Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Genius Professor - Chapter 118

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 118
EP27 – Starlight Meeting Mountain Redevelopment (8)

The thoughts of the knights gripping the net flowed together.

【 ‘This is going to be difficult….’ 】
【 ‘Professor Dante, the author’s realm is absurdly high…. Perhaps our first mission will fail….’ 】
【 ‘If we dismantle the Heavenly Net Binding right now and deploy our passing technique… but then we couldn’t stop the professor—an assassin—from escaping, could we…? Damn it…!!’ 】

They all seemed to sense that I would win according to my intentions.
Let me state my conclusion first from my perspective.

‘…I lost.’

It was a conclusion reached after careful deliberation.

‘…I can’t win this.’

I tried to create some variable, but I couldn’t even see the possibility of victory.

It was purely because of a ‘weight class difference.’

The fight between Kashan and me appeared at first glance to be a simple matter of closing and widening distance. But in reality, it was far more complex than that.

Kashan was a specialist in hunting assassins and understood National Treasures. Despite being caught in my board, he reacted ghostlike to my offensives. There was simply no angle from which to attack.

Conversely, despite the weight class difference, I was a stagnant pool of skill, and because I read every one of Kashan’s means through the Script, I blocked every angle he tried half a beat faster.

The end result was a frustrating, dreamlike boxing match in slow motion…….

‘At the very least, what I realized in the previous spar with Joaquin helped.’

During the fight, I kept disrupting his sense of distance with Perception Forgery.

‘…In the end, on pure weight class alone, I’m not a match.’

This was my limit at this point.

So I changed tactics.
To appear overwhelmingly superior.

The goal was to break Kashan’s will to fight.
I desperately pretended to toy with him.

Did my intention work?

【 Kashan : ‘Huh…. This professor wasn’t just an assassin with high weight class….’ 】
【 Kashan : ‘He has overwhelming real-world combat experience. He knows exactly how to fight against high-level warriors…. At this rate, I might actually die…?’ 】

Yes!
My intention worked perfectly.

Now, if Kashan thinks ‘Shouldn’t we call this a draw…??’, then reluctantly accepting it would be my goal.
…Or so it was.
Kashan’s expression was unusual.

【 Kashan : ‘……I can’t give up like this.’ 】

What are you talking about.
Why.
Why won’t you give up.

【 Kashan: “An assassin deploying Illusion Magic of this caliber in a place where Illusion Magic has been completely seen through… how fascinating.” 】
【 Kashan: “It’s been ages since I’ve felt this thrill… kekeh… if it’s in a place like this, it might be worth wagering my life on…” 】

Jesus. This pervert.
Why does he stake his life so easily.

【 Kashan: “…Ah yes, what a joyous life it has been.” 】

And then he suddenly reminisces about his past life.
Lunatic.

‘I’m going to lose my mind.’

They think I’m showing off composure.
But the truth is, I’m pouring everything I have into this in short bursts—I’m a premature exhaustion assassin.
Perception Forgery eats an obscene amount of Mana, so my Mana reserves are down to about 15% now.
By contrast, Kashan, who’s deploying a warrior’s Combat Technique, still has 70% of his reserves intact.

So I changed tactics again.
Retreat.

But Kashan is a hunter who specializes in assassins, and I can’t escape through clumsy methods. Much less when my grasp of Concealment is shallow to begin with.

So I waited for an opening.

Any student who paid attention in my lectures would know this: “concealment” is an interaction with one’s surroundings.
No one notices a pickpocket when a volcano erupts.
Following this principle, when he unleashed the Bow Divine Flash Shadow, I—having already anticipated it—struck with a “chestnut blow” from the Giant Divine Soldier’s Sword ○.

Bang—!

Just as an enormous explosion and shockwave detonated, I set up a Dante Replica and fled in a hurry.
And so, the present moment.

‘…Professor, what if he comes here.’

Ran whispered to me, crouched beside her.

‘Stay quiet.’

I whispered back.
We were now hidden in fallen leaves and brush. Below the spot where I’d laid down the Perception Disruption Barrier earlier.
The Target’s Curse vanishes once the pursuer—the arrow—reaches its target.
Which means I’m genuinely hidden right now.

And now the Dante Replica stands over there.

Once they kill the replica and take it with them…….
Perfect survival complete…!
A truly perfect improvisation……!!

‘But Professor.’
‘I’m listening.’
‘Isn’t that a bit of a mistake on your part?’
‘……?’

