Chapter 66
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: The Purest Black
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Professor Prezel was peeking at the entire scene from below.
The academy had devolved into a hellish slaughterhouse.
Some thick, murky emotion welled up inside her, and Professor Prezel slumped heavily into her chair.
"It's all necessary. Necessary..."
She rubbed her face and let out a raspy voice.
Even after all this, she still had a goal she aimed to achieve.
Something she was determined to accomplish, even if it meant shoving others into the abyss.
A black shape wriggling on the back of the chair let out a sinister chuckle.
Professor Prezel knew that vile form better than anyone.
Black mist that was neither liquid nor gas.
It trailed long, smoky tendrils like liquid would, yet held a distinct shape like a gas.
From the perspective of elemental magic studies, it was a liquid that was also a gas.
A substance close to purity.
Professor Prezel gazed at the black mist.
Pure black without a single impurity.
The Holy Court had declared that demonic energy could never be a substance close to purity, but many scholars suspected that the intuition that demonic energy was also near purity was correct.
Two sides of the same coin—white that dyes the world pure and black painted completely dark were opposites, yet their essence was the same.
Thus, demonic energy and divinity were the same essence, differing only in form and polarity...
Both were substances qualified to challenge purity.
Professor Prezel agreed with that intuition.
'Color is merely a phenomenon.'
The comfort felt in daylight and fear in the night were nothing more than human embellishments.
Natural phenomena held no comfort or foreboding.
They simply existed as they appeared.
Bielle, who was manipulating the black mist beside her, giggled.
"Ahh, Professor Prezel, Professor Prezel. Professor of Elemental Magic Application, chief mage of the Incineration Magic Tower, honorary doctorate holder, and professor at Ri Sete Academy."
Professor Prezel felt a sense of dissonance at the assistant's even more sly demeanor than usual.
Long horns and disheveled black hair.
Black eyes without visible whites distinguished pupils by shade alone, and her bare, cloven hooves thudded dully against the floor with each step.
But the biggest change was in her attitude.
The timid, groveling figure who fawned over every little thing was nowhere to be seen.
Only the black beast reveling in reclaiming her true form, hidden from the Holy Court's eyes, remained.
That Bielle glanced at the tormented Professor Prezel while humming a cheeky tune.
Creases deepened at the corners of her mouth, venomous fangs formed from words slithering up like a snake climbing a tree, gleaming wickedly.
"Hmm, what's your impression? You've finally achieved what you wanted. The bloody spectacle you wrought by willingly sacrificing your own kind, the screams... the chaos. Does it bring satisfaction?"
The mist wriggled and slowly moved, until Bielle tilted her head right behind Professor Prezel and whispered.
Her fingers dug gently into her shoulders without pain.
Words slithering like snakes slowly wormed into her ears, scrambling her mind.
"Joy? Sorrow? Torment? Or guilt? Regret, remorse, emptiness, void? Grief? Hm... if not that... a sense of debt? Haha... anything's fine. Really, anything at all..."
Tell me your feelings.
The woman's excited moans, heavy breaths laced with heat, a voice mixing coquetry and deep exhalations.
A devil sneered through it all.
Professor Prezel widened her eyes and snapped back.
"Tempting me is against the contract terms...!"
Bielle pulled away, feigning great surprise.
"Oh my!"
She fluttered dramatically and shrugged her shoulders.
Professor Prezel found the theatrical attitude repulsive, but she ground her teeth at the following prattle.
"What contract terms between us? Come on, that's no way to treat people. I just..."
Bielle clutched her cheeks as if thrilled with excitement and pleasure, flashing a radiant smile.
"I'm curious what it feels like to be a traitor who boldly sold out your own kind—not to another nation, but your own race?"
The word "race" instead of "nation" drained the color from Prezel's face.
"Eek! I love that expression. How can humans be so ugly yet beautiful!!"
But contradictorily, Bielle shook her head as if to say don't, then crept closer.
"But don't be so sad. Thanks to you, my belly's full. Thank you. One hearty meal. I'm enjoying it thoroughly."
Her sincere gratitude timed perfectly with the screams from outside made Professor Prezel's eyes tremble.
Moments later, Professor Prezel clenched her teeth.
"Then uphold the contract. You promised to teach me purity..."
Bielle clapped as if she'd forgotten.
"Right, that's it? Oh dear, look at me. Haha, yes. Yes. Purity..."
She mulled over the word "purity," then stood before Professor Prezel with a lukewarm smile.
Prezel felt puzzled as Bielle clasped her fingertips together in a praying gesture.
The rippling shadow plunged in, piercing her chest.
A thin trickle of blood, like nosebleed, seeped from Professor Prezel's mouth.
"...Cough?"
Bielle drew a long arc across her lips toward Prezel's bloodshot eyes, which seemed to question what was happening.
"Congratulations."
"Wha... t."
Looking down, countless black spears pierced her body along her shadow.
Devil-wielded shadow magic.
It ravaged her insides, slowly injecting an unidentified energy.
"This is... contract viola..."
"It's not a violation. Look at you. You're gradually starting to resemble us."
"I... don't want this."
"No, you wished for it. Purity. Black so pure not a speck of grime touches it. Its truth."
"No...!"
"Haha, denying it? Ugh, how ugly."
Bielle giggled.
As Prezel thought it sounded just like a devil's laugh, Bielle burst into mad cackles.
"But I love that side of humans too, so it's fine. Here's a tip for you. Live in that state long enough, and you might reach purity someday. Well, if you can live that long."
If you can live that long?
No way could she survive long in this state.
Professor Prezel shed tears amid boiling rage.
"Uwaaa..."
