Chapter 28

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Episode 6 - The past [1]

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Director Bernice was in her office, as usual. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

She was reviewing reports and planning the next events to be held at the Academy.

Suddenly, she sensed a powerful presence.

’It comes from the Golden Forest, is a Class 6, and possesses the power of Chaos, a Demon Beast.’

She instantly understood what was happening.

She stood up and her expression darkened.

"Seriously, are these villains never going to stop with their nonsense?"

She was really tired of the villains; they seek to destroy everything in their path.

Honestly, she doesn’t understand why they’re so irrational.

It makes no sense for the world to be destroyed and ruled by monsters.

What sense does that make?

They’re like spoiled children trying to get the attention of adults.

Principal Bernice was about to move, but just then she stopped.

’What? I don’t feel anything anymore.’

The Class 6 Demon Beast suddenly disappeared, or so it seemed.

’This is a Zone of Isolation.’

It was a necessary skill to advance to six stars.

Its only function may be isolation, but it allows you to imprison someone stronger, with at least two superior stars.

For at least thirty minutes.

’To isolate me, they must have used a legendary-rank magic item, or it’s a Class 9 villain who’s infiltrated us, at the very least.’

She couldn’t tell which of the two options was the answer, but, either way...

She left her office and noticed that all the teachers were there.

Also the staff and the strongest third-year students, such as the student council president and vice president.

"Director, we’ve been attacked by a high-ranking villain."

One of the professors approached and said:

She nodded.

"I know. They have at least one legendary-rank magic item, or they’re a Class 9."

No matter which it is, it’s a headache to get out of quarantine as soon as possible.

’Outside, there’s a Class 6 Demon Beast. At least the villains are concentrating here and leaving the work to the Demon Beasts.’

At least, that was the silver lining.

Because, while it’s difficult, it’s not impossible to escape the Demon Beasts.

"Damn it, start analyzing and find the isolation’s weak point!"

She shouted, and all the professors and cadets sprang into action.

’There are infiltrators in the academy. They even managed to evade my surveillance, which means they’re awakening unique traits or creating objects with special effects.’

Principal Bernice soon joined the others, her thoughts still racing.

***

It didn’t take me long to enter the Golden Forest.

What I found was exactly as I had imagined.

’They’re already on the move.’

Since I didn’t see any teachers, it meant they were already isolated.

’The infiltrated villains planned all this a long time ago.’

The isolation is the result of an Isolation Matrix that the villains created.

Its effect is the same as the Zone of Isolation, but without any weak points.

The problem for them would be the enormous amount of Power of Chaos they must provide.

The more people you isolate, the greater the consumption of Power of Chaos.

’Since it can only be kept active for more than thirty minutes, it’s best not to expect a rescue anytime soon.’

The closer I got to the central region, the more Demonic Beast corpses I saw.

Of course, there were also at least a dozen dead Demonic Beasts.

All of the cadets I’ve seen so far are injured, but none are dead.

’Sure, everyone’s busy escaping or fighting, but it’s mostly the freshmen who die.’

That said, I can’t seem to get past the first part of Chapter one.

"I thought as I ran into the central region.

’The Demonic Beast should be near the Surface Region, but it’s nowhere near the Central Region.’

The first change was already evident, so I had to run to the Deep Region.

Then I extended my senses to search for the main characters.

Information about almost the entire Golden Forest flooded my mind.

I soon knew where almost all of the main characters were.

’There are only three of them. It seems the others aren’t in the Golden Forest.’

I also found Clementine. Besides her, there were Charlotte and her brother Leon.

I changed direction and headed straight for Clementine, my heart pounding.

Right in front of her stood the Demonic Beast, and to make matters worse, ...

"It’s a Class 6, close to evolving into a Class 7."

This was the worst possible outcome.

’I only have one chance to weaken it.’

I looked at the ring on my finger.

If I manage to weaken it, its power should drop to Class 5.

So I hurried.

***

Clementine’s sword fell from her hands.

She was extremely tired; her whole body was trembling and she was covered in injuries.

She had faced several Class 3 demonic beasts at the same time.

The result: a victory, but with severe consequences.

And when she looked up, she could only curse inwardly.

A dozen tentacles writhed everywhere, some grabbing cadets and tearing them apart.

Others grabbed wild beasts and demons, and the result was the same.

"Those tentacles are incredibly strong..."

The trees were being torn up as if they were mere twigs.

In any case, the situation was dangerous.

If I didn’t get out of there, I could die.

’Shit, shit, shit... Why did I come to help? I’ve never acted like this before.’

