Chapter 82: Chapter 82

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Translator: Vine

Chapter Title: Barquio's Downfall

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The professors of Jerion Academy. They were renowned experts throughout the Empire.

Jerion Academy, tasked with nurturing heroes to combat the world's greatest enemy, the Demon Palace, naturally couldn't afford to be lax in selecting its faculty.

Thus, every professor employed at Jerion Academy possessed exceptional skill.

Given that the majority were heroes who had played significant roles in the Demon Palace in the past, the professors' reputations soared immeasurably high.

Yet, just as stagnant water inevitably spoils, so too did some of these once-hailed heroes among the faculty succumb to corruption.

Human greed knows no bounds.

Living as a professor at Jerion Academy, he had amassed both wealth and honor. Yet, there was one who still craved more.

During his student days, he had been perpetually labeled as 'second best,' fostering an unusual obsession with being number one.

Professor of Third-Year Magicology, Barquio Lablijan.

He was a tragic genius, currently overshadowed by the Blue Archmage, who had usurped his title as the genius of the century.

He also held a notoriously poor reputation among the students. He frequently dismissed those with lesser abilities and never hesitated to mock them.

Consequently, his standing among the students was the absolute worst.

Even Professor Barquio, now advanced in age and burdened by a heavier body, still vividly recalled the events of the past.

The humiliating memory of having the Archmage position snatched away by a genius he could never hope to surpass.

He had always yearned to establish his own magic tower, believing it the only way to reclaim the shattered pride of his student days.

However, within the Empire, the Blue and Yellow Magic Towers had already reached the apex of magical achievement. There was no longer any room to establish another magic tower.

And so, he conspired with a kingdom beyond the Empire's borders.

In exchange for them constructing a magic tower for him, Barquio embezzled imperial secrets and siphoned funds from Jerion Academy.

With his defection to the kingdom now imminent, an irreversible disaster struck.

A seemingly insignificant student group, the Student Council Boycott, had exposed his corruption and illicit dealings on the day of the Founding Festival.

Barquio's eyes spun wildly.

If this information got out now, before his defection, he was, in all likelihood, facing execution.

'Not yet, not yet.'

This news had only spread within Jerion Academy so far. If he incinerated everyone who'd leaked it, buying himself time to defect immediately, he could still escape.

'Above all.'

The top-secret documents, prepared for his final transaction with the kingdom he was defecting to, were in his private office.

Outsiders couldn't simply enter Jerion Academy. Thus, his private office had been the perfect place to conceal the top-secret documents.

He had never once conceived that the trouble would originate from within.

He burst open his office door, panting. On his way here, he had unleashed his fury on every Student Council Boycott member he encountered, blasting them away.

A fitting retribution for those impertinent students.

Now, he just needed to retrieve the documents quickly and incinerate the rest of them. Just as he reached for the files, consumed by this thought—

Creak—Thud.

The door to his private office, which he had just entered, abruptly swung shut again.

Inside the darkened room, moonlight filtering through the window illuminated Barquio's private office.

As Barquio slowly turned his head, he saw a man whose face he recognized.

"Huh?"

A hollow laugh escaped Barquio's lips at the sight of him.

A man with striking white hair and amber eyes. Though his face was undeniably handsome, his magical abilities had been worse than anyone else's.

"Vikamen?"

Vikamen Niflheim.

The pathetic failure, expelled from Jerion Academy, stood before him.

Of all the individuals Barquio remembered, Vikamen was the least magically talented. It was so extreme that Vikamen had been the target of the most ridicule during magicology classes.

And now, that very person had appeared before him.

A chilling glint entered Barquio's eyes.

"I see. So that's it."

A preposterous realization dawned on Barquio.

"You were behind this, weren't you? To get revenge on me."

Revenge for the ridicule he had suffered at Barquio's hands. To that end, Vikamen had exposed the truth under the guise of the 'Boycott.'

How Vikamen had uncovered his corruption remained unknown. But Barquio had no intention of forgiving this fearless audacity.

"You brazen fool, do you even know who I am to pull such a stunt? I'll teach you a lesson you won't soon forget."

Barquio drew his staff from his waist. Vikamen, seeing this, slightly furrowed his brow before speaking.

"What in the blazes are you talking about?"

"Trying to deny it, are we? I understand your anger. But if you want to blame someone, blame your own pathetic magical abilities!"

With those words, Barquio unleashed his specialty: lightning magic. The explosive torrent of magical power that erupted from him clearly demonstrated why he held the position of Third-Year Magicology Professor.

CRACKLE—

Black currents instantly arced across the room. Facing the overwhelming surge, Vikamen merely stood motionless, doing nothing.

The very moment Barquio became certain of his demise—

FZZZT—

The torrent of lightning magic was uniformly drawn into his grasp. A single ring adorned his finger.

Barquio had no idea. No idea that he and Vikamen were the worst possible match.

The Lightning Whistler, which Vikamen possessed, held the power to absorb all forms of lightning, save for the bolts sent by the Thunder God himself.

In other words, Barquio's signature lightning magic was utterly useless against him.

BOOM!

