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“Teacher…”
A barely audible whisper mingled with the sound of sorrowful crying.
This was not a revival of consciousness, but rather an instinctive response from a young girl, deeply ingrained in her bones after countless calls in the past, now revealed.
[Professor Plon, can I go out and play?]
[Professor Plon, I scored a hundred on my martial arts exam, isn’t that amazing? I wonder when my magic exam will be that high, hehe, no idea.]
[Teacher, I didn’t start the fight! Those bad guys ran into my fists all by themselves.]
[Teacher, getting angry so easily will give you wrinkles, you know.]
[……]
[Teacher, I’ve decided to become a Holy Maiden in the future.
Do you want to know why? Because… because being a Holy Maiden sounds really cool, doesn’t it?
Wearing a pure white skirt, smiling as I bring salvation to the world under the guidance of the gods—then smashing all the bad guys with my fists, that’s so awesome.
Holy Maidens can’t get married? I don’t care; if I find true love, I will pursue it bravely.]
[……]
[Teacher, you will bless me, right?]
Those past voices, never fading, echoed in his mind once again, so vividly.
The old man paused for a moment, then lava-like anger burst from his aging eyes.
“Love God! I—f*ck—you—!”
The old man roared like a lion, spewing out the filthy words he had abandoned since becoming a teacher.
Flames surged in his palm; the staff he had meticulously cared for, encrusted with gemstones, melted in the raging fire, transforming into a twisted, pitch-black blade.
The old man gripped the blade tightly and advanced against the light of the holy sword.
And then.
He violently thrust the blade, imbued with fire and hatred, into the girl’s chest.
This time it was the heart, precise and accurate.
Thus, the pink star wand, the core of the grand mechanism, trembled in the old man’s other hand, and the crown fused with the barrier vibrated together.
It was like a resonance.
The massive mechanism beneath the academy operated with an unprecedented vigor once again, a colossal force, mediated through the old man’s frail body, surged wildly into the Holy Maiden.
Centered around that heart which had long since stopped beating, layers of small yet intricate structures proliferated quickly along the Holy Maiden’s blood, flesh, bones, and skin, continuously searching, pressing forward, and then repelling the power and marks of that corrupt god.
“Get out of this body, Love God!” the old man roared again.
With the constant influx of power, the Holy Maiden’s body trembled and convulsed, as if something within her was struggling to escape, yet was being pressed inch by inch, constrained within the tight structures.
The cracks on the Holy Maiden’s exquisite face grew clearer, and from behind those cracks, a terrifying will of a higher level cast its gaze at the old man.
Indifference.
Anger.
And then…
Mockery.
You’ve spent all your strength here, does that mean the other side is quite weak?
In the next moment.
The Holy Maiden suddenly gagged, and a grotesque mass of flesh was expelled from her, on which an eye emerged, but that eye merely coldly glanced at Professor Plon before indifferentingly urging the flesh mass to fly skyward.
The Holy Maiden’s face gradually shattered, seeming to lose some kind of sustaining power, and her body began to wither and decay.
Looking at that gradually breaking face, Professor Plon felt his heart clench again.
But he soon regained his composure, his gaze chasing the remnants of the Love God—the flesh mass.
In the sky above, a large blue moon hung high.
A chill suddenly arose in his heart.
Not bothering with the injury in his chest, Professor Plon abruptly waved the pink star wand in his hand.
Endless structures stacked rapidly, racing towards that mass of flesh.
But it was too late.
Or rather, the Love God was too decisive; after the first wave of attack was intercepted by Professor Plon, he unhesitatingly abandoned the precious body of the Crowned One and hurried to mobilize the second protagonist of the day.
With a loud thud.
The flesh mass crashed against the barrier.
Like a mosquito flying at high speed at night, it slammed against the glass.
The mass instantly shattered, turning into a puddle of meat.
And from that puddle of meat, wriggling flesh buds quickly grew, rapidly extending towards the barrier.
Like a certain plant with tenacious vitality, it incessantly drilled its roots into the barrier.
Crack.
Before Professor Plon’s attack could reach, a clear crisp sound from the barrier made his expression darken instantly.
A crack appeared on the barrier.
Just like a dam that had sprung a leak, becoming impossible to hold back the ensuing collapse, countless flesh buds crazily burrowed through the crack.
Thus.
Crack, crack, crack, crack…
More cracks gradually appeared; even though the grand mechanism continuously infused magical power trying to repair the barrier, those flesh buds that had burrowed in acted like bullets embedded in flesh, preventing the barrier from healing.
And beyond that barrier, the enormous blue moon became increasingly clearer.
A beam of moonlight seeped through the crevices of the barrier.
Then two.
Three.
Countless beams.
Until the barrier was riddled with holes, the barrier that resisted the blue moon ultimately shattered completely.
Thus, a massive blue moon, having occupied half the sky, appeared above the entire St. Maria Academy.
The moon was so enormous that all things in the world looked so insignificant before it; the ring mountains and shadows upon it were especially clear, subtly forming a grotesque face.
Under the moonlight, countless shadows on the ground began to sway, like evil spirits sensing the scent of blood and flesh, wandering in this desolate academy.
Looking at the blue moon, Professor Plon felt a chill run through his body.
His blood was still flowing.
And precisely because of this, he felt a genuine despair.
Just facing the Love God who descended through a medium, he had exhausted all his strength and means.
So, how was he to confront this terrifying existence that had directly descended with part of its true form due to the specificity of its authority?
……
……
“I didn’t expect that Holy Maiden to also be corrupted by the Evil God.”
In the bell tower, Professor Gran observed everything happening in the arena and, despite his usual irreverence, couldn’t help but exclaim:
“However, given such a high price, it seems these two are determined to obtain that thing beneath the academy; I really don’t know what they’re after.”
“The Love God’s actions can be understood; from our human perspective, he is a madman, so anything he does is not surprising. But what puzzles us is…”
From the darkness came other aged voices:
“The other one, why would they do this?”
“……”
A brief silence.
Dim candlelight flickered, illuminating those extremely old figures.
Most of them leaned on canes, their faces covered with age spots, exuding a decayed aura, some had even just been shaken awake from their carefully prepared coffins.
Yet even in their frail state, these old men would not be looked down upon by anyone, for each one of them was an absolute pillar in their respective fields; as soon as their names were mentioned, they would cause seismic shifts in the academic world across the entire empire.
They were the true foundation of St. Maria Academy.
Seventeen lifelong professors of St. Maria Academy were gathered here, except for Professor Plon, who was still battling the Evil God above.
When they made a decision here, even the head of the academy could not change it.
