Episode 997
Episode 997
As the mage who had summoned the world behind the mountain range disappeared, the world scattered like dawn dispelling the darkness of night.
The starlight that had aided the mage's disciple also fulfilled its role and returned to the heavens.
With the successive disappearance of such formidable powers, the surroundings fell into silence. The first to recover from the shock was the Skeleton Principal...
"Well... it seems to have been resolved."
The Skeleton Principal's voice carried an unmistakable sense of awkwardness.
Compared to having his avatar reverse-summoned or eternally imprisoned, ascending like this was undoubtedly a far better outcome.
This was especially true for the Skeleton Principal, who harbored some lingering affection for his avatars.
But there was no helping the bitter aftertaste left by that troublemaker who'd caused utter chaos—kidnapping disciples from others' territories, threatening to destroy the academy—only to ascend on his own terms after coming to some personal realization.
And above all else...
If he was the type who could be persuaded to ascend like this...
Couldn't he have ascended before the Skeleton Principal spent astronomical sums of gold coins preparing grand magic? 'It couldn't be helped.' The Skeleton Principal decided to stop dwelling on it. What good would thinking about it do anyway?
"Wardanaz, you've been through a lot too. For someone so stubborn, luck was on your side this time. Don't do this again."
"......"
"Wardanaz?"
Lee Han remained silent.
Realizing belatedly that his disciple was protesting through silence, the Skeleton Principal spoke with exasperation.
"Now of all times is when you choose to get angry? If anyone should be angry, it's me! And what happened was an Ascension. Why are you acting like this?"
If he'd been permanently sealed away, such a reaction would have been understandable.
In that case, the Skeleton Principal would have just said, 'Go ahead and cause all the chaos you want—I'll go my own way.'
He was already accustomed to the petty complaints of his disappointing disciples.
But Lee Han's reason was slightly different from what the Skeleton Principal had anticipated.
"If only you hadn't interfered, Headmaster, he could have ascended in a much more stable situation at the very least. He could have left longer last words too. He might have been able to say something to his other friends as well..."
"Is Ascension some kind of joke to you!?"
The Skeleton Principal was even more dumbfounded by this emotional reason, so utterly different from the usual complaints he received from disciples.
Other students would rage about not being taught magic, not being given missions, or being underestimated as mages—but this kid was acting up just because he wasn't given enough time to leave last words?
"Heaven's timing, earth's timing, and human timing aligned to create this fortune. If anything, I should be thanked! If I hadn't pushed him, you wouldn't have been able to draw out Arna's power, and he would have been imprisoned without achieving Ascension!"
Regardless, Lee Han continued his silent protest.
The Skeleton Principal seriously considered smacking him once before giving up.
His disciple's condition was already poor, likely from overexertion, and having drawn upon Arna's power had left him completely battered.
"What exactly happened here?"
Ah, he's here. Professor Voladi.
As Professor Voladi—who had been momentarily banished to another dimension—returned, the Skeleton Principal responded with sarcasm.
Of course, Professor Voladi wasn't shaken by such remarks. The only one who might be affected by such words would be a student like Baldrogard.
Giving up on the sarcasm, the Skeleton Principal explained the situation. The small consolation was watching Professor Voladi's face light up with astonishment like wildfire.
"Then there was no need for you to intervene so forcefully, was there...?"
"Shut up."
The most unfortunate skeleton in the Empire, the Skeleton Principal of Einrogard, had no time to deal with his most petty disciple.
He immediately dispelled the Veil of Dreams and recalled the mages waiting below. Even now, gold equivalent to the weight of giants was being consumed every second.
-Since it's resolved, we can return now.
-Huh? But Lord Gonadaltes, you invested so many gold coins for this magic...?
-...
"You already said it turned out well. Everyone, return."
"But... When we told you this spell's cost was astronomical and its preparation normally impossible, you insisted there was no alternative. Now you're saying it resolved itself without using it? Doesn't that feel wasteful...?"
"Enough."
"Y-yes!"
"Uwaaak!"
The mages summoned from across the Empire at exorbitant fees all fled back in terror at Einrogard's characteristically fiery send-off.
Brushing aside the lingering vision of the gold coins invested in this spell, the Skeleton Principal refocused on reality.
'You knights. You who pledge swords to your masters, upholding loyalty and honor. It seems you've omitted many reports from me......'
The Death Knights who'd conveniently left out Lee Han-related matters during the Skeleton Principal's absence nodded meekly.
Then abruptly turned to leave.
"Where are you going?"
"...To the Punishment Room......"
The Skeleton Principal felt grateful for lacking flesh.
Had he possessed any, he'd surely be suffering piercing headaches by now.
Normally, Death Knights wouldn't yield so easily, even to their master.
But somehow that Wardanaz brat had an uncanny knack for persuasion, gradually turning these knights into his personal lackeys.
"Report what you omitted before leaving.-..."
"Can't we just... stay longer in the Punishment Room instead?......"
The Skeleton Principal shuddered at those words...
'Are there more undisclosed matters?...'
"Speak properly before I demote you all to mere skeletons."
The Death Knights—who'd even dared raise swords against evil dragons—now averted their eyes and stammered:
"His Highness Jowurin... he..."
"Fortunately, I know that one. The Emperor is aware too. Not your fault."
The Skeleton Principal sighed lightly.
Jowurin's ingenious scheme had left both the Skeleton Principal (who'd been pondering eternal confinement for the Crazy Doppelganger) and the Emperor utterly astonished.
It was the kind of stratagem that would chill non-existent livers.
