be seen, yet why did it feel so beautiful?

"This is what I give to you."

Rudger said, looking at the rising sun.

"Freedom."