The Graduate Student Wants to Assassinate the Professor - Chapter 81

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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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Chapter 81

“You’re talking about me?!”
Philiamone stepped forward to block the others’ path and addressed Ragman, while Leoryna descended from the sky and positioned herself behind her.
It wasn’t an attempt to use Philiamone as a shield to hide. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Though I couldn’t discern his exact purpose, if what Ragman wanted was Philiamone—a member of the Demon Race—then I had to protect her.
Ragman nodded and pointed at Philiamone with his finger.
“Oh, yeah. You. That’s right.”
“What business do you have with me? Who exactly are you? You look like a member of the Demon Race, but what are you doing in a place like this?”
“What good would it do you to know?”
“What?!”
Ragman spoke as if deliberately provoking her, and Philiamone bristled with indignation. Regardless of her reaction, he continued.
“Listen, all of you. Let’s make a deal. If you hand over that Demon Race member to me, I’ll let you pass through safely.”
“What did you just say?”
The Combat Soldiers stepped beside Philiamone and spoke sharply.
“We don’t even know who you are—why should we believe a word you say?”
“And even if what you’re saying were true, there’s no way we’d abandon Philiamone.”
At that, the Masuyeon personnel nodded vigorously in agreement. Then Ragman let out a hoarse, rasping laugh.
“Kehehehe, in that case….”
“Huh?”
Philiamone, who had been standing at the front, coughed up blood.
Philiamone’s face registered confusion as blood dripped from her lips, and she raised her hand to cover her mouth. Somewhere in the chaos, two massive blades forged from magical energy had embedded themselves deep in her chest and abdomen.
Having completed their purpose, the blades dissolved without a trace.
“Philiamone!”
“Phil!”
Yuta rushed forward like lightning and caught Philiamone’s falling body. Simultaneously, Sanan and Bisa erected a defensive barrier around the group.
“Philiamone!”
The Masuyeon personnel rushed to her side and hastily removed her clothes to stanch the bleeding.
“Does anyone know healing magic?!”
At Leoryna’s call, Yuta stepped forward immediately. Meanwhile, Sanan and Bisa reinforced the barrier and faced off against Ragman.
Ragman laughed mockingly from beyond the barrier.
“My patience is more than sufficient to wait until your magical power runs dry, so don’t worry too much.”
Yuta clicked his tongue at Ragman, who stood with arms crossed, laughing with infuriating ease.
“That bastard…!”
Philiamone groaned and tried to force herself upright, but with her lungs pierced, she couldn’t muster her full strength.
While Yuta worked to calm Philiamone, I rapidly processed the situation in my mind and found myself facing two choices.
First, protect the injured Philiamone and the others while concealing my true identity and abilities, and reach Base Camp safely.
Second, let the others reach Base Camp safely while I separated myself from them, faced that damned Ragman alone, killed him, and survived.
‘A gamble, but….’
Leoryna rose from her seat, observing the pallor spreading across Philiamone’s face.
“Leoryna? What are you doing?”
“Pongko, go find Khalid right now and ask for his help. You’ll be able to locate him.”
“But what will you do, Leoryna?”
Pongko, quick to sense her intent, tried to block her path, but Leoryna was faster—she burst through the barrier before he could stop her.
“Instructor Leoryna!”
Philiamone called out urgently, coughing, but Leoryna didn’t look back.
Leoryna rushed at Ragman, embraced him, and in the same motion hurled the magical artifact she’d been holding to the ground, activating it.
‘It’s worth a try!’
Light flashed brilliantly as a spatial rift tore open, and Leoryna threw herself through it, still gripping Ragman firmly.
“Miss Leoryna!”
People moved to rush toward me, but Leoryna’s arms around Ragman never loosened. The spatial gate that had swallowed them both snapped shut in an instant.
“Leoryna!”
Pongko leaped to his feet in shock. But Leoryna did not return.

