The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 65
Even if there was a secret weapon, the chances of failure were high.
After all, the opponent was none other than the Puppeteer.
It was feared that forcing the issue would lead to repercussions. If the Puppeteer wasn’t dealt with here, it was certain that problems would arise in the future.
“I will not strike the first blow. Struggle as much as you can before you die, so you have no regrets.”
“Hahaha!!”
The Puppeteer burst into laughter.
“Dare you, against the Puppeteer. How terribly do you wish to die? Fine. I will grant your wish. Look forward to it. I’ll let you experience every pain a human can endure before dying.”
Snap!
The dolls charged.
Thump, thump.
My heart raced with tension.
The weaker among the dolls were at levels 3 and 4.
There were also individuals with the strength of level 5.
A force that easily overwhelms an ordinary knight or mage group.
If the strategy does not unfold as planned, I would be torn to shreds.
‘I must not show any sign of fear. Maintaining a poker face is crucial.’
With dignified poise, I crossed my arms and simply watched the dolls charging at me.
With the arrogance of watching a moth dive into the flames.
The puppet, perhaps sensing something unsettling in my demeanor, momentarily halted the doll army.
“…I can’t fathom what you’re thinking. Surely you know this is beyond what you can handle?”
“Why? Are you scared?”
“!!”
“Typical of a coward. If you’re afraid of me, scurry away yapping, right now.”
The Puppeteer’s complexion turned ashen.
Coward.
It was the word he hated the most.
“Brace yourself!”
It was then, as the dolls’ hands were about to reach me.
‘Now’s the time!’
I unveiled my ‘first’ secret weapon.
Ssssh.
It was a magic bomb.
A magic crystal designed solely for the purpose of explosion, with mana condensed to its limit.
And it was of a high grade.
‘I got it from Lyran of the Dragon Stronghold just in case, a while back. Never thought I’d use it like this.’
The high-grade magic bomb was effective even against level 5 knights and mages.
Of course, real knights and mages could skillfully neutralize a magic bomb, but the opponent was puppets with no such capability.
Kaboom!!!
They were engulfed by the magic bomb.
Like being swept away by a grenade, the dolls were blown away.
Moreover, I didn’t have just one magic bomb, but ten.
I detonated them all at once, and the dolls rushing at me were torn apart like paper, utterly devastated.
But,
“Ha, was this petty trick all you were relying on? Van, I’m disappointed in you.”
Whoosh.
The puppet’s dark mana enveloped the surroundings, and an unbelievable miracle occurred.
Arms, legs, numerous fragments that were shattered dolls began to revert to their original state.
It was the puppet’s 7-star master spell, ‘Immortal Dolls.’
As long as the Puppeteer remained, his dolls were immortal.
Creak.
Kill. Kill.
Dozens of dolls, now returned to their intact forms, let out a chilling laugh.
A dreadful sight.
“I had such high hopes for you, but this is all you’ve got. How deflating. Guess I’ll just torture you a bit before killing you…”
The Puppeteer suddenly stopped talking.
He sensed something was off.
Despite the desperate situation, I still maintained a dignified posture.
It was not an empty boast.
I twisted the corner of my mouth.
“You fool. You don’t even realize the predicament you’re in.”
“…What?”
“It’s your defeat.”
With that declaration,
My real trump card revealed its nature.
Ssssh.
Light flashed.
Dark and gloomy.
It was light akin to the wings of a black bird.
“!!”
The Puppeteer attempted to react in horror, too late to block it.
He had just used a 7-star master spell and wasn’t fully recovered; the being that appeared now was not one to miss even the slightest gap.
Ssssh!
The puppet’s head floated in the air.
Beyond the blood, a woman with cold eyes was visible.
Black Bird Amanda.
A war mage who dominated the frontlines of the Northern Seven Kingdoms, and a descendant of the legendary assassin clan, the Ilwol Clan !
Yes.
She was the secret weapon I had prepared.
Amanda did not stop with merely cutting off the Puppeteer’s head.
Psh! Ssssh!
She stabbed and gouged out the heart, and cut off the arms and legs as well.
Of course, this wouldn’t be enough to kill the Puppeteer, but Amanda delivered an additional, lethal blow.
“Let the Ilwol reign! O creatures of the world, kneel before the sun and the moon!!”
Flash!
Brilliant light and deep darkness flashed simultaneously, and thud! The puppet’s head, heart, arms, and legs, trying to reattach to the torso, abruptly stopped.
She hindered the puppet’s recovery with the unique debuff ability of the Ilwol clan, blocking its power.
“Did you see, my Angel?! I did it for you! Please, praise me!”
“Don’t make such a fuss. It’s not over yet.”
Creak.
The Puppeteer’s head, heart, arms, and legs writhed.
It was trying to force out the Ilwol clan’s power.
“What kind of monster is this?! My Angel, I will try to hold it off! Please, flee!”
“It’s alright. We have won.”
Amanda looked puzzled.
Given the puppet’s momentum, it would revive to its original state in less than a minute.
It didn’t matter.
A minute, no, 30 seconds were enough.
Step.
I walked towards the puppet’s severed head.
