<294 - The Professor's End>
Since entering the Academy, Jonna’s Agassi made many friends and her skills grew tremendously. She thought there would be almost no chance for her to be of help anymore.
Unlike the other Jonnas who had left her life in vain, Oknodie was departing from her for a different reason.
While feeling relieved, there was also a twinge of regret in Jonnas’s heart.
– Help me!
It was to such a self that the Agassi relied on.
Honestly, she was happy.
To realize that she could still be of help to the Agassi.
“I understand. This will be a great opportunity for an outing. Leef, April. Protect the Agassi.”
At Jonnas’s call, Leef and April appeared from the darkness as if they had been waiting, standing to the left and right in a defensive stance.
Their attitude showed a determination to protect the Agassi from any attack that might come.
With them around, Jonnas could venture out without worry.
Leef was competent, after all.
April… well, she would just serve as a meat shield.
“The Academy’s professor. An uninvited guest is causing harm to the Agassi’s friend. You’ve crossed the line far too much.”
The Metal Manipulation ability that Jonnas had only ever used when increasing the weight of the Agassi’s training tools flowed across the ground.
A chilling wave moving toward them at a frightening speed was suddenly blocked by a wall of metal that had risen abruptly.
With a loud boom, the earth trembled and cracked.
This was a common phenomenon when the powers of a mastered expert clashed.
A silver-grade monster with enough danger to issue an evacuation order in a single region.
An expert capable of unleashing such havoc on its own.
And not just any typical silver-grade at that.
A lower silver-grade with a vague potential to devastate the region someday.
A mid-level silver-grade that could threaten the area soon.
An upper silver-grade that would annihilate the area immediately if not defeated.
Both Jonnas and the disruptive professor were at the level of upper silver grades.
Using terms familiar to adventurers or mercenaries, it could be considered [True Silver], a realm that represented the pinnacle of silver.
While he wasn’t a gold-grade expert with a risk level in the top 0.1%, he was still at a level of 0.2% to 0.3% risk, equivalent to a powerful contender.
In front of such powerhouse fighters, the strength of a Warrior was still yet to be accepted.
Though in the far future he could be overtaken by a Warrior, at least for now, these two were indeed superior experts.
– Chiiihh!
Wrapped in a pure white mist were the Warrior and the Saintess.
The two were encased in extreme ice crystals, busy merely defending themselves.
Jonnas passively walked past the Warrior and the Saintess, wrapped in ice.
“What the heck is the Butler of the Foundation planning to raise?”
Professor Raeb was dumbfounded.
“To think the mere butler would possess the strength of the Professor Class.”
“Now you understand. You have profoundly misjudged your odds. You’ve stepped where you shouldn’t and committed actions you shouldn’t have. Your head could fall at any moment.”
Jonnas outright stopped any form of respect.
He made the professor acutely aware of the weight of reality.
“You will die. If you do not show sufficient sincerity for your previous rudeness right here and now.”
The confidence of Jonnas Wahyhiemhai did not falter even against a strong member of the Professor Class.
Though he fell short of the retired Warrior Destroyer who had previously been part of the Warrior Party, he was not lacking compared to an ordinary member of the Professor Class.
“This is an uninhabited island above the sea. A place brimming with Nature Mana that can respond to my freezing magic. Butler of the Foundation, do you truly believe you have a chance?”
Magic becomes a battle of imagination once sufficient Mana is secured.
How effectively can one awaken the natural order?
How powerfully can one encapsulate the destructive force of nature?
It’s a contest not just for novice mages who emulate nature but of intermediate mages who have succeeded in replicating natural phenomena and even the elite mages who can unleash catastrophic disasters.
Phenomena beyond catastrophes can only be born from imagination.
The Empire imparted their arcane knowledge to promising elite mages.
Opportunities to observe natural phenomena tied to the birth and extinction of stars originating from cosmic-scale astronomy.
The rights to use the latest magic observing instrument called the Nova Telescope.
Mages who have experienced the Nova and those who haven’t are selectively chosen by the Empire, creating a robust reason why the powerful mages pledge their loyalty to the Empire.
Of course, Professor Raeb was a young mage lacking experience and years compared to the many royal court mages who had devoted themselves for decades.
Yet, he grasped the Nova’s insight thanks to someone who reached out to him.
– Greedy and a lust for knowledge without self-awareness. How amusing, Raeb. Would you pledge your loyalty to the Academy in exchange for satisfying that craving?
Raeb willingly took that hand.
[Empire’s Ultimate Magic – Nova Effect]
[Ultimate Ice Magic of the 7th Circle]
[Frost Nova]
And now, the prowess of a Nova-grade magician, observing the destructive force originating from a star explosion, was once again being unleashed.
Jonnas acknowledged it.
Truly, a professor from the Academy.
Raeb’s move was indeed as impressive as she had thought.
However, Professor Raeb made one critical misjudgment.
