The Graduate Student Wants to Assassinate the Professor - Chapter 87

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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 87

“Hieek, hick…!”
Talamans descended into the Castle Underground, his breathing labored and unpleasant.
“I never thought I could slip past Renokter like this! Hihihick!”
A grotesque smile bloomed across his face.
“While Renokter’s attention is elsewhere, I’ll simply steal Caladniel’s horns.”
Talamans sniffed the air, drawing in its scent.
By his senses, nothing dangerous lurked nearby. Renokter appeared absent from this area, and he detected no traces of other living beings.
“The problem is… where exactly are those horns?”
Talamans licked his lips with his tongue.
Having grafted three horns from others onto himself, he knew well how to locate someone’s horns. The horns of the Demon Race respond to their original owner in any circumstance, so if Khalid was nearby, they would surely react to something.
“It was dangerous nearly encountering Caladniel, but I’m fortunate he’s here nonetheless!”
Finding Caladniel’s horns in this labyrinthine Castle while Renokter roamed about would have been an impossible task for him. Thus, his face brightened with joy at having spotted Caladniel within these walls.
His presence would make it far easier for me to locate the horns!
“Well, well, your master has appeared—what will you do now?”
Talamans laughed wickedly as he reached the end of the corridor, where a thick iron door stood firmly sealed.
Talamans approached the door and attempted to push it open. However, protective magic had been cast upon it, and brute force alone could not budge it.
Talamans scratched his head in frustration.
Opening it with magic posed no difficulty for him, yet something made him reluctant to unseal this particular door. Perhaps it was the ominous, thick stench of blood seeping faintly from beyond it.
But Talamans was mad, and he cleanly ignored the warnings his instincts sent him.
He raised his staff and chanted an incantation.
Crack, crackle!
As cracks spiderwebbed across the door and the magic unraveled, it groaned with the unpleasant screech of metal scraping against metal, opening slowly.
Talamans poked his head cautiously through the opening. The interior was shrouded in darkness, but when he conjured light with magic, iron bars materialized before him.
This was an Underground Prison.
Talamans hesitated no further and stepped inside.
-Lis… ten…
A voice called out to him. The sound echoed off the stone walls, reverberating through the chamber.
-Lis… ten…
Talamans glanced about, trying to locate the source of the voice. It emanated from the Deepest Chamber of Underground Dungeon.
-Move… me…
“Move…?”
-To… my faithful vessel…
As the voice ceased, Talamans’s body went rigid. His legs moved of their own accord, beginning to carry him deeper into the Underground Prison.
“Wait… stop…”
Talamans panicked, yet his body moved beyond his control.
“What are you trying to do?! Stop!”
Despite Talamans’s resistance, his body drew ever closer to the source of the voice. His eyes widened in horror.
Within the massive iron cage situated in the Deepest Chamber of Underground Dungeon lay a single sphere. The sphere was wrapped in thick chains and layered with multiple spells—seemingly some form of sealing magic.
-Accept me… and guide me to my faithful… vessel….
Talamans was seized by a belated terror.
The four horns sprouting from his head resonated in unison with that voice, humming with a terrible vibration.
Talamans remained frozen, trembling uncontrollably.
‘Horns? Those are horns?’
His horns shrieked as if to prove that what lay within the sphere was indeed a horn, and the thing inside the sphere howled back ferociously at the other horns—demanding to be released from this prison at once.
What dwelt within the sphere was both ominous and sacred. It was radiant darkness itself, and a gentle danger.
Talamans had never encountered such a contradictory existence before. He realized instantly that this was no object to be handled carelessly, yet the temptation it offered was not the sort one could easily resist.
He was certain that if he could overcome this terror, he would seize the formidable power he desired. Thus, he committed the foolish act of shattering the iron cage and placing his hand upon the sphere.
Screeeech…!
The sphere, sealed by his magical power, shattered, and a single horn radiating light revealed itself.
Talamans reverently cupped his hands and received it, bringing it to his forehead. He intended to accept that horn entirely.
But then….
-You… cannot… be the vessel…!
“What?”
Talamans’s memory cut off there.

* * *

Khalid trembled as he walked down the stairs descending into the Underground alongside Leoryna.
The flow of magical power emanating from ahead felt wrong.
Understanding what it meant, Khalid’s complexion turned deathly pale.
“What’s wrong?”
Leoryna noticed the change in Khalid and regarded him with confusion. But Khalid had no mind to spare for her.
“This is bad…!”
Khalid abandoned Leoryna and suddenly broke into a run.
“Wait! Professor! You have to take me with you!”
Leoryna hastily scooped up Pongko and followed. Khalid was moving so fast that she had to activate her flight boots to keep pace.
“Professor, has something happened?”
As Leoryna asked, Khalid bounded down three or four steps at a time as he spoke.
“Someone broke the seal on my horn! It must be that bastard Talamans!”
“You sealed your horn? Why? Is it a disaster if the seal breaks?”
“It was sealed so no one could touch it. But if the seal breaks and it falls into the wrong hands, things will get messy! Especially if it’s that Talamans!”
“Is it really that serious? Khalid is obviously stronger—you can just defeat him.”
Even at Pongko’s carefree remark, Khalid shook his head vigorously.
“No! That horn isn’t something anyone can possess! If it falls into someone else’s hands, I can’t even guarantee what will happen!”
Leoryna didn’t understand what Khalid was saying at all, but seeing how grave his expression was, she followed silently.
Moreover, the problem that awaited them was not limited to that alone.
Boom! Bang! Bang!
Behind Khalid and me, the Building echoed with heavy thuds. They were the footsteps of a massive beast. I recognized them easily as Renokter’s.
It had been following us secretly all this time, but it showed no intention of attacking. So I had received a situation report from Pongko first and paid it no mind.
Khalid felt the same way. He didn’t want to mention Renokter and make me anxious, so he deliberately avoided bringing it up.
But now Renokter seemed to have changed its mind and was openly chasing us.
Khalid clicked his tongue.
“Damn it, does it plan to follow us all the way? Or does it intend to kill us before we leave its territory?”
“Either way, I understand we need to run faster than that thing.”
“Ahhh! Run instead of talking!”
Starting with Pongko’s scream from my arms, we both increased our speed.
Nevertheless, Renokter continued to follow us effortlessly, so we had no choice but to drag it along behind us.
As Khalid rushed down the stairs, he noticed the entrance to the Underground Prison was open and furrowed his brow. But there was no time to hesitate. Renokter was chasing us from behind, and our options to shake it off were limited.
“Leoryna! Come here!”
Khalid grabbed the back of my collar and threw me directly into the Underground Prison. Before I could protest, he hurled himself through the iron door as well and slammed it shut.
Slam!
The moment the door closed, something massive rammed against the iron gate with a deafening crash.
Slam! Slam!
After ramming the door several more times as if trying to break through the Castle itself, Renokter growled for a moment, then its heavy footsteps faded as it withdrew from the Underground Prison.
Khalid and I leaned against each other and exhaled deeply in relief.
“At least we’re alive.”
At my words, Khalid shook his head and straightened up.
“No, now I have to deal with the horn problem.”

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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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