Episode 809
Episode 809
None.
The Crazy Doppelganger spoke so kindly yet spat out words as if asking what more could possibly be needed.
Just like with the earlier alchemy advice, this Crazy Doppelganger expected his disciple to understand everything with just a single hint.
'That might have worked in ancient times, but nowadays... isn't this too outdated?' As Lee Han was whispering to the Crazy Doppelganger, the Kallarogard students sprang into action.
They were trying to separate Garal by any means necessary.
If they could just isolate that external mage, the Baldrogard students would be easy to subdue...
"Come forth, Blazing Hungry Ghost!"
An undead monster whose entire body was ablaze, emitting smoke and sparks from its eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, revealed itself.
Garal grew extremely tense.
Imperial students were originally violent and unruly beings to begin with.
The kind of troublemakers who would casually leave school to cause disturbances in nearby cities and engage in duels.
And imperial mages were no less dangerous and troublesome.
They would thoughtlessly cause magical accidents and stir up problems everywhere...
Now, the combination of these two was precisely what made imperial magic academy students.
Violent, unruly, dangerous, and troublesome beings!
Garal, who knew well just what imperial magic academy students were capable of when determined (Baldrogard excluded), had every reason to be nervous.
"Why summon an undead?"
"To let them breathe in some of Einrogard's air."
"Step back two paces."
"I'll only step back one."
"No. Cold. Swirl strangely."
"Tch!"
Garal also began chanting spells for defense. As the illusion magic of the cold series unfolded, a chilly mist enveloped Garal, making him invisible from the outside.
Not knowing what effects it might have, the Kallarogard students clicked their tongues.
This kind of illusion magic was nearly impossible to counter without prior knowledge, making it disadvantageous against experienced mages.
"Should we push through the magic?"
"No. We might get counterattacked. Stay calm—we can't break free anyway. Are you controlling the Blazing Hungry Ghost?"
"I fed it an entire Fire Essence Stone, so it should stay docile for a few days."
"Magical strike? Confusion? Paralysis?"
"Judging by the flow, it doesn't seem like paralysis. It's more like interfering with mana or the soul..."
Though the Kallarogard students, clad in grim black robes that could easily be mistaken for gravediggers at a glance, their abilities were nothing to scoff at.
Garal remained vigilant and prepared his next spell.
This wasn't a one-on-one but a one-against-many situation, and with the added pressure of protecting the Baldrogard students, Garal was quite tense.
The visiting mage from the Snowflake Magic Tower discreetly pulled out a reagent from the front pocket of his draped cashmere vest.
'What a waste, but I might have to use this to summon a blizzard.'
'This is entertaining.' Lee Han watched the escalating tension with excitement. Watching fights that had nothing to do with him was always a happy and enjoyable affair.
For Lee Han, who had recently been embroiled in nothing but fights involving himself, this spectacle revived a long-forgotten joy. 'This is how it should be. My luck's been terrible lately—getting pointlessly dragged into too many fights.'
What a relief.
"Just watching, are we?"
The Crazy Doppelganger grimaced painfully at Lee Han's words.
Despite his useful talents, this disciple's vulgar and pathetic manners never failed to enrage his master.
"I told you to wipe them all out."
"Master, actually... when I said outsiders attacked, that was a bit of an exaggeration."
Seeing that the Crazy Doppelganger hadn't forgotten and was ordering him to wipe them out again, Lee Han quickly changed his tune.
Those people are actually guests, and the 'attack' was a metaphorical expression—
"Shut up."
The Crazy Doppelganger silenced Lee Han's mouth.
Whether they were outsiders or not, whether they had attacked or not—none of that mattered.
What mattered was that they were casting magic and quarreling right in front of him and his disciple.
"??"
Lee Han tilted his head in confusion.
"It's a magic academy, so of course they'd use magic?"
'To dare cast such lowly, insignificant magic without even distinguishing the sacred space before me—such arrogance and insolence deserve nothing less than the harshest punishment.'
"......"
Only belatedly understanding the Crazy Doppelganger's words, Lee Han wore an expression of disbelief.
'So, using magic in front of him is considered insolence? Royalty truly are incomprehensible beings. I hope Gainando and Adenart don't turn out like that when they grow up.'
Thinking something rather rude about his absent friends, Lee Han carefully rephrased his words.
"But, Master, times have changed, and this is a magic academy. Using magic here is the norm."
If the Crazy Doppelganger wiped out everyone who cast magic in front of him, even if they were Einrogard students, he'd undoubtedly be labeled a madman.
'Where in the world would you find such a lunatic?'
"This won't do."
"What do you mean?"
"Keeping your distance while speaking—your manners are utterly irredeemable. I shall pay a visit in person."
"I'll go wipe them out right now!"
Lee Han swiftly changed his words again.
Whether it was Kallarogard, Baldrogard, or some rogue mages—none of that mattered. Lee Han himself needed to survive first.
"By any chance, does that Blazing Hungry Ghost have a weakness? It seems like a fairly powerful undead."
"Why don't you ask how it breathes while you're at it?"
"Oh! Is there some ancient breathing technique passed down through the ages?"
The Crazy Doppelganger still didn't realize that his disciple was facing an opponent he couldn't easily defeat without brute force.
Just as countless professors of Einrogard had been defeated, the boy from the Wardanaz family was the disciple among disciples.
In contrast, even if the Crazy Doppelganger was an archmage, as a teacher, he was still a complete novice.
After cursing Antagondals once more, the Crazy Doppelganger spoke with eyes as cold as burning ice.
