Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy Chapter 676

Chapter 676

Rumble!

The two professors, who had been glaring at each other and burning with fighting spirit, sensed something strange and raised their heads.

The sky was turning pitch black.

"What is this...?"

"What's going on?"

Both professors, being experienced and knowledgeable, realized that the phenomenon occurring now was not ordinary.

As the sky above the mountain range turned completely black, the sun was swallowed up in it. The surroundings quickly darkened.

"Are the Taotie bastards doing this?!"

"That's nonsense! Not even a hundred Taotie could do this, let alone ten!"

Even though Taotie were monsters that freely handled dark elements and curses, this was beyond the norm.

How could mere Taotie cause such an extraordinary phenomenon!

No matter how many Taotie gathered, they couldn't darken the sky and swallow the sun.

"There are only a handful of great mages in the empire capable of such a feat..."

"Could it be the principal?"

"Why would Gonadaltes come here?! Does he have time to waste?!"

Professor Bentozol chided Professor Bungaegor.

The skull principal was a very busy mage even during breaks.

Except for new students and funding, he was a person who devoted all his remaining time to the grand plan of blocking threats to the empire from the depths of Einroguard, so how could he come to the Grief Mountains?

There were only a few Taotie at most here!

"If it's not the principal, that would be even more problematic."

"Hmm!"

Professor Bentozol swallowed hard.

Indeed, if it wasn't the skull principal, it was an even bigger problem.

There would be a reason for such a great mage to suddenly come here, and it didn't seem like it would be a good one.

The blackened sky split open.

And a voice echoed.

-Who is it? Who dared to touch?-

The two professors' faces turned pale at the familiar mental wave.

Surprisingly, the one coming this way now was Gonadaltes!!

And he seemed to be in a very foul mood!

-Is it my old disciple, my crazy alter ego, or some petty magic criminal? If it's a magic criminal, I'll give you a chance to die now. Kill yourself. I swear you'll regret it if you're caught.-

'Who on earth is he suspecting first?'

Yi-Han was dumbfounded hearing the skull principal's words before descending.

He could understand thinking someone had attacked Yi-Han. After all, Yi-Han had activated the rescue signal ring.

But to suspect his old disciple first as a suspect.

'No. I can understand even that.'

Hadn't the emperor said it when Yi-Han met him before?

The skull principal's disciples traditionally tried to burn down the continent, burn themselves, or burn the skull principal.

The remaining disciples might still hold grudges. That much was understandable.

But what on earth did he mean by his crazy alter ego!?

'What kind of nonsense have you been up to?!'

-I clearly gave you time!-

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

A familiar mage walked out of that pillar. It was the skull principal in human form.

"What... Wait a moment."

The skull principal, who was about to explode with cold anger, paused when he saw the gathered professors and students.

Something was different from what he had thought.

"Professor Bungaegor. Hello."

"He-hello, sir."

"Professor Bentozol."

"Hello, sir."

"Hello? I prayed you'd be fine, but seeing you fine makes me want to kill you. Keep your mouth shut."

Professor Bentozol, who had committed many sins, closed his mouth.

Not returning before the new semester started after meeting a unicorn was a grave sin.

Professor Bungaegor composed herself and opened her mouth. It was the composure befitting an adventurer who had been through thick and thin.

"Principal. What brings you here?"

"I called him."

"..."

"..."

Professor Bungaegor, the students, and even the unicorn seemed to stare at Yi-Han in shock.

"Hey!!! You crazy bastard!!!"

Professor Bentozol shouted, so surprised he might faint.

It was surprising that Gonadaltes came when called, but the one who called was also ridiculous.

Isn't this kid insane?!

"There are other things to call, why would you call him! Have you gone mad?!"

"The one who's gone mad is you."

"Wai-"

At the skull principal's chilling voice, Professor Bentozol hurriedly tried to defend himself. In an instant, eleven high-level magic spells blocked as if protecting the professor and formed a barrier.

However, the skull principal tore apart the magic with one gesture and slammed Professor Bentozol into the pillar of black power with another.

Professor Bentozol screamed as he was dragged up into the sky.

'Amazing!'

Having just seen Professor Bentozol defeat the Taotie, Yi-Han felt that the professor was a powerful mage.

He was a flexible mage capable of freely casting various school magics that could be used when dealing with or taking care of animals, as well as transformation magic.

It was an impressive ability, as even among excellent mages, it was rare to see someone who mastered magic from multiple schools.

Moreover, as he traveled the remote areas of the empire taking care of animals, he must have had a lot of experience in practical magic combat.

Yet the skull principal subdued such a professor in one strike and sent him back to Einroguard. It was an unbelievable display of power.

"You look curious about why Professor Bentozol lost so miserably."

As the students looked on in shock, the skull principal began to explain kindly.

Even if the students didn't understand right away, it might be of great help someday later.

"Wardanaz. Focus. You need to understand this right away."

"No..."

Yi-Han was dumbfounded at the sight of the skull principal picking on him specifically.

"First, Professor Bentozol was careless. He should have struck first the moment he saw me. To lose the initiative against a more powerful mage than himself. It's a pathetic lack of caution."