Clementine smiled and ignored him whenever others were in danger.

She didn’t care about other people’s lives. If they couldn’t protect themselves, it meant they died because they were weak.

The Ordeal Empire may seem peaceful on the surface.

But, in reality, only the strong survive.

Those who use their heads to survive and those in high society who control the empire.

Clementine was once the weakest of the Lunovar family.

The Lunovar house is a place where someone so weak is not allowed to survive.

She came close to dying too many times.

She nearly died at the hands of her younger and older siblings.

Even her parents never looked her in the eye.

She was as if she didn’t exist.

Naturally, she adopted that same habit and did the same to the weak.

At some point, she became irrational and rarely let people who angered her off the hook.

’Only the strong survive and the weak die... then why did I help these bastards?’

She asked herself this, but she didn’t know the answer.

She clenched her teeth, trying to stand up.

At the Lunovar House, she always fell to the floor after being hit, even by the servants.

’Shit...’

The memories of all those days at the Lunovar House were slowly coming back.

She hated that house more than anything.

She hated her entire "family," and, above all, herself.

She hated herself for feeling weak.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t bring herself to stand up.

In the end, she gave up; it was probably the first time she had ever done so.

’Anyway, I always wished I hadn’t been born.’

She hated her family.

But, above all, she hated having been born.

Or at least she would have liked to have been born into a normal family.

She wouldn’t complain; sometimes she felt jealous of other families.

But he couldn’t change anything at that moment.

’To hell with it all.’

He lowered his head and saw his hands, calloused from endless training.

Without realizing it, his vision blurred.

It wasn’t the first time he’d cried, but it still hurt every time he did.

He pressed his lips together tightly and, at the same time, noticed that the Demonic Beasts were already surrounding her.

’It’s not so bad to die, is it?’

He could forget everything and be free, rest, and never see the faces of his "parents" again.

She closed her eyes and simply waited for the Demonic Beasts to devour her.

He waited a second; then a minute passed.

But the demonic beasts never approached him.

’Now what? They have what they wanted and still don’t come.’

With her face wet with tears, she opened her eyes.

The world in front of her was still blurry, but when she opened them fully,

there was a familiar face in front of her.

He was crouched down, "looking" her in the eyes; of course, he was blind, so he wasn’t really looking at her.

But that wasn’t the point.

"You’re crying... Pfft... Ha, ha. And yet you’re the one mocking me and looking at me like you want to punch me. You look down on me every time we bump into each other."

Adel’s mocking voice reached his ears and a vein bulged on his forehead.

"Damn son of a bitch... You’re the cause of all this, and now you’re mocking me..."

Adel fell silent.

"You won’t say anything, will you, you damn coward?"

She continued to curse, but Adel didn’t say anything. Then he smiled and laughed.

"I think you’re mistaken. I’m not on the villains’ side. From what you’re saying, it sounds like you’re the one who saw me yesterday. My senses were in total chaos, so I couldn’t tell exactly who it was. Did you see me yesterday?"

Clementine opened her mouth.

"Yes, it was you. I clearly saw you coming from the Deep Region, probably infecting a wild beast of Class 5 or higher."

Adel simply responded to her words.

"No, that’s not it. Yesterday I found a cave where a witch lived. The entrance was filled with curses, and the Power of Chaos was so strong that I ended up like this."

Clementine, of course, didn’t believe him, but before she could respond, Adel continued.

"Believe it or not; that’s your decision. Now, take this."

Out of nowhere, three potions appeared in Adel’s hand.

Clementine looked at this in disbelief, but before she could say anything,

Adel put the three potions in her mouth one by one; the effects were evident soon after.

She tried to resist at first, but then she gave in.

Then, she recovered completely in a few seconds.

She wiped her eyes and looked around; all the Class 3 demonic beasts that had surrounded her before were dead.

’I was really wrong.’

She couldn’t help but think it.

Just as she was about to say something, a loud noise coming from the other side of the Golden Forest interrupted her.

Adel turned toward the noise and said:

"It’s a Class 6 demonic beast, close to Class 7. If Lumina were here, we could hold it off for a while, but she’s not here."

Then, Adel turned and "looked" at Clementine.

"Please, don’t put yourself in danger. I’d like to get you out of here, but I really need your help."

Clementine’s eyes widened in disbelief.

’W-what do you mean by that...’

Several thoughts crowded her mind, then Adel said,

"Come on, we don’t have much time. I have a plan."

Adel grabbed her hand. Unable to resist, she nodded unconsciously, and they both moved.

In the direction of the demonic beast.