Chapter 36
Heir of the Demon King
As the students fled the dueling classroom, Crown Prince Rudolf stood at the exit, beginning to control the students’ movements.
The assistants deployed protective barrier spells, desperately working to prevent the other students from succumbing to the alluring scent and charm of Professor Rakias.
However, the assistants’ skills were not enough to fully block Rakias.
“Ah… How lovely, my dear flesh. Come here and drink my blood. I shall give you strength and life. And Yurik… This time, I will give you eternal life…”
“Ugh! The talismans…”
The assistants’ talismans were burning away, even within the protective barriers.
“Ah! It’s all burning away!”
“Dammit! Don’t we have any spares?!”
“We don’t have money! Recently, Rakias hasn’t had any episodes, so I didn’t buy any!”
“I don’t have the money right now, help me out!”
“You idiot! Why should I waste my energy on you when I’m trying to save you?! You should have bought them beforehand!”
The assistants grumbled as they continued casting spells, layering one after another.
-
Protection from corruption!
-
Overcharge!
-
Multi-spell!
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Focus buffer!
Even for the assistants, the magic was powerful, causing sweat to pour down and their noses to bleed. This was a symptom of mana depletion.
‘Could it be because of me? Is Rakias coming after me?’
Idnia sensed that Rakias was approaching her and hesitated on what to do.
Should she run? But what if he keeps chasing her?
Should she fight back? Against the five great criminals of the empire?
But at this rate, anything could happen.
The students hadn’t evacuated yet, and some were still entranced, being dragged toward Professor Rakias. The assistants were blocking them, trying to keep them safe.
‘This wasn’t in the game… Now that I think about it, there were no students who had mastered the Emperor’s Will in the academy. In the game…’
Could this event be different from the game conditions?
Idnia took a deep breath and stepped forward.
“What?!”
Clarisse, the assistant, was stunned as Idnia leapt toward the window.
“We’re on the second floor! It’s high!”
“It’s fine!” Idnia gracefully landed on the ground below.
She summoned her Emperor’s Will again, and Rakias’ head turned toward her.
“Ah… Over there? Yurik. Is that you?”
“I’ll buy time! Assistants, please evacuate the students!”
“That’s nonsense…”
While the assistants were confused, Idnia ran toward the bushes, and as the students’ sight was blocked, she unleashed her Will.
-
Krrrrr!
A thunderous sound followed, and the sky darkened.
Rakias, chasing after Idnia, approached.
“Ah, Emperor Yurik! My beloved flesh…”
“Then, I think there’s something wrong with that love. I am the heir to Emperor Yurik, not him.”
Idnia said this and, instead of using her broken staff, prepared to fight with her own body.
“Don’t come near! I’ll attack.”
“…Hehehe. Do you hate me that much, Yurik?”
Rakias, shedding blood tears, continued to approach.
Idnia clenched her fists, gathering her Will to strike, but then a sharp shout rang out.
“Stop!”
At the same time, blood began to flow from the ground, enveloping Rakias.
And a shadow appeared behind Idnia.
It was Principal Ludwig Blackblad, who had appeared behind her.
“Rakias enjoys getting hit more. If you strike him, it will only fuel the fire.”
“…Principal?”
“Rakias. It seems like your blood is overflowing. I haven’t drained your blood in a while, but now it seems like your cycles are getting faster, huh?”
“Ludwig… Yurik is right in front of me!”
“This is the daughter of the Duke of Betelgeuse. The descendant of Yurik… Yurik is already dead. He left, rejecting the immortality you wanted to offer.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Why do fleshly bodies disappear so quickly? Why did he leave me behind?!”
Rakias screamed, shedding blood tears, and the surrounding trees began to weep.
Idnia felt the eerie and wicked energy spreading from Rakias, shaking the surroundings, and she used her Will to protect herself.
“This won’t do. Hold on.”
Ludwig said this and stretched out his hand.
His hand shattered, and blood surged up from within it, forming a massive blood sword.
As the blood chains wrapped around Rakias, pulling him from all sides, Ludwig’s blood path split Rakias’ body into a cross.
In an instant, Ludwig had torn Rakias into four pieces, and as he took a deep breath, blood and tears flowed from Rakias’ body, absorbed by Ludwig’s blood path.
Ludwig absorbed the blood path into his body, completing the blood-draining process.
Rakias’ body began to collapse, seemingly disappearing, but then…
A flash of light struck down from the sky, and Rakias resurrected.
