Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 676

RRRRRUMBLE!

The two professors, glaring at each other and fanning their fighting spirit, noticed something off and lifted their heads.

“What is this…?”

“What the hell?”

Both professors had plenty of experience and wide knowledge, so both realized right away that what was happening was not normal.

As the sky over the mountain range turned completely black, the sun was swallowed inside it. The surroundings darkened rapidly.

“Do Cheol bastards can do this?!”

“That’s nonsense! Not ten Do Cheol—not even a hundred could pull this off!”

No matter that Do Cheol were monsters that freely handled the darkness element and curses, this was beyond the pale.

How could mere things like Do Cheol cause a phenomenon like this?

Even if a lot of Do Cheol gathered, they could not darken the sky and swallow the sun.

“A great archmage capable of this would be one of the few even in the Empire…”

“Isn’t it the Principal?”

“Why would Gonadaltes come here?! Does Gonadaltes have time to rot?!”

Professor Bendozol snapped at Professor Thunderstep.

The Skull Principal was an extremely busy mage even during break.

Except for new students and subsidies, the Skull Principal spent all remaining time devoted to the grand undertaking of blocking threats to the Empire from within the deep reaches of Einroguard—so there was no way the Skull Principal would come to the Bitong Mountains.

All that was here were a few Do Cheol at most!

“If it isn’t the Principal, that’s an even bigger problem.”

“Mm.”

Professor Bendozol fell into a low hum.

If it wasn’t the Skull Principal, it truly was a bigger problem.

A great archmage of that level showing up here out of nowhere would have a reason—and it didn’t seem like it would be a good one.

The blackened sky split.

And a voice echoed out.

“Who is it? Who touched it?”

At the familiar telepathic wave, both professors went pale.

Incredibly, the one coming this way was Gonadaltes!!

And the temper had grown extremely rough!

“Is it my former disciple, my mad clone, or those worthless magical criminals? If it’s magical criminals, I’ll give you a chance to die right now. Kill yourselves. I swear it—if you’re caught, you’ll regret it.”

Who exactly is being suspected first?

Lee Han was dumbfounded as Lee Han listened to what the Skull Principal said before descending.

Thinking someone had attacked Lee Han made sense. Lee Han had activated the emergency signal ring.

But suspecting a former disciple first?

No. That part I can understand, too.

Hadn’t the Emperor said it before, when Lee Han met the Emperor?

The Skull Principal’s disciples had traditionally tried to burn the continent, or burn themselves, or burn the Skull Principal.

The remaining disciples could still hold grudges. That much was plausible.

But what in the world was this about a mad clone?!

What kind of insane nonsense have you been doing?!

“I clearly gave you time!”

As the words ended, black power dropped like lightning from the split sky. The enormous force flowed like a torrent, forming a pillar.

From that pillar, a familiar mage walked out.

It was the Skull Principal in a human form.

“Now, which— Wait.”

The Skull Principal, about to erupt with cold fury, faltered after seeing the gathered professors and students.

Something was different from what the Skull Principal had expected.

“Professor Thunderstep. Greetings.”

“G-greetings.”

“Professor Bendozol.”

“Greetings.”

“Greetings? I hoped you’d be intact, but seeing you intact makes me want to kill you. Keep your mouth shut.”

Professor Bendozol, with plenty of sins to the name, shut the mouth.

Not meeting a unicorn and returning before the new term started was a grave crime.

Professor Thunderstep steadied the flustered nerves and spoke. It was calm composure worthy of a veteran explorer.

“Principal. What brings /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ you here?”

“I called the Principal.”

“……”

“……”

Professor Thunderstep, the students—maybe even the unicorn—seemed to stare at Lee Han in shock.

“HEY!!! YOU CRAZY BASTARD!!!”

Professor Bendozol screamed, shocked to the point of nearly passing out.

It was shocking enough that Gonadaltes came just because of being called—but the one who called was ridiculous, too.

Wasn’t this completely deranged?!

“There are things you call for and things you don’t—who do you think you’re calling?! Have you lost your mind?!”

“The one who has lost his mind is you.”

“Wai—”

At the Skull Principal’s icy voice, Professor Bendozol hurriedly tried to shift into defense. In an instant, eleven high-tier spells rose up as if shielding Professor Bendozol, forming layered barriers.

But with one gesture, the Skull Principal tore the magic apart—and with another gesture, slammed Professor Bendozol into the pillar of black power.

Professor Bendozol screamed and was dragged up into the sky.

Incredible.

Lee Han had just watched Professor Bendozol hunt Do Cheol, so Lee Han already knew Professor Bendozol was a powerful mage.

Not only transformation magic—Professor Bendozol was a flexible mage who could freely cast spells from various schools, suited to dealing with animals and caring for them.

Even among exceptional mages, it was rare to master multiple schools at once, so it was an impressive ability.

And since Professor Bendozol wandered the Empire’s remote regions caring for animals, there would be plenty of real combat experience, too.

Yet the Skull Principal subdued that professor in a single blow and sent the professor to Einroguard. The power was hard to believe.

“You look like you’re wondering why Professor Bendozol lost so easily.”

When the students stared in shock, the Skull Principal kindly began explaining.

Even if they couldn’t understand right now, it might become a great help someday.

“Wardanaz. Focus. You need to understand immediately.”

“Come on…”

Lee Han was speechless at how the Skull Principal piled extra abuse on Lee Han alone.

“First, Professor Bendozol let his guard down. The moment he noticed me, he should have taken the initiative and attacked. To lose the initiative against a mage stronger than himself. A pathetic lapse.”

