Academy’s Undercover Professor-Chapter 306: The Azure Mage (1)

“You’re annoying.”

Luypholdt muttered as he reached a hand out toward Ludger.

The moment he tried to pierce Ludger’s heart, Luypholdt's body suddenly bounced to the side with a dull thud.

‘What was that?’

A jolt of pain rattled his internal organs, and Luypholdt reeled in shock.

As he twisted his head midair, he saw Roteron with his fist extended.

Golden irises, like those of a beast, glared directly at him.

In that split second, Roteron had driven his fist into Luypholdt.

The impact likely came from the translucent blue human-like figure shimmering behind Roteron’s back.

That spectral form, staring at him with intense eyes, exuded an overwhelming presence that resonated with the soul.

It resembled necromancy—but it was not the same. No, it was on an entirely different level.

Which could only mean it was a [Singular] class magic.

As soon as Luypholdt realized that, the hunger surged again—deep and violent, rising from the pit of his soul.

His greed roared to life.

Luypholdt licked his lips.

If he could devour that...

Maybe he could acquire that same magic.

But at that moment, a killing intent from behind shattered his thoughts.

It was sharp and cold—like countless fine needles piercing every inch of his body.

As he turned, Luypholdt saw a white-haired female knight clad in a black uniform.

Terrina Lionhowl, wielding a sword in each hand, flashed past him.

White threads—like strands of spiderweb—unfolded along the arc of her movement.

A barrage of blindingly fast sword strikes enveloped Luypholdt's body in the blink of ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) an eye.

Landing back on the ground, Terrina’s expression twisted.

‘The sensation at the edge of my blade is too light.’

Even cloaked in sword aura, she’d felt immense resistance as her blades cut through him.

Indeed, Luypholdt's body bore only shallow slashes, and none of them were fatal.

And even those wounds healed at a speed visible to the eye—effectively rendering the attack meaningless.

That was when Passius struck.

Leaping high, he landed atop Luypholdt mid-air.

His left foot pressed down on Luypholdt's abdomen, and his right elbow locked onto his shoulder.

Then, gripping his sword in a reverse grip, he plunged it down with force.

Unlike standard aura, a compressed blade of pure white energy coalesced around his sword.

It was an Aura Blade—a symbol of a Master.

CRACK!

The brilliant white blade pierced Luypholdt's heart.

Against ordinary sword aura, Luypholdt had suffered only scratches.

But in the face of this Aura Blade, even his monstrous body collapsed helplessly.

With his heart impaled, Luypholdt crashed to the ground along with Passius.

BOOM!

Dust exploded outward, and cracks split across the ground like a spider’s web.

Passius didn’t stop there—he drove the blade deeper and flared his aura with full force.

CRACKKKK!

White aura erupted along the fractured ground, sending shattered debris spinning into the air.

A high-powered strike unleashed by a Swordmaster.

An ordinary person would’ve been shredded at the cellular level by those aura particles.

An ordinary person.

“That hurts.”

Luypholdt didn’t disintegrate—instead, he furrowed his brows and glared at Passius.

He even reached up and grabbed the Aura Blade embedded in his chest with both hands.

SIZZLE!

The surging aura seared through his palms.

But his melted hands regenerated at a horrifying speed—and then, began to push the aura back.

CRACK!

His hand, now blackened by demonic energy, fully gripped the blade.

Luypholdt began to push back against Passius’s sword with brute force.

Passius widened his eyes.

He pressed down harder with both arms, trying not to lose ground—but the blade still began to slide free.

‘To push back a Swordmaster’s strength... with brute force alone?!’

Unthinkable. For Luypholdt to overpower even a superhuman like a Swordmaster...

His physical strength had long since surpassed that of any knight.

Then, one of the faces protruding from Luypholdt's shoulder opened its mouth wide and locked eyes with Passius.

Clicking his tongue, Passius wrenched his sword free and leapt backward.

A moment later, a razor-sharp whirlwind surged upward toward the ceiling of the cavern.

Had he hesitated even a second, that wind would’ve torn him limb from limb.

