Chapter 100

“Kyaaah!”

“What are you doing all of a sudden?!”

“Assistant Aaron! Are you alright?”

The assistants’ cries echoed throughout the room.

Aaron, who had just taken a blow to the head, let out a disbelieving laugh.

It hadn’t even crossed his mind that, no matter how much he was said to be Aint Armian, the boy could actually detect forbidden magic.

Much less that, without a word, the first thing he’d do was throw a punch.

“…Ridiculous. Does the professor truly think I’m a corrupted…?”

Crack—!

A pure, white frost enveloped him instantly, freezing his body from head to toe.

“…Tch?”

Aaron reacted immediately, reciting a spell. Flames burst from his hands, countering the ice. He stumbled back, shouting furiously.

“What the hell is this?!”

“What if I do believe it? That boy is not only a first-year Academy student, he’s also a descendant of Armian.”

“Even if his bloodline is the demons’ natural enemy, that doesn’t mean he can detect every trace of forbidden magic!”

“……”

“We’ve worked together for three years! And your trust in me means so little that you attack me without hesitation?”

Aaron’s face hardened. Another surge of frost rushed for his arms and legs, but this time he was ready. With a quick move, he evaded the spreading ice.

“It’s only been three years with you. My sponsor has supported me for six. And he vouched for it.”

“Three years versus six?! That’s it? I’ve done everything for you these three years, Professor!”

“I remember paying you well for your services.”

“And now you’re throwing it back in my face…?!”

The confrontation left the other assistants in stunned silence.

“Professor! Even if Aint Armian says so, isn’t it too much to claim Assistant Aaron is a corrupted?”

“She’s right, Professor! At least hear us out…”

The assistants defended Aaron, and he used the chance to reinforce his stance. But Rosalia was completely unmoved.

She did only one thing.

She activated the grand spell she had prepared.

────!

A frozen gale swept through the lab.

The icy tempest snuffed out Aaron’s flame like a mere candle.

In an instant, half of Aaron’s body froze over, and he collapsed to the floor.

“No way! She’s using the Ice Core of Research right now?”

“Normally, she’d never catch a corrupted.”

“If she uses that unstable thing like this, it’ll be destroyed!”

“That’s my problem.”

Her icy calm made Aaron’s expression shift. The flush of anger vanished, along with his mask of kindness.

“…So you’re fully convinced I’m corrupted.”

“And is that your excuse at this point?”

Rosalia let out a disdainful laugh.

“The fact that you forced me to use the Ice Core of Research is proof enough that you’re corrupted, Aaron.”

‘…Right. I was caught off guard.’

Phuhuhu—

His laughter was no longer the same. It was neither innocent nor sincere.

Aaron was no longer the person they had known.

“I thought I could manipulate those fools to escape… but I guess not. I never thought you’d use the Ice Core so early.”

He exhaled deeply. A black mist began to seep from his body, filling the lab.

Crack—!

The crash of shattering ice echoed.

──!

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

A sword of white light sliced through the darkness, dispelling part of the black mist threatening the assistants.

“Armian… what a pain.”

Aaron exhaled again, restoring the mist that had been driven back.

And then, he made a decision.

‘I can’t take on both of them. Rosalia and Armian together… impossible. I have to flee.’

‘The window.’

He reached toward it, but—

─────!

A repelling force struck him.

Hidden magical seals lit up across the walls, ceiling, and floor.

“Kh… When did she…?!”

Clack, clack—

Firm footsteps echoed as Rosalia approached. With each step, the mist recoiled as if fleeing from her.

“Not long ago, in the Taklakan Desert, I met a corrupted who wouldn’t shut up about his plans. You know how I defined him?”

“That’s exactly what you’re doing right now, Professor.”

“No.”

Rosalia shook her head.

“He was clumsy and spoke too much.”

“I…”

“I’ve only detained you because I have a plan.”

────!

The entire lab vibrated with magical energy.

“What…?”

Aaron barely noticed it before it was too late.

The six magical seals engraved in every direction—up, down, left, right, front, and back—activated simultaneously.

Runes of frost, suppression, blockade, containment, sealing.

All with one purpose.

To trap him.

Cut his flow.

Prevent his escape.

Freeze him entirely and seal him away.

The power surrounding him was so overwhelming even he couldn’t endure it.

‘Impossible! I was sure I could escape—not even Rosalia, not Armian, no one here could stop me—then why…?’

“Don’t tell me the Ice Core of Research is connected to this too…?”

And he realized.

“You really thought I’d use the Ice Core just to cool you off? This was all to prepare for this moment.”

A perfect trap.

Rosalia had sacrificed the Ice Core to spring this net.

“I hate having what’s mine taken from me. Even more, I despise when people play with it.”

Clack—

Another step closer.

“And you dared to defile my work.”

“It would’ve been better to preserve the Ice Core and present it at the Congress.”

“You’ll see. In a few minutes, you’ll beg to die—beg again and again for me to kill you.”

“Then I’ll have to escape no matter what.”

A black fog started to envelop his entire body. Forbidden magic consumed him.

