Chapter 111
The drake’s head burst apart, blood exploding everywhere.
At that surreal sight, I stood there with my mouth hanging open.
To think that a bastard who seemed like he would never die had gone down so easily.
But at the same time, a sense of relief washed over me, and the strength drained from my legs on its own.
Before I knew it, the Heavenly Demon had come to my side and placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Struggling against such a trivial creature… When you return, you will have to begin your training all over again.”
Return.
I took in the sight of the academy, now completely in ruins.
Well, with the Devil Knight’s identity exposed and even the Heavenly Demon appearing, there was no way I could stay at the academy anymore.
I had thought that something like this might happen someday, but being told to leave so suddenly made everything feel strangely hollow.
Moreover, once I returned, there was no way I could avoid Pandemonium’s questioning.
Separate from Berid’s rampage, I had moved to stop his Hell Manifestation.
The fact that the Heavenly Demon had come meant that she had confirmed all of my actions, and if that was the case, there was no avoiding reproach.
The worst-case scenario might unfold.
What if Pandemonium decided to punish me?
There was no way for me to avoid it.
I looked at my companions who were staring at me.
They all wore confused expressions, as if they couldn’t understand the situation unfolding before their eyes.
Well, if even I couldn’t handle the situation, what could they do?
The appearance of the Heavenly Demon was probably something even Pandemonium had never anticipated.
And it made sense.
Her appearance had twisted everything out of shape.
The demon’s resurrection and Berid’s rampage.
Up until that point, it had all been a simple scheme by Pandemonium.
However, once the Heavenly Demon appeared, it turned into a situation where Pandemonium’s highest-ranking executive had shown up and neatly wrapped up the chaos at the academy.
If that happened, Pandemonium, the Association, and the Academy would all end up looking ridiculous.
On top of that, I hadn’t even been able to properly explain the situation to my companions.
In many ways, my head throbbed painfully.
Whether she knew how I felt or not, the Heavenly Demon retrieved the Heart of the Demon that Berid had absorbed and handed it to me.
“The heart has been recovered as well. Let us return now.”
“Yes? Just like this?”
Just show up out of nowhere, wreak havoc, and then leave?
Her confidence in not caring about the surrounding situation left me dumbfounded.
But the Heavenly Demon stretched her hand toward me with a look as if this were only natural.
“How long do you plan to stay here? It is time to return.”
Why did the word “return” feel so awkward?
But I couldn’t refuse her words either……
Ah, seriously.
It bothered me that I was leaving without even properly saying goodbye to these guys.
I hadn’t even been able to properly explain things to Seo Da-hee and Joo Sarang, who at least understood the situation to some extent.
I would have to ask Lia to explain it to them later, for now.
Just as I was about to take her hand—
At that moment, intense presences began to be felt from somewhere.
The heroes, who hadn’t shown even the tip of their noses until Berid’s rampage, had finally appeared.
When I expanded my senses, I heard the heroes’ radio transmissions.
“Red-listed fugitive and Pandemonium high-ranking executive classified as a special danger level, Heavenly Demon confirmed. Judged to be the cause of the current situation. Requesting immediate support from top-tier heroes.”
The Heavenly Demon seemed to sense it as well, narrowing her eyes.
“We have wasted time, and now these scraps have appeared.”
A surge of pressure began to pour out of her as she spoke, as if blaming me.
I felt cold sweat break out all over my body.
The Heavenly Demon was definitely not a demon, but she was by no means a merciful being.
If anything, her way of thinking was close enough to that of a demon.
In the memories I had inherited, she was a capricious existence that even her disciple Yoo Sung-woo had found difficult to predict.
I hurriedly grabbed her hand.
Explanations and whatever else could wait. Right now, taking her back was the best thing for everyone.
If she stayed here any longer, a tragedy worse than a demon’s resurrection would unfold.
“Master, please ignore those scraps and let’s go.”
“If we leave them as they are, it will become troublesome. If the Sword Emperor were to follow, even I would not be able to protect you.”
What on earth was she talking about?
“If you kill them, the Sword Emperor won’t stay quiet. His blood relatives are here.”
“The Sword Emperor’s blood relatives?”
The Heavenly Demon’s gaze shifted toward my companions.
A faint curiosity settled in her eyes.
“Come to think of it, I have heard that the Sword Emperor cherishes his blood relatives greatly. Are those the brats with the filthy-looking eyes?”
I looked at the ones she called brats with filthy-looking eyes—Dan Chun-woo and the Sword Empress.
“Yes. So you must not kill anyone here.”
“I see.”
She nodded, then looked back at me.
Her crimson eyes, shining with emotionless light, fixed themselves on me.
For a moment, I felt as if all the blood was draining from my body.
“I sent you to the academy for a mission, yet you have ended up becoming tainted by this place.”
Had my words somehow displeased her?
Just what had irritated her?
Or had she read my thoughts?
All kinds of thoughts tangled together chaotically in my head.
An immense energy erupted from her as she grabbed the back of my neck.
“Master, wait—!”
Before I could even finish my words, my vision flipped in an instant, and pressure from the air slammed into my body.
Then, as I felt my body floating, I looked around.
A vast horizon, white clouds, and blue filling my entire field of view.
“Woaah……”
At that moment, a gentle voice came from beside me.
“Disciple, did I not tell you? When you lie, your tongue grows long.”
“……”
“So you have come to treasure the bonds you formed at the academy.”
The warmth in her voice eased my tension.
I couldn’t understand her way of thinking at all.
