Episode 752
Episode 752
Professor Garcia was momentarily taken aback but quickly regained his composure and examined the artifact closely.
Right now, the most important thing was saving the student, wasn't it?
The Headmaster often said, 'An outstanding mage does not hesitate in choosing their means for the sake of their goal,' so he would surely understand.
'...Even if he doesn't, what can I do?!'
"Wait. An Ancient Artifact with the power to pierce through the world. A stone-shaped artifact that the Headmaster possesses... Isn't this the Stone of Saint Iactus?"
Upon identifying the artifact, Professor Garcia was startled once again.
The dreadful mana sealed within the stone wasn't just brute-force compressed mana crammed inside.
It was an entire world.
A new world had been constructed within the stone using an immense amount of mana.
And the sole purpose of that world was to pierce.
A stone containing a world of order, created solely to penetrate—to pierce through any and all obstacles in its path.
As a mage, he knew well how absurd the idea of 'a spear that can pierce anything' was, but this stone made him recall such a fantastical notion.
It truly contained that level of destructive power.
"The Headmaster called it by another name."
"Isn't that because the Headmaster believed the creator's name should be attached to it rather than the user's...?"
Professor Verdus made a grumbling noise as if in agreement.
Artifacts were typically named after their creators, not their users.
But there was always an exception to the rule.
A truly extraordinary user would inevitably have their name attached instead of the creator's.
"We can't just use this recklessly, Professor Bagrak. Your body would burn to ashes."
Professor Garcia spoke in a worried tone.
Even powerful artifacts placed a burden on their users—how much more so for an Ancient Artifact, each of which bore its own legendary name?
Especially this Stone of Saint Iactus. Even when he had only heard of it through legends or the Skeleton Principal's grumblings, it had felt dangerous. Now, seeing it with his own eyes, he could practically feel just how perilous this artifact was.
Neither Professor Garcia nor Professor Bagrak would be able to escape its toll.
For an artifact like this, they needed to prepare a workaround or some indirect method...
"There is a way."
Professor Voladi reached out toward Professor Verdus. Seeing this, Professor Garcia exclaimed in shock.
"No matter what, we can't force Professor Vible to use it!"
Kidnapping was already pushing the limits of Professor Garcia's conscience, but forcing someone to use an artifact and suffer its backlash was crossing the line.
At that outburst, Professor Voladi gave Professor Garcia a slightly flustered look.
"...Is that not it?"
"No."
Professor Garcia felt awkward.
Who would've thought he'd assume they were considering human sacrifice?
Professor Voladi undid the sealing magic binding Professor Verdus's arms.
Immediately, Professor Verdus formed hand signs, attempting to cast a spell.
Thud!
Professor Voladi subdued him again.
"Stay still."
"Grrrblblb..."
This time, even after being released, Professor Verdus didn't move. Having accepted reality, he slumped like a beaver whose dam had collapsed.
"To use this artifact..."
Professor Voladi took out another Ancient Artifact and handed it to the beaver-like Verdus.
At the sight of the radiant, droplet-shaped gem, Professor Garcia shrieked.
"The Droplet of Anabadalda?!"
According to legend, this Ancient Artifact protected its owner from any form of scorching flame. Witnessing the Droplet of Anabadalda in person left Professor Garcia genuinely stunned.
"How on earth did you obtain this, Professor Bagrak?!"
"I borrowed it from the Headmaster's room."
"......"
Professor Garcia was beginning to grow concerned.
He and Professor Verdus didn't particularly care whether they ended up in the Punishment Room, the Deep Punishment Room, or even the Eternal Punishment Room—but Professor Bagrak was the one who had dragged them into this, wasn't he?
Moreover, she was worried about how much destruction they'd caused to the room while retrieving those two Ancient Artifacts. The extent of the room's damage would directly correlate with the Skeleton Principal's rising fury.
"Let's proceed."
"Ah, yes. We should enter when the students are away."
Professor Garcia intended to handle this as quietly as possible.
Originally, even if Einrogard students went missing, professors never personally went searching for them.
Given that, showing up in front of other students—three professors (one of whom was even in a sealed state)—
to rescue Lee Han was... a little embarrassing.
But Professor Garcia had her own justification.
'None of the missing Einrogard students so far have ever been kidnapped by the Headmaster's insane doppelganger...!'
While all Einrogard students were unfortunate, some were just a little more unfortunate than others.
Professor Garcia believed exceptional rules should apply to such students.
"Now."
The three professors cast Invisibility Magic and slipped lightly into the campsite.
Perhaps because it was midday on a weekday, no students were visible. They must have temporarily returned to school, leaving their work behind.
Even students didn't skip lectures, so Professor Garcia, who had recklessly ditched hers to come here, wore a guilt-ridden expression.
"Haah. I feel bad for the other students..."
"?"
"?"
Professors Verdus and Voladi stared at Professor Garcia as if asking what she was talking about.
Realizing these two were the farthest from being suitable for discussing her guilt, Professor Garcia swiftly changed the subject.
"...Shall we proceed with the work?"
"This spot seems suitable."
Professor Voladi pointed to the magic tent used by the fifth-year students.
The magic tent, which contained a vast interior space, had been placed precisely in front of the Great Magic's weak point spread across the mountain range, making it convenient for their task.
Grateful for the students' competence, Professor Garcia stepped inside. The three professors dispelled their Invisibility Magic and surveyed the tent.
