NOVEL WEB Chapter 30
“Looks like I might’ve said something unnecessary.”
The President’s magical power wove through the air, forming a spell. It wasn’t the multidimensional magic circle Yujin often showcased, but rather a very typical 2D circular magic circle.
Yujin stared at it thoughtfully, retracing each comment he had made during his exchange with the President.
His claim about contacting after arriving at the Academy was indeed accurate. He just conveniently omitted the part about noticing the Princess and calling them—but he figured there was no harm in coming himself, wanting to take a look around the Academy instead.
He had answered truthfully when asked how he arrived despite the space coordinates being tangled. It just didn’t hold much significance for him.
Did he really say to come quickly before heading to the Student Dormitory?
He may have brushed it off as a light-hearted joke before, but there was a certain weight to it that he couldn’t ignore.
He had noticed the presence of demons within the Academy and thought it necessary to report to them since he was on his way to encounter a demon.
When asked why he was with the Princess, that was indeed a bit tricky. It was because she had approached him, drawn in by the magic emanating from Enkeos’s horn he was holding.
But knowing it was odd that he possessed Enkeos’s horn, he just fibbed and said they had happened to meet by chance.
As for the cardigan, he was clueless. He simply assumed the Princess had thrown it on her shoulder haphazardly before rushing over. So he told the truth about that.
Finally, when asked why the Princess was passed out, he hesitated for a moment. It was a touchy subject, as he could easily be misinterpreted as having harmed the Princess.
He could’ve been frank about sealing the demon’s magic, but that would ultimately require mentioning the demon residing within her. The moment that happened, he’d be grilled about how he knew about the sealing method and the demon dwelling inside her.
Moreover, the President’s expression was particularly severe. She looked ready to attack for even just touching the Princess.
So Yujin thought it best to speak honestly while subtly reminding the President that she wasn’t exactly in a position to play the saint either.
The President and Professor Reina didn’t show a hint of surprise despite seeing the flower blooming in one of the Princess’s eyes. They worried about her unconscious state but didn’t voice a word of suspicion regarding the flower.
Seeing that, Yujin concluded that both were aware of the Seed of the Demon residing in the Princess, and he could leverage that to put some pressure on the President for a moment.
“It looks like the Princess is possessed by a demon.”
He made an offhand remark, as if he had just noticed the demon inhabiting the Princess’s body.
“Isn’t it curious? Why would a person of the Princess’s stature be at the Academy while being consumed by a demon?”
He emphasized the fact that the Princess was at the Academy despite being devoured by a demon. The President also looked stunned upon realizing this.
In her mind, one could imagine such thoughts swirling: that they were hiding a demon-possessed Princess at the Academy could reflect poorly on them.
In fact, Yujin, who had been in the presence of someone consumed by a demon, appeared the victim, leaving the President on the hot seat.
But was this drawing back the curtain on some dark secret?
“What’s the point of bringing that up?”
The President’s expression turned frostier. It seemed he had poked at something sensitive.
So Yujin responded, offering as cordial a smile as he could muster.
“Not sure. I thought you might know better than I do.”
The implication wasn’t heavy at all. He simply believed that if the President was rational, she would know what judgment to make. In fact, it put her in a position where she ought to explain herself.
“Is that so.”
Yet, it seemed he had indeed stirred the pot. Perhaps she saw an outright extermination as the easier path?
She appeared to gather her magic, clearly with the intention to kill him right then and there.
“In that case, there’s no other choice.”
Realizing the situation left him no room for inaction, Yujin forced a smile.
He then opened one eye slightly while raising a hand.
Vroooom!
“….!”
The President’s eyes widened in shock. She tried to cast her magic, but the magic circle didn’t respond—rather, it obeyed Yujin’s gesture.
Shockwave!
‘What the!’
The magic circle shattered in an instant. She realized what had just unfolded.
‘Magic Reverse Engineering!’
