Episode 734

Unlike when you pull mana from the surrounding area, the magic filled almost instantly.

Direte, about to curse, had to admit his junior’s decision was the right call.

If they’d done things Direte’s way from the start, they wouldn’t have gotten the mana in time.

The wavering black orb Direte had produced was a kind of pseudo-phylactery, created by infusing a shard of his own soul.

Inspired by how liches put their souls in phylacteries to cheat the laws of the world, this was a masterpiece of black magic.

Direte linked this essence, packed with immense mana and secrets, to his personal world in order to use it.

He’d inscribed the true name of the Pentagrammaton into it, so it could be fired up immediately in an emergency.

But with mighty magic always comes a mighty penalty.

Even though he thought it was perfected, the pseudo-phylactery started reacting violently and destabilizing the moment it was drawn out into the world.

If not for the emergency extra mana, it might have broken down much sooner.

“Don’t let go, junior! I’m going to activate it!”

At some point, Direte’s chants switched to an incomprehensible tongue.

It was a spell to bring forth a world separate from reality.

Instantly, all the mana in the area was devoured by Direte’s orb, plunging their surroundings into a temporary mana vacuum.

Then came a violent surge of negative energy and darkness. The summoned golems and bone wall barriers collapsed instantly from the mana draw.

But Direte paid it no mind. With a black, blazing glare, he shouted,

“Curse!”

At that moment, the great black, sticky mass recoiled.

It was a reaction utterly at odds with the brutal swagger it had shown despite every previous assault.

Bang!

One-third of the massive sludge erupted away. Lee Han gazed at his crow-beast senior with awe.

That curse wasn’t any ordinary curse. Even Lee Han’s senses couldn’t track the array of curses bound together and fired off at once.

A curse among curses, truly devastating.

The wounded mass writhed, trying to recover. But Direte gave it no chance. His black orb flashed as his eyes blazed, too.

Whoosh!

The massive entity burst into spontaneous flames.

The curse didn’t end with blowing off part of its body. That was only the beginning.

In the blink of an eye, the mountain-sized enemy was writhing, shrunken by an essential curse, burning and burning until it crumbled to nothing in midair.

The giant bird carrying them squawked in triumph.

—Whoever cast that spell, it’s ruthless! To leave that kind of mana residue!

“What do you mean?”

—That’s not a natural phenomenon! That’s someone’s magic!

“…!”

Wizards don’t believe in coincidences. Especially not someone like Lee Han, who has faced many wicked mages before.

There could be only one reason for such an event right where the Headmaster’s mad clone and a magic criminal had passed through.

‘It really was the mad clone!’

Lee Han gnashed his teeth. The Headmaster’s clone was just as much trouble as he was.

“Senior. I think this is because of the Headmaster’s clone. Let’s go back and confront him immediately!”

“Yeah…”

Direte coughed, his face pale. Lee Han jumped in surprise.

“What’s wrong?!”

—Direte! You used an unfinished personal world! Stupid Direte!

“Shut up…”

At the familiar’s shout, Lee Han realized what was happening.

Whatever the black orb was, pulling it out when it wasn’t ready had left it unstable. Direte was trying to stabilize it now.

“Junior…”

“Yes? What should I do?”

“I was telling her to shut up, not you…”

“……”

Seeing that Direte was in bad shape, Lee Han turned to the familiar.

“If I pour more mana in like before, will that stabilize it?”

—Idiot mage! This isn’t something you fix with mana!

‘Shoot.’

At the scolding, Lee Han clicked his tongue.

Apparently, stabilization couldn’t be solved with mana, unlike earlier.

—If you tried to patch it with mana, you’d have to be a stupid mage and die half a dozen times just for a start!

“Aha.”

Ignoring that, Lee Han grabbed the orb again and stabilized it.

-?!

• * *

Barely recovered, Direte spoke with a pained look.

“Thanks, junior. Technically, I ought to scold you for messing with another wizard’s spell…”

“Sorry.”

“Forget it. Not like I can gripe after getting help. Ugh, I’m really not living up to my role as a senior.”

“What are you talking about? You did almost everything yourself.”

—Stupid Direte! Stupid Direte!

“Be quiet already.”

Direte grabbed his bird familiar by the beak.

“I thought it was ready to use, but it was less stable than I thought. If you hadn’t helped, it could’ve gone a lot worse.”

“What was that, exactly?”

“A mass of evil thought left by a wizard, probably. Pulled in the elements of Shadow Woods to attack…”

“I meant, what spell did you cast?”

“……”

Direte glared, then conceded.

“A pseudo-phylactery. One of my projects. Pushing the limits without actually becoming a lich… Personal worlds take so long to prep, you know.”

Hearing the full explanation, Lee Han was secretly impressed.

It meant making an artificial new origin for a mage, didn’t it?

Truly a fifth-year—no one got there by chance.

