The Graduate Student Wants to Assassinate the Professor - Chapter 88

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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 88

As Khalid peered into the depths of the prison, Leoryna tilted her head in confusion.
“Your horn is in the Underground Prison, Professor? Why would it be in a place like this?”
“Hmm….”
Khalid stared into the darkness without answering. Growing impatient with his silence, Leoryna conjured light at the tip of her staff to illuminate the interior.
The prison cells were arranged in rows on both sides, appearing utterly unremarkable to her eyes. Abandoned for so long, not a single rat remained inside, and there was nothing particularly noteworthy about the place.
Leoryna’s gaze pierced deeper into the darkness beyond. Something dwelt in that abyss of shadow.
Shhh… Thud… Shhh… Thud….
The sound of someone dragging their feet echoed through the passage. Khalid and Leoryna simultaneously swallowed hard and braced themselves for combat. Khalid positioned himself to draw his cleaver at any moment, while Leoryna thrust her staff forward.
As the footsteps drew closer, Khalid stepped in front of Leoryna, blocking her view with his broad back. Just as she craned her neck to peek around his side——
“Kaaaalaaaadiiiiel?”
The footsteps halted, and a high-pitched, rasping voice called out Khalid’s name.
When Khalid offered no response, the figure stepped into the illuminated area cast by Leoryna’s light. She gasped involuntarily.
There stood Talamans.
The fifth horn adorning his head—one she hadn’t seen before—was decidedly unnatural. The fifth horn had burrowed so deeply into his skull that vine-like protrusions sprouted from it, fused grotesquely with the flesh of his scalp.
His eyes held no focus, yet somehow I could sense what he was perceiving.
“Aaaa… Kaaal…?”
Talamans gazed at Khalid, tilted his head slightly to one side, and let out a cackling laugh.
“This is the worst.”
Khalid muttered through gritted teeth.
“Is that the Talamans you mentioned?”
“Yes, that’s him. He has grown an extra horn, but… that’s definitely Talamans.”
Leoryna noticed that the fifth horn on Talamans’ head mirrored the shape of Khalid’s left horn, which she saw every day, and asked:
“That thing on his head is your left horn, isn’t it, Professor? What happened?”
“There’s no time for explanations.”
Deeming even a moment of explanation wasteful, Khalid swung his cleaver in a wide arc and lunged at Talamans without warning.
“Kaaaalaaaadiiiiel?”
Talamans spread both arms wide to welcome Khalid. But Khalid’s cleaver sliced horizontally through his body.
“Professor Khalid!”
Leoryna cried out in shock. She was certain Khalid had cleaved him in two, yet Talamans’ body remained intact, held together by something viscous and tar-like.
Leoryna’s eyes widened at the sight of something she had never witnessed before.
Having slain countless people, she recognized almost instinctively that Talamans was already dead. No living creature could exist in such a state.
“Kaaa…?”
With his upper and lower halves completely fused together, Talamans hiccupped with laughter. He seemed delighted to see Khalid.
“Naaaar… Locked away in this place….”
“Leoryna! Fall back! Hide somewhere safe!”
Khalid had no intention of giving Talamans a moment to savor the encounter. Whatever sentiment the creature was indulging in upon seeing him was beneath Khalid’s concern.
What Khalid desired was singular and absolute: the annihilation of that horn.
And Khalid knew better than anyone the power of those horns. There was no doubt that Khalid alone would struggle to contend with them without throwing his full strength into the fight.
‘Damn it, if only Zigzagel were here…!’
Khalid unleashed a relentless barrage of magic, his frustration fueling each spell. Dust storms swirled, flames erupted, and thunderous booms echoed through the Underground Prison.
Yet Talamans stood firm, his gaze fixed upon Khalid.
“Kaaaal… thaaaat….”
‘No, no. I can’t drag him into this any further.’
Not if I had any conscience.
Just as Khalid gathered his mana to launch another assault, Talamans sniffed the air and turned his head toward Leoryna.
“Peeethilaaa’s… servaant….”
His eyes narrowed as he fixed his gaze upon her. Leoryna’s body tensed at the ominous feeling that washed over her.
‘Does this creature sense the divine power flowing through my body thanks to the Holy Maiden’s ring?’
“Why are you looking elsewhere? Isn’t it me you want?”
Khalid stepped forward again, blocking Leoryna from Talamans’ line of sight. Yet Talamans continued to tilt his head, his attention fixed in her direction.
“Pethilaaa… aaazikdoo… naaae… booonaeae….”
“What is he saying?”
Leoryna narrowed her eyes, but Talamans only tilted his head further, uttering incomprehensible sounds.
“Leoryna, this person is directing far more killing intent toward you than toward Khalid.”
Leoryna nodded at Pongko’s words. She sensed it too.
To Pongko’s perception, the emotion Talamans harbored toward Khalid was unmistakably possessive. Yet toward Leoryna, for reasons unknown, he radiated a fierce murderous aura. He shared this sensation with her.
As a result, Leoryna found herself in quite a predicament.
She could easily abandon Khalid and flee. The problem was that Renokter roamed outside, leaving her with nowhere safe to run.
Khalid wrestled with the same dilemma.
He wanted to send Leoryna to safety, but where could he possibly send her? There was no safe place within the Castle.
Khalid clicked his tongue in frustration and decided that quickly neutralizing Talamans was the only viable option. He resumed his assault, but in a flash, Talamans evaded and lunged toward Leoryna at tremendous speed.
Leoryna instinctively reached for her magic but hesitated, glancing at Khalid. She didn’t want to raise his suspicions by using magic carelessly.
“Leoryna!”
Khalid attacked Talamans, but instead of dodging, Talamans conjured a massive blade and moved to intercept the blow.
The great sword Talamans created flew straight toward Khalid, who deflected it with his scythe. But that was not all the blade had to offer.
As he parried the blades coming from all directions, his movements suddenly froze.
Ziiing—.
A ringing filled Khalid’s ears and dizziness washed over him. A binding spell. In that moment of hesitation, one of the blades shot toward his abdomen at blinding speed.
With no time to dodge, Khalid hastily cast a defensive spell. But even with his shield in place, he was driven backward, slamming hard into the wall behind him.
“Khalid!”
Pongko rushed to Khalid’s side to check on him, but Khalid couldn’t get up immediately. Leoryna’s eyes widened.
‘Khalid’s protective magic isn’t functioning properly.’
Under normal circumstances, Khalid should never have been driven into the wall like that. At the very least, he should have been able to rise quickly or taken a blow light enough to do so. There had to be a reason.
In that interval, Leoryna was caught by Talamans as he closed in on her, unable to resist.
“Peethiiilaa….”
With both her hands seized by Talamans, Leoryna felt her entire body go rigid the moment their eyes met. Behind his pupils lay something other than Talamans—a presence that no ordinary person should ever behold.
Talamans tightened his grip around Leoryna’s throat.
“Ugh!”
“What… what in the world… are you holding…?”
Talamans looked ready to snap my slender neck in an instant. I raised my staff with my right hand, aiming a spell at Talamans’s temple—or more precisely, at his horns. But in that moment, the mana blooming from Talamans flowed backward through my spell formula and surged into me.
“What?!”

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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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