Just before Barquio could register his shock at this sight, Vikamen was already directly in front of him.

He had propelled himself forward with an explosion from the soles of his feet.

A magical engraving, 'Explosion.' The moment Vikamen, having detonated it from the soles of his feet, reached Barquio's face—

Barquio reacted as if his past renown was no lie. A wall of flame, conjured from the tip of his staff with his magical power, shot up.

No fool would attempt to breach a wall of intense heat with their bare body. Vikamen would, of course, retreat.

"It seems you've prepared more tricks to counter me than I anticipated!"

But I'm afraid a Jerion Academy Magicology Professor cannot be bested by lightning magic alone.

He was utterly convinced Vikamen would retreat.

WHOOSH!

And yet, here stood a fool who breached a wall of intense heat with his bare body.

"What?!"

Barquio's head reeled from a second wave of bewilderment. Vikamen, intent on making his head truly ring, brought his fist down.

CRASH!

Struck by Vikamen's fist, Barquio tumbled, crashing into the office furniture.

Though flustered, he barely managed to conjure a defensive spell around his face.

"Ugh, the madman."

Still, who in their right mind would cross a wall of fire with their bare body? He had been too flustered to even properly cast a spell.

But he had crossed the wall of fire with his own body. His body must have suffered severe burns from the intense heat; he wouldn't be able to move.

"Heh heh, foolish boy."

He thought so, just as he was about to push himself up.

CRUNCH!

Barquio's attempt to rise was abruptly halted by a crushing force from above.

He hastily looked up. There, illuminated by the moonlight streaming through the window, stood Vikamen.

His clothes bore scorch marks here and there. Yet, his body showed not a single sign of a burn.

At this sight, Barquio's expression twisted into one of utter bewilderment.

He had broken through the wall of fire Barquio himself had conjured, yet remained unburnt. It was impossible.

"It's pleasantly warm."

Vikamen's body, forged of steel, harbored the essence of fire within it.

His body, which naturally possessed fire resistance, had now attained an even greater level of immunity than before.

Furthermore, he had been routinely 'exploding' his body with magical engravings. His physique had now reached a point where ordinary flames were utterly ineffective against him.

Through the moonlight, Vikamen's amber eyes gleamed ominously.

THUMP—

Barquio's heart involuntarily plummeted. Already, his boasted magic had been blocked twice without inflicting a single scratch.

For a student, such a blow would have meant instant electrocution, leaving them charred black.

Yet Vikamen stood perfectly fine, utterly unharmed. Common sense simply didn't apply, and Barquio found himself, inadvertently, terrified.

"Wh-where are you putting your foot, you bastard!"

With a final desperate struggle, he swung his staff.

Lightning was blocked, and the wall of fire, too. Only one option remained.

"Oh, yes. Let's see if you can withstand freezing to death!"

The storm of ice he unleashed instantly engulfed the office. True to his specialty in high-speed magic, the spell he invoked was difficult even for Vikamen to react to.

CRACKLE—

The entire office transformed into a frozen hellscape of ice. Vikamen, having taken the full brunt of the spell, was no exception.

He stood rigidly atop Barquio, completely encased in ice.

At this sight, Barquio, shivering from the biting cold himself, let out a malicious laugh.

"Heh, heh heh, yes, what could a mere brat like him possibly accomplish?"

He began to conjure a high-output light projectile, intending to shatter the frozen Vikamen.

"Die!"

Then, just as he was about to unleash the completed projectile—

CRACK!

Vikamen's frozen foot instantly shot out.

CRUNCH!

"Aargh!"

Vikamen's foot pressed down, intent on crushing the hand that held the staff. Barquio, overwhelmed by the pain, couldn't complete his spell and dropped his staff.

CRACKLE—

Simultaneously, Vikamen's frozen body stirred, and the ice encasing him shattered.

A brilliant yellow light flashed in his right eye. Within it, an eye reminiscent of a lizard's gleamed.

CHILL!

Those eyes held a warning for Barquio, seething with anger: how dared he cast such trivial ice magic on him now?

At this sight, a primal fear, ingrained deep within all living beings, instantly welled up within Barquio.

The unique ability possessed by the awakened remnant of the Ancient Dragon: Fear.

The fear inherent in all living things consumed him. Barquio's face turned ashen, and cold sweat dripped from his brow.

"H-h-h-h-hick."

Ancient Dragon magic was the worst possible counter to mages.

While Sharin, with her Mirinae, might have stood a chance, a normal mage like Barquio possessed no means to counter Fear.

Furthermore, Barquio, intoxicated by past glories, had neglected his magical research. He had lived frantically, solely obsessed with erecting his own magic tower, his ultimate desire.

He had always believed he was merely a hair's breadth behind the Blue Archmage his entire life. But now, countless other exceptional mages stood before him, not just the Blue Archmage.

Those intoxicated by authority and power inevitably fall behind.

Vikamen raised his tightly clenched fist.

After all, the kingdom had merely used him. In truth, they likely never intended to build him a magic tower.

"A man who preys on children, what grand dreams could he possibly have?"

Vikamen decided to put an end to his dreams.

"Wake up."

Vikamen brought his fist down.