“Pros and cons are two sides of the same coin.”
Even a troublesome rise in reputation could be put to good use.
You, you wretch… surely you didn’t…
What kind of rumors were circulating about me among the demons?
The demon looked utterly bewildered, even as I declared confidently that I had poisoned him.
“To think you would resort to such a despicable trick! And you dare call yourself a professor of the esteemed Imperial Academy!”
The demon rebuked me in fury, but his words neither wounded me nor stirred any shame.
I had no particular pride as an academy professor, and wasn’t it his fault for misunderstanding me so thoroughly? I had made every effort to advertise myself as a lowly professor.
“If you had any complaints, you should have figured out my personality better.”
“It would be wise not to move recklessly. The poison will instantly spread through your bloodstream, melting your entire body.”
With an unchanging expression, I declared it.
But perhaps the demon wasn’t entirely clueless.
The demon, with an incredulous expression, managed to stand upright.
It seemed bluffing twice in a row was pushing it too far.
Though it was a bit disappointing, it didn’t matter.
While the poison wasn’t strong enough to make his flesh melt, it was still potent enough.
‘It’s not a poison to be taken lightly, after all.’
It was something I had procured from the Imperial Palace.
Chosen with utmost care from the treasury, its potency was assured.
It might not bring instant death, but it would certainly weaken his strength significantly.
“I shouldn’t have trusted that wretched Gamin’s words. He claimed I’d meet a worthy opponent that would make my blood boil.”
The demon gritted his teeth in frustration, directing murderous intent at me as he took his stance.
The thought ‘He’s already poisoned, so he shouldn’t be too dangerous,’ was the exact type of thinking that would lead to a bad end.
Considering his physique, he was most likely a warrior type.
A horrible matchup for me.
If I took even one solid hit, I would end up as nothing more than meat paste.
“I, in the name of Marbas, ranked thirty-ninth, swear this: I will rip out your deceitful tongue with my own hands.”
His gaze overflowed with hostility towards me.
With my pitiful physical abilities, reacting to his attack by reading his moves would be far too slow.
Judging from his straightforward personality, he would likely attempt to kill me immediately without hesitation.
Determining that, I moved into a defensive stance without hesitation.
My hand touched the uniform I had brought back from the Imperial Palace.
The palace mage who’d repaired it had wept, saying, “How harsh your hidden battles must have been for the spellwork to deteriorate this much.”
With their utmost skill, a true genius mage had engraved advanced spells into it, manifesting before me in a modified form.
A massive shield bloomed, unfolding like petals.
Layer upon layer, it built up to form thousands of barriers.
***
“Do you lack the courage to face me head-on?”
The demon, scowling, began smashing at the shield wildly.
Ignoring his taunts, I used the time to my advantage.
While having the engravings on my uniform repaired, I’d also had the subspace spell on my hand restored.
During the entrance exam, due to the urgency of the situation, I had to waste that precious spatial spell on mere defense.
Given time, however, I could reconfigure it with more precision.
‘I won’t change the essence.’
‘Just warp its direction to my will.’
Instead of creating a space to contain something, I would create one to emit it outward.
If I were to spread a thin spatial rift within his body…
‘Even if the scale is insignificant, it’s a temporary spatial incision.’
It was impossible to replicate a truly overpowered technique like slicing an enemy through space with mere inventory magic, but this would suffice.
‘If I pierce his core precisely, he’ll die instantly, just like before.’
Targeting the demon’s weak point, as I had done with Amon’s fatal spot, would turn him into a pile of ashes.
The core was invisible even under intense scrutiny.
With him charging at my barriers, it seemed impossible to pierce his weak point.
But here, I’d have to place my faith in luck.
Based on the cores of the demons I’d slain before, I gambled on my assumption of its location.
Taking a leap of faith, I unleashed the spatial rift within his body, and the result…
Failure.
The good luck that had brought me an 80% win rate in rock-paper-scissors seemed to have abandoned me since I became a professor.
Although the demon coughed up blood as if he were hurt, he didn’t disintegrate into ashes.
