The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 225
For the record, I infiltrated the Demon Realm alone.
“It’s dangerous.”
“That’s right. Even though you’re Van the fight dragon, Professor!”
“It’s fine. You don’t need to worry. I have a way.”
“In that case, I’ll go with you.”
“Me too…!!”
Although Bright Dragon and others insisted on coming along, I shook my head.
‘Moving in a group would only draw attention. Especially the Demon King, absolutely not.’
Durandal’s invisibility effect only applies to its wielder.
No matter how skilled Bright Dragon is, the moment she steps into the Demon Realm, she’ll be detected. Being a celebrity makes it even more dangerous. The Demon King is out of the question.
On the other hand, with my master of magic abilities, I could maximize the invisibility effect, allowing me to roam the Demon Realm unnoticed.
‘I encountered demonic patrols here and there, but none of them sensed my presence.’
Honestly, I did worry if this was too bold a plan, but now I am completely at ease.
‘The chances of encountering demons in the first place are quite low.’
The Demon Realm is vast.
In terms of sheer area, it’s larger than the Ran Republic. It’s about three-tenths the size of the Empire.
However, its population is less than one-tenth of the Empire’s.
Most of the land is empty.
The area near the ancient temple I am heading to is such an abandoned land.
‘A sanctuary from a long time ago, probably around the era of the Eight Heroes, and it no longer functions as a temple.’
However, it was still considered important because it was related to the roots of the demons.
It felt like a historical site.
‘It’s a place where the guards are lax but is still deemed important, making it the perfect target for a terror attack.’
Bang! Gazzua!
As I sped through the Demon Realm on a flying magical device, Mari suddenly popped out of the magic pouch and shouted.
The invisibility effect applied to my ‘possessions’ as well, so Mari also had Durandal’s invisibility effect, and she came along with me.
‘Mari is not my possession; she’s my daughter.’
I wanted to leave her behind due to potential dangers, but Mari insisted.
Mari can’t fight without you, Papa! I’m coming with you! Waaa.
Mari will protect you…!!
‘It should be fine. There’s no chance of being detected. Even if we are, I have countermeasures.’
Who am I?
I am someone who values my safety above all else.
Even if we are detected and the worst happens, I have prepared to ensure we can escape safely.
“Alright, let’s go. Let’s carve the legend of this Van the legend in the Demon Realm.”
Legend…! Legend…! The legend is going…!
Mari sang joyfully about the legend, and I couldn’t help but smile.
It felt like an outing thanks to Mari, even though it was practically a death trap.
‘The scenery is beautiful. If this were Earth, it would be a popular healing destination filled with tourists.’
The Demon Realm is not a place brimming with dreadful energy like Gehenna.
The demonic energy used by the demons is the moon’s energy, called Black Moon Energy.
Because it’s the moon’s energy, it harmonizes well with dark magic or dark attribute techniques, but the demons themselves are not inherently evil.
As I’ve repeatedly said, the problem lies with Duke Roshran’s group.
‘So, this terror attack must deal a significant blow to Duke Roshran’s faction. And while I’m at it, I’ll steal plenty of treasures and get rich too.’
How long had we been traveling?
The surrounding atmosphere gradually began to change.
The lush scenery that looked like it came from a healing camp turned desolate.
Trees were dried up and withered.
The air grew heavy and oppressive.
There was an ominous feeling everywhere.
‘This place is the End Ground.’
The site of the ancient temple is not some holy place for demons.
On the contrary, it is a place shunned and avoided.
‘This is where the demons first built their civilization and met their downfall.’
Hence, the name ‘End Ground.’
There’s another reason it’s called that.
‘It’s a cursed place.’
It’s mentioned in the prophecy that’s been passed down in the Demon Realm.
It foretells that a dreadful calamity will strike this End Ground.
‘Was the exact phrase something like this? With misplaced greed, the noble temple will be struck by the calamity of the end, and only the savior can prevent the disaster.’
Additionally, the demonic energy of the demons is adversely affected in this End Ground.
It’s said that their power decreases by more than 30%.
For this reason, even though this temple is crucial to their race’s roots, there are hardly any demons guarding this place.
I paused for a moment and surveyed the End Ground.
As I expected, there were scattered mid-level demons of around Lv. 5~6 standing guard.
They were reluctantly stationed there, as mentioned in the prophecy about the ‘noble temple,’ but their displeasure was evident.
They all had expressions saying, ‘Why are we guarding such a worthless place?’
‘There’s no way a human could penetrate this deep without being noticed by demons.’
I felt relieved.
Even though I trusted Durandal’s invisibility ability, I would have been uneasy if there were high-level guards above Lv. 7.
‘But what is the calamity of the end mentioned in the Demon Realm prophecy? And who is the savior?’
These are events that don’t occur in the scenario.
This ancient temple is like a bonus place where you can drop by and loot treasures if you need money. It’s fine to skip it.
