I Became an Unknown Professor at the Academy

A clear sky without a single cloud.
A gigantic sun hanging at its peak.

“Spit…”

A woman with long blue hair covering her eyes. Diana spat out the water she had just taken in.

The air, heated more than necessary, and the desolate desert sands that absorbed sunlight endlessly. Diana, wandering through this place with no sense of direction, discovered a real oasis, not a mirage, and carefully stepped toward it.

In the clear oasis shimmering with sunlight, Diana cautiously cupped the water with both hands to quench her parched throat and brought it to her lips. However, the moment the water touched her tongue, the “Library of Stars” was activated.

Naturally, the effects of the poison and the antidote appeared in her mind, and she had no choice but to spit it out.

The poison mixed with the oasis water was a very malignant one that infiltrated the body, contaminating the magic and slowly eroding the mind.

It had no obvious color or scent, and nothing artificial could be detected. But there was definitely poison in that clear lake.

‘This is not good…’

In her case, she could confirm the presence of the poison through the Library of Stars, which activated involuntarily, but for others, it was likely they wouldn’t recognize the danger at all.

Moreover, in her current exhausted state, the poison in the lake would play a decisive and deadly role at the critical moment.

“Huh.”

In normal circumstances, she wouldn’t even feel thirst, and even if she did, she would have used her miraculous power to purify the poison in the lake to satisfy her thirst. However, this time, she couldn’t afford to waste any of her precious divine energy just to quench her thirst.

‘It’s been fifteen days today.’

With only the scorching sun and sand, and the vile cultists lurking to take her life, she had fallen into a place where nothing could help.

Following the will of her superior, the executioner, Claire, had decided not to get involved in this terrorism. All eight saints, including herself, couldn’t defy her will and had headed straight to Busan.

After tracing Xiao Zhan’s broadcast, they discovered that the signal had come from a restricted zone where low-level cracks were clustered, used for practical training by the Hwaryang Academy and other specialized schools.

If the cracks had been in the higher danger zones, they would have prepared for at least a day before entering. However, the crack’s magical intensity was only about level 4, a very minor level, and neither she nor the other six had even considered it a trap and had simply entered.

When they crossed the blue crack and regained their vision, Diana found herself alone in the middle of a desert, surrounded by nothing but hot, barren sand.

“Sigh…”

Diana, who had been catching her breath under the shade of an unknown tree for a moment, used the mace she was holding as a cane and stood up.

Ssshhh. Ssshhh.

The distinctive sound of sand crumbling grew closer.

Not even considering breathing, Diana turned her body toward the approaching group, who now exuded a foul odor as well as the sounds.

The beast masks, distorted grotesquely and stained red.

‘Are they the beasts of Iblis?’

The black heavens who worshipped Amoth of jealousy.

And the evil followers who worshipped Nergal of violence.

The masked figures surrounding the oasis were a violent group from Iblis known as the “Bloody Dogs.”

A terrible organization that kills without hesitation for pleasure.

“The benevolent matron certainly doesn’t look well.”
“Indeed.”

Diana, in a half-smile, nodded at the mocking words of the man facing her. Because, in truth, he was right.

Fifteen days had passed since she had fallen into this place.

Naturally, she had been attacked dozens of times, had faced many traps, and through all of that, her clothing had been heavily damaged, leaving her in a state almost like wearing rags.

Her skirt, which had once reached her ankles, was torn to shreds, exposing her white thighs, and her abdomen and sides were exposed due to injuries from cold weapons, magic, and curses.

The only thing still intact was the black veil on her head and the mace in her hand. Those two were the only things that were left in good condition.

“Looks like you noticed the poison in there, unlike the other idiots.”
“Did the others fall for it?”
“Unlike you, the others are drinking like livestock being fed.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. So—”
“Three? No, two? There are only two.”
“…….”

At the sudden silence from the man, Diana nodded.

Through the Library of Stars, she could sense not only heart rates but also things that couldn’t be measured even by modern medicine, like the state of their bodies.

“Then, it must be Gremyan and Melian.”
“…….”
“Not Gremyan? How surprising. Then it must be Jules, right?”

Although he was wearing a mask, Diana could not see any changes in his expression or even the slightest tremble of his pupils. However, for Diana, who received real-time data of their heart rates, muscle movements, and every small bodily change, his resistance was meaningless. It was also the reason why she, even after leaving her role as an interrogator, was still in charge of interrogations.

A chilling smile spread across Diana’s face as her lips twisted.

“Strike!”

Her heart rate suddenly sped up, and the muscles around her contracted.

It was the physical response of those in fear.

She had charged her voice with magic, but it was just a cover for the frightened beast trying to hide itself.

“You seem to know a lot more than the bugs I’ve killed so far.”

