groooan—
With a groan, the demon split in two fell to the ground.
Demons, beings from another dimension, could not leave even a corpse in this world.
Andrealphus’s body disintegrated into dust and vanished in an instant.
Aint let out a sigh of relief and collapsed. The pain and fatigue that had arrived late forced him to groan.
He had gone through countless trials and crises, but in the end, he had endured. He had killed a demon.
That was enough. That was plenty.
— Wait, Aint! It’s not over yet!
“Ah…!”
Gardner’s voice jolted him out of his daze.
In the middle of the battle against Andrealphus he had forgotten, but he wasn’t the only demon who had descended upon the Academy.
The true instigator of it all remained, demon number 71, Dantalion.
“Professor! There’s still another demon left!”
“…Another demon?”
Grad Xanth, who had faced Andrealphus head-on for so long, lay exhausted after the battle.
Upon hearing Aint’s shout, he opened his eyes.
“Two demons descended upon the Academy?”
“Yes.”
“Damn it, I can’t even get a break… I’m seriously going to die at this rate.”
Grad groaned as he forced his heavy body to rise.
He wanted to rest, but if they didn’t stop the other demon, they’d be resting forever. And he had no intention of doing that yet.
Besides, he still hadn’t spent all the money Fernan had given him.
“Another demon? Where is it?”
Even the saint of the Cult of the Dragon God shuddered in surprise.
“For now, senior Fernan and senior Luina are facing him…”
At that moment, a chill swept the air in the distance. A storm of blue aura exploded.
“There.”
“Professor Rosalia…? And the other professors? All missing, and the only one who had left for work is the one who returns…”
“Let’s go!”
“There? The Ravidus Hall?”
But what they feared wasn’t there.
When they arrived in front of the Ravidus Hall, what they saw was Professor Dominique completely frozen and Luina splitting him in two.
“Professor Dominique?”
“Professor Dominique was a demon. Number 71, Dantalion.”
“No way—wait, the festival fireworks turned into a magic circle. And the one in charge of the festival was Dominique. What irony.”
Dominique’s split body disintegrated into dust.
And that dust rose into the sky.
— Toward the sky?
‘Wait—is it possible?’
Under other circumstances, he might have overlooked it. But they had just seen Andrealphus die, and the comparison was inevitable.
Perhaps also because he had witnessed the deaths of countless corrupts.
Andrealphus’s dust had vanished without a trace.
But Dantalion’s dust rose weakly, infused with demonic magic, disappearing into the sky.
That difference could only mean one thing.
“Is he dead?”
“No. He’s not dead.”
— It’s an avatar…!
— Damn Dantalion! He dug tunnels like a rat!
That meant Dantalion was still alive.
“He’s not dead?”
“An avatar. Unlike Andrealphus, he didn’t fully disintegrate.”
“I can’t sense him, but it makes sense. If he could manipulate everything as Dominique for ten years, of course he had a backup plan.”
Grad was right. Aint leapt into the air, following the rapidly fading trails of magic into the sky.
— It’s just a remnant of an avatar, it’s not that significant, but at least we can reduce some of the magic that returns to the main body.
‘Yes, we have to hurt it—even a little. After everything he did to us.’
From above, the scale of the disaster was even clearer.
The Academy was destroyed. The devastation was overwhelming.
Gritting his teeth, he swung his sword. The white aura dissolved the residual magic until it vanished completely.
As he landed, his eyes met Fernan’s.
“Senior.”
“I saw it. Andrealphus?”
“He completely disintegrated.”
“At least something good.”
But even so, Fernan’s expression didn’t relax.
Thanks to the Dragon Heart he had defeated Flauros, returned riding Silver, and stopped the plan. Quite an achievement, yes.
But the outcome remained bitter—more than half of the Academy’s buildings were in ruins.
The center of the summoning had been reduced to rubble by Andrealphus’s rampage, and the monster hordes had caused countless casualties.
How much time and effort would it take to repair this damage?
At that moment—
“Fernan! Get in here and help me!”
Professor Rosalia’s voice, sharp like a scream, echoed from the Ravidus Hall.
Everyone, including Fernan, rushed inside. The voice came from the main hall, a luxurious room reserved for noble guests or imperial dignitaries.
“Good heavens.”
“What the hell…”
The floor, the walls, the entire ceiling were covered in complex magic circles.
A cold air ran through the place, and frost blocked the spell flows. It was Rosalia’s doing.
But that wasn’t the important part.
Within those circles lay bodies, as if dead.
Mostly professors, mixed with some assistants.
And among them, several no longer showed any signs of life.
“Dominique, you mad bastard…!”
“Oh my god.”
The worst had happened.
***
Was it because even the sky shared the Academy’s grief?
From the dark vault above, a steady rain began to fall.
A black procession stretched along the boulevard, and the laments did not cease.
