Chapter 334: The Teacher Who Screws People Over
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 334: The Teacher Who Screws People Over
Starlight scattered, and the world fell into a profound silence.
It was as if time itself had stopped.
Even the leaves, stirred by a faint breeze, did not dare to make a sound.
In this crystal-clear night, only gold and amber locked eyes in a cold stare, like glaciers colliding, sending sparks flying.
"Domir?"
Finally, upon that blurred face, sharp brows seemed to arch high. A voice as cold as a blade drawn from its sheath echoed through the breathless night.
It sounded almost like a lament.
"So, you aren't dead yet."
"Heh, if an old mother dragon who loves gallivanting around as much as you isn't dead, how could I—young, beautiful, in the prime of my youth, and forever seventeen—possibly be dead?"
The white-haired, red-eyed old loli, dressed in strawberry-pink pajamas, crossed her arms over her chest. She tilted her porcelain chin up haughtily and curled her lip.
"Also, call me Mela."
"..."
The night air seemed to drop several degrees colder.
"A pity. It is merely a projection."
Those majestic golden pupils suddenly shifted downward, landing on Mela’s petite frame hidden beneath the loose pink pajamas. Whether it was an illusion or not, the woman’s blurred lips seemed to curve into a faint, mocking arc.
"You’ve grown smaller again, Domir."
"..."
The temperature dropped a few more degrees.
Mela’s pink nightgown fluttered slightly, shedding light particles like scattered stars. Her tiny feet, which had been stepping on Muen’s face, lifted as she floated upward. She rose until she was at eye level with the woman—no, she floated just a tiny bit higher.
She tilted her head back, puffed out her chest with all her might, and looked down from a superior height.
"Still small," the woman sneered.
"I used to be bigger than you!" Mela glared at the bulging chest beneath the woman’s black dress and sneered back. "You’ve only temporarily surpassed me. What is there to be so smug about?"
"Still small."
"..."
Mela’s baby-fat cheeks twitched, but then her amber-red, crystal-clear eyes flickered. Suddenly, she flashed an incredibly amiable smile.
"Oh my, look at me. How rude of me. We haven't seen each other in so long, and I haven't even given you a proper greeting."
Mela paused, then used a voice so sweet it was sickening, like a long-lost friend offering a tender greeting:
"Good evening, the world-renowned Calamity, the dragon who strikes fear into all hearts, the Death-Calamity Dragon—Ha. Mu. Lein."
Boom—
Infinite black mist erupted. The woman’s fiery red hair whipped around, and her golden pupils turned majestic and cold, as if the entire world should bow before her.
She stared at Mela, her golden gaze coated in a layer of frost.
"Shut up," she said. "Do not call me by that name."
"Oh? You really do still hate that title, don't you?"
Mela kept her arms crossed over her flat chest, swaying her head back and forth. "Hamulein... in the ancient tongue, it means 'The One Who Brings Destruction and Despair.' Isn't that cool? If I had such a badass nickname, I’d make people call me that every single day."
"Shut up! I do not like these names humans took the liberty of giving me!"
"Heh, I won't."
Teacher Mela curled her lips contemptuously, completely ignoring the killing intent that was warping the very space around them. "Hamulein, Hamulein, Hamulein! I said it. What are you going to do about it?"
"I will kill you."
"You can't kill me."
"Then I will kill him."
The woman looked down at Muen, who lay at Mela’s feet. "A mere projection of yours cannot stop me."
"..."
Mela shut her mouth. She looked down at her disciple, then looked back up, her small face showing a hint of struggle. Finally, after a long silence, she squeezed a word through her teeth:
"Despicable!"
"Likewise."
"What kind of skill is it to use someone as a threat? If you have the guts, come to my Academy. I'll show you what's what!" Mela huffed.
"Then why don't you bring your true body out for a visit? It has been a thousand years; I am indeed curious to see if your other attributes have regressed along with your stature."
"I cannot leave the Academy."
"And what does that have to do with me?"
"Coward. Is this all a Calamity amounts to?"
"Heh. The strongest Grand Magister of humanity is nothing more than this."
"..."
"..."
Gold and amber clashed once more in a fierce stare-down, like icebergs grinding against each other, sparks flying.
...
