Academy’s Undercover Professor-Chapter 241: Reunion in Crimson Blood (3)

Bulging sinews stood out across the massive blood-red arms.

The two arms seized the pillar of flame on either side—and tore it apart with brute force.

Shraaak!

Embers scattered like flower petals in all directions.

Then a powerful shockwave surged outward, blowing even those embers away.

At the center of the storm, Grander floated in midair.

The crimson arms protruding from her shoulders looked utterly grotesque.

Shlararak!

The arms twisted grotesquely, then morphed into scarlet bat-like wings.

They resembled Ludger’s Ater Nocturnus—but were fundamentally a different kind of magic.

It had originally been a spell Grander didn’t know how to use. But having seen Ludger employ it, she immediately replicated it.

“Splendid, disciple! More! Show me more!”

Chachachachak!

Her wings spread wide, and a barrage of crimson feathers shot forth like machine gun fire.

Ludger immediately drew two black revolvers from within the shadows.

They required no bullets—firing mana rounds instead.

Popopopong!

The crimson feathers and mana bullets collided midair, erupting in magical explosions.

Their numbers were nearly equal.

But in raw power, Grander was far superior.

Little by little, Ludger was being pushed back.

‘Even special weapons don’t work?’

Then there was no choice but to draw out something stronger.

“Take them.”

Ludger handed the twin revolvers to Ater Nocturnus.

The shadow gripped them with its two arms and took over the firing.

In the meantime, Ludger retrieved a new weapon from beneath his shadow cloak.

It was a long gun.

A bolt-action rifle, difficult to reload, one shot at a time.

Like the revolvers, it was painted in black and gold.

If anyone from the Yuta Kingdom had been present, their eyes would have gone wide.

There was only one man that black rifle symbolized.

The legendary mercenary—Machiavelli.

The weapon that had once overturned the battlefield now glinted ominously in his hands.

Bang—!

A streak of light shot straight toward Grander.

The mana round shredded through the incoming feathers and pierced her chest.

“Another fascinating toy!”

Though blood burst from her chest, Grander didn’t fall.

“What a peculiar device you wield!”

Grander had some knowledge of firearms.

But the one Ludger used was clearly a custom model—something far beyond standard weaponry.

Grander immediately began evasive maneuvers.

At the tips of her crimson wings, mana blasted out, scattering her form like a blur.

Ludger didn’t let her out of his sights and continued to fire the rifle.

Grander’s flight speed was so fast she appeared only as a crimson streak.

Yet Ludger remained calm—reading her movement, predicting her trajectory, and pulling the trigger.

Thunk! Thunk!

Each time he fired, blood sprayed from Grander’s body.

She looked on in pure admiration.

What terrifying focus and sharpshooting.

Even at a distance, the mana bullets hit her as if they had eyes of their own.

He’d never even been taught how to hold a gun, let alone fire one—yet he’d grown to this level on his own?

‘And they’re not ordinary mana bullets, either.’

Having them keep striking her body didn’t exactly feel pleasant.

Even in that pain, Grander didn’t flinch. Instead, she analyzed the uniqueness of the mana bullets.

‘No matter where I fly, they chase me. Truly cursed bullets.’

Then her crimson eyes caught onto something faint in the air—a thread.

It looked thin like a thread, but was more accurately a path.

That was the secret of the cursed bullets.

When Ludger pulled the trigger, the mana bullet traveled along that path.

And during that journey, it gained layer after layer of acceleration—its speed growing exponentially.

“Coordinate-based marking, huh.”

Hearing her mutter, Ludger clicked his tongue.

His technique, undiscovered even during the Yuta civil war, had now been revealed in just a few exchanges.

‘Even so, countermeasures will take time.’

As long as he switched tactics before she closed the gap, it was fine.

In that moment, Grander’s blood wings wrapped around her like an egg.

Just as Ludger wondered why she would do that midair—the blood egg condensed to a single point in space.

“...!”

Spatial movement magic—Ludger’s specialty.

Ludger scanned the area, trying to find where his master had gone.

And then—over his shoulder, a small and slender arm suddenly reached out and clamped around his neck from behind.

“Got you.”