Diana’s foot moved towards the target of her conversation—the leader of the Bloody Dogs, Angrius, even as the encirclement closed in.

Whoosh—!!

One of the wild dogs in the encirclement shot a crossbow bolt, piercing Diana’s calf.

“Crazy…!!”

However, the one who cursed was not Diana, but Angrius, the very target she had been after.

The arrow that pierced through the calf and came out of the shin didn’t reduce its speed at all.

“Goddamn bitch…!!”

Instinct was telling him to flee from the opponent right in front of him, but Angrius drew two curved daggers from his waist, both resembling snakes.

During that time, two arrows and the blades of wind slashed at Diana’s back and waist, and the distance between her and Angrius was reduced to almost nothing.

Hooosh—!!

“Ugh?!”

With an attack from the mace swung upwards from below with a speed and power that he couldn’t even attempt to block, Angrius barely managed to twist his waist backwards in time to deflect the vicious mace that was aimed at his head.

“This crazy bitch…!!”

His words were as if he was about to interrogate her, but that attack had clearly been aimed to crush his skull.

“Seems like you’re quite surprised.”

“…You even value skin and bones, huh—!!”

Before Angrius could even finish his sentence, he rolled his body to the side.

Boom—!!

At the same time, the mace, filled with divine power, slammed into the spot where he had been standing just moments ago.

But that wasn’t all.

Fwooosh—!!

A faint radiant light emanated from Diana’s body, and the arrows embedded in her calf and back were pulled out as if time was reversing. The wounds, which had been so deep that the bones could be seen, began to heal rapidly.

‘A monstrous bitch…!!’

Angrius genuinely felt fear towards the opponent in front of him.

It had been half a month.

For a full fifteen days, they had neither eaten nor drank, and had pushed themselves relentlessly, using traps and the meat they had prepared to exhaust their energy, depriving them of even proper rest.

And yet, she still had that much divine power remaining.

“Seems like you’re deep in thought.”

“…This—”

A brief hesitation caused by a single thought proved to be a harsh price.

Bang!!

With the sound of flesh tearing, Angrius’s left shoulder was completely crushed by the mace and collapsed into a mush. The shoulder, now mangled beyond recognition, hung limply, looking even more pitiful than if it had been severed.

“Grrr…!!”

Severe pain caused him to choke on his own blood, but Angrius gritted his teeth and, suppressing his scream, instinctively rolled his body backward.

Bang—!!

With the sound of air exploding, Diana’s fist barely missed the spot where Angrius’s right eye had been.

What? You’ll yield the ball?

“Among the Ibil’s forces, Bloody Dog must be the weakest. Looks like I’m a little worn out.”

With arrows coated in poison, daggers filled with curses, the blades of wind, and arrows of fire piercing through her, Diana calmly healed her wounds with an eerie smile, completely unfazed.

‘These bastards!!’

It was then that Angrius realized that he and his followers had been used as mere bait, much like the meat they had prepared.

How much had he devoted himself to the faith?

And now, they were casting him aside like this?

‘Don’t make me laugh…’

Angrius, who thought he couldn’t die a dog’s death in a place like this, shouted to his followers.

“Cast a wide-area magic!! And everyone retreat immediately—”

Boom!!

“Ahhh!!”

His left arm, which had hung limply after his shoulder had been destroyed, was crushed by the mace, turning into a piece of meat that rolled across the sand.

The pain, extreme enough to make him feel like his mind would shatter, surged over him as he bit his lips and shouted.

“Hurry!!”

In just ten seconds.

Angrius had the ability to turn his body into an ethereal form. Using that ability, he planned to escape the situation. However—

Bang—!!

The mace, now stained with blood and flesh, struck Angrius’s right knee faster.

“Ahhhhh!!”

Unable to endure the pain any longer, Angrius screamed.

Crack!!

Diana crushed his jawbone as he fell to the ground, then proceeded to smash his remaining limbs. After thoroughly neutralizing him, she turned and walked away.

It was at the exact moment Angrius had given the order to retreat that the attacks stopped.

No, the attacks hadn’t stopped.

‘Retreat…’

The wild dogs that had been closing in and attacking had abandoned their leader and fled.

If they had continued to attack, they could have bought some more time.

“Damn…”

In that moment, a thought flashed across Diana’s mind.

Angrius had been a discard from the beginning, and the wild dogs’ true objective had been to trap her in this place.

The reason was…

Whooooosh—

In the accelerated thoughts, Diana could feel it—the intense magic and gathered magical energy below her feet.

The explosion was imminent, and it was likely the bomb used in this terror attack.

‘It’s too late to avoid it now…’

Just as Diana was about to close her eyes and raise her divine power—

【Do not move.】

A chilling voice brushed her ear, and a dazzling light swallowed the oasis.