Chapter 184
Chapter 184
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 184
Chapter Title: The Dean's Contradiction
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The cadet who first spotted the armored soldier had witnessed a miracle.
A massive blade tip that shattered and pierced the wall had come to a halt just a handspan from his eyeball.
“Huff… huff…”
…Was it really a miracle?
In truth, it wasn’t.
The blade capable of skewering this massive building without leaving a trace behind had not been halted by the wall. It had stopped in empty air.
‘No, that’s not it…’
It hadn’t stopped.
Fine cracks like spiderwebs spiderwebbed across the empty air. A thin, thin bluish membrane.
That membrane had blocked the thrown sword.
The cadet sensed a majestic mana from the barrier—one he had never felt in his life before.
In this building right now, only one person could wield mana of that magnitude.
“Dean…?”
* * *
Research Building 12, rooftop.
Dean Alderson had grasped the entire situation unfolding inside the building.
The slowly crumbling defensive lines, the cadets swept up in madness and running amok, the leaders pushed to their limits… And at the moment of life and death, the manifestation of the imperial family’s power.
Glen Scarlett’s awakening was certainly encouraging, but it alone couldn’t overcome the fundamental crisis.
In the end, even though Alderson was aware of every moment of crisis, the reason he hadn’t intervened was because of the “true crisis” hovering in the sky above.
The 250 armored soldiers he had personally created.
“…”
Alderson Marbure.
Respected the Platinum King and admired the White Knight Order.
It might be strange for a mage to harbor such feelings toward them.
In fact, because of this, Alderson was often treated as an oddball by the other Seven-Colored Mages.
Out of ten mages, seven would express respect for the Magic King, and the remaining three would choose the Nameless King.
But Alderson admired the Platinum King the most, and the reason was surprisingly simple.
Because the Platinum King had founded Cartel Academy.
In other words, the Platinum King had been the academy’s first dean.
According to records, after the Platinum King established the academy and took office as dean, more than half the White Knight Order had joined the academy.
The knights became professors, instructors, guards, or—rarely—even enrolled as cadets.
It was a curious thing.
The Platinum King’s reign had been before the Nameless King unified the continent—when the continent was at its most dangerous and chaotic.
Naturally, the Platinum King’s blade, the White Knight Order, had participated in the most battlefields in history and had no choice but to slay the most enemies.
The kingdom that became the foundation of the Nameless Empire had been called [Atan] at the time.
During its days as a kingdom, the White Knight Order had been no different from grim reapers to the enemy forces.
And yet, after the war ended, why hadn’t those very people chosen paths that made use of their talents?
Scholars claim that it was the epitome of the White Knight Order’s loyalty.
Even after their king stepped down from power, he remained their eternal liege—the true vassal’s oath to stand together until death.
That is why, in the empire today, the term “White Knight” has become synonymous with the ideal knight.
However, Alderson knows.
The relationship between the Platinum King and the White Knight Order wasn’t so rigid.
They say it was surprisingly informal.
The Platinum King had an incredibly bold and magnanimous personality, and the White Knight Order that followed him was the same.
What many don’t know is that most of the White Knight Order weren’t even from noble backgrounds. There were commoners and nobles, and even death row inmates.
Naturally, their relationship with the king wasn’t strictly vertical.
In fact, the imperial annals preserved in the palace—the recorded dialogues there—read like some bandit leader and his merry band of comrades.
That’s why so many disbelieve the records even after reading them firsthand.
It’s not so strange.
Even if not nobles, it feels off for knights to call their king “big bro.”
In any case, after abdicating, the Platinum King disbanded the White Knight Order and granted them their freedom.
In other words, following him all the way to the academy and making it their home was their personal choice.
Alderson somehow felt he understood the reason.
“They must have discovered the joy of teaching.”
Just like me.
He still found it amazing sometimes.
That a selfish, egotistical, delinquent mage like himself had become the dean of a school.
Alderson thinks.
People born kind, who never committed a great wrong, who never experienced failure…
Such people are surely admirable humans with much to emulate.
But he felt they weren’t suited to be true teachers.
It might be prejudice.
Even so, Alderson knows there’s a difference in how those who’ve tasted failure and error teach versus those who haven’t.
It’s different from talent or passion.
It’s a matter of sincerity.
The former are far more desperate.
Because they don’t want their disciples to live like fools, as they did.
In truth, isn’t that the very origin of what it means to be a teacher?
‘…’
Surely the White Knight Order—and the Platinum King—harbored the same thoughts.
Even if for the nation, war and slaughter erode the heart.
Kill, get wounded, heal, nearly die, kill again—the White Knight Order spent at least twenty years on the battlefield.
They say the knights often made self-deprecating jokes.
Like whether they should rename themselves the Red Knight Order.
And so, after retiring, when the White Knight Order took up positions as professors at the academy…
What change came over their hearts?
Whenever Alderson imagined that era he hadn’t witnessed, he couldn’t help but smile.
Former knights.
Suits would feel awkward on bodies used to armor.
Stiff in ill-fitting clothes, occasionally corrected by the cadets they taught, resolving to learn again at an advanced age for the sake of teaching, and so the years passed…
…Until one day, deep wrinkles etched their faces.
