Ch.78Chapter 78. The Real Purpose (2)

I somehow thought something was strange.

Undead emerging from the ground.

An undead wyvern making a flashy entrance by headbutting into a building.

Both were unexpected events, and I was startled by their dramatic and chaotic appearances.

But that was all.

The wyvern made a flashy entrance with a “CRASH,” but it was just noisy.

Undead were gathering outside the building, but Erika alone could buy enough time.

In other words, there was no substance to it.

Above all, no one besides the undead had appeared.

Forget about Vice Chancellor Landgar, not even anyone suspected to be from the same organization as Landgar had shown up.

And I had come prepared for the worst-case scenario of fighting Landgar.

“So this is the place.”

I found myself muttering as I looked at the collapsed building.

The building that housed the Chancellor’s office, Vice Chancellor’s office, and storage was nearly half-destroyed.

It was damaged everywhere, with the interior clearly visible, and signs of battle were everywhere.

No wonder the space twisted when I tried to teleport directly to the roof.

That’s what happens when you try to teleport to a place that no longer exists.

I barely avoided getting trapped in the spatial gap because I was still tense from battle.

‘They fought this intensely but I didn’t hear a sound?’

The surroundings, including the half-destroyed building, were completely devastated.

Deeply gouged earth, parts of the Training Forest cleanly erased as if someone had stamped them out, and more.

As Erika said, it seemed like a barrier had been deployed to hide something.

Otherwise, there’s no way I wouldn’t have noticed signs of such a battle.

Even if I was inside the party hall.

Thud- Thud-

I deliberately made footsteps as I walked into the battlefield.

Since I couldn’t sense anyone around, it was like a provocation—come at me if anyone’s there.

‘Was there an undead larger than Yongyong?’

That thought came naturally looking at the scene.

Traces like a beast had gone wild.

As I went deeper, I searched for the vault entrance while staying alert.

If my memory was correct, a large iron door leading underground should appear soon.

Something like that.

“Huh?”

I had assumed the Vice Chancellor went wild here to get into the vault, but that wasn’t the case.

Surprisingly, the vault door was intact with no signs of forced entry.

The protective magic and barriers that would activate if someone tried to break in were also untouched.

‘So the vault wasn’t robbed?’

When I arrived and saw the devastated scene, I had immediately assumed.

Send undead to the party hall where almost all academy personnel were gathered to create chaos, while actually planning to rob the vault.

It would have been an effective diversion.

I too had thought they would attack the students after seeing the quest “Blood-Stained.”

So I hadn’t easily predicted they would pull something like this double operation.

Seeing the aftermath, I thought they had already taken what they came for, but…

‘If robbing the vault wasn’t the goal, then what was?’

I couldn’t predict it at all.

‘Who fought whom then?’

With no signs of forced entry to the vault, the battle traces were also puzzling.

I had naturally assumed someone fought the golem that would appear if someone tried to forcibly disable the vault barrier.

My pace quickened unconsciously.

After confirming the vault was intact, I moved deeper inside.

The further I went, the deeper my questions grew, until I saw something in the distance.

“Hmm?”

“Oh?”

The something was someone.

They seemed to notice me at the same moment I noticed them.

Someone wearing an unfamiliar white robe.

Though the clothing style was unfamiliar, I definitely knew who was wearing it.

Vice Chancellor Landgar.

Someone was collapsed in front of Landgar.

A man lying in a miserable state with his clothes torn in various places.

“Who might you be?”

While I was quickly assessing the situation, Landgar casually addressed me.

Perhaps because I was wearing a formal suit and mask, Landgar couldn’t recognize who I was.

Whoosh-

I channeled mana into the Black Shadow Sword as I took a stance.

As black mana began to ripple along the blade, Landgar also moved quickly.

Just as Landgar reached out toward me, I swung my sword.

While teleporting behind Landgar.

Crackle-

“Huh?”

‘Missed.’

Unfortunately, the first surprise attack failed.

Landgar seemed not to have expected me to suddenly appear behind him swinging a sword, but he already had protective magic activated around him.

And it was a strong barrier capable of blocking my Black Shadow Sword.

Crack- Clang-

At least it cracked.

“That outfit and mask… could it be?”

Whoosh-

I swung my sword again without giving Landgar time to mutter.

In the moment of swinging, I confirmed who the collapsed person was.

‘…The Chancellor?’

The person collapsed in front of Landgar was Academy Chancellor Binuar.