With eyes seething in rage, the Puppeteer shrieked ominously.
“I will kill you! No, I will turn you into a doll, unable to die or live, and mock you for eternity!”
“It seems we think alike. I also plan to turn you into my doll.”
“…What?”
“I said I’ll turn you into a doll.”
I placed my hand on the puppet’s head.
“The one of higher status dominates the other. That’s the basic principle of puppetry.”
Originally, my puppetry skills are nothing to boast about.
The best I could do was the Moonlight Waltz, which required the opponent’s oath.
However, if the opponent is the Puppeteer, there’s a loophole to exploit.
‘If I can take control of one of the strings that manipulate the puppet, I can use it to control the Puppeteer in turn.’
A feat only a Master of Magic like myself could attempt.
But there was an important precondition.
My ‘status’ had to be higher than the puppet’s.
That’s the foundation of puppetry.
It was alright.
“I, Van Ecclesia, am far too great to even be compared with something like you. Pay homage to me.”
It might sound like nonsense.
But it was at the moment the Puppeteer was about to scoff.
“W-What is this? Impossible?! How can you possess such a soul’s status?!”
I quietly closed my eyes.
Even though currently I am only of the 1st-ranked tier.
I imagined myself being of high status.
It wasn’t hard.
It felt natural to imagine this as the status I should inherently possess, so I concentrated.
As if I am throughout heaven and earth, a sense of omnipotence, like everything revolves around me,
Trait, ‘Ascendant’s Status (Imperfect, Temporary, Partial)’ is manifested!
It was a trait I had acquired after facing the Lord of Dreams!
In an instant, albeit imperfectly, my soul’s status reached the heavens, completely overpowering the Puppeteer’s soul.
“You filthy and insignificant thing.”
I commanded.
“Disappear from this world forever.”
Along with that command.
Swish.
The Puppeteer vanished.
Literally.
As if erased by an eraser, its very existence was obliterated.
* * *
‘What, what’s this? What happened?’
I was shocked.
My plan had been to subdue the Puppeteer with puppetry and then command it to die by its own hand.
But to completely vanish?
‘The very existence disappearing, isn’t that only possible with level 9 Ascendant magic? Wait, could it be?’
I was startled by a sudden speculation.
‘…Could it be that I performed Lv. 9 magic?’
As if confirming my suspicion, this message appeared:
You have manifested magic that defies causality with your incomplete status!
Violating causality is a hallmark trait of magic.
It meant I really did manifest Ascendant magic!
Of course, it wasn’t a complete miracle magic.
The effects of the magic are adjusted according to your true status!
Still, it was an unbelievable tale.
‘How could even a weakened form of ascendant magic be something so simple?’
Ascendant magic wasn’t just about being powerful.
It literally meant having the power to overturn the laws of reality.
‘…It must have been a fluke, a one-time thing. The causality of the world won’t let something like this happen again easily.’
Indeed, an additional message appeared.
A penalty is given for violating causality!
A backlash affects your body!
“Keughh-!”
“My Angel?!”
I fell to my knees, vomiting blood.
Fortunately, it wasn’t painful.
Instead, my body became rapidly heavier. It was so severe that moving a single finger was difficult.
‘My body’s condition has been forcibly deteriorated.’
Thankfully, it seemed like the damage wasn’t permanent.
A few days of rest should suffice for recovery.
‘Considering I’ve vanquished the Puppeteer, this is a small price to pay.’
But then, an unexpected misunderstanding arose.
“My Angel!! Did you use a self-sacrifice spell?”
“……??”
I was baffled.
Literally, it’s a spell that burns one’s life force to unleash powerful magic.
‘…No, I’ve never used such a thing.’
I wanted to deny it, but coughing fits interrupted me, sealing my words.
Amanda, misunderstanding further, cried out in desperation.
“Ah! Your condition is not good! Last time in the dragon’s nest, too, why does my Angel always…?”
‘No, I never did anything like that in the dragon’s nest? What are they misunderstanding?’
But there was no chance to correct the misunderstanding.
These voices reached me.
“Professor Van? You used a self-sacrifice spell for us?”
It was the group that had run away earlier!
Yulia, Wilhelm, as well as Catherine, Libel, the Third Prince, Hans, Lindon, Mari, all of them were there.
‘Why have they come back?’
I looked troubled.
Their reactions varied, but they all expressed a single emotion: admiration.
Everyone misunderstood that I had risked my life to save them!
‘This is a bit too much.’
But then, an even more troublesome situation arose.
“I sensed the presence of an ascendant? What’s this about?”
It was Rudolph, the former Chancellor!
He looked around sharply, then narrowed his eyes at me.
“Van, don’t tell me you?”
It was a crisis!
Rudolph, once a level 8 Archmage, might realize that I had just used some miracle magic.
Ultimately, I closed my eyes tightly and chose the lesser of two evils.
“…I defeated the Puppeteer with a self-sacrifice spell.”
“!!”
As I admitted it, everyone present was deeply moved.
“…Professor.”
It was fine for Yulia, Wilhelm to be biting their lips tightly.
But Catherine, Libel.
Stop being so moved.
And Third Prince, why that expression?
