Academy’s Undercover Professor-Chapter 289: The Chimera Corps (2)
What burst out through the manhole in the sewer was a beast-shaped chimera.
A creature that looked like a cross between a tiger and a wolf easily slipped through the sewer opening, far smaller than its massive frame.
It looked just like a cat squeezing through a narrow hole.
Grrrr!
The chimera drooled as it stared at Ludger, Passius, and the fallen Liberation Army agents nearby.
GRAAAAH!
With a roar, the chimera leapt high and lunged forward.
At the same moment, a blinding white flash spread out like a net, engulfing the creature.
The chimera, swept by the flash, was shredded into cube-like chunks and scattered in every direction.
Passius casually flicked the white aura from his fingertips.
‘Impressive.’
Watching Passius slice the chimera to pieces in an instant, Ludger realized why the man never carried a sword when walking about.
He simply didn’t need one.
‘A Master-level knight really is a living weapon.’
Passius, meanwhile, opened his mouth to ask what was going on—but stopped.
More chimeras began pouring out of the sewer opening.
They flooded out endlessly, and in a blink, the number of chimeras had increased to nearly a dozen.
Fortunately, they were in an area without civilians. Otherwise, the place would’ve erupted in screams.
“This situation’s turning weird,” Passius remarked.
“So it seems,” Ludger replied lightly.
Even as he spoke, Ludger was casting a spell.
The formation completed quickly, and from the ground where the chimeras stood, stone pillars shot upward.
The rising pillars encircled the beasts.
In an instant, a massive rock prison had taken shape, trapping the chimeras inside.
GRAAAH!
The captured chimeras shrieked and swung their club-like tails, slamming the stone walls.
Chunks of rock broke off with each strike, fractures forming across the surface.
“They’re not ordinary chimeras.”
Narrowing his eyes, Ludger reinforced the broken columns and infused them with mana.
When the prison failed to collapse, the chimeras tried to retreat back into the manhole.
Presumably, they intended to navigate through the underground canals to exit elsewhere.
“They’ve got some intelligence, it seems.”
Ludger had no intention of letting them escape.
Another formation materialized in midair, # Nоvеlight # and a new spell activated in a flash.
At its core surged heat—flames mimicking true fire.
The blazing inferno swallowed the chimeras trapped inside the stone prison.
Burning beasts. The acrid stench stinging his nose. The piercing screams that grated the ears.
As he watched the chimeras turn to ash in an instant, Passius murmured in admiration:
“Is it over?”
“I don’t think so.”
Ludger lifted his head and looked in another direction.
Passius followed his gaze.
The chimeras weren’t appearing in just one location.
They were emerging simultaneously from every manhole across the area.
Kyaaah!
Aaaah!
As if to prove it, the screams of civilians began erupting all over the city.
Ludger and Passius’s expressions naturally hardened.
Seeing this, a high-ranking Liberation Army agent nearby burst out laughing.
“Keh-heh... You fools. You really thought stopping us was all it would take? We’re just a diversionary force meant to buy time.”
They had drawn attention by detonating large-scale bombs made with specially formulated explosives.
Once public focus had concentrated there, they unleashed chimeras all across the capital to create total chaos.
“We’ve been played,” Ludger muttered, frowning slightly.
He had known the Liberation Army was working with black mages, but he hadn’t imagined the situation had progressed this far.
To operate at this scale meant the plan had been in preparation for quite some time.
A terrifying mass-produced chimera force was certainly a serious threat.
Yet Ludger instinctively knew—it didn’t end here.
The special explosives immune to [Silence of Fire] had been impressive. The chimeras hidden beneath the royal palace were formidable.
But neither of those, fundamentally, could bring down the might of a thousand-year empire.
They could shake it, fracture it—but a system like a nation does not collapse so easily.
The ones who orchestrated this had to know that.
Which meant they were counting on something more.
“At least one more card up their sleeve...”
“Keh-heh.”
The Liberation Army agent said nothing in response—just kept grinning.
Ludger hadn’t been expecting an answer anyway. He simply gave a signal.
Wham!
Passius struck the agent and knocked him unconscious.
Then, wearing a grave expression, he asked Ludger, “We didn’t get everything out of him. Is that okay?”
“He didn’t seem to know more than that. If he had, he wouldn’t have been thrown away as a disposable pawn like this.”
“Then what will you do now? Continue with your assigned task... or lend your support?”
Passius cast a sideways glance toward the commotion in the distance.
