Episode 754
Episode 754
The griffin let out a low growl. Anyone could see it was visibly uncomfortable.
"Who pulled the griffin's feathers?! Was it you, Salko?!"
"Shut up, you idiot prince! The griffin's like this because it can't find Wardanaz!"
"Kids. I don't want to be negative, but..."
At Yoner's words, Giselle responded as if she already knew.
"You're going to say that if we don't find him before the antidote wears off, we might all be wiped out, right?"
"No. I was going to say that before that happens, the angry griffin might eat us."
"......"
"......"
At Yoner's words, the mood among the friends turned icy.
As if confirming his words weren't false, the griffin clacked its beak sharply. Its flickering gaze seemed to distrust the wizards.
Gainando protested indignantly.
"It's really because Lee Han disappeared that we brought you along!"
Though it had followed the students' lead, the griffin didn't trust anyone except its master, no matter how friendly they were.
After all, cunning wizards could have taken advantage of Lee Han's absence to deceive it and exploit its power.
And if that were true, it wouldn't let them off easily—■■■■■!
With a screech, the griffin began a steep dive.
Caught off guard by the sudden movement, the students had no choice but to cling to it and scream.
"Look, look! It's Lee Han!"
"You guys...! How did you get here?!"
Lee Han, who had raced down the mountain path like an arrow, was astonished to see his friends.
The griffin shook its body, trying to throw them all off so it could carry Lee Han alone.
"Ponlig! You can't do that!"—!
"Apologize to your friends. Trying to drop them all of a sudden like that."—......
As Ponlig sulked, the friends exchanged glances and tried to calm him down.
After all, hadn't he flown all the way here trusting only their word?
"That's right! Apologize!"
Gainando, dusting himself off, flared up in anger. Unfortunately, since he'd been sitting on the outermost edge, he was the only one who tumbled a full circle.
Ponlig glared at Gainando as if committing this to memory.
"Wardanaz. Let's hurry and get out of here. The potion's effects won't last much longer."
"Right. Thanks, everyone. I didn't expect you'd come all this way."
Lee Han looked around at his friends, newly moved.
Even if he'd just gone missing normally, it would've been hard for them to come rescue him—yet they'd tracked him down all the way to where he'd been kidnapped by a crazy doppelgänger.
"Wait. Shouldn't you all be in class right now?"
"Uh... class was canceled today."
"Yeah. The professor said something came up."
At their words, Lee Han gave a bitter smile.
It was obviously a well-meaning lie.
"You don't have to lie. You skipped class to save me."
"N-no, really! The professor said something actually came up...!"
Ignoring their excuses, Lee Han climbed onto the griffin. Once everyone was on, the griffin soared back into the sky.
Gainando muttered in relief.
"The seniors were completely useless. They gathered in force but couldn't undo a single spell even after days."
"What are you talking about? The seniors and professors handled this."
"The professors?"
The friends were puzzled.
They hadn't expected the professors to get involved too.
"Professor Garcia and..."
"Ah! So that's what happened!"
"Professors Bagrak and Verdus came too, right?"
"Wardanaz. Are you misunderstanding something?"
"They say the junior's joined them. They should be breaking free soon!"
"That's strange."
"??"
At Professor Voladi's words, Diret was slightly taken aback.
"What's strange, Professor? I mean, sure, it's odd that a junior tamed a griffin, but given who he is..."
The professor shook his head.
That wasn't what was strange.
Professors Garcia and Verdus also realized belatedly and stiffened.
"The dimension?!"
"Looks like something's been summoned."
"Must be Trackers. Send out a signal."
Professor Voladi issued calm instructions.
If these were Trackers summoned by the Skeleton Principal's avatar, they wouldn't be ordinary nuisances.
"Wh-what kind of signal should we send?"
"Disguise them as other beings. Are there any students nearby?"
Professor Voladi stuck his head out of the magic tent and surveyed the campsite.
Fortunately, a few students who had just finished their lectures were gaping at the sky, which seemed to be melting.
"We need help."
"Eek!! Unlimi—Professor Bagrak! What's going on?!"
Poof!
Professor Voladi waved his staff, transforming the student. The now Lee Han-lookalike student yelped in shock.
"Wh-what is this?!"
"Start running. Next!"
Professor Verdus watched in understanding and admiration.
"Transforming them to emit similar energy signatures to confuse the Trackers! That's an efficient method."
"Is this really the time for such comments?!"
It was Diret who snapped the forcibly transformed juniors out of their panic.
"Everyone, to the main building! Trackers from another dimension are chasing us—we need to sow confusion!"
"Y-yes, sir!"
Despite their panic, the juniors hurriedly began moving.
A step late, Ikurusha and the giants arrived, bewildered by the sight of students fleeing while radiating energy signatures similar to Lee Han's.
-What in the world is happening...
"Mr. Ikurusha. We need to evacuate the students, but some nasty Trackers are after us. We're disguising them to throw the pursuers off!"
At Professor Garcia's explanation—given their prior acquaintance—Ikurusha quickly grasped the situation.
-So it's about deceiving the Trackers. Understood. I'll cooperate. The giants too!
"Uh... um... yes!"
Professor Garcia briefly wondered, 'Will transforming the giants even work?' but given the urgency, he cast the transformation spell anyway.
Suddenly, a horde of giants resembling Lee Han in some way appeared. Despite the tension, the giants burst into laughter at each other's hideous faces.