In other words, she'd been used completely.
In her fading consciousness, Professor Prezel spat out a question.
"Why...?"
"Why? Why, you ask?"
For the first time, Bielle wiped the smile from her lips.
"Because your stupid actions exposed my identity. You couldn't even do the job right, you idiot bitch."
Who? To whom?
Bielle met her gaze with a cold stare.
"Didn't you see Professor Aiden's eyes? He knew at a glance. Sigh, so stupid."
She clicked her tongue and turned away.
"Turn into a demonic and wreck this building. If a grand magic shoots off, it'll be a hassle. I need to prepare to escape."
Prezel tried to speak, but her mouth wouldn't open.
"Well then, goodbye. Race-traitor. You were a delightfully entertaining pawn."
With a final mocking laugh, Bielle dissolved completely into mist.
All those memories revived, and Professor Prezel—no, the demon cloaked in flames—let out a howl.
Soon, the flames surged toward the professors' location.
* * *
"We have to... save them."
A student from Professor Prezel's class spoke up.
The assistant who had deployed defensive magic glared with bloodshot eyes.
"You're saying that after seeing who the students are up against?!"
Seeing the student's face pale at his words, the assistant cursed inwardly.
"It's deathly aura. She's become a demonic."
There was no time to worry about Professor Prezel; they should worry about themselves first.
'And...'
The assistant licked his dry lips.
The only beings capable of corrupting people into demonics were devils.
It was common knowledge that devils turned worldly-naive children or war orphans into demonics.
But that applied to places like the unstable Middle East with poor security, not the imperial capital.
This place, with the Holy Court's cooperation, admitted no demonics.
If one had entered, it would have to be one that could fool even the Holy Court's eyes...
"A high-ranking devil?"
As someone mentioned the devil's presence, Professor Prezel let out a guttural scream and was fully consumed by the flames.
Roooar—
A perfect blaze form.
The professors activating grand magic flinched.
They knew of Professor Prezel's existence.
They had only hesitated due to the backlash from canceling the grand magic.
Even sharing the burden would mean serious injuries requiring long recovery.
But that hesitation bred more casualties.
Assistants were devoured by the flames.
Professor Prezel, lost to reason and rampaging wildly, showed no mercy, and those swept up perished without time to scream.
One professor gritted his teeth and cut off his incantation.
A grand magic requiring nonstop chanting.
Even a single interruption was fatal, and bearing the full burden amplified the shock.
Professor Paulo sweated coldly as he tried to launch magic at Professor Prezel but...
Before he could, he exhaled ragged breaths from his lungs and collapsed.
Instead, the professors bearing less burden groaned and glared at Professor Prezel with venomous eyes.
The professors' magic fired.
Attacks of a different league from the assistants struck Professor Prezel.
But they yielded little effect.
Murky black mist cloaked her body.
A superior force that unilaterally nullified mana.
Yet there were over a dozen professors here.
The department's top elites could suppress Professor Prezel the moment they synchronized their magic.
One problem: Professor Prezel wasn't the only threat here.
From the corridors, other classrooms, or even different floors, small magic circles began glowing faintly.
The professors were startled at when such circles had been laid, when thudding sounds accompanied monsters crawling out from them.
"What...!"
A massive centipede climbed the ceiling with eerie hisses.
Beasts drooled as they eyed the students, while goblins and assorted monsters gripped crude clubs and snarled.
With monsters swarming, they quickly fell into a defensive pinch, gaps forming in their barriers.
Students desperately unleashed every spell they knew, but it wasn't enough.
The great professor who swallowed the shock gritted his teeth.
Unlike others, he, past ninety, couldn't withstand grand magic's backlash.
His face rigid, the great professor flared his rage with bulging eyes.
"A mage who should revere intellect, how...!"
Seething fury encroached on the space.
He was a candidate for grand mage, just below master.
Around the great professor, terrifying mana converged as he invoked his brainpower.
The vast lecture hall darkened instantly as if night had fallen, then a single bolt of lightning surged.
When the light faded, charred black walls, sputtering embers, and gray ash swirled about.
Not just Professor Prezel—even the monsters' traces were gone, and as they caught their breath, flames approached.
Vivid yellow inferno.
The lecture hall filled with fire, and the great professor, hastily erecting a mana barrier, exhaled heavily from one corner.
'The students...'
Some twitched, signs of life.
But far more must have perished.
The great professor staggered up and eyed the now-demonic Professor Prezel.
He had no chance of surviving anyway.
Considering grand magic's backlash and aftereffects, his aged body lacked the stamina to endure.
Accepting death cleanly, he ironically glimpsed clearly the wall he'd never breached even in his prime.
The return of light before death, they called it.
Gathering all his mana to conjure a thunderbolt, the great professor glared at Professor Prezel as if to devour her.
Clashing flames and enveloping lightning.
Sparks flew, fire and currents scattering everywhere.
Zzzzzzap!
The magic's power clearly favored the great professor, but the demonic's presence made superiority unclear, pushing both sides back.
The great professor, slumped in a chair and fading, let out a wry chuckle.
Professor Prezel's body was half-melted, emitting wails.
She'd inflicted severe damage but seemed recoverable, unlike the great professor with no reserves left.
Despite the heavy blow, it was a verdict loss, and as he neared death's end, the great professor looked at Professor Prezel.
"Why did you become like this, child of the witch."
Was there a story that made you abandon humanity? She couldn't answer.
Unlike the botany professor, Professor Prezel retained no intellect for conversation.
With those words, the great professor closed his eyes.
One of the combat mages who halted the northward monster advance.
The great professor, who scorned lowly vermin his whole life, met his end crushed by a mere centipede.