The Obsessive Regressor of The Academy

55. Academy Demolition (3)

Noreum inhaled a drag of his cigarette after quite some time, gazing out the window. As always, the beautiful and mystical city of mages unfolded before his eyes.

When work became too arduous, he occasionally indulged in the city’s panorama. Then, the past and present of the city, having weathered countless storms of change, would overlap, involuntarily etching a smile upon his lips.

But no smile graced his face now. He emitted a soft, guttural sound and stroked his long, unkempt beard.

His thoughts drifted to Asel.

‘My heart aches to storm the academy myself, but…’

Reality wasn’t so accommodating.

News of Asel had reached him long ago. The tale of his return, barely clinging to life, followed swiftly after. Noreum, in that moment, felt a fierce rage that threatened to consume him.

Asel’s enrollment in the academy wasn’t entirely of his own volition. The proposal had originated with Noreum, a result of tradition and a covenant stretching back through generations. Asel had agreed readily enough, but in truth, he possessed the talent to flourish through other paths, even without the academy.

It was no accident that the prickly mages of the Witch Council coddled him so. Even the Federation unanimously deemed him the most likely candidate for the next Grand Magister. How much more so, then, the Witch Council to which he belonged?

For a mage, and especially a disciple of Ena, he possessed a remarkably pleasant disposition. Gentle and affable in demeanor. Yet, he maintained a firm sense of self and, rather than resting on his considerable talents, harbored an ambition to reach even greater heights. Asel possessed all the traits mages admired. There was good reason why more people in Weiheim felt affection for him than animosity.

Noreum himself, for one, harbored a deep fondness for Asel. Thus, when sending him to the academy, he had specifically requested the headmaster to look after him. And this was the result.

He would be less than human if he wasn’t furious. Noreum had long transcended the limitations of his species, but that didn’t mean he’d attained enlightenment. Instead, the fiery blood, the spirit of competition, the thirst for knowledge that had burned within him in his youth remained. And his penchant for smashing anything that displeased him hadn’t faded either.

He merely concealed it. He had to suppress his fury, even as a cherished protégé returned a husk of his former self and the institution entrusted with his care offered no apology.

As he said, reality wasn’t so accommodating.

The position of Leader had bestowed many advantages upon him, but it also came with its fair share of shackles. He could no longer simply lash out whenever something displeased him. Such actions would be met with opposition from all sides.

Politics were not conducted through force and violence, but through the tongue and the pen. As Leader and sovereign of Weiheim, Noreum bore the responsibility of safeguarding this land with his words and his writing. The days of impetuous rampages were long past.

That was why he couldn’t simply storm the academy. To demand answers, he had to adhere to proper procedures.

And as he meticulously prepared for that, Ena contacted him, declaring her intention to tear down the academy.

A boon. Ena possessed both the justification and the power. Moreover, she was unburdened by any position, free from the need to shoulder responsibility. It would be more than enough to instill a sense of crisis in the worm-eaten nobles who had only read about the grandeur of a Grand Magister in books. More than enough.

So, he told her to proceed. Once Ena made a scene and the matter of Asel became public knowledge, it would be easier for him to act as well.

‘Once the truth is ascertained, it’ll be alright for me to step in directly, I suppose. Even if I visit with a few mages in tow, they won’t be able to say anything.’

He felt a pang of sympathy for Freide, trapped in her position as headmaster, unable to offer a proper apology. But he still had to do what was necessary. Until a just apology was offered, along with appropriate actions and fair compensation, Noreum planned to continue tearing into the academy.

The covenant of the past had already been fulfilled.

There was no need for looking over one’s shoulder.

So thinking, he read the message delivered by the returning messenger bird.

[A most excellent plan. Let us shake it all out.]

A smirk.

Norium grinned wickedly.

*

Krakakak!!!

A bolt of lightning, fanning outwards, engulfed Fernan’s upper body. Though its lethality had been partially suppressed, as killing him wasn’t the intent, the power of the lightning was nonetheless formidable. Fernan realized her words about merely incapacitating him were no lie, and he grit his teeth.

“Ugh…!”

He hastily layered Aura over his skin, partially blocking the magic. Even so, Ena’s magic forced open Fernan’s magical resistance, driving the power of lightning deep within. With each pulse of blinding white light, his skin flushed crimson, burst, and tore.

Magic of such magnitude that even a Master’s Aura couldn’t fully negate it. He already knew she was powerful, but he hadn’t dreamt she was this strong.

Even if Fernan was a newly ascended Master, still wet behind the ears, a Master was a Master. The value of that title couldn’t be dismissed.

