Surviving the Magic Academy With Just Intelligence Stats-Chapter 61: I Promise

Marcus approached Xiao Yue, dragging his three unconscious captives across the cavern floor. "Are you leaving or not?" he asked, expecting her to follow.

Xiao Yue’s expression filled with gentle resignation as she met his gaze. "Sorry to waste your efforts, but I can’t leave this place," she said softly.

"And why is that?" Marcus’s brow furrowed in confusion.

Instead of answering immediately, Xiao Yue turned her head aside, her fox ears drooping slightly. "I was only alive because I had merged with the dungeon," she explained, her voice heavy with acceptance. "Since you’ve cut the chains, I can feel my connection to the dungeon fading. I’m guessing I won’t have much time left when it fades completely." She lifted her hand, revealing fingers that had already begun turning translucent, like delicate glass catching the dim light.

"What?" Marcus’s eyes widened at the revelation. "What if we..." He scrambled to retrieve the fallen chains, attempting to reattach them to her neck, but she gently pushed his hands away.

"No need! I’ve already lived long enough," she insisted, pressing the ancient scroll firmly into his hands. "I have no regrets as long as you promise to save my people."

Marcus stood frozen, watching helplessly as her form became increasingly transparent. Guilt weighed heavily on his chest – if he hadn’t cut those chains... But Xiao Yue merely smiled at his troubled expression.

"No need to feel so guilty," she assured him. "Actually, the dungeons aren’t our friends. It would have swallowed me sooner or later, so thank you for freeing me from such a fate." Her body was now nearly half-transparent, like morning mist dissipating in sunlight.

Her expression grew earnest as she asked, "You promise, right?"

"I promise!" Marcus declared without hesitation.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she smiled, but her expression quickly turned serious. She removed the collar from around her neck, holding it out to him. "Take this. Although it isn’t really a powerful treasure, it’s the only reward I can give you."

Her voice took on new urgency. "You should go now. Although I’ve lost connection, I’m also half of the dungeon, so if I die..." She left the implications unspoken, but Marcus understood immediately. The dungeon would collapse, potentially trapping him across time and space.

With a respectful bow to the fox princess, Marcus gathered his captives and sprinted toward the exit as the cavern walls began to crack, debris raining down around him.

Alone in the crumbling cave, Xiao Yue stood with her nearly transparent body slowly cracking like fine china. She gazed down at herself, a bittersweet smile touching her lips. "I wonder if you are still alive, Hero Rothschild," she whispered. Her smile widened slightly as another thought struck her. "If you aren’t, doesn’t that mean I lived longer than you?"

Tears streamed down her face as she collapsed to her knees. "Fucking liar!" she screamed, her voice raw with emotion. "Can’t you just keep a single promise?"

Her last words came out as barely a whisper, "If only... if only..." But time had finally caught up with her. Her form shattered like crystal, leaving nothing but dust that vanished beneath the avalanche of falling debris, burying a millennium of solitude and broken promises beneath the collapsing dungeon.

…

Marcus emerged from the dungeon portal, the three unconscious empire spies bundled together in his grip. He turned to watch as the portal began to destabilize, its ethereal surface twisting and distorting like a reflection in troubled water. The magical gateway convulsed violently, its edges wavering and contracting with increasing speed until, in a matter of seconds, it collapsed in on itself and vanished – as if it had never existed at all.

Standing in the now-ordinary forest clearing, Marcus’s fingers tightened around Xiao Yue’s collar and the ancient scroll. A weary sigh escaped his lips as he contemplated the unexpected turns his simple mission had taken. Though meeting the fox princess hadn’t been part of his plan, he had still accomplished his primary objective of securing a gift for Ambrose. The additional intelligence about the fox clan’s survivors was an unexpected bonus.