Grander applied pressure to her grip, attempting to crush Ludger’s neck.

In that instant, Ludger’s form crumbled like a shadow—and vanished.

“A decoy?”

As Grander blinked in confusion, she suddenly realized her body wouldn’t move.

Looking closely, she saw translucent threads wrapped tightly around her limbs like a marionette’s strings.

Thwack!

The blade of Ludger’s swordstick suddenly burst through Grander’s chest.

Looking down at it, Grander let out a breathy, incredulous laugh.

“So now you’ve mastered the assassination methods of the Kalsapha killers too?”

“You taught me, Master. You told me how those assassins behave when they target someone. I merely followed the example.”

“Yes... That’s right. You learned it well.”

They spoke as though they weren’t standing there with a blade buried in one of their chests.

Back when Grander had taken Ludger wandering through the world—

A group of Kalsapha assassins had been commissioned to kill Ludger.

Grander had exterminated them all—and taught Ludger each of their tactics, one by one.

“However, there’s something you didn’t learn properly. Their fighting style is ultimately meant for humans.”

A vortex of blood surged out from Grander’s body.

Ludger immediately yanked his swordstick free and leapt back.

“To an immortal being, all of that is meaningless, my disciple.”

Snap. Snap.

The wires that bound even the bodies of reinforced black mages snapped powerlessly.

Inside the scarlet vortex, Grander turned to look at Ludger.

The moment she took a single step forward—

Fwaah—!

A burst of light shot up from the ground, and a stone spike stabbed through the top of her foot.

“A trap?”

Another trap spell? When had he even had time to place one?

Grander unfurled her wings again and tried to ascend.

In that instant, a massive pressure crashed down from above—slamming her back to the ground.

Thud!

From the shadow at her feet, countless thorns sprang up and skewered her body.

Grander lifted her head slightly and looked at Ludger.

“My, my. You even set traps in midair?”

“Spatial coordinates aren’t limited to just the ground.”

“Hahaha! That’s right.”

Grander slowly stood.

The shadows that bound her body snapped apart with popping sounds.

Facing her, Ludger pressed his palms together.

“What trick are you up to now?”

Grander eyed him with curiosity, watching closely for what he would do next.

Just then, a pure white radiance began to flow from behind Ludger—and soon gathered in his hands.

“That is...” fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

Grander felt a pang of recognition from the movement of his hands.

“A mudra?”

There are three main methods to cast magic.

Chanting (Cast).

Mudra (Hand Signs).

Magus (Formulas).

Among these, formula-based casting is the most favored in modern times.

It’s comparatively stable and yields consistent results.

But chanting and mudras haven’t been completely discarded.

Some still study and use them in remote parts of the world.

Still, to think her disciple would use mudras here of all places—Grander hadn’t expected it.

A mudra is the physical embodiment of meaning through the hands.

A silent magical ritual that symbolizes spoken expression through gesture.

And because of that, mudras have inherent limitations.

There are boundaries to what can be conveyed by hand motion alone.

But the mudra Ludger used now—

‘It looks... perfected to an extreme.’

As Ludger slowly lowered his hand in a sweeping motion, Grander felt her entire body become bound by some unseen force.

For the first time, Grander exhaled through her nose.

“...This is a magic I’ve never seen before.”

And she couldn’t hide her excitement.

This wasn’t ordinary magic.

Rather, it radiated a sacred aura—similar to divine power born from faith.

Yet, it didn’t feel like the energy of a god.

Instead, it felt like holy power born purely from human will.

“Disciple. What do you call that?”

“BhumisParsa-Mudra.”

Ludger answered calmly.

BhumisParsa, also known as the Earth-Touching Mudra or Demon-Subduing Mudra.

It was the gesture used by one who attained enlightenment beneath the bodhi tree—a testament to awakening.

Originally, it was a seated gesture. But Ludger had modified it for standing use.

“Hah. A gesture that subdues demons. Truly, it's a power in perfect opposition to one like me. And to create such a thing... You really must be out of your mind.”

“Thank you. So—have you had enough now?”

“Do you call this enough?”

Even under the overwhelming pressure of divine power, Grander shook her head.

“You think this is enough?”

