I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 817 - Side Story 90: Lexer (3)

Arius was a promising Holy Knight. In truth, he was a strongman without equal in the Holy Kingdom of Bretus. Though there were three Holy Knight Commanders above him, Arius didn't think he was inferior to them.

The reason he wasn't recognized as a Knight Commander was because of his arrogant and violent disposition. In terms of actual combat power, he was above them.

Arius had always lived with such thoughts.

Now that the Holy War had ended and the Holy Kingdom of Bretus had disappeared. Arius realized that there was no one left above him anymore.

If he revived the religious order, he could stand at its pinnacle. It was a truly sweet whisper to Arius, who craved power.

He scraped together all the remnant forces. As if heaven was helping him, he happened to learn news of the new continent, Hyperborea.

The ancient ruins existing in the new continent—if he could just secure the relics inside them.

'I might be able to establish the Lumensis Order once again.'

For that purpose, Arius even joined hands with filthy black magic practitioners. Though the urge to smash their skulls with his mace rose immediately, he had to endure it for the future.

Joining hands with disgusting bastards and suffering like a dog, he finally reached the ruins. The fact that the title of being first was stolen ignited his rage once more.

But it didn't matter.

'What's important is what I claim inside.'

If there were potential competitors, he just had to eliminate them inside. And that competitor had now revealed himself voluntarily while openly provoking him with contempt.

Arius knows. Whether the opponent is provoking out of bravado or genuinely looks down on him with such thoughts.

Rudger was clearly the latter. Why? Because it was exactly the same look he received from the archbishop and other Holy Knight Commanders back home.

Only skilled, with no character—a total piece of shit. That was Arius' trauma and a thorn deeply embedded in his heart.

Rudger had unintentionally provoked that part. Of course, even if he had known, he wouldn't have been careful. Rather, he would have dug at it more openly.

'Come to think of it.'

Arius recalled what had happened a moment ago, given the fact that Rudger was here first.

The passages of the ruins moved randomly, and several of his subordinates died or were injured. They hadn't triggered any traps, unless someone had deliberately activated them.

"It was you!"

Rudger knew where Arius' rage stemmed from. Strictly speaking, it was Lexer's doing, but since Rudger would have acted the same even if it weren't him, it wasn't wrong.

"Are you just going to talk?" 

"You bastard!"

Arius covered his entire body with divine power and charged at Rudger. A Holy Knight with a massive build was emitting explosive divine power from his entire body.

An enormous pressure filled the corridor. A force that would crush an ordinary human's entire body with just a graze. Even a knight who had reached the superhuman realm wouldn't be able to face it head-on.

If Rudger took it obediently, he too would become a bloody pulp. But Rudger had no intention of taking it obediently.

-Kwaaaaang!

Arius' form passed by Rudger like a graze. The sight was like a tank. The corridor he passed through was hideously destroyed as if plowed by a hoe. Rudger, who was swept up in that attack, should surely have left no trace behind.

But Arius braked hard and stopped. His legs created deep furrows in the ground.

"What?"

Just before reaching Rudger, he seemed to have disappeared. There was no sensation of touching his body. If they had collided, there should have been at least minimal feeling.

Arius turned around.

There he saw Rudger's back, standing perfectly fine. When did he move—he was standing right in front of his subordinates.

"You..."

Before he could finish speaking, the subordinates he had brought sprayed blood and collapsed. Without even a second's difference, the sight of dozens falling simultaneously was surreal.

Holy Knights and priests all died with their eyes wide open, unable to even respond. Arius stared blankly at their corpses.

'This, this...'

Cold water was poured over his hotly burning head. Lava had been flowing through his veins with rage, but now it felt like coolant was flowing.

He was violent and hot-tempered, but that didn't mean he was stupid. Rudger had killed all his subordinates. And in less than a second at that.

Because his subordinates were stupid? Because they let their guard down thinking there was only one opponent?

Even so, was such a thing possible? They were skilled enough to break through forests teeming with spirit beasts. Though they were remnant forces of a fallen kingdom, hardened with venom, they were by no means weak.