Just as Luypholdt tried to rise again, translucent vines lashed through the air and bound his limbs.

It was Lau Plome—the summoned beast of Chris Bennimore.

“Now!”

At Chris’s shout, the war mage who had been building up power unleashed his magic.

The entire cavern was flooded with a deep red glow.

Luypholdt immediately understood the source.

A blazing sun had risen above his head.

As if bidding farewell to a comrade fallen into corruption, the war mage dropped a colossal fireball down upon him.

Luypholdt roared and flexed his muscles, trying to tear apart the vines binding him.

But Rudger wasn’t about to let him go.

With a thud, he slammed his staff into the ground—and layers of stone rose up and clamped onto Luypholdt like shackles.

Luypholdt shattered them with brute force, but—

The descending sun had already crossed the threshold.

A top-tier 5th-Circle fire spell.

[Sun Fall]

A sun descended into the underground.

It consumed Luypholdt's body and slammed into the ground.

A tempestuous burst of light detonated outward.

BOOOOOM!

A massive pillar of fire erupted with the explosion.

The war mage broke into a sweat, focusing intensely to control his magic.

The flames, which had been expanding in concentric rings, twisted inward, forming a spiraling inferno that steadily shrank in size.

The heat that tried to escape was locked within, fueling the internal blaze.

Even though the flames weren’t spreading, those watching could feel the searing heat on their skin.

Eventually, a bright yellow fireball condensed at the vortex’s core.

A 3-meter-wide sphere of flame.

It looked like a miniature sun planted firmly on the ground.

And inside it—was a heat unimaginable to comprehend.

A spell worthy of its name—immense and destructive.

“Incredible.”

Bellaruna, a layperson in magic, gaped in awe.

In terms of raw power, [Sun Fall] rivaled even 6th-Circle grand magic.

It required an enormous amount of time to prepare—but thanks to the others buying that time, it had been successfully cast.

Against a spell of that magnitude, even Luypholdt should have been annihilated.

But none in the chamber dared to celebrate yet.

A chilling dread that prickled their skin hadn’t left them since earlier.

If anything, it had grown worse since Luypholdt was consumed by that tiny sun.

The change occurred then.

At the center of the yellow fireball, a black dot began to form.

It grew steadily—until it swallowed the entire sun.

In an instant, the blazing light was eclipsed—transformed into a dark sphere, like a total solar eclipse.

When the flames died down, what appeared was a pitch-black egg with a hardened outer shell.

A crack spread from its center, and then—

CRACK! 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

It split cleanly in half.

Inside, Luypholdt stood perfectly still.

As though reborn from within the shell, his appearance was not just unharmed—it radiated an eerie dissonance.

The war mage stood frozen in disbelief.

His most powerful spell, the one he’d poured every last drop of mana into... had done absolutely nothing.

Despair.

There was no other word for it.

But amid that tense stillness, one man moved—Ludger Cherish.

Countless beams of light refracted at varying angles, striking Luypholdt from all directions.

Even those who had fallen into despair regained their senses at the sight of his magic.

The dazzling rays carved constellation-like patterns around Luypholdt body.

Luypholdt tried to ignore them. The damage was negligible—nothing that could truly hurt him.

Then, two beams of light struck his eyes directly.

No matter how durable his body, he couldn’t defend his pupils.

With a hiss, he opened his mouth to curse.

“This—!”

And in that moment, a spear of light pierced straight through the inside of his mouth.

A searing torrent of light swelled inside Luypholdt's mouth, scorching the back of his throat.

For the first time, Luypholdt staggered and dropped to one knee.

Terrina shouted at the sight.

“Keep pressing!”

The battle wasn’t over yet.

She yelled and swung her sword straight down toward Luypholdt.

In the midst of this, Ludger adjusted the trajectory of the beams of light, ensuring none of them touched Terrina.

Sensing the tremor in the air slicing toward his body, Luypholdt quickly retreated backward.

Terrina’s sword then came crashing down like she was chopping firewood, striking the ground where he had just stood.

Crack! A deep fissure split across the floor.

