The S-Rank Warden Devours the Academy - Chapter 12

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

Chapter 12

“Wow, you’ve got some serious presence…?”
“Serious, huh. Though you look pretty scrawny to me.”
Jae-yoon and Gyeol had already huddled behind Eun-o, heads bent together.
Sa-hyeon walked with hands in his pockets, taking long strides. Hae-sung hurried after him.
“Here they come, here they come!”
As the two drew near, Eun-o straightened his posture, his voice bright with anticipation.
“What kind of trouble are you planning now?”
Gyeol clicked his tongue disapprovingly.
“Come on. You said you wanted to see what I could do.”
Eun-o’s lips curved upward as he fixed his attention on the entrance.

[Air Control (A) skill has been activated!]

A thin, transparent barrier materialized across the doorway.
Eun-o’s face broke into a triumphant smile.
“Okay, success!”
“What’d you do?”
Gyeol raised his eyebrows, puzzled.
“Air Wall!”
Eun-o announced it proudly.
An applied skill taught in defense class.
A high-pressure Air Wall perfected through repeated practice and training.
He’d compressed air into an invisible, solid barrier.
Jae-yoon drew a small breath.
“That’s the one we practiced yesterday, right? It wouldn’t break at all….”
This was the wall that had withstood even Jae-yoon’s punch, his Strength Rank at A+.
Jae-yoon’s voice carried a note of worry.
“Are you sure this is okay?”
“It’s fine, totally fine~ He won’t even know what happened.”
Eun-o spoke with absolute confidence.
To anyone but the skill’s caster, the barrier would be practically invisible.
Someone without the sensitivity to perceive it would stumble about in bewilderment.
“There you go again, wasting time on pointless stunts.”
Though Gyeol voiced his complaint, Eun-o’s eyes gleamed with anticipation.
Check out the teacher’s real ability, get some skill practice in myself—wasn’t that killing two birds with one stone?
Footsteps drew closer.
Eun-o ducked out of sight, his voice trembling with barely contained excitement.
“They’re coming in!”
“Hey, why am I―”
Gyeol got dragged along in Eun-o’s grip.
Jae-yoon quickly scurried after them both.
Three figures hidden in the blind spot.
Creak—
The door swung open.
All three pairs of eyes fixed on the entrance.
He’d try to come in and hit the barrier, right?
Eun-o’s lips were curling into a smirk when—
“…?”
Why wasn’t he coming in?
Sa-hyeon, who’d been leading the way through the door, stopped dead.
‘What? Did he spot us?!’
And why was he taking off his gloves all of a sudden?
Sa-hyeon peeled off one leather Glove.
Caught off guard by this unexpected move, Eun-o felt panic rising.
Then Sa-hyeon raised his bare hand and brought it toward the Air Wall.
What was he doing?
Tae Eun-o craned his neck forward, studying Yeom Sa-hyeon’s hands intently.
The thumb and middle finger curled together in a tight circle.
That was—
‘A chestnut grip?’
And in the next moment, he flicked his fingers toward the wall in a sharp snap.
Crack!
“?!”
Tae Eun-o shot to his feet, his lips falling open.
“What—what in the—?! That’s impossible!”
“What’s wrong?”
“What happened?”
Their confused friends lowered their voices and asked.
“My skill….”
Tae Eun-o muttered in a daze.
“It shattered.”
The Air Wall that Tae Eun-o had maintained scattered uselessly in an instant—all from a single gesture by Yeom Sa-hyeon.
“What?”
“With just his fingers?”
Even as his friends pressed him with questions, Tae Eun-o remained stunned, speechless.
Meanwhile, Yeom Sa-hyeon had walked into the Training Hall at a leisurely pace.
He pulled his Gloves back on, then took a sweeping look around the entire hall.
And there, crammed in a corner beside the entrance, he spotted three people.
A vacant face gripping red hair in its fists.
The corner of Yeom Sa-hyeon’s mouth curled upward.
“You’re the one? Not even a week since your Awakening.”

* * *

On the way to the test site, after the hazing failure.
“I still don’t understand it….”
Tae Eun-o wiped his flushed, heated face and muttered.
Tae Eun-o had received a reprimand from Yeom Sa-hyeon for recklessly using his skill.
He’d been forced to run one hundred laps around the Training Hall while maintaining his Air Wall.
Of course, for someone with his agility, running a hundred laps was trivial.
The challenge was maintaining the Air Wall for that long while running.

