I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 827 - Side Story 100: Transcendent (3)

"It's... over."

Veronica muttered. Her voice felt somehow deflated. She had witnessed with her own eyes the fight of the century. She had seen not one but two 8th Circle spells that she would never be able to witness in her lifetime.

She didn't know exactly how amazing it was in numerical terms. But you don't need to know the exact numbers to be overwhelmed. Just as one naturally feels a sense of wonder when looking at the vast universe. There was just something you could feel instinctively. Rudger's magic was like that.

Light poured through the shattered ceiling of the cavity. It was considerably deep underground, and above was a sturdy relic that rose like a pyramid.

Rudger's dark lightning had pierced through all of it in a straight line and brought the light from above ground all the way here.

[Good grief. I can't believe this happened.]

Lexer muttered in disbelief. He was surprised by Rudger's magic, but what was even more shocking was the result.

[It pierced through this cleanly?]

The dark lightning Rudger used had drilled a clean hole all the way to the surface. From the thick and massive ground to the relics situated above it, and even the system that operated like a giant organism.

Normally, if such a large hole was drilled like this, there was a high possibility of major problems occurring in the relic system. It wasn't anything else—a tunnel had been opened in a straight line. It wouldn't have been strange for problems to arise in the system that created forests around it through an artificial sun.

But surprisingly, the relic system was intact. Even Lexer himself, who was fused with the system, couldn't understand why.

[Could this be, it's intact because it was blown away too cleanly?]

That was the only most likely inference. The power of the dark lightning was so strong that it drilled a hole as if carving out space, so there was actually less damage to the surroundings.

If you asked whether such a thing was realistically possible, the answer would have to be yes, because it had happened in reality.

Lexer had thought that the greater the power, the stronger the impact on the surroundings would be. But truly overwhelming power only destroys what it wants to destroy.

Come to think of it, when the Spirit Human raised his power, the aftereffect of that heat alone had put Casey and Veronica in danger.

But Rudger's magic had no effect on the surroundings whatsoever. At that point, the difference between the two was already clear. At the time, they were just too overwhelmed by that transcendent spectacle to think properly.

"Hmm. I suppose I'll need to fill in that hole a bit."

Rudger muttered quietly while looking at the ceiling where light was pouring in. This was a space created with highly calculated and controlled heat treatment related to the artificial sun.

Since a hole had been drilled there, it would likely cause considerable disruption to the heat circulation.

Did it understand Rudger's muttering? The ground where the huge hole had been drilled wriggled and moved, filling the empty space on its own.

[Wait, what's that now?]

Lexer realized anew that there were still things in life that could surprise him this much. That's how much the current scene transcended his common sense.

"Ah, that's the Earth Elemental Lord." 

[Elemental Lord? No, why on earth is that...?]

Casey's explanation made even less sense. Why would an existence called the essence of nature appear here?

[No, don't tell me?]

Lexer thought he was having an absurd imagination. But Casey, who was next to him, quickly turned his hypothesis into reality with her sharp wit.

"That's right. It followed that man." 

[...The Earth Elemental Lord, you mean?]

Lexer also knew well about Elemental Lords. He too had traveled the world and had encountered rumors and information about the transcendent spirits that existed in remote places.

He had even deliberately sought them out with the thought of actually meeting them. But he failed every single attempt. The places where Elemental Lords resided were not easily accessible to humans.

No matter how much of a 6th Circle Grand Mage he was, it was impossible to go into magma beneath the ground, the deep sea, or fly in the sky above 10,000 meters.

That's how rare they were, and at the same time, Elemental Lords didn't care about humans. The fact that one of those Elemental Lords was showing interest in a human, and an individual one at that, was too unrealistic.

'Well, if we're going to talk about realism, we should start with achieving 8th Circle at that young age.'

Thinking that way made him feel a bit better. The fact that Lexer was a mage with a more open-minded way of thinking than others also played a part.

"I suppose this puts out the urgent fire at least."

Rudger, confirming that the hole had disappeared, approached where Casey was.

"How are you feeling? Are you hurt anywhere?" 

"I'm fine, but Ms. Veronica..."

Veronica, who was next to her, shook her head with a smile.

"I feel like I came along for nothing and just held you back instead. I am hurt but I'm fine. Having a sturdy body is my advantage. And I prepared recovery potions in advance too." 

"I'm glad to hear that. So what will you do now?"

At Rudger's question, Veronica fell into thought.

The Spirit Human had disappeared. But there were still things that needed to be dealt with. For example, that artificial sun that was still in place, burning brilliantly.

Veronica pondered and then shook her head.

"I was thinking of taking something back with the thought of 'for the Empire.' But that would probably just be my personal greed." 

"You're going to just leave?" 

"Yes. Not just me, but I can tell that both Casey and Lord Rudger want that too. I'm not a fool. Without you two, I wouldn't have made it this far, and perhaps I wouldn't have seen tomorrow's sun. I owe you my life, so I have no intention of being selfish here."

Veronica spoke and shook her head.

"Above all, this is too big a problem for us to handle right now. I thought the Empire should manage it so it wouldn't fall into other people's hands, but even the Empire seems overwhelmed."

The fact that Veronica, who had strong loyalty to the Empire, said this was proof that she was thinking seriously about the Spirit Human project.

Such anxiety was inevitable. If the Empire created Spirit Humans and one of them suddenly turned evil?

The only one who could suppress that would be Rudger.

Could it really be called the right path to make the fate of a nation depend on a single individual?

[Young lady. Are you really okay with this? It's not my place to say, but that's truly an amazing project.] 

"The Empire is strong. And the reason the Empire has come this far is not because one individual was outstanding. It's because everyone joined forces and overcame adversity, which is why we have the Empire today."

