The brave seniors of Seoguyeon, emboldened by Velvet’s strength, decided to storm the Professor’s Domain. While 90% was due to Velvet’s power, the remaining 10% stemmed from their confidence in their own skills.
“We can graduate, and even if we don’t, we’re not leaving anyway. Doesn’t that make us way stronger than the other instructors?”
“We’re definitely stronger than those working part-time just to promote to the next year. Among the teaching assistants and disciples groomed by the professor, maybe we would be at the level of the chief disciple.”
“So, the Oknodie we’re trying to save is about that level of chief disciple, right?”
A poor child who caught the attention of the professor with his incredible talent. Such a tragic fate it was.
“When he first realized he had talent, he must have been dying to show off.”
How pathetic is a being that stands out to the professor by flaunting strength inferior to hers?
“Moreover, if he’s Sadako’s chief disciple, who is exceedingly stronger than the usual professors… we might be outclassed entirely!”
Up until this point, the opinions of the seniors of Seoguyeon had all been nodding in agreement, but they began to diverge here.
“No way? I heard he’s Bronze’s disciple. The Plant Club kids said he got wrecked by a Mandragora.”
“You’re all mistaken. That kid is the first to practice the stone-eating training coming from Weird’s lab. He must be Weird’s chosen disciple, so he could do such crazy things even outside a research lab where safety isn’t guaranteed.”
“You’re all wrong! He’s the disciple of Professor Destroyer. There’s no doubt he’s the first student he started teaching.”
While all agreed that the Oknodie was a powerhouse at the level of the professor’s chief disciple, there were disputes about whose disciple he was.
Rogue Bronze de Estrada.
Nature’s madman Weird.
Previous Hero Destroyer.
Everyone had different opinions, and upon hearing them, each seemed plausible in its own right.
“Then he might be the chosen disciple of multiple professors.”
Velvet’s nonchalant remark prompted roaring laughter from the seniors of Seoguyeon.
“That’s a good joke.”
“Yeah, there’s no way that’s possible.”
“A human can only have one body!”
How could a single person be simultaneously the disciple of many professors?
“It’s quite the life to have lived so long and now seeing Velvet joking around with us.”
“Well, we’ve known each other for years, so it’s about time we could joke like this.”
“Heh. I didn’t realize how much my seniors were pained by my interests, but it’s not a joke. If it’s a joke, I absolutely despise it.”
The seniors of Seoguyeon, taken aback by Velvet’s coy retort, exchanged puzzled glances.
“So, are you saying he really is the chosen disciple of several professors at once?”
“Can that even be done in a single human body?”
“…If it were someone else, maybe not, but Oknodie might have that possibility. I looked into him briefly before coming here and found that the number of lectures he’s taking is abnormal.”
“How many is that?”
“Rumor has it, he’s surpassed 20 lectures.”
It’s an insane number of lectures that can’t be accomplished without extending a day to 48 hours!
The one attending all those classes isn’t Oknodie but Darknodi, but since the person they were trying to rescue was Darknodi anyway, it wasn’t an issue.
‘I suppose I’ve even seen boss mobs running around in a body that liked Oknodie!’
Velvet thought she was getting closer to unraveling Oknodie’s mysterious number of classes, recalling her memory of encountering ‘Throne Nod.’
Yet, whether it was a delusion or not, Darknodi was still in a position to receive help.
“Such an impressive child must have been chosen by the fierce Sadako professor!”
“That makes sense. If each instructor is at the level of our prior Seoguyeon masters, then they surely wouldn’t pick an ordinary disciple.”
The Numbers Skull Instructors, just released from their sarcophagi, overheard the conversation and processed the situation.
“Did our ruler Sadako choose her disciple?”
“I hear she has the alias Dark Princess. Truly an absurd choice for an heir!”
“Little Sadako, is this a sign of the apocalypse!”
A mix of admiration, horror, and shock.
While emotions varied, the actions the instructors were to take remained the same.
“They are trying to snatch the ruler’s chosen heir away. Block them all!”
“I appreciate your approach to taking revenge on Sadako, who turned me into a skeleton, but there’s also a
“As my fourth states, now that instructor number one’s made that choice, we can’t let them through.”
The conflict between the seniors of Seoguyeon and the Numbers instructors of Sadako erupted.
