Academy’s Undercover Professor-Chapter 318: A Life of Salvation (2)

"Flora. Watch closely."

Before the battle began in earnest, Ludger called out Flora’s name.

Flora wiped her tears and stared at Ludger intently.

"Watch? What do you mean?"

"The magic I’m about to use—it’s going to be different from anything I’ve shown in class so far."

“Di–different? Don’t tell me you mean that light from earlier?”

"Yes. The others won’t understand no matter how closely they watch, but you will. Your talent is that exceptional."

"That’s..."

"So watch carefully. Someday, you might be able to use a similar kind of magic yourself."

For a moment, Flora didn’t understand what Ludger was saying.

Use similar magic?

Her? The same kind of miraculous power Ludger had just demonstrated?

It couldn’t be. No one could simply mimic magic that defied all common sense...

But Ludger’s voice was far too serious.

This wasn’t flattery.

And Ludger wasn’t the kind of person who would sugarcoat his words for someone’s feelings.

In the end, everything Ludger said was his honest belief.

He truly thought Flora could learn something by watching his magic.

Because he believed in her talent—and more importantly, in her will.

That was why he was about to show her something no other student would see.

“......!”

Flora felt her throat tighten at his words but barely managed to hold back the rising emotion.

Just this once.

This time, she didn’t cry.

She had already shed enough tears.

With resolute eyes, Flora stared at Ludger’s back.

As if sensing her gaze, Ludger gave a faint smile and rose into the air.

CRACK!

His body was soon wrapped in violet lightning and shot through the sky like an arrow, straight toward Basara in the distance.

Flora couldn’t take her eyes off the sight.

Even blinking felt like too much of a luxury right now.

Watch it. Take in everything—and make it mine.

Not for a second did Flora think Ludger would lose to the demon.

It was strange.

In this hopeless situation, she was absolutely convinced Ludger would win.

Beyond that, the very thought that she might one day learn the magic he was about to use filled her with joy.

The sorrow had vanished—only longing remained.

I want to be like that.

Even more—to surpass him.

That new goal etched itself deep into Flora’s heart at that very moment.

Don’t miss a single thing.

And then, Ludger, turned to lightning, struck Basara head-on.

The distance between them was vast, but Basara’s enormous frame made it clearly visible.

Even if it hadn’t been, Ludger’s attack was powerful enough to be felt from far away.

[KRRRAGH! Why do you keep interfering?! Why?!]

As Basara shouted, Ludger sneered at him and raised his right hand toward the sky.

A massive force gathered in the black void above him, and soon a brilliant spear of lightning formed in Ludger’s grasp.

It was nothing more than an imitation—a fake mimicking a legendary artifact passed down through myths and folklore.

But in this mental world, a single unwavering belief was enough to grant even a fake the power of something real.

Just like this lightning spear.

"Go. Roar of Thunder."

The spear left Ludger’s hand and vanished in a burst of blinding light.

Basara tried to track its path, but a searing pain in his abdomen made him lower his head.

There was a gaping hole, like a tunnel, in his chest—through a body that rivaled a mountain in mass.

When? No, more importantly—what was that power?

Even after taking repeated blows from those divine fists, his body had only suffered surface wounds. But now...

The damage was enormous.

Basara clenched his teeth and pushed his regenerative power to its limits.

As long as his will remained unbroken, he could heal any wound.

In this world, Basara was theoretically immortal.

Ludger, too, treated Basara’s healing as a given.

Right. If he fell too easily, it wouldn’t be any fun.

"I came out here all boastful in front of my student. If it ends too quickly, I’d be the one embarrassed."

Ludger didn’t celebrate the fact that he had wounded Basara in this world.

There was no exhilaration. No joy. No satisfaction.

Only calm.

He had done what needed to be done—nothing more.

And that alone was enough.

With Basara’s roar, dark crimson mana exploded outward in a tidal wave to swallow Ludger whole.

There was no more holding back. Basara was pouring everything he had into this attack, determined to end Ludger as quickly as possible.

This time, Ludger raised both hands.

He reached up, as if grasping something from the void—flames began to rise above his head.

They were no ordinary flames.