“Seeing that you do not deny it, that must be the case. However, do not bind yourself too tightly to those bonds.”
I understood what she was trying to say to me.
In the end, she was saying that they and I lived in different worlds.
Park Siwoo, Dan Chun-woo, and Helena were all people who would become heroes, but I was a villain who had infiltrated the academy.
My very existence was a lie, so no matter how deep our relationships became, the moment my true identity was revealed, everything was bound to collapse.
Even the Sword Empress and Instructor Mabel had pointed their swords at me the moment they learned that I was a demon.
But I knew that, in the end, I would meet them again.
After all, this world had flowed exactly according to the scenario of the game <Become a Hero>, and at the center of every incident stood the stage known as the Academy.
What kind of 모습 would it be like when I met Park Siwoo and the others next time?
The Heavenly Demon no longer spoke to me, and my thoughts only grew deeper.
Several days had passed since hell manifested at the Academy.
At a glance, it seemed like a short span of time, but it was more than enough for someone to sort through their thoughts.
Over the past few days, Park Siwoo blamed his own ignorance and negligence and resolved to grow stronger.
Helena had shut the door to her heart, unable to shake off the shock of learning that someone she trusted was a demon.
Dan Chun-woo was fascinated by the absolute strength he had encountered for the first time since the Sword Emperor.
They were each coming to terms with the chaotic reality in their own ways.
The sky was blue, and the chirping of birds tickled my ears.
As if announcing the approach of summer, the pouring sunlight struck the windows and shattered into fragments.
The intensive care unit of a university hospital somewhere in Seoul.
The TV that had been turned on to fill the silence was repeatedly covering the hell-turned Academy that had occurred not long ago.
[Families of the victims who suffered losses due to this Pandemonium raid are currently holding protests in front of the Academy.]
[The main culprits of the incident have been identified as the Heavenly Demon, a high-ranking executive of Pandemonium, and the A-rank Villain Devil Knight…….]
[The Association has elevated Devil Knight’s threat level to S-rank while simultaneously issuing a red wanted notice……]
Crunch.
Along with the sound of something breaking, Chun Ga-eun’s deep sigh filled the hospital room.
She turned off the noisy TV and hurled the remote far away.
Academy, Academy, ever since earlier.
“Damn, it’s so fucking loud.”
If it was about what was happening at the Academy, she knew it better than anyone.
As the news said, the Academy was now nothing short of utter chaos.
Due to the effects of the hell manifestation, the Academy’s terrain had been distorted, causing major difficulties in restoration, and the Association and the Academy were engaging in media play to somehow prevent the situation from escalating further.
They were trying to shift public opinion by branding the Heavenly Demon and Devil Knight as villains.
They had no choice.
To logically explain everything that had happened, they would have had to reveal Berid’s existence.
However, exposing his atrocities would also reveal the existence of a demon who had infiltrated even the Student Council.
It would amount to confessing the Academy’s incompetence.
That was why the Association pinned all responsibility for this incident on the Heavenly Demon and Devil Knight.
She fiddled with the cigarette clenched in her hand.
Forced smoking cessation—achieved by holding a salary cut hostage by the principal.
A resolve she had managed to keep for the past few weeks was on the verge of breaking.
She directed her complaints toward Instructor Kang Jae-seok, who lay unconscious on the hospital bed.
“Without you, the Academy’s a complete mess.”
Deep regret seeped into Chun Ga-eun’s voice.
If only she hadn’t left the Academy…….
Thinking back on it, even the fact that she had temporarily left the Academy felt like part of Pandemonium’s scheme.
Otherwise, there was no way an incident would have erupted at such perfect timing.
However, there was one question that remained.
Why did everything happen precisely when she was away?
At the Academy, only a handful of people—including the principal—properly understood Chun Ga-eun’s true capabilities.
Even among the instructors, those of lower rank knew her only as an ordinary school nurse.
So how did Pandemonium know that fact and manage to send her outside the Academy?
‘Maybe there’s a Pandemonium lackey even among the Association’s top brass.’
Jin Myung-ho, the sole fatality during the recent Daehos Guild terror incident, hadn’t he also been connected to Pandemonium in the past?
Perhaps the upper echelons of the Association were already tainted as well.
When her thoughts reached that point, Chun Ga-eun let out a hollow chuckle.
It really was a ridiculous farce.
In her eyes, Pandemonium, the Academy, and the Association all looked exactly the same.
The only difference was the degree; watching them scramble desperately just to stuff their own bellies was nothing more than laughable.
‘That ugliness was exactly why I threw everything away and took a job as an instructor at the Academy…….’
She irritably ran a hand through her hair.
“I’m not into melodrama or revenge stories. But since my mood is thoroughly ruined this time, I’ll make a special exception and play along.”
She brought the cigarette tucked into her pocket to her lips.
The familiar scent of tobacco drew a smile to her face.
Her true identity—someone who had deep ties with Kang Jae-seok, whom even the Academy’s instructors avoided, and who could calmly curse in front of him even when he was enraged.
Real name unknown.
Former captain of the national secret Rapid Response Unit, Shadow.
Because members of Shadow were never meant to surface in the light, no formal hierarchy existed.
And yet, among Shadow, she was the only woman to ever hold the title of the strongest.
Estimated hierarchy: absolute top tier.
The rage of a retired soldier, sick of slaughter, war, and covert battles, turned toward Pandemonium.
Lighting her cigarette and taking a deep drag, she opened her phone and called someone.
“First, how about I pick out the ones with potential and start raising the disciples?”
She intended to take over the things Kang Jae-seok had been unable to finish.