Academy’s Undercover Professor-Chapter 240: Reunion in Crimson Blood (2)

“Master. Did you really have to go this far?”

Ludger spoke with concern as he looked at his master’s current state.

Usually sunk in boredom and ennui, his master now looked genuinely delighted—like a child who had just received a gift box.

Ludger sighed inwardly.

‘That was a miscalculation.’

He thought that by showing his magic, he’d be given some praise for his training and be let off the hook.

But the result was the exact opposite.

Grander, his master, had instead widened her eyes in delight at Ludger’s progress and was now demanding even more.

It was a chain reaction—like a child who, after tasting candy, wants something even sweeter.

The terrifying part was that while an adult could restrain a candy-craving child, no one could restrain Grander.

The obstinacy and tantrum of an absolute being.

It was nothing short of a natural disaster.

“What are you saying, disciple? With something this entertaining, how could I possibly stop now?”

“......”

“You’d better give it your all. Everything you have—and everything you learned while I was asleep. Squeeze it all out and show me. Only then will I be satisfied.”

Her tone was playful, but there was no lie in her voice.

“If you are my disciple, you should at least be able to bring some joy to a master who has lived through countless ages. That should be enjoyable for you as well.”

“I can’t say I find it enjoyable.”

“Then enjoy it. That’s an order.”

Faced with such an unreasonable command, Ludger could only sigh.

When she spoke with such finality, any further persuasion was meaningless.

‘It’s still broad daylight, so I can’t draw out the full power of Ater Nocturnus...’

But even if it were night, it wouldn’t be to his advantage.

If anything, his master was even more energetic at night than she was now.

Ludger reached into the shadows and drew out his cane.

A refined gentleman’s cane, its handle carved into the shape of a crow.

‘Now that I’ve come this far, retreat isn’t an option.’

If things had come to this, he’d have to give it his all.

If he didn’t want to die.

“Here I come.”

* * *

“So, Miss Merilda, is this your first time here today?”

“Hmm? Ah, yes, well.”

Merilda answered Alex’s question with a somewhat indifferent tone.

But while her words were aloof, her expression wasn’t as cold as one might expect. She didn’t seem entirely displeased by Alex’s interest or his questions.

“Still, being a teacher at Seorn is amazing. That’s not a place ordinary mages can get into.”

“Oh, it was nothing.”

Merilda tried to sound nonchalant, but the corners of her lips were threatening to soar skyward.

She might have thought she was keeping her composure, but to Alex—and even more clearly to the third party, Sheryl—it was obvious that she was already melting.

‘I thought she’d be difficult to approach at first, but...’

Maintaining his cheerful expression, Alex quietly analyzed Merilda.

At a glance, she gave off a cold and collected vibe, but on the inside, she was surprisingly soft.

Despite her aura suggesting she’d had many flings, she was clearly inexperienced when it came to men.

‘Was she one of those types who just studied all through school?’

Well, that made sense. To become a teacher at Seorn, you’d have to study nonstop.

Not that it mattered much to Alex either way.

‘When I got that note from Hans asking for help, I thought something serious was going on.’

Something about someone tailing Ludger.

So he had approached under the guise of coincidence, but after chatting with Merilda, he realized she wasn’t a threat.

That was his knightly intuition speaking.

‘Doesn’t seem like I need to interfere... but still, I should fulfill my role properly, just in case.’

Thinking so, Alex naturally steered Merilda and Sheryl in another direction.

The two women probably thought he was guiding them to the musical theater.

But in truth, it was the opposite.

Alex was deliberately leading them elsewhere through a twisted path.

‘That girl’s pretty sharp, so this trick won’t last long.’

Still, it should be enough to stall them until Ludger left the area.

If he got caught, he could always play it off with a smile.

‘That aside... I wonder what the Leader’s doing right now.’

Getting followed around by such cute and pretty ladies.

The life of a popular man was truly enviable.

Alex smirked inwardly as he continued guiding them.

Secretly wishing he could live like ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ the Leader too.

* * *

“Here I come.”

Ludger made the first move.

Grander, ever the absolute powerhouse, tended to let her opponents have the first strike.

And Ludger’s stance in combat was always to make the most of any opening.

He’d learned that from the very master standing before him.

Spells swiftly constructed using [Source Code].

As Ludger extended his cane, countless multicolored spells manifested and shot toward Grander like radiant blades.

