I Became an Unknown Professor at the Academy

[ Magic Workshop – Tokyo Branch ]

A large magic stone embedded in the floor, larger than the average adult male’s head, with a magic circle delicately connected to it.

“Miko-sama.”
“Huah…!!”

At the signal from Satoshi, who was both a guard and the contact point, Mio Yuzuki sent talismans filled with her magical power toward the magic stone embedded in the floor.

Hwaah—!!

As soon as the talismans stuck to the magic stone, they were engulfed in blue flames and turned to ash.

Instead, the dark blue color of the magic stone began to rapidly lighten, and before long, it became so clear that one could see right through it, emitting a faint blue light.

“I’ll set the coordinates!!”
“Step back!!”

The wizards from the magic workshop, upon confirming that the magic stone had absorbed power again, quickly began adjusting the magic circle’s ritual.

“Connection confirmed!!”
“Teleport portal activating!!”

With the wizards’ excited shouts, a gate-like blue dimensional portal appeared above the magic stone on the floor. It was different from the usual gates but was a bit more stabilized.

“Is it… done?”
“Who knows?”

Mio Yuzuki and her guard, Satoshi, stepped back so as not to disturb the wizards’ work, staring at the teleport portal that would connect to Seoul with tense gazes.

The number of gates had suddenly skyrocketed exponentially starting two months ago.

Fortunately, most of them were low-level gates, so even though it was tight, the number of gates was gradually being reduced with few major incidents.

But today, out of nowhere, an indiscriminate terrorist attack by the Evil God worshipers had begun.

The temple branches in each city were swept away in explosions, and the guild headquarters and hideouts that had been vacant due to the gate campaigns had collapsed.

And that wasn’t all.

“I will never… never forgive this…”

Reports had come in that multiple specialized schools, including the Sakuragi Academy where she was enrolled, as well as other academies, had been destroyed by mysterious explosions, taking down all their critical facilities.

Fortunately, since it was vacation time, there were no casualties. However, among the destroyed infrastructure, Mio Yuzuki’s office, which she had been decorating to entertain Baek Hana someday, was included, so her anger was only natural.

“There must be no negligence in the reception.”
“If anyone had ever seen that spirit, no fool would commit such an impolite act. Besides, those kinds of idiots wouldn’t even be selected as Miko-sama’s guards.”
“That’s true.”

Mio Yuzuki nodded at Satoshi’s reply and kept her gaze fixed on the swirling portal.

In a situation where the number of awakened ones to counter the gates was insufficient, making this the worst scenario, the ringleader of the terrorists and the leader of the Black Sky who worshiped the Evil God Amos, Xiao Zhan, was believed to be hiding in a gate here in Tokyo.

To be precise, they had tracked the video signal broadcast worldwide just minutes before the terrorist attacks, and one of those locations was this gate in Tokyo.

In the past, when the current Executor was still a Paladin, Xiao Zhan had killed half of the Paladin Corps sent from eight temples, including her, and escaped the siege.

Although his face had been severely mangled, the fact that he had escaped from the greatest force of the eight temples alone proved just how strong Xiao Zhan was.

However, there was a secret that only those involved in the incident, including Mio Yuzuki, knew.

At that time, it was only Claire Bean Assen, the “Light’s Crusader” who could handle both divine power and light, blessed by Amos and transformed into something close to a demon, who was able to deal real damage to Xiao Zhan.

Had Claire not been there, it would have been the Priest Union that would have fled, not Xiao Zhan.

Of course, due to the overwhelming holy power she received from Bwiar, she had to spend almost half a year in bed, but the surviving priests knew one thing.

Though they shared the same divine power, they would never be able to fight or be as strong as Claire Bean Assen.

Claire Bean Assen.

At that time, she was only sixteen.

After half a year of recovery, at the age of seventeen, Claire Bean Assen rose to the position of the sharpest “King” of the five swords wielded by Bwiar.

And two years later, at the age of nineteen, she became the well-known “Executor.”

Naturally, the priests who survived with Claire’s help also rose to higher positions, and one of the reasons the temples all gave absolute deference to the name “Executor” was because of Claire.

Wuuuuu—!!

“Miko-sama.” ”
…I see.”

The blue light of the portal, which had been still, began to ripple, and Mio Yuzuki and Satoshi prepared themselves to greet the visitor with tense expressions.

The idol and pinnacle of all priests.

The only one granted the authority to call upon the name of a god.

Clack—

Black shoes stepped out from the blue portal.

“A bit…?”

The shoes were too large for a woman’s feet, and just as the thought appeared in Mio Yuzuki’s mind.

The owner of the shoes stepped fully into view.

“Uh…?”

Mio Yuzuki’s mouth, which had been ready to greet the visitor, instead let out a surprised sound.