And yet, he was no match for her.

That was the reality. Even after scaling one wall, an even more distant, towering wall awaited.

“Keuh!”

Fernan ground his teeth, leaping backwards to put as much distance as possible between himself and Ena. Each individual spell was as potent as a dagger thrown by a skilled mage. A direct hit, and he wouldn’t last long.

Evasion was the best policy.

“Professor Fernan!”

Though he had leaped away, Fernan was fundamentally a swordsman. He couldn’t maintain aerial suspension for long. As a result, he plummeted earthward at a rapid pace. Another professor caught him.

Aila, a quirky alchemist who also taught aura usage, stood beside him, gazing up at Ena.

“What will you do? You did speak with her, yes?”

“Yes, I did. But a little resentment remained, and now she says she’ll half-kill me.”

“That sounds about right for Professor Fernan.”

“……?”

“So, what now? Shall we feign battle suitably? Or charge in earnestly?”

Aila whispered, sensing the presence of other professors stealthily approaching.

Only those who supported the Dean knew of Ena’s planned attack. The other professors and personnel believed Ena had truly come to destroy the Academy. Therefore, it was necessary to be cautious with their words in front of others.

But this much had to be clarified. Only then would they know what stance to adopt toward Ena. They couldn’t afford to be ambiguous, lest they reveal the charade.

However, Fernan responded to Aila’s question with a dry laugh, as if she were asking the most obvious thing.

“Play it cool against her? If that’s possible, feel free to do so. As for me, I don’t think I can.”

“……Understood.”

“Then, might I trouble you for a potion? My upper body is rather— evades!”

Fernan, hand outstretched with a familiar charming demeanor, shouted urgently. Ayla, sensing a chilling surge of mana from above, quickly hurled herself to the side.

KWAhhh!

A colossal bolt of lightning slammed down centered on where the two had been standing.

Despite having moved, the aftershock of the strike sent a painful thrum through Ayla’s skin. Every cell in her body stood on end, a primal instinct screaming at her to flee this place. Ayla suppressed the urge, forcing herself to rise.

She lifted her gaze. An unapproachable, sublime archmage was looking down at them with indifferent eyes. She had been told they were on the same side, yet her gaze was anything but amicable; it was frigid.

But Ayla did not try to understand. She knew the archmage was the missing student Asel’s mentor. Perhaps, beyond duty, personal feelings were contributing to the destruction unfolding before them. If so, she had to accept it with humility.

After all, his disappearance was a consequence of the Academy’s failings.

“Let’s go, Professor Fernan. We’ll carve a path through.”

Ayla spoke, tossing a potion toward Fernan. He uncorked it the moment he caught it, and gulped the contents down.

A potion to amplify bodily regeneration. Fernan grinned, feeling vitality surge back into him.

“What’s gotten into you all of a sudden? Overflowing with zeal, are we?”

“I must fulfill my role. Let’s go in swinging, and fall with a flourish.”

“I find that quite appealing.”

As he spoke, the other professors emerged from beyond the thicket. Fernan shouted at them, then charged toward the clearing where Ena stood.

“Everyone, draw your weapons! We must hold out until Archmage Gaebyeok calms down!”

Those words were the catalyst. The professors’ faces hardened with resolve as they drew their armaments, fixing their gazes on Ena. But Ena’s expression, as she looked at them, remained uninterested. She tilted her head slightly as Fernan and Ayla rushed toward her.

That mere gesture was enough to begin the incantation. A constructed bolt of lightning launched from beside her head like an arrow.

[Thunder Bow]

KWARRRRRRRRR!

The lightning streaked across the ground, carving a hole into the mountainside. Such was its power, it vaporized earth and stone alike. The professors gritted their teeth, maneuvering to the environments that best suited them. Baek, the survival skills professor, settled on a tree branch and immediately drew back his bowstring.

Simultaneously, lightning struck the tree he was perched on. Baek could do nothing as he was knocked unconscious.

“Monster…!”

One of the knights-discipline professors, spear braced in hand, hurled his weapon at Ena. Ena was happy to oblige him.

[Thunder Spear]

The formed spear of lightning shattered the professor’s mana-imbued spear, and then, at a speed that defied comprehension, tore through the professor’s chest. He coughed blood as he crashed into a tree.

It was only that level of damage because she was controlling her power. Had she used her full strength, he would have been reduced to ashes the instant the lightning touched him.

Controlling the output of her magic was as natural to Ena as breathing. She turned her gaze from the professor she had struck down, and slammed her foot down onto the ground with force. From her foot, lightning raced across the landscape, blooming like flowers in various places.