"Fool. As my disciple, you should know it's shameful to ask about how to deal with an undead like the Blazing Hungry Ghost one by one."
Despite his words, the Crazy Doppelganger ended up explaining anyway.
This undead, primarily found in the Hell-aligned dimension of the Hungry Ghost Realm, possessed a soul cursed to burn, easily incinerating not only nearby enemies but even incoming attacks.
Of course, one could brute-force their way through its defenses, but that wasn't an elegant solution for a mage.
"Are you saying we should feed it until it's full?"
"Correct."
If they summoned flame-aligned spirits or other dimensional beings with fire affinity to satiate the Blazing Hungry Ghost, it would leave content rather than stubbornly lingering.
"Ah! I happen to have a contracted lesser flame spirit. It looks like a sparrow—quite clever and cute, really."
"......"
The Crazy Doppelganger remained expressionless and silent. The remark was so trivial that he didn't even feel the need to say, 'And what am I supposed to do with that?'
'Who's cuter, me or it?'
When the Baby Basilisk curiously asked, Lee Han pretended not to hear and continued.
"I'll summon this little one to feed the Blazing Hungry Ghost until it's full. Ah, Master, do you know how I ended up contracting this spirit?"
"Fool."
"Yes."
'If you babble about that spirit one more time, I'll sew your mouth shut.'
'That's too harsh.'
Lee Han felt deeply wronged.
For a master to show such disinterest in his disciple's achievements—no wonder he had no other disciples.
Then again, even Professor Voladi had two disciples, while the Crazy Doppelganger had zero until now—that spoke volumes.
"By the name of law and contract, I summon thee."
With a flutter of wings, the lesser flame spirit, resembling a sparrow, materialized.
Upon seeing Lee Han, the spirit trembled and acted with extreme caution.
"That thing's manners are more useful than expected."
"It's because he's a clever one. Here. I'll lend you plenty of mana—can you feed that Blazing Hungry Ghost some high-quality flames to its heart's content?"
The spirit nodded its head.
Just to be sure, Lee Han asked again.
"You understood me correctly, right? I'm the one who'll provide the mana."
The spirit nodded again.
'It looks absolutely terrified.'
"No, it's just nervous. We're actually quite close."
'—It seems more like it's nervous, though?'
The baby basilisk, unaware of Lee Han's true thoughts, spoke up.
Already harboring jealousy, it didn't miss the chance to criticize now that the opportunity arose.
"...You stay quiet. Now then, Master. How should we deal with that fog?"
......
Not only had he summoned undead, but now he was even asking for a solution to an external mage's spell. For the first time that day, the Crazy Doppelganger let out a deep sigh.
"Sir Garal! The fog is weakening!"
"It's just a temporary fluctuation. Doesn't matter."
"Ah, is that so? ... Uh, but it seems to be weakening continuously..."
"I told you, it's just a temporary phenomenon!"
Garal snapped in irritation. Wiping the sweat from his hands with a handkerchief from his vest, he tightened his grip on his staff.
He needed more time to deceive those outside and extract these troublesome clients.
But for them to make such a fuss over a temporary change...
"W-Wait a moment!"
Garal realized with shock that the fog was weakening far more rapidly than expected.
The spell meant to buy time by preventing outside interference shouldn't be fading this fast.
Had its duration run out? 'No. I calculated it precisely.' Garal reached out to the magic to check what was happening.
And then he froze in horror.
"...!??!"
Outside, the boy from the Wardanaz family was unraveling the fog with Reverse Magic.
A high-tier spell that involved analyzing a magic's structure and dismantling it from within—Reverse Magic.
The principle itself wasn't particularly difficult. The challenge lay in the sheer amount of information one had to grasp for each spell.
Even battle-hardened mages often struggled or made mistakes in this regard.
And the fog Garal had cast was a spell he had personally refined during his time in the Magic Tower.
Under normal circumstances, understanding even its effects—let alone its structure—would be nearly impossible.
Yet there he was, casually swinging his staff from that distance and dismantling the spell like it was nothing.
'Does Einrogard only raise monsters in their second year?!'
Garal felt shock before panic or despair could set in.
But he wasn't the only one stunned. The Kallarogard students were equally baffled.
"A-Ah! The Blazing Hungry Ghost—!"
"That bastard?! It's trying to betray us and go back!"
In the brief moment they looked away, the Blazing Hungry Ghost let out a satisfied cry and began moving to return to its original dimension.
Always ravenous, it would normally devour any flame in sight—yet here it was, willingly retreating without a fuss.
Only then did the Kallarogard students notice the low-tier fire spirit swiftly slipping away.
'To think he'd send a spirit to satiate the Blazing Hungry Ghost!'
Unbelievable. This method—who would've even thought of it?
Even with a spirit's aid, the mana expenditure would've been enormous. Yet he acted so boldly...!
The mages from both sides, their prepared measures now useless, stood awkwardly, exchanging glances.
The Baldrogard students blinked in confusion, struggling to grasp the situation.
One of the Kallarogard students demanded sharply,
"Why are you interfering in the sacred duel between Kallarogard and Baldrogard?!"
Garal, seemingly sharing the sentiment, shouted as well.
"The Baldrogard students were winning—why meddle?!"
"?"
Lee Han turned to look at him instantly. Garal flushed and averted his gaze. Seeing that, Lee Han's heart ached.
'So this is what a professional adventurer is like.'
"The reason I interfered is..."
"Say it was because you couldn't stand the sight of arrogant trash running wild in front of you."
"...Because, as a fellow mage, I simply couldn't bear to watch your duel any longer!"