Villain Takes Over The Academy

[Translator - Helga ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]

Chapter 32Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Is this the place?"

On a night illuminated by the sharp, gleaming full moon, I looked up at a large building occupying a corner of the western campus.

With a statue of Hwadam Seo Gyeong-deok, the legendary Joseon Dynasty Taoist and summoner, erected in front, this was the Summoning Department building.

Like the Emission Department, major departments like the Summoning Department had their own separate buildings.

This was to cultivate specialization by subdividing the vast field of summoning into various branches.

-...Or so it's generally known, but the reality is different.

On my way here, I asked Caesar about the Summoning Department. To be honest, I didn't know much about it.

It was the major department with the least information available.

-The Summoning Department doesn't have many students. The reason it became a major department despite that is because of its immense value on the battlefield, and the reason for the low student count is that it requires a rare talent.

"That talent being affinity."

Just as Arche had an affinity to dragons, only students with affinity could apply to the Summoning Department.

-There are many types of affinities, and the direction of growth differs depending on the type of affinity one possesses. That's another reason why the department is subdivided despite the small number of students.

"Then, what kind of person is Professor Sarah?"

-Sarah Choi Andreas, a Korean-Portuguese born in Madeira, a small island in the Mediterranean, is acclaimed for her academic excellence, to the extent that she can encompass all the departments within the Summoning Department.

"The department is divided because of affinity, but is it possible to teach spells from all the other departments?"

That's what I was wondering.

It was already a known fact that learning spells from the Spirit Department, a sub-department of the Summoning Department, required spirit affinity, and learning spells from the Animal Department required animal affinity.

However, it's impossible for one person to be born with three or four different affinities.

-Normally, it's impossible, but Professor Sarah's special talent makes it possible.

"What is that special talent?"

-Nothing is known about that.

Even Caesar couldn't find out about Professor Sarah's special talent.

"That means it's a secret ability that hasn't been officially revealed, at least."

Still, it was useful information. From what I've heard, Professor Sarah seemed to be a far more extraordinary person than I had thought.

"...That makes it even more puzzling."

Even when I played Military Chronicle, I had no connection to the Summoning Department, and I never encountered her on the battlefield in previous loops, so I knew little about her.

The only thing I did know was that Professor Sarah died in the story before the students left the academy for the battlefield.

"I seem to recall it was death due to an explosion during an experiment..."

That's why it was even more puzzling.

If she was truly that capable, would someone of that caliber die so pointlessly from an explosion in a lab?

"Anyway, I'll find out when I see her."

I gathered my resolve and entered the building, passing the statue of Seo Gyeong-deok. I had already made all the necessary preparations before coming here.

I hadn't taken a single blood capsule today, and thanks to that, my ENP level was already over 100.

"Moreover, I deliberately waited for a full moon night."

I had all the conditions in place to exert my maximum combat power.

In case I have to kill Professor Sarah.

* * *

I followed the building directory signs down to the basement. Finding Professor Sarah's lab was very easy.

The entire basement floor was her lab.

"It's absurdly spacious."

I unconsciously muttered my impression as I entered the lab. The lab was as wide as a sports field.

But what was even more impressive was that the entire lab was plastered with summoning circles.

The ceiling, walls, windows...

Even the floor was covered with a huge summoning circle that nearly filled the entire lab.

What on earth was she trying to summon by drawing something like this?

"Besides, this summoning circle... I think I've seen it somewhere before."

I walked around the edge of the summoning circle drawn on the floor, racking my brain.

The arabesque patterns and the intricate arrangement of the formulas, like high-level coding...

It was definitely a familiar summoning circle.

"It doesn't seem like a summoning circle I saw on the battlefield..."

Most of the summoning circles I encountered on the battlefield left horrific memories, so there was no way I could mistake them. The summoning circle in Professor Sarah's lab was different.

Where did I see something like this...

"...Do Jin-hak's lab."

Suddenly, the memory came back to me. Why had I forgotten this?

The place I return to every time I die.

It resembled the summoning circle Do Jin-hak drew to summon souls from other dimensions to put into the Blood Demon's body.