Her eerily glowing crimson eyes were still consumed by madness.

“It’s not. What you’ve shown is incredible, yes—but it’s still not enough.”

“......”

“There must be more, right? Techniques you’ve honed! New magic you’ve created! So go on—show me more.”

Her gaze, filled with a desperate craving, had long since ceased to resemble that of a human.

Drrrrrr...

Grander’s body, still suppressed by the BhumisParsa-Mudra, began to regain freedom.

Before Ludger could activate his next spell, Grander released a burst of mana that triggered a massive shockwave.

As Ludger staggered back a step, Grander was already standing directly in front of him.

Her small hands grabbed his collar and shoved him backward.

With the vampiric force behind her push, Ludger fell flat.

Grander straddled him, leaning in until her face hovered inches from his own.

“Disciple. I believe in you. I know that wasn’t your limit!”

“Master...”

“Show me more. Don’t hold anything back. Unleash it all—and pierce my heart with it...!”

“Master!”

“Please... kill me.”

“......”

That last line.

Her voice trembled—not with madness, but with something painfully sorrowful.

Sigh.

Ludger let out a soft breath.

Then, gently placing his palm against his master’s cheek, he spoke.

“That’s enough now.”

“......”

“Mother.”

As if that word had triggered a switch, Grander froze in place.

The madness faded from her face, and her entirely crimson eyes slowly returned to normal.

The oppressive aura of her mana vanished. The crimson hue that had dyed the sky slowly faded.

Everything disappeared.

“......”

Regaining her senses, Grander slapped away Ludger’s hands from her cheeks.

Then she abruptly stood up, turning away from him as she bent down to pick up her parasol from the ground.

Ludger, relieved, finally spoke.

“Have you come to your senses, Master?”

“You insolent ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) brat.”

Flick, flick.

Grander brushed dirt off her parasol with her hand.

“You only say things like that when it really counts, don’t you?”

“If I didn’t, you wouldn’t listen to a word I said.”

She opened her mouth as if to argue—but simply shook her head.

“Forget it. What would be the point in saying anything? You really have no sense of propriety, do you?”

“Was I wrong? I think I’ve proven enough to you already.”

“You think I’m a fool? You still haven’t gone all out.”

“Neither have you, Master.”

Grander turned to him with narrowed eyes and glared.

“You never give an inch, do you? I should’ve never let you go out into the world. That was my mistake.”

“What exactly are you calling a mistake?”

Ludger stood up and brushed the dirt from his clothes.

So much for showing up in clean new clothes—what would he even say to Violetta now?

At the same time, he glanced around the area and sighed.

The place that had once been a lush forest—was now what used to be a forest.

In other words, it had been utterly reduced to scorched wasteland.

‘Even if we’re far from the city, this level of destruction must’ve been detected from Rederbelk. They’ll have dispatched someone by now.’

Not only had they annihilated the forest—they’d dyed the sky in blood.

They had to get out of here immediately.

“Let’s go, Master.”

“Go where?”

“Back to the city. There are people I’d like you to meet.”

Ludger walked up and extended a hand to her.

Grander stared at it in a daze.

“You’re not going to take it?”

“...Hah. Arrogant brat.”

Grander grabbed Ludger’s hand.

He figured they’d teleport right away—but Ludger stood there, doing nothing.

In fact, he just blinked at her.

“...What are you doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“Didn’t you say we were going back to the city?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Then what are you waiting for? Aren’t you going to escort your master?”

“You want me to do it?”

Grander furrowed her brows.

What was this brat playing at now?

“With my mana reserves, I can barely move myself—much less you. So I’d like to rely on your help, Master.”

“......”

Grander stared at him coldly—then gave him a few sharp whacks with her small hand.

“You little—insolent brat.”

“...That hurts.”

As a vampire, Grander’s physical strength was absurd compared to a normal person. What looked like a light tap was enough to rattle his bones.

“Oh stop it. Don’t be such a baby.”

“I’m being serious.”

“Enough.”

Grander sighed, then called upon the shadows while still holding Ludger’s hand.

The two vanished completely from the ruined clearing.

It was several hours later when an investigation team was finally dispatched to the site.