[Translator - Helga ]
[Proofreader - Starfall ]
Chapter 60
At the sa ti.
At the entrance of M District, a group of students had taken formation.
The willow emblem embroidered on their uniform epaulets—
It was a symbol of a great dynasty, an unmistakable warning that these were people not to be trifled with at this academy.
Because that emblem belonged to none other than the house of Yang Hak-je, the Heavenly Fallen Emperor.
“Your Majesty, we have arrived at M District.”
At his vassal’s words, Yang Hak-je—who had kept his eyes closed—slowly opened them. His gaze swept across the landscape before him, a flicker of displeasure in his eyes.
“What a disgraceful place. I can’t believe such filth still lingers here.”
The district’s eerie atmosphere was undeniable, but it wasn’t just the appearance that made him speak.
Yang Hak-je was a master of the Five Sacred Stars of the Divine Departnt.
To him, the waves of the Abyss pulsing throughout M District were far more repulsive than they would be to an ordinary person.
It was like the unrelenting sound of fingernails scraping against a chalkboard.
“Indeed, Your Majesty... But what do you intend to do now?”
“You haven’t heard about the student who returned alive from the abandoned school?”
“You an the one who barely escaped from that strange illusion spell?”
The vassals had already noticed their Emperor’s keen interest in the story.
He had even gone so far as to personally et the survivors.
For soone as lofty as Yang Hak-je to take interest in a bizarre supernatural case was highly unusual.
“I wish to see it for myself. Just how impressive is this illusion spell?”
“You an... personally, Your Majesty?”
“A-Ah...! Could it be...?!”
One of the vassals suddenly gasped in realization.
“Your Majesty seeks to experience the high-level spell firsthand to further your own growth!”
“What a profound aspiration!”
“As expected of our Emperor!”
The first vassal bowed so deeply that his forehead nearly slamd into the ground.
The others, as if their minds were interlinked, imdiately followed suit.
Yang Hak-je gazed at them with an enigmatic expression.
Whether or not that was truly his intention—
Only he knew.
“Ugh...”
Suddenly, a few of the vassals staggered and collapsed.
The others quickly moved to assess the situation.
“Your Majesty, it seems the Abyssal waves are beginning to affect us more severely.”
“If this continues, it may beco too dangerous to go any further.”
Ever since they had entered M District, the vassals' expressions had been steadily darkening.
While Yang Hak-je would never tolerate a challenge to his authority, he was not a tyrant who would ignore the suffering of his subordinates.
“These waves truly are a nuisance.”
His gaze lifted to the sky—
As if he could see the ominous energy swirling sowhere within M District.
Then, bringing both hands together in a triangle, he began to chant a mantra.
“Om Mani Pad Hum— Mahara Bhadaha—”
A pure, sacred energy flowed from his lips—
And as it gathered between his hands, chakra seals began to take shape.
Then—
A blinding light spread outward, emanating from above Yang Hak-je’s head in a perfect oval.
“O-Oh...!”
“Such corrupt energy, vanishing so effortlessly...!”
The vassals, awed, bowed their heads once more—
As if they were witnessing a blessing from the heavens.
The Fourth-Star Divine Spell— Abolition of Impurity.
This spell reduces the corrupt energy’s influence within its range by a staggering 50%.
Moreover, the more impurity it devours, the wider its area of effect grows.
“This place is teeming with corrupt energy—the spell’s range will expand rapidly.”
At the thought of soon being able to move freely, the vassals praised their Emperor in unison, their voices ringing like a hymn.
Then, one of them cautiously spoke, as if a question had just occurred to him.
“You ntioned that this spell feeds on impurity, Your Majesty… In that case, what would happen if malefactors were hiding in this district?”
M District was a forsaken zone, neglected even by the academy authorities.
No one knew what might be lurking here.
It wouldn’t be surprising if villains were using it as a hideout—after all, such individuals were drawn to places steeped in dark energy.
“What would happen to them?”
Yang Hak-je smirked, as if the question was absurdly obvious.
“They would make for excellent prey—to cleanse this wretched place.”
* * *
“Looks like we’ve beco the prey instead… caught in soone’s trap.”
Standing once more in the sa hallway we started from, I let out a dry laugh.
This ti, I had no choice but to admit it—
We had walked straight into a snare.
“When exactly did we fall for it? If this is an illusion spell, there must have been a trigger that set it off.”
Shin A-sol, ever the diligent student, at least had a basic knowledge of spells outside her own departnt of magic.
She was right—illusion spells always had a switch that activated them.
At so point, that switch was flipped, seamlessly pulling us from reality into the realm of illusion—
The defining trait of the Illusion Departnt.
