The Academy Regressor is Obsessed

Crackle!

The white light stretches out fiercely, aiming for Zerville’s head. Despite the sudden attack, Zerville forms a hand seal with a slight smile.

[Cadaver Paries]

With a cracking sound of something being crushed, a wall of corpses rises from the ground. A flesh wall full of distorted human faces in all directions, with a heart embedded in the center, beating and splattering blood around. The lightning strikes the center of it, and with a loud noise, the wall shatters.

Blood, pus, and ooze drip from between the collapsed wall. Zerville looks at the filth being washed away by the rainwater, then raises his head to look at the owner of the lightning bolt.

Though her face is hidden by the darkness in the alley, only her blue eyes are clearly visible. That alone revealed the identity of this magician.

Even without the eye light, Zerville would have recognized the owner of the lightning immediately. After all, any magician in this field would know the name of the continent’s only lightning mage. Moreover, a monster who had reached the level of an archmage.

“It’s been a while, Kaepyeok. Have you been well?”

Zerville said this and slightly lowered his upper body, placing his hand on his chest. It was a noble’s etiquette.

Familiar formality flowed through his gestures. But the voice coming from the alley wasn’t so formal.

“Continental extermination target.”

A woman’s characteristically high voice is transmitted through the air. With just that, the thunder in the surroundings intensified. The violent and rough nature of magical power began to slowly occupy the space.

“Corpse mage Zerville. The given alias is Corpse Lord.”
“My, my. To have an archmage personally call out my alias. I’m honored.”
“Single-handedly annihilated the Kingdom of Berom, piled up corpses to build a fortress. Killed the envoys from the Holy Kingdom and the Empire who came. Declared a domain around the ruined kingdom, forming a land where the living cannot enter. Then suddenly disappeared.”
“I had my reasons.”

Zerville said, shrugging his shoulders. The heads of corpses slowly rose from beneath his feet.

They were grotesquely twisted corpses. Sharp teeth were attached where eyes should be, and pointed tongues flickered out from mouths extending from the jaw to the abdomen.

“I’ve been researching ways to refine corpses recently. This is the result. But I used up almost all the kingdom’s people in the process, so I’m wandering around here and there to replenish corpses.”

Ignoring Zerville’s words, the woman slowly walked towards him. Her appearance was fully revealed.

A youthful appearance that would be more fitting to call a girl rather than a woman. However, the pressure emanating from her body was by no means at a level that could be called a girl. The surrounding air was heavily pressed down, and static electricity writhing in the humidity stung the skin.

It felt like facing an irresistible monster. Just looking at her, one felt a pressure that made it seem like they would be crushed to death.

But Asel didn’t take his eyes off her. No, he couldn’t. Unlike Zerville’s death energy, Asel felt something tickling in his chest from the violent magical power bearing the nature of lightning.

A strange feeling as if the sensation of arms he had forgotten he had was coming back to life. Asel stared at the girl with wide eyes, etching this newly blooming sixth sense into his mind.

At that moment, with a crackling sound, lightning sparked around her.

“The large-scale massacre that occurred in the Empire’s slums a year ago. Was that your doing too?”
“It’s tiring to say it twice. But since I did it in a state without drugs, I don’t remember much except for the prostitutes screaming for their lives.”
“I see.”

The girl answered, closing her eyes.

Gradually, the number of lightning branches rising around her increased. At the same time, death energy began to flow out of the bodies of the corpses standing near Zerville. The corpses trembled at the energy that exceeded the limit, but Zerville didn’t care. Instead, he spoke with a bitter smile.

“More than that, the Magic Federation is impressive. Even if I’m designated as an extermination target, to designate an archmage as the hunter? Is the federation so short on people?”
“There was a contract I made before. I just wanted to clear it all out with this opportunity. And…”

The girl said with a small smile.

“Rather than sending another hunter and handing over high-quality corpses to you, they needed someone who could deal with you definitively.”
“This is troublesome. If I had known it would come to this, I should have pretended to be caught and killed by the previous hunter.”

