Episode 676

KRRRRUMBLE!

The two professors, locked in a fiery standoff, both looked up in alarm.

The sky above the mountains had turned jet-black.

“What’s this…?”

“Huh?”

Both were seasoned and widely traveled—so they recognized at once that what was happening was unheard of.

The sky over the mountains was swallowed in shadow, the sun blotted out, daylight vanishing with shocking speed.

“Taotie bastards could do this?!”

“No way! Even a hundred taotie couldn’t pull this off!”

No matter how freely the taotie played with shadow elements and curses, this was well outside what any such monsters could do.

No amount of taotie could blot out the sun and turn day to night.

“Only a handful of grand magicians in the Empire could even attempt this…”

“The principal, maybe?”

“Why would Gonadaltes come all the way out here!? She doesn’t have time to burn!”

Professor Vendosol upbraided Lightningstep.

The skeleton principal was a busy archmage, even on break.

Outside training first years and funding, all her time went into imperial affairs and defending the land from major threats—not popping into the Bitong Mountains just for a few taotie!

“But if it’s not her, that’s even worse.”

“Hmm!”

Vendosol frowned.

If it wasn’t the principal, that was the real problem.

A grand mage powerful enough to cause this must have had an urgent, and likely bad, reason to appear.

The blackened sky split open.

Then, a voice boomed out.

Who are you? Who touched him?

At the familar thought-projection, both professors paled.

Incredibly, the one coming was Gonadaltes herself—

And her mood was downright murderous!

Is it one of my old disciples, my mad double, or a petty magic criminal? If it’s a magic criminal, I’ll give you a chance to die now. Promise that you’ll regret it if you’re caught.

‘Who does she suspect first…?’

Lee Han was incredulous hearing the principal’s opening.

Understandable that she thought Lee Han was under attack—he had activated the emergency signal ring.

But her prime suspects? Her own former disciples.

‘Well, maybe that’s fair…’

Hadn’t the emperor said the principal’s disciples always tried to burn down the continent, or her, or even the principal herself?

It made sense her survivors might still bear a grudge. That was believable.

But…what did she mean by her “mad double”?!

‘What kind of lunacy have you been up to?!’

I gave you fair warning!

As the words faded, black lightning struck down from the split sky. A massive power poured like a flood and formed a pillar.

From that pillar, an all-too-familiar mage stepped forth: the skeleton principal, in human form.

“Which… hang on.”

About to unleash a burst of cold wrath, the principal paused on seeing the assembled professors and students.

Something wasn’t what she’d expected.

“Professor Lightningstep. Hello.”

“G-greetings, ma’am.”

“Professor Vendosol.”

“Hello.”

“Good day to you? I’d hoped you were in good health, but seeing you alive makes me want to kill you. Stay silent.”

Guilt-ridden, Professor Vendosol held his tongue.

For failing to return after seeking the unicorn before the new term, the penalty was severe.

Professor Lightningstep composed himself and asked, in his seasoned-explorer calm,

“What brings you here, principal?”

“I called her.”

“……”

“……”

Lightningstep, the students, and even the unicorn gave Lee Han a look that could only be called horror.

“HEY!!! You crazy bastard!!!”

Professor Vendosol almost fainted from shock.

It was stunning enough that Gonadaltes came—but to actually summon her?

Was Lee Han insane?!

“You have the nerve to summon her?! Are you insane?!”

“He’s the one who’s crazy, not me.”

“Hang—”

In the icily cold voice of the principal, Professor Vendosol hastily began deploying eleven high-level defensive spells.

With a flick of the principal’s finger, she shredded all his magic and, with another, hurled him into the darkness overhead.

Professor Vendosol screamed as he was snatched into the air.

‘Amazing!’

Having just seen how strong Professor Vendosol was fighting the taotie, Lee Han respected his power.

Transformation magic, mastery of multiple schools—and fierce magic combat ability earned by years in the field.

But the principal had shattered all that with a single gesture and banished him to Einrogard. It was almost unthinkable.

“Wondering why he was beaten so easily, are you?”

Seeing the students’ shocked faces, the principal kindly began to explain.

Whether or not they understood immediately, it could help one day.

“Wardanaz, focus. You’ll need to get this quickly.”

“…Come on…”

The principal’s extra nagging surprised Lee Han.

“First, Professor Vendosol got cocky. He should have struck first the moment he saw me. Against a stronger mage, giving up the initiative is disastrous.”

