Damage from the explosion accumulated in my body, evoking terrible pain.
I clenched my teeth to the point where veins bulged on my forehead, endured the pain, and moved my steps according to instinct.
"Professor Lucas! Over here!"
Someone blocked my path.
Harriet Bloom.
The Dean of the Combat Department.
I slowly approached him.
"Here, look here."
Following his hand gesture, I saw Baltan's corpse, dead with all the joints of his body twisted bizarrely.
"It seems someone made a move. When I arrived, it was already…"
Bloom shook his head as if it were a pity.
"Anyway, I was really surprised. To think a demon bastard was mixed among us in the Chancellor's appearance."
Passing by him who was chattering ceaselessly, I examined Baltan's corpse.
It is definitely Baltan.
However, there was a huge problem.
…How did Harriet Bloom know this fact?
Just a while ago, Harriet Bloom was not at the scene.
Because I intentionally excluded him.
No need for questions or answers.
Before the bastard noticed, I aimed for a surprise attack.
Teaching and Learning Grow Together.
Deyan- Roch Sword, Draw Sword.
Aeroc's traditional swordsmanship, Roch Sword.
Among them, Deyan's draw sword boasts a speed that exceeds perception.
Swoosh-
However, my sword cut the empty air in vain.
I keenly felt the lack of stats.
"Haha! Professor Lucas. The joke is too harsh. You probably… aren't even in good condition yet."
The bastard knew about my condition in detail as well.
Silence settled down.
"Since when did you know?"
"Suspicion from the first meeting. Conviction is now."
"Hoh, may I ask the reason?"
Harriet Bloom.
The bastard was one of my objects of vigilance from the first meeting.
Because-
"Because I have never revealed the fact that I am a different race."
Lucas's race is a different race in the settings, but since he looks no different from a human, no one can notice the fact that he is a different race unless he reveals his identity himself.
The reason Lucas tried to learn the language thoroughly was also to blend in perfectly among humans.
But Harriet's first greeting was-
-It is an honor to meet the rumored Count of a different race.
I am Harriet, the Dean of the Combat Department.
From that moment, I was wary of Harriet.
Knowing a secret that no one should know was suspicious enough in itself.
"Hahaha! Right. Indeed, I think I was overly wary because of the peculiarity of your race."
"...."
I intentionally saved my words.
From here on, it is outside my settings.
It is true that Lucas's tribe is a different race, but I didn't bother to create detailed settings.
The reason was simple.
Because he is an extra.
However, the reactions of the demons I have met so far were all similar.
As if there is something about Lucas's race,
They acted as if- he was their natural enemy.
"By the way, there is one strange thing I felt while watching you… why do you not use a bow?"
"Do I have an obligation to answer?"
"Hahaha! Still, we have affection from being together, you are too cold."
"I have no such thing as affection attached to a demon bastard."
"Then wouldn't that child beside you be too sad?"
"Cut the wordplay."
No matter what happened, I had to finish the bastard here.
'Can I do it?'
No, I have to do it even if I'm not confident.
Because my future survival depends on it.
Whooosh-!
I activated Aura and pushed in a massive amount of points.
It blazed, boasting a tremendous presence like a giant pillar of fire.
It wasn't simply to finish the bastard.
I hoped that anyone would see this Aura and come quickly.
It was something like a signal flare.
"As expected of 'that' race, it is a tremendous Evil Crushing energy. It would be unreasonable to face it inside the barrier."
For saying that, he looks quite relaxed.
But I have no such relaxation.
Just as much as the size that swelled up massively, the points are draining away tremendously.
There is no time.
"It is a pity, but let's wrap up our meeting here. It will be quite fun when we meet next time. I will come prepared thoroughly then, so be ready."
Rumble-!
A rift like a black hole appeared behind the bastard.
"Let's meet again, Professor Lucas."
No.
I cannot let the bastard go like this.
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Donations continued as if telling me not to miss the bastard.
I don't even have time to judge whose skill I should use.
Just the posture most familiar to me.
I held the sword high and brought it down toward the bastard just like that.
Craaack-!
Clang-!
Before I could even fully bring the sword down, the sword could not withstand the energy of the Aura and ended up breaking.
In the meantime, the bastard had already completely disappeared beyond the rift.
Hehahahat-!
The sound of the bastard's ridicule seemed to be heard like an auditory hallucination.
***
Rumble-!
Space distorted for an instant, and a being popped out as if spat out from within a huge rift.
"G, Urgh…"
From one shoulder to the abdomen.
It is a deep wound, slashed vertically large enough that it looked like it would separate at any moment.
"O, Lord Orpega!"
"Quickly attend to Lord Orpega!"
Numerous demons gathered around Orpega.
"Are you alright, Orpe…"
Squish!
"Huh?"
In an instant, the two arms that were reaching toward Orpega flew away.
Before he could even feel the question.
Crunch!
This time, the entire upper body flew away as if something had bitten it off.
"L, Lord Orpega's meal has started! Everyone run away-!"
But it was late.
Squish!
Crunch!
Crackle!
Crunch!
Snap, crackle!
Burp!
When the sound stopped, not a single living creature remained around him.