‘Automatic resurrection?’
Rakias, now calm after losing his bloodlust, stood up as if nothing had happened.
“Feeling better, Rakias?”
“…Thanks, Ludwig. Now, I can endure it.”
Rakias still didn’t release his Emperor’s Will and continued to stare at Idnia.
“You’re still beautiful. The finest flesh… The life of the material world, with its blood and flesh.”
“…What?”
“But you’re not Yurik. I see now. Yurik has truly died.”
“……”
“The daughter of the Duke of Betelgeuse…”
“Ah, yes. Principal.”
“Such a magnificent Emperor’s Will. I didn’t think you’d have trained so much in Yurik’s technique at your age. Well done.”
“That’s too much praise.”
“But I would recommend not showing that side of yourself in front of Professor Rakias.”
“No, I’m fine. Even though those sturdy cheekbones, the fists the size of a human head, the thick muscles… everything about him is alluring…”
“I heard that. Now, suppress your Emperor’s Will.”
Idnia heard this and quickly suppressed her Emperor’s Will, returning to her form as the Duke of Betelgeuse’s daughter, Idnia.
“…Ah.”
Rakias showed visible disappointment when Idnia returned to her beautiful form.
“But, didn’t you break into the alchemy classroom last night?”
“…Oh, did you know?”
“Yes. Don’t worry, I have no intention of punishing you for it.”
“Although the rules say you’ll be punished if you’re caught, that’s just to instill some awareness in the students who wander around carelessly.”
“Being caught by me is unavoidable, though.”
Such tremendous confidence.
Principal Ludwig Blackblad said that being caught by him was inevitable.
In other words, being caught by him didn’t count as breaking the rules?
“Rakias has always been particularly fond of Yurik, so it’s best not to use the Emperor’s Will in front of him. He’s already mentally unstable, and it would be hard to handle.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes. It seems that you’ve been managing your Emperor’s Will quite well, though. Well, even though Rakias and I like Yurik’s appearance, if you master the Emperor’s Will in a woman’s body, you won’t get a good reputation in high society.”
“Those garbage people live by licking the outside of watermelons instead of looking at the human soul.”
Idnia felt unease as she listened to the principal’s words, which didn’t hide his disgust for humans.
‘If this man hates the people of the empire this much, it’s ominous.’
Just as she was having that thought, Ludwig made a suggestion.
“Normally, I would reward you for luring Rakias here to save the other students, but…”
“To reward me with something from the shop, you’d have to explain why Rakias went berserk and what caused the Emperor’s Will, which is a hassle.”
“Well, I hate doing troublesome things. Instead, how about I give you 100 Akacoins and a magic staff as a reward?”
“Money instead of a shop reward?”
“Ah, is that too much for the daughter of a great noble family? You must be uncomfortable being bribed with such small change. Would you rather I give it to you as a shop reward?”
“No. Thank you very much. I’ll take the physical items. Very nice.”
“…”
Ludwig chuckled as he saw Idnia eagerly extend her hand.
“You must have a hard time controlling the power of the Emperor’s Will. I’ll give you a black iron magic staff.”
It was the very staff that Idnia’s father, the Duke of Betelgeuse, had used.
Ludwig swung the staff, and a black iron magic staff appeared in the air.
Idnia took it, and instead of a magical staff, it felt more like a heavy mace.
It was sturdy, so much so that even without magic, it could break bones with a swing.
“Oh, this is my father’s staff? But my father…”
“Rakias targeted your father, broke into his dorm room, and caused him to drop out of the academy in a hurry. This staff was left behind.”
“Rakias… targeted him? My father?”
“I didn’t mean to cause misunderstanding. Flesh… I was just conducting research…”
“Whatever it was, the student who felt threatened by that left the academy.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Looking at you now, you’re much better at controlling the Emperor’s Will than your father was.”
“I’ll manage Rakias carefully, and you should also learn to control your Emperor’s Will.”
“And I’ll be taking care of the female students in the dorms as well.”
“After all, I can’t just make the daughter of Betelgeuse the assistant.”
‘Would that make me feel better?’
Idnia wanted to retort, but she bit her tongue and held it in.
“By the way, now Rakias is mine. The Akacoins have been provided, so please confirm.”
“…Ah, yes. Thank you.”
Idnia took the black iron staff and, thanking Principal Ludwig Blackblad, left the room.
“Then! Tell the assistants that the lesson is over!”
The principal and Rakias disappeared beyond the teleportation door.
