Chapter 491: The Final Divine Academy Opponent

Dominik was a tall man who stood nearly two meters in height, with long white hair covering his head and a short beard following the shape of his jaw.

He wore a long uniform that seemed to pulse with power, while his grey eyes constantly released a faint aura that made his presence even more intimidating.

As he landed on the ground, Leon immediately shifted his attention toward the two weapons Dominik was holding.

In his right hand was a sword, while his left hand held a staff that radiated a powerful magical aura.

’Blessed by both the God of War and the God of Magic, which means he can use both swordsmanship and magic,’ Leon thought to himself. ’I’ll have to be careful.’

"The two of us fight using both magic and the sword. How interesting," Dominik chuckled as he examined Leon. "And yet, only one of us can come out of this chamber alive."

Leon didn’t bother responding, instead taking a proper stance as he prepared to summon his skills at a moment’s notice.

Fortunately, neither Dominik nor the teachers of the Divine Academy could use soul attacks.

And even if Dominik somehow managed to obtain such an ability, Leon was quite confident he could withstand the attack.

However, there was no reason to take unnecessary risks.

After all, his primary objective was to eliminate Dominik and the remaining teachers as quickly as possible so that he could finally make his way toward the [Tower of Souls].

Vines of Desolation! Lightning Cataclysm!

Fwoosh!

The ground beneath their feet suddenly trembled as countless enormous vines erupted from the earth, rapidly extending toward their targets.

At the same time, the sky above the Divine Academy began to change as dark clouds gathered over the enormous structure, accompanied by countless flashes of lightning.

Several massive bolts of lightning began forming above the academy, each containing enough destructive power to tear apart the surrounding walls and rooftops.

However, despite the overwhelming power behind Leon’s attacks, Dominik didn’t appear particularly concerned.

Instead, he simply smiled as he raised both weapons before crossing his sword and staff together in front of his body.

Zero-Magic Zone!

BOOM!

An enormous explosion of aura suddenly erupted from Dominik’s body, spreading throughout the chamber with tremendous force.

The moment his ability activated, an invisible force rapidly expanded outward, completely changing the nature of the battlefield.

And the effects were immediate.

The enormous vines that had erupted from the ground suddenly began disintegrating, their branches breaking apart into countless particles before disappearing entirely.

The lightning bolts that were supposed to descend upon the academy also vanished, their destructive energy completely erased the moment they entered the area affected by Dominik’s ability.

"This..." Leon muttered as he watched his attacks disappear, "What?"

"You’re the one that gave me this idea, but by combining the two blessings I was given, I was able to use this new ability!" Dominik laughed, clearly enjoying Leon’s reaction. "What can you possibly do now, Celestial?! I am far stronger than you physically, and now that magic has become useless, you have absolutely no chance of defeating me!"

Leon stared at Dominik with an entirely neutral expression, seemingly unaffected by his opponent’s confidence.

However, there was something about the ability that didn’t make any sense to him.

Although the Zero-Magic Zone had completely neutralized Leon’s magical attacks, it also meant that Dominik himself could no longer use magic.

And more importantly, this also meant that Domi and Lotus could no longer use their magical abilities as well, leaving them considerably more vulnerable than before.

"S-Sir!" Domi suddenly shouted in panic as he desperately attempted to summon his magic, "I can’t do anything to protect myself anymore!"

SLASH!

Before Domi could even finish his sentence, Violet immediately took advantage of the situation and rushed toward him, swinging her rapier with enough force to tear through his body.

Although Violet could no longer use her frost abilities within the Zero-Magic Zone, that didn’t mean she had lost the ability to fight entirely.

Domi’s body was immediately torn apart by the attack, and he collapsed to the ground without having the opportunity to defend himself.

’Two more to go.’

Violet calmly withdrew her rapier before shifting her attention toward the remaining teacher, who was also struggling with the restrictions imposed by Dominik’s ability.

Unlike Domi, however, Lotus appeared considerably more furious about the situation.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" she screamed as she desperately attempted to summon her magic, seemingly unable to accept that her abilities had completely stopped working.

Unfortunately for her, Celeste wasn’t going to give her any time to complain.

The moment Lotus became distracted, Celeste immediately rushed forward and thrust her spear toward the teacher, forcing her to abandon her attempts to activate her abilities and focus entirely on defending herself.