“Finding that switch is the most fundantal way to break free from an illusion spell, but…”
The problem was—
I had no idea what the switch was.
“…Which ans this illusion is extrely intricate. Whoever crafted it must be highly skilled.”
“That’s… impossible…”
Even Shin A-sol, known for her strong ntal fortitude, looked visibly shaken.
It was a natural reaction.
Even after hundreds of battles, I could count on one hand the number of tis I’d been caught in an illusion of this caliber.
“What do we do? Should we try going back the way we ca?”
“That’s an option. But it’ll take ti to find an exit.”
“How much ti?”
“The scale of an illusion spell depends on the caster’s abilities. Given how elaborate this one is… at least a month.”
“A-A month?!”
Shin A-sol’s eyes widened in shock—it was far longer than she had expected.
But truthfully—
The ti it would take to return wasn’t even the issue.
Because—
“By then, our ENP levels will have exceeded their limit—and we’ll be dead.”
The Abyssal waves would max out our ENP within a day or two.
Even villains, who had naturally high ENP resistance, could barely last that long—
For a human, the window was even shorter.
“Oh! What about this?”
Shin A-sol suddenly clapped her hands, as if she had thought of sothing.
“I heard that if you’re exposed to Abyssal waves for long enough, your body develops resistance to them.”
“And?”
“So if we just endure long enough, won’t we eventually adapt and gain resistance too?”
“…That’s truly an amazing idea.”
“Really?!”
“No. It’s so absurd I was being sarcastic.”
“…Oh.”
Her face fell instantly as she hung her head.
She must have genuinely thought it was a good plan.
‘It’s not entirely wrong…’
Repeated exposure to M District’s waves could allow the body to adjust, much like how a flu vaccine builds immunity.
But—
‘That’s not a viable plan in our current situation.’
The idea of enduring the waves to build resistance was so typical of Shin A-sol—but the risk was simply too great.
That left only one option...
[Activating 32% of Do Jin-hak’s Essence.]
[Casting the spell "Formula Deconstruction."]
[ENP increases to 135/180.]
Once again, I placed my hopes on a Tier 2 Deconstructionist Departnt spell.
This illusionary world was essentially a massive magic formation, stretching in all directions.
A world ticulously woven stitch by stitch, much like an Italian artisan’s craftsmanship—which ant there had to be a flaw sowhere.
‘If I can find that weak spot, I can break the spell.’
[Bonus granted for Illusion Departnt points when casting a spell.]
[You currently have no Illusion Departnt points.]
I hadn't expected to receive a bonus in the first place.
Just like when I deconstructed the Locking spell on the iron door earlier, I could only hope my Deconstructionist Departnt points were higher this ti as well.
[Bonus granted if your Deconstructionist Departnt score exceeds the target’s Illusion Departnt score.]
[Spell is in progress...]
A real-ti battle of magical forces unfolded before through the system ssages.
Watching the delayed calculations only made more anxious.
Whoever designed this system certainly knew how to toy with people’s nerves.
I could only wait impatiently for the final result...
Ding—!
At last, the ssage appeared.
[Your Deconstructionist Departnt score does not surpass the opponent’s Illusion Departnt score.]
[Spell "Formula Deconstruction" has failed!]
[You suffer damage as a penalty for failure!]
[ENP increases to 145/180!]
[You begin to feel hunger...]
“Ugh...!”
“Professor? Are you alright?”
As my body swayed, Shin A-sol rushed forward to support .
Just before her hand could touch —
I shoved it away.
“Wh-Why...?”
“...I’d prefer if you didn’t touch . It’s unpleasant.”
“U-Unpleasant?!”
Shin A-sol’s mouth fell open in shock.
She had probably never heard sothing like that before in her life.
Taking advantage of her stunned state, I quickly put so distance between us.
‘That was close.’
The mont she got near, my eyes involuntarily drifted to her exposed, pulsating neck.
Had I let my guard down for even a second—
I would have instinctively bitten down, activating my Bloodsucking spell.
‘My ENP has risen to dangerous levels… because of that failed spell.’
I had taken a gamble, hoping for a positive result—but now, things had only gotten more complicated.
“We should stop standing around and start looking for an exit. Anything’s better than doing nothing, right?”
True to her nature as the tactical optimist, Shin A-sol quickly recovered from her shock and proposed the next course of action.
It was, realistically, our best option.
“Well, if we’re lucky, we might find an exit sooner than expected.”
“Exactly! You never know until you try! I an, back in the Hwadam Library, I got lost a few tis, but even after days of wandering, I still made it out!”
Shin A-sol bead with pride as she spoke, as if it were so kind of accomplishnt.
In a way, it was.
