Episode 909
Episode 909
Fortunately, the boy from the Wardanaz family shook off his fear and strongly willed the demigod hamster into existence.
Pop!
The giant skeleton disappeared, and in its place appeared a giant hamster.
-A... a hamster?!
-Is there even such a thing as a mountain-range-destroying hamster??
The giants were bewildered when the sluggish giant hamster tried to poke its head out of the black coffin.
The Magic Criminal Hamster trapped inside us let out a sigh of relief and shouted.
-Well done. Focus! Maintain its form and then unleash your attacks!
Of course, just because it had taken the form of a hamster didn't mean the demigod would be easy to handle.
Moreover, wasn't this an artificial thought-form created by that tyrant to conquer the continent?
Still, a hamster form was better than a lich form.
-Get back in!
One of the giants swung his club menacingly and landed a solid hit on the demigod hamster.
With a sound like a landslide, the demigod hamster staggered.
-Hit it!
-Wardanaz's enemy!
The giants rained down fierce blows on the demigod hamster. The destruction they unleashed as they revealed their true strength—usually tempered by tending to sheep—was beyond imagination.
Yet despite this, the demigod hamster's body kept regenerating.
Even as it was being pummeled, the demigod hamster made the giants flinch.
-Wh... what is this hamster?!
-It's scarier than the sheep!
Cease your attacks.
-Hmph!
Ignoring the demigod hamster's warning, the giant swung another massive blow.
Then the demigod hamster let out a sharp cry. ■■■■■■■■!
-M-my club!
-My club! The one I paid a fortune to craft!
The giants screamed in horror.
The clubs they were holding rotted away and disappeared in an instant, as if centuries had passed for them alone.
-Eek!
Losing their clubs didn't make the giants give up. They tore boulders from the mountain range and hurled them at the black coffin, uprooted massive trees and swung them wildly.
-Stop it, you idiots! The order and laws have changed!
It wasn't the demigod hamster but the Magic Criminal Hamster who squeaked in alarm.
The cry the demigod hamster had just let out wasn't just a simple sound.
It had altered the order and laws near the black coffin to suit itself!
Probably to nullify attacks... 'And that's not all!' Given that this was a combat-oriented demigod, its abilities were likely even more troublesome.
Sure enough, the clothes the giants were wearing began to transform into shackles.
-Ugh?!
-Gah, ack!
-I told you to back off!
No matter how much our hamster squeaked, the giants wouldn't listen. Lee Han stepped in and roared explosively with mana.
"Retreat! Retreat!"
-Fall back!
-We don't retreat! We advance backward!
The giants were wise. They didn't recklessly charge at a powerful enemy without a chance of victory.
"What... what is that?"
-Probably... probably some kind of submission or subjugation law... I'll need to observe more to be sure!
It wasn't just nullifying attacks—it was a law that forced those who challenged it to kneel and turned them into slaves to be used as soldiers.
A truly game-breaking ability.
"That's absurd... even after turning it into a hamster?!"
-It's only using laws like that because you turned it into a hamster! If it were still in lich form, that bastard would've unleashed every horrific black magic spell imaginable. Imagine it using all the black magic spells you know from Duke Gonadaltes!
Lee Han gritted his teeth, shuddering. '...
Even if I turned it into Gainando, it wouldn't make much difference.' Whether hamster or Gainando, if the demigod could wield its laws, it was just a cheat-like existence.
Turning it into a hamster had already blocked enough of its other abilities.
And Gainando would probably be more competent than a hamster...
-Ahead!
While he was lost in thought, his reaction was a beat too slow.
The Demigod Hamster, having recognized Lee Han as the leader of the Giant's group, began actively restraining him.
"!!!"
Space distorted, and Lee Han felt himself being violently pulled toward the black coffin floating in midair.
-It's trying to swallow you whole! Get out now!
Lee Han didn't need to ask what would happen if the demigod consumed him. He had no time for that. Instinctively, magic unfolded from him.
One was Wardanaz's Telekinesis. The powerful 5th-circle silent-casting magic resisted the gravitational pull and somehow managed to halt Lee Han's movement.
And the other was...
Crackle-crackle-crackle!
"Lightning, descend and manifest!"
Forcing out a spell he hadn't yet fully mastered made his mouth taste like he'd bitten down on scrap metal. 'Rebound!' Casting magic beyond one's level wasn't just about failure—it placed an immense burden on the caster themselves.
Though Lee Han, usually armed with talent and luck, rarely experienced this, he had pushed his limits too far too often, walking a tightrope until it finally snapped.
But Lee Han couldn't back down now. Retreating in this situation would lead to worse consequences than not acting at all.
A storm of mana raged violently around Lee Han.
Normally, when casting spells, Lee Han meticulously controlled his mana as if carefully scooping it with a teaspoon, but now he recklessly released it to counteract the rebound.
The untamed lightning, instead of striking and lashing at Lee Han's body, deflected outward and scattered.
Having barely put out the immediate fire, Lee Han gritted his teeth. Failing twice would be truly dangerous.
"...Lightning, descend and manifest!!"
His other hand—the one not gripping his staff—transformed into lightning in an instant.
This was lightning of an entirely different dimension from the lightning element he usually wielded—lightning imbued with ideology.
Lee Han, as the master of this magic, felt its intent more clearly than anyone else.
Pierce and penetrate the enemy!
The seething power surged forth in an instant, heading straight for the black coffin.
The Magic Criminal Hamster trapped inside them screamed at the sheer force of the spell.
-The order and laws have changed!
"!"