Zerville sighed deeply and stretched his hand to the side. A great sword rose from the ground and was grasped in his hand.

A sword forged from flesh and bone. Sticky death energy was thickly coated on its peach-colored blade. A demonic sword that rots any part it touches. Zerville twirled the sword and smiled at the girl.

“I suppose you have no intention of letting me live?”
“Can a corpse mage live with just the brain left? If so, I might consider sparing you.”

That was a sufficient answer. Zerville handed over the sword he was holding to a corpse that looked like a knight, and spread both arms wide. Then he shouted.

“Alright! Then shall I stretch my body a bit after a long time?”

The girl, Ena, didn’t say anything. Instead, she slightly nodded her head. That simple action became an incantation, pouring towards Zerville.

[Pursuing Lightning]

Crackle!

Snow-white lightning advances quickly towards Zerville. Zerville avoided the attack by bending his body’s joints abnormally. At that moment, the lightning that had missed changed its path and returned towards Zerville.

A direct hit. Zerville’s body was instantly covered in snow-white lightning.

“Ggggggg…!”

Syllables that couldn’t form words leaked from his mouth. His electrocuted body rattled and shook, and his fingertips turned to ash and scattered from the overwhelming heat energy.

But Zerville smiled grotesquely, contorting his electrocuted face without showing any sign of pain.

Splash!

His chest burst open. Blood and flesh spurted out from between, and compressed corpses were shot out like cannonballs.

[Cadaver Solutio]

As they were shot out, the compression was released. In an instant, hundreds of corpses expanded to fill the street. While Asel, who was standing behind Zerville, was fine, the girl’s figure was completely hidden by the countless corpses attacking from all directions.

But her voice was clear.

“How annoying.”

The girl waved her hand, looking at them with indifferent eyes.

[Annihilating Lightning]

Lightning dances following her hand gesture. The quickly advancing white light burns, crushes, and bursts everything it touches. Every time the lightning moves, blood and flesh splash up, forming pools of blood on the ground. Even those evaporate the moment lightning touches them, washed away by the rain.

“Whew.”

The girl blew out the lightning rising from her fingertips and turned her head towards Zerville.

Zerville quickly formed hand seals, watching the girl evaporate blood with lightning.

The lightning that had covered his body had long since scattered into remnants. He raised death energy and manifested magic.

[Cadaver Brachium]

A giant arm made of woven corpses is summoned in front of Zerville. The arm, covered with human faces, advances as if to crush the girl, and the girl, holding lightning the size of her palm, thrust it forward with an awkward motion.

[Severing Lightning]

The short lightning and the giant arm collide.

The result was the victory of lightning. The snow-white lightning collapses the arm from the inside, scattering flesh and blood in all directions.

Boom!

A huge noise spread as the arm exploded. Asel unconsciously frowned, and the girl pointed her finger at Zerville. A simple incantation. However, the power born from it is not simple.

[Turbid Lightning]

-Crackle!

The sound of sparking lightning came from the girl’s fingertips. But nothing was shot. Only silence filled the street heavily.

However, Zerville hurriedly pulled a corpse with a bulging stomach like a pregnant woman in front of him. Immediately, the corpse exploded like a bomb. Zerville, covered in blood and flesh, shouted in an incredulous voice.

“Are you kidding me! This is a corpse that’s all-in on defense! It’s not a shabby entity that explodes with one magic!”
“What do you want me to do about it.”

The girl retorted blandly and spread her palm towards Zerville. A straight form of lightning is fired from her grasp.

[Lightning Rectification]

“Let me catch my breath!”

Zerville placed both hands on the ground. The smell of decaying corpses wafted from beneath his feet, and a rotten head the size of a building rose. The head exploded without fail the moment it touched the lightning, just like before.

Zerville chanted magic amidst the scattering flesh.