[Thunder Flower Resonance]

It was Vision magic, created and taught by Asel. His Vision, painstakingly improved to be used in actual combat.

*KZZZZZZZZZT!*

The blossomed flowers resonated, scattering lightning all around. That alone unleashed a blinding radiance centered on where Ena stood. Lightning tendrils clawed upwards from the earth, cleaving the sky, and fresh bolts birthed themselves between the resonating blooms.

Thunder Resonance wasn’t simply a spell to occupy space. That effect, rather, was only a product of constant refinement. Asel’s true reason for creating this magic was to reduce the amount of mana consumed in the process of converting it into lightning.

The mana expended to cast the spell was by no means insignificant, but once spent, the spawned lightning flowers resonated with each other, generating lightning autonomously. By harnessing that born lightning as the spell’s power source, the mage no longer needed to conjure lightning directly, exponentially reducing overall mana consumption.

Even Ena, creator of countless spells, clicked her tongue in admiration at this high-tier magic. The intricate effect made its incantation complex, even ranking high among lightning spells, but it posed no great burden for her.

Even for Ena, this was her first time using it in actual combat. And the effect held true to the theory.

*CRACKLE CRACKLE CRACKLE!!!*

The blossomed lightning branched outwards, shattering the professors’ shields. Whether composed of magic or aura, it mattered not. The moment lightning touched them, it crushed their foundation, tearing apart the tender flesh within.

“aaargh…!”

“Ah, the artifact shattered instantly! What the hell…!”

“Kyaa, aaargh! Save me, please save me!”

Even the most high-minded professors couldn’t suppress cries of pain. The students who had gathered to understand the situation, or to overcome the Academy’s crisis, witnessed it all.

They beheld a single mage facing them.

“I’m not asking for much.”

She spoke, walking on the dirt towards a Fernand, collapsed on the ground.

“But if you don’t listen, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

Ena crouched before Fernand, her face devoid of emotion. Then, she swept her gaze across the professors sprawled around. She took in the students who had gathered.

Soon, she amplified her mana.

“What happened during the first task for the first years.”

*[Lightning Strike]*

Lightning struck the back above Fernand.

“What happened to my student.”

*[Lightning Strike]*

Head.

“All the details of that day.”

*[Lightning Strike]*

Back, again.

“Organize it all and officially announce it. If the contents don’t please me, I will come back.”

*[Lightning Strike]*

KWA-aaaNG!!

A lightning bolt, far grander than those used in sequence, battered against Fernan’s entire being. Moments later, as the lightning receded,

she stood, her entire body wreathed in blinding white electricity, and crushed a boot down on Fernan’s unconscious head, gazing up toward the Academy’s main structure.

“I trust you understood, Friede.”

“…Understood, yes.”

As if the fog itself had parted, Friede materialized in the air. She swallowed hard, the gruesome brilliance of the lightning prickling against her skin, and nodded.

“I shall do as you desire. So, for today…”

“You want me to retreat at this point? No. I haven’t achieved my objective yet.”

“Huh?”

Friede responded with a vacant tone. She immediately sent Ena a telepathic message, so that others would not hear.

-You need to retreat at this point. Honestly, this is already too much. It was difficult enough finding the right moment to even appear.

“Did I seem like a joke to you? Knowing full well who Assel’s disciple is, trying to bury this incident. In the past, you would never have been able to do such a thing.”

-Ena? Ena? I know you can hear me. You need to stop now. Things are heating up too much.

“So, I’m just going to leave one little mark.”

-Wait! I may not be entirely innocent in this incident, but I beg you with all due respect! Please, just retreat from here!

Ena stretched her hand towards the heavens.

Friede cried out internally.

-No!!!!!! Way!!!!!!

“I’m going to make sure you all know exactly who you’ve been messing with.”

Above her palm, a tiny nexus of lightning bloomed. But, despite its size, the power contained within surpassed even the sum of all the magic Ena had previously used. Merely its existence alone sparked lightning in the surrounding air, the unstable electricity swirling within the sphere.

Without hesitation, Ena crushed it.

Magic far superior to even high-level spells. A transcendent authority granted only to a select few among archmages. An extreme form of magic that leaves its imprint on the world or triggers phenomena, manifesting imagery. Power amplified to its maximum, but manipulated to avoid taking lives, danced according to her will, drawing out the formation.

Soon.

[Thunder Jade Obliterates Heaven]

KWA-aaaNG!!!!!

The world turned stark white.