‘Damn it, this is infuriating.’
I bite my lip, clutching the artifact I’d obtained from the Imperial Palace—a necklace forged from dragonheart.
The situation was turning out to be worse than I’d anticipated.
Despite using two cards already, I hadn’t managed to finish him off.
I could likely take him down by exhausting all my remaining options, but that would render the entire effort pointless.
Though it might seem like overthinking, I couldn’t ignore that he’d mentioned that demon, Gamin.
I couldn’t be certain this was the only enemy here.
‘But I can’t just leave him unchecked, can I?’
The demon was hell-bent on attacking me with obvious hostility.
Even weakened, my frail body couldn’t withstand even one of his punches.
As long as he kept focusing his attacks on me, I’d have no choice but to continue expending my precious hand.
Yet, just as I prepared for another clash…
The demon, who had been attacking with such ferocity, suddenly cooled down, taking several steps back.”
“…I’ve changed my mind. If you’re going to keep resisting, I’ll have no choice but to use dirty tricks myself.”
Though afflicted by poison and internal injuries, he curved his lips into a sinister smile.
“You will regret underestimating me for the rest of your life.”
With that, the demon leapt behind me.
His target was not me… but my students.
“It’s deeply unpleasant.”
This was the first time such irritation surged within me.
‘Just how far does he intend to insult me?’
The spatial magic I had just cast had narrowly pierced right beside his heart.
An overwhelming power capable of controlling even the slashes that cut through space with ease.
This man had surely reached a level above that of an archmage.
If he wanted, he could kill him instantly, just as he did with Marbas and Amon.
Yet, he didn’t.
Instead, he orchestrated a bizarre play, feeding him poison and narrowly missing the critical strike to keep him alive.
There was only one reason for this: he didn’t see him as an adversary, but as mere entertainment.
Dying to an enemy was one thing, but he couldn’t stand the fact that his opponent didn’t even see him as a threat.
So… he had to pay him back, even if it meant resorting to despicable tricks he despised.
***
The demon quickly pressed his hand to the ground, creating a barrier.
Within it, he drew in the crowd near Riyan—his A-Class students.
‘I may not be able to lay a finger on that man, but breaking his spirit? That I can manage.’
He imagined his opponent’s face when he realized all his precious students had been killed due to his own arrogance.
The thought of it was already thrilling.
The massive barrier unfolded.
The students were now fully exposed to danger, isolated from the professor who was supposed to protect them.
Seeing this, Marbas twisted his mouth into a wicked grin.
“I don’t hold any grudge against you, but I have my reasons. All of you will have to die here today.”
He’d been so engrossed in the fight with Riyan that he’d almost forgotten his other purpose: eliminating the child of prophecy.
“There was no need to hesitate.”
He crafted a greatsword from the blood seeping from his wound and readied his stance to charge.
“If you must resent someone, blame your bad luck for choosing the wrong professor.”
With that, Marbas pushed off the ground, leaping forward.
His bloody sword swung with a loud whooshing sound.
Even if he couldn’t exert his full strength due to the poison and internal injuries, he wasn’t so weak that he’d struggle against mere students.
At least, that’s what he thought…
But his massive sword was stopped effortlessly by a student’s bare hand.
The immense energy surrounding the student’s body was unmistakably magical reinforcement.
‘Why… is there someone here capable of using magical reinforcement?’
Though Marbas was momentarily dazed, he was known for his quick adaptability.
A difficult opponent? Just leave them be and deal with the other students first. It wasn’t a major issue.
“I’ll leave you for later.”
Marbas fled from the student using magical reinforcement.
I-I’ll leave you for later too.
He avoided yet another magically reinforced student.
Y-you as well… I’ll just handle you later.
He attempted to evade yet another student.
“How about we start by having a conversation?”
But the demon failed to escape the twenty enraged students, all empowered with magical reinforcement, who were determined to make him pay for insulting their professor.
Sweat trickled down his back.
Something had gone terribly, terribly wrong.