Chapter 30

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Episode 6 - The past [3]

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A woman was literally floating in the air.

Fifty meters above the ground, the woman looked down with a smile.

She was watching two children and a small demonic beast playing.

The three of them seemed to be having a great time.

The woman felt the urge to go over immediately, but held back for the moment.

’Ah, it looks so fun. When the time is right, I’ll make my appearance.’

She was excited to go play with the three of them.

However, her attention was fixed on someone in particular.

"Ho, ho... You’ve grown up, Adel. I haven’t seen you in three years. I was looking forward to seeing you again, but you were already gone when I went to look for you."

About six months ago, she went to look for Adel, but she was surprised.

The place where he used to be was completely destroyed and surrounded by several knights and strong men.

They were investigating the ruins.

But the woman didn’t care; she turned around and left.

However, she felt upset.

She hadn’t seen little Adel in three years, and when she finally went to see him, he wasn’t there.

She felt disappointed, but also very angry.

She searched for him everywhere, but she couldn’t find him.

Not until today.

With a big smile, the woman could no longer hold back.

"I can’t take it anymore, I’m going in, little Adel."

The woman began to descend from the sky.

***

I barely managed to cast the Curse on the Demonic Beast.

The next step was to neutralize its tentacles.

The problem was the madness the Demonic Beast was currently experiencing.

The tentacles were darting everywhere at high speed.

They were destroying the trees around them and the large rocks scattered about.

The ground cracked, and, every so often, an unnatural shriek echoed throughout.

As I approached, it was difficult to even get close to this mad creature.

One of the tentacles descended toward me, and the eyes on the tentacle stared at me.

As if in a chain reaction, the tentacles of the Demonic Beast flew in my direction.

I gripped my sword tightly and swung it.

The tentacle descending from above struck my sword.

Without hesitation, I pulled a dagger from my inventory and repeatedly stabbed the tentacles in the eyes.

Then I drew my sword, leaving a thin gash, and thick blood spurted out.

The tentacle fell to the ground.

’Fortunately, I had prepared for anything.’

One of my most important preparations was buying paralyzing poison.

Its effect would last half an hour; adding the time I had been fighting, twenty minutes should have already passed.

"Although it can only affect one tentacle."

The only tentacle I stabbed didn’t move, but the rest did.

Then, I took out a bottle from my inventory.

I poured the sticky liquid from the jar onto my sword, then threw it into the air.

Clementine appeared at that moment and grabbed it; she did the same, covering her sword with the poison.

Then, she threw it at the main body of the Demonic Beast.

The Demonic Beast launched an attack, destroying the jar.

All of the poison fell onto the eyes of its main body.

The next reaction was completely violent.

Tentacles and thorns flew out in all directions.

’The poison will take time to penetrate the eyes, so the paralysis of the main body is already guaranteed.’

The next step was to poison as many tentacles as possible.

So I moved my legs and started stabbing the tentacles.

There were at least a dozen of them, so it would take a few minutes.

Meanwhile, I stabbed the eyes.

’Phases two and three are carried out at the same time.’

The eyes were weaker than the tentacles.

Naturally, that’s where I attacked.

***

Clementine was sweating profusely; beads of sweat dripped from her forehead.

Her body had already reached its limit.

She received two recovery potions, one physical and one mental, from Adel.

But she had already used them all.

’Where does she get these things? She doesn’t seem to have a Storage Ring.’

That was the strangest thing; the things he pulled out of thin air made no sense.

But she didn’t ask, because what was important was right in front of her.

Clementine swung her sword and stabbed deep into the eyes of the Demonic Beast’s tentacles.

By this point, several tentacles had already fallen to the ground.

Clementine couldn’t help but think.

’She really prepared for this.’

Before starting the second phase, he asked why he had all these things.

He simply said that he kept them with him as a precaution.

She believed him, but now she saw things differently.

It was as if Adel already knew about this.

’But if that were the case, he shouldn’t have reported it.’

Still, Adel was trying to buy time for the professors to arrive.

Of that there was no doubt.

’But where are the professors? We’ve been here for more than twenty minutes, and the Demonic Beast appeared an hour ago.’

That was enough time for the teachers to finish up.

The cadets would be taken to the infirmary.

In about two hours, the director would probably explain what had happened.

But none of that was happening.

’Although the demonic beast has weakened to Class 5, it’s still impossible for me to contain it.’

Adel could manage more, but she wasn’t strong enough at that moment.

Clementine clenched her teeth and swung her sword with all her might.

Even her eyes, which were supposedly weak, were strong for her.

’Damn it...’