The conclusion Arius reached was clear.

Rudger was vastly stronger, even accounting for all those variables.

"How about it? Do you feel like getting serious now?" 

"You, who are you?"

Arius asked with a trembling voice. No matter how much he tried to feign composure, it wasn't as easy as he wished.

That emotion was further amplified when he met Rudger's eyes. Despite having cut down dozens of Holy Knights and priests in an instant, Rudger's expression remained indifferent. He wouldn't be this calm even if he had stepped on and killed a bug while walking.

"Who am I? Right. Strictly speaking, I suppose I'm the mortal enemy you must kill." 

"What?" 

"Heathcliff van Bretus. The man you call the Demon King."

Arius's eyes widened to their limits.

"That's! The Demon King is dead! The Empire definitely executed him...!" 

"You know well that what's known to the world differs from the truth, don't you? Like the disgusting things you've done." 

"...!"

Arius' eyebrows twitched. He closed his eyes tightly and opened them. His confused pupils had settled calmly.

"Right. Now you're thinking of fighting properly."

So he's still the commander leading these people, is he? Arius' judgment and recovery were faster than expected.

"The enemy of the Holy Kingdom. I will execute you, Demon King, right here."

Arius spouted words haphazardly. Probably things he said because he had nothing to say. Perhaps a spoonful of sincerity was mixed in.

In the first place, Arius knows. If he can't kill Rudger here, he'll be the one who dies.

To survive, he had to pour out everything he had.

"Hyaaaah!"

Arius let out a roar. Divine power boiled like lava throughout his entire body.

Overflowing divine power spread brilliant wings behind him. A splendid golden helmet was placed over Arius's head.

He reached out his hands, grasping a shining golden spear in his right hand and a golden mace in his left.

For just a moment inside the bluish corridor, a dazzling sun rose.

"Indeed. Pure output seems higher than the commanders I saw in the Holy Kingdom. You'd be the strongest in a direct confrontation."

Rudger analyzed Arius' power at a glance. It was because he possessed this level of skill that he could lead the remnant forces all the way to Hyperborea.

But he was unlucky because he encountered Rudger here.

"Let me tell you one piece of good news."

Arius didn't respond. Since Rudger didn't expect it, he continued with what he had to say.

"This is an ancient ruin. And there are very important items here. Right now, mana flows inside the ruins, and it seems to react sensitively to magic." 

"..." 

"I don't particularly want to destroy the ruins. Though it would be better to destroy them than let them fall into others' hands, there's no need to go that far." 

"What are you trying to say?" 

"I'm giving you a chance. Because of the ruins, I can't use my full power. It's closer to saying I won't use it."

Arius thought he had misheard something. So, wasn't he saying he would control his output due to environmental requirements?

"You don't have to believe it. Anyway, the fact that you must do your best against me doesn't change. Still, since I'm giving you a bit of a handicap, I'd like you to show me something meaningful. Aren't you a survivor of a fallen order?"

-Fwoosh!

The divine power flowing through Arius's body intensified. It blazed like flames beyond a heat haze.

"You'll regret those arrogant words."

-Sling.

Rudger drew his sword stick from his staff. Compared to Arius' weapons, it looked far too shabby and modest.

A mage wielding a sword? Against a Holy Knight at that?

Arius took it as a provocation and resolved to deliver judgment for that arrogance.

Arius crouched down. His two thighs swelled like balloons.

-Boom!

Arius' form shot out like a cannon. Footprints remained on the ground where he stood, and the floor of the ruins cracked like a spider's web.

Arius reached right before Rudger and thrust his spear.

Rudger's blue pupils read the spear's trajectory. He tilted his head slightly to the side. The spear blade cut through empty air. The hot atmosphere held heat. Just grazing it would not just cut but melt the skin.

Arius's mace fell vertically. The spear thrust was merely a feint to limit evasion space. This was the real attack.

-Kwang!

Rudger held his sword stick horizontally. The mace collided with the sword stick, creating a shockwave.

