The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 237
The Dark Tower.
As the name suggests, it’s the magic tower of dark magicians.
However, the Dark Tower isn’t an actual tower.
‘The magic tower is just a regular building complex.’
The Dark Tower is located in a remote border area of the empire.
Originally, it was near a major city, but it was relocated as the number of demon contractors within increased.
As a result, the area around the Dark Tower became a forbidden zone, shunned by all.
‘It does feel eerie.’
I looked at the distant view of the Dark Tower and shivered invisibly.
The grand building complex stood isolated, radiating an inexplicable sense of dread.
It must be the aura of the demons contracted by the dark magicians.
This was the place with the highest concentration of demon contractors on the surface.
“Ugh. How about we go back now? No matter how much of a graduate student I am, this is too much!!”
“Isn’t the decision already made?”
“But it’s terrifying!!”
“Don’t worry. Trust me.”
Lindon, pale with fear, shouted desperately.
In contrast, Bern-Beril remained silent.
“How are you feeling?”
“…I’m fine. It’s astonishing. I can’t believe this is possible.”
Judging by the calm response, it seemed Bern was in control now.
‘I intentionally suppressed Beril’s personality.’
As mentioned before, Bern had divided his personality to enhance his aptitude for dark magic by creating the malevolent Beril, but ultimately, it became a poison.
Their personalities needed to be merged back into one.
“…If you hadn’t met my expectations, I would have given you nightmares with my dark magic.”
…Even now, while Bern was in control, Beril’s traits occasionally surfaced, despite the calm demeanor.
In any case, we were ready.
‘The Sun and Moon Clan would infiltrate separately.’
“Let’s go.”
We approached the Dark Tower using a flying magic device.
The closer we got, the stronger the eerie aura became, which we had sensed from afar.
“Stop right there.”
Fwoosh.
Dark magicians from the Dark Tower appeared.
Instead of classic black robes, they wore sleek black suits, looking more like modern gangsters.
“I am Van the Great Legend. I’m here as a member of the Dark Tower.”
“…You claim to be a member of the Dark Tower?”
“You should have heard about me already. Here’s my membership card.”
The Dark Tower wasn’t modern only in their attire.
They issued business cards to their members.
The card had a guarantor section, and the name of Duke Byron, the Dark Lord, was written there.
“Is there a problem with the membership card? If you’ve verified it, step aside.”
The dark magicians hesitated.
They had no reason to stop me, but they were reluctant to let me in.
At that moment, a deep, raspy voice rang out.
“Let him in.”
“…Elder.”
An individual in a classic black robe, the traditional attire of dark magicians, appeared from within the mansion.
His eyes were pitch black, devoid of any whites, tainted by malevolent energy.
‘His soul and body have already been consumed by a demon.’
He appeared to be at a roughly Lv. 7 master level.
A quick glance around showed many dark magicians of similar caliber.
‘Demon contractors can easily elevate their levels.’
Despite my recent strength increase, I could feel that I had entered the tiger’s den.
The elder, eyeing me warily, spoke with a sinister tone.
“Today will be a memorable day for our Dark Tower, and capturing someone like Van the Great Legend will make a fine trophy.”
Hehehe, kukuku.
As if in response to his words, unsettling laughter echoed throughout the Dark Tower.
It was the laughter of demons.
The Dark Tower, half-consumed by Gehenna, allowed demons to manifest openly.
Lindon, who was relatively weak-minded, turned pale, and Bern’s face hardened.
‘I need to assert dominance.’
“How insolent.”
What did you say?
“You just mentioned who I am, didn’t you?”
I crossed my arms, wearing the most arrogant expression I could muster.
“I am Van the Legend. For a mere demon’s slave to be so insolent, you need to be taught manners.”
You… dare…
No one knew that I had become an Ascendant, as I had kept it hidden.
To others, I appeared to be a mere Lv. 3 weakling, so the elder tried to intimidate me with his dark aura.
“Kneel.”
!!
Simultaneously.
Thud!
The elder’s knees buckled suddenly.
“Elder?!”
Wh-What?!
The others reacted in disbelief.
I wiggled my fingers, giving an additional command, even more obnoxiously.
“You still lack proper manners. Bow your head as well.”
Thud!!
His head slammed to the ground, as if he was showing deep respect to me.
“Now do you understand? My greatness?”
The hall fell silent.
Everyone looked at me with eyes filled with disbelief.
The reason I could subdue a Lv. 7 master-level elder so easily was simple.
‘I’ve become that powerful.’
Even though I was only partially ascended, I had reached the level of an Ascendant.
Especially with spells of the ‘domination’ type, the rank of one’s soul played a significant role.
If the elder had reached Lv. 7 through proper dark magic, it might have been different, but a mere puppet whose strength was forcibly boosted by demonic blessings stood no chance against me.
“Compared to my greatness, this was a trivial matter. Now, stop gawking and show me the way.”
The dark magicians in their black suits swallowed hard and began to guide me.