The majestic golden pupils were the first to end this pointless waste of time. The woman looked down, her gaze fully settling on Muen for the first time.
"Is this your disciple?"
"What of it?" Mela put her hands on her hips, looking proud. "He’s excellent, isn't he?"
"...By the average standards of the human species, he is acceptable."
The woman’s eyes flickered slightly.
Muen’s eyes were tightly shut, and his face was deathly pale. However, his messy blonde hair and the bloodstains could not hide a face that sat at the very pinnacle of human male beauty.
To her, however, human appearance was utterly meaningless.
She simply recalled that this person, even in a desperate situation, facing a Calamity he could never hope to defeat, still had the courage to draw his blade.
She had killed many people and destroyed many existences. This kind of situation... was rare.
As for the strange abilities he possessed...
The woman’s narrow eyes suddenly squinted as she looked at Mela. "You still haven't given up on that ridiculous plan of yours?"
"Ridiculous?" Mela’s eyes also narrowed. "Compared to me, you're the one who's truly ridiculous. Are you still searching for her?"
"That is none of your concern."
"For the sake of us both being beautiful girls, I advise you to give up." Mela’s smile vanished, her small face turning cold. "It is impossible for you to find her."
"That is none of your concern."
"You don't know her current location, you don't know her current form—you don't even know if she is a person or an object right now. Given her nature, even if she appeared right in front of you, you wouldn't be able to perceive her. That’s why you’ve been nesting in this forest for so long, isn't it?"
"I simply despise humans."
"Heh, perhaps." Mela crossed her arms again. "You're as foolish as ever."
"Likewise."
The woman’s majestic golden pupils remained rippleless. Seemingly tired of this meaningless chatter, she turned to leave.
A pitch-black rift tore open in front of her once more.
"Goodbye."
"Don't let the door hit you on the way out."
"Tsk, tsk."
Watching the swaying back of the black dress as it receded, Mela propped up her chin and suddenly muttered under her breath, "Talking about me getting smaller... a thousand years have passed, and you haven't changed a bit either."
"..."
The woman’s bare foot, about to step into the rift, paused.
She whipped her head around, glaring at Mela expressionlessly.
"What? You really want to go a round?" Mela puffed out her small chest again, fearless.
The woman’s gaze shifted slightly. After a moment of silence, she suddenly pointed a finger at Mela and flicked.
A streak of brilliant golden light shot from her fingertip toward Mela.
However, the moment before it touched her, it took a sharp turn and vanished into... Muen’s body.
Mela froze. "This... what is this?"
"Merely a drop of blood," the woman said, her features turning ethereal. "You can consider it a mark."
"Why would you mark this kid?"
"Hmm..." The woman mimicked Mela by propping up her own chin. "Perhaps it will be useful?"
"But he’s my disciple!"
"It is precisely because he is your disciple that doing this has value, is it not?" The woman gave a cold laugh, a hint of contempt flashing in her golden eyes. "Be grateful. I happen to trust your eye for talent."
"..."
Ignoring Mela, whose eyes were wide with speechless indignation, the woman turned coldly. Her long dress trailed on the ground as she stepped into the rift, leaving only a final, equally cold sentence to drift through the night air:
"He is still too weak. I hope that the next time I seek him out, he will be strong enough to satisfy me.
...Pass those words along for me.
Mela Domir."
...
...
The night wind blew, and without that invisible suppression, the leaves finally rustled happily.
After the Calamity left, all of Mela’s flippant and mocking expressions vanished. Her face gradually grew solemn.
She rubbed her chin and murmured seriously, "Is this... what it feels like to be NTR'd to my face?"
"Ugh, how annoying. I’m definitely going to settle this score in the future!"
The strongest Grand Magister of humanity made her resolution.
"Only..."
Mela suddenly looked down at Muen, whose body was rapidly recovering thanks to that drop of dragon blood from the Calamity. Her expression became a bit strange.
"Did I accidentally screw this kid over again?"
A drop of dragon blood was precious, but compared to the consequence of being marked by a Calamity, it was far from worth it.
Muen wasn't her disciple; she wouldn't show him any mercy. And with that woman's personality...
"Well, whatever."
Thinking of this, Mela clapped her small hands together and instead flashed a cheerful smile.
"It’s quite interesting, isn't it?"