Chapter 15 – Go Ahead, Try It
The students froze, trapped in the same barrier they’d cast themselves.
“W-what the hell? Why is this happening?!”
“How can that professor use this spell?!”
Simple: because he copied it.
【3-Minute Copy】
Allows the user to replicate anything they touch or see—for three minutes.
What was once called “One-Time Copy” had evolved. The ability had leveled up, thanks to the Hero, of course. He could now mimic an ability for a full three minutes instead of just once.
Against the shoddy spellwork of students—who weren’t even elite heroes—he could reproduce their magic flawlessly with just a glance.
Sure, this particular spell was well-crafted—well enough to merit a faculty-wide conference. But if we’re talking about 'Haven’s' level of heroes, it should’ve been breakable.
Still—
'So the imperial family was involved after all.'
Hadn’t the TAs warned him? To be careful, since someone from the royal house might be connected to the whole mess?
Yes. The moment Ruin heard that, he’d understood everything—what kind of magic it was, and why the faculty hadn’t broken it.
'No doubt it used the imperial language.'
There existed an ancient tongue handed down only within the royal family—a secret language of the empire’s imperial lineage. No one outside that bloodline knew it, nor were they allowed to.
Key components of the spell were probably encoded in that language. So how could anyone decipher it?
As for Ruin?
'It’s not like this is my first time dealing with emperors and kings.'
As the Firefly, he’d taken on missions involving the imperial household more than once. From stealing classified documents or impersonating a general, to trickier jobs like shifting the emperor’s favor and manipulating the line of succession.
One of the most absurd missions had him seducing a royal mage princess just to derail an entire strategic plan. Of course, he left immediately after succeeding—never saw her again.
'She probably forgot all about me and married someone else.'
Anyway—
'The mastermind behind this spell is almost certainly a student from the royal family.'
Perhaps a young noble of the imperial family, currently enrolled at Haven?
That would explain everything.
'Even if an imperial mage were called in, they’d never break it.'
Not because it was difficult—but because of what came 'after.'
To break the spell, you’d have to decipher the structure and destroy its core. But the problem was—
'The spell core used the imperial crest.'
So any attempt to break it would be seen as a direct affront to the empire’s authority.
And not just that—
'It was designed to punish anyone who tried.'
A mark would be burned into the caster as proof of treason. That was the spell’s true intent—its real identity.
'So the ringleader is one of the upperclassmen elite candidates? Impressive… and dirty.'
Some faculty had probably realized the truth. But rather than risk themselves, they chose to ignore it.
It wasn’t that the spell couldn’t be broken—it was that touching it was political suicide.
As for the headmaster’s true motive… Ruin didn’t know. But it didn’t matter.
The Waynes had enough power to stand up to the imperial family—and they weren’t part of the royalist faction anyway.
More importantly—
'As long as there’s no proof, there’s no crime.'
If no trace of “insulting the empire” remained, there’d be no grounds for punishment.
'A rookie noble brat isn’t enough to scare me.'
If he were the kind of guy who backed down from something like this, the Firefly would’ve had his wings clipped long ago.
Besides, breaking spells was his specialty.
'Still, this isn’t the main point right now.'
What mattered most was utterly dismantling their “prized” magic and restoring the shattered authority of professors.
Indeed, the students who had set the barrier were now paralyzed with fear.
They never imagined someone could actually break it.
Worse, he hadn’t just broken it—
'He copied it in one shot?'
'The professors couldn’t even decipher it, and this guy mimicked it perfectly?!'
They never imagined a professor of this caliber.
'We underestimated him!'
“Listen up. If you’re going to torture someone, do it right. Use water and fire. Bring them to the brink of death—but don’t let them die. Break the mind and the body. Don’t use poison. The pain makes it hard to articulate.”
Forget underestimating him—they’d just picked the wrong monster.
Noah, the class rep, screamed internally as he saw flames rise around Ruin. The fire roared like a beast, the heat licking up toward the barrier. It wasn’t some cheap trick—this was deadly magic.
'Is that high-tier magic?!'
Was he seriously planning to burn them alive inside the barrier?
As the flames reached their feet, the students screamed.
“I’m sorry!”
“It was all our fault, Professor!”
“Please spare us!”
“I don’t want to die in flames!”
“We’ll never do it again!”
Their panicked screams made Ruin furrow his brow.
Actually… the fire wasn’t 'his.'
If anything, he was more surprised than they were.
'Where did this fire magic come from?'
It made no sense. After all—
'I can’t use magic.'
Sure, he could use copied spells temporarily. But even then, they weren’t 'his'.
The Shadow race, often called parasites, could only mimic others. They had no true self.
And people had mocked him for it plenty.
“How is some low-rank like him in our class?”