“Our task is to uncover what scheme they’re hiding. If the chimeras are loose now, then the underground is likely unguarded.”
Ludger’s reply was cold.
Like a blade cutting cleanly.
It also meant he had no intention of stopping the rampaging chimeras at this moment.
Passius’s expression stiffened.
Just as disappointment began to flicker in his eyes, Ludger spoke again.
“And besides... it’s not as if we have to act ourselves.”
“Excuse me?”
“Have you forgotten? Just how many elite forces are gathered in this city right now?”
“Oh...”
Currently, two of the Empire’s Three Great Knight Orders were present in the city, as well as high-circle mages from various magical associations.
In terms of pure numbers and strength, it was nearly enough to wage a war.
And none of them would just stand by while this chaos unfolded.
As if to confirm it, immense waves of magical energy rippled from afar in succession.
Ludger, attuned to mana, and Passius, with his keen warrior’s sense, could both feel it clearly.
The battle of those already prepared... had begun.
Passius, inwardly impressed, still asked Ludger:
“But even with knights and mages, they can’t protect everyone.”
“The city’s police and guards won’t just sit idle either.”
“That may be true, but there’s always that ‘what if.’ What if something goes wrong? The students could get hurt. Are you really just going to stand by?”
“The students could get hurt...”
Ludger trailed off.
“True. That possibility can’t be denied.”
“...Sorry, what?”
Passius was startled when Ludger agreed so easily.
He didn’t ask for clarification. Instead, it felt like Ludger had been waiting for him to say exactly that.
“Even if it’s just in name... as a teacher, I can’t stand by while students are harmed.”
“Uh, um...”
“Let’s go.”
“Go where, exactly?”
“There are chimeras running wild downtown. Or are you planning to just watch?”
“...You could’ve just said from the start that we should help.”
“You were the one who said it, Passius. That the students might get hurt. I merely accepted that.”
Ludger’s expression remained completely neutral as he said it, prompting an involuntary laugh from Passius.
He finally understood why the First Princess had said what she did.
Ludger might speak coldly, but there was kindness woven between his actions and words.
In some ways, he was quite similar to Princess Aileen.
Even now.
He was embarrassed to take initiative outright, so he used Passius’s words as an excuse to act.
“You’re really bad at this, you know.”
From the rumors alone, Passius had assumed Ludger was a heartless psychopath—but now he knew better.
Ludger Cherish.
He was a man more human than anyone. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
“What did you just say?”
“Nothing. Let’s go. We can’t just sit on our hands.”
“For the record, this wasn’t my suggestion. You were the one who brought it up, Passius.”
“Sure, sure. Let’s go with that.”
Ludger gave a faint nod, clearly unconvinced.
The two immediately set off toward the center of the fighting.
* * *
“Hyup!”
With a booming voice, Phyron thrust his fist forward.
BOOM!
His rugged muscles rippled as they tore the air apart with a sonic crack.
His punch struck nothing but air—yet a chimera in the distance suddenly had a gaping hole blown through its torso.
The police officers on the scene gasped in awe.
“Amazing...! So this is what mana discharge from a 6th-circle mage looks like!”
Phyron’s combat method was extremely simple.
Simple—but all the more powerful for it.
He charged his fists with mana and launched it through sheer force.
It was closer to fist wind than traditional magic.
At this point, it felt almost wrong to call it “magic.”
In fact, several of the officers who watched Phyron in action couldn’t help but murmur to each other, “That’s... magic?”
But Phyron himself declared with confidence that what he was using was magic.
Magic, after all, was simply the act of utilizing mana.
By releasing mana through his fists, he was still using it as a form of technique. Therefore, magic.
Technically speaking, he wasn’t wrong.
Still, it felt oddly out of place.
But that discomfort was swiftly overshadowed by the sheer brilliance of Phyron’s performance.
A horde of chimeras that would have overwhelmed the police was being cleared out like autumn leaves by one man’s fists.
GRAAAAH!
“Sir Phyron! Look out!”
Perhaps it was because Phyron had plunged too deep into the swarm.
One chimera clinging to the outer wall of a nearby building lunged at him, baring its fangs.
Its twin rows of serrated teeth aimed directly at the exposed spot between his trapezius and the back of his neck.
What happened next was even more shocking.
CLANG!
Rather than piercing Phyron’s flesh, the chimera’s fangs collided with what sounded like solid metal.
Teeth strong enough to bite through brick snapped on impact, clattering to the ground in shards.
