Chapter 142
At Instructor Chun Ga-eun’s summons, Park Siwoo, Helena, and Dan Chun-woo gathered inside the Student Council room and looked at one another.
An awkward silence flowed between them.
It had been quite a long time since they had gathered together for something other than class.
Trying to break the awkward atmosphere, Park Siwoo spoke to Helena.
“It’s been a really long time since the three of us got together like this.”
“It really has.”
Helena answered briefly.
At her short response, Park Siwoo gave an awkward smile.
Compared to when Yoo Sung-woo first disappeared, Helena had returned much closer to her old self, but she still felt awkward around Park Siwoo.
Just because the knot in her heart had disappeared didn’t mean her passive personality and nearly nonexistent social skills had suddenly improved.
‘As expected, Sung-woo’s the only one who can treat Helena casually.’
The two of them still occasionally spent time together, but unlike before, they no longer stuck together every single day.
Now, they merely ate together from time to time and went to the training room together.
That was the current distance between them.
“By the way, why do you think Instructor Chun Ga-eun called us here?”
Park Siwoo spoke again to continue the conversation.
Helena thought for a moment.
Up until now, Instructor Chun Ga-eun had never once personally summoned cadets for something.
She was a capable instructor, but she hated troublesome things happening to her.
Because of that, she never kept cadets behind separately, never assigned supplementary classes or extra assignments, and despite being the Student Council advisor, she had visited the Student Council room fewer than three times.
“Since only the three of us were called, maybe she’s planning to entrust us with something related to the Special Class?”
“Really?”
As Park Siwoo tilted his head, Dan Chun-woo, who had remained silent until now, finally opened his mouth.
“Why are you assuming only we were summoned? Isn’t that just excessive self-consciousness?”
“What did you say?”
Helena immediately flared up at his words.
Still, Dan Chun-woo’s point made sense.
The place they had gathered was the Student Council room, and they had only come because they heard her summons.
Sure enough, the Student Council room door suddenly opened.
A familiar voice followed.
“Oh my, looks like the juniors got here first?”
“Did you two also receive a summons from Instructor Chun Ga-eun?”
The ones who entered the Student Council room were Yoo Iseo and Seo Da-hee.
As always, the two moved around together like a single body.
Park Siwoo asked after hearing that they had also been summoned.
“Did Instructor Chun Ga-eun call you two as well?”
“Yep. Do you know why the instructor called us?”
“No, we were just talking about that ourselves.”
At those words, Seo Da-hee nodded.
In truth, she already knew why they had been called here.
She had already received all the information through Yoo Sung-woo.
Because of that, she knew that this brief peace until now was merely the calm before an enormous storm.
Starting with the operation to subjugate Lord Biden, not only the Academy but Pandemonium itself would likely be swept up in a massive storm.
That was why Seo Da-hee actively supported Yoo Sung-woo’s plan.
The experience they would gain this time would become valuable preparation for enduring the storm to come.
While she was thinking that, Chun Ga-eun appeared through the still-open Student Council room door.
Her expression looked extremely irritated.
Seeing that, Park Siwoo and the others swallowed nervously.
It felt like they absolutely shouldn’t provoke her right now.
After seeing that all the Student Council Executives she summoned had gathered, Chun Ga-eun let out a deep sigh.
‘Yoo Sung-woo, that damn bastard.’
Her head already hurt because of Academy matters, and Yoo Sung-woo’s sudden contact was more than enough to give her a headache.
‘Subjugating one of Pandemonium’s High-ranking Executives, huh.’
She already knew he was a traitor to Pandemonium.
Just looking at what he had done at the Academy provided more than enough evidence.
That was why she accepted Yoo Sung-woo’s proposal.
But she never expected him to make such an absurd request.
Defeat one of Pandemonium’s High-ranking Executives?
She thought it sounded utterly ridiculous.
It wasn’t like the High-ranking Executives were some neighborhood thugs.
They were monsters standing at the very pinnacle among Demons.
And among them, Lord Biden was an especially troublesome existence.
His Undead Legion possessed enough power to destroy an entire nation by itself, and because he was a Lich, he could not die unless his Life Vessel was destroyed.
In other words, subjugating a High-ranking Executive of Pandemonium was far from simple.
To begin with, the Hero Association had spent decades attempting to eliminate Pandemonium’s executives.
And yet, they had never succeeded.
But Yoo Sung-woo intended to carry out such a task alone.
To Chun Ga-eun, who didn’t fully understand Pandemonium’s internal affairs, Yoo Sung-woo’s actions looked no different from someone desperate to die.
And yet, despite that, she accepted his proposal.
Because aside from Lord Biden’s subjugation, she believed the laboratory Yoo Sung-woo mentioned needed to be personally confirmed and destroyed.
The Avatars he spoke of, beings empowered by surrendering control of their bodies to Demons, along with the countless inhumane experiments conducted in the laboratory—
Those things absolutely had to be stopped.
And deep down, Chun Ga-eun hoped—
That Yoo Sung-woo would actually succeed in killing Lord Biden.
That the being who had driven countless people into fear and death for so long would finally disappear.
At that moment, Park Siwoo cautiously raised his hand.
“Instructor, may I ask why you called us here?”
