Academy’s Undercover Professor-Chapter 313: The Path of the Unclean (2)

“Even so, I haven’t fallen far enough to reach for the power of demons.”

Ludger’s sharp remark was humbly accepted by Andrei.

Because he, too, knew that what he had done was wrong.

“I know the power of demons is dangerous. And I know that the moment I used it, I became different from you. But I also had a reason... a reason that left me no other choice.”

“Was it because the demon’s power controlled you?”

“No.”

Andrei answered firmly.

“The demon said it would claim my body in return for lending me its power, but I think that’s a lie. Because it was my will—entirely mine—that chose to wield that power. Every one of these choices... was made by me.”

“Then what was the reason?”

Ludger believed there had to be one.

People said Andrei had lost his mind, consumed by greed, conducting human experimentation and spiraling into madness—but even just speaking with him, Ludger could tell.

Andrei was completely sane.

He hadn’t gone mad. In fact, his eyes were clear and deep—like an endless sea.

Though he’d been emotional when he succeeded with the Third due to the demonic power, now that it was gone, he was the very image of a proper mage—suited to his age and stature.

“A man once came to me—he was a father seeking to save his ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) child.”

Andrei began to recount a story from his past.

“At the time, I was concealing my identity while treating people in the slums. There wasn’t a grand reason behind it—I just wanted to test the drugs I was developing. I meant to use them as guinea pigs. And then he came to me, bringing his child.”

As he recalled the events of that day, Andrei wore a bitter smile, but his eyes darkened.

“Surprisingly, he was a fervent follower of the Lumenis Church. Someone devoted to rejecting and persecuting black mages like me. And yet, there he was, seeking out a black mage. Isn’t that just absurd?”

Andrei let out a dry cough.

“But do you know what’s even more absurd? The child he brought... was already dead. The warmth hadn’t completely left the body—it must’ve happened just moments earlier. And the father said—he begged me to bring the child back to life.”

“......”

“I asked him. Told him the child was already dead. Asked why he was asking me to revive a corpse. And you know what he said? That black mages could bring back the dead.”

That ridiculous statement seemed to still echo in Andrei’s mind—he chuckled softly at the memory.

“I wanted to tell him I was a mage by training, and that black magic had its own schools and distinctions—but I knew it would be pointless. He wouldn’t understand. So instead, I asked him something else. I asked why he hadn’t tried to cure the child’s illness.”

It had been nothing but a mild fever—something that could’ve been treated with a basic antipyretic.

Had he bought and administered even the simplest medicine, the child would have lived.

Andrei had pressed the father for an answer, and the man had wept as he replied:

“He said... he believed that praying to God would be enough.”

“......”

“It’s laughable, isn’t it? How can one expect a disease to be healed by mere prayer? And yet what’s more absurd is that... he genuinely believed that. Up until the very moment his child took her last breath! And in the end, the child died—contrary to the prayers of her father.”

Saved in the name of God, yet left unsaved.

Able to be saved, yet abandoned.

It was a grotesque tragedy—sickening to the core.

“In the name of that God, the Lumenis Church persecuted human experimentation. Not even experimentation on the living—just the use of corpses. I’m not trying to defend such experiments. But I will say this—sometimes, the path of progress requires impurity. What good is it to uphold virtue if you cannot protect what matters? Realization always comes too late, once you've already lost it all.”

“......”

“What do people even know? Uneducated as they are, all they can do is follow the crowd, do what they're told. It’s the same even in this modern age—an era of reason and science.”

Andrei’s hazy eyes held a weight of wisdom as they gazed upon Ludger.

“That’s why I despise God. It’s not the priest’s blessings that cure disease—it’s medicine and antibiotics. It's not divine grace that heals the sick—it’s medical science and surgery. Even incurable diseases cease to be incurable once researched.”

Andrei’s voice burned with conviction.

“It must be people who save people. No one should be allowed to hinder that in the name of God.”

That was why.

That was why he chose to wield demonic power out of hatred for God’s name.

He wanted to prove them wrong.

He wanted to open the doors to humanity’s advancement—with the very power everyone reviled as demonic.

A bitter smile touched Andrei’s lips.

“But in the end, I failed. And this... this is the result.”

He was fully aware that his actions had become the deeds of a man blinded by obsession.

But if even one more person in pain could be saved, then that would be enough.

“You’re similar to me. No... perhaps you’ve surpassed me. To gain that kind of power at your age—what must you have gone through? I can’t even begin to imagine.”

