All-Master Player Of The Academy [EN]: Chapter 63

63. Let’s Be Quiet – 1

Celestial Demon Art, Chapter of Destruction.

Hugong Island.

Ian’s surprise attack deeply tore into the Sphinx’s chest.

But the Sphinx didn’t seem to care about the injury.

Rather, it seemed to revel in Ian’s attack.

“You failed to prove it!!”

A red aura surged throughout the Sphinx’s body.

Seeing the cut parts reattach and the body grow larger, Grajin immediately cast a spell.

“Bind!!”

The Sphinx’s body momentarily flinched from the binding magic as it tried to spread its wings.

But only for a moment.

The Sphinx opened its mouth.

“Fire Blaze!!”

“It can even use magic?!!”

A magic circle unfolded in the air.

As Grajin tried to defend with a shield, Myaeon, who was perched on Ian’s shoulder, cried out.

“Myaaaa!!”

The magic circle vanished at that sound, and the Sphinx looked shocked.

“A spirit of light?!”

“Did you just notice that?”

Ian retorted briefly and raised his left hand.

Dozens of magic circles unfolded and merged above his hand.

Ian hurled the combined magic at the Sphinx and then grabbed his throwing daggers.

Celestial Demon Art, Chapter of the Sun.

Myriad Sky Calamity.

As the sun shines its light on the world,

The dozens of throwing daggers Ian launched poured down like sunlight, piercing the Sphinx’s body.

“Kuaaaak!!”

Just getting hit was dangerous enough, but the power of Myriad Sky Calamity was further enhanced by the magnetic magic.

The Sphinx, riddled with daggers, tried to regenerate, but Grajin aimed his staff.

“Chain Lightning!!”

-Pajijijik!!

Golden lightning struck and coursed through the daggers embedded in the Sphinx.

“Kyaaaaaak!!”

Using the daggers as conductors, Chain Lightning seared the Sphinx’s body from the inside out.

The Sphinx slumped from the shock, and Grajin shouted loudly.

“Ian! Finish it!”

Ian was already prepared.

Celestial Demon Art, Chapter of the Moon.

Moonlight Slash.

Unlike before, a beautiful moonlight resembling a full moon flickered.

The Sphinx, unable to recover, could only watch that beautiful light.

-Pshushushuk!!

The energy of the full moon instantly cleaved the Sphinx’s large body.

The thick skin split open, and the internal organs spilled out. No matter how potent its healing magic, it couldn’t withstand this level of injury.

With death before its eyes, the Sphinx slowly reached out its forepaw towards the disappearing full moon.

“Ah… Moon… you are eternally mine…”

That was the end.

As the Sphinx slumped, Grajin lowered his staff, amazed.

“Wow. I’ve never seen a monster like that in real life. Anyway, it’s dead, right?”

“It is, but we should double-check just in case.”

Ian spun his sword around and then decapitated the Sphinx.

Even as the large head fell, Grajin continued to exclaim.

“If we report this to the Magic Tower, it will cause a huge sensation. No, more than that… Hey, Ian. What did you do earlier?”

Grajin had seen it: the dozens of magic circles that appeared and merged in his hand.

“Wasn’t that a magic circle of magnetic magic?”

“Right. I created multiple magic circles, combined them, and then amplified their power.”

“Is that even possible?”

“If you have the calculation ability, it is. You should try it too. With a few successful attempts, you’ll get the hang of it.”

Ian said casually, and Grajin tilted his head and began to form a magic circle for Energy Bolt.

Then he started sweating.

“Is this even possible?”

“Don’t expect to master it on your first try. Practice. Practice.”

“Ugh… This is no joke.”

Creating two magic circles simultaneously was difficult enough. But earlier, Ian had instantly created dozens of magic circles and even combined them.

Before the vacation, he couldn’t even use magic, but now he’s using magic to that extent.

I’ve heard stories that those who return alive from the Forgotten City gain a lot.

But I didn’t know it would be this much.

“What exactly did you get there?”

“I got a lot. Hey, let’s talk about that later and finish this first.”

Now that we’ve dealt with the Sphinx, let’s explore the surroundings.

Ian pointed to the wall, and Grajin went there.

“Humans in iron cages.”

“Who put them here? Judging by the corpses, it doesn’t seem that long ago.”

“That’s a familiar face over there.”

Ian pointed to one of the rooms, and Grajin went to investigate.

A person was leaning against the wall, dead.

“Isn’t that… the bounty hunter?”

After checking the wanted poster he received from the Archaeological Society, it was definitely a similar face.

Of course, it’s a corpse, and the condition isn’t good, but the features are similar.

Grajin, having confirmed that he was one of the bounty hunters who chased Karl, said in a serious tone.

“Let’s check if there are others.”

There were a total of fifteen people imprisoned.

Among them were not only bounty hunters and adventurers but also scholars who had been missing until now and magicians or mercenaries who seemed to be their escorts.

And Karl was here too.

After cutting through the bars and going inside, unfortunately, he didn’t have the Crescent Moon necklace.

“Were these people caught by that monster after coming here?”

“Probably.”

“But why did that monster ask such a question?”

“Who knows? Maybe it was curious. The path is open, so let’s proceed further.”

The requested item, the Crescent Moon necklace, has not yet been found.

As Ian urged, Grajin glanced at the Sphinx’s corpse and muttered as he followed him.

“Is that the seeker of knowledge?”

“Yeah. Remember the phrase written on the stone tablet?”

There were three things mentioned there:

The snake.

The tiger.

The seeker of knowledge.