A clash not of strategies and spells but of pure strength against strength, magic against magic, sent all lower-level mana flying out of bounds.
“Ugh?!”
“My, my body is being flung?!”
The second and third years couldn’t withstand the backlash, stumbling back or bracing stubbornly only to be swept off their feet by the torrent of magic.
Thwoosh, thwoosh, thwoosh!
Like people swept away by a fierce waterfall, the upper-class students were hurled back to the levels they had traveled through.
Seeing the quickly emerging stragglers, Sandkooker and Irene hastily set up defense magic circles.
<<Earth's Binding> <<Ice Fortress>>
They aimed to somehow stay grounded with large-scale terrain-altering magic, but the current of magic swept through everything without exception.
“Ugh!”
“Sandkooker!”
A giant hand that spread like a shield to envelop everyone was crumbling like a mound of sand, while Rosgini dived into the torrent of power to rescue the stricken Sandkooker.
“Ugh…!”
“Damn, I’ve been leaning on you all this time, so I can’t just ignore it.”
“If you’re going, I’m going too.”
In a similar manner, as the Ice Fortress crumbled, Irene was swept away by the force of the wind while Dorothy and Rockbell rushed to her rescue.
Rosgini and Sandkooker.
Irene, Dorothy, and Rockbell.
With such fierce members departing in hordes, Hestia shouted desperately.
“Concentrate lots of mana in your bodies and hold on! You need to layer your area like a mana shield!”
In an environment where taking even a step was tough and stepping back was impossible, the students continued to lag behind, while Jiang heard a troubling sound in his ear.
“Waah, my light stand!”
Attempting to apply mana and follow Hestia’s advice led Titosso to drop his light stand as he tried to throw himself beyond the raging torrent of mana.
Bah! Pffft, it doesn’t matter what happens to a foolish stand now.
Oknodie is not a friend more precious than that.
Best friends and non-best friends are different, right?
Jiang steeled himself, reminding himself of these harsh thoughts.
– Oknodie isn’t bad. We’re best friends, yet you left me to wander alone. So I’m confused about who my best friend actually is!
Jiang shot out his sticky-point-magic like a spider web to grab both the light stand and Titosso.
With both hands summoned, there was no way he could dodge the torrent of mana.
– Is it barely safe?
It wouldn’t be true if he insisted on stickily binding his feet here.
Jiang felt a sense of accomplishment.
Just last year, he could barely perform stickiness magic concentrated with his whole palm, yet now he could summon it freely from all his limbs.
He’d gained that much mana and mastered advanced mana control techniques through extensive learning and practice.
<<Titosso's Light Stand>
<<Upon contact, an enormous amount of mana will be consumed.>
"...!"
But Jiang wasn't the only one who grew stronger.
Titosso had as well.
'Though I knew it was a curse item sucking up mana, I didn't expect it would drain this much!'
Squelch, squelch!
The viscosity of the sticky magic stuck to his shoes dropped at a frightening speed.
Trying to hold onto Titosso and the light stand would only spell his doom as he was dragged away.
It’s decision time.
‘Titosso without his light stand can’t work. If I save Titosso, I have to give up my sticky magic. If I protect my sticky magic and abandon Titosso and the light stand…’
He could stay alive within this chaos.
With a higher power trip on his hands, he could eventually reach Sadako.
Just when he made the choice to save Oknodie, Titosso would be left behind.
“Jiang!”
“…Hurry and take the mana quickly.”
“Ugh, I’m sorry! Because of me, you’ve gotten pushed out too!”
In the end, Jiang chose to abandon the sticky magic to save Titosso, also getting swept away from the battlefield.
Yet, oddly enough, he felt no regret.
“It can’t be helped. Oknodie has many friends, he’s a friendly guy, while Titosso is a loner. If I don’t take care, it could turn dire.”
“Ugh. I have many friends too!”
“But it feels a bit sad. Is this the end of the second years?”
There shouldn’t have been anyone better at holding out than me.
As he looked at the torrent of magic with regret, he suddenly realized there was one second-year missing from the show.
“Is he holding on?”
The last remaining member of the second-year upper class.
On the other side of the fierce mana stream, sweeping even the third years away, Hestia was still holding on.