She felt frustrated that she couldn’t do more to help, but that was her limit.

’If she grew faster, maybe in a similar situation in the future she could do something.’

Clementine was striving to become stronger, but for some reason, her progress wasn’t that fast.

Compared to others, some were already approaching four stars.

She had been stuck in the same place since before entering the Academy.

Deep down, she was the weakest.

’I can’t take it anymore...’

Her legs buckled and could no longer support her body’s weight.

Her stamina wasn’t the best; at best, it was average.

Since she specializes in quick attacks, she doesn’t usually train her endurance.

Clementine noticed this and firmly decided to train her endurance more.

She fell to the ground, unable to feel her legs.

The Demonic Beast didn’t hesitate to attack her.

’Shit...’

Using her hands, she tried to crawl, but it was useless, and before the tentacles could crush her,

Adel carried her like a princess once again and dodged the Demonic Beast’s attacks. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

’Seriously, why do I feel like he doesn’t want me to die?’

It was a faint premonition; he tried to ignore it, but it always came back to him.

Then she remembered his words when he rescued her before the battle against the Demonic Beast.

’What do those words really mean?’

He truly cares about her.

No one had ever cared about her before.

She was always treated as an inferior.

But Adel was different; although he teased her, it wasn’t for any ulterior motive.

He simply taught her a lesson, realizing that she had been mocking him every day.

She felt the urge to hit him as she did with others, but Adel would probably dodge every blow.

That made her smile without her realizing it.

"Pfft... Ha, ha..."

She quickly covered her mouth with her hands, but Adel obviously noticed.

"Hey, why are you laughing for no reason? Do you have mental problems or something?"

Clementine pursed her lips and muttered.

"Shut up, idiot."

Ignoring her words, Adel changed the subject and said,

"Just a few more tentacles and we can rest."

Clementine looked at the Demonic Beast.

Only four tentacles were still moving.

Most of the eyes on the main body were already closed.

The demonic beast was on the verge of falling asleep due to the amount of paralyzing poison it had ingested.

"I suppose it’s almost over, isn’t it?’

That put her at ease. Finally, she could go to sleep.

Maybe she could take a bath and then go to bed; her body was begging for it.

Then she glanced briefly at Adel.

She wasn’t thinking about anything; rather, she looked like a fool who didn’t know what to say.

’Ah, shit, what’s wrong with me now?’

She shook her head, and then she heard Adel’s murmur.

"She must have something wrong with her head."

Clementine pinched him without realizing it, but Adel didn’t even react, as if he felt no pain.

Then, Adel left her sitting in front of a tree overlooking the Demonic Beast.

"I’ll leave you here. I’ll take care of the rest."

Several potions appeared in his hand. He drank them and then ran toward the Demonic Beast.

’Idiot, idiot, idiot.’

In his mind, he cursed over and over again.

Then she let out a sigh, and after a few seconds, Adel stabbed the last tentacle.

"Finally, I can rest..."

She murmured, but just then, a voice came from the sky.

Clementine raised her gaze, and there, a woman with black hair and violet eyes descended to the ground slowly.

"Ho, ho, finally I see you again, little Adel."

A voice, both cheerful and playful, addressed Clementine.

It sent shivers down her spine.

’W-what is this...? Just from her voice, a great fear came over her.’

The woman smiled, looking at Adel without even glancing at her.

Clementine was only a few feet away, so she could see everything so clearly.

Then the woman spoke again.

"Look at this. You’ve grown so much since the last time I saw you, little Adel."

’She knows Adel...’

Clementine thought, breaking out in a cold sweat.

Then the woman continued talking to herself.

"Hey, do you want to play like we used to? Remember? We played every day, drawing your blood and sticking those tubes all over your body. What if we played again? Just say yes, please."

The woman begged as if asking for permission, but Clementine simply looked at her in shock.

"Say something. Don’t you remember me anymore? I thought you knew my name, since you used to threaten to kill me. But what jokes you used to make. Ha, ha, ha..."

While Clementine was in shock and couldn’t think straight, Adel’s voice finally reached her ears.

"Yes, I remember you."

"Oh, oh, I’m glad. So, what do you say? Shall we play again?"

Adel, without hesitation, replied.

"Of course... not."

The woman’s expression froze, while Clementine felt the atmosphere grow tense.

’What’s going on here? Is what she said true? No, no, wait, that’s not the most important thing. Clearly, she’s a villain, and a Class 6 one at that...’

If a Class 6 Demonic Beast could barely be contained even with extensive preparation.

A completely unknown and unexpected enemy had appeared out of nowhere.

’This is very bad.’