A storm of spells filled the air in an instant, and Grander let out a low whistle.

“Oho. So this is that magic you showed me the design for back then.”

Grander immediately recognized the Source Code Ludger had used and smiled as she cloaked herself in mana.

A perfectly circular barrier of mana.

A barrier without element or artistry—pure, raw defense. It was considered the most basic form of protective magic.

But when cast by an 8th-circle mage, it became a different story.

A crimson wall of mana filled her surroundings.

Far more durable than the average mana shield, this barrier could deflect even cannon fire with ease.

And it wasn’t just one layer—there were more than ten.

Boom-boom-boom-boom!

The countless spells crashed into the barrier, only to vanish in small bursts of light without leaving even a scratch.

The sight resembled a heavy downpour pounding against a steel umbrella.

And the umbrella didn’t budge an inch.

‘She must know that’s not all there is to it.’

She might always attach the word “foolish” in front of “disciple,” but—

Grander didn’t actually think Ludger was stupid.

After all, whose disciple was he?

If he were truly a fool, she would never have spared him a glance.

‘In other words, this barrage is a distraction. There’s something else.’

And she was right.

Suddenly, mana reactions flared from either side, instantly picked up by her sharp magical intuition.

“Oho...”

Magic was being constructed inside the very space of her barrier.

Grander immediately recognized it—it was a modified version of Ludger’s spatial magic.

Flash!

A burst of blinding light followed.

A flash so sudden and intense that her vision was momentarily swallowed in whiteness.

Ludger seized that moment.

The mana barrier was still in place.

But Ludger, cloaked in shadow, used spatial movement to appear right beside her.

Click.

The crow-headed cane twisted at the handle, and from within, a pure-white blade was drawn.

Ludger swung the swordstick at his master’s slender neck.

A killing blow, dealt without hesitation.

Grander, her eyes closed, made no attempt to resist.

Slice.

With a flash of light, Grander’s head was severed.

The crimson mana shield dissipated, and her body fell to the ground.

Blood spilled across the field, and silence descended.

Ludger landed softly on the grass, gazing wordlessly at Grander.

Then, suddenly, her torso stirred.

Grander’s upper body shot upright from the grass.

It was a sight beyond belief.

And yet Ludger didn’t panic.

“I’ve seen it too many times before.”

Slaaash.

From the severed cross-section of the neck, a vivid crimson energy shimmered like a heat haze—and then, the head regenerated.

Delicately arranged features, pale white skin, and dazzling blonde hair.

Fully regenerated, Grander tilted her head slightly and stood up.

“That was a good attempt, disciple. But still not enough.”

So saying, Grander extended the parasol in her hand and aimed it at Ludger.

And then, a magic formation began to manifest.

The shadows of Ater Nocturnus exploded outward, forming enormous twin arms.

As those crossed before Ludger to shield him, Grander’s magic was completed.

A pillar of blood-red light fired toward Ludger.

Shadow and crimson mana collided, erupting into a deafening roar that shook the surroundings.

With the massive explosion, Ludger was blown back.

He released the twin arms and glanced at the ruined scenery.

“Are you trying to kill me?”

From the point where the two spells had clashed, the ground bore a massive scar.

It was as if the area had been hit by countless bombardments—scorched earth not wrought by an ordinary mage.

“What are you talking about—dying? You blocked it just fine. Now. Next.”

As Grander smiled, the sky turned crimson.

Ludger lifted his gaze.

Though it was broad daylight, the sky glowed as if it were sunset, painted red by the surge of Grander’s blood-red mana.

It was nothing less than a mist of blood.

A portion of that mist began to condense, transforming into blood-red spears.

The number alone surpassed a thousand.

Each one was a lethal strike.

A thousand in total.

The very fact that Grander could construct such a number of spells on the spot spoke volumes about her absurd nature.

‘Master’s Blood Magic.’

The magic Grander wielded—[Blood Magic]—was classified as an irregular type.

However, among irregular magics, Blood Magic had the most critical flaws.

One had to mix the caster’s blood with their mana to activate it, which was incredibly difficult in practical combat.

Blood Magic was vastly more powerful and destructive than conventional spells.

But such power came at a cost—an enormous demand for blood.

If an ordinary human tried to use Blood Magic, they’d bleed out and die from a single spell.

