Blade of Raging Fire

“Profess—or.”

A barely audible whisper, mixed in with the sorrowful wail.

It was not the awakening of a consciousness, but a sliver of an instinct, carved into the bones of a young woman after countless times of calling out the same name, now revealed.

[Professor Planck, can I go out and play?]

[Professor Planck, I got a hundred on my martial arts test! Am I not amazing? When will I get such a high score on my magic test? Hehe, I don’t know.]

[Professor, I wasn’t fighting! Those bad guys ran into my fist on their own.]

[Professor, if you get angry so easily, you’ll get wrinkles.]

[…]

[Professor, I’ve decided to become a Saintess in the future.

Why, you ask? Because… because being a Saintess sounds so cool, doesn’t it?

Wearing a pure-white gauze dress, smiling as I bring salvation to the world under the guidance of the gods—and then beating all the bad guys to a pulp with my fists. That’s so cool.

A Saintess can’t get married? I don’t care! If I find my true love, I will definitely pursue him bravely.]

[…]

[Professor, you’ll bless me, right?]

Those unfaded voices from the past echoed in his mind once more, so clearly.

The old man froze for a moment, and then, from his old eyes, a molten-lava-like fury erupted.

“GOD—OF—LOVE! f*ck—YOU!”

The old man let out a lion-like roar, the filthy words he had abandoned since he had become a teacher spewing from his mouth.

Flames surged in his palm. The gem-encrusted staff he usually cherished was melted in the raging fire and then transformed into a twisted, black blade.

The old man gripped the blade and, against the light of the holy sword, he charged forward.

And then.

He plunged the blade, infused with his raging fire and his hatred, into the young woman’s chest.

This time, it was the heart. A direct hit.

And so, in the old man’s other hand, the pink star wand, which served as the hub of the Great Sealing Instrument, trembled slightly, and with it, the crown that had merged with the barrier also trembled.

As if in resonance.

The huge mechanism under the academy once again began to operate with an unprecedented vitality. A huge amount of power, with the old man’s withered body as a medium, frantically poured into the Saintess’s body.

With her long-still heart as the center, layers of tiny but still precise structures, along with the Saintess’s blood, flesh, bones, and skin, rapidly proliferated, constantly searching, suppressing, and then expelling the power and the mark of that God of Corruption.

“Get out of this body, God of Love!” the old man roared again.

With the continuous influx of power, the Saintess’s body began to convulse and tremble, as if some entity were fleeing and struggling within her, its space of existence being squeezed, bit by bit, by the advancing, precise structures.

The cracks on the Saintess’s exquisite, beautiful face grew clearer, and from behind those cracks, a terrifying will from a higher level cast its gaze upon the old man.

Indifference.

Anger.

And then…

Mockery.

You’ve used all your power here. Doesn’t that mean that the other side is very weak?

The next moment.

The Saintess suddenly retched and then spat out a hideous ball of flesh. An eye appeared on the ball of flesh, but that eye only shot a cold glance at Professor Planck before it manipulated the ball of flesh and flew toward the sky without any hesitation. 

The Saintess’s face gradually crumbled, as if it had lost some kind of support, and with it, her body also began to wither and decay.

Looking at that gradually crumbling face, Professor Planck felt his heart ache again.

But he quickly came to his senses, his gaze following the remnant of the God of Love—that ball of flesh.

In the sky above, a blue moon hung high.

A chill suddenly rose in his heart.

Ignoring the wound on his chest, Professor Planck fiercely waved the pink star wand in his hand.

An infinite number of structures layered upon layered, quickly chasing after that ball of flesh.

But it was too late.

Or rather, the God of Love was too decisive. After its first wave of attack had been blocked by Professor Planck, it had not hesitated to abandon the precious body of a Crown One to go and hasten the arrival of today’s second protagonist.

Splat.

The ball of flesh smashed against the barrier.

Like a mosquito flying at high speed in the night, smashing against a glass window.

The ball of flesh instantly shattered, turning into a puddle of mud.

And from that mud, a writhing flesh bud suddenly proliferated, rapidly growing along the barrier.

Like a tenacious plant, it constantly drilled its roots into the barrier.

Crack.

Before Professor Planck’s attack could arrive, a clear, crisp sound from the barrier made his face instantly turn grim.

A crack had appeared on the barrier.

Just as a dam, once a leak appears, can no longer be stopped from collapsing, a large number of flesh buds frantically drilled into the crack.

And so.

Crack, crackle…

More cracks gradually appeared. Even with the Great Sealing Instrument constantly pouring in magical power in an attempt to repair the barrier, the flesh buds that had already drilled in were like shrapnel embedded in flesh, preventing the barrier from healing.

And outside the barrier, that huge, blue moon grew clearer and clearer.

A ray of moonlight seeped through the crack in the barrier.

And then two.

Three.

Countless.

Until it was riddled with holes, the barrier that had been resisting the blue moon finally shattered completely.

And so.

A huge, blue moon, which had already occupied half the sky, appeared above the entire Saint Marika.

The moon was so huge that all things in the world seemed so small before it. And the craters and shadows on it were exceptionally clear, vaguely forming a sinister face.

And under the moonlight, the countless shadows on the ground began to sway, like ghouls who had smelled the scent of flesh and blood, wandering in the desolate academy.

Looking at the blue moon, Professor Planck was chilled to the bone.

The blood from his chest was still flowing.

And it was for this reason that he felt a real despair.

Just to face the God of Love that had descended through a medium, he had already exhausted all his strength and means.

So now, how was he supposed to deal with this terrifying entity that, with the speciality of its authority, had directly descended with a part of its true body?

…

…

“I never thought the Saintess of Purification would be corrupted by an Evil God.”

In the Great Bell Tower, Professor Glen watched everything that was happening, and even he, who was usually not serious, couldn’t help but sigh. “But to pay such a high price, it seems that these two are determined to get the thing under the academy this time. I really don’t know what their goal is.”

“The God of Love’s actions are understandable. From our human perspective, He is a madman, so it’s not surprising that He would do anything. But what I don’t understand is…”

Another old voice came from the darkness. “Why did the other one do this?”

“…”

A brief silence.

A dim candlelight flickered, illuminating the extremely old figures.

Most of them were leaning on canes, their faces covered in age spots, their bodies exuding a decaying aura. Some of them had even just been woken up from the coffins they had prepared for themselves.

But even if they were on the verge of death, these old men would not be looked down upon by anyone, because each of them was an absolute titan in their respective fields. Just by putting their names out there, they would cause a huge earthquake in the entire imperial academic world.

They were the true foundation of this Saint Marika Academy.

A total of seventeen lifetime professors of Saint Marika Academy, aside from Professor Planck who was still fighting the Evil God in the sky, were all gathered here.

When they made a decision here, not even the headmaster of the academy could change it.

Author’s Note:

This book will at most kill off some side characters to enrich the plot. The main characters will not be killed off. After all, from my writing style, you can tell that this is a lighthearted, happy story with a bit of a silly side. Well, probably.