I Became A Flashing Genius At The Magic Academy-Chapter 441

In both the world of science and the world of magic, superstition never truly disappears.

"Ever since that woman arrived in our village, everything has gone wrong!"

"Beat her up and drive her out immediately!"

"Burn down her house and destroy her belongings!"

Perhaps as long as intelligence exists, superstition will persist alongside it.

Unfortunately, in the magical world, witches weren’t mere superstition—they were often genuine disasters.

When a witch secretly lived in a village, droughts or floods might occur, good fortunes would fail to materialize, or plagues would spread, leading to deaths.

In such cases, the villagers would capture the most unlucky, gloomy woman in the community, beat her senseless, or burn her at the stake and drive her out.

If the accused had truly been a witch, no such amateur witch hunt would have succeeded.

It was all superstition.

What would a witch gain by causing droughts or floods? While witches capable of controlling monsters did exist, they rarely attacked villages outright.

Doing so would immediately attract the attention of witch hunters, and even the most reckless witch understood the danger of that.

Most witches with common sense or power stayed hidden.

However, the immense atrocities committed by witches in the past solidified their image in people’s minds:

Wicked beings who brought misfortune, spread disease, and caused calamities wherever they went.

"That evil witch is the source of all our problems!"

"We must drive her out of our sacred forest!"

"How dare she disturb the peace of our woods!"

The forest now known as the Forbidden Forest had a different name just half a century ago.

It was once called the Hunter’s Forest, the Forest of Massacre, or the Predator’s Forest.

Despite being home to powerful monsters, numerous thriving beastfolk tribes lived there, with the strongest warriors hunting the monsters to protect their kin.

But those days were long gone.

One day, a mysterious witch entered the forest and distorted its spatial structure, making it impossible for the beastfolk, who relied on their senses, to navigate or hunt effectively. Forced out, they had no choice but to leave their home.

They endured for a while, but over time, they lost hope, pride, and their place in the world. Today, half a century later, the beastfolk, empowered by newfound mastery of magic, believed they could finally reclaim their forest by expelling the witch.

Their solution? Set the forest on fire.

To Baek Yuseol, the plan was absurd.

"Seriously? If you burn the forest, where will you live afterward?"

But such consequences didn’t matter to the beastfolk.

Burning the forest was the most effective way to deal with the spatial distortions that blocked their path to the witch’s hiding place.

And indeed, it was working.

The witch’s tricks of distortion and camouflage relied on the dense foliage and magical obfuscations. With the trees gone, her illusions lost much of their effect.

Soon, hundreds of beastfolk, who had once been driven out, were able to locate the witch’s mansion in the forest.

"That... that mansion!"

"That witch! She drove us out and now lives in luxury like this!"

Though they were briefly surprised by the sight of a grand mansion rather than the expected hut or cave, their outrage quickly returned.

Torches in hand, the beastfolk began shouting furiously.

Cyclen turned to Baek Yuseol.

"They’re calling me a witch."

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"Interesting. Let’s go check it out."

Baek Yuseol leapt gracefully from the roof, landing before the beastfolk with ease.

His high jump startled the beastfolk, causing them to flinch and instinctively step back.

‘Let’s see... The leader in the front is barely 4th-Class.’

Beastfolk didn’t seem particularly suited for magic. Given that none among them had yet reached 9th-Class, their skill level wasn’t impressive.

Frankly, Baek Yuseol could defeat them all with his eyes closed.

"So, what brings you here?"

"She’s a witch! That witch drove us out of the forest!"

"A witch? Who?"

"That woman, right there!"

When the beastfolk pointed to Cyclen and shouted, Baek Yuseol laughed out loud.

"Her? A witch? Have any of you actually seen a witch? What proof do you have to make such a claim?"

"Proof? Do we need proof to recognize a witch? She polluted the forest, cursed our village, and since she showed up, sickness hasn’t left us!"

"Sickness?"

Cyclen didn’t possess such abilities, so the claim didn’t make sense.

Then Baek Yuseol noticed their filthy appearance and grimaced.

"Do you all ever... bathe?"

"Beastfolk don’t bathe."

"...Well, that explains the sickness."

Magic was a challenging discipline, but with over fifty years of effort, anyone could achieve at least 4th-Class.

The beastfolk before him embodied this: they studied magic for decades but clung to their tribal traditions.

Scratching his head with the end of his staff, Baek Yuseol spoke.

"I’ve seen real witches and plenty of beastfolk, but she’s no witch. And if you’re miserable, it’s because you’re stupid."

"Don’t mock the instincts of beastfolk!"

"Ah..."

Realizing they wouldn’t listen, Baek Yuseol decided to demonstrate his power.

He unsheathed a mana blade from his Teriphone, slashed it twice in the air, and re-sheathed it—all in just 0.1 seconds.

Even the beastfolk’s keen eyesight couldn’t fully register the movements.

But the impact was clear.

Whoosh—!

The force of the blade stirred a powerful gust, pushing the beastfolk back as they shielded their faces.

When the wind subsided, they saw it:

"This... this is..."

A massive X-shaped scar carved deep into the ground, so profound its depth couldn’t be discerned at a glance.

The beastfolk, now drenched in cold sweat, reevaluated Baek Yuseol.

"Now, do you understand? I’m a far superior mage compared to all of you."

Though it was a result of advanced swordsmanship, no one in this era could replicate such skill, so it was easily mistaken for magic.

"Now, why don’t you listen to me?"

The beastfolk reluctantly nodded, though one of them grumbled.

"Fine, you’re a stronger mage. But that doesn’t prove she’s not a witch."

"You lack both magical expertise and common sense compared to me. I’ve met real witches before, and I’ve even killed one."

"You’ve killed a witch?"

