If It's Just a Teaching Assistant
Resurrection.
The body that had been blown apart by a distant divinity pieced itself back together, and blood that had been utterly spent came flooding back in—far more than I'd ever possessed before. Filling, filling, filling until it could fill no more: the Monarch of Vampires, risen to stand as something beyond even her former self.
Through my bleary eyes, a single message appeared.
The Progenitor, 'Rasty Ervenus,' is activating Blood God Regression!
...I told you not to use that.
"...Rasty."
"Sorry, Unnie. But if not now, when am I ever going to beat you?"
"You—"
My consciousness began to fade.
Rasty drew close. She gathered me into her arms, and feeling the warmth of my body against hers, she looked directly into the camera.
"Hmm... how should I put this."
Ah.
"Dear prospective students? The Headmaster has some business to attend to, so I'm afraid that's all for today's tour."
The chat was in an uproar. Were they protesting because they were worried about me, or because I was about to end the stream?
...So it was about ending the stream.
"But don't worry. I'll be right back."
"......"
"Unnie will recover soon and come back to—...Unnie?"
Sensing that something was terribly wrong, Rasty shot to her feet. You only just noticed? Far too late. I let out a worn-out breath and reached out a hand gone as pale as Rasty's own.
"Hk—!"
Rasty crumpled where she stood. Unlike any true Blood Monarch, she retched up mouthful after mouthful of blood, staring at me with wide, trembling eyes.
Do you have any idea where you are?
"U-Uh, Unnie..."
"Haah... Rasty."
Rasty was a being bound to my soul long, long ago. Naturally, my past self had laid down a great many safeguards in order to control the monsters who had harmed countless people—they were my strength, yes, but they could just as easily rise in rebellion the moment I showed weakness.
Of course, as I weakened, those safeguards had become things I could never use again...
But this place is different.
This was a dimensional space of my own creation—my mindscape. If the conditions were met, calling upon the safeguards of the past was no trouble at all.
"Let's talk later."
Rasty collapsed as though the connection between us had simply been severed.
"...What did I do? Nothing special."
I had simply sent her home. Of all the safeguards I possessed, the most basic and easiest to wield: Reverse Summon. Rasty hadn't struggled or resisted; she had withdrawn without a fight.
Not that resistance would have changed anything.
"She just said she wanted to go home, so I sent her there."
"...Tier 5 would be a bit much. But up through Tier 2, you can absolutely take on the challenge."
Tier 5 had never been made to be cleared. It was, quite literally, a bonus stage—and honestly, no matter how strong Leo or Yena became, they would never beat the Tier 5 Progenitor.
And yet.
I told you not to use Blood God Regression...
Up through True Blood? Fine. I was prepared to concede that much. I had told her to face me in earnest, and I had faced her in earnest in return.
But Blood God Regression was another matter entirely. To counter it, I would have to stack the Crown atop Sacred Fire and throw every card I owned onto the table.
And that was something I could not do. My condition was far too unstable to bear the Crown or Sacred Fire, and Rasty knew that perfectly well.
But if she was going to ignore all of that and try to use it anyway, then I, too, would have no choice but to use a move that 'crossed the line.'
"...Rasty is..."
"...Ugh!"
Rasty's eyes flew open. She pushed herself upright on instinct, clutching at the area around her heart against a searing wave of pain.
The sealing sigil etched into her soul was suppressing her. Her strength was restrained; even the proper manipulation of her own blood had become a struggle.
...So these conditions really were a touch lacking after all.
THUD!
"I hadn't expected such behavior from you, of all people. How surprising."
"...Statue."
Rasty lifted her face and fixed her crimson eyes on the sandstone figure. Pharaoh, wearing the Emperor's Mask—perhaps he had taken some care with his appearance—chuckled low as he looked down at her.
"Were you contemplating escape as well? I would have thought you, of all beings, knew better."
"Escape? Hardly. I was merely playing a little prank."
Their master, Lily Unnie—now so much, so very much weaker than before. Rasty had wanted to test just how far that diminished power would reach, and the result had been unambiguous.
...So even drawing on True Blood isn't enough against her, hm.