It was the technique of stripping the control over a spell from the opponent through mana manipulation. To be precise, it involved pouring one’s own mana into the opponent’s mana to seize control of the spell.
However, it was a technique mainly used against opponents of significantly lower skill levels and hardly ever employed against a powerhouse like the President.
She had never been on the receiving end of Magic Reverse Engineering since the moment she was born; hence her utter confusion.
“Gah!”
She sensed the gap in their levels but couldn’t afford to falter. They had already made their intentions clear by displaying bloodlust. Wishing for mercy from the opponent would be foolish.
However…
“『Void』.”
Whoosh!
“…Huh?”
With just one word from Yujin, she felt her strength drain away. More than that, she felt an absence of power.
No… to be precise…
She felt nothing.
Mana, Divine Power, Magic, Aura… all the energies that should be present in the air had vanished.
“This, this is…”
The President’s eyes trembled. She recognized that force.
A power that could alter the very laws of existence with just a word, a near-omnipotent authority.
A power symbolized by dragons.
“Dragon… Language?”
She looked up at Yujin with trembling eyes.
There, with crimson eyes and vertical slit pupils, was a strikingly handsome young man looking down at her.
***
Karandar Family.
A long time ago, this family, named after the dragon that was their ancestor, was akin to an independent power, not belonging to any nation.
They, bearing the noble blood of dragons, rejected existence beneath any country and deemed it beneath them to build a nation formed by humans.
Hence, they sought to remain entirely solitary. They only acknowledged families connected by blood and spurned any aristocratic titles offered by other nations.
Thus, they solely existed and built their strength. It wasn’t all that difficult of a task.
Born of dragon blood, each one of them was a master of magic. If they were taught just one thing about magic, they grasped over ten.
Meanwhile, amongst the many magical geniuses of the Karandar Family, one prodigy stood out.
Ines Karandar.
She was an exceptional child born with a heightened infusion of dragon blood compared to other children of her generation.
Without even needing instruction, she mastered concepts on her own, and her mana capacity was incomparable to that of her fellow Karandars.
She regarded her talent and lineage as glorious, unlike other geniuses who often bemoaned their gifts, unable to genuinely understand ordinary individuals.
She believed that her talents were truly a blessing. Learning magic was joyful, and everyone admired her and sought to be close.
Understanding others? People can’t perfectly understand each other anyway. Nonetheless, they manage to live together just fine. Complaining about a lack of understanding is merely a privileged lamentation of a genius.
She was a hungry genius—always deriving joy from learning magic, and relishing the envy of others. That kind of attention thrilled her.
Amidst all this joy, she found herself musing about the very source of her blessed lineage: what kind of beings were dragons? If she, merely a descendant, could be this amazed, then how incredible must they be?
This curiosity led her to study not only magic but also the transcendent beings known as the masters of magic.
Recorded accounts of dragons dated back thousands of years, and much had been lost over time, but she grasped their considerable powers.
Their magical systems were incomparable to those of humans, and the magic itself could be conjured with mere willpower.
Simultaneously, it was said they could overturn the very principles of the world with just a word—true omnipotence.
It was the ultimate form of magic, and that power was called…
“Dragon… Language?”
Dragon Language.
A power that could redefine even the very laws of the world with mere words.
Realizing this, she developed a deep yearning for dragons. It became her dream to one day receive the teachings of Dragon Language directly from a dragon.
In fact, she even headed toward the Great Maze, where the remaining dragons were imprisoned, in hopes of meeting one. The problem was…
‘I could never meet them.’
Those creatures, said to appear rarely to deliver trials to mortals, had never shown themselves to her.
Honestly, she had harbored great disappointment regarding this. After all, she believed that being born of dragon blood would surely result in some unique experience.
But now she was…
“D-Dragon…?”
She had met one.
A real dragon capable of using Dragon Language.
“Phew… well, this is something.”
The dragon, taking on human form, spoke with a bittersweet smile.
“President, shall we have a real heart-to-heart?”