Andrei tried to peer into Ludger’s eyes.

But he saw nothing.

Just like the impossible magic Ludger had shown—his emotions, his identity, his memories—everything about him was shrouded in mystery.

And that was why—

He was the most suitable one to inherit all of Andrei’s work.

“This will be useful to you on the path ahead.”

Andrei no longer cared that a lifetime’s worth of research would vanish here.

He wasn’t passing it on in desperation just to leave a trace behind.

There was only one reason.

Because for someone walking the same path, this was the only small gift a predecessor could give.

Ludger reached out his hand and placed it over the spell that floated above Andrei’s palm.

The spell, inscribed in radiant white code, seeped into Ludger’s arm and into his body.

Andrei silently watched the process unfold.

As if it were his final duty. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Once the transfer was complete, Andrei caught his breath and looked directly at Ludger.

He wasn’t just seeing Ludger—he was seeing his younger self reflected in the man before him.

The foolish self he once was.

“Don’t fail.”

And with those final words, the last flame of Andrei’s life was extinguished.

In the fading darkness, Andrei thought:

They say that when a person dies, everything fades to black.

That the moment of death brings nothing but darkness.

It seemed a fitting end for someone like him.

And yet—strangely—the scene before his eyes was nothing but white.

What was this? The final hallucination before death?

As he pondered, a figure appeared in that pure white world.

—Ah.

Drawn forward as if possessed, Andrei walked toward the figure.

At first, he staggered.

But his pace quickened.

And soon, he was sprinting—something that didn’t suit his age at all.

At last, Andrei embraced the child tightly.

—I’m sorry.

Andrei cried like a child.

—I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you.

His one and only daughter smiled and wiped away his tears, saying it was okay.

Then she pointed.

There stood the wife who had gone before.

Andrei stared at her, stunned.

So... she’d been waiting all this time.

His daughter took his hand and began to lead him.

Andrei followed her—then suddenly paused and looked back.

The girl asked why.

Andrei gave a gentle smile, shook his head, and turned forward again.

—No. It’s nothing.

And so, Andrei was reunited with his family.

The three of them slowly dissolved into the white world.

Thud.

The outstretched arm dropped lifelessly, and Andrei’s head slumped forward.

A faint smile lingered on his wrinkled, withered lips.

Ludger did not know what Andrei had seen in those final moments.

Was it a sense of satisfaction after unburdening himself?

Or perhaps relief at having passed on his research?

He couldn’t say.

But when he saw Andrei’s smile, it felt as though that man’s soul—at last—had truly been saved.

‘Salvation, huh.’

Ludger gave a short silent prayer and looked around.

The massive cavern was a complete mess after the battle.

Fragments, wreckage, and traces of the World Tree’s roots were strewn everywhere.

‘With so many signs left behind, how am I supposed to explain this to the unconscious ones later?’

Maybe he should just pretend to have passed out with them.

‘And I’ve used way too much mana... my body’s barely hanging on.’

Ludger pulled out a mana recovery potion and downed it.

The strain from overusing mana was about to hit hard.

He considered taking a rest while he still had time—

Ssssss...

A chilling wave crept in.

A massive presence was rising.

Whipping around, he saw something emerging from the center of the crater—a single black dot.

‘No way.’

Could it really have survived that attack?

The dot slowly grew, becoming a black flame suspended in midair.

From within the dark fire, a pair of blood-red eyes flared open.

[This can’t be! This can’t be happening!]

The demon began to howl.

Its voice didn’t come from vocal cords—it echoed directly into Ludger’s mind, shaking his very soul.

A scream not of words, but of will itself.

If an ordinary person had heard that voice, they would’ve foamed at the mouth and passed out on the spot.

‘Goddamn it. What is this, a cockroach? No matter how many times I crush it, it just keeps coming back. Are all demons this tenacious?’

Though Ludger was inwardly irritated, he took a moment to assess his physical state.

After using his final technique, he had exhausted nearly all of his mana. If he were to fight the demon now, the odds of winning were low.

‘I have to eliminate it before it fully recovers.’

But how?

Even with a technique that was near the pinnacle of anti-demon arts, the thing hadn’t died.

So what in the world would it take to kill it?

As Ludger pondered, he realized something strange about the demon’s condition.

‘Its body isn’t regenerating?’

The thing floating in midair now was no more than a manifestation of pure power.

A spiritual body formed from lingering energy—devoid of any physical form.