"...Is this just a coincidence?"

I felt an inexplicable sense of unease.

The soul summoning circle in that lab was a rare spell that Do Jin-hak himself said he had trouble creating.

"The fact that such a summoning circle is drawn here means..."

‘...Don't tell me these two guys know each other?’

Suddenly, a sense of unease washed over me.

Like Kim Tae-hee and Do Jin-hak, who turned out to have a past connection, I was anxious that this might be another such case.

If Do Jin-hak's soul summoning circle was created with Sarah's help...

"Oh my, I thought a rat had crawled in."

Suddenly, light emanated from the summoning circle drawn on the window, and a human figure appeared.

A wide-brimmed wizard's hat and a long wand carved from oak.

A purple robe revealing her collarbone.

Abundant red hair covering her back.

Intelligent eyes that seemed to read people's minds...

It was Professor Sarah.

"Not a rat, but the thief obsessed with deconstructing. What summoning spell have you come to steal this time?"

A tone full of sarcasm, as if she held a grudge.

I let loose a huge sigh inwardly. Just hearing her voice, I could roughly guess her relationship with Do Jin-hak.

'It seems he didn't receive any help, he just stole the spell.'

What kind of life has this damn guy lived?

Anyway, my bad premonition had come true. Unlike when I first met Kim Tae-hee, this time I had approached her first, so I couldn't pretend to be clueless.

For now, I had to act as if I knew her.

"The word 'steal' is quite offensive. Isn't it natural to reference spells?"

"...Reference? You call that referencing?"

Oops, that wasn't right.

I instantly realized I had misspoken. Sarah's expression was distorted to a serious degree.

"It was an incomplete spell that had never been made public. I poured my heart and soul into researching it for more than half my life. To drug me, hypnotize me, and steal that spell... and you call that referencing? Are you even human?"

No, even I don't think Do Jin-hak is human. Even among villains, scum like him are rare.

[You gained a hint through a conversation with a person related to Do Jin-hak.]

[Your understanding of Do Jin-hak deepens.]

[Do Jin-hak's essence increases to 22%!]

Ironically, learning how much of a scumbag Do Jin-hak was increased my understanding of him.

But Sarah continued to spit out harsh words, not giving me time to even glance at the message.

"And that person dares to appear shamelessly before me? After even killing my student?"

"That case was concluded with no charges."

"Right. There wouldn't be any charges against you. If you were sloppy enough to leave any evidence, I would have put you in jail two years ago. Then I would have made you rot in a cell for the rest of your life!"

Every word pierced my ears like needles. Sarah's voice, filled with a deep grudge, held an even deeper resentment.

'...But at least I know one thing. Do Jin-hak stole the spell two years ago.'

I said while processing the new information in my head, "I'm sorry about Gianluca. I know how it feels to lose a cherished student."

Sarah narrowed her eyes and spoke as if she were looking into my soul, "I see you've heard rumors about the faculty meeting? Coming here suddenly and saying things you don't mean."

Ouch.

They say people live up to their faces, and Sarah was as sharp as she looked.

"It's no use anyway. I don't like Kim Tae-hee either, but you're worse than that stubborn mule. This time, I'll side with him."

Sarah's unwavering gaze told me that further persuasion was pointless.

The only option left was to really kill her...

'But that doesn't seem easy either.'

Perhaps because she's known Do Jin-hak for a long time, Sarah's defenses were perfect even at this moment.

If my movements seemed even slightly suspicious, she seemed ready to summon something immediately.

In this situation, even my last resort plan of eliminating Sarah seemed difficult.

"If you're done talking, would you please get out? Just looking at your face makes me sick."

Sarah spat out, her eyes full of vigilance. The way she held her wand made it seem like she was about to summon something ferocious at any moment.

'...Something's strange.'

However, her appearance seemed somewhat unnatural to me. It was natural for Sarah to loathe Do Jin-hak, but right now she seemed to be rushing something. As if she was hiding something.

'Come to think of it, why does she keep putting her left hand behind her back?'