To wait for the skull principal to demonstrate his skills first, in a state of low ability and injury.

Professor Bentozol should have used his most powerful magic to block the skull principal and then escaped from this place as quickly as possible. That was the only way with even a slim chance of winning.

Gainando raised his hand and asked.

"Isn't it because he'd get scolded even more if he got caught?"

"Of course! But when fleeing, no one worries about what happens after getting caught. Remember this too. Once you've made up your mind, you mustn't hesitate."

Magic was also affected by the mage's mental state.

If you've decided to run away, you should run away with everything you've got, not act half-heartedly out of fear of the consequences.

"I-I see...! So that's why I couldn't escape Einroguard..."

The skull principal hung Gainando upside down as he was about to have a revelation and continued speaking.

"Secondly, the magic he had cast was weak. How many spells did Professor Bentozol cast?"

Gainando, hanging upside down, answered quizzically at the principal's question.

"Did Professor Bentozol even cast any spells?"

"Is there no one else?"

The skull principal gagged Gainando too. The students shared opinions among themselves.

"Wasn't it 6?"

"I think it was 5."

"Wardanaz. You answer."

"I saw up to 11, but..."

"!?"

His friends were shocked at this nonsensical statement.

They had watched together but hadn't noticed at all.

"You saw well. Don't believe just what you see. Would you reveal the magic protecting you as it is if you were them?"

While attack was important, defense also required just as much skill.

Excellent mages didn't easily reveal even simple defensive magic, but layered several and twisted them to make their nature difficult to discern.

The very fact that it was defensive magic whose nature couldn't be discerned was a considerable advantage.

Just now, to quickly break through eleven defensive spells, the skull principal simultaneously projected mana towards each defensive spell, grasped their principles, and dispelled them all at once. It was counter-magic.

But if he had made even a slight mistake or if there had been more and more complex magic, there would have been a very slight delay.

Then Professor Bentozol would have quickly reacted to reinforce his defensive magic and attempted to escape.

On the surface, it seemed like the skull principal had easily subdued him in one strike, but there was a tense and fierce battle of wits inside.

"Lastly, it's because I had already cast several powerful ancient spells."

The skull principal pointed to the pillar of black power connected to the sky behind him as he spoke.

That was certainly an unusual and powerful magic that he didn't usually show. Yi-Han asked quizzically.

"Why did you cast it?"

"Because you called saying it was urgent!"

Thwack!

The skull principal snatched Yi-Han's staff with telekinesis and hit him once.

As it seemed to be quite a cherished magic, Yi-Han suddenly felt sorry.

"I-I'm sorry."

"So why did you call? I can guess, but..."

"The professors were fighting each other..."

"I thought so."

The skull principal clicked his tongue and looked at Professor Bungaegor.

From the students' perspective, it must have been confusing with Professor Bentozol and Professor Bungaegor growling at each other.

"...I also called because there might be a bounty."

"...You didn't call just for the bounty, did you?"

"I absolutely didn't call just for that."

"Hmph."

The skull principal threw a suspicious glance once and then shrugged.

"From now on, only call when it's really dangerous. Do you know the story of the giant shepherd?"

"I don't know well. What is it?"

"Once upon a time, a giant tending mountain-destroying goats got bored and called other giants with a lie that wolves had appeared."

"..."

"...?"

The students asked, not understanding.

"What are mountain-destroying goats?"

"Can wolves catch mountain-destroying goats?"

"Be quiet. And it's not that wolves took the goats, but that giants like chasing wolves, so he called them. They like chasing wolves. Anyway, if you lie often, no one will believe you later."

"But apart from that, if wolves really come out..."

"What are mountain-destroying goats?"

"Is there such a thing as a giant shepherd?"

As the students became annoying, the skull principal said with a shudder.

"Quiet! Since I'm here, I might as well finish the job. You say Taoties are wandering around?"

"Yes. Unusually, they're moving in groups..."

"It seems a leader has appeared. Sometimes when such a one appears, other Taotie gather under it. Though they're cunning and selfish beasts, they move in groups when there's a leader."

"I've never seen it before."

"It's such a rare occurrence that you might not have, Professor Bungaegor. Even I can't remember when I last saw it."

The skull principal declared along with his words.

"Evil horde, come before me!"

The pillar of black power convulsed and pulsed explosively, and the command spread from the sky swallowed by darkness to the mountains.

Then the groups of Taotie gathered in the corners of the vast Grief Mountains floated in the air and were dragged before the skull principal.

The Taotie leader let out a fierce cry and struggled to kill the skull principal. All sorts of dark elements seethed and changed its form.

Thwack!

With one gesture, the Taotie group was swept away. The skull principal turned his gaze to the next agenda.

"Unicorn?"

"It's injured. Is there a safe place where it can recover?"

"Einroguard would be good, I suppose."

"!"

Not only Yi-Han but also the unicorn brightened.

Few places were as safe as the domain of a great mage.

But surprisingly, the skull principal showed reluctance.

"There's a problem."

"What kind of problem?"

"If we let it stay at Einroguard, won't Professor Bentozol come and be a nuisance?"

Yi-Han thought the skull principal was joking.

However, the unicorn seemed to be seriously considering it.