…A mistake?
A mistake in this perfect plan?
I checked hastily.
The Dante Replica standing over there.

“You truly understand nothing at all.”
“What you thought you grasped was mere delusion. A mirage. Nothing but foam upon water.”
“Pathetic vermin. You don’t know what is truth, or what matters.”
“You are wrong.”
“It means everything—all of it—is nothing but ‘incorrect.'”

The Dante Replica began muttering to itself, words spilling out unprompted.

“……?”
“……??”

Bewilderment spread across the knights’ faces.

Damn it.

I’d created the Replica in haste just as the explosion detonated, and there hadn’t been time to properly configure the Thought Variable aspect.
What had I put in there?
I checked urgently.

『 World Forgery: Inputted Thought Variable [Refutation] 』

Only a negating thought system had been loaded.
Just that one thing alone.
In simple terms, it could only refute and contradict!

‘…The logic circuit itself is embedded there, but…’

What good does that do?

‘This is bad.’

All it does is contradict!

‘Could the assistant please be quiet?’
‘Surely there’s some way. Aren’t you the God of Illusion Magic, Professor?’
‘…….’

At this distance, all I can do without being detected is toggle a few switches on and off. But none of them control language.
At best, I have weight adjustment, facial expressions, limb movement. That’s it…….

【 Kashan: ‘Something feels off…?’ 】

Kashan drained a Recovery Potion in one gulp, then hurled the glass bottle with a sharp *clink*, stepping forward.

“Professor Dante Hiaka. What do you mean by that? I’ve come here knowing far more about you than you might think.”

There’s nothing left I can do.
This was an emergency. A genuine emergency.

‘Park, Dominic, Opus….’

While Ran clasped his hands in prayer to the Virgin.
The Dante Replica opened his mouth.

“You still don’t understand what I’m saying.”
“What?”

What?

“Professor Dante. I don’t know what sort of bluff this is supposed to be. But it won’t work on me.”
“When do you plan to open your eyes?”
“…What?”
“Do I still look like Dante Hiaka to you?”
…….

Ah. It’s over.
We’ve botched this from the start.

【 Kashan : ‘Not Dante?’ 】
【 Kashan : ‘What insane thing is he saying?’ 】

Kashan’s expression turned dumbfounded.
He glanced back at Ran, who was fumbling in his pocket for something.
It was a Pistol.

‘What are you doing.’
‘Planning a painless exit, sir.’

I snatched it away urgently.
I had to use it first.
‘Put it down.’ ‘Give it back.’ Ran resisted, refusing to let go, and an impromptu struggle over the Pistol ensued. Meanwhile, the conversation continued.
In the midst of it all, they kept talking.

“…Not Dante? Then who are you? What kind of assassin has Knight Yugen been assassinating?”
“That statement is false.”
“Huh?”
“You are not Knight Yugen.”
…….

Wait?
Then something clicked.
Yugen was a pseudonym for the Royal Palace’s dirty work.
That’s right. Kashan had never once revealed his true name until now!
At that, Kashan’s expression froze.

“Furthermore, wretched knight. Your two eyes are wasted on you.”
“…What?”
“Do you still think this is an assassination?”
“This is… not an assassination…?”

Kashan attempted to engage in conversation seriously.
Ran and I released our grip on the Pistol and focused on the situation unfolding before us.

【 Kashan : ‘A Realm of at least 500 ranks or higher. A senior professor appointed after only half a year in the post. And according to what the Governor of Qinglu said, someone with enough information acumen to be regarded as a Starlight Seat of Systematicity ⧉…. Such a prominent assassin wouldn’t speak nonsense. So what in the world is he talking about…….’ 】
【 Kashan: ‘……!!’ 】

Kashan’s expression hardened into rigidity.
What is it? There’s something there?

【 Kashan: ‘Not Dante, and not assassination either…?’ 】
【 Kashan: ‘Wait, could it be……!!’ 】

What is it? What?
What’s there to realize from someone who only refutes?

“Professor Dante Hiaka.”

Kashan bared his canines and scowled.

“You……. Are you truly saying that you drew me in to discuss ‘that’……?”

What? What’s ‘that’?
But the Dante Replica merely sighed.

“Wrong.”

No, damn it!
It should be right!
It seemed so meaningful!
It felt like something important was about to emerge!