"Yes. So do you have any idea how ridiculous it is for me to hear you baselessly accuse her of being a witch?"

"Hmph. Fine, we’ll concede that you’ve encountered witches. But that doesn’t give you the right to stop us."

"And why is that?"

"Whether she’s a witch or not doesn’t matter. Ever since she arrived, we’ve been miserable!"

"That’s right!"

"So stop getting in our way!"

"Get out of here already!"

"Well..."

Baek ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) Yuseol was at a loss for words.

Essentially, it didn’t matter to the beastfolk whether Cyclen was truly a witch or not.

...So that’s how it is.

It wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.

I was being naive.

Even if Cyclen wasn’t a witch, the fact remained that she had taken over their homeland. While Baek Yuseol was currently siding with her to obtain information, in absolute terms, her guilt weighed heavier.

"This is getting nowhere. As expected, a conversation is impossible," he muttered, glancing back at Cyclen.

She gave him a bitter smile before leaping down from the roof and disappearing into the mansion.

Unable to hold back any longer, the beastfolk charged forward.

"Burn it! Burn the witch’s house!"

"Burn it all!"

Their roars echoed as they set fire to Cyclen’s mansion without restraint.

Baek Yuseol considered stopping them, but without proper justification or a convincing reason, he couldn’t bring himself to act.

And so, for more than half a day, the beastfolk celebrated. They danced around the burning mansion, drinking and singing, as if they were at a festival.

Watching the scene from afar, Baek Yuseol let out a long sigh.

"Seriously..."

"Hey, don’t worry too much. You think that crazy woman would die from a little fire like this?" Finarette said with a grin, gulping down her drink.

"Of course not."

A witch hunter wouldn’t die even if they wanted to from something as trivial as flames.

It was like trying to drown a fish.

"Let’s wait until these crazy beasts leave, and then we’ll take her with us," Finarette suggested.

"That’s the plan," Baek Yuseol nodded, waiting for the beastfolk’s festivities to end.

But then, something unexpected happened.

"This... this can’t be...!"

"Chief, look at this!"

"Impossible!"

Baek Yuseol, who had been resting with his eyes closed atop a nearby tree, opened them in irritation.

"What now?"

Cyclen’s mansion didn’t take long to burn to the ground. When the flames died down, what remained among the ashes was a strange and familiar sight to those trained in magic.

"A sealing magic circle...!"

An ancient sealing circle, likely over 50 years old, lay beneath the mansion.

Unlike the past, the beastfolk now had some knowledge of magic.

Thus, they immediately recognized the magic circle for what it was: a seal for containing something extraordinarily dangerous.

Packed with at least 8th-Class magic inscriptions, the intricacy of the circle was undeniable to any competent mage.

"No way..."

Crack. Crack.

The magic circle began to fracture.

The fire that burned the mansion had damaged the circuits of the seal, causing it to malfunction.

Already deteriorating from decades of wear, the circle could no longer function properly.

Crack... BOOM!

The situation changed in an instant.

A massive arm burst forth from the broken seal, plunging the beastfolk into terror.

"A... a Kadzilisk!"

"Run! RUN!"

The beastfolk screamed as they scrambled to flee, but it was too late. The monster known as the Kadzilisk emerged fully, slaughtering the fleeing beastfolk without mercy.

"Wow, a Kadzilisk," Finarette muttered, watching the chaos. "That’s the insane monster that used to roam the Forbidden Forest 50 years ago. I was wondering why it suddenly disappeared... Turns out it was sealed here. Oh? Where’d he go?"

She looked around for Baek Yuseol, only to find him gone. Turning her gaze toward the monster, she saw him already plunging a blade into its neck.

"Ha! This guy’s hilarious," she laughed.

Whatever the beastfolk had planned, Baek Yuseol couldn’t stand by and watch lives be taken right before his eyes.

It was an odd quirk of his personality.

"Not that I’d ever do something like that," Finarette muttered, glancing sideways. "Right?"

Cyclen emerged from the shadows, watching the chaos unfold.

"...This is their karma."

Fifty years ago, after sealing the rampaging Kadzilisk, Cyclen had driven out the beastfolk to prevent them from disturbing the seal.

And yet, they’d returned, calling her a witch, ungrateful for what she had done.

"You looked a little happy earlier. Are you a masochist or something?" Finarette teased.

Cyclen shot her a sharp glare, causing Finarette to quickly avert her gaze.

But it wasn’t entirely untrue.

Despite being labeled a witch, Cyclen felt a strange satisfaction.

Perhaps it was because, long ago, she had loved a witch herself.

Clenching and unclenching her fists, Cyclen let out a quiet breath.

...I was lucky.

She no longer had the strength to fight the Kadzilisk. Using her true power as a witch hunter on a mere monster had left her with severe penalties, rendering her almost powerless.

And it wasn’t as if Finarette would lend a hand. The fact that Baek Yuseol had shown up at all was a stroke of fortune.

Cyclen watched as Baek Yuseol mercilessly slashed through the Kadzilisk. Despite the creature’s injuries from decades ago, it had once been powerful enough to give Cyclen herself a hard time.

Now, it was being effortlessly dismantled by Baek Yuseol, who moved with precision, leaving trails of blue light in his wake.

Amid the fiery ruins of the mansion and the roaring Kadzilisk, Baek Yuseol cut an elegant figure, his swift movements almost poetic.

It was a sight Cyclen couldn’t take her eyes off.

To think such a swordsman is searching for a witch...

What kind of witch could have captured the heart of such a person?

It reminded her of the old legend of the "Witch of Blood"—a witch who, despite being a queen, had fallen for a mere swordsman in the era of mages.

"...What an intriguing boy," Cyclen muttered, her eyes glinting with curiosity.

For the first time, she felt a genuine desire to help Baek Yuseol find the witch he was looking for.