The Academy's Terminally Ill Side Character-Chapter 298: Third Villain Act [4]

I straightened slowly, tilting my head toward Seraphine.

[…Oh? I didn't expect you to be the first to break the silence.]

Her gaze didn't waver. "Enough games. You've shown your hand. Now tell me—what do you want from us?"

Finally — a normal conversation. Democratic, even. If you ignored the fact that we were surrounded by scorch marks and freshly regrown vines.

[Since you're in a hurry, I'll be brief.] My voice was flat, businesslike. [I want you to join us. But knowing you, that's unlikely. So: collaborate. For now.]

"Collaborate?" She sounded amused, not threatened. The word rolled off her tongue like a challenge.

[Yes. Collaborate.] I let the word hang there for a beat, watching the way it landed on the group.

"How can we collaborate when we don't even know who you are, or what organization you belong to? Reveal your identity first." Her tone was crisp — a demand, not a question.

[You'll know soon enough. He will appear soon. Time is short.] The mask made the words sound colder than I felt. That was intentional.

Seraphine's eyes flicked toward the heavy stone door at the far end of the chamber, then back to me. "So you speak of… a leader. Someone you serve. And you expect us to just—what—sign on because your mysterious boss has compatible aims?"

[Essentially. Or you can oppose us. Either way, an answer will be required next time we meet.] I didn't bother pretending it wasn't a pressure play.

She laughed — a short, dry sound. "You make big assumptions."

[You know enough to understand the choice,] I said. [There are things behind that door this dungeon protects. Treasures, yes — but also tools. Objects of true alchemy and power. You covet them. We want them. Our goals overlap; cooperation makes sense. Or you can choose conflict. Either path has consequences.]

Silence stretched. The New Dawn members exchanged looks — not of fear so much as calculation. Seraphine's jaw tightened. She stepped a half-step closer, and for a moment the whole room seemed to lean in.

"You think we come to bargains with strangers in masks?" Her voice was level, but sharp. "We take what we want. We don't sign deals in the dark." There was pride there — tribal, unbroken.

[Then test us. See whether this 'stranger' is worth your time.] I shrugged, nonchalant. [If you force my hand, you'll learn what I'm willing to do. If you accept negotiation, You will be saved. Your choice.]

She studied me for a long second, as if trying to weigh a hidden scale only she could see.

Without wating for her reply, I turned around and approached the reward room, the plants tried to approach me, but they quickly withered as their mana was drained by the shadows.

…Their rustling was kind of cute. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The heavy door loomed before me, its surface carved with spirals and runes that pulsed faintly like veins under stone.

Each step closer thickened the air, pressing down with a weight that wasn't just physical—it was the dungeon itself resisting.

Behind me, I heard movement. The shuffle of boots. The faint scrape of steel being shifted into a ready grip. New Dawn's instinct to pounce at my exposed back was almost audible.

Almost.

But then the rustle of vines cracking and withering filled the chamber, and I knew none of them dared to try.

The shadows curled protectively around my ankles, licking at the fractured ground like waves against a shore. To the plants, they were poison. To me, they were loyal.

[Interesting,] I murmured, reaching out and brushing my fingers against the door's cold surface. It shivered, almost alive. [Even the dungeon doesn't want me opening this.]

I pressed lightly.

The runes pulsed brighter, rejecting me, but the Dark Dragon Shadow stirred. Its eyes flared, and at its silent will, the glow dimmed—mana siphoned like water from a punctured vein. The resistance buckled.

Behind me, Seraphine's voice cut sharp through the stillness.

"Wait."

I tilted my head slightly, not bothering to face her. […Still hoping to negotiate?]

She didn't answer immediately. The silence was deliberate—her way of buying time, making every word measured.

"…What lies beyond that door?"

I smirked beneath the mask. [Curiosity? Or fear?]

She didn't flinch. "Both."

The others shifted restlessly. Even Shibazorak, still breathing heavy from his futile barrage, leaned in as if he needed the answer too.

[…Legacy,] I said simply.

That's all I am going to say and they also have some idea s what rewards is wating behind this door.

...She asked this question in hope to know how much I know.

Smart move. But I am not following for it.

And in the next moment, the door opend and I stepped inside without giving her chances to ask me again.

----

Seraphine stood rooted in place as the masked figure slipped past the threshold, swallowed by the darkness beyond the stone door.