These burned far fiercer than the fires of hell.

At one time, this had been a cursed sword swung by a giant to burn all nine realms to ash.

────!!!

An apocalyptic blaze burst forth from Ludger’s hands.

CRACK!

And the world split apart.

A pillar of fire shot into the sky, tracing the arc of Ludger’s sword swing.

It tore through Basara’s attack in a perfect line.

But it didn’t stop there—the fire went on to slice Basara’s right arm clean off.

Basara’s eyes bulged as he looked down at the stump where his arm had been.

He tried desperately to regenerate it, but the wound didn’t budge.

[How...?]

Why wouldn’t it heal?

Basara couldn’t understand.

"You ask why your wound won’t heal—but you already know the answer, don’t you?"

As Ludger spoke, he summoned the five elemental forces in rapid succession and hurled them at Basara.

Water. Fire. Wood. Metal. Stone.

Five elements rained down like meteors, battering Basara’s body.

While deflecting the blows, Basara was thrown into confusion.

I know? What does he mean...?

But no matter how hard he tried to deny it, he couldn’t ignore the truth.

[You’re saying... I’m afraid?]

This was the mental realm.

So long as Basara’s mind remained intact, he could not die.

But if his will broke, that immortality would vanish in an instant.

[You think I—me—am scared of some mere human?!]

He was an Apostle who ruled over emotion.

A being that incited terror in humans, manipulated their minds, and feasted on their darkest feelings.

He had always been fear. He had never felt it.

And he never should.

Basara tried to convince himself that he wasn’t afraid—that the reason he couldn’t heal was because of some unknown magic Ludger was using.

At least, until he saw Ludger’s next attack.

Blinding light flashed again and again.

Thunder, loud enough to shake the heavens and earth, now rested in Ludger’s hand.

Again, it was lightning.

Much like the earlier spear, it took the form of a weapon.

But it wasn’t a spear.

This weapon wasn’t designed to pierce. It was broader—heavier.

[A hammer?]

It was a hammer made of lightning.

And it radiated power equal to the lightning spear from before.

Basara stared blankly, his mouth hanging open.

He had been struck by Ludger’s magic before, but hadn’t grasped its true essence.

Now he could feel it clearly.

He finally understood what that magic was trying to manifest.

[You... A human... How do you wield a god’s power?]

That was divine power.

Not the detestable power of Lumenis—but something else.

That hammer of thunder was fundamentally different in nature. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

And yet, it was undeniably divine.

[You’re not even an Apostle! How can a human use that kind of power?!]

The power Ludger wielded struck at Basara’s most sensitive nerve—and filled him with fear.

[O... Oh, my holy god! O god forsaken by that vile Lumenis! Aid me! Aid your Apostle!]

Basara had begun babbling nonsense.

"I’m not giving you mercy just because you’re pretending to be crazy."

That outburst didn’t delay Ludger even a second.

With a flick of his hand, the hammer of thunder came crashing down toward Basara’s forehead.

Instinctively gripped by the fear of death, Basara raised his remaining arm to summon the strongest shield he could muster.

The hammer, glowing with a white so intense it turned blue, struck.

There was no enormous explosion from the impact.

Instead, Basara’s shield crumbled into dust with terrifying ease beneath the hammer.

[Ah.]

Basara’s eyes locked onto the shape of the hammer.

The Hammer of Thunder. And beyond it, the # Nоvеlight # overwhelming force of a being far beyond comprehension.

He saw something in that moment.

An ancient heaven.

A paradise of radiant beauty once inhabited by the very being he had served...

[The thing I longed for all this time...]

A blinding white bolt of lightning erupted outward, engulfing Basara’s massive body.

The dark world was flooded with radiant light.

A wild storm surged through.

When the explosion ended and the light faded, a silent calm followed.

At the epicenter—where even the field of flowers had vaporized—remained only the severed head of Basara, his body mostly obliterated.

[Truly remarkable.]

Basara gave Ludger a rare, honest compliment.

His head was slowly crumbling from the ends, turning to dust.

There was no anger in his voice.

He had completely accepted his death.

[A human wielding divine power... One cannot do so without shattering their mind. No—perhaps that’s exactly why you were unharmed by my attacks.]