"What a relief! Then you must also know about His Highness taking out the Dragon Stone for your disciple, being placed under house arrest, sneaking out to carry your disciple on his back to jointly subdue the doppelganger...?"
"What?"
The Skeleton Principal—midway through drafting a letter to the Emperor pleading "The resolution exceeded expectations and eliminated a continental threat, please extend the repayment period"—froze.
"What did you just say?"
"What stone? What subduing? Carried on his back? Are you saying he was chosen?-......"
"Professors Bagrak and Kim were also present there."
The Death Knights desperately distributed blame, sensing their second demise approaching.
The Skeleton Principal closed his eyes, envisioning the shameless vampire professor's face. '...Should've driven him away when he sought power...' He couldn't fathom how that once-decent mage had become so despicable.
Emerging from shock—as befits a transcendent mage—his recovery was swift.
"Fine. Understood. If he rode a dragon's back, that's the Wardanaz brat's loss. None of my concern."
Those chosen by dragons as contractors gained immense support, but bore equal responsibility.
An ancient, unreasonable pact dictated that contractors shared punishments when their dragons caused trouble—a nuisance the Skeleton Principal knew all too well from personal experience. A fitting punishment for a troublesome disciple.
"Th-that's a relief!"
The Death Knights' voices brightened slightly.
"So the Dragon Stone and doppelganger subdual are also acceptable?"
"Acceptable?!"
The Skeleton Principal's expression darkened.
While the Emperor might overlook it, imperial bureaucrats would surely foam at the mouth in outrage.
Already disliked by many for the doppelganger confinement preparations...
"Perhaps persuasion would have been better after all...?"
"Shh, you agreed back then that threats would be faster. Why bring this up now?"
"But thinking about it now, hanging the treasurer upside down was a bit..."
"We apologized. An apology should suffice. The other party accepted it too."
"All of you, shut up. Fine. For now... let's just move past this. His Highness isn't the type to go around blabbing about it."
Jowurin wasn't one for socializing. Even if it were the Empire's bureaucrats, it was highly unlikely they'd find out about this matter.
The Skeleton Principal decided to think that way and moved on to the next topic.
But what exactly did that doppelganger do to warrant being exterminated? Did it kidnap someone again in the meantime?
"It seems his state had reversed, and he declared he would purge the continent. Your disciple summoned the Yaksha King of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas to resolve the situation..."
"GARCIA!!! VOLADI!!!"
The Skeleton Principal finally exploded.
No matter how much professors might slack off, to cover up something like this?!
Even if the disciple seemed fine for now, such shortsightedness had its limits.
Sometimes, when it seemed like a disciple was about to fall into the abyss of evil, shouldn't they be sternly reprimanded?
Had they done so, they wouldn't be whining over a single doppelganger now.
Even Professor Garcia was acting like this—was there truly not a single trustworthy mage left?
"Um... Master."
"What is it?"
"While preparing magic alongside His Majesty, you instructed us not to make unnecessary reports..."
The death knight, who had overstepped, was immediately transported to the Deep Punishment Room.
Couldn't they even distinguish what constituted an unnecessary report? That Yaksha fellow was suspicious no matter how you looked at it. He might have shamelessly pulled some trick.
The Skeleton Principal suspected that the professors' omission in reporting might have been due to the Yaksha King's schemes.
This Yaksha, exceptionally skilled in reading celestial signs and foreseeing the future, had a history of using cunning tricks to corner people.
It wouldn't be strange at all if the two professors had been persuaded by the Yaksha King to delay their report.
He had probably whispered insidiously, "The doppelganger's condition is perfectly fine now, he's teaching the disciple well. Rather than reporting to the Skeleton Principal and causing conflict, wouldn't it be better to keep watching over the disciple for his sake?"
No wonder they'd gotten so chummy. Those professors couldn't even stop him... Next!
"Ah, the confrontation with the Evil God Worshippers in Granden City..."
"I heard about that."
"Then... what about the contract with the true form of the Beast of Death and Darkness that Professor Mortum brought...?"
"I didn't know about that, but I suppose it's possible."
The Skeleton Principal replied with an indifferent attitude.
Given that he had visited the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas and even bonded with the Yaksha King, something like this wasn't all that surprising anymore.
He'd already gotten close to Perkuntra, after all...
Come to think of it, Bakjwi-Naz truly had an exceptional talent for coaxing powerful transcendents. Probably due to that vile cunning of his.
If he had met the true form of that creature Mortum brought, his injuries must have healed by now.
"Yes. That seems to be the case."
The death knights inwardly sighed in relief.
Judging by his words, it seemed he hadn't yet heard the rumors about the up-and-coming mage named Stedal Nago running amok.
The Skeleton Principal felt puzzled.
This was certainly a shocking story too, but he had already been surprised enough back in the capital.
But why bring up the Granden City incident? Was there something there he didn't know about?
"No, nothing like that. Just confirming... Ah. Are you aware that Professor Bagrak used a relic?"
"I know. You're talking about Saint Iactus's stone, right?"
The Skeleton Principal answered in a bored tone.
At the start of the semester, Professor Voladi had borrowed the relic to rescue a disciple kidnapped by the crazy doppelganger.
Of course, the Skeleton Principal wouldn't have carelessly stored such a relic. He had deliberately calculated and arranged it.
"What a relief! Still, it was surprising. Saint Iactus's stone is one thing, but to lend out the Droplet of Anabadalda as well..."
"Wait, they took the Droplet of Anabadalda too?!"
The death knights realized they had slipped up.