The sword stick tilted diagonally. The mace slid smoothly along the blade. Sparks flew with each friction. The mace struck the innocent ground. The ground cracked apart, spewing heat through the crevices.

'He deflected this?'

One characteristic of Holy Knights is physical ability. Moreover, he had strengthened his body several times over with holy techniques right now. Forget a mage—the moment a knight raised a shield, he could crush it together.

Rudger blocked and deflected that with that thin sword stick. The sword stick's material is not ordinary. Beyond that, Rudger wielding it is the same.

Light flashed before his eyes.

-Swish!

A corner of the helmet was cut off. Seeing the dazzling blade being swung, Arius immediately focused on counterattacking.

After retrieving the thrust spear, he thrust it with all his might.

-Swish swish swish swish.

It was so fast that the spear blade left multiple afterimages in the air. Rudger dodged them all and dug into Arius's embrace.

'How dare! A mage approaches a Holy Knight?!'

Arius didn't like it. Shouldn't a mage naturally fight from a distance?

But the moment he saw Rudger's mysterious swordsmanship, those thoughts completely disappeared. Fast and dazzling. Beyond that, his sword possessed some indescribable technique.

'How can a mage!'

If the opponent was the Demon King, it wouldn't be strange to say he had practically reached the pinnacle of magic.

Right. Magic. That was Rudger's strength. But Rudger's current fighting style was by no means what a mage should display.

Even War Mages don't commit such insanity. The mages of the southern Fatima Dynasty are the same.

'How on earth!'

Rudger was calmly committing that absurd act. He was even pushing back himself, a Holy Knight Commander, head-on.

Arius gritted his teeth. He brought out everything he had. Golden weapons cutting through space, based on surging divine power. Rudger blocked and deflected them far too easily.

He could feel mana flowing through his body. Beyond that, a faint black heat haze was rising.

Arius invested all his concentration into the battle. With the thought that there was no retreat, he burned everything he had.

Like a bonfire blazing brilliantly, using himself as firewood.

-Kwang!

The corridor and ceiling around Arius began to crumble, unable to withstand the divine power. Power destructive enough to destroy terrain with just the aftermath. The heat was beyond that. One facing it head-on wouldn't even be able to breathe properly due to the heat.

"Hmm. Is this all?"

But Rudger remained calm. His voice was even peaceful, as if unaffected by the destructive acts happening around him.

‘This can't be.’ 

Arius desperately swung his mace.

-Pang!

The air exploded, and the force Rudger deflected gouged the ceiling. Debris from the ceiling, melted by the heat, dripped down.

Such power even without direct contact. It wouldn't be strange if Rudger's wrist receiving it crumbled to powder. But it's fine. It's so perfectly fine that he wondered if he was seeing an illusion.

"What! What the hell!"

Arius howled desperately.

"You! With such power!"

Overwhelming defeat. An emotion he had never felt even when sparring among Holy Knights back home. Arius, with his strong pride, couldn't accept this reality.

"Reality is sometimes excessively cruel. But that's the same for the countless people you've trampled down until now, isn't it. Why do you feel wronged now?"

-Clang!

Rudger thrust his sword stick under the mace's head, then twisted the blade and struck upward.

The mace escaped his hand and the palm gripping the mace tore away with red blood.

-Clang!

The same with the spear. No matter how hard he tried not to let go, Rudger's strength didn't allow it. Both palms were torn. Though healing quickly with divine power, Rudger was already approaching him.

"Kyaaaah!"

Arius screamed and spread his wings wide. Golden feathers shot toward Rudger like daggers.

-Gulp!

It was then that the rippling shadow above Rudger's body swallowed space.

The golden feathers disappeared from sight, and even light was blocked. The heat was cut off and a chilling cold rushed in.

Arius was left alone in darkness with nothing.

The divine power burning his entire body was eroded by the darkness and depleted rapidly. Even if Arius tried to resist, it was useless.

"I... to revive the order...!"

A voice came from behind.

"There's no such thing."

-Swish.

Arius's neck was severed by the sword stick.