Episode 1194
Episode 1194
Professor Voladi incinerated the enemy's corpse without leaving a trace even before it hit the ground.
The most crucial aspect of such assassinations was leaving no evidence behind.
Once the Head Butler regained consciousness, he would undoubtedly be bewildered by his master's sudden disappearance. However, with the commotion in the courtyard overlapping, he wouldn't be able to pinpoint exactly what had happened.
Taking advantage of that gap, Lee Han could eliminate four or five more targets.
"!"
Even when he had beheaded an old nemesis, the professor hadn't so much as blinked. Yet now, he cast a bewildered glance downward.
The few people he had any personal connection to—his student and his friend—were swiftly making their way into the mansion's courtyard.
"Professor!"
"Speak! I'm listening!"
Professor Kirmin gestured while gliding forward effortlessly.
"It might be a bit late to bring this up now, but... what if Professor Bagrak runs away again?"
"......"
Had the Skeleton Principal heard this, he would have labeled them both fools. But surprisingly, neither of them had a solid solution yet.
Professor Kirmin swallowed dryly before speaking.
"That... is indeed a problem."
"Can't we capture him with magic? We have the Death Knights here too."
'Is he really his disciple?'
The Death Knights following behind couldn't help but wonder.
Disciples trying to bring their master back usually relied on persuasion or pleading, didn't they?
Come to think of it, this was probably just reaping what they'd sown. A disciple of Professor Bagrak would naturally favor similar solutions.
'There's a reason they say you reap what you sow.'
"Under normal circumstances, it would've been possible. But thanks to that damned angel losing his dimension..."
"That blasted angel!"
Lee Han gritted his teeth—a rare display of frustration.
The Dimension of Divine Light Extinguished, which Apazragon had lost to Professor Voladi, continued to be a persistent nuisance.
Since it was a dimension specialized for escape, neither Professor Kirmin nor the Death Knights could easily restrain him...
'Next time I see him, I'll really capture him and lock him up in Einrogard's underground dungeon.'
"...But I haven't been completely idle in thinking about it."
"!"
Lee Han's eyes sparkled as he looked at Professor Kirmin.
As expected, the professor was different—in a way that mattered.
"What is it? Wait, don't tell me you've been slipping poison into Professor Bagrak's meals all along..."
"Wardanaz, you should really stop reading those strange mystery novels. The method I've thought of is straightforward—sincerely persuading him."
"Through the power of friendship?"
It was a bit underwhelming compared to what Lee Han had hoped for—like snapping his fingers to make Professor Bagrak collapse before binding him tightly in chains and dragging him away. But as long as the goal was achieved, he had no complaints.
"No. You're the one who has to do the persuading."
"Me?"
Lee Han was taken aback.
He couldn't imagine Professor Bagrak listening to him.
Last time, he had called out to him, only to be ignored as the professor walked away...
"He'll respond better to his disciple than to a friend. Besides, he's never been one to listen to his friends anyway."
"Don't you have anything like poison you've been feeding him regularly? Or maybe something from the field of Illusion Magic..."
Professor Kirmin shook his head.
He wished he had something like that, but reality was always harsh.
They had no choice but to face things as they were.
"Normally, this isn't something I'd tell you, but given the circumstances, I'll keep it brief. You know Professor Bagrak has deep-seated resentment toward the cult, right?"
Lee Han nodded.
The Skeleton Principal hadn't gone into detail, but he had guessed that the grudge between them wasn't ordinary.
Even while moving, Professor Kirmin hesitated slightly before speaking.
"Back then, among the western vampire families, there was a strange magical trend circulating. A magic where offering blood would grant all sorts of rewards—sometimes youth, sometimes strength, sometimes foresight."
"That's..."
Lee Han couldn't hide his bewilderment at what was clearly suspicious magic.
Had people actually believed in something like that?
"Exactly. Looking back now, it's obviously the worship of an Evil God. But at the time, the Sanguiros Cult wasn't widely known as such, and most families weren't magic experts like us. It wasn't uncommon for peculiar magics to briefly become trends among the nobility."
Unlike the students of Einrogard, who recoiled at even the mere mention of the word 'magic,' ordinary people in the Empire still held a sense of mystery and fascination toward it.
It was quite common for forgotten, outdated magic from the past to coincidentally gain popularity and circulate in high society.
"Anyway, the trend spread rapidly. Vampires, who already enjoyed blood consumption, were even more inclined toward it."
Among the western vampire families, most of the high-ranking ones quickly became enamored with this trend.
Vampire society in the Empire was more insular than that of other races, making internal influence far stronger. A trend that started among the upper families spread downward in the blink of an eye.
"Don't tell me... Professor, you too?!"
Lee Han asked in shock. Professor Kirmin answered in a bitter voice.
"No. Voladi came from a dissenting family. There were a few families that found the trend suspicious and kept their distance. They weren't particularly powerful, though."
After speaking up to this point, Professor Kirmin hesitated even more than before.
Eventually, as if steeling himself, he spoke.
"Dragging this out won't do any good, so I'll just say it. Originally, relations among the western vampire families weren't that bad. The high nobles may have looked down on the lower nobles who defected, but they never took action against them... at least, not until the Evil God started causing trouble."
The Sanguiros Cult never gave anything without demanding a price in return.
At first, Sanguiros rewarded generously even for simple offerings, but soon revealed his true nature, demanding greater sacrifices from his most loyal followers.
Specifically, the lives of their own kin.
"!!"
"Naturally, the weaker, dissenting families—those who had always been an annoyance—became the targets... and one of them was Voladi's family. I don't need to explain further, do I?"