A man who wore black well.

The only person who had made Baek Hana smile at that party.

“…Miko-sama.”
“Ah…!!”

Mio Yuzuki, coming to her senses quickly at the voice of Satoshi, who had reacted as a guard, closed her mouth, which had been hanging open like a fool, and hurried over to the man standing in front of the portal.

‘This person is also an extraordinary powerhouse…’

The Priest Union had said that the Executor would come, but despite the visitor being a person of the opposite gender, Mio Yuzuki felt no displeasure.

Baek Woo-jin.

The absolute powerhouse who had turned World Rank 23’s Ben Stiller into a cripple in an instant.

“I am Mio Yuzuki, in charge of guiding you.”

The Miko, who never even bowed to the Prime Minister, now lowered her head to him.

.

.

.

A man wearing a robe, his head covered with a hood, entered the large altar where ominous black flames burned from the torches and bowed down.

“It has been confirmed as Black.”

There was no reply.

Instead, the young man standing before the altar slowly turned and looked down at the man who had bowed.

“Gold?”

“He hasn’t left the academy.”

“Hmm…”

At the man’s response, the young man stroked his chin and descended from the altar.

“Well, he was someone we had to check eventually.”

The young man, no— the demon in the guise of a young man, and the ninth bishop of the Evil God Amosis, Sakaguchi Kentaro, slowly blinked his darkened eyes and gave an order to the bowed man.

“Once Black enters, come back.”

“Yes.”

With his head still lowered, the man slowly stood up and stepped back, exiting the room.

Once alone again, Kentaro looked up at the darkened crystal floating above the altar.

The study and control of gates.

Last year, a paper published under the name of the Clock Tower.

If anyone else had published such a paper, no one would have given it a second thought, but it was a paper published under the name of the Clock Tower.

The content of the paper was exactly what the title implied— it discussed gates. More specifically, it explained how the crystal at the core of these gates learns and grows through the actions of invaders, and that with enough magical power and will, one could control the crystal.

And now, the darkened crystal before him was the proof that the paper’s content was true.

Although it required an absurd amount of magical power, necessitating the offering of high-quality sacrifices, the results obtained were immensely satisfying, and none of the bishops who had contributed sacrifices voiced any complaints.

They had successfully subjugated the crystal, the core of the gate.

Although there were clear limitations— one could only create and handle things within a set theme— the fact remained that within the gate, one could wield near-omnipotent power.

One could summon monsters to any desired location, alter terrain, and set traps.

Everything could be realized according to his will.

Of course, there were limits to how many monsters could be summoned in a day, and the number of traps that could be set was also capped.

“If that monster is a basilisk, then things change.”

A monster that would have to be classified as mythic-level, one that surpassed the high-ranking species guarding the thirteenth-tier gate that existed here.

The basilisk— he could summon two of them simultaneously.

However, there was a risk: to do so, all other monsters and traps had to be released, and after summoning the two basilisks, he would be unable to do anything for a week. But it was the basilisk.

This was the monster that had taken the combined efforts of four bishops— including himself, the third and fifth bishops, and the twelfth bishop who had replaced the mysteriously deceased Gill Bain from last year— two full days to kill.

The basilisk’s near-absolute magic resistance and scales harder than steel still made him shudder to think about them.

Had it not been for the bishops being demons capable of handling magical beasts, they would not have even been able to attempt the campaign against it.

“How disappointing. What a waste.”

He had hoped to witness the Executor struggling firsthand.

“But Black is not bad either.”

A mysterious figure, evaluated to be on par with or even superior to the Executor.

At the same time, the true owner of the paper published under the name of the Clock Tower.

“If only I could eat his brain…”

From Kentaro’s long, split-open mouth, a dark blue tongue flicked out, licking his lips before disappearing inside.

And even if, by some chance, the two basilisks were slain, it wouldn’t matter.

This place was, after all, a bait.

As long as he could hold the opponent’s ankle for even a little while, it would be enough.

While it was a bit regrettable to have to break the core of the thirteenth-tier gate along with the offerings of the sacrificed victims, the most important thing was his own safety.

“Heh… I hope he arrives soon.”

Kentaro gazed up at the darkened crystal and swallowed in anticipation.

.

.

.

A dark space, where not a single ray of light entered.

“Devour it.”

Wuuu—!!

With the voice infused with a heavy, rumbling force, a brilliant blue light rose in the dark space. It seemed to melt into the air, fading as if it were a mirage, vanishing without a trace.

Once again, the darkness returned.

Now alone, Baek Woo-jin folded his glasses and placed them in his coat pocket. He then retrieved a clown mask stained with tears from a small bag tied to his waist and put it on his face.

“I hope there’s something worth eating.”