This was why, despite its power, Blood Magic was condemned as devilry used by black mages—and its users persecuted.

A single spell of 4th-circle or above equated to a human life.

Thus, Blood Magic was seen as the magic of demons, consuming countless lives.

‘But Master’s Blood Magic has no such limitation.’

Vampires, beings who wield blood itself, were unaffected by such constraints.

A single drop of a vampire’s blood could produce effects greater than any magical reagent.

And among vampires, Grander was of the highest echelon—a Trueblood.

Grander had spread her mana, mixed with her own blood, over a wide area—boosting both power and volume in one absurd maneuver.

Even the inevitable side effects were forcibly suppressed by her sheer status as an 8th-circle mage.

All the weaknesses vanished, leaving only strengths behind—creating an all-purpose magic without flaw.

‘To cast so many high-power Blood Magic spells...’

Grander didn’t hold back in the slightest.

If Ludger died because he couldn’t block them properly, that would be his own fault.

That was Grander’s way of teaching.

Crack.

Ludger immediately popped a mana recovery potion into his mouth and swallowed it.

The mana that surged up in an instant was subdued and directed with his terrifying level of control, and then released outward.

Shu-shu-shu-shuk.

At Grander’s hand gesture, the blood-red spears rained down from the sky.

It was the reverse of the earlier barrage Ludger had fired—a counteroffensive in kind.

Ludger promptly issued a command to Ater Nocturnus.

Upon receiving its master’s order, Ater Nocturnus responded instantly.

Jet-black wings, like a crow’s, spread wide from his back, wrapped around Ludger, and began to spin rapidly.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The blood spears collided with the black vortex and were deflected outward.

Grander burst out laughing at the sight.

“Ahahaha! So you deflected them by warping space with shadows!”

If one could designate coordinates to transmit magic, then conversely, one could add distortion points to existing coordinates, warping the space slightly.

This required shadows as a medium for spatial movement and consumed a massive amount of mana, but Ludger compensated for the lack with magical beasts and potions.

Even with a thousand spears, they wouldn’t pierce that defense.

“But of course, that defense comes with a weakness—you have to stay rooted in place.”

Slide...

The countless blood-red spears that had bounced off the ground melted like thawing ice, losing their shape.

The red mana instantly coiled around the black shadows that protected Ludger.

“You can deflect a barrage of ‘points’—but how will you defend against a sweeping ‘area’ attack?”

Grander extended her hand toward the shadow, then clenched her fingers tight.

The blood mana that had encircled Ludger in a ring transformed into the gaping maw of a massive beast, ready to swallow the entire area in one bite. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

Flash──!

A massive explosion of light ripped through the beast of blood and tore it apart.

Even if she’d held back somewhat, this wasn’t a spell that normal magic could shatter.

But this wasn’t ordinary magic.

Seeing the figure that appeared at the center of it, Grander felt her cold heart pound.

Her instincts as an 8th-circle mage and as a vampire screamed at her.

What Ludger had just used wasn’t a spell of this era.

“Ahahaha. As expected of you! A spell without formation, without formula! A pure miracle lost since ancient times—and you’ve brought it back!”

Witnessing what Ludger had just cast—what could only be called true magic—Grander howled with laughter.

Her crimson irises widened, and soon, her entire eyes turned blood-red.

Amid that eerie, beautiful, crimson roar of laughter, Ludger silently invoked another spell.

“Geburah (GEBURA).”

Behind Ludger, the Tree of Sefirot manifested, formed of radiant light.

Simultaneously, a massive pillar of fire erupted from the ground, engulfing Grander.

She hadn’t been defenseless, of course—but the mana barrier she deployed was instantly burned away upon contact.

This was the power of the fifth Sephirah of the Tree—Geburah, the divine burner, and the might of the angel Kamael.

Where Michael’s fire focused on purification,

Kamael’s flame was destruction incarnate.

And only that destructive fire could break through powerful spells like Grander’s Blood Magic head-on.

The pillar of fire swallowed Grander and spun with violent force, forming a vortex.

A heat so intense, it wouldn’t just obliterate a normal mage—it wouldn’t even leave ashes.

Hehehehe.

Yet laughter echoed from within.

Ludger stared into the blazing column.

Fwoooosh!

Suddenly, a pair of enormous, crimson arms burst out from within the vermilion flame.