-No time for jokes! Everyone, scatter!
-Got it!
"Professor!"
Meanwhile, a Griffin appeared in the distance.
Though less than a week had passed, Professor Garcia and Diret felt as if they were seeing the student before them after nearly a year.
"Lee Han...!"
"Eek! Lee Han turned into a giant!!!"
Before any heartfelt greetings could be exchanged, Gainen screamed and pointed at a giant running past.
The giant looked smug.
The transformation had worked well enough to fool even human mages.
-Haha. Stupid mages!
The giant left, thoroughly satisfied.
"...Listen up, everyone. We'll scatter and head to the main building. Professor Bagrak, you take these two. Professor Vible, you take these two. If any student gets lost, your life ends there too. Understood?"
Worried that Professor Verdus might abandon the students out of laziness, Professor Garcia spoke firmly.
"Diret, you take—"
"I'll take these two with me."
Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof!
Giselle looked like she might vomit at the sight of her friends transformed with Lee Han's facial features.
"Sorry, Moradi."
"...Whatever. I volunteered for this."
"Moradi, that wasn't me—it was Salko imitating me."
"You little—"
"Moradi, I'm the real one. Salko was joking."
"......"
"They're coming!"
For a moment, the students thought night had fallen as the sky darkened.
But no.
Thousands of bats were blotting out the sunlight as they swarmed in.
Professor Garcia muttered,
"Hounds...! Of all the troublesome Trackers!"
"Move out!"
Professor Voladi split the remaining students at the campsite and Lee Han's group, sending them off separately.
As Lee Han rode the Griffin with Professor Voladi, he asked,
"Professor. Why are those called hounds?"
No matter how he looked at them, they were clearly bat-shaped monsters—far from resembling hounds.
No sooner had his question ended than several of the bats vanished, only to reappear right in front of Lee Han.
Then, with a ripple of smoke and shadow, they unfurled into four-winged demons in an instant.
Professor Voladi crushed the demon with a single gesture before answering.
"They're the Hounds of the Duke of Greed. Don't let them out of your sight."
The Duke of Greed—a Demon Duke on par with Garisaima, the Duke of Pride, whom Lee Han had encountered before.
Mages referred to the Duke of Greed's pets as his hounds.
To be precise, they weren't canine in form but rather shape-shifting monsters capable of taking any appearance...
Whoosh!
"!"
Lee Han was stunned as one of the hounds outside his field of vision closed the distance using teleportation.
The moment it left his sight, it had instantly cast spatial movement.
He knew that beings from other dimensions could instinctively wield magic that mages spent lifetimes researching and mastering—but this was still shocking.
To use spatial movement of this level so casually?
Crackle-crackle-BOOM!
A sudden chain of emerald lightning erupted in the western sky, tearing through the hounds.
Professor Verdus shrieked in a shrill voice.
"Garcia! Friendly fire! Friendly fire!!!"
Unlike Professor Bagrak, Professor Garcia clearly wasn't accustomed to combat.
Battle mages had techniques to swiftly distinguish allies from enemies, but Professor Garcia had never paid much attention to such details.
Even though he was within range, Professor Verdus hastily defended himself against Garcia's reckless high-destruction spells.
"Block it yourself!!"
"Bagrak! Switch places with me!"
Ignoring him, Professor Voladi kicked the griffin's flank—a signal to pick up speed.
Despite the arrogant command, the griffin obeyed, accelerating. The hounds of the Duke of Greed were that threatening.
'Ah, so that's why they're called hounds!'
Unlike the demonic beings with rationality, these creatures showed no trace of reason.
No matter how powerful the magic they faced, they neither cowered nor felt fear.
They pursued their target—and nothing else.
On top of that, their abilities were terrifying. The moment they left their opponent's sight, they could teleport instantly.
BOOM!
As one of the Duke's hounds closed in, Lee Han unleashed Wardanaz's Telekinesis, the spell he had recently mastered.
Perhaps their durability wasn't particularly high—the demon shattered into dust upon impact from the shockwave-like strike.
Professor Voladi eyed the result and asked,
"That spell just now—?"
'Oh no.'
It was too late to hide it now that he'd revealed it.
Professor Voladi would have immediately recognized the level of magic required to cast that spell instantly and without incantation.
"...I learned it when I was kidnapped by the doppelgänger."
Lee Han spilled every detail about how the insane doppelgänger had pressured him, leaving nothing out.
This was a fluke—an incident unlikely to repeat itself...
"A dangerous teaching method."
Even in this dire situation, Professor Voladi criticized the doppelgänger's educational approach.
Magic was meant to be passed down through trust between master and disciple—not forced through brute, reckless training.
"That individual is unfit to be a teacher."
"......"
Lee Han was momentarily speechless.
No—
No...!!
Of course, he appreciated Professor Voladi criticizing the mad doppelgänger—the Skeleton Principal's insane copy.
At the very least, Lee Han was relieved that Voladi hadn't said something like, 'What an excellent method—truly, the wisdom of the ancients.'
But hearing Voladi say this still felt... unfair.
Why did it feel so unfair?
Lee Han himself didn't understand the reason.
"What's wrong?"
Seeing his student's distress, Professor Voladi wondered if he was suffering from magical rebound.
"It's nothing. Just some dust in my eyes."
"Even so, don't lose sight of the enemy."
"Yes..."