Clang! Clang!

Lotus hurriedly raised her staff to deflect Celeste’s attacks, desperately trying to keep the spear away from her body while struggling to maintain her balance.

Emilia was also unable to use her magical attacks, but unlike the others, she still possessed a way to contribute to the battle.

After all, buffs weren’t considered magic by the system, meaning she could still enhance Celeste’s physical abilities even while they were inside the Zero-Magic Zone.

Emilia continued supporting her companion by increasing her speed and strength.

However, Celeste had also discovered something incredible about her talent, and more specifically, her embers.

Despite the fact that Dominik’s ability was supposed to completely eliminate magic within its area of effect, Celeste had realized that she could still summon and control her embers.

This meant that the system didn’t recognize her embers as "magic", but rather as something entirely different.

"HELP ME, YOU IDIOT!" Lotus screamed.

However, Dominik didn’t seem particularly interested in helping her.

Instead, he simply glanced toward Lotus for a brief moment before returning his attention to Leon, seemingly unconcerned by the fact that his remaining teacher was struggling to survive.

"Useless."

Those were the only words he uttered as he glanced at the bodies of the three teachers who had already fallen during the battle.

"The God of War and the God of Magic are extremely dissatisfied with your performance," he continued, "Despite everything they have given you, you have accomplished nothing."

At that moment, Celeste finally decided that she had seen enough.

A massive burst of darkness flames suddenly erupted from her body, rapidly spreading throughout the surrounding area before completely engulfing Lotus.

The teacher barely had enough time to react before the enormous flames surrounded her, burning through her body while simultaneously targeting her soul.

Within moments, her soul was burned to a crisp, and her body collapsed to the ground, marking the end of the final teacher who had remained on Dominik’s side.

With that, all four teachers of the Divine Academy had finally been eliminated.

"Well, you defeated my students and teachers," Dominik remarked as he watched the final body fall to the ground, "Good job."

Leon narrowed his eyes slightly as he studied the man standing before him.

"Why didn’t you help them?" Leon asked. "If you had intervened, you could have..."

"...I don’t need them anymore," Dominik interrupted with a smile, showing absolutely no concern for the lives he had just allowed to be taken. "For the sake of defeating you, I was granted all these powers, and if I manage to complete this mission, I will be able to ascend. In other words, I have absolutely nothing left to accomplish here."

"...Damn."

The primary reason most servants committed terrible acts throughout the Higher Domains was their desire to gain the approval of the gods they served.

Whether they were responsible for killing innocent people, destroying entire cities, or spreading chaos, many were willing to do practically anything if it meant earning the recognition necessary to ascend.

The Divine Academy was no exception, as the countless lives they would have taken and the chaos they would have spread were all part of their efforts to gain the gods’ approval and eventually ascend to the Eternal Domain.

In Leon’s previous life, the Divine Academy had actually succeeded in accomplishing that objective, which was precisely why Dominik had needed the teachers and students to help him achieve his goals.

However, things were considerably different this time.

With the blessings he had received from the God of War and the God of Magic, Dominik had been granted an entirely new opportunity to ascend.

As a result, the students and teachers who had once been essential to his plans had become nothing more than unnecessary obstacles, and he no longer had any reason to protect them.

"Well, to make this fight fair, I allowed you to get rid of the obstacles on my side, so..." Dominik said with an amused smile as he slowly turned toward the girls standing behind Leon.

His grey eyes briefly examined each of them before settling on Violet, who was still holding her rapier after eliminating Domi.

"Let’s make things fair."

Fwoosh!

Dominik suddenly disappeared from his original position, moving with such incredible speed that the girls barely had enough time to react.

In the next instant, he appeared directly in front of Violet, his sword already raised as he unleashed a powerful slash aimed at her body.

The tremendous physical strength behind the attack caused the surrounding air to tremble, and the sheer speed of his movements made it nearly impossible for Violet to evade the incoming strike.

’Shit!’

Leon immediately realized what the chairman was doing, and quickly acted.

Time Stop!

...

A/N

This Chapter is much longer than most others (around 1,600 words), you guys tell me if you prefer longer Chapters or if I should just continue with normal size (1,200 words)