Luypholdt, rapidly regenerating his damaged eyes, sneered as he looked at Terrina.

“What a shame. You missed.”

“No. I didn’t.”

Just as Luypholdt opened his mouth to ask what she meant—

Rumble...

From the crack she had carved, a deep rumbling began to rise from beneath the ground.

The floor began to tremble, subtly at first, then with increasing force—soon escalating to the intensity of an earthquake.

What is this?

Luypholdt's eyes sharpened as he fixed his gaze on the fractured ground.

And from the crevice Terrina had struck, a jet of water burst upward.

“Groundwater?”

Luypholdt muttered in confusion.

Could it be her earlier strike had been aimed at drawing up an underground water vein?

“Do you intend to drown me or something?”

He was about to mock her—sure that this amount of water could never pose a threat.

Then he felt it.

Something off.

The way the water moved was wrong.

A jet shooting that high should have rained back down.

But it didn’t.

The water sprayed upward and then fanned out, fluttering through the air as if suspended.

It was as if the water itself had a will of its own.

Luypholdt furrowed his brows for the first time, unable to grasp what he was seeing.

This wasn’t water created by magic. She was manipulating natural water to that degree?

A piece of information flitted through Luypholdt's mind.

There were mages like that on this continent.

And then, his eyes locked onto Casey Selmore.

The magical energy radiating from the water... and the way her hair color suggested a deep connection with the element.

It took him a moment to fully register her—likely because she had just awoken from sleep.

Luypholdt muttered in awe.

“So you’re the Azure Mage.”

“Call me the genius detective!”

Casey shouted back as she extended her hand toward him.

The swirling water instantly froze midair.

Luypholdt's eyes widened.

All that water... had transformed into countless spears.

Casey flashed a sharp grin as she spoke.

“Not that you’ll get to call me anything again.”

Her hand, outstretched toward Luypholdt, closed into a tight fist.

And in that same moment, the spears of water rained down.

CHRAAAAAASH!!

Spears flew from every direction. Luypholdt cloaked his entire body in black demonic mana.

The spears struck like a torrential downpour on an umbrella.

Under the protection of demonic energy, Luypholdt's body didn’t suffer even a scratch.

But Casey’s assault showed no sign of stopping.

Each spear, once spent, returned to the air, reformed itself, and shot toward him again.

“Quit pestering me!”

Luypholdt flared his demonic mana outward.

A dome of darkness formed around him, repelling the spears.

Then, one of the mouths on his body opened wide, unleashing a spell.

A massive bolt of lightning. A blazing fireball. A razor-sharp windstorm.

The entire cavern was engulfed.

A multi-elemental attack, each cast simultaneously—a display of overwhelming magical might.

The others had no choice but to retreat from the area to avoid being swept up in it.

“For a single individual to wield such force...”

“If you’ve got time to say that, step back further.”

Ludger pulled back Chris, who had been staring at the scene in disbelief.

Even as they withdrew, Ludger’s eyes remained fixed on Casey Selmore, still standing firm.

The underground water continued to surge up behind her.

She guided the water with magic and sheer force of will—fully committing to a battle of power against Luypholdt.

When the fireball clashed with the lightning, a mist of scalding steam erupted.

Shockwaves rippled out. Thunderous booms echoed through the cavern. The air itself seemed to tremble.

It was like watching two colossal beasts tear into each other.

And over time, the battle, once equal, began to tilt in Casey’s favor.

Luypholdt's attacks had limits. But Casey’s didn’t.

Water flowed endlessly from beneath the earth, and any scattered droplets from previous spells regrouped and rejoined the current.

‘Impressive.’

Ludger honestly admired her.

This was the true terror of a single-element mage—when the conditions were perfect.

As long as the element existed, their spells had no end.

And water... was the foundation of this world.

Clouds drifting in the sky.

Moisture in the atmosphere.

Torrential rain.

Flowing rivers.

Groundwater nestled deep in the bedrock.

The boundless ocean.

Water’s greatest strength lay in its unceasing cycle through all these forms.

And when it flowed without end—

At least in that moment—

Casey Selmore was nothing short of a god.