-It would’ve broken any second. I’m not even sure I’m ready for the test….

Whenever his concentration wavered, that irritating voice would nag at him, but he’d gritted his teeth and finished.
‘There’s no way a chestnut flick could shatter it like that!’
Even though less than a week had passed since his Awakening, his abilities were already renowned enough that several guilds had extended recruitment offers.
Moreover, his Air Wall skill had earned recognition from Academy professors who were notoriously stingy with praise—it shouldn’t have broken so easily.
“Hmm. Does he have a Damage Absorption ability like Ha Jae-yoon’s?”
“My ability isn’t a skill—it only absorbs physical blows….”
Ha Jae-yoon, sitting beside him, added quietly.
“Still, if he could break through that Air Wall, wouldn’t he be incredibly strong?”
“But that doesn’t make sense! It didn’t budge even against your punch!”
Tae Eun-o objected forcefully, keeping his voice low.
Go Gyeol, who had been listening quietly to their conversation, tilted his head thoughtfully.
“Maybe your skill was just trash to begin with?”
“You want to fight?!”
As Tae Eun-o bristled and swung his arm, Go Gyeol calmly shut his eyes and dodged nimbly.
“In any case.”
Tae Eun-o exhaled in exasperation.
He narrowed his eyes, fixing his gaze on the back of Yeom Sa-hyeon’s head.
What on earth is that guy?

* * *

Combat Zone 0 District, in the open field before the Paju Industrial Complex. A massive Gate, the size of a three-story building, shimmered and rippled.
Screech—
The darkly tinted vehicle came to a halt before them.
Yeom Sa-hyeon stepped out with an easy gait, followed by a torrent of students tumbling after him.
“This is a Gate?”
“It’s so much bigger than I expected…!”
“Wow! This is the first time I’ve seen a Gate up this close!!”
Yeom Sa-hyeon shook his head slowly.
“You’d think they were on a school trip.”
Yoon Hae-sung finished parking and came to stand beside him.
“Um, Sa-hyeon.”
Yeom Sa-hyeon rolled only his eyes, turning his gaze toward Yoon Hae-sung.
“They’re still just students, after all. There’s no malice in it.”

-Could he be a Psychic-type Awakener?
-Oh. Maybe? Honestly, Tae Eun-o’s head is so simple I’d have him figured out in a second.
-Now that this bastard’s bringing it up, you really want to go a round?!
-Hey, but wouldn’t a Psychic-type be ridiculously weak?
-Excuse me. Are you even listening to me?!

The endless murmuring from the back seat.
Yoon Hae-sung had apologized on their behalf, worried it might put Yeom Sa-hyeon in a foul mood.
“Anyway, sending out people who can’t read the room like that…”
Yeom Sa-hyeon clicked his tongue.
Everyone here was an Awakener—there was no way they couldn’t hear whispers like that.
It was painfully clear how green they were.
The noise was already draining his patience.
‘Better to face monsters.’
He’d finish this quickly and get back to his own business.
Yeom Sa-hyeon strode toward the Gate with long steps.
Yoon Hae-sung scrambled after him.
“Whoa, we’re going in right now?”
“No point dragging it out.”
Tae Eun-o, who had been taking a photo with the Gate, called out urgently as Yeom Sa-hyeon passed by.
“Wait! Just a second!”
Yeom Sa-hyeon didn’t slow down, but he opened his mouth.
“What.”
“I can’t stand not knowing!”
Tae Eun-o hurried after him, pressing the question.
“How did you do that wall thing?”
A blunt, direct question.
Every eye in the vicinity fixed on Yeom Sa-hyeon.
“I punched through it.”
He answered without hesitation.
Since the condensed force was just air, it dispersed the moment you opened a single hole in it.
Yeom Sa-hyeon’s characteristic—the ability to sense formless currents. Through that gift, he’d found a small gap and forced his way through.
‘I was planning to cancel the whole test anyway if he looked mediocre at first glance…’
But watching him circle that Training Hall over and over, his speed and growth rate weren’t bad.
His skills had solidified considerably in the meantime too.
That reckless showing-off would be just the thing to hasten his demise, though.
Still, for a D-Rank Gate, he figured there wouldn’t be casualties.
“You… punched through it?”
Tae Eun-o’s brow furrowed, unconvinced.
His wall wasn’t something you could describe as simply “punching through.” Even A+-Rank Awakeners and above hadn’t managed to break through it.
‘So how exactly did you punch through it!!’
His curiosity remained entirely unsatisfied. Yeom Sa-hyeon waved his hand dismissively, as if done with the matter, and came to a stop at their destination.
The black Gate rippled turbulently before them.
Most Gates shone with this dark blue hue.
‘But a red glow…’
Yeom Sa-hyeon recalled Lee Ha-je’s memo and spoke.