“Didn’t I already tell you? Because the Academy’s atmosphere has been chaotic lately, we’re going to hold a camp to strengthen unity among the Student Council Executives.”
At those words, the cadets’ expressions brightened.
Completely unaware of what was about to happen.
Watching the innocent expressions on their faces, Chun Ga-eun felt a strange sense of guilt.
‘This seriously feels like I’m scamming them.’
When Yoo Sung-woo entrusted her with this task, he added one more condition.
Bring along the Student Council cadets.
At first, Chun Ga-eun immediately snapped at him and told him to stop talking nonsense.
But after hearing the rest of his explanation, she changed her mind.
Because Yoo Sung-woo informed her that regardless of whether Lord Biden lived or died, Pandemonium’s full-scale assault on the Academy would begin within several weeks.
The time Yoo Sung-woo had bought for the Academy—
Three months.
And that time was almost up.
Chun Ga-eun assessed the strength of the Student Council Executives.
Currently, all of them were attending her Special Class lessons and steadily growing stronger.
Their growth speed was unparalleled in the Academy’s history.
Park Siwoo, Dan Chun-woo, and Helena currently possessed power comparable to mid-upper ranked Heroes, while Yoo Iseo, the Student Council President, strongest among the cadets, and owner of the title White Witch, possessed power approaching that of an upper-ranked Hero.
That level of force would be more than enough to assist in the laboratory assault.
All that remained now was to wait until the time came.
---
“Ughhk……!”
Overwhelmed by the thick metallic stench, No. 66 covered her mouth.
In front of countless Monster corpses, she was stripping flesh from the creatures she had killed.
The moment she stopped eating, a sharp voice rang out from the air.
[Eat the things in front of you already! There isn’t much time left!]
No. 66 understood why they were being so impatient.
Several days ago, the one who visited her—
A being named Lord Biden, wearing a black cloak and bearing the appearance of a skeleton.
For reasons she didn’t understand, the horrifyingly powerful being desired her body.
But No. 66 didn’t want her body to be taken away.
She simply wanted to escape this place.
‘He’ had told her.
That there were countless beautiful things in this world.
That there were green trees, colorful flowers, and endless blue skies.
She always pretended not to care about what he said, but in truth, she listened to all of it.
To begin with, when someone talked endlessly beside you like that, it was impossible not to hear them.
Those stories gradually caused No. 66 to develop fantasies about the outside world.
She wanted to see those things with her own eyes.
She wanted to enjoy them herself.
But No. 66’s desire for freedom had been crushed beneath Lord Biden.
Lord Biden wished to seize the Body of the Living immediately.
Even so, No. 66 refused to give up her longing for freedom.
Swallowing down the rising nausea, she once again forcefully shoved Monster flesh into her mouth.
If she became stronger than she was now, an opportunity might come.
The more Monster corpses she consumed, the more she could feel her body changing.
Something lumped near her chest continued growing larger every time she devoured another corpse.
She wanted to leave immediately.
But she still couldn’t.
She could feel the crimson gaze staring from within her shadow.
At that moment, dense poison began pouring from her body.
The Trait of the B-rank Monster Giant Mamba she had killed earlier had manifested.
[So a new Trait manifested. At this rate, we can try matching her against an A-rank Monster again.]
The moment those words ended, one side of the laboratory wall opened and a gigantic figure appeared.
Each step of the enormous creature shook the ground.
The moment she recognized the Monster’s identity, No. 66 bared her teeth and growled.
“KUUUOOOAAARRR!”
The creature was none other than the A-rank Monster Ogre, the same one that had rendered No. 66 combat-incapacitated before.
A Monster possessing violent, destructive instincts and overwhelming physical strength.
No. 66 had already exhausted most of her stamina from the prolonged battles.
Even so, she stared at the Ogre with burning fighting spirit.
Her body gradually became dyed black by Demonic Energy.
No. 66’s golden eyes began piercing through the Ogre’s weakness.
Based on her experience from their previous battle, she had already figured it out.
Although the Ogre possessed monstrous strength, its metabolism was equally extreme, resulting in enormous energy consumption.
Which meant its stamina drained rapidly.
Her body bent like a bow with explosive elasticity.
Then, like an arrow released from its string, she shot toward the Ogre.
The long-starved Ogre drooled at the sight of No. 66 before it.
Every time the Ogre swung its massive arms, violent winds surged from its overwhelming strength.
Using the wind as footholds, she circled around the Ogre and toyed with it.
Purple poison erupted from No. 66’s blackened hands.
The venom of the Giant Mamba she had acquired moments earlier brushed against the Ogre’s skin.
Like a seasoned hunter, she slowly tightened the noose around the Ogre’s throat.
Not long afterward, the Ogre’s massive body collapsed.
Precise usage of abilities, eyes capable of piercing through an enemy’s weakness—
With only a single battle’s worth of experience, she had identified the Ogre’s weakness, seized the advantage, and ultimately achieved revenge.
Watching her growth, the researchers let out exclamations of amazement.
At this rate, it seemed possible to fulfill Lord Biden’s demands.
“If No. 66 acquires the Ogre’s Trait as well, we’ll proceed with implanting another Authority into her tomorrow.”
“Yes, understood.”
All the researchers nodded.
And among them, Yoo Sung-woo alone watched with shining eyes.
No. 66’s escape was truly not far away now.