I Became a Genius Black Mage at the Holy Academy

The AZ-359 corridor was originally a bookshelf filled with books on various art histories of the Holy Empire.

It was a place that people with dangerous thoughts wouldn’t bother looking through.

In fact, even ordinary students rarely visited this section, as evidenced by the dust gathered on the books.

Roan began pulling out a few books from the shelves.

“The History of the Downward Curve and Its Representative Paintings”

“On the Unique Sculpture Culture of the Rebon Region”

“Cardinal Densrope’s Reflections on Art”

“The Miraculous Icon Created by Ten Thousand Brush Strokes”

“Observing Regional Differences in Popular Murals”

He pulled out a total of five books.

Considering how large the library was, finding these specific books might seem like a challenge, but in reality, it was quite simple.

When you put together the first letters of these five book titles:

‘What a peculiar taste.’

It spelled out an embarrassingly cheesy code: “Harden Forever.”

However, those with ideologies hostile to the Holy Empire would never think of such a code, making it one of the safest places out there.

With the five books in hand, Roan stood in front of an empty bookshelf at the end of the corridor.

An empty bookshelf with no books to place.

Though it seemed strange, this was the only empty bookshelf in the vast Elont Grand Library.

At eye level on the shelf’s bottom, there was a faint line marked.

‘This is where these five books fit perfectly.’

Roan placed the books on the shelf, one by one.

Clack!

As soon as the last book was placed…

… A new staircase leading downward appeared at the end of the corridor, which had previously been blocked by a wall.

This was a secret passage Harden had designed in various parts of the library that connected directly to the headmaster’s office.

Even if someone accidentally stumbled upon this gimmick, they would mistake it for a trap and stay away.

But Roan, without hesitation, descended the staircase.

Sssrrkkk—

Once his body completely disappeared, the secret passage in the AZ-359 corridor sealed itself again, as if it had never existed.

Tap, tap, tap —

With each step Roan took down the stairs, small glowing stones lit up his path, like sensor lights.

Before long, a lavishly decorated room appeared.

A grand marble table, like one used by high-ranking nobles, was set with an eye-catching feast.

The fragrant aroma seemed to beckon him, inviting him to eat immediately.

─ It’s so amazing that you found this place! The food is my gift, so feel free to eat and then get lost. — Principal Harden ─

He even left a message, but…

‘I must absolutely not eat this.’

Roan passed by the table without so much as a glance.

The moment you even touched the utensils, you’d be sent straight to the principal’s office.

The next room was a storage space filled with rare sacred texts.

Though he had seen this sight dozens of times on his monitor, Roan still clicked his tongue in disapproval.

“Such dedication, really.”

At this point, wouldn’t it be simpler to just not store them at the school?

This thought crossed his mind, but he knew it wasn’t worth meddling with.

Of course, touching any of these books would summon Molay immediately.

The third and final room.

Surprisingly…

‘It’s full of cleaning supplies.’

Old brooms, dustpans, mops — items that reeked of a musty smell.

Even if someone managed to evade the previous traps and reach this place, they’d likely turn back in disappointment.

In a corner of this storage room stood a statue of Serena, the goddess of wisdom and order, with her right wing and left arm half-broken.

Roan slowly knelt in front of the statue.

Next to it was a dirty mop draped over a bucket filled with filthy water.

Splosh —

Without hesitation, Roan dipped the mop into the dirty water.

Then, he carefully wrung it out and began wiping the broken wing, arm, and face of the goddess.

Finally, after kissing the goddess’s feet…

Screeeee—

… With a faint mechanical sound, the head of the statue slowly turned.

The wall that the goddess was now facing —

That was the ‘key.’

After setting the mop back on the bucket, Roan pressed against the brick wall.

‘In the dirtiest place lies the most sacred divinity.’

This was a verse from Serena Scripture 3:18, which had nearly fallen into disuse.

To find this hidden room in Akerandir, one had to either obtain this information from outside the Empire…

… or, like Harden, have memorized all 5,000 years of history.

Rumble, rumble —

The wall slowly opened, revealing another hidden passage.

Most people would expect a secret passage like this to evoke instinctual fear, with a creepy atmosphere and a cold draft blowing through.

But…

Fwoosh —

Akerandir was not such an easy place.

White marble, glowing holy stones, sculptures of gods, and sacred symbols carved from divine stones!

Even a great dark mage who had braved the earlier temptations and kissed the goddess’s feet would likely be terrified and flee at the sight of this.

Simply approaching it would inflict countless debuffs and cause actual damage.

‘If I wrap myself in dark magic, I might only catch a severe cold…’

Even Roan had to steel his resolve to pass through this corridor.

Resistance to opposing attributes was proportional to one’s talent. Even so, he had some faith in his ability.

As he firmed his resolve…

‘Huh?’

Roan tilted his head in confusion at the unexpected reaction inside him.

To be precise, the False Divinity within him was behaving strangely.

Until now, it had only responded to the energy being emitted outward, but as of right now…

Gulp, gulp —

It was greedily devouring the external divine energy, and converting it — not into dark magic, but into something else!

“Oh.”

Roan couldn’t help but express his admiration.

He hadn’t expected this at all. Could this ability be more impressive than he thought?