"This is..."
"Grmph?"
Professor Voladi removed Professor Verdus's gag.
Professor Verdus, upon seeing the magic circle and materials inside the tent, spoke.
"These look like Yukveltire's work..."
"Don't talk nonsense, Professor Vible. There's no way Yukveltire would come here to help Lee Han."
"But... but this resembles Yukveltire's work... What's going on?"
Professor Verdus was utterly confused.
Yukveltire wasn't the type to come here to assist a junior.
Yet this was unmistakably Yukveltire's magic.
This contradiction caused an error in Professor Verdus's logical circuitry.
"And that's not even the important part right now. What matters is whether we can borrow it."
"Precisely."
"Exactly. We should proceed immediately."
"Then let's do it right away."
Professor Garcia picked up the stone and the droplet.
Just then, the tent flap opened, and Diret stepped in alone.
"That rotten jerk. Not even a real friend. With time being so urgent, he just had to go back to check his research...!"
Cursing an anonymous friend from the Blue Dragon Tower, Diret froze upon seeing the three professors inside the tent.
"...What are you all doing here?"
"Uh... well..."
The three professors were just as flustered as Diret.
"Working on something?"
"Preparing for the rescue."
Actually, only Professor Garcia was flustered.
Professors Verdus and Voladi were more composed than panicked.
Fortunately, Diret, instead of causing a scene—like shouting, 'The Einrogard professors are only here to save a Wardanaz junior!' or 'Headmaster! Look at these professors!'—quickly grasped the situation with remarkable shrewdness.
"You came to help our junior?!"
"Shh, shh...! Diret, lower your voice."
"I never imagined all three of you would come to help...!"
Diret was genuinely moved.
Unlike upperclassmen or friends of juniors, I never expected professors to come all this way for me.
And of all people, even Professor Voladi and Professor Verdus were here.
"I wasn't planning to! I was kidnapped— Ghk!"
Professor Verdus let out a dying scream as Professor Garcia lightly smacked his back, sending him tumbling forward.
"That's right, Diret. All three of us came. Of course, as an Einrogard student, even if you go missing, you should escape on your own strength. But against the Headmaster's avatar, how could we—"
"I agree completely!"
Diret shouted passionately.
After dealing with that heartless, anonymous friend from the Blue Dragon Tower, talking to a sane person like Professor Garcia was an indescribable relief.
Rules or not, exceptions had to exist.
No matter how he thought about it, being kidnapped by the Skeleton Principal's avatar was definitely an exceptional situation.
"But, Professor... My friends and I have already hit our limit here. Do you happen to know any way to break through this or any Reverse Magic?"
"There is a way."
"!"
Diret gasped in admiration.
Truly, the breadth of magic possessed by Einrogard's professors was beyond comprehension. Even as a fifth-year, Diret couldn't imagine ever reaching such insight himself.
"We'll use an Ancient Artifact to break through."
"......"
Diret was slightly taken aback by the unexpected method but accepted it positively.
As expected of professors—they even kept Ancient Artifacts like this on hand.
"That's amazing. To think you crafted such a relic..."
"We stole it from the Headmaster's office."
"......"
The atmosphere turned awkward at Professor Verdus's words.
Diret laughed awkwardly in response.
"Uh... I-I steal things too when I need them."
"Same."
"...Let's just get to work."
"Ah, wait a moment. I should contact my junior. He must be struggling terribly right now."
Lee Han used Telekinesis to place bacon onto a searing-hot frying pan. The sizzling sound of bacon grease spattering filled the air.
Crack
The eggs behind him shot into the air, cracked themselves open, and plopped neatly into the pan. He carefully allocated half of the precious grease for the eggs and saved the other half for toasting bread.
After spending so long at Einrogard, one naturally learned to conserve even cooking oil.
"......"
Antagondals stared at Lee Han as if he were the most pathetic and idiotic mage in the world.
Had he not been wearing his silver mask, his gaze would have been filled with even more withering contempt.
"Would you like some?"
"No. I don't require meals. More importantly—why are you using Telekinesis there?"
"Huh? Don't other mages use Telekinesis for chores?"
"They do. But not for cooking!!"
Antagondals's voice dripped with outrage, as if witnessing an insult to magic itself.
While Telekinesis could be used for Alchemy or preparatory spellwork, no mage would waste a 5th-Circle Magic just to fry eggs and bacon.
If one had that kind of ability, they'd normally just employ servants or slaves.
"Well, I'm not a Grand Mage, so it's fine."
"What kind of insane—"
Before he could finish, the Headmaster's deranged avatar abruptly barged in.
Lee Han plated his food and then turned to the avatar.
"Would you like some?"
Truthfully, he didn't want to share, but the more detestable someone was, the more careful one had to be to avoid provoking them.
Otherwise, even his own meal might get snatched away.
Antagondals stared at Lee Han in horror.
'Does this kid have no sense of fear?!'
Here he was, barely managing to stay cautious before their escape, and this lunatic was casually chatting with the mad avatar!
But instead of flying into a rage, the avatar accepted the offer.
"Bring it."
"Yes."
Lee Han set the meal before it, along with freshly brewed coffee.
The deranged avatar obediently picked up the food with its bare hands and ate.
'...'
Am I the one who's lost my mind?'
Antagondals felt genuine fear, unable to comprehend this surreal scene.