When every student at the academy called them “professor” without awkwardness, and they felt no resistance to it—
Perhaps that’s when the White Knight Order first felt peace in their lives.
“…Sir Darren.”
Alderson murmured lowly.
The armored soldier that had just thrown the sword.
Among the hundreds of armored soldiers, it was the only one wearing a cape.
Sir Darren Swite, captain of the White Knight Order.
“…”
To be honest, Alderson still didn’t want to destroy the White Knight Order.
Because he had made them with his own hands?
Because he still respected them?
…Not wrong, but not the full answer.
Alderson had memorized the names of all 250 White Knights…
And to honor their spirits, he had collected all their armaments and equipped them on these soldiers.
It had cost an astronomical sum and even more arduous collection efforts, but he had succeeded.
To Alderson, every single armored soldier was no different from a national treasure.
Destroying them felt like vandalizing ancient cultural artifacts.
Of course, the most agonizing part was knowing all this stemmed from his own mistake and negligence.
‘…But.’
Kikikik-.
The armored soldiers’ eyes gleamed.
The gazes of all 250 locked onto Alderson simultaneously.
[Attack failed.]
[Analyzing cause.]
[Analysis complete.]
[Grand Magic [Platinum Rampart] confirmed. Caster: Alderson Marbure.]
[Designating Alderson Marbure as top priority elimination target from this moment.]
Clank-.
With mechanical voices, the entire White Knight Order soared into the sky once more and assumed the same stance.
“-Ah.”
Arin let out a small sound.
The same throwing stance as Darren earlier.
Hundreds of armored soldiers poised in the high sky, ready to hurl their weapons.
It somehow lacked a sense of reality.
Arin even forgot that they were trying to kill her.
Against the red sky at their backs, they exuded a kind of sanctity.
Kwaaaaaang!
When they finally slammed their weapons down in unison, Arin couldn’t even make a sound.
The swords, spears, axes, maces, and more held by the White Knight Order rained from the heavens.
The term divine punishment came to mind.
If despair as an emotion were painted into a landscape, where not even the will to fight arose, let alone hope—wouldn’t it look like this?
Zzzzzzzzzzzt-!
Alderson poured every ounce of mana he had drawn up into the grand magic he had personally developed, [Platinum Rampart].
Kwaaaaagwagwagwang!
The White Knight Order’s weapon barrage crashed against the Platinum Rampart.
For an instant, the entire shadow world seemed to tremble.
Alderson let out a scream-like shout.
To boost the defense even a little more, he fused deeply with the grand magic. In this moment, the Platinum Rampart was his very body.
He felt the shock as if the storm of weapons plummeting from the sky were striking his flesh directly.
“Cough…!”
His aged body creaked.
Unable to withstand the pressure, Alderson dropped to one knee right there.
“Dean!”
“…”
He stopped Arin, who tried to run over, and calmly shook his head.
His vision blurred, his eyes hot. It felt like the blood vessels in his eyeballs had burst.
A gush of bloody foam surged up his throat.
The backlash of deploying magic with a body far from whole. He accepted it gladly.
“Heh…”
Alderson swallowed the rising blood and smiled bitterly.
He could see the hundreds of weapons blocked by the barrier.
Platinum Rampart.
It had held up better than expected, but now it had reached its limit.
“Truly… whoever made you… you’re damn strong…”
[…….]
“…You mustn’t do this. Can you hear me? White Knights. I wanted you to become the academy’s shield. It was my contradictory wish. I always dreamed of the moment you protected the cadets, but I didn’t truly want that situation to arise. A shield is most valuable when it’s rendered worthless…”
His wrinkled face twisted.
Suddenly, Alderson felt his heart swell.
“This… is too much. For you to attack those you’re meant to protect…”
[…….]
“I know. It’s all because of my negligence. You bear no sin.”
Creeeeak-.
The Platinum Rampart flickered as if it might vanish any second. How much longer could it hold?
Alderson observed as optimistically as possible. A maximum of one minute.
And yet, only five minutes had passed since facing the White Knight Order.
Focused on the grand magic, he hadn’t properly infused mana into their magic stones.
‘…’
Alderson thought.
One minute until the Platinum Rampart’s total destruction.
Could he halt every single armored soldier within the next minute?
‘No.’
The grand mage realized the impossibility.
Truthfully, it had been impossible from the start.
…Which meant, from the beginning, this was the only way.
[…….]
The armored soldiers in the sky froze.
‘Have you realized? It’s already too late.’
Before he knew it.
Violet mana extending from Dean Alderson enveloped the bodies of every armored soldier.
“Wah…”
Arin couldn’t help but gasp in admiration at the sight.
The sight of intangible mana, swirling like threads of yarn, binding the bodies of hundreds of armored soldiers was so dreamlike it made her forget the current crisis.
‘But…’
What did the dean plan to do in that state?
It was a feat no one but a grand mage could even attempt, but that alone couldn’t neutralize the armored soldiers.
Even at a glance, it was clear it consumed an enormous amount of mana. In the dean’s current condition, how long could he maintain it?
‘…’
There was no need to maintain it long.
Ten seconds would suffice.
Dean Alderson’s eyes gleamed fiercely.
Emergency command: Whiteout.
In other words, a self-destruct order.
‘…Rest in peace.’
Dean Alderson tightly shut his eyes.