[Suprema Unio]
[Gigas]

Compressed corpses rolling out from Zerville’s hands gather at one point. Then they instantly form a giant corpse. The giant looks down at the girl with eyes dripping blood, then lets out a roar and stamps its foot hard.

-Uwooooooh!

“Noisy.”

The girl muttered this and swung her hand down from above.

[Annihilating Lightning]
[Imitation]
[Falling Lightning]

Falling lightning, classified as high-level magic even within lightning spells, is manifested from another spell, following only its principle. The power is significantly lower, and its range is incomparably narrower, but it was enough to vaporize the giant entirely.

Kwaaaaang!!

Along with the falling lightning, a thunder so loud it felt like it would burst eardrums was heard. Asel opened his mouth in awe, forgetting even the ringing in his ears, and Zerville unknowingly let out a hollow laugh.

“That wasn’t something that could be killed so easily, but…”
“Are you done playing around?”

The girl said, scattering blue eye light, beyond the giant turning to ashes and scattering.

Zerville shrugged his shoulders and answered, spewing corpses through the hole in his chest.

“Well, not yet.”

The small compressed corpses rise. The corpses controlled by a high-ranking corpse mage are at a level that can slaughter skilled warriors with just their physical bodies.

Moreover, Zerville is a being who has reached the top among corpse mages. The corpses he controls are all comparable to high-level experts.

But the girl didn’t even blink at the tsunami of corpses overwhelming her vision. She just scatters lightning to kill them all, as if annoyed.

A corpse stretching out its sharp arm evaporates from the arm and disappears. Every time lightning flashes, dozens of corpses burst entirely. Electricity spreading through rainwater electrocutes and burns the corpses, and falling lightning in bundles cleanly clears the surroundings.

When there were almost no corpses left around the girl, she frowned, sensing Zerville starting to retrieve death energy.

“You weren’t planning to fight seriously, were you?”

She said, stepping on and bursting an approaching corpse, and pointing to the three corpses standing guard-like next to Zerville.

“The strongest ones don’t even move, and the magic you use is just crudely throwing corpses. Seems like you’re aiming for something.”
“Your intuition is sharp.”

Zerville said with a bitter smile, closing the torn chest again. He compressed a corpse kicked at his feet, chewed it like candy, and spoke, twitching his blood-dripping mouth.

“I was just trying to escape. It’s not a big deal. Do you think I’d be crazy enough to seriously fight someone like Ena?”
“Trying to escape in front of me is a big deal. Did you think I’d just let you?”
“Of course not. That’s why I’m trying to set up a shield.”

Zerville said this and sharply turned his head towards Asel. Asel, who had been carefully observing the girl’s magic until just now, flinched at that blatant gaze.

Just as Asel, who had finally come to his senses, tried to get up to escape, Zerville’s arm, stretched with torn flesh, grabbed Asel’s hair.

“Aaagh!”

Asel screamed at the pain as if his scalp was being torn off entirely. But Zerville didn’t care.

He held out Asel in his hand and swung him like a pendulum, bursting into a grin.

“Ta-da. An innocent citizen. And a child at that, with monstrous talent who was just learning magic power by himself while watching our magic!”
“…Fuck.”
“As you can see, his language is rough, but that’s natural since he grew up in the slums. Anyway, I originally planned to conduct various experiments after discovering him, but it all turned to bubbles with Ena’s appearance. It’s regrettable, but I have no choice but to let him go here.”

Zerville said this while shaking Asel’s body up and down. In the process, his scalp tore and blood flowed out.

Asel let out a suppressed groan at the stinging pain. Zerville glanced down at the flowing blood, then turned his head back to the girl.

“I thought about killing him, but that seemed a bit wasteful? I’m also curious about what would happen if a being with such talent learned magic… And I’d like to find him again later to resume experiments. Haha! As you know, I’m a bit of an oddball, aren’t I?”
“……”
“I’m going to let him live, and I have no intention of interfering with his body separately! He’s a child with extremely good resonance, so if I interfere, it would be like sprinkling impurities, right? Then his growth direction would be strangely twisted. I don’t like that.”