Sarah had been holding her left hand behind her back ever since she appeared through the summoning circle. As if she was holding something I shouldn't see.

What could it be?

I had a hunch that I needed to find out what it was. I had a strong feeling that whatever she was hiding would be an important clue for me.

[You focus on the secret the other person is hiding.]

[The trait "Genius 1" helps you with your discovery.]

[You discovered that the other person is hiding something behind their back!]

[Your intelligence stat slightly increases due to the additional discovery score!]

Simultaneously with the message, I caught a glimpse of something like a silhouette behind Sarah, but to the naked eye, it looked like there was nothing there.

I called Caesar in a low voice.

"Caesar, what is that woman hiding behind her back right now?"

- Diagnosing the target.

- Using D-Scanner.

- Please cast the spell "Identify Reality."

As the scanner function in my glasses activated, I immediately cast the spell.

[Do Jin-hak's essence 22% is activated.]

[Casting Do Jin-hak's spell "Identify Reality."]

[ENP increases from 135/180 to 155/180.]

[Your brain begins to perceive multidimensional space.]

As the world before my eyes shifted into multiple dimensions, everything began to look different. The lab equipment floated up and disassembled, and the numerous formulas of the summoning circles emerged one by one in the air.

Among them, I focused on Sarah. There was definitely something behind Sarah's back, its shape indiscernible to the naked eye.

The moment my eyes recognized it, Caesar's analysis through the glasses began.

- Diagnosis complete.

- A spell was detected near Professor Sarah's left hand. The content of the spell is presumed to be "Invisibility Cloak."

Caesar reported in a small voice through the speaker connected to the glasses, audible only to me.

'Invisibility Cloak...'

I felt like I was getting closer to the truth. Sarah was hiding something. If it was something she didn't want to show me, it could be her weakness.

"Can you check what's hidden in the cloak?"

- Attempting to diagnose the Invisibility Cloak.

- Diagnosis rate 13%... 16%... 24%...

Although the diagnosis speed was very slow, Caesar's processing power stubbornly attempted the diagnosis.

'If the spell level of the Invisibility Cloak was high, I wouldn't have been able to uncover anything with my current level of Identify Reality, but...'

Perhaps because it wasn't a spell from Sarah's major department, the diagnosis seemed to be working somehow. After a while of analyzing the reality within the cloak through computation, Caesar finally came up with a plausible answer.

- Diagnosis complete.

- Currently, the accuracy is somewhat low due to the low completion level of the spell.

- The probability that the object inside the Invisibility Cloak is Devil's Horn is estimated to be about 68%.

Along with the diagnosis completion alarm, a partial 3D image of the inside of the cloak, seen through the D-Scanner, was drawn on the glasses.

Dozens of black horns entangled in a net...

Those horns, imbued with a ferocious and evil aura, were clearly not something like animal horns.

"What are you staring at? What are you scheming now?!"

Swoosh!

Perhaps sensing something amiss, Sarah hurriedly chanted a summoning spell.

A golden, powerful energy emanated from her wand!

Whatever she was trying to summon, it didn't seem like it would be good to stay here any longer.

In the end, I decided to retreat at this point and went up the stairs. Although I failed to persuade Sarah, it wasn't a complete waste.

'That horn just now... it was definitely a Devil's Horn.'

Despite the inaccurate diagnosis, I was certain the moment I saw that dim shape. From my experience, it was definitely a Devil's Horn.

At this point in time, Devils could only be found in the deepest depths of the abyss, so those horns were probably collected from the corpses of dead Devils.

'But why Devil's Horns?'

The source of a Devil's power lies in its horns. Devil's Horns have various uses, but... in Sarah's case, it must be for the purpose of summoning.

'Judging by the number of horns she has collected, it seems she wants to summon something incredibly powerful.'

I suddenly remembered the huge soul summoning circle drawn on the lab floor.

What kind of soul was Sarah trying to summon with such preparations?

'Anyway, I've found some useful information.'

Although my last resort plan to eliminate Sarah had failed... things might become easier than I thought.

To grasp someone's weakness, you just need to find out what they desire.

[Translator - Helga ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]