“......”

[It’s ironic, isn’t it? Wasn’t it humans who condemned everything outside the heavenly throne as evil? And yet, here you are, using a power not unlike heresy.]

Basara had realized that the power Ludger wielded did not belong to Lumenis.

[Maybe... it was inevitable. That I awakened, met you, and was defeated.]

“That all you wanted to say?”

At Ludger’s merciless words, Basara—now nearly half his head gone—smiled faintly.

[I can already see how thorny your path ahead will be. A shame I won’t be around to see it... but perhaps leaving it to my imagination isn’t so bad.]

“If you’re done talking, then leave.”

[Watch out for the Apostles.]

For the first time, a proper warning made Ludger react.

[When I took control of Flora’s body, my senses expanded briefly. It was faint, but I felt it—there are others like me in this world. Others you humans call ‘demons’.]

“So you’re not on friendly terms, then.”

[You humans lump us all together, but we are fundamentally separate beings. Sometimes hostile to one another. Of course, that also means we can join forces.]

“How many of these ‘Apostles’ are there?”

[I don’t know exactly. But what matters is that they exist.]

As if that was all he could offer, Basara spoke his final words.

[Whatever happens... you’ll figure it out. Go ahead—shake the world, hero.]

And with that, Basara’s remaining form scattered into dust.

Ludger watched his final moments and replied quietly,

“Hero? Please. I’m just a teacher.”

Murmuring that to himself, Ludger turned around.

Flora was running toward him, as if she’d realized the battle was over.

Panting, she came to a halt in front of him, catching her breath.

Her clear eyes met Ludger’s.

She’d always worn a cold, curt expression in class, but now—even if just faintly—there was a glimmer of admiration.

It was only natural.

He had shown her real magic and struck down a demon with it.

Ludger looked around at the field of flowers, which was slowly beginning to collapse.

Now that its original master was gone, this world, too, was reaching its end.

“Flora.”

“Yes, Professor.”

“Let’s go.”

* * *

Mandelina and Aidan were watching the black storm with anxious eyes.

They’d launched their attack on Ludger’s signal with all their strength—but what came after was the problem.

The storm had hesitated for a moment, as if stunned by the blow. But it soon regenerated and began spinning more violently than ever.

While it no longer grew in size like before, they still couldn’t just leave it swirling at the center of the square.

Mandelina had no idea how to stop it.

Even using anti-magic at its highest output had only delayed it for a few seconds.

If it started moving again, they’d be helpless.

As Mandelina trembled in frustration, Aidan suddenly shouted,

“Master! Look!”

He pointed toward the heart of the storm.

Mandelina noticed it, too—something was changing.

“The storm... is dying down?”

The black storm that had seemed impossible to stop was slowly losing power.

The inky smog-like miasma melted into the air, revealing the scene inside.

At last, the figures came into view—Flora, lying unconscious on the ground, and Ludger, standing but covered in wounds.

“P–Professor!”

“Hey! Aidan, wait!”

Aidan dashed ahead before the storm had even fully cleared, and Mandelina groaned but ran after him.

Ludger turned toward them as if he’d noticed their approach.

“So... it’s finally over.”

And with those words, Ludger collapsed.

* * *

Ludger opened his eyes.

It was night—too dark to make anything out clearly.

After a moment, his eyes adjusted to the gloom.

Propping himself up in bed, he looked around.

Everything in the room had been arranged for personal comfort.

It was unmistakably a VIP room in the capital’s central hospital.

He checked his condition—no major injuries, no pain. Not even minor cuts.

Apparently, he had been fully healed while unconscious.

But that wasn’t what had stirred him awake.

He could sense someone nearby.

Ludger slowly opened his mouth.

“Didn’t think you had enough free time to visit a patient at this hour.”

“I didn’t really have a choice. If not now, I wouldn’t get the chance.”

A ripple moved through the shadows—and then a figure took shape.

A man in a black robe, wearing a mask.

Ludger turned to face him.

“Zero Order.”

“Oh my. You’re not even using honorifics with me anymore?”

Zero Order smiled under the mask, his voice playful.