Zerville continued speaking while spinning Asel’s body around. Asel’s face was already covered in blood flowing from his head.

“Still, I should receive something in return for sparing him. I’ll use him as a shield for a moment. If Ena uses magic, this child will be roasted and roll on the ground, right? If you don’t mind that, feel free to attack. I’ll gladly take it.”

Oh, except for high-level magic.

Zerville finished speaking and pulled out a rotten arm from his chest. Then he began to form an incantation with his other hand not holding Asel. Incomprehensible words spurt from his mouth, and the corpses standing guard around him gather near Zerville.

The girl, Ena, looked at the scene with displeasure but gave up on killing Zerville after seeing Asel’s blood-covered face. She retrieved all the magical power she had spread and clicked her tongue, watching Zerville’s magic.

“It’s transfer magic. You learned that too?”
“Haha, it’s just a little trick. A transfer mage I devoured a few months ago knew a decent spell. I modified it a bit.”
“You answer well when asked.”
“Could I hide the spell while openly using magic against a magician like you? It’s easier for me to just explain directly rather than being seen through… It’s done.”

Zerville finished forming the hand seal and condensed death energy in his hand. Then he struck down hard on a corpse sprawled on the ground.

Crack!

The body of the corpse that touched his hand split vertically, and beyond it, darkness full of stench unfolded. Zerville nodded with a satisfied expression.

“…A portal that can only be used with corpses. It really is just a little trick.”
“Isn’t it? But it’s quite useful for me. Especially for a mage like me who has modified their body to be close to a corpse.”

Zerville said this and threw Asel in front of the portal.

But he didn’t let go completely. He gently held Asel’s nape and bowed his head towards Ena.

“Then I’ll be going. I hope we don’t meet again.”
“Well. The federation’s request to track you down once ends here, but personally, I don’t have good feelings towards you.”

Ena tilted her head sideways with a slight smile.

“I hope you have a good hostage next time we meet too.”
“Thank you for the advice.”

As soon as Zerville finished speaking, he threw himself into the portal. His body disappeared into the darkness, and only after the arm holding Asel’s neck was sucked into the portal did the transfer magic cut off.

Only then did Asel grasp his neck with bright red marks and breathe heavily.

Intense pain rushes from his torn head. Thanks to the pouring rain, most of the blood on his face had been washed away, but the wound had actually worsened. Every time the thick raindrops hitting his head directly struck the wound, he felt pain to the level of his body trembling.

But, anyway, he survived. Torn skin? Considering the price of meeting a crazy magician, this was getting off lightly. Asel slowly steadied his rough breathing and exhaled a long breath towards the sky.

“Kid.”

As he was doing this, Ena, who had been standing still, approached Asel. Asel let out an “Ah” and quickly stood up, bowing his waist towards Ena.

“Thank you, Magician. Thanks to you, I could survive. If you had been a little later, I would have been tortured alive.”

He was sincere. If Ena had arrived a little later, Asel would have been slowly dismantled by Zerville’s hands.

Also, when Zerville was using Asel as a hostage to escape. If Ena had wanted to, she could have killed both Zerville and Asel at the same time. But Ena didn’t, and thanks to that, Asel was able to survive. It was natural to feel sincere gratitude towards such a person.

Ena also noticed this sincerity and nodded lightly with a faint smile.

“Mm, that’s right. I’m glad you’re safe. I’ll heal your torn head.”
“Eh? There’s no need to…”
“No, stay still.”

Ena ignored Asel’s refusal and poured a red potion she took out from her bosom onto his head.

Then Asel’s wound began to heal instantly. The pain also started to disappear gradually, and after a few seconds, the wound disappeared cleanly. Asel exclaimed in admiration at his head that no longer hurt even in the rain and bowed his waist at a right angle once again.