Orpega's eyes, whose severed body had attached itself before anyone knew, opened.
"Hmph. Hahaha!"
Traces of Lucas remained clearly on his body, unhealed even by his regeneration ability.
Sweeping the deeply gouged wound, Orpega laughed like a madman.
If he had been just a little late.
No, if Lucas's sword had withstood that energy even for a moment longer, he would have been a dead already.
Even though he couldn't bring out his full power because of Glasco's barrier, it was a shocking result.
'Next time, I will split you bastard in half. Look forward to it, Lucas.'
Orpega's eyes glistened with madness.
***
"Professor!"
Rit ran quickly and examined me here and there.
"Are you alright? Are you really alright?"
"I'm fine."
Actually, my whole body is trembling and I am using all my strength not to shake, but I cannot show it.
"Baltan is… dead."
"Is Baltan the guy who made a 'Covenant' with you?"
She nodded her head quietly.
"Then…"
However, I had to swallow the question back because of the professors approaching from over there.
"Professor Lucas, what on earth is all this?"
Ronald asked, looking around with a bewildered expression.
"There was one more guy."
"You mean there was another demon?"
"Wait. Dean Harriet is… d, don't tell me!"
I answered by nodding my head instead.
"T, this can't be!"
Ronald's reaction looks like he is about to faint.
If he finds out Rit next to me is also a demon, he looks like he will pass out for sure.
"This, it seems the matter has become too big. Immediate measures…"
"No, I don't think you need to do that right now."
If it was a demon capable of suppressing the Monarch-class Baltan in one breath, he must be a fairly high-ranking demon.
Since even such a guy retreated, there is no great danger for the time being.
Rather than making the matter bigger by preparing measures, it was better to quietly strengthen the internal stability.
"Anyway… Heinz, do you happen to know where that friend is?"
Heinz's current status, which Ronald is probably most curious about.
However, I do not know this either.
I should have kept Baltan alive even for that reason.
'However, if it is the Aeroc Intelligence Agency…'
Hope still remains.
"We are looking into it. Surely, he will be safe."
"Right, it gives me strength that you say so. Haa…"
Ronald's worry seemed deep.
"Now, suddenly the Chancellor and the Dean of a department have become vacant. I know the professors' hard work is extreme, but starting today, even if we have to stay up all night, we must fill that gap…"
Since the positions of the two people are what they are, the gap will be tremendous.
It seems confusion will arrive in Glasco for a while.
…I hope it gets resolved while I go to the academic conference.
***
The 'Conference' with a status like the Magic Tower to knights.
In that conference, this year's hottest potato is undoubtedly Lucas's 'Battle Aspects with Demons Viewed from the Situation of the Eastern Front'.
Originally, the lecture with that thesis as the topic was scheduled for the first day, but due to some reason, it has been postponed to the very last day.
Therefore, the personnel who flocked to the conference because of that lecture were quite disappointed, but it wasn't that there were no gains.
Since everyone who flocked here in the first place was enthusiastic about Lucas's 'Battle Aspects with Demons Viewed from the Situation of the Eastern Front', a place was prepared where diverse opinions derived from it could be shared.
In a way, it could be said that being placed at the end was a move of god.
Because the derived theories were also diverse, the debates that 'Academic Factions' like were constantly taking place.
By sharing various opinions and dissecting the theory in detail, they could explore knowledge with a new perspective again.
This peculiar heat was not limited to those classified as 'Academic Factions'.
Those classified as 'Practical Factions' also attended the conference with huge expectations for Lucas's lecture.
Because it was an opportunity to see the demonstration of Lucas, called the hero of the Eastern Front, in person.
Furthermore, didn't Lucas's martial power reveal itself, although very fragmentarily, because of the incident that happened at
Like those who revere strength, they were spending a fun(?) time in their own way comparing each other's martial arts.
In fact, it was no different from a festival atmosphere.
The only ones detached from this atmosphere were the faction gathered around the Conference Head Alan.
Like those shouting for 'Schoolism', they were people sensitive to orthodoxy.
They didn't like the situation where the theory of someone with unknown origins like Lucas was heating up the academic world.
Furthermore, treating the conference like some neighborhood event, changing the schedule as he pleased, and threatening not to participate if it wasn't allowed.
He was truly an eyesore.
Therefore, they set a goal to flatten Lucas's nose by thoroughly analyzing 'Battle Aspects with Demons Viewed from the Situation of the Eastern Front'.
They intended to make him, who was invited to the conference for the first time, experience personally how great the authority of this conference is.
That was the plan, but…
'T, to think one could come up with this?'
'Theoretically, it is perfect. There is no problem with the verification process either.'
'Ha… Lucas, isn't he a god?'
'To think a thesis could be this fun, it makes my undergraduate days feel unfair!'
'I want to go back to my school days again.'
Rather, they ended up respecting Lucas academically.
Of course, they couldn't show it because of Alan's notice.
However, to them, Lucas was an idol they admired, and his lecture had become just like a concert.
'Lucas… Staking all the honor of this Alan, I will watch clearly with my own eyes how great your lecture is. And after all the lectures are over, I will surely…'
And that is.
'I will get a handwritten autograph on this thesis.'
It was the same for Alan as well.