No matter how you look at it, that doesn’t look like a tiger, so it must be the seeker of knowledge.

At that, Grajin crossed his arms.

“But isn’t it too weak? Even for a monster that the Snake God swallowed and sealed the power of the moon…”

“Don’t you think I’m strong?”

“Well, I knew you were strong, but I feel a bit underwhelmed.”

Ian chuckled at Grajin’s low mutterings.

“It’s good if it’s easy. Let’s go then.”

The two passed through the newly opened door.

They walked down a corridor large enough for monsters to appear, and at the end, another large door appeared.

“Hmm. Let’s see…”

Grajin began to investigate, examining the walls and nearby traces.

Meanwhile, Myaeon came down from Ian’s shoulder.

“Myaa~ Myaaaa~.”

There’s something inside.

Also, a powerful relic with a strong lunar energy.

Then we should go right away.

Ian went inside, and Grajin followed him.

“This must be a place where they worship the snake. This must be the end of the ruins.”

The inside was quite a large temple.

Grajin, who was looking around, repeatedly exclaimed.

“Wow. This is amazing.”

‘Kirke. Explore the surroundings.’

Was it because the Sphinx, which had been interfering with the exploration, was dead?

Kirke finished exploring the surroundings without much difficulty.

‘Why are the guardians here? Are they the same as the ones in the Forgotten City?’

‘If they are in standby mode…’

While Kirke was reporting, Grajin pointed to one side.

“I’ve seen quite a few ruins of the Botar Kingdom [an ancient, fallen kingdom] so far, but this is the first time I’ve seen one so well preserved. The Archaeological Society will go crazy.”

There was a large snake statue and an altar where he pointed.

Ian, who went there, smiled.

“Myamya~ Myaa~.”

Myaeon also felt it, so she cried softly and clung to Ian.

He lightly hugged her and headed towards the snake statue.

There was a small hole in the large snake’s torso.

“It’s here.”

What was embedded inside was a crescent-shaped necklace.

After looking at it for a moment, Ian turned his eyes to the altar in front of the statue.

There were four small necklaces on it.

Three were Crescent Moon necklaces of the same size as the one inside.

But one was different.

A tremendous lunar energy was felt from it.

It had a similar design to the Crescent Moon necklace, but the shape was different.

A full moon.

The necklace, which shaped a perfectly full moon, was emitting a tremendous lunar energy.

‘To have such a windfall. I’ve gained something I didn’t even expect.’

A relic without an owner.

He obtained a good relic comparable to a sacred sword that can seal demons.

Ian immediately absorbed the energy contained in the lunar relic.

The dantian [energy center in the body], which had been slow to expand due to the unbalanced balance, grew larger.

As it did, his inner strength increased, and the foul energy accumulated in his body was discharged.

“Cough!!”

Ian gathered the foul energy that came up through his cough and spat it out.

Myaeon grabbed her nose with her forepaws as the dark red blood and phlegm-mixed foul energy fell to the floor.

“Myaa… Myamya!”

Myaeon, disgusted by the terrible smell of the foul energy, hurriedly took refuge in Ian’s pocket.

“Huh? What’s that smell?”

Grajin tilted his head at the smell coming from the mass of foul energy.

Ian casually rinsed his mouth with water and replied nonchalantly.

“Who knows? Isn’t it just the smell from the ruins?”

“Hmm… Anyway, it seems like this is a temple. But what’s that?”

Ian held out the relic remaining in his hand, a necklace that barely maintained its shape after the sacred power and lunar energy had completely drained away.

Grajin received it, examined it, and was surprised.

“Wow. This is a very old artifact, isn’t it?”

“Is it valuable?”

“Yes. Look at the design of this necklace. This is at least three or four hundred years old.”

“Oh ho. Really? I hope the Lunar Church [a religious organization worshipping the moon] doesn’t ask for it.”

“Looking at the era and this necklace, this is a design used when offering tributes to the Lunar Church. As you can see here…”

He wasn’t particularly interested in that.

But Grajin continued to explain excitedly, and Ian just nodded vaguely.

“Then it’s true that this has no owner.”

“That’s right. The Botar Kingdom has already fallen and disappeared.”

“Here, you take it and exchange it for a relic from the Solar Church [a religious organization worshipping the sun] or the Lunar Church.”

“Oh, of course.”

He’s not interested in anything other than lunar energy anyway.

Ian handed the necklace to Grajin and crossed his arms.

“Okay. So here’s the problem.”

He tapped the hole in front of the snake statue.

“It seems that Karl came here and inserted the Crescent Moon necklace here.”

“Is that so?”

And there was one more question.

Those who were trapped in that iron cage.

Why were they trapped there?

“Also, how did the rest of those guys get in here?”

As Ian spoke of his doubts, Grajin closed his eyes for a moment.

“I was thinking about it on the way here… First, someone from the outside forcibly put them here.”

“Second?”

“They somehow got here.”

They may have realized that something symbolizing the crescent moon, like the Crescent Moon necklace or Ian’s Moonlight Slash, was the key to getting to the third floor and came in.

And they may have been caught.

“Who caught them?”

As Grajin muttered, Ian tapped the hole.

“We’ll find out the answer if we take this out.”

“Wait.”

Grajin prepared his magic and nodded, and Ian immediately took out the necklace.

At that moment.

-Thump! Clank! Clang!

The walls opened, and something began to emerge from there.

It was a guardian with a huge body and six legs.

“…Damn it.”

Grajin cursed lowly and prepared to fight, and Ian grinned.