“Just follow me in.”
And with that, he stepped straight through the Gate.
“Wait—”
“Together—”
The voices trailing behind him dissolved into static.
The world before his eyes warped and spun.
His body felt as though it were being sucked into some vast emptiness.
The darkness that had clouded his vision suddenly blazed white.
The moment Sa-hyeon’s feet touched the ground, they sank into soft sand, swallowing him nearly ankle-deep.
Sand stretched in all directions. A merciless sun beat down from directly overhead. The air hung so thick and humid that each breath felt like a labor.
Then, all at once—
“Aaargh!”
“Gaaargh!”
“Aaaah! Aaaah!”
Thud-crash—
The rest of them arrived moments too late.
They all tumbled face-first onto the sand with tremendous noise.
“This place….”
Go Gyeol, covered head to toe in sand, lifted his head.
“A desert?!”
Endless dunes rolled outward, soft ridges of sand rising and falling, rocky outcrops scattered across the landscape.
Just as the materials Hae-sung had provided had shown, this Gate field was indeed a desert.
Ding—
A system chime sounded, and windows materialized before each of their eyes.

[You have entered the Gate: Arid Desert.]
[! Ability Restriction has been applied.]
[Your abilities have been reduced.]

An unpleasant sensation crawled up from his feet, and it felt as though his legs were sinking into the sand.
“Huh? My body feels so heavy….”
Eun-o, fumbling to steady himself, was the first to push his upper body upright.
Hae-sung pressed his forehead with a grimace.
“Looks like this is a Gate with Debuffs attached….”
Random Debuffs could occur within Gates sometimes.
A Debuff that lowered the abilities of every Hunter who entered had been activated.
Sa-hyeon pulled up his status window.

[Status Window]
Name: Yeom Sa-hyeon
Age: 27
Rank: S
Characteristic: Formless Dominator
Overall Ability (!Ability Restriction currently active):
Vitality (SSS→SS+), Strength (SS+→SS), Agility (S+→S), Intelligence (A+→A), Willpower (B→B-)

His abilities had dropped by roughly half a tier across the board.
“This much is manageable.”
He murmured it to himself.
Go Gyeol grunted as he climbed to his feet.
“My movements feel sluggish, and the whole thing feels terrible.”
He rotated his wrists and ankles back and forth, complaining the entire time.
Hae-sung shook his head and spoke up.
“Still, be grateful it’s just this much. I’ve heard that Skill Restriction Debuffs have shown up before.”
Jae-yoon’s eyes widened in alarm.
“Really?! But if our attack skills get blocked, how do we even fight…?”
“That’s why higher-tier Gates usually require teams of at least two Hunters.”
Hae-sung added the explanation.
If someone went into a high-tier Gate alone and hit an inconvenient Debuff like that, the odds of clearing it plummeted dramatically.
Sa-hyeon didn’t have that worry—his experience getting battered by the most heinous Debuffs imaginable had made him immune to such concerns.
Bing-bing-
Even as they exchanged words, the status window continued to appear.

[Defeat monsters.]
[E-Rank or higher monsters 0/300]
[Boss 0/1]
[Clear reward – Fragment of Blind Death(?)]
[Time limit 11:59:57 – (If you fail to clear within the time limit, a Monster Wave will begin.)]