“Thank you!”
“Your cheek… Just a moment.”

Ena placed her hand on Asel’s cheek where the flesh had rotted. With a crackling sound, magical power was ejected from her palm. The magic gently rummaged through Asel’s wound, extracting and annihilating the remaining death energy.

It was a delicate work that ordinary magicians couldn’t even attempt, but for an archmage like her, it wasn’t such a difficult task.

Ena then poured the potion once more over the now clean wound. The rotting flesh slowly healed, and soon returned to its original state. Asel expressed his gratitude again for his cheek that no longer felt any pain.

“Thank you so much!”
“Mm.”

Ena looked down at Asel with a gentle smile. As she did so, something flickering caught Ena’s eye.

It was mana. She tilted her head and slightly raised her magical power. In her eyes, which were starting to gleam blue, clear mana was seen surging around Asel.

“…Oh.”

Ena unknowingly let out an exclamation. She couldn’t help it.

While it’s common for archmages or accomplished masters with some rank to be loved by mana, it was the first time even for Ena to see so much mana swirling around a child who hadn’t even learned magic yet. It was that rare, and a talent that would be hard to find even if you searched the entire continent.

‘I thought Zerville was just talking nonsense when he openly praised him. But it was true.’

Although she had lived a long life as a long-lived species, life was still hard to predict. Who would have thought to find a being with talent surpassing the magicians of the extinct magic kingdom in the slums of a corrupt kingdom? Ena thought as she wrapped the mana swirling around Asel with her hand.

That he has outstanding talent? I understand. But is it okay to leave such talent here?

Is it right to let a brilliant talent that could blossom quickly with someone’s help rot in the slums? Wouldn’t it be better for the continent if I took him in and raised him as a magician?

And what if he’s picked up by some weird people and grows up as a demon worshipper if left here? Wouldn’t that bring calamity?

Moreover, subjects with excellent talent for mana have extremely high value as sacrifices. If this child were used as a sacrifice to summon a demon, wouldn’t a dominant entity emerge?

Continuing thoughts. Ena narrowed her eyes and let out a sigh.

‘Should I just take him with me?’

She didn’t really plan to take on a disciple, but it’s true that she felt greedy seeing such talent right in front of her.

Come to think of it, isn’t the reason she hasn’t taken on a disciple until now because there was no one who caught her eye? A being loved by mana to this extent is more than enough to be taken as a disciple, it’s overflowing.

‘Other magicians would go crazy trying to snatch him if they saw this, wouldn’t they?’

She could see it clearly without even looking. The scene of a magician who, like herself, accidentally discovers Asel, takes him as a disciple, and appears at the federation a few years later, boasting of the disciple’s achievements.

Then other magicians would feel envy and jealousy for not being able to take Asel as their disciple, and that master would snicker at their pathetic looks.

Surely, she would also be grinding her teeth in regret and disappointment for not being able to take him as her disciple. Rather than letting that happen, it seemed more beneficial for her to take him and take the position of master.

Unlike other magicians, Ena had no intention of boasting excessively if her disciple excelled. She had no reason to do so, and there was no benefit in doing so. It was enough if he grew well and became a strong magician.

In that respect, Ena believed without a doubt that she could be a better master than other magicians. She nodded her head, imagining Asel spewing lightning instead of fire and ice after being taken in by her.

Yes, I’ve decided.

“Child, what’s your name?”

Ena asked with a kind smile. Asel answered without hesitation.

“My name is Asel. I don’t have a surname.”
“I see. I’m Ena Renatus.”

Ena introduced herself and gently stroked Asel’s head. Then she cleared her throat with a “hem-hem” and spoke in a serious voice.

“Um… Asel? May I make one proposal?”
“A proposal?”

Asel asked back. Ena nodded and answered.

“Would you like to become my disciple?”

To this question too, Asel’s answer was immediate.

“That seems difficult.”

Ena’s smile cracked.