The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 239
The hall was engulfed in astonishment.
Before me, the Jongma knelt down!
I had won!
‘Luckily, it worked.’
Polar Singularity.
No, the Holy Black Singularity was a spell I had prepared for when he drew upon the demon’s power.
‘When he starts using the power of the demons in earnest, it’ll be too much to handle.’
In other words, using Lindon and Bern to provoke him into using his defenses, and then hitting him with the All Demons Bow was all part of the plan.
‘Though it was tricky since he didn’t take as much damage as I hoped, thanks to Theren, I was able to create an opening.’
I looked at Theren.
Theren, like a smug cat, seemed to want praise, so I gave him a thumbs up.
“Well done.”
“…Could you put that thumb down? It’s repulsive.”
What? Why?
What’s wrong with the Van the Legend thumbs-up? It’s not something just anyone can get, you know?
‘Hmph, I know you secretly like it too. Just embarrassed, aren’t you?’
At that moment, Jongma gritted his teeth and glared at me.
“I… I can’t accept this… Ugh.”
As expected, he wasn’t going to accept the result of the duel.
“Are you saying you won’t admit defeat?”
“Ha, ha, don’t make me laugh. What meaning does this pathetic duel hold? All I have to do is kill everyone, including you.”
Due to the aftermath of my Holy Black Singularity, he couldn’t fully draw upon the demon’s power.
However, his true strength wasn’t the demon’s power.
His true power lay in the countless demon contractors of the Dark Tower.
“What are you waiting for? Kill him right now…!”
“L-Lord Tower Master, we have a problem! An unknown barrier has been activated, sealing the main tower!”
“!!”
The main tower refers to the mansion we are in right now.
‘The Sun and Moon clan managed to complete their task in time.’
The Sun and Moon clan had been quiet up until now, just for this moment.
Being a clan of assassins, they knew many mysterious arts, one of which was sealing a specific area with a barrier.
It was a technique to eliminate a target without interference, and since it wasn’t a magical method, even dark magicians couldn’t easily break it.
‘It will take them at least an hour to dispel it.’
That means for that time, they can’t receive any support from outside.
Against me, Van the Legend, and the Dark Family.
At this point, Duke Byron, who had been silent, stepped forward with a growl.
“You arrogant fool. Flaunting power obtained by currying favor with demons. I’ve wanted to smash that disgusting face of yours for a long time. Don’t think you’ll die an easy death.”
‘No, Duke, if you say it like that, it makes you sound like the villain.’
Everyone likely noticed, but Duke Byron wasn’t a pushover by nature; he only played along due to outside scrutiny.
“Damn.”
The Dark Tower Master’s face turned pale.
When it came to the top echelon gathered here, the Dark Family wasn’t significantly outmatched by the demon contractors.
Although the demon contractors outnumbered them by about two to one, each Dark Family dark magician was an elite.
However, because of that Jongma, the balance had tipped in favor of the demon contractors, but now he was incapacitated.
Even the ordinary dark magicians outside were trapped.
And that wasn’t all.
Schlick.
“Arghhh!!”
A flash of light from an unseen angle, and a dark magician screamed as blood spurted like a fountain.
“Assassins!!”
“It’s the Sun and Moon clan’s shadow concealment technique!!”
The Sun and Moon clan assassins had infiltrated the round table.
Their numbers weren’t large.
Even for the Sun and Moon clan, this wasn’t a situation where just anyone could intervene.
Still, even a few were enough to break the delicate balance.
Moreover, there was help I hadn’t accounted for.
“Thank you for saving my foolish son, Professor.”
A calm voice, unfitting for the situation.
A woman in a neat suit.
A steel sword hanging at her waist.
One of the dark magicians cried out in despair.
“Sword King!!!”
Duke Louis, the Sword King, had appeared!
I had carried out this plan as discreetly as possible.
If the situation escalated too much, it could provoke the other Three Evils, so I hadn’t asked for Sword King Louis’s help. But it seemed she had come because of Theren.
‘Theren, you’re proving quite useful, huh?’
Of course, that was from my perspective. The Sword King, being his parent, looked at Theren with a stern gaze.
“Theren, we need to talk later.”
“……”
“You know you did something wrong, don’t you?”
Theren, feeling deflated, couldn’t say a word.
‘Hmm. This is an unexpected sight.’
At this point, Theren was supposed to be deep into his rebellious phase, especially defying anything the Sword King said.
‘It’s not just the other protagonists who have diverged from the scenario. Theren has changed too.’
A sudden thought crossed my mind.
Perhaps I could prevent Theren from becoming the Demon Sword?
‘Theren’s character arc does require him to wander, though.’
Character arcs aren’t simply about leveling up. Each protagonist has personal tasks they must accomplish.
Catherine’s character arc was about becoming a hero.
Libel’s task was to accept himself and break free from being a monster.
Mikhail was destined to become an emperor, and so on.
‘The Red Mage and the Hermit mentioned that to prevent destruction, the protagonists’ potential needed to be fulfilled, which likely referred to these character arcs.’