It seemed worthy of being called a divine power!

Woooong──!

However, it seemed the situation with the False Divinity was a bit different.

The circuit that was converting the massive holy energy into dark energy began trembling ominously as if warning him that it was reaching its limit and urging him to pass through quickly while he still could.

The False Divinity was actually heating up more and more.

‘Tsk, of course.’

Roan criticized the ability, thinking it was all show, and hurriedly sprinted down the passage.

Since there was a time limit, he needed to push through before the debuff set in. He didn’t want to spend the entire next day groaning from the aftereffects, as he had classes to attend.

Vrrrr—

Meanwhile, the False Divinity vibrated as if protesting its unfair treatment.

‘Really, it had done so much for him – shouldn’t it at least get some gratitude?!’

***

“Huff, huff…”

Barely making it out of the passage, Roan exhaled heavily.

‘Was it always this long? How much money did they pour into this?’

‘Why did they make this corridor so absurdly long?’

Even though it was lined with priceless treasures, he had sprinted for three full minutes.
It wasn’t just Roan — his False Divinity, which had been converting the holy energy into dark energy, had also reached its limit.

Most of the converted dark energy had dispersed, leaving only a small amount in his core, but even that small amount was considerable.

Still, if he lingered any longer, who knows what would happen from the overload.

“Whew…”

After catching his breath, Roan glanced around the secret archive.

The inside of the archive, where he had finally arrived, looked rather ordinary.

A spacious room filled with the smell of paper, much like another reading room of the Elont Grand Library.

Of course, the difference lay in the contents.

“Tracing the Roots of Dark Magic”

“The Connection Between Dark Attributes and Dark Energy”

“Tracking the Forgotten Demon King from the Holy Empire’s Records”

“Can Dark Mages Assimilate into the Empire?”

The room was full of ominous objects and books with disturbing titles.

Even just peeking at the covers would probably earn him a deep, meaningful conversation with Kaina.

Though he had come here for dark magic books, Roan felt a bit tense as he considered the implications.

In a game, it would just result in a game over, but here, his actual head might explode.

Gulp —

Roan slowly moved forward to find “The Deeper Darkness.”

Dark magic books, unlike the sacred texts of the Holy Empire, were often poorly bound, so he had to handle them carefully.

‘Life must be hard if they can’t even produce proper books…’

This, too, was a small glimpse into the miserable lives of dark mages.

‘Anyway…’

Before long, Roan found the book he was looking for in a corner of the secret archive, where old books were piled carelessly.

Like the other dark magic books, it was a crudely bound, handmade book stitched together with thread.

“The Deeper Darkness”

This book, written by an unknown dark mage, went beyond the basic stages of dark energy and taught the user to harness a more advanced form of magic called the “Abyss.”

Abyssal magic was essential for using high-level dark magic, including Roan’s ultimate goal, “Gray Life’s Shackles.”

“Well, it was worth coming this far… Ah.”

Roan turned and walked toward a pile of junk.

Since he had gone through all this trouble, it felt wasteful to leave with just one dark magic book.

Rummage, rummage —

‘Where was it…? It’s around here, I think.’

After digging through a few piles of junk, Roan finally found what he was looking for.

It was a small, gray incense burner, just big enough to hold one incense stick.

Its name was “Tomb Incense Burner.”

At first glance, it looked ordinary, but it contained a small amount of an expensive metal known as “Bekadium.”

Its basic function increased the effects of incense-related items by 30%.

And if the incense had dark magic effects, it added an additional 20% bonus.

But if that were all, Roan wouldn’t have bothered searching for it.

‘This is the key ingredient for the Life Vessel.’

To be precise, for the ancient dark magic Roan was aiming for, “Gray Life Shackles.”
The Tomb Incense Burner could be used as the vessel to stabilize life force for that spell.

Roan placed “The Deeper Darkness” and the Tomb Incense Burner into his bag.

“Now, it’s time to get out of here.”

With everything he needed in hand, Roan headed toward the exit.

Vrrrr—

Just then, the False Divinity started vibrating again.

“What now?” Roan asked in an annoyed tone, and the False Divinity vibrated even more fiercely.

Vrrrr!

It was as if it was saying, “Have some conscience!”

Converting holy energy into dark energy in the first place was a miraculous feat that couldn’t happen without an extraordinary ability.

Now, after using it to the brink of overload and trying to head back without resting?

Sure, it would be Roan’s core that would ultimately bear the brunt of it, but the False Divinity, now half-merged with his core, couldn’t just ignore it either.

‘Hmm, true.’

Roan nodded in agreement, and the False Divinity seemed relieved.

‘It’s my fault for expecting anything from you. Useless ability.’

Vrrrr—!

Of course, Roan was only half-joking.

He knew full well how remarkable this power was.

In the entire world of “God and Devil,” no other phenomenon like this had ever been seen.

Now that Roan understood the False Divinity’s capabilities, he could think of countless ways to exploit it.

‘Alright, let’s take a break for now.’

Thud—

Roan leaned against a nearby bookshelf and sat down.

‘How long will I have to wait to leave? Hopefully, not until tomorrow…’

Vrrr—!

The False Divinity vibrated as if crying out in protest, feeling wronged, as though Roan had just committed blasphemy.

——-

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