After all—most people who got lost in that library were found months later as nothing more than skeletons.
“...Wait.”
As I recalled the library’s maze-like structure, sothing suddenly clicked.
A fleeting image flashed through my mind.
Driven by a hunch, I reached into my coat pocket.
There should have been nothing but blood capsules and my ID—
But sothing else was in there.
“What’s that? A spell scroll?”
As I pulled the object out of my pocket, Shin A-sol gave a puzzled look.
Instead of answering, I simply let out a faint smile.
“...Gianluca sure had good friends.”
What I had retrieved from my coat’s inner pocket was none other than the Return Scroll that the library clerks had insisted on giving earlier.
* * *
The mont I activated the scroll, the illusionary school hallway vanished—
And in its place was a space surrounded by books on all sides.
“We’re finally out...!”
Shin A-sol scanned her surroundings, and only after confirming that this was indeed the Hwadam Library lobby did she finally let out a deep sigh of relief.
I turned my head from side to side, taking in the bustling lobby.
Despite it being late at night, the place was still crowded with students cramming for exams.
Even though two people had suddenly appeared out of thin air, nobody seed to pay much attention.
Likely because library return scrolls were used so frequently.
“But how did you even have a library return scroll? Don’t tell you bought one just in case you got lost?”
“Do I look like soone with a terrible sense of direction? The librarians gave it to as a gift.”
“The librarians... gave you a gift?”
Shin A-sol narrowed her eyes in suspicion, as if that were impossible to believe.
But whether she believed or not wasn’t important.
‘What matters is that we escaped from the illusion.’
When I first received the scroll, I never imagined I’d end up using it like this.
I had forgotten it even existed in my pocket.
‘Who would’ve thought that my past connection with Arche from the previous cycle would co in handy like this?’
This was the first ti that a setting change from the new cycle had actually been useful.
Up until now, I had only thought of it as a hassle...
“Anyway, we can’t just stand around. We need to get back to the abandoned school.”
The mont we escaped the illusion, Shin A-sol was already gearing up to return.
Her enthusiasm was admirable, but this quest wasn’t sothing that could be solved through sheer will alone.
“If we go back like this, we’ll just get caught in the sa illusion again. We need a plan.”
“What kind of plan?”
“The best thod is to find the switch—the trigger that activated the illusion without us realizing it.”
“Then let’s go find it.”
“Good idea. Since you’re so confident, I assu you have a plan for how to find it?”
Shin A-sol hesitated, unable to answer imdiately.
She gave it so thought, then shook her head.
Still, it was comndable that she didn’t overestimate her own abilities despite her enthusiasm.
“Then what should we do? If we waste ti, the ones who got captured will be in danger.”
“We need soone well-versed in illusion magic—soone skilled enough to pinpoint the switch’s location.”
If we could identify the spell’s trigger, the success rate of the Deconstruction Spell would increase significantly.
Even if we got caught in the illusion again, we’d be able to break free.
“Soone well-versed in illusion magic...? Where are we supposed to find soone like that all of a sudden—”
Shin A-sol anxiously scanned the lobby, her eyes darting around.
Then, at one point, her gaze froze.
She squinted into the distance, staring intently at sothing—
And then, abruptly, pointed.
“There! There’s soone! Stay right here! I’ll be back in a second!”
She bolted through the crowd, rushing toward soone at the far end of the lobby.
Once she got there, she imdiately grabbed the person’s arm and started talking.
‘Who on earth did she find?’
Even with my enhanced vision, the figure was barely visible from here.
Just how good was her eyesight that she could recognize a face from this distance?
After what seed like a one-sided conversation, Shin A-sol grabbed the person’s hand and hurried back.
“Professor! I found them! A student from the Illusion Departnt! If it’s them, they should be able to break the spell on the abandoned school!”
Unlike Shin A-sol, who seed excited to introduce them—
My own expression had turned ice-cold before I even realized it.
The student she had dragged over was a short, unassuming girl.
Her ssy bob nearly covered her eyes, as if it hadn’t been trimd in ages.
Her fingernails were covered in bite marks, possibly from nervous chewing.
Her skin was so pale it looked almost unhealthy.
And most importantly—
She avoided eye contact to an abnormal degree.
I had never seen her as a student before—
But I knew this face.
We had crossed paths multiple tis on the battlefield.
“I-It’s nice to et you. I’m Yang Se-ah from the Illusion Departnt...”
Yang Se-ah.
A na that would one day beco infamous among villains.
A military tactician from the Illusion Departnt, feared as the "Nightmare Creator."
And the younger sister of Yang Hak-jae.
[Translator - Helga ]
[Proofreader - Starfall ]
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