* * *

Thud!
Leoryna and Ragman crashed to the ground simultaneously. Caught off guard by the sudden assault, Ragman let out a faint groan as he pushed himself up.
“What are you?”
“Cough, cough—I should be asking you that. What are you?”
Leoryna brushed off her waist and glared at him.
Ragman, seeing no fear in her eyes, unleashed a spell at her without hesitation. Before she could even identify what kind of magic it was, Leoryna’s reflexes took over—her staff swept through the air, shattering the spell.
“Want to continue this here?”
As Leoryna assumed an offensive stance, Ragman shrank back and cried out.
“Wait, please don’t attack! I’m sorry!”
Leoryna stared at him in bewilderment. The creature before her now bore such a meek, pathetic expression that it was hard to believe this was the same one who’d attacked so ferociously moments ago.
She tilted her head, puzzled.
“What are you?”
When Leoryna asked again, Ragman’s eyes darted nervously. Taking advantage of his moment of weakness, she created a Confinement Room, weaving threads like a spider’s web across the space.
“Don’t move. Touch even one thread and your flesh will be cut.”
“….”
Ragman’s finger brushed against the thread before him. It sliced through his skin, and droplets of blood beaded on his fingertip.
“Understood. I won’t move carelessly.”
Satisfied with Ragman’s compliance, Leoryna collapsed onto the ground.
Of course, she hadn’t truly relaxed her guard. There was no way she could trust someone who’d caused such chaos to suddenly become so docile.
“More importantly, this place is….”
Ragman glanced around before speaking.
“This is Huaderica Castle.”
He was right. The spatial rift had transported Leoryna and Ragman inside the Huaderica Castle Walls—specifically, to the Castle Garden.
Ragman tilted his head curiously and asked.
“Have you been to this place before? To perform spatial displacement, you would need to know the coordinates of your destination….”
At that moment, the Sparrow Automata descended onto Leoryna’s shoulder.
“I established the coordinates long ago by sending an automata to connect them. You’re a member of the Demon Race, aren’t you? What are you doing in a place like this? It looked like Demon Beasts were following you, but aren’t members of the Demon Race supposed to be prey for Demon Beasts?”
In that instant, Ragman burst out laughing.
“Thank you! Thanks to you, I’ve been spared the trouble of coming all this way!”
“What are you talking about? Answer my question.”
Leoryna pressed the tip of her staff firmly against Ragman’s forehead.
“Ow, ow! Ow! You’re touching the thread! You’re touching the thread!”
“First question. Who are you and what is your purpose?”
Under Leoryna’s interrogation, Ragman’s eyes darted about before he answered carefully.
“I am collecting horns.”
“Horns… collecting them? What do you mean by that?”
Ragman unwound the turban wrapped around his head. Four horns sprouted from his skull, each one distinctly different in shape. Leoryna’s eyes widened in astonishment.
“Don’t members of the Demon Race have only one pair of horns? How do you have four?”
“They all belong to different members of the Demon Race. ‘We’ took them by force.”
Leoryna felt a chill run down her spine.
He had torn the horns from their bodies?
“You say ‘we’—that’s an odd way to phrase it, isn’t it?”
“‘We’ are called Talamans. The selves of the four horn owners have merged together—that is us… me. I am one of those personalities. It was a different personality of mine who attacked you. The current ‘me’ doesn’t care much for violence. My combat instincts are also far inferior compared to my other selves.”
“Why would you do such a thing?!”
Faced with Leoryna’s pressing questions, Ragman carefully opened his mouth.
“The more horns one has, the stronger one becomes. That’s why.”
“What?”
“‘We’ desire power so overwhelming that no one could ever challenge us.”
“Why do you desire power so desperately?”
“Why? Because it feels good, that’s why.”
Leoryna found herself unable to comprehend Ragman’s words any further.
“That’s the only reason?”
“As expected, humans cannot understand. The Demon Race is a species that pursues overwhelming strength. It is our nature. That is why we follow those whose magical power exceeds our own and submit to their commands.”
“I’ve heard that’s how the Demon Race operates… but then, was attacking us also because you wanted Philiamone’s horns? Surely you didn’t know in advance that we would come?”

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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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