‘Then that means it’s not in a stable state either.’

That gave him a sliver of hope.

Just as Ludger prepared to cast another spell while remaining vigilant, the demon's screaming abruptly stopped.

Its burning red eyes turned to him.

[Human......!]

“Ludger Cherish.”

[You... You ruined everything!]

Having lost its body and suffered great damage even in spiritual form, the demon was overwhelmed by its own emotions.

It glared at Ludger with seething hatred and fury unlike anything it had shown before.

Intent on killing him, even in its current unstable form.

Ludger didn’t look away from the demon, and at the same time, he didn’t neglect to observe it carefully.

The demon’s size had swelled to that of a house, but that was its limit.

It could grow no further. On the contrary, even maintaining this state seemed taxing—the outer edges of its form were beginning to crumble like ash.

It was in a terminal state.

Without a proper vessel—a physical form—not even a demon could remain manifested in the world for long.

And the demon was keenly aware of that.

All it had left was this temporary vessel of condensed power.

And that power was rapidly depleting.

At this rate, it would vanish completely.

Rather than wasting strength fighting Ludger, it needed to find a vessel—someone who could contain its essence.

But where could it find one?

Someone like Luypholdt was out of the question, and ordinary humans wouldn’t survive the strain.

While Ludger and the demon stared each other down, locked in mutual caution—

The demon suddenly felt something.

A gaze. Someone was watching it.

Its eyes snapped sideways, and Ludger instinctively followed the movement, wondering what it had seen.

But all he could see was the fractured outer wall of the cavern.

However, the demon was different.

It had sensed the gaze—and read the strange magical pulse hidden within it.

[So you’re still here! That cursed Saint’s remnant!]

“What?”

Before Ludger could ask what it meant, the demon bolted.

Its black fog-like body shot up to the ceiling of the cavern, slipping through a crack formed during the battle.

It was only possible because it had discarded its physical body.

Ludger couldn’t react in time to the demon’s sudden escape.

“Damn it.”

He had assumed, at worst, the thing might slip into one of the side tunnels—but to think it would flee through a gap in the ceiling?

And judging by the direction—it was headed for the surface.

‘My remaining mana...’

Ludger quickly calculated how much he had left.

He didn’t know what exactly the demon had seen, but it had clearly muttered the Saint’s remnant.

Saint.

Demon.

And... the verdict.

The words connected in Ludger’s mind, one after another—and finally, a girl’s face surfaced.

Click.

Without another thought, Ludger shoved every remaining mana potion into his mouth and activated a spatial spell.

His figure melted into shadow and vanished like a mirage.

* * *

Along the boulevard where the gates of Dvalk Imperial Castle could be seen in the distance—

Rine suddenly stopped running and stared at the ground.

“Rine?”

Just as Erendir was about to ask why she had stopped, Rine paled and shouted.

“Everyone, get back!”

But her warning came too late.

A violent tremor shook the ground beneath their feet, and cracks split the earth like a drought-stricken plain.

“Wh-What the—?”

“What’s going on...?”

The students, along with the guards and knights guiding them, were thrown into confusion.

Fwoooosh!

From the widening fissures, black smoke erupted like molten lava.

Thick black fog rose into the air—and within it, a massive red eye glared down over the capital.

[Where are you?!]

The voice thundered through the air—and everyone who heard it dropped to their knees in fear.

The resonance of that voice shook the soul itself—none could resist it.

Growing desperate, the demon’s eye rolled around—until it finally found her.

Eyes filled with starlight—staring up at it in disbelief.

[There you are.]

The demon’s red eye curved into a smile.

The black mist twisted into a vortex and surged straight toward Rine.

Her legs froze. She couldn’t move.

The black spiral came to consume her—

But just before it struck, a shield imbued with the element of blue lightning intercepted it.

Rine’s eyes widened as she recognized the navy-blue hair and familiar silhouette before her.

“Flora... sunbae?”

Flora Lumos. She had stepped in to protect Rine.

But why?

No—this wasn’t the time to ask questions.

Even Flora’s magic wouldn’t last long against the demon’s power.

The demon shattered the barrier and lunged again.

But then, while still maintaining her defense, Flora drew a swift arc with her hand—casting another spell.

A gentle wind rose and swept Rine backward.

Ah—

Rine tried to say something—but before she could, Flora turned and spoke first.

“This repays the debt.”

In the next instant, the barrier collapsed—and the black mist swallowed Flora whole.