Anyway, Theren’s character arc was this:
To capture the sky in his sword (Heavenly Sword).
Theren needed to become the Demon Sword and experience all kinds of turmoil because such experiences were necessary to capture the sky in his sword.
The sky must embrace even ugliness.
However, as I’ve often said, I believe in avoiding hardship whenever possible.
I thought of an alternative method.
Given Theren’s current state, it might be possible.
“I agree with His Excellency the Sword King. Theren committed a grave mistake this time, and I think he deserves an appropriate punishment.”
“Do you have a specific punishment in mind, Professor?”
“Please agree to send Theren to the prison in the Absolute Sea for experiential learning.”
“!!”
The world has many villains.
There are countless powerful villains as well.
You can’t just kill every villain you catch.
The problem is that it’s hard to imprison them.
Even if you seal their cores, their existing strength doesn’t completely disappear, making it difficult for ordinary guards to handle them.
Moreover, you can’t use valuable resources like knights and magicians just to guard prisoners.
The prison in the Absolute Sea is where such uncontrollable prisoners are confined.
‘To be precise, it’s where they are sent to die.’
The empire has various peculiar terrains, one of which is the Absolute Sea.
The original term for it is Sea of Annihilation, and it isn’t actually a sea.
It’s a barren wilderness as vast and desolate as the sea, with dreadful mist swirling around all year long.
A region where survival is absolutely impossible by one’s own efforts. Incidentally, the Monastery of Magic that Joanna went to is also located in this Absolute Sea.
Prisoners are thrown into the middle of the wilderness without any guards.
They wear ankle monitors, and if they leave the wilderness, it is considered an escape and they are immediately killed. There is even a specialized pursuit squad for this.
With their cores sealed, removing the ankle monitors is impossible.
The arrangement is for them to wander and die in the wilderness.
But, why else would villains be compared to cockroaches?
Even in such dreadful conditions, the villains survive and form their own communities.
It is the most wretched society, inhabited only by villains.
‘Experiencing the villains’ vileness will aid Theren’s growth.’
“That is…”
The Sword King trailed off.
She knew that my suggestion would benefit Theren.
However, she naturally couldn’t agree so readily.
The Sword King was overly protective by nature.
But that overprotection had led Theren astray, so I decided to push the boundary.
Given the trust we had built since our first meeting, it should be alright.
“Neither your husband nor Theren’s brother would want Theren to become a spoiled brat.”
“!!”
The Sword King’s face hardened.
The Sword King hadn’t always been the overprotective type.
On the contrary, she had the heart of a lion.
She changed after losing her husband and eldest son.
Theren’s brother had died while on a warrior’s training journey that the Sword King had insisted on. In the attempt to save their son, her husband had also perished.
“Trust in Theren. He is strong.”
In truth, it wasn’t even that dangerous.
The villains in the Absolute Sea all had their cores sealed.
The Sword King let out a low sigh.
“…I’ll think about it. For now, dealing with these guys takes precedence.”
She turned her gaze to Duke Byron, who was facing off against the dark magicians.
“Brother.”
“Y-Yes, sister?”
“I’m not in a good mood right now.”
“W-What should I do?”
Duke Byron reverted to his timid mode, gauging his sister’s mood.
The Sword King drew her sword with a swift motion.
“Just be careful not to get hurt. Things might get rough.”
“!!”
And with the Sun and Moon clan gnashing their teeth for revenge, the dark magicians who had made pacts with demons swallowed hard in fear.
A bloodstorm descended.
* * *
Epidemic rampaging through the Free City revealed to be the work of the Dark Tower! Van the Great Legend (henceforth: Vangre) exposes the Dark Tower’s conspiracy! Vangre single-handedly storms the Dark Tower, bringing Jongma to his knees. Vangre: a powerhouse comparable to the Ten Seats? Vangre and the Dark Family, along with the Sword King, bring justice to the Dark Tower’s upper echelon! The Dark Family rises as the new power within the Dark Tower. The new Dark Tower Lord, Duke Byron, declares, ‘All glory to Vangre.’ The Dark Lord declares, ‘All dark magicians who made wrongful pacts with demons will be rooted out and punished.’ Demonstrates strong resolve.
Effectively, the existing Dark Tower had completely collapsed.
The new Dark Tower would be entirely different from its past.
Even this much was enough to upend the empire, but there was even more shocking news.
“Do you have anything to say?”
This was the Imperial Palace.
Specifically, the Royal Court of Justice.
A place where royalty would be tried for their crimes.
Standing in the defendant’s seat was the second prince, Renius.
His collusion with the Dark Tower in orchestrating these events had led to his trial.
The issue lay with the figure seated at the judge’s bench.
Though it was the first time seeing him in person, the face was familiar.
It was Emperor Sigmund III himself.
“I hereby strip Second Prince Renius of his royal title and sentence him to death.”
At last, the Emperor had returned to the political arena.
It was news that heralded a new era of turbulence.