“Ice mages find that water is the element perfectly optimized for collecting Nature Mana. Being an ice mage above the sea is akin to a nightmare. Yet, here, there are other elements abundant.”
As Jonnas began to gather her power, Raeb’s eyes turned sharply toward Jonnas’s intent.
The attributes of the mana puzzle rising around the Butler responded to metals.
Moreover, this uninhabited island was filled with the carcasses of mineral mice made entirely of rare metal known as Blue Metal.
‘Could it be that this location having Blue Metal Mice was known from the start to lure a metal mage…?!’
Professor Raeb realized it.
The Foundation had responded to the deal and supplied information on Oknodie.
And they had stationed a purposely vague expert to escort them.
With monsters storing vast amounts of elements specialized for that expert lying in ambush underground on the island.
While Professor Raeb unleashed a plethora of mana puzzles with violent scale, Jonnas Wahyhiemhai focused on the quality and purity of the mana puzzles.
‘An area spell that distributes destructive power? To break through my most confident spell’s maximum force head-on…!’
Unlike the typical spread of mana that could be found across the sea, the mana from Blue Metal Mice had a level of purity that was unmatched.
‘This is dangerous. Using Nova-grade magic has depleted the nearby mana puzzles entirely.’
The difference between poor mana and high-quality mana became painfully evident.
Though abundant in quantity, poor mana would run dry after just one use, but high-purity mana could provide exceptional cost-effectiveness for repeated use with smaller amounts.
The flow of thought was lengthy, yet the conclusion was simple.
They had been overwhelmed.
Raeb’s offensive had failed.
‘I’ll aim for Oknodie, not you.’
‘Go ahead, try it. If you think your neck will remain attached by the end of this.’
Magic permeated with animosity was apparent between them.
Jonnas’s unwavering trust in her Agassi and maids was solid.
This strong belief lured Raeb into temptation.
Could there truly be some kind of plan?
That the maids were such competent experts they could block any attack?
What about Oknodie, who was so well-versed in Dark Mana that she was called the Dark Princess?
‘I can’t kill. Even if it means risking my own life.’
A hint of temptation caused a quiver in the steadfast barrier of Frost Nova.
Jonnas’s iron will seized upon and smashed through the small opening she found directly.
‘No, this is strange.’
Raeb’s eyes widened as he headed toward despair.
[Rapid Thought][Battlefield Analysis]
The sharp intellect of the mage deduced the absolute value of mana destruction that he had not yet realized.
The mana puzzles sent forth by Jonnas’s Blue Metal Mice couldn’t produce this kind of output by themselves.
There was something more.
The source of the elements that granted him strength.
As he expanded his field of vision, the answer finally revealed itself.
“Just a bit more, Ishtar.”
“Almost there…!”
Ice crystals.
A huge hole emerged in the prison that encased the Warrior and the Saintess, mixing the properties of ice and metal.
The magic initially used to contain the Warrior was now the focal point of Jonnas’s power.
That variable was there.
At the instant Jonnas unleashed her secondary great magic, the crystal orb finally shattered.
“If I die, it’ll be your turn next. Do you think the Foundation will let the perfect opportunity to dispose of a Warrior slip by?”
Raeb stirred the Warrior’s heart.
Instigating unease and inciting fear.
If the Warrior was smart, he would threaten Jonnas and Oknodie to save himself.
If a gap formed in Jonnas’s great magic because of that, he could finally gain the upper hand.
This was the reversal plan Raeb had devised.
“Price doesn’t matter, huh?”
The Warrior opened the door.
Holy Mirror.
The ability to transmit attacks across the mirror’s surface.
The door led to the back of Raeb’s head.
The furious ultimate technique of a Warrior flew toward the professor.
“The Foundation has never harmed me first, unlike you Empire folks.”
As Raeb struggled to block the Warrior’s attack, Jonnas’s great magic struck true.
Kwaaak!
Raeb’s heart was penetrated by steel thorns, and his chest transformed into metal.
The professor couldn’t hide his resentment as he glared at the Warrior.
The Warrior had been too rebellious to be swung around, and the price of failing to realize that fact was ultimately reflected in death.
Sshshh…
Just then, a shadow rushed in from the fading edge of Raeb’s sight.
Oknodie.
That terrifying child had finally sprung into action.
With the thought of killing the Warrior this time with no concern for any aftereffects, since she herself was dying.
How amusing.
That foolish brat, might as well die with me.
Just when Professor Raeb had intended to laugh at the Warrior’s demise, a dagger abruptly lodged itself into his nape.
“Can’t leave the last hit for you!”
…It wasn’t just one foolish brat.
“Oknodie. Can’t I stab once too?”
“Sure! But I’ll have to stab one more at the end.”
Jiang and Oknodie cheerfully chatted while plunging their daggers in.
The future of the Academy sure looked grim.
With no hope in life or expectation of revenge left, Professor Raeb closed his eyes and breathed his last.