Lee Han, his vision narrowed from focusing on the attack, widened his eyes in realization.
Come to think of it, attacking recklessly when the demigod's law was still active...
CRACK!
The spell, <Wardanaz's Lightning Transformation>, pierced straight through the Demigod Hamster.
Even more surprised than Lee Han, who had cast it, or the demigod who had been struck, was the Magic Criminal Hamster. 'How?!'
Of course, the spell he had just witnessed was of such a high level that it was hard to believe it came from a lower-year student at Einrogard.
At least 5th-circle—and even within that, transforming the nature of lightning to embody higher-dimensional concepts or ideologies elevated it further.
And to cast it while maintaining another 5th-circle spell...
Though the Hamster was once a Great Mage, even he could show respect to such an outstanding junior.
But laws were merciless.
No matter how much this prodigious mage displayed incredible acrobatics and growth, the law remained unchanged.
If the demigod had invoked the laws of nullification and submission, it should have been impossible to breach.
Yet it had pierced through? 'Does this mean a mere 5th-circle spell shattered the law?!'
If the opponent had altered the law through sheer force, the countermeasure was simple.
They just needed to change the law back with their own power.
The problem was that, for a mage to do so, they had to at least begin with a Small World.
Among high-tier magics, there were spells that could exploit the world's loopholes to alter laws without invoking a Small World—but those certainly weren't 5th-circle.
To exert enough force with just a 5th-circle spell to break through a law...!
"Stop attacking, Commander."
The Demigod Hamster, frustrated that Lee Han—who was supposed to act as its commander—was attacking it, shouted.
And to make matters worse, that attack had somehow pierced through the defenses created by its own law.
"Who said you're my commander?"
Lee Han spat out blood as he prepared his next spell.
Though the damage he had just dealt had vanished in an instant, his mana was infinite anyway. He planned to keep casting spells until his mental strength was utterly exhausted.
But the Demigod Hamster was one step ahead of Lee Han.
Instead of engaging in a direct struggle with a mage wielding undodgeable, razor-sharp lightning, it opted for a roundabout approach.
The space that had narrowed due to Lee Han's earlier approach now stretched far apart again in an instant.
Simultaneously, the space between Lee Han and the Demigod Hamster distorted and warped geometrically.
'It's messing with my aim...!'
Lee Han realized his opponent's scheme.
If Lee Han could pierce through the laws and deal damage upon contact, then the solution was simply to make aiming impossible by increasing the surrounding difficulty.
Every time Lee Han tried to close the distance, the space twisted, pushing him farther and farther away...
The way it instantly created an obstacle akin to the paradox of a fired arrow left Lee Han utterly dumbfounded.
'And they summon these things in legions?'
At first, he thought the Crazy Doppelganger was insane, but now he wondered if, given enough time, conquering the continent might have actually been feasible.
He was already struggling just to reverse-summon a single demigod that hadn't even escaped its coffin—what if more demigods appeared?
"Lee Han!"
"!"
At the familiar voice of the troll-hybrid professor, Lee Han's heart swelled for a moment.
In the distance, Professor Garcia, Professor Voladi, and a group of Death Knights were flying toward him.
"Are the other professors coming too?"
—Huh?
"...You did notice what's happening here, right?"
—Ah! Now I understand.
The Death Knight corrected Lee Han's misunderstanding.
Even if something major (like a demigod being summoned) happened in Einrogard, the professors wouldn't immediately rush over.
In fact, in situations like this, it was the Skeleton Principal's underlings—like the Death Knights—who stepped in first.
Given how frequently incidents occurred, if every professor personally investigated every powerful disturbance, they wouldn't be able to handle their academic duties.
The Death Knights would assess and handle the situation first, and only if it proved too difficult would they request backup from the professors.
"...But you two came...!"
"I was worried about Lee Han, so I came just in case. Professor Bagrak is here too."
"......"
Lee Han was utterly fed up with Einrogard's cold, bureaucratic rules.
Even if he had to file a formal petition later, he swore he'd get these regulations changed.
"It's fine! Just having you two here is more than enough! There's a reason they say 'a thousand troops and ten thousand horses'!"
"Lee Han. Is that blood on your mouth?"
"...Must've splashed from a potion earlier. That's not important right now!"
The two professors quickly exchanged glances. Professor Garcia sent a telepathic message with a worried look.
'He seems overexerted. Should we send him back to the school?'
'Understood.'
'Huh? What?'
'I'll subdue him now. Professor Garcia, take him back.'
'No, no! I meant we should persuade him—??'
Professor Voladi silently shook his head.
If Lee Han were the type to be persuaded, he wouldn't be in this situation in the first place.
Unable to refute, Professor Garcia was momentarily at a loss for words.
Unaware of the professors' scheming, Lee Han quickly explained the situation.
"The Headmaster! Has gone mad! He's trying to conquer the continent!"...
In his urgency, his explanation wasn't very effective.
"Ah, the objective has reversed."
"So the Headmaster's reversed doppelganger is summoning demigods to build an army."
Fortunately, the two professors were sharp. Even Lee Han's garbled words made perfect sense to them.
"But if it's just the Headmaster's doppelganger, shouldn't it be able to block or evade the world's resistance? Why is this happening?"
"There must have been some confusion or disturbance."
"Could Lee Han have had some influence on that?"
"Most likely. An exceptional student can affect even their master."
Sensing something off in their conversation, Lee Han asked in alarm,
"What did you just say?"
"Nothing at all, Lee Han. Just focus on reversing the demigod's summoning."
"That's why I was waiting for instructions..."