“A Monster Wave, huh… We’ll need to finish this as quickly as possible.”
Yoon Hae-sung exhaled softly as he spoke.
Hundreds, or at most thousands of monsters pouring out at once—a Monster Wave.
If they failed to stop it, monsters would spill beyond the Gate itself.
In other words, the Gate would collapse.
This was why Hunters had to clear Gates.
Bing-

[Monster Elimination Count]
Yeom Sa-hyeon – 0
Yoon Hae-sung – 0
Tae Eun-o – 0
Go Gyeol – 0
Ha Jae-yoon – 0

The final window had appeared.
A display showing the monster elimination count of the Hunters who had entered the Gate.
Gate rewards were determined by this count—in other words, by Contribution.
‘Today this will serve as a test scorecard.’
Sa-hyeon cracked his neck and spoke.
“First, let’s check your basic combat abilities.”
Gyeol surveyed the barren desert and furrowed his brow.
“There’s nothing here—no monsters, nothing. What are we supposed to do?”
“Well, normally they pop up on their own if you wander around, but—”
Sa-hyeon removed one of his gloves.
“I’ll skip the tedious grinding.”
He crouched down and pressed his right hand against the sand floor.
Intense heat radiated from his palm.
Watching the crouched Sa-hyeon, Eun-o and Gyeol exchanged hushed comments.
“What’s he doing?”
“How would we know?”
Jae-yoon’s eyes darted about as he tried to read the situation.
Squinting for a moment, he concentrated, then slowly opened his lips.
“…But guys. Don’t you feel the ground rumbling beneath us…?”
Thump-thump-thump-thump-
At that very moment.
A heavy rhythmic pounding spread upward from below.
“Caught one fast.”
Sa-hyeon lifted his hand from the ground and pulled his gloves back on.
He straightened and gestured to Hae-sung with his chin, pointing backward.
“Fall back a bit.”
“Y-yes! Understood.”
Hae-sung didn’t fully grasp Sa-hyeon’s intent, but he dutifully obeyed.
Meanwhile, the three students remained focused on the mysterious vibrations.
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-
The mysterious sound grew louder and faster.
The sand beneath their feet bounced up in fine grains from the violent tremor.
“What—what—what is this!!”
“An e-earthquake!?”
Behind Gyeol, Jae-yoon began backing away nervously.
“Oh! Oh! Oh! It’s finally starting!!”
The moment Eun-o broke into a broad grin.
The ground beneath their feet trembled faintly.
The sand began to roil as if coming to a boil.
“What the—? Why is the ground—”
The instant Gyeol glanced down, sensing something wrong.
Boom!
The sand that had been churning erupted skyward in a violent burst.
“Ahhhhh!!”
Gyeol shot upward as if launched into the air.
“Oh no! Gyeol!!”
Jae-yoon reached out in alarm, but his surroundings were no better.
Boom! Crash!
The sandy floor exploded as if under bombardment, again and again.
The scene became shrouded in a haze of sand dust. Moments later, the explosions ceased.
Whisper-whisper-whisper—
As the swirling sand settled, the source of the thunder slowly came into view.
A reddish shadow visible through the dust.
“Woooah……!”
Eun-o’s eyes gleamed as he let out a deep cry of wonder.
Shriek!
A massive body roughly three meters tall. Sand-colored, coarse fur. Long, straight claws, needle-sharp.
Gyeol, sprawled across the sandy floor, gazed up at the enormous creature in a daze.
“…This is insane. Damn, it’s grotesque.”
Hae-sung, watching from a distance, sucked in a startled breath.
“Giant Golden Mole?!”
A mole-type monster—the Giant Golden Mole. A medium-sized specimen native to desert fields.
No, this wasn’t the time to stand around.
Hae-sung shook his head quickly and pulled up the monster’s status window.
Ding!

[Monster Information]
Name: Giant Golden Mole (GIANT GOLDEN MOLE)
Rank: D-
Characteristics: Highly developed sense of smell; sharp claws are its distinguishing feature.
…….

D-Rank, then.
Fortunately, it belonged to the lower tier of monsters…
But that only held true if there was just one.
Dozens upon dozens of narrow, elongated eyes fixed on the students.
The students, trapped among dozens of Golden Moles.
“…Hah, what in the world is—”
Everyone stared blankly at the scene of chaos.
All but one.
“Just about right.”
Sa-hyeon wore a satisfied expression, a leisurely smile on his face.
“If it’s not enough, I can always add more, so don’t worry.”

S-Rank Instructor Devours the Academy Episode 12

Author
Baek Nuga
Publisher
Daon Creative
Planning / Editing / Production
Yoon Tae-ri
Cover
Thaup

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260512043.0013

© 2026, Baek Ruga

※ This e-book is protected under the copyright laws of the Republic of Korea.
No part of this work may be reproduced, modified, or adapted in any form without the express permission of the author and publisher.

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