Could it be that the Chancellor was taken down by the Vice Chancellor?

Crackle- Crack-

My sword couldn’t reach Landgar’s body.

He had layered so many barriers that my Black Shadow Sword was only breaking through them one by one.

“A thief coming all the way here. Tsk.”

“…Huh.”

I’m not sure who’s calling whom a thief.

Who’s the one secretly plotting within the academy?

“Seeing you’ve come this far, it seems you really did take the hourglass.”

Landgar muttered to himself with a confident voice.

I didn’t bother responding since he’d been saying things not worth answering.

Instead, I asked what I wanted to know.

“That person, you did that to him, right?”

“Oh? A woman?”

“I asked if you did that.”

“And what if I did?”

“Then I’ll arrest you on the spot.”

Thanks to the mask’s effect, Landgar seemed to perceive my voice as female.

Quite convenient indeed.

“Judging by that confidence, you must really be the leader of the thief group.”

“You’re the thieves.”

“Hahaha.”

Landgar was genuinely laughing as if amused.

I tried to stab with my sword during that opening, but hit a barrier again.

Just how many layers did he deploy?

“It’s useless. I’ve stacked over 100 top-grade barriers.”

“…”

Over 100?

This was far beyond my expectations.

“Today is my lucky day. I have many questions for you too.”

“For me?”

“Yes. Where is the hourglass your group stole?”

“We sold that a while ago. Was the payment good?”

“So where did you dispose of it…”

Boom- Crack-

I swung my sword again while Landgar was speaking.

Not lightly like before, but with strength, mana, and my full concentration behind it.

Clang-!

A loud sound of something breaking echoed.

Landgar’s expression noticeably grimaced.

“That should have broken about 30 of them?”

“You…!”

Whoosh-

Landgar stepped back while drawing up mana.

Black mana with an unpleasant aura, unbefitting the Academy Vice Chancellor.

The black mana didn’t arrange itself into a magical structure.

Instead, it transformed into pointed, elongated forms.

It’s awkward to say, but they looked like disgusting tentacles.

‘This is more like a mass of mana being expelled rather than magic.’

“Disrespectful one. I’ll kill you.”

“Then you’ll never find the hourglass.”

“Hmph.”

Swish-

Landgar paid no attention to my words.

The pointed, elongated masses of mana emanating from Landgar rushed quickly toward me.

The black mana tentacles weren’t just one.

There were at least dozens.

Swish- Boom- Boom- Boom-

‘So this is why this area is completely devastated.’

That thought crossed my mind as I dodged the barrage of attacks.

Unfortunately, since I couldn’t layer 100 protective spells like him, I had no choice but to avoid the attacks.

Boom- Boom-

The mana tentacles were very tricky to deal with.

I tried to deflect them with my Black Shadow Sword infused with mana, but the tentacles were like water.

Instead of being pushed away, they were cut smoothly like liquid, only to reform and rush at me again.

It was quite an annoying attack.

Impossible to defend against, only to evade.

“Today marks the end of your thief group.”

Landgar shouted at me with a sinister smile.

Thief group, well, that’s somewhat accurate.

“I did steal a few things.”

“Hmph, finally showing your true colors.”

Boom-

After the tentacles struck the ground one last time, there was a moment of calm.

Woong-

I quickly opened a spatial rift during that interval.

An invisible gap appeared in the air, slowly splitting open.

And from within, something massive emerged.

“What is that…?”

“It’s not fully tamed yet.”

Growl-

“Why is it here when it should be at the party hall…”

“Because I captured it.”

Swish-

Yongyong, who had been in subspace in an enraged state, rushed toward Landgar as soon as it emerged, as if expressing its frustration.

Yongyong charged at Landgar with speed rivaling the mana tentacles.

Landgar frowned in displeasure, but showed no signs of anxiety.

I didn’t think an undead wyvern would be effective against Landgar either.

I brought out Yongyong simply to buy time.

‘I must make this arrest.’

While Landgar was reaching out toward Yongyong with a frown, I prepared myself.

It took only a moment for Yongyong to be covered in black mana and crash to the ground.

Yongyong made a creaking sound as it fell limply to the earth.

But that moment was enough for me.

Woong- Fwash-

“Kuh, kuhk!”

My right hand in a black glove, gripping Landgar’s neck, glowed faintly.

Landgar, with his neck in my grasp, had an expression of shock.

It’s a shame the mask prevents me from showing my smile.

This is the kind of moment when I should be smirking.