The heavy slab closed behind him with a grinding finality, sealing the chamber once more in silence.

For a moment, no one moved. The only sound was the faint crackle of mana still being siphoned into nothing, like the dungeon itself was exhaling in relief now that its veins had been cut open.

Her eyes lingered on the door. Legacy. That single word echoed in her mind, sharp and weighted. He had spoken it without hesitation, but not as if he was guessing. No—he knew.

"Boss…" The short woman broke the silence, her voice pitched with unease. "What the hell was that? That shadow— it wasn't human. That wasn't just some artifact or trick, right? It… it felt like—"

"Like a dragon," Shibazorak finished for her, his tone grim. The mountain of a man flexed his hands, testing them, as though trying to reassure himself that mana would obey him again. His fingers trembled slightly.

Seraphine's jaw tightened. A dragon. That was the same impression gnawing at the back of her mind, though it sounded absurd even to think it aloud. A shadow of a dragon, born from the hands of a man who shouldn't exist in any record she knew.

He had called it like a weapon, but it didn't feel like a weapon. It felt like an inheritance.

"Boss." The short woman pressed again, impatient, her foot tapping against the cracked floor. "Are we really just gonna stand here? He's in there alone. He's going to claim everything for himself!"

Seraphine finally turned her gaze away from the sealed door. Her eyes swept over her people one by one—their faces pale, their shoulders tense. None of them wanted to admit it, but the oppressive fear from earlier still lingered in the marrow of their bones.

"If you want to follow him," she said quietly, "go ahead."

The short woman froze, startled.

"Go on." Seraphine's tone was even, but there was a blade hidden in it. "Step into that door. Challenge him. Claim the legacy before he does. If you're so eager."

No one moved.

Even Shibazorak—who would normally leap at the chance to test his strength—stayed still, his fists curling and uncurling. His silence spoke louder than any words.

Seraphine exhaled softly. That was the answer she expected.

She let her eyes return to the door one last time. Behind it, that masked man was walking deeper into the unknown, into a place the dungeon itself had tried to keep hidden. He had forced his way in where others had been repelled.

And he hadn't lied—time was short. She had felt it too. Something was stirring in the city above, something that would not wait for them to finish their little dungeon hunt.

"…Legacy," she whispered to herself. Not a treasure, not an artifact. Something more.

Her lips curved faintly, though her eyes stayed cold. "Very well. We'll watch. For now."

It wasn't surrender. It wasn't alliance. It was calculation.

If that masked stranger truly carried the shadow of a dragon, then New Dawn would not gamble recklessly against him. Not yet.

But the moment his mask slipped— the moment his true identity revealed itself— she would be ready.

And when that time came, whether to seize him as an ally or cut him down as a rival, she would decide.

For now, patience was the sharpest weapon she had.

----

Rin Evans POV

"Well, shit."

The words slipped out before I could stop them, echoing faintly against the dungeon walls.

I had managed to bluff my way past New Dawn—at least for now—but the cost was heavier than I liked to admit.

Pushing Lan to its very limit just to endure Shibazorak's barrage had already burned through a chunk of my reserves. On top of that, I'd force-fed Enhancement into Black Shadow, dragging out a pseudo-awakening to stop his so-called finishing blow before it could land.

It worked. It scared them. It bought me breathing room.

But it also left me running on fumes.

I could feel it clearly in my core—qi thinned out, brittle, like a frayed rope stretched too far. What remained was less than a single person's worth of primal qi. Barely enough to defend myself, let alone storm through the final chamber.

And the boss room was waiting.

I flexed my fingers slowly, letting the shadows coil around them like smoke. They flickered weakly, not the overwhelming tide I'd unleashed minutes ago. The difference was stark.

"…This isn't enough."

I wasn't delusional. Even with tactics, timing, and tricks, the boss of a dungeon like this wasn't something I could solo on scraps of qi. If I tried, I'd collapse before I reached the halfway mark.

Which meant two things.

One: I needed to find another way to tip the scales inside that room.

Two: I needed to keep New Dawn convinced I was still untouchable, or they'd smell blood and tear me apart before the door even opened again.

I exhaled slowly, pressing a hand against the cold stone wall. My palm came away slick with condensation, or maybe sweat—I didn't check too closely.

For now, all I could do was play the part.

...Act like I was in control.