With inferior condition and even injured, waiting for the Skull Principal to make the first move—

Professor Bendozol should have pulled out the strongest magic available, blocked the Skull Principal, and escaped this place as fast as possible. That was the only path with even the thinnest chance of success.

Gainando raised a hand and asked.

“Isn’t it because if he did that and got caught, he’d be punished way worse?”

“Of course. But when fleeing, nobody worries about after they’re caught. Remember that. Once you decide, you must not hesitate.”

Magic was influenced by a mage’s mental state as well.

If you decided to run, you had to throw everything into running—half-measures out of fear of consequences would not do.

“Th-that’s why I couldn’t escape Einroguar—”

The Skull Principal hung Gainando upside down and continued speaking.

“Second, the spells he had layered were flimsy. How many spells did Professor Bendozol layer?”

At the question, Gainando—hanging upside down—answered with a puzzled look.

“Professor Bendozol used spells?”

“Anyone else?”

The Skull Principal sealed Gainando’s mouth as well. The students shared opinions among themselves.

“Six, wasn’t it?”

“Felt like five.”

“Wardanaz. You answer.”

“I saw up to eleven.”

“!?”

The friends startled at the unbelievable answer.

They had been watching, too, and hadn’t noticed at all.

“Good eye. Do not believe only what appears on the surface. If you were in that position, would you reveal the spells protecting you as they are?”

Offense mattered, but defense required just as much mastery.

Great mages did not let even simple defensive spells show cleanly on the outside. They stacked multiple layers, then twisted and braided them until the identity was hard to read.

A defensive spell whose identity could not be read was itself a significant strength.

Just now, to break through eleven defensive spells quickly, the Skull Principal projected mana at each defensive spell simultaneously, grasped the principle behind each, then released them all at once.

It was counter-magic.

But if there had been even a slight mistake, or if the spells had been more numerous and complex, time would have been delayed by the tiniest sliver.

Then Professor Bendozol would have reacted quickly, reinforced defenses, and attempted escape.

From the outside, it looked like the Skull Principal subdued Professor Bendozol with an easy single strike—but inside it had been a razor-thin, fierce battle of calculations.

“And last, it’s because I’m currently maintaining several powerful ancient spells.”

The Skull Principal spoke while pointing at the pillar of black power behind—connected to the sky.

That was clearly a strange and powerful magic that the Skull Principal didn’t normally show. Lee Han asked, puzzled.

“Why did you cast it?”

“Because you called saying you were in danger!”

SMACK!

The Skull Principal yanked Lee Han’s staff away with telekinesis and smacked Lee Han once.

It seemed like magic the Skull Principal cared about quite a bit, and Lee Han suddenly felt guilty.

“S-sorry.”

“So why did you call? I can guess, but…”

“The professors were fighting…”

“I thought so.”

The Skull Principal clicked the tongue and looked at Professor Thunderstep.

With Professor Bendozol and Professor Thunderstep snarling at each other, it made sense that the students would be flustered.

“…And there’s a bounty, so I called.”

“…You didn’t call because of the bounty, did you?”

“I absolutely did not call only because of that.”

“Hmph.”

The Skull Principal shot a suspicious look once, then shrugged.

“From now on, call only when it’s truly dangerous. Do you know the tale of the shepherd giant?”

“I don’t. What is it?”

“Long ago, one day, a giant tending mountain-range-destroying sheep grew bored and lied that a wolf had appeared, calling other giants.”

“……”

“…?”

The students didn’t understand and asked questions.

“What are mountain-range-destroying sheep?”

“Can a wolf even take mountain-range-destroying sheep?”

“Be quiet. And it wasn’t that the wolf took the sheep—giants like catching wolves, so the giant called them. They like chasing wolves. Anyway, if you keep lying, later nobody will believe you.”

“But separate from that, if a wolf shows up—”

“What even are mountain-range-destroying sheep?”

“So shepherd giants exist?”

As the students kept being a nuisance, the Skull Principal spoke with a shudder of irritation.

“Quiet! Since I’m here, I’ll finish the rest of the work. Do Cheol are roaming around?”

“Yes. Unusually, moving in a group…”

“Sounds like a leader showed up. Sometimes one appears, and other Do Cheol gather under it. Crafty and selfish as they are, if there’s a leader, they roll into a pack.”

“I’ve never seen it even once.”

“It’s rare enough that you wouldn’t. Professor Thunderstep, even I can’t remember the last time I saw it.”

With that, the Skull Principal declared.

“Wicked pack, come before me!”

The pillar of black power convulsed and pulsed explosively, and from the sky swallowed by darkness, a word of command spread across the mountain range.

Then the pack of Do Cheol gathered in the far corners of the vast Bitong Mountains floated up into the air and was dragged before the Skull Principal.

Do Cheol’s leader let out a murderous shriek and struggled, trying to kill the Skull Principal. All kinds of darkness elements seethed and shifted form.

THUD!

With a single gesture, the Do Cheol pack was swept away. The Skull Principal turned the gaze to the next item.

“Unicorn?”

“It’s injured. Is there a safe place that could restore it?”

“Einroguard would be good.”

“!”

Not only Lee Han—even the unicorn brightened.

Few places were as safe as the territory of a great archmage.

But surprisingly, the Skull Principal looked reluctant.

“There’s a problem.”

“What problem?”

“If it stays at Einroguard, Professor Bendozol will come looking for it and be annoying.”

Lee Han thought it was a joke.

But the unicorn looked like it was seriously considering it.