I checked my monocle.
The danger level was still zero.
This message was displayed:
Lucky! Lucky! Look forward to an exciting gift coming soon!
‘Shut up. You’re making me feel unnecessarily ominous.’
I swallowed a sigh.
Anyway, it was time to go in.
Step.
I walked confidently straight ahead.
My heart did pound a little as I passed by the demons on guard.
“Huh? Did something just pass by?”
“Pass by? In this creepy place, when will we ever get a shift change? No one comes here anyway; can’t we sneak off somewhere else?”
“If His Excellency Duke Roshran hears you, you’ll be chopped into pieces for saying that.”
The mid-level demons didn’t notice me at all.
I swallowed a sigh of relief and entered the sanctuary.
‘Indeed, it’s incredibly vast. Just like I saw in the scenario.’
It was larger than the grand religious sanctuaries on Earth.
However, due to the passage of time, the building itself felt extremely precarious.
It was a ‘ruin’ that wouldn’t be surprising if it collapsed at any moment.
‘I need to bring it down without leaving evidence that I did it.’
If there was evidence that a human caused it, the blame might fall on humans instead of Duke Roshran.
In other words, it had to look like it collapsed due to the negligence of its caretaker, Archduke Roshran.
‘I have a way. I just need to cause a problem at the innermost Moonstone Altar. It’s originally a trap.’
As mentioned earlier, this place is a bonus spot where you can loot treasures.
However, there was a dangerous element that should not be touched, and that was the Moonstone Altar.
It’s an altar that gathers Black Moon Energy, the energy of the demons. It’s the core facility of the temple.
‘It’s in a broken and neglected state. The problem is that it hasn’t completely lost its function, so Black Moon Energy has been accumulating little by little. Drop by drop, like water collecting.’
The energy has been accumulating since the era of the Eight Heroes.
In that amount of time, even drops of water could bore a hole through rock.
A massive amount of energy has gathered.
The bigger problem is that no one is aware of this.
‘Since it’s sealed inside, no one can tell unless they look closely.’
The Moonstone Altar, being the supreme holy artifact of this sanctuary, was merely regarded as an object of worship, and recently, no one has tried to inspect it properly.
In fact, that’s just an excuse, and it’s more accurate to say it has been neglected.
‘If I tamper with the Moonstone Altar and cause it to go berserk, the sanctuary will collapse. Duke Roshran will be criticized for his negligence.’
Before causing any trouble, I visited other rooms.
Once the sanctuary collapses, I’ll be too busy escaping, so I need to steal the treasures first.
‘Hehe. How much is this? Mari, can you see this? Daddy is rich now. Have you heard of a rich Papa?’
I couldn’t hold back the grin spreading across my face.
I swept everything up.
‘Once the Moonstone Altar’s energy goes berserk, the temple will collapse without a trace, so there’s no worry about being caught stealing.’
There were all sorts of treasures.
Decorative jewels like diamonds and rubies, magical treasures like magestones imbued with magical energy.
The most valuable items were the magical artifacts that had been passed down since ancient times.
‘Though they’ve lost their functionality, their intrinsic value is immense. They could be used to research ancient magic. The problem is, I can’t sell them openly.’
As mentioned before, I can’t leave any evidence of my actions, so such conspicuous items couldn’t be traded publicly.
‘Still, I’ll take them. Eventually, I might be able to sell them on the black market after some time passes.’
After carefully gathering everything, I headed to the location of the Moonstone Altar.
Now, all I had to do was cause the energy to go berserk and escape.
However,
‘What is this? Why are there signs that someone has been here?’
The places where I had stolen treasures earlier clearly showed signs of long-term neglect, but this place, where the Moonstone Altar was, was different.
There was less dust, and there were signs of someone’s presence here and there.
‘This wasn’t a one-time visit. Someone has been coming here regularly.’
It was baffling.
‘Is it because this is the most important place in the sanctuary, so they’ve been managing it to some extent?’
That didn’t seem to be the case.
The Moonstone Altar itself was covered in dust and cobwebs, clearly neglected.
This indicated visits for a different purpose.
‘…This doesn’t feel right.’
I glanced at my monocle.
It still indicated a calm and clear state, but a chill ran down my spine.
It was the intuitive alarm I had felt whenever a crisis was imminent.
‘For now, I should hide.’
I entered a room next to the altar and maximized my ‘invisibility’ effect.
It was an instinctive decision.
And that decision could save my life.
Footsteps.
A quiet yet thunderous sound.
When I saw the figure that appeared, my heart sank.
‘…Damn it. Of course, it had to be this way.’
A face like a blade.
Eyes gleaming with a terrifying madness.
Most notably, six radiant black wings spread out behind him.
It was Duke Roshran, the extremist.
But that wasn’t all.
A familiar voice was heard.
We are nearing the final stage.
It was the voice of my sibling, Demon Brain Leona.
Congratulations on the impending ascension.