“Are you alright?! What happened, Idnia?”
Clarisse and the other assistants, followed by the students, rushed to her.
“Ah, well, the principal came and took Rakias away,” Idnia said.
The assistants nodded in understanding.
“Ah, it was the principal.”
“Then we can relax. So? What about the lesson? Do we still have to continue after all this?”
“The principal said to tell everyone the lesson is over.”
“Really? Well, good. That’s a relief.”
“Ah, then let’s take a break.”
“Ugh, that was ten years off my life. Why did Rakias have to go berserk in front of the freshmen today?”
“His blood must not have been replenished. He wasn’t chosen recently, right?”
The assistants were talking as if Rakias’ outbursts were a regular occurrence.
The students following the assistants had dark expressions.
‘Does this kind of crazy thing happen often?’
‘This place is insane! It’s a den of monsters!’
At that moment, Izolde Polchen approached Idnia.
With a serious tone, she began to speak to Idnia.
Izolde Polchen approached Idnia with a serious expression.
“Idnia, are you alright? What happened?”
she asked, her voice filled with concern.
The other students and assistants watched them closely.
Idnia, still holding the black iron staff that Ludwig had gifted her, nodded slowly.
“I’m fine. The principal took care of Rakias. It’s over for now.”
Clarisse, still looking worried, exchanged glances with the other assistants.
“The principal? He took Rakias away? But how? What happened?”
Idnia exhaled deeply, her shoulders slightly tense.
“Rakias is… well, he was in a state of… uncontrolled madness. The principal, Ludwig Blackblad, took control of the situation and, well, dealt with it.”
“Dealt with it?”
Clarisse repeated, raising an eyebrow.
“How? What do you mean by ‘dealt with it’?”
Idnia hesitated for a moment, her thoughts briefly clouded by the intensity of what had just happened.
“He… he tore Rakias apart, quite literally. But Rakias… he came back. I don’t know how, but he did. He’s more dangerous than ever.”
The assistants looked at each other, a mix of disbelief and unease in their expressions.
“Rakias… came back?”
Clarisse asked, her voice tinged with disbelief.
“But how? Is he even… human anymore?”
Idnia shook her head slowly.
“I don’t know. It’s as if nothing could truly kill him. He’s… something else now. It’s terrifying.”
Izolde frowned, clearly disturbed by the implications.
“That sounds like something out of a nightmare. And the principal? Ludwig? What exactly is he? I’ve never seen anyone so… powerful.”
“Principal Ludwig… He’s not just powerful,”
Idnia said, her tone quiet but firm.
“He’s something beyond comprehension. I don’t fully understand it myself. He spoke like Rakias was just another minor problem, someone he could dispose of easily. But even then, I think there’s more going on with him. He’s hiding something—something dark.”
Clarisse stepped forward, her expression intense.
“So, what do we do now? Is Rakias still a threat to the academy?”
Idnia nodded gravely.
“Yes, but for now, I think the principal has it under control. The real threat comes from the fact that Rakias isn’t alone. There’s something bigger at play here, something more dangerous than just a rogue professor. We need to be ready for whatever comes next.”
Izolde clenched her fists.
“We’re all in danger, aren’t we?”
“Yes,”
Idnia replied quietly.
“But we have no choice but to face it. The academy… our world… it’s all changing. And we need to change with it.”
The other students and assistants gathered around, their faces a mix of fear and determination.
It was clear that the events of the day had shaken them, but they were united in the knowledge that they couldn’t back down now.
Ludwig’s actions had saved them for the moment, but it was also clear that he had his own agenda, and his true motives remained shrouded in mystery.
Rakias’ resurrection only added to the growing sense of dread.
What had once seemed like an isolated event now felt like the beginning of something far larger, something that would require all of them to confront.
“We’ll stay vigilant,”
Idnia said firmly, as if trying to reassure herself as much as her friends.
“We’ll find out what’s really going on, and we’ll stop it before it’s too late.”
The students and assistants exchanged nods, each of them realizing the gravity of what was to come.
They were no longer just students learning magic—they were soldiers in an unseen battle, caught in the midst of a dark and dangerous storm.
As the group slowly dispersed, Idnia stayed behind for a moment, staring at the black iron staff in her hand.
Her thoughts swirled with questions and doubts, but one thing was clear: the path ahead would not be easy.
There was a storm on the horizon, and they had no choice but to face it head-on.
The academy, once a place of learning and growth, had now become a battlefield.
And the true war was just beginning.