They were preparing a funeral and a joint mourning ceremony for the victims of this tragedy.
Fernan, dressed in black mourning clothes, carefully opened the newspaper.
The news that a demon had descended upon the Academy had shocked the entire continent within hours.
【Academy in ruins—What happened at the Academy?】
【The disaster summoned at the Academy—Demon Number 65, Andrealphus.】
First, they were horrified by the descent of Andrealphus.
【The day that should’ve been the happiest turned into the saddest. The Empire’s greatest festival became its greatest tragedy.】
【Parents who lost their children—heart-wrenching cries—crowds gather at the Academy.】
【Collapsed Academy—dozens of professors killed by the demon…!】
Then they were stunned by the level of destruction.
【Corrupts infiltrated the Academy. Were there signs all along?!】
【When the demon descended, where was the rector?】
And amid so much grief and despair, people looked for someone to blame.
【Aint Armian appears riding the Saintbird—The legend returns! Slays the demon.】
【A giant of steel at the Academy—Not just a common golem?】
Finally, they highlighted a ray of hope among the despair.
“……”
Fernan folded the newspaper. A sigh escaped him on its own.
Failure.
No matter how much it was dressed up, the content didn’t change.
This had been, without a doubt, a failure. The demons had succeeded in destroying the Academy, cradle of the Empire.
The historic buildings were now ruins.
Students had died, and half the professors as well.
How could stopping them like this be called a success?
The only salvaging grace was that, at least, there weren’t that many student casualties.
Each of those young ones was a recognized talent across the continent.
They had been scared, had trembled, but they joined forces to survive and defeat the monsters.
Most, knowing their place, hadn’t even approached the demon. Thanks to that, student casualties were minimal.
“…And the professors?”
That was the biggest problem.
The Academy, combining the Departments of Knights, Magic, and Administration, had 101 professors.
Of those, Dantalion had left untouched the 20 from the Administration Department, as if uninterested.
That left 81. And of those, 21 had died.
An immense loss for the entire continent.
And for the Academy, an irreplaceable void.
Filling the absence of 21 professors would never be an easy task.
The Armian Academy didn’t just gather the best students—but also the best teachers.
Was it Dantalion’s “mercy” that he let them die peacefully in their sleep? Or simply the result of the time he spent infiltrating?
“Fortunately, with some rest, the others will recover.”
The professors who died had passed with serene expressions, without pain.
Those who survived didn’t suffer serious injuries.
Was that truly the “affection” Dantalion spoke of? Or a cruel joke?
Only he would know the truth.
“How did they fall so easily?”
“Most drank or ate what Dantalion offered them, unsuspectingly.”
Fernan let out a bitter laugh.
If no one knew that Professor Dominique was actually Dantalion, anyone would’ve fallen just the same.
Nine years. No less than nine years of getting along with everyone.
Maybe little for a demon—but an eternity for a human.
“There was no way to avoid it.”
Not even the greatest mages could resist drugged tea or poisoned sweets, especially when among trusted company.
“In the end, we danced to Dantalion’s tune from beginning to end.”
Emptiness. After so much effort and preparation, to end with such a blow hurt far too much.
“But at least he didn’t achieve his goal.”
“That was pure chance. A result I never planned.”
Obtaining the Dragon Heart, discovering it was the power demons feared as their nemesis—it was all coincidence, luck.
Had it not been so, the outcome would have been different.
“But in the end, it happened. Chance or not, now it’s mine. We killed two demons and ruined their plan.”
Fernan brushed his hair back.
“That line should be mine to cheer you up, young master.”
“Cheer me up? No need, Hyde. My blood’s boiling, but I’m not defeated.”
They had caught two demons with minimal losses.
That was a feat almost no one could claim.
“Now’s not the time to grieve, but to plan the reconstruction.”
Was the Academy destroyed? Then it would be rebuilt.
The deaths of students and professors hurt, yes.
But at least student losses were few.
The problem was the professors.
Filling the absence of 21 would not happen overnight.
“And the rebuilding of the buildings?”
“Same. This semester is lost.”
Even if buildings were raised quickly with magic, rebuilding something the size of the Academy wouldn’t happen in a day.
It would take entire months. The rest of the semester, even winter break, would need to be used for it.
“The Academy must be rebuilt from the ground up. And if so, it wouldn’t be bad to put new wine in a new wineskin.”
“A new wineskin? Are you referring to…?”
“Yes.”
Fernan nodded and approached Rosalia, who was silently smoking in her mourning attire.
“Professor.”
“What is it?”
“You must prepare yourself.”
“Prepare myself?”
“Soon, the rector will resign from his post.”
“I see.”
Rosalia wasn’t surprised.
“In the end, it had to be this way.”
Calmly, she flicked the ash from her cigarette.
____
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