Chapter 56

Chapter 56

I Became the Only Non-mage in the Academy.

Episode 56: Lecture (1)

The sword decapitated the elders.

Their faces bore resignation, yet in their expressions, there was an odd mix of exhilaration and hope.

-Foolish ones.

-Convinced that the Heavenly Demon would come to lead them, they deluded themselves into thinking they would be taken to paradise. They acted solely on the belief that the Heavenly Demon would redeem them.

Black Heaven and Eternal Heaven sneered.

-Most of them were worse than beasts, putting their faith in something called the Heavenly Demon. Don’t concern yourself with it too much.

Black Heaven stood beside me.

I observed them.

Apart from a Mine, it was my first act of killing.

Yet my mind remained tranquil.

‘Is it the influence of the talent, True Heart, or the abilities of the Black Heavenly Demon Sword, or Soul Poison?’

Or was it that I could not grasp the gravity of taking a human life?

I briefly shut my eyes, then reopened them to see the Ravenous Horse gazing vacantly.

“Ershil.”

“Yes, yes?”

Ershil’s voice was upbeat.

“Could you do something for me?”

“Hey, why talk about favors between me and Lee Seo-ha?”

Ershil laughed.

“The villains wreaked havoc this time, and I couldn’t entertain you properly. And since you’ve assisted our guests, brace yourself for a generous reward.”

“Why would I need to brace myself for a reward?”

Her manner of speaking drew a chuckle from me.

Indeed, it was an issue that villains had disrupted an event held by her family.

“How are the guests?”

“Everyone is unharmed. They initially targeted the warehouse, something about the legacy of the Heavenly Demon.”

“The legacy of the Heavenly Demon?”

“Do you want it?”

Ershil gazed at me with a sparkle in her eye.

“…I’ll pay the price.”

“Why talk of payment among friends? Besides, you contributed to the event, so accept a gift before you depart.”

I left the Ravenous Horse in Ershil’s care and turned to Seolhwa Ryeon with a curious look.

Seolhwa Ryeon was watching me too.

Her gaze was contemplative.

“Shall we talk for a moment?”

“Yes.”

Seolhwa Ryeon followed me to a place with few signs of others. I leaned against a pillar, lost in thought.

‘Should I have resolved it sooner?’

I felt sorry for Seolhwa Ryeon.

“You are.”

“?”

“You infiltrated the Korea Hero Academy!”

Seolhwa Ryeon’s voice was lively.

“I thought it was strange. Lee Seo-ha seemed more than a student. But if it was you, it makes sense!”

Seolhwa Ryeon spoke with excitement.

“With your abilities, you could easily surpass the trials given by the Tower of Trials. Even without magic, you could win a spar against Park Woon-hyuk!”

“…….”

“But if you have infiltrated, you must have a purpose. And during that, you encountered me.”

“…………………………………………………………………Yes.”

“Of course, it is so!”

Seolhwa Ryeon laughed brightly.

I watched the scene and couldn’t say a word.

After Ershil captured the Ravenous Horse, she had remarked,

-It’s certain they came for the Heavenly Demon’s legacy. The successor was mentally weak, so it was easy to find out.

The Ravenous Horse wasn’t that mentally weak.

It was just that Ershil’s illusion skills were exceptionally strong.

-But is this really worth risking their lives for? It’s a bit odd.

I found out what the Heavenly Demon’s legacy was.

A black handkerchief-like cloth.

But it emitted a faint aura of the Energy of Defying Heaven.

I appraised it with the talent, Reading(-).

[Black Cloth (B+)]

A cloth imbued with someone’s power.

Ordinary, but turned into an artifact because the user was extraordinary.

: Adds 3 Conceptual Stat Energy of Defying Heaven.

: If the possessor is a magic user, it greatly hinders their ability to use magic.

“……Oh.”

It was unexpectedly good.

And a bonus that it still worked when tucked into a pocket.

“By your expression, you seem quite satisfied.”

“Yeah, it’s more beneficial than I had thought.”

“Also, those guys are wanted by the association, so there’s a bounty. Should I give all of that to you?”

“……Then I’ll become a target.”

“That’s why I’m asking now.”

Ershil giggled.

“Then I’ll say we dealt with it on our end.”

“Thanks, please do that.”

There was still a lot preventing me from becoming known to the world.