With low health and an opponent stronger than him, Vendosol should have attacked and then run for it—any hesitation and the odds of survival vanished.

Gainando hesitantly asked,

“But if he’d done that and still got caught, wouldn’t he just get punished worse?”

“Of course! But those who flee should worry about what happens after, not before. Remember this—you must never hesitate once you decide.”

Magic took cues from the caster’s mindset. Decide to run, and bet everything on it. Don’t hedge, or you’ll lose for sure.

“Ah, I see… That’s why I’ve never escaped Einrogard…”

At that, the principal hung Gainando by his ankles and continued.

“Second, his defenses were lacking. How many spells did he prep?”

Gainando muttered, dangling upside-down, “He used defense magic…?”

“Anybody else?”

The principal shut Gainando up and turned to the students.

“Six, maybe?”

“Five?”

“Wardanaz, your answer.”

“I counted eleven…”

“!?”

The others were dumbfounded—they had been watching but hadn’t caught that at all.

“Not bad. Don’t trust your eyes—would you show your defensive wards to everyone if you were casting them?”

Good defense was as much skill as offense. Experts layered and twisted defensive enchantments so the true number was always hard to tell.

If you couldn’t even guess, that was itself an enormous advantage.

Now the principal had simultaneously cast anti-magic through all of them, reading and unraveling their structure—true counter-magic.

Of course, if she’d made a mistake, or if Vendosol had made it even more complex, she might have hesitated—and that moment would have let him reinforce his wards and try to escape.

So what looked simple was actually a high-stakes, razor’s edge duel under the surface.

“Third, I’d already charged up a few ancient spells.”

The principal gestured to the black pillar still leading to the sky.

It wasn’t a technique she usually showed. Lee Han asked curiously,

“Why did you prepare all that?”

“Because you summoned me in an emergency!”

THWACK!

She yanked Lee Han’s staff over with telekinesis and clonked him with it.

Clearly she was very fond of that magic, and Lee Han suddenly felt guilty.

“S-sorry.”

“So why did you summon me? I have a hunch…”

“The professors were fighting…”

“I thought so.”

The principal clicked her tongue, eyeing Lightningstep.

With Professors Vendosol and Lightningstep getting ready to clash, no wonder the students were concerned.

“…And there was a bounty, so…”

“…You’re not saying it was just for the bounty?”

“That wasn’t the only reason, truly.”

“Hmph.”

The principal shot a skeptical look, then shrugged.

“Save the ring for real emergencies from now on. Ever heard of the Shepherd Giant’s story?”

“I… don’t think so. What’s that?”

“Long ago, a shepherd giant raising the Mountain-Smashing Sheep grew bored, so he pranked the other giants with false alarms about wolves.”

“……”

“…?”

The students looked confused.

“What’s a Mountain-Smashing Sheep?”

“Could a wolf even take one down?”

“Silence! Anyway, the point is that repeated false alarms will make everyone stop listening.”

“But if there were wolves—”

“So what are Mountain-Smashing Sheep?”

“Is a shepherd giant really a thing?”

Annoyed, the principal shushed them all.

“In any case, I may as well mop up while I’m here. You said taotie are running amok?”

“Yes. Very strangely, they’re running in packs…”

“Sounds like a pack leader showed up. Sometimes the rest will follow an unusually strong one. They may be conniving loners, but in the right circumstances, they move in herds.”

“I’ve never seen it myself.”

“It’s very rare, that’s true. Professor Lightningstep, it’s been ages since I last saw one.”

With that, the principal announced,

“You fiends, come before me!”

The black pillar writhed and pulsed, spreading command through the mountain’s night.

As the incantation roared, the scattered taotie pack—hidden among the ridges—rose and floated, pulled through the air to the principal’s feet.

The pack leader howled for blood, spewing darkness and transforming.

WHAP!

With a single gesture, the pack was scattered and obliterated. The principal turned to the next business.

“Unicorn?”

“She’s wounded. Is there anywhere safe for her to recover?”

“Einrogard would be best.”

“!”

Lee Han—and, perhaps, the unicorn—both lit up.

Few places in the Empire were safer than the domain of a grand magician.

But the principal actually frowned and hesitated.

“There’s a problem.”

“What sort?”

“If you keep her at Einrogard, Professor Vendosol will show up and start pestering everyone.”

Lee Han thought that was a joke.

But the unicorn looked like it was taking the issue very, very seriously.