However much she had weakened to the level of an insect, Lily was still Lily. In the end, Rasty had reached for a greater power and been slapped down for it.
Pharaoh gave his golden spear a resounding tap and leaned back against the wall.
Come to think of it—where was this, anyway?
"Statue. Where is this place?"
"The waiting room. Did you not hear that we were to gather here?"
"I know that much. I also know that you're the infamous 'Uncle Inom.'"
"...What a positively wretched title."
The Emperor of the Desert, reduced to mere Uncle. Grumbling, Pharaoh dragged the butt of his golden spear across the floor. Screeeech. Screeeech. With every stroke, the waiting room's surroundings shifted a little further toward desert.
"Stop that."
"This is my waiting room. Are you not a castle? Mind your own castle."
"That castle was just destroyed, if you recall."
"Then Lily will simply build you a new one."
Pharaoh said it with perfect indifference, and Rasty nodded. Fair enough. Castles were hardly in short supply.
The statue before her eyes was one such case, after all.
"...Do you still long to return to the desert?"
"I do. I am the great Emperor born of the sands. My will, my soul and body alike—all of it belongs to the desert. How could I possibly not go back?"
"Your soul belongs to Unnie, though."
"......"
"The way I see it, you'll never go back. The humans you slaughtered number well into the tens of thousands. You think Unnie would ever let you go?"
"Had they become subjects of the great Emperor, they would never have known death at all."
"I doubt the humans saw it that way."
"Incomprehensible. I killed less than you did, if anything. Certainly no more."
Behind Pharaoh's golden mask, two eyes fixed themselves upon Rasty. Less threatening than Kraken, perhaps—but those golden eyes, too, were vessels of a mighty authority. Yet the Progenitor met them head-on without yielding a single inch.
"Fine. I killed more. But I have laid all of that down now."
"Laid it down, you say. Hilarious. For one who has 'let go,' you seemed remarkably earnest about it just now?"
"...Do you wish to die?"
Blood authority surged up from Rasty. Her power was suppressed, yes—but she was hardly so weak as to lose to a single statue. Pharaoh, evidently aware of the same, coughed out a khrm! and retreated a full step.
"...In any case, Lily told us to wait. She said she would explain matters to those young whelps, and summon us afterward."
"And 'Lily'?"
"Not a word yet."
"You think Unnie has caught on?"
"Who can say. Wouldn't you know better than I?"
Rasty turned her head away. The other Lily she had glimpsed within the Void Space. It had been brought up any number of times already, and that figure had even revealed itself during the humans' tournament. If it was the Unnie she knew, she ought to be piecing it together by now...
"...Or perhaps she simply has no wish to know."
"She'll be your professor. From now on, she'll be assisting me with the lectures."
Back at the Academy once more, I lay reclined in the infirmary bed as I explained Rasty. The Progenitor I had created, Rasty Ervenus, was modeled on the abilities and appearance of the vampires one so often saw across various media. For now she was nothing more than an NPC, but the plan was to materialize her through an expenditure of magic and mana stones and put her to work as a professor.
...That was the story, at any rate.
Until now, I had been able to display my magic and my many skills freely by treating them as part of my class—but Rasty was different. She was the Monarch of Vampires, wielding abilities that were the exact opposite of my own divinity. Showing off a Rasty like that without any background to explain her would have been a problem.
"It seems teaching on my own would be rather too much for me, you see. And I couldn't very well ask Leo or the others, who are only just beginning to learn themselves."
Most of those who received my instruction were 'Rankers.' Men and women who flew and soared through the field called DeoEn. To teach such people, mere textbook knowledge would never suffice.
Though perhaps a teaching assistant might get away with it.
"Of course, she isn't anywhere near this strong, you know. She was made difficult for the sake of the challenge, so in reality she's weaker than even the Tier 1 Progenitor. The same goes for Uncle Inom."
Pharaoh and Rasty. Pulling either of them out at full power was impossible to begin with. Using the Crown would be out of the question, and even if I did use it, they would simply return to the seal the moment it was released—so it would mean nothing.
"Now, I have someone else to go meet."
It was time to pay a visit to Uncle Inom.