I Became A Flashing Genius At The Magic Academy-Chapter 458

Under the Black Magic King’s orders, his seven sons were scattering into the underworld across the globe. Meanwhile, at Stella Academy, the second-semester final exams for the second-year students were underway.

However, after Stella Academy's second-semester final exams for second-years, a slightly special additional test takes place.

The term “special” wasn’t limited to Stella Academy alone, as this final exam held a broader significance. It served as a platform for prestigious schools to compete against one another in one of their core subjects.

This competition aimed to showcase the caliber of the students trained at each institution and to compare their levels of competence.

But why second-year students, specifically?

In the past, third-year students in their second semester were chosen, but by that stage, most were so occupied with activities outside the school that they could no longer properly participate in such events.

Naturally, not all second-year students participated in these interschool competitions. After all, even Stella alone had over a thousand second-years, and the scale would be unimaginable if other schools were included.

Only a select few students took part.

Those dissatisfied with their final exam scores and wanting additional points or those eager to showcase their magical talents and make a name for themselves were the primary participants.

Of course, the so-called "main character-level" students all participated, so Baek Yuseol naturally intended to join as well.

But as always, schedules seldom go according to plan.

"To facilitate the competition between the five prestigious magic schools of Arcanium, the academy has created five identical dungeon models. Additionally, they have prepared five enormous holographic monsters...”

While the schedule was being explained in the auditorium filled with second-year students, Baek Yuseol quietly slipped out to a more secluded area to talk with Scarlett.

“They stole the Green Core?”

“Yep! Because of that, the plan of the Green Tower to restore the Mullen Highlands to its natural state has hit a snag.”

“Something happened in the Mullen Highlands?”

“Oh, didn’t you hear? Well, you’ve been busy lately, so maybe not. The Black Mages set up a Persona Gate there, and then it exploded on a massive scale, leaving the highlands completely devastated.”

Baek Yuseol frowned and shook his head at Scarlett’s words.

“They never stay still, do they?”

“Right?”

“The Green Tower... they must already be busy restoring the petrified Saryun Desert.”

“Wow. For something so top-secret, you sure know a lot about the Green Tower.”

“I’ve heard bits and pieces.”

The Green Tower.

Known as the “Pillar of Raselon,” it was an unusual magical tower.

It fell short on almost every criterion for a proper magic tower: minimum personnel, annual research output, magical contributions, compliance with magical laws, and so on. It fulfilled none of these basic requirements.

Yet, the Green Tower retained its title as a magic tower for two reasons. First, its master, Toa Regrown, was a 9th-class archmage. Second, despite its lack of profit-driven activities, it played a critical role in cleaning up the aftermath of magical disasters.

For instance, purifying regions affected by Persona Gates.

“Anyway, Toa Regrown officially issued a request for you to recover the Green Core. What do you think?”

Scarlett’s eyes sparkled as she pulled a magically coated envelope from her pocket.

It seemed she found the situation particularly exciting, likely because she was a disciple of Toa Regrown.

“If you’re interested, Toa Regrown is even willing to visit Stella personally.”

“No thanks. If he’s busy enough to entrust such an important task to me, why would he have the time to visit here?”

“Exactly! He must have guessed you’d understand and accept the task, which is why he made the request. Isn’t it thrilling?”

“What exactly is so thrilling...”

Regardless of Scarlett’s reaction, the theft of the Green Core was a significant issue. Handling it personally might not be a bad choice.

The upcoming competition among the five prestigious schools of Arcanium, including Stella Academy, promised to be entertaining. Baek Yuseol had been looking forward to it, but he knew that such leisure wasn’t a priority in a situation like this.

“Oh, right. And this morning, I caught a bird loitering in front of your dormitory.”

“...A bird?”

“Yeah! Wanna see?”

When Baek Yuseol nodded, Scarlett flicked her fingers in the air. A bird, bound by its wings and legs, plopped onto the ground.

On its forehead, a golden magical sigil was engraved, unmistakably indicating it carried a message.

“...Why are you showing me this now?”

“Why do you think? The person who sent this bird seemed pretty suspicious. I wondered if it might be an attack on you~”

“That’s overprotective. I can handle something like this myself.”

Saying this, Baek Yuseol extended his hand toward the bird. As he did, text streamed out of its beak. When he identified the sender, his eyes widened.

‘So that’s why Scarlett was being overprotective.’

The sender was none other than Rudrick Hallow.

A mage of spatial magic, Rudrick was the master of the Tower of Silent Moon, operating from the shadows of the world. He was also the mentor of Elthman Elthwin.

Rudrick was known to have mastered spatial magic to a level beyond Elthwin’s. «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» In exchange for the “Hallow Connection” contract, he had given up all other magic, dedicating all his power solely to spatial magic.

As a result, Rudrick couldn’t even use basic magic like flash spells. To compensate for this glaring weakness, he had established the Tower of Silent Moon.

As Baek Yuseol read the letter, his expression darkened.

Coincidentally, Rudrick Hallow had sent a request to recover the Green Core at the same time.