And I wasn’t lacking money either.

I walked toward the room assigned to me in Ershil’s mansion.

‘Pretty nice.’

Inside, there was a virtual reality machine.

Staring at it, I felt like I was about to remember something.

‘…Ah.’

I remembered there was a meeting at the Alchemy Guild today. Looking at the time, it was quite close, 11 PM.

‘Maybe I should go quickly and then come back.’

I entered the capsule and connected.

“Have you heard? Many are expected to attend this Alchemy Council meeting.”

“Even those reclusive ones?”

“This time, a big shot is participating. So even artisans with titles above ‘master’ will attend in large numbers.”

The world was buzzing.

Master.

A title for creators that, if searched worldwide, would not number more than 100.

Alchemy was particularly reclusive, with only about ten or so of that rank.

And now, in the virtual reality world, all of them had gathered.

“These unsociable people gathering like this, who would’ve thought.”

“There’s no choice. Even putting aside his name, the recipe is definitive.”

Al Magus chuckled.

“Did you see the recipe he generously shared? It’s truly absurd.”

“Using precisely controlled magic to transform herbs full of toxins into an elixir. The concept is simple, but the simplification process is anything but easy… His skill is clearly superior to ours. Show at least some respect, you fool.”

“Tch, what? Are you a believer in Veritas too?”

Al Magus sighed.

Alchemists were reclusive.

But they all gathered here because of a certain rumor.

A hall in virtual reality that could accommodate over a thousand people.

Normally, it would be empty, but at that moment, it was so full that people were trying to squeeze in.

It was all because of one rumor.

A person with immense influence in the field of alchemy might be present.

“Was he on the list?”

“Yes, he’s said to be giving the lecture himself.”

“But I still can’t believe it. The Truth coming here? When even those called masters can’t catch up to a single recipe?”

“…….”

Zermaine closed his mouth.

Frankly, Zermaine still didn’t understand what he wanted.

Veritas.

Since his emergence, the alchemy industry had split into two eras.

Before and after the existence of his recipes.

The recipes he tossed out like charity had that much impact.

Thus, alchemists were divided in their reactions towards the entity known as Veritas.

One camp was arrogant, proclaiming the arrival of a genius of the century.

“Veritas is the god of alchemy! To deliver alchemy unknown even in the halls of heaven to us, he descended to earth!”

The other camp venerated him as a deity.

“Let’s commence the alchemy meeting. Starting with Mr. Haine of the Nakamura family, famous in Japan!”

“It’s started.”

Alchemy meetings were like academic conferences.

Participants boasted about the recipes they had created and critiqued each other’s work.

Passing these recipes meant awards and publicity within the meeting, so many staked their all here.

The presentations were quite interesting.

Many tried to follow the radical methods of Veritas rather than the conventional ways.

……And soon they were steeped in disappointment.

“So mix the tongue of a venom lizard with three leaves of the oil tree……”

“Combining toxins usually results in two reactions. Either the toxicity merges, making it immune to antidotes, or it strangely intertwines……”

“Each one of these fools is struggling to be Veritas.”

“Tch, they’re all basics. It’s good to follow Veritas’s ideas, but why do these incapable ones even try?”

Time dragged on.

Ten minutes, thirty minutes, an hour.

Then two hours.

The meeting was more anticipated than anyone had expected.

Perhaps because of the rumors that the truth would be revealed, everyone brought out their secret elixirs.

However, Zermaine’s expression was far from pleased.

It was painfully clear that none of the offerings matched even one of his recipes.

“And now, the individual many have been awaiting has joined our meeting today.”

The host’s voice quivered with excitement.

“Veritas enters.”

Click-clack.

A tall figure, around 185 cm, strode in, impeccably dressed. But looks are deceiving here.

After all, Al Magus, despite being a man, uses a girlish avatar.

Click-clack.

His steps were filled with arrogance.

Yet at the same time… he was a man who seemed to embody that arrogance perfectly.

An aura, maybe?

He carried himself with a presence that could captivate a soul.

“Hmm.”

He haughtily lifted his chin, surveying the room.

“An alchemy meeting, is it? So this is what passes for alchemy?”

He delivered a staggering blow.

“You are all mistaken.”

With a voice dripping with arrogance, he dismissed the lifetime achievements of everyone in the room.