Inside, a luxurious mansion came into view.
“Is the round table inside there?”
“…Yes. The highest-ranking officials are having an important meeting, so you shouldn’t go near….”
Ignoring him, I moved forward.
Entering the mansion, I felt a far stronger presence than before.
I could tell that the true heavyweights of the Dark Tower were gathered inside.
‘There are four Lv. 8 Transcendents. Many more Lv. 7 Masters and Grandmasters.’
It seemed the forces of the Dark Nobility and the demon contractors were facing off.
One of the Lv. 8s was Duke Byron, the Dark Lord.
The other three Lv. 8s were all demon contractors.
Among the Lv. 7s, there were about twice as many demon contractors.
‘At the top level, it’s roughly a 2:1 power ratio. The lower-level dark magicians are probably even more skewed.’
The atmosphere was tense, with a rough aura seeping out.
It was time for me to make my entrance.
However, just as I reached the entrance to the round table room, I blinked in surprise.
An unexpected figure was guarding the entrance.
It was Theren.
“…….”
“…….”
For a moment, we simply stared at each other.
Why was Theren, who had been missing, here?
And standing like a sentry at that.
‘Could he have defected to the Dark Tower?’
Just as there are holy knights who learn holy magic, there are those on the other side who practice dark magic, known as black knights.
It was one of Theren’s frequent paths to corruption.
‘No, that’s not it. He’s being controlled.’
I assessed Theren’s condition and widened my eyes.
Theren was under the influence of puppet magic!
‘Could it be that Theren tried to infiltrate the Dark Tower and ended up as a hostage?’
I recalled our recent conversation.
You’re saying this is the work of the Dark Tower?
Yes.
Do you have any proof?
Not yet. We need to secure it from now on.
Hmm. I see.
??
Something had seemed off, and it turned out he had infiltrated the Dark Tower alone!
‘I knew he felt left out with me always assigning tasks to Catherine and Libel, but to pull such a reckless stunt!’
I considered freeing him but stopped short.
‘It’s not a restriction I can easily break.’
There was only one person who could wield such puppet magic.
The notorious villain of the Abyss, known as Puppet’s master, and the current pinnacle of dark magic, the Dark Tower Master, Jongma.
‘The only way to free Theren is to eliminate Jongma.’
I pushed the door open.
The gazes of the gathered bigwigs fell upon me.
“…Who are you?”
“I am Van the Great Legend. You can call me Vangre.”
I focused on the person seated at the very center of the round table.
He was more beautiful than handsome, with a bewitching aura reminiscent of a demon.
Though he appeared to be in his thirties, his actual age was much older.
One of the empire’s most feared villains, alongside the King of Contrary Heaven, the Lord of the Abyss, and the Patriarch of the Order.
I uttered his name.
Knowing that Alpha Zero had already handed over the evidence to Duke Byron and that the impeachment process had been set in motion during the meeting, I went straight to the point.
“Jongma, I’m here to make you kneel.”
* * *
The room fell silent.
Most of those gathered looked at me with incredulous eyes.
However, a few had their faces hardened.
These included Jongma and the other Lv. 8 Transcendents.
Jongma spoke up.
“Well, this is surprising. I was curious about this Van the Legend, but I didn’t expect this much.”
His voice was melodious yet strangely unsettling.
A shiver ran down my spine.
“To be honest, I’m not confident in facing you.”
“Tower Master?”
The Lv. 7 master-level magicians who still didn’t recognize my greatness looked bewildered.
“Are you admitting defeat? If you’re so in awe of my greatness that you want to kneel, I won’t stop you.”
“Haha, no, that won’t happen.”
Jongma stood up.
Something dark and shimmering surrounded him.
A halo of light, but it was a dark light.
“I’ve heard from the Dark Lord that you will challenge me for impeachment. If it’s purely a contest of dark magic, there’s no way I would lose to you.”
I glanced at the victory gambler.
[Chance of Winning Against the Follower of the Demons] : 11.3%
It wasn’t a bad odds, but that was based on me using all types of magic to my full capacity.
Restricted to a duel of dark magic, those odds would change.
However,
“Very well. Since you, the Tower Master, have agreed, the impeachment duel is established. If you lose, you will step down from your position and pay for the sins you have committed.”
This impeachment duel is similar to the trial by combat from medieval Earth.
If you lose, you acknowledge all the wrongs committed as Tower Master and are punished according to the Dark Tower’s rules.
As I have mentioned repeatedly, the Dark Tower originally was a legitimate organization, so the rules did not permit heinous crimes against humanity.
“Don’t worry about that. I’m more curious about your confidence. You should know you can’t be my equal in dark magic.”
“We’ll see about that. I, on the other hand, don’t fear losing.”
“!!”
I wasn’t lying.
I glanced at the gambler again.
[Chance of Winning Against the Follwer of the Demons] In a Duel of Dark Magic : 100%
An absolute victory.