“He might’ve gone to the top if he could use magic—but he’s a magical beast hybrid. Not happening.”
Magical creatures like him could use racial “skills,” but those came with limitations.
Magic, on the other hand, was limitless. Most of the time, stronger magic simply won. That’s why both Union and Pride relied so heavily on mages.
In other words, Ruin was born unable to use magic.
So could it be the spell sealed in his wrist—the headmaster’s flame?
「Oh, never seen that one before. Did 'you' make it?」
Even the god hadn’t seen this spell. That meant it wasn’t copied.
Which left only one conclusion.
'Wait… I can cast magic?'
“Well, whatever.”
Ruin looked down at the students.
“I have no intention of torturing you.”
“……!”
They nearly burst into tears.
“Please turn the fire off while you say that!”
“I don’t know how.”
…Was this a threat?!
“I’ll let you out. But—”
At his grim expression, the students tensed.
Was he going to continue the class?
'Makes sense. He broke the spell—no reason not to.'
Was this his move to secure the Head Professor seat?
But even if he forced them to sit through a lecture, it wouldn’t work. Their ideals wouldn’t be swayed that easily…
“Everyone. Follow me to the roof.”
…Huh?
“Excuse me?”
They stared at him in utter confusion. Had they heard that right?
'Did he just say the roof? Why?'
“Follow me. You’ll understand.”
Terror swept through the students.
'Wait—WHY?!'
- - -
On the rooftop, the students looked around in a daze.
'The roof? What for?'
No matter how much they thought about it, they couldn’t figure out Ruin’s intent.
“Is he planning to kick us out of the classroom as punishment?”
“Maybe an outdoor class… because it’s cold?”
Most of them were from noble families. They were even more clueless than usual.
Then Ruin addressed the group.
“What’s with the faces? Are you scared just because I said ‘roof’?”
No, we just don’t understand what it 'means'!
'Wait… is he going to set us on fire up here instead of indoors?'
They were cold, hungry, and annoyed—but no one dared to speak up after seeing his magic earlier.
“Didn’t that guy use magic without chanting?”
“You think it was a keeping spell?”
“Maybe he enchanted something?”
“No, I saw a sigil on his wrist.”
“Seriously? That’s rare. I’ve never met anyone who can actually use that…”
They exchanged uncertain glances—then snorted.
“So what? Big deal.”
“Everyone here’s from Gold Moon House anyway.”
Among the five houses at Haven, Gold Moon was reserved for nobles.
“If we get hurt, our parents 'will' come for him.”
All the Gold Moon cadets had powerful families behind them—dukes, high lords, even royals. No matter how strong a professor was, they wouldn’t dare cross them.
Still, they acknowledged they’d gone too far. Not that they felt guilty about it.
“So he’s just making us freeze as punishment.”
“Ha. That’s not going to scare us.”
They figured they’d play along and tolerate the cold—since they 'had' pulled a nasty prank.
Only one student avoided eye contact.
'Even if I told them what this meant, they wouldn’t get it.'
He was a first-year—Owen, a scholarship student. The ugly duckling among Gold Moon’s swans.
And Owen looked at Ruin with dismay.
'He’s insane. I can’t believe a professor actually said that.'
The sort of thing you’d hear from a street thug.
But no one else here would understand the meaning of those words.
'Fucking nobles.'
No way any of them knew.
'“Follow me to the roof” is slang for “I’m going to beat the crap out of you.”'
Even so, this was Haven. A prestigious academy—but still just a school. And schools, at their core, were a kind of customer service industry.
Sure, Haven’s professors were some of the most elite in the empire.
But the parents of Haven students? They were titans—industrialists, political moguls, generals, royals, and dukes. The top brass of every nation that made up the Union.
Wealthy donors entrusted Haven to train and raise their precious children—and in exchange, they poured funding into the school.
But lay a hand on those golden children?
You’d be crucified.
Maybe someone like Professor Wayne could get away with it?
'Still, after what they did, they should expect at least a slap…'
“Starting now, you’ll all jump off one at a time.”
“…?”
What?
“I said jump, you little shits.”
…So it’s 'worse' than a slap?!
Even Owen hadn’t seen that coming. The students were dumbfounded.
“J-jump? But this is the 'seventh floor!'”
We’ll 'die!'
“Exactly. So go.”
“W-what?!”
“Don’t worry. I specialize in Healing Magic.”
“Then…!”
So he’ll heal us if we get hurt?
Okay, then maybe—
“Of course, I can’t treat men, women, non-binary, children, adults, seniors, humans, animals, living things, or inanimate objects.”
Everyone fell silent.
…Wait a second. That means he can’t treat 'anything.'
“It’s fine. Human bodies were meant to return to dust anyway.”
Is he a 'quack'?!