His gaze shifted to his captives, their unconscious forms bound together in what looked like a somewhat undignified human sphere. Despite their status as empire spies, Marcus couldn’t bring himself to simply drag them through the forest. The thought of waking them crossed his mind, but he quickly dismissed it – conscious prisoners were always more troublesome than unconscious ones.

With another resigned sigh, he hoisted the bound trio onto his back. The arrangement wasn’t elegant, but it would keep them alive, and that was what mattered. Without a backward glance, Marcus started his journey back through the forest, eager to return before Ambrose regained consciousness.

As his footsteps faded into the distance, a new figure materialized in the clearing. Small in stature and dressed entirely in black, they wore a rat mask that concealed all identifying features. Despite their unimposing size, the figure radiated an aura that would make even hardened warriors think twice about approaching.

"It’s exactly as Sir Dragon predicted," the figure spoke, their voice surprisingly youthful though impossible to gender. "They really were captured!"

Their masked face turned toward the spot where the dungeon portal had been, head tilting slightly in curiosity. "But why did the dungeon disappear? Could it be..." They began to speculate but quickly caught themselves. "Never mind, what has it got to do with me?"

With that dismissive self-admonishment, the mysterious figure vanished as suddenly as they had appeared, leaving the clearing empty save for the whisper of wind through the trees and the lingering questions their presence had raised.

…

In the aftermath of battle, the once-pristine clearing bore deep scars of violence. Broken carriages lay scattered like discarded toys, their splintered remains telling silent tales of the day before’s conflict. Through this scene of destruction walked Maximilian, his thoughts heavy with the weight of recent revelations.

Just yesterday, the shocking discovery in Sebastian’s quarters had left him reeling. He’d waited at the estate, expecting both sons to return, prepared to deliver the stern lecture they desperately needed. But as hours stretched into evening, only Theodore had come back. Rather than confront his youngest immediately, Maximilian had continued his vigil, hoping that Sebastian would eventually appear.

Word had reached him of his sons pursuing Adelaide, yet morning brought news that his daughter had safely reached the academy. The pieces didn’t align - if both Adelaide and Theodore were accounted for, what had become of Sebastian? This uncertainty had driven him to slip away from the estate, following the trail his children had left behind.

The clearing told a stark story of combat. Deep gouges scarred the earth, while scattered debris spoke of magical combat and physical violence. Maximilian’s eyes caught something in the distance - a dark form lying motionless in the distance. His feet carried him forward with growing dread, each step feeling heavier than the last.

Nothing could have prepared him for what he found. The face was unmistakably Sebastian’s, but the rest... Grey, corrupted flesh marked him as something inhuman - a demonoid. His firstborn son lay dead, transformed into the very thing humanity feared most.

Maximilian’s mind pieced together a grim narrative: His sons had pursued Adelaide, but she’d had protection. Sebastian, perhaps desperate or corrupted, had transformed into a demonoid. The battle had ended in his defeat, and Theodore, seeing the tide turn, had switched allegiances to save himself.

Despite the horror of Sebastian’s transformation, paternal instinct won out. Maximilian couldn’t bear to leave his son’s body to rot in the open, yet he couldn’t risk burying a demonoid near home - such a discovery would bring catastrophe upon their house. With heavy steps, he carried Sebastian’s body deeper into the forest.

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He gathered wood methodically, building a pyre with careful precision. When the stack reached proper height, he placed Sebastian’s body atop it and set it ablaze. Drawing a cigar from his pocket, he lit it from the same flames that would consume his son. As he sat watching the fire climb higher, smoke from both sources mingled in the darkening sky.

When the flames finally died down, Maximilian moved to collect what remained. But as he sifted through the ashes, movement caught his eye. Something impossible - a creature, surviving the intense heat. His surprise turned to shock as it spoke, its voice carrying an otherworldly resonance:

"Do you want revenge? Do you want power?" The creature’s words seemed to echo in his mind. "Take me- take me and I’ll give you power."

A/N - What path do you think we should take for the rich guy: A - Villain, B - Vigilante