"How do you feel?"

Leaving the Dean's office, Lindong affectionately held Ethan's arm and asked.

She thought she had performed well today. If she were to grade herself, she would easily score a high 13.0—Wabul had been chatting Ethan's ear off for so long and she managed not to yawn, which showed her temperament was getting better and better.

If it were in the past, Mr. Wabul probably wouldn't have wanted the little hair he had left.

"Very enthusiastic, but a bit odd." Once things quieted down, Ethan pondered, "Why do I feel like I'm the Dean?"

Challenges at work, future development of the academy, even down to the construction of new fields of study.

Mr. Wabul expressed his views, sharply criticizing the atmosphere of past Imperial times.

He believed that if "Doomsday" is the fate this world must ultimately face, then instead of being ostriches, they should confront this crisis. Therefore, the academy should have long started courses related to Evil Gods, rituals, and followers. Previously, hindered by Pope Julius, this proposal was indefinitely shelved. Now is the time to make a change.

However, this is still an uncharted field, and the academy needs an expert to serve as a professor.

Ethan understood the implication behind Wabul's words. The Dean was hinting for him to recruit talent for the academy.

Courses on Evil Gods?

He indeed knew such people; Ave mentioned that the Nightmare Witch currently resides in the capital, and recently took a loan from the Witch Specific Appraisal Association to purchase a large house, converting the first floor into a fortune-telling shop, popular among the Empire's nobility. Rattlesnake is also a suitable candidate, having previously served as the second-in-command to the Three Evil Gods' chosen ones, managing almost all affairs outside the Empire.

Thinking about it, he's made quite a few friends along the way.

"Not the Dean, the Principal."

Lindong rolled her eyes and said slowly, "He was reporting to the new Principal in the capacity of the Dean."

These are the real concerns of a Principal.

She had noticed halfway through this visit that something was off.

Wabul made no attempt to hide his full support for her being the "leader of this generation," not even bothering to act anymore.

Tsk, still too much hair.

"Let's go, let's take a stroll around the old Principal's quarters, I haven't had the chance to look there closely before."

...

The footsteps outside gradually faded away. Wabul remained excited, pacing back and forth in the office, imagining the bright future of the academy.

As the Dean of the academy, he knew the academy had been dormant for too long; since Henry III, their influence had been waning.

Changes must be made!

If he were still a hot-blooded youth, he would clench his fists and want to achieve great things, but now that he's in his early fifties, he has long lost his youthful vigor. As he aged, he increasingly felt that the changes of the times were largely a matter of luck, and that one's struggles were far less significant than being favored by fate.

And now, Elemental Shapers have once again ushered in an era belonging to them!

Wabul sat back in his chair, crossed his legs, hummed a tune, and picked up a crystal-clear cherry from the fruit basket and popped it into his mouth.

With the chill of transformed elements, it was very sweet and refreshing.

Next, someone knocked on the office door.

"Come in."

Could it be that other professors saw the two leave and immediately came by to test the waters?

This is good news.

He couldn't wait to announce the good news to members of the Bright Society.

Yet in the next moment, Wabul's smile froze on his face.

At the instant the door was pushed open, he met seven eyes. Just one look was enough for the string named reason in his mind to issue a warning. He saw the office walls peeling at a speed visible to the naked eye, revealing vein-like substances beneath, as if this was the world's true form.

They continually expanded and contracted. With each step the seven-eyed female took forward, that world woven with flesh extended a bit closer to Wabul.

On the other hand, Wabul felt like a frog being stalked by a natural predator, unable to utter a sound, he could only instinctively press his body against the back of the chair.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the parchment on the table, covered with diagrams drawn with a quill pen based on Ethan's descriptions.

The hem of a skirt over his knees peeked its head at him.

Ethan had said that the material of Its clothes wasn't cloth but living creatures.

Was it his viewpoint on "Doomsday" that summoned the Evil God?

Bazatous, a true Evil God, just walked into his office like that!

This is not a catastrophe that human strength can withstand. Just one glance could collapse one's sanity, let alone battling it.

Wabul could easily imagine the seven-eyed woman's appendages piercing through his body, and then from the puncture wounds twisted flesh constructs would emerge, and his body would be transformed into a tree-like structure, survivors of the Crimson Era called them nurseries, unable to move, yet constantly hatching new flesh constructs.

Yet just as he braced himself for death, the seven-eyed woman sat across from him in a chair.

With her hands resting on her knees, her posture was very proper.

Her lips didn't move, but chaotic whispers transmitted into Wabul's mind.

"I consulted Anapolis, but now I haven't yet mastered it fully. It will get better once I become proficient."

This could already count as tremendous progress.

If not for Anapolis's guidance, Wabul probably would have been screaming and stabbing a quill into his eye by now.

Although that would fit Bazatous-style aesthetics, It wasn't here for that.

It acknowledged Ethan's theory—that humans are a wondrous, non-renewable resource, capable of creating endless unexpected value just by being alive.

So, It needed these people to live on.

"What are you, you here for?"

Wabul had never been this nervous before, trembling with every syllable he uttered.

"I heard your conversation, about setting up courses related to the Old Gods, so I came to apply."

Bazatous stated Its purpose.

It had spent some time in the capital, and Ethan indeed fulfilled his promise as the film industry in the capital thrived into a new era, with even members of the capital's royal family participating in film production.

But problems soon followed.

The Empire's taste was too strange, it didn't align with Bazatous-style aesthetics, and was far from the films It hoped to see.

Just as It heard Anapolis mention Ethan and Lindong had returned to the academy, prompted by this fellow being's suggestion, It came up with a new idea.

Education must start from the children.

Clearly, the academy could become a nursery for cultivating outstanding artists, and It conveniently heard about the preparations to expand fields of study from Wabul's conversation.

"You… what are you planning to do?"

Wabul couldn't react for a moment.

Bazatous wants to apply to be a teacher for courses on Evil Gods? This, this can't be right?

According to his initial plans, he hoped Ethan could invite long-term investigators dealing with Evil God's Followers from organizations like the Reception Bureau within the Empire to offer courses for the students.

"I'm applying for a lecturer position. As I said, this skill isn't very familiar to me yet, but it won't impose too severe a burden on your spirits in the future."

"But... Elemental Shapers don't believe in Divine Spirits."

"I don't need followers,"

the seven-eyed woman said. "What I need is a group of young people interested in art, with ideas, with taste."

Ethan was right.

With the passage of time and the advancement of civilization, old ideas are destined to be eliminated, but the essence will not change.

It plans to transform the academy into Its nursery, imprinting it with the mark of the Old Gods.

Oh…

In Ethan's words, it should be turning this place into a "Bazatous-style artistic talent incubation base."

That is the term that fits the new era.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.