Not a nation led by a single superhuman but a nation where everyone becomes one and joins forces, that was the Exilion Empire that Veronica took pride in.

"So, I'll keep what happened today secret for life. Of course, I'll have to report to Her Majesty though. Now that I've said this, I feel relieved, but I'm worried I'll get an earful." 

"You don't need to worry about that. I'll explain it well."

At Rudger's words, Veronica's expression brightened.

"Knowing that Lord Rudger will help puts my mind at ease."

Rudger turned to look at Lexer.

"What will you do now?" 

[Me? What would I have? I've only just recently opened my eyes again. I'll just live here like before.] 

"I mean, what do you want to do?" 

[What do I want to do?]

It was an unexpected question, but it was also strangely what he had wanted to hear. Lexer thought carefully and gave his answer.

[I just want to do what I used to do. Wandering around the world, I mean. Of course, that would be impossible with this body. So I just tried to understand a bit more about this relic.]

If he didn't do at least that, it would be hard to bear his own death. He pretended otherwise, but Lexer was human after all. Accepting his own death was not an easy thing.

[But who would have known there was such a vicious thing deep underground. I actually received help instead. If things had gone wrong, that Spirit Human bastard would have tried to remove me from the system too.]

That wasn't speculation but certainty. From Lexer's perspective, they had solved a disaster he couldn't handle, so he was rather grateful.

[Besides, is this a body that can go somewhere just because I want to? Don't get people's hopes up for nothing and just be on your way.]

Lexer waved his hand as if telling them to hurry and leave. Rudger was about to say something, but Casey approached and grabbed his arm, shaking her head.

It meant to give Lexer time to think as well. Rudger nodded.

"Then, we'll be going now. Our business here is finished."

The initial goal was to stop the forces trying to get their hands on the relic. Since both the Bretus remnants and the dark mages were all dead, the purpose had been achieved.

"Of course, there are still those remaining outside."

There were many people who would approach immediately to target the relic.

"We'll take care of cleaning that up on this side." 

[Right. Just in case, I should try my best to block them from the inside too.]

With those words, Lexer disappeared as if evaporating into thin air. He would probably use the still-intact relic system to fortify the internal defenses and devise ways to prevent outsiders from entering.

"Let's go too." 

"Um, brother.”

Hans, who had been frozen solid since the Spirit Human appeared, opened his mouth.

"What is it?" 

"What are you going to do about the explorers, magic schools, and intelligence agents from other nations outside?"

The urgent fire had been put out, but problems still remained everywhere. At least in Hans's opinion, the problems left behind were by no means inferior to the previous ones.

"You don't need to worry about that." 

"What, are you going to scare them off or something?" 

"Yes." 

"What? No, brother. Are you saying we should go to war with people from other nations?"

When Hans asked in surprise, Rudger spoke with a face that said what kind of nonsensical talk is that.

"Why would I do that?" 

"Huh?" 

"You should do it."

Hans silently pointed at himself with his index finger. Rudger nodded.

"You're joking, right?" 

"......" 

"...Ha. I'm going crazy, really. No, what do you expect me to do?" 

"Don't worry."

At Rudger's words, Hans's anxiety only grew.

"Finally."

The magic school members from the New Magic Tower cheered as they looked at the massive relic standing tall before their eyes.

How much hardship had they endured to get here? They had fought or avoided the spirit beasts spread throughout the forest, and had to battle the harsh environment of a forest with high concentrations of mana.

They could barely make it here after consuming almost all the artifacts and potions they had prepared.

They did see something like a black beam piercing the sky in the middle, but that wasn't enough to turn them back.

The water had already been spilled. Since they had come this far, there was no turning back, so they decided to push through to the end.

Having arrived at the relic after such hardship, they were excited at the thought of reaping the fruits of success before others.

"We need to get in and take what we can as quickly as possible!" 

"We can't let those following behind steal from us." 

"If it doesn't work out, we should be prepared to fight inside."

Their eyes gleamed coldly. In a situation like this, stealing from others was fully worth considering.

Just as the school members approached the relic.

They suddenly discovered a huge shadow cast before their eyes.

"Huh?"

What they saw when they raised their heads was a giant monster coiled around the top of the relic like a dragon.

The monster opened its mouth wide with a ferocious appearance. Flesh wriggled inside the disgusting maw that reminded them of human teeth.

"Ugh, aaaah! It's a monster!" 

"E-everyone fall back!" 

"What are you doing! Don't fall back! There's only one monster!"

Someone brave shouted like that, but.

-Thwack!

A gorilla spirit beast that appeared from somewhere struck a mage's body with its fist, and the situation became even more chaotic.

"Sp-spirit beast!" 

"Why on earth are they here!" 

"There are more of them!"

It wasn't just one spirit beast. All kinds of various spirit beasts appeared and attacked the mages. The mages had no choice but to retreat in panic the way they came.

Hans sighed as he watched the mages fleeing with their tails between their legs.

"No, do we really have to go this far?" 

"Look at this sight. It's the most effective, so why would we refuse? And because you're here, other spirit beasts are coming forward too, so it's even more welcome."

It was just as Rudger said, riding on Hans's back. Hans didn't try to guard the relic alone. Instead, he used his powerful authority to send signals to the surrounding spirit beasts.

If they want to protect the forest, they shouldn't fight while dividing territories, but join forces.

And so the spirit beasts of the forest gathered near the relic. Their number reached as many as 100, a force that could even fight against a nation-level army.

"My goodness."

Veronica opened her mouth at the sight. In fact, she couldn't help but seriously consider whether the most important thing for the Empire wasn't the relic but Hans.