“What. It’s not ‘that’?”
“How presumptuous. Do you think I would summon you merely to discuss something so trivial?”
“…t-trivial……?”

I fixed my gaze on the Scripts with burning eyes—all of them, even the knights’. But no thoughts about ‘that’ surfaced; instead, my mind filled with different ones entirely.
What kind of thoughts?

【 ‘To be overwhelmed like this….’ 】
【 ‘A senior professor? Just how strong is he……?’ 】
【 ‘M-my legs are shaking…. Damn it…. There’s no way the Commander can win against this…!’ 】

Why are you whining to the Replica?
Pathetic bastards.

“……Professor Dante. If it’s not ‘that,’ then I genuinely cannot fathom what you’re trying to say now…. If it’s neither Dante nor assassination, then what exactly do you wish to convey?”
“Is that also beyond you? How pathetic.”
“……Tell me. Though this begging shames me, I must know. The full substance of whatever weighty words you intended.”
“That, too, is incorrect.”
“…What?”
“I have nothing to say to you.”
…….

【 Kashan: ‘…I’m going mad.’ 】

I’m going mad too.
I have no idea where this conversation is heading.
I don’t even understand why it flows so convincingly.
But then….

‘Should I hand you the Pistol?’
‘Why would you give it to me? It’s yours.’

Ran’s response was my response.
What about this? Unexpectedly…?
Could the Dante Replica be showing a breakthrough even he hadn’t anticipated…? That’s what I thought.

Thwack!

An axe flew through the air and buried itself in Dante’s chest, shattering the collarbone beside his neck.
The reason the Illusion Magic didn’t shatter on impact was that it had been created using a Fusion Formula similar to the one Chief Professor Galois used—a semi-permanent replica.

“Huh! …Wh-what?!”

My heart lurched, and Kashan’s seemed to do the same.
It was one of the knights who’d thrown the axe. Kashan turned to look at him.

“Hey, Robin! What the—? What’s this…!?”
“Ah…! I’m so sorry!! It just keeps bothering me when people disrespect the Commander. Of course I was going to stop it…but, um, what just happened?!”

The Dante Replica, struck by the axe, slumped against a tree with the weapon still embedded in his body.

“…What was that supposed to do?”

Kashan was confused as well.
Still, what could he do if he was a Grandmaster? This was probably the first time he’d experienced anything like this.

“Let’s just…check if he’s dead or not, and if he is, we’ll grab him and go.”

Even so, he seemed certain it was “Dante.”
If that was the case, Ran and I had survived.
I was about to breathe a sigh of relief.
That’s when something unexpected happened.
A situation no one had anticipated.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

A voice pressed down across the entire space. In the next instant.
Lying there, I felt my breath catch and strangle in my throat.

Thrum-thrum-thrum-thrum…

It felt as though the moon itself was pouring down. That overwhelming Mana began crushing Starlight Meeting Mountain in its entirety.
A suffocating sensation like a fist being shoved down the throat. Every muscle in my body tensed involuntarily against that indescribable pressure.
At Hiaka Academy, only one person could unleash such impossible Mana. Not even the great Ezekiel could do it, nor could Balkan.

“…!!”

The Knight Commander’s expression stiffened as well.
He’d realized it in an instant.
Who the “presence” approaching this place was.

Boom!

A massive body crashed down like iron, revealing itself in this place. The Mana-forged nets that had occupied the space were torn apart effortlessly by his arrival.
Though everyone ordinarily joked at the sight of that thick frame, now—not a single soul could.
He was a hundred-year-old Challenger. Currently ranked seventy-first in the world, once he had stood at the threshold of becoming a Starlight Seat.
The guardian deity of Hiaka Academy—

● Shaman, Head of the Assassination Department

The department head’s assistant flew in behind him to examine the fallen Dante Replica.
As Shaman regarded the collapsed Dante, he turned his gaze silently toward Kashan.

“From now on, you’ll answer carefully.”

As though a vast beast were spewing fury, an unprecedented force erupted outward.
The world, the very earth, began to press down harder.

“Otherwise, I’m taking a sword to the Royal Palace myself.”

Kashan froze, unable to answer.
The knights behind him had long since collapsed where they stood, their bodies crumpled forward.

“I ask you—
Who are you?
”

Under the shocking weight of his killing intent,
the monster who had single-handedly slaughtered hundreds of assassins from Croitz mere months ago now posed the question to a human.

“The one who ordered the death of my child.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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