But the contents of the message were unusual.

[To Baek Yuseol, Mage of Stella Academy. Whether you’ve noticed or not, recent actions by Toa Regrown seem suspicious.]

[He must have already requested that you recover the Green Core.]

[However, the Green Core is the core technology of the Green Tower. Why, then, would he entrust this task to an outsider?]

[The reason, I suspect, is that Toa Regrown can no longer handle the Green Core himself.]

The Green Core.

The Green Core was an extraordinary artifact capable of activating the natural life force of its surroundings proportional to the amount of magic imbued into it. It wasn’t something humanity’s technology alone could create. Rather, it was based on the divine relic of Yeondurim Saweol, one of the Twelve Moons, combined with human engineering.

Because of its divine origins, the Green Core could not be carelessly handled by humans with impure intentions. Doing so would result in immediate corruption.

‘Well, that does make sense.’

Baek Yuseol considered the rationale behind entrusting such an important artifact to an outsider for retrieval and transport. If the Green Core was truly that significant, shouldn’t Toa Regrown himself step forward, no matter how busy he was?

Still, he couldn’t trust the situation entirely.

From Baek Yuseol’s perspective, Rudrick Hallow was no more trustworthy than Toa Regrown.

This chapter is updat𝙚d by freeweɓnovel.cøm.

In the original game, the Tower of Silent Moon, led by Rudrick, never outright turned into an enemy faction. However, certain choices in specific routes could quickly turn them hostile.

If Baek Yuseol’s actions opposed their goals, they would not hesitate to point their swords at him.

[Therefore, I request that you retrieve the Green Core and return it directly to Toa Regrown.]

“...What?”

“Huh? What’s wrong? Why do you look like that?”

Baek Yuseol had expected Rudrick Hallow to ask him to retrieve the Green Core and deliver it to him. Hearing this instead left him baffled.

And then, the following words left him even more dumbfounded.

[If he has truly fallen to corruption, the Green Core will likely be contaminated and destroyed.]

[If that is confirmed... I will personally execute Toa Regrown.]

[He is a 9th-class mage. If corrupted, he would be as dangerous as the Black Magic King.]

In essence, Rudrick intended to use the divine artifact known as the Green Core to determine whether Toa Regrown had fallen to black magic.

The Tower of Silent Moon had nearly perfected a technique to identify Black Mages disguised as humans. However, it was uncertain whether this method would work against someone as powerful as a 9th-class mage.

Thus, Rudrick Hallow was willing to make a bold sacrifice.

‘He has a point.’

If a figure as prominent as Toa Regrown were to fall, it would indeed pose an immense threat to humanity.

If Rudrick succeeded in eliminating Toa Regrown, it would be a significant victory.

But...

‘The Green Core is too valuable to be used for something like that.’

It was a divine relic with limitless potential. To use it merely to check for corruption was a waste, especially since the artifact was already gradually being tainted by the Black Mages.

For now, Rudrick’s decision was understandable—there was no other way to confirm if a 9th-class mage had succumbed to corruption.

But Baek Yuseol had a different approach.

It wasn’t anything extraordinary.

All he needed to do was meet Toa Regrown in person and see for himself.

While wearing the Jikbakguri Glasses.

‘Still...’

Baek Yuseol glanced at Scarlett.

Her eyes sparkled as she asked, “You’ll take my master’s request, right?”

Toa Regrown.

She still trusted him.

After all, he was the one who had personally nurtured her.

“...I’ll take it.”

“Really?! Yay! I can already see my master being so happy about this!”

“As it happens, the place where the Green Core was stolen is close to where the competition between the second-years of Arcanium’s magic schools will be held. If I finish the mission quickly, I might be able to stop by.”

“Great! If we go together, we can wrap it up in no time!”

“No.”

Baek Yuseol shook his head firmly.

“I received an additional request related to the Green Core.”

“An additional request?”

“Yes. From Rudrick Hallow. He specifically asked me to handle it alone without telling anyone else.”

“Wait, you’re going to trust that suspicious old man?”

There was no choice.

As someone working to eradicate the Black Mages, Rudrick Hallow’s actions weren’t necessarily wrong.

In the original game, Rudrick used any means necessary to eliminate Black Mages. While his methods were often extreme and occasionally led to conflicts with the player, his ultimate goal was the survival and prosperity of humanity.

“So, you’re prioritizing my master’s mission, right? He was so excited to send you that request!”

“We’ll see, depending on the situation.”

Baek Yuseol didn’t give a definitive answer.

If it turned out that Toa Regrown had indeed fallen to black magic, he might have to join forces with Rudrick Hallow to kill him.

If that time came...

What would happen to Scarlett?

Would she resent Baek Yuseol for killing her one and only mentor?

Would she turn against him?

‘...I don’t want either outcome.’

The thought of Scarlett, with her bright, cheerful expression and happy smile, being heartbroken was unbearable.

But for the sake of humanity’s future and the greater good, Baek Yuseol was resolute. Even if Scarlett wept in sorrow, he wouldn’t back down from his decision.