“So, you’re finally showing your true face.”

“In this situation, hiding it would be stupid.”

───!

“Kyaaaah!”

“Watch out!”

In an instant, the clash of mana caused an explosion between them.

The assistants screamed and backed away, and through the chaos, Aint charged in.

Clang!

When his sword collided with Aaron’s hand, it rang like clashing metals.

— It’s a shield!

A protective barrier surrounded Aaron’s hand.

“Disgusting.”

Aaron’s face twisted in hatred at the sight of Aint’s light.

“Armian… damn cursed seed.”

“The curse is yours, bastard!”

Forbidden magic burst forth in waves, and in a single blast, Aint was thrown backward.

“I might’ve been caught off guard for a second, but you won’t trap me. So goodbye, Professor.”

At that moment, the door burst open.

“Aaron Frein! It was you, you bastard!”

It was Fernan. He had been waiting outside, and upon entering, was first shocked by the frozen lab—and then by seeing Aaron unharmed in the middle of the chaos.

But he reacted faster than expected.

Immediately, he swung his staff, and a wall of stone rose between Aaron and the window.

“Nice job, Fernan!”

Without further incantation, in the blink of an eye, a hundred ice spears filled the lab—all aimed at a single target.

“Damn it…”

Aaron extended his hand, and a wall of black flames melted the projectiles.

But in that brief moment of respite, the enemy of demons lunged at him.

──!

Light and darkness collided.

Aaron was slammed into the stone wall. He coughed up corrosive blood that sizzled on the floor as he shoved Aint away again.

“I don’t like getting dirty with hand-to-hand combat…”

He wet his fingers with blood and smeared it into the air. A dark circle formed, and from it emerged creatures.

They were Seid.

Level 8 shapeshifting shadows capable of copying nearby living beings.

Some took Aint’s form, others Rosalia’s, others Fernan’s—even the assistants’.

And they all attacked at once.

“Cheap tricks!”

Rosalia’s ice froze them. Aint’s light reduced them to nothing.

In just seconds, dozens of Seid were annihilated.

But for Aaron, that was enough. It bought him a sliver of time.

He ran—not toward the window, caught in the range of the grand spell, but toward the door.

The door Fernan himself had opened—and that no one had thought to guard.

“Stop him!”

“Close the door!”

“Too late.”

Fernan raised sand that scraped against Aaron, but he didn’t dodge it—he tanked it head-on.

Even Aint’s sword pierced him, but Aaron deflected it with corrosive blood from his wrist.

With a snap, he wrapped the door in flames, and the assistants trying to shut it were thrown back, screaming.

Fernan clenched his teeth in rage.

The laboratory was spacious, but not enough to safely use earth magic without risking the collapse of the entire building.

That’s why even Rosalia had only used ice spears.

But seeing where Aaron was fleeing, Fernan’s mouth twisted into a crooked smile.

“Stupid corrupted… exactly as I foresaw.”

He hadn’t intended to alter the prophecy drastically.

The future was a resource.

And for Fernan, information about the future was his greatest weapon.

To break it completely would be to throw that weapon away.

Until now, he had tried to change as little as possible. Except in one thing—his relationship with Luina.

But this time was different.

This wasn’t just a nuance of fate.

This was the direct trigger of ruin.

If Luina had been the beginning, Aaron was the end.

If he didn’t stop him here, everything would end.

There was no alternative. Even if it turned the Book of Prophecies into worthless paper, he had to stop him.

“I either catch him… or kill him. There’s no other option.”

“Are you… laughing?”

Aaron was just one step from the exit.

But then he stopped. He had no choice.

“Well, just like my brother said. It’s the first time I see such an obvious corrupted with my own eyes. According to the will of the great Dragon God, I should perform an exorcism right here.”

A man awaited him outside—a saint of the Church of the Dragon God Cult.

“Sorry, but I’d rather you leave him to me, student Jace.”

“…Rector?”

No.

Behind the saint stood a giant, impossible to resist.

“…So escape won’t be possible.”

An indescribable magical pressure crashed down on Aaron, paralyzing his body.

“It’s not that it’s impossible now. It’s that you’ll never escape. Did you really think you could pull this off in my Academy and get away unscathed, you corrupted scum?”

The rector laughed with his hands behind his back.

No one in the room had even noticed when he had arrived.

“You won’t leave here. Not even death will come easily to you.”

“So sure of yourself?”

“If I weren’t, I’d have been dead a long time ago. Otherwise, I’d be nothing but a useless old man.”

With a light tap of his finger on Aaron’s forehead, the rector knocked him out.

“Professor Rosalia.”

“Yes, Rector.”

Rosalia quickly approached him.

“Freeze him. Your skill is better suited for imprisoning this scum than mine.”

“Understood.”

“I’ve already removed his protections. It will be easy.”

Rosalia drew a magic circle. With a chant and flowing mana, Aaron’s body was quickly frozen.

The incident seemed to have come to an end.

“I’ve heard enough.”

But in truth, it wasn’t over yet.