Lee Han nodded.
He already knew that the western vampire families had been devastated because of the Sanguiros Cult and the chaos they had caused.
But he hadn't realized they had gone so far as to sacrifice their own kin.
"Voladi sought revenge at the time, but realistically, he couldn't have captured everyone involved. Even if he got the direct perpetrators, the number of mere associates would have been dozens of times greater. There was also a large-scale purge afterward."
No matter how vast the Empire's territory or how developed its autonomy, such an incident couldn't be covered up for long.
The Skeleton Principal himself led the imperial army to encircle the entire western region in a massive purge. Under such circumstances, even Professor Voladi would have found it difficult to carry out his revenge freely.
Someone like Lord Langbern had likely only survived by slipping through the chaos.
"Are you saying the professor is trying to track down and eliminate all the remaining associates he couldn't get back then?"
"...I'm not sure about that myself, Wardanaz."
Among the old associates, there were undoubtedly still quite a few who secretly clung to their beliefs even now.
Wiping out these people would inevitably provoke a reaction from the Sanguiros Cult.
Cutting off the enemy's limbs while provoking them was certainly a sound strategy, but...
...Professor Kirmin wasn't entirely convinced that his friend was acting purely rationally, free from any personal vendetta.
The Skeleton Principal had told him to trust Professor Voladi, but the image of his friend, once consumed by vengeance, still flickered in his mind.
"Whatever it takes, just find a way to tie the bastard's feet, even if just for a moment."
—'Just make him drop his guard, and we can bind his limbs. Just make him let his guard down for a moment.'
'First, they tell me to persuade him, and now...'
Lee Han was dumbfounded by what Professor Kirmin and the Death Knights were saying.
Do these people really believe he can be persuaded?
"What's this? Scram!"
The mercenaries and guards causing chaos in the courtyard reacted harshly to the new arrivals.
The mercenaries were wary, suspecting them to be pursuers from the knight order, while the guards were on edge because they hadn't even finished dealing with the mercenaries before new intruders appeared.
Already worried sick about Professor Voladi, the knights' eyes blazed with fury as these random thugs started causing trouble.
Professor Kirmin stretched out his hand to stop them.
"We don't know the situation inside, so let's not escalate things. I'll handle this."
"It's a mage! Be caref—"
One quick-witted guard tried to pull out an artifact to prepare for magic.
But even that nimble reaction was in vain—everyone present suddenly froze as if their souls had left their bodies.
"???"
Lee Han was startled.
None of the illusion magic he'd learned so far had ever shown such swift and overwhelming effects.
What the hell?
'A Small World? No, it's too quiet. An Evil Eye? But a Magic Eye with this level of power...'
Perhaps sensing his disciple's bewilderment, Professor Kirmin spoke with an awkward expression.
"Wardanaz. I can guess what you're curious about, so I'll just tell you. I'd appreciate it if you didn't spread this around. My mother... was a succubus."
"!!!"
Before Lee Han could even process the shock about his professor's lineage, he was stunned again.
The racial power of an incubus was similar to that of a basilisk—impossible to control with precision.
You couldn't selectively use the Petrifying Evil Eye on one person while sparing another.
"You can control an incubus's power with this level of precision?!"
"To be exact, I just blanketed the entire mansion—it just didn't affect you, Wardanaz..."
-It didn't work on us because we're undead.
Turning around, Lee Han saw Amrek staring blankly into space, lost in a dream.
He resolved to apologize once this was all over.
"Then let's go up."
"Wait a moment."
Having already experienced the professor's escape once, Lee Han had no intention of approaching this normally.
Who knew if he'd bolt at the slightest opportunity?
Crash—!
The Death Knights gaped.
They'd naturally assumed the heir would have a few tricks prepared, but transforming into a dragon was beyond their expectations.
Let's go!
-Uh, uh...
As Lee Han transformed into a Black Dragon, he suddenly smashed through the mansion's walls and ceiling, charging toward the fourth floor.
"!"
Originally, Professor Voladi had planned to escape while the Death Knights were climbing up, but his disciple's transformation made him lose focus for a moment, his eyes widening.
The mansion was collapsing, but that hardly mattered—what was far more important was the sudden appearance of a dragon.
What the hell was going on?
Seizing the moment, the Death Knights hidden beneath the wings leaped out.
-Got him!
-Professor Ku, put this troublemaker to sleep! Lock him in the deepest part of Einrogard until this is over!
"...No persuasion attempt?"
Lee Han, coughing and wheezing as he reverted from his transformation, gave the knights a bewildered look.
The Death Knights averted their eyes, hiding their embarrassment.
-Of course, persuasion comes first. Go on. Persuade him.
-We believe in you!
"......"
Suddenly receiving such encouragement was incredibly burdensome. Professor Voladi stared pointedly at Lee Han.
"I told you to self-study, didn't I?"
"Uh... well, you see..."
As Lee Han faltered, Professor Kirmin cleared his throat—a silent warning not to be intimidated.
'He's the one who ran away, Wardanaz! Don't be scared of your lousy teacher!'
"Professor. You can't just leave the school and act recklessly like this."
"I have a valid reason."
Professor Voladi explained calmly.
It was a theory Lee Han already knew well—'If you have many enemies in the church, strike first to focus their resentment on you.'
"You're the one who shouldn't be acting so recklessly without even a request."
"S-Sorry..."
-It's hopeless.
The Death Knights shook their heads.
Master and disciple were fundamentally too compatible.
The only option left was to keep knocking him unconscious so he couldn't use dimensional escape...