“Huh? Pfft-hahaha! Look at this cute little guy. Tried to bite me?”
Phyron met the chimera’s trembling gaze, then reached out with one thick hand and—
CRACK!
—snapped its neck without hesitation.
The police finally understood what made Phyron a 6th-circle mage.
He didn’t need elaborate spell formations or casting rituals.
All he needed was absurd mana capacity, explosive mana discharge, and tireless stamina.
That alone was enough.
BOOM!
Each time Phyron swung a fist, the chimeras caught in the mana shockwave were torn apart.
“More! Bring me more!”
As Phyron roared, the chimeras—enraged and provoked—turned their crazed eyes on him and charged.
The subtle mana resonance embedded in Phyron’s voice had disrupted their minds, driving them into a frenzy.
Just as a pack of chimeras filled the street and rushed toward him—
FLASH!
A brilliant light flared from the sky, and a barrage of mana blasts rained down like artillery fire, engulfing the chimeras.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!!!
They were shredded apart or burned to a crisp in a storm of explosions.
Still brimming with anticipation for hand-to-hand slaughter, Phyron scowled up at the sky in irritation.
Floating above was a small girl with her hair tied into twin-tails.
Caroline Monarch.
She had come to assist.
“Hey, little lady. You can’t just snatch someone else’s prey like that.”
“Hey, muscle pig. Didn’t I tell you not to call me that?”
With a scowl on her face, Caroline Monarch slowly descended from the air.
Her floating spell was so smooth that her posture didn’t waver in the slightest. One of the more magically literate officers gasped in admiration.
But Caroline paid them no mind and grumbled at Phyron.
“Why are you punching them one at a time? You could just sweep them all up with one large-scale mana blast.”
“Hmph. If I did that, there’d be nothing left of the buildings. I’m restraining myself. I can’t exactly destroy everything with my own hands.”
“Restraint, my ass. You just want to enjoy the rare chance to fight for as long as possible. Don’t think I don’t know.”
She’d hit the mark. Phyron shrugged, unabashed.
Caroline looked at him like he was utterly pathetic.
“Anyway, whatever this is, it’s clearly not a normal situation. Save the personal commentary for later. We need to deal with this first.”
“Yeah, looks that way.”
Even after that wave of mana bombardment, chimeras were already beginning to flood in again from the distance.
Who knew how many of them were hiding underground?
They just kept coming, seemingly without end.
Phyron slammed his fists together and got into position, while Caroline’s hair whipped around her face, stirred by her raging mana.
Just as the two prepared to face the next wave—
FLASH!
A single beam of light streaked down vertically from the sky.
Caroline and Phyron saw it clearly.
The vertical beam suddenly bent midair and pierced straight through the forehead of the foremost charging chimera.
It was no thicker than a finger joint, yet the heat and speed it carried instantly incinerated—not just pierced—its vital point.
The beam didn’t stop there. It sharply changed direction again and struck the next chimera.
In the blink of an eye, the sky was filled with radiant trails that looked like constellations being stitched together—intricate paths of light.
And just like that, the charging chimeras dropped to the ground one after another.
Almost simultaneously.
“What... the hell is that?”
“......”
Phyron’s eyes widened, and Caroline fell silent.
It wasn’t just the visual spectacle.
They both instantly recognized the overwhelming level of magic involved.
“Controlling a single beam of hyper-compressed light... to that extent?”
To take down that many chimeras at once, most would need a high-output, high-cost area spell.
Yet the mana embedded in that light spell wasn’t that dense.
It had eliminated every chimera with minimal energy and maximum effect.
It wasn’t that Phyron or Caroline couldn’t use such a method themselves.
As 6th-circle mages, they simply never bothered. But if they practiced diligently, they could probably replicate it.
Which was to say: even they would need extensive training to reach that level of efficiency.
That’s how exceptional that light magic was.
And above all else—its attribute.
‘Light attribute... so rare... Only a few could possibly handle it...’
Caroline looked up.
There he was in the sky.
A black-haired young man in a long black frock coat, watching the scene unfold below.
Ludger.
With his blue eyes, he confirmed that no more chimeras were nearby—and then, without a word, leapt away over the rooftops and disappeared.
He had clearly recognized them, yet offered no greeting.
A silent statement: No need for words.
“Well, damn.”
Phyron laughed dryly, sounding a bit stunned.
“That guy’s a teacher? What a waste of ridiculous talent.”