“But, senior, is the instability problem handled now?”

Direte’s face clouded at the question.

Pulling it out unfinished left big instability issues.

Temporarily stuffing in all that mana bought time, but it was only first aid.

Until it was finished, it would cause lots of trouble.

“It’s been handled.”

“…Really?”

Lee Han, eyeing Direte’s expression, whispered to the bird. The sly bird whispered back.

—No way! It’ll be a year before it’s fixed for real!

“Stabilizing it with mana, like before, was meaningless then?”

—It’ll go unstable again once the mana runs out!

Direte impassively raised his staff and zapped the bird, instantly unsummoning it.

“Talks too much.”

“Senior. It seems you just need someone to refill the mana regularly. I can do that.”

“No, it’s fine. You don’t have to.”

“You have another method?”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“Uh…there’s the secret technique of Grand Archmage Retibelku. That’ll work.”

“…Are you just reversing Yukbeltire-senior’s name, slapping ‘Grand Archmage’ on it, and trying to trick me?”

Direte clicked her tongue openly.

No fooling a top student.

“Too sharp for your own good.”

“Topping off the mana isn’t hard. You saw it a minute ago. And if I don’t discharge mana regularly, every artery in my body explodes.”

“What?!?! Really?!?!”

“Kidding. But if thinking that puts your mind at ease, let’s run with it.”

“……”

Direte glared fiercely, and Lee Han apologized.

“Didn’t think you’d actually believe it.”

“You were so serious, how could I not?”

Direte sighed.

“Fine, I’ll be straight. Truth is, it does help a ton when you do that. Really does, but…”

“But?”

“But then you’d have to come to the workshop regularly, and you’d basically be helping with my project.”

“That’s a problem?”

“…Did you forget Yukbeltire tried to kidnap you?”

“Oh.”

Lee Han finally understood the point.

Since some students were (forcibly) recruiting him for their projects, if he started helping Direte, it would be seen as a signal.

—So he did want to get involved after all!

—Of course. No one who takes every discipline could lack research interest!

Lee Han just smiled and replied,

“Don’t worry about that, senior.”

“Why? Seems like I should.”

“I can just keep it secret!”

“……”

Direte narrowed her eyes, and somehow, she felt like she understood why her junior was taking every course.

• * *

-Master. The Wardanaz boy…

Finally made contact with the first-years? Fetch him!

-Excuse me? What do you mean by that?

Didn’t I order you to monitor his contact with first-years?

-Oh, that? You mean that!

……

The Death Knight’s reaction clearly showed he’d forgotten. The skeletal Headmaster gave a withering look.

To forget my order!

-Sorry, Master. I didn’t forget. But may I respectfully remark…

Don’t.

-There are so many vital orders. Less important ones naturally get less focus.

In truth, few Death Knights bothered tracking Lee Han’s contact with new students.

If someone just shouted, “Here comes a first-year!” that would help…

At Death Knights’ mild mutiny, the Headmaster complained about their thanklessness, their disloyalty, their treacherous backstabbing.

After listening with knightly patience, the Death Knight at last relayed,

-The Wardanaz boy is requesting an audience.

Really? Let him in.

-What about?

Magic questions, no doubt.

-It’s not even the weekend yet?

Most students didn’t come ask magic questions even on weekends.

He’s just that type.

-I see. I’ll let him in.

The Headmaster returned to his magazine with satisfaction.

And as soon as Lee Han entered, he boasted:

Look at this!

“??”

…One day, a teacher had so much to teach he said to his student,

—I must teach you quickly, so I’ll teach you four things in the morning, three in the evening…

Ha! I thought it was my masterpiece, and it was published! All thanks to you!

“……”

Lee Han was speechless but held it in. The enemy was a tyrant with a staff.

So? What did you want to ask about? Spirit linguistics? Personal worlds? Sixth circle? Ask someone else about sixth circle.

“It’s none of those.”

I trust it’s nothing idiotic, then.

At Lee Han’s answer, the Headmaster’s expression went tepid.

“Headmaster.”

Anytime you talk this seriously, it’s usually nonsense.

“There’s a clone of you and a magic criminal inside Einrogard territory!”

And how do you know that?

“!”

The Headmaster’s unblinking, calm response stunned Lee Han.

He immediately shouted to the Death Knights:

“Everyone! The Headmaster has finally lost it! Someone write to His Majesty the Emperor!”

He lunged straight for the window.

The Headmaster shook his head and twisted the room’s space, redirecting Lee Han.

But Lee Han had foreseen this. As space warped, he blasted mana from his toes and leapt backward.

Hey!

The Headmaster, flummoxed, turned the window into a wall.

A clever student was a blessing but also a headache for a master.

It’s fine to jump out, but listen before you go.

Lee Han paused. The Headmaster snapped irritably.

Don’t pretend to stop and then smash the wall!

‘Tsk. He caught me.’