Chapter 145
Park Siwoo doubted his ears.
“So what you’re saying is that we didn’t come here for Student Council bonding, but to destroy a laboratory where Pandemonium is conducting all sorts of inhumane experiments?”
“Correct.”
“And if we’re unlucky, we might even encounter one of Pandemonium’s High-ranking Executives?”
“You won’t be the ones fighting them, so you don’t need to worry about that.”
“I don’t think that’s the important part here?”
Park Siwoo and Helena stared at each other with blank expressions.
Who normally explains something this important right before the operation starts?
Panicking, Park Siwoo glanced around at the others.
But apparently, only he and Helena were shocked by the news.
Dan Chun-woo stood there calmly with his arms crossed.
Yoo Iseo and Seo Da-hee looked as though they already knew, fully armed and prepared.
Which was only natural.
After all, Yoo Iseo and Seo Da-hee already knew what was about to happen.
Of course, it wasn’t as though Park Siwoo and Helena had arrived without equipment.
Even if it was called “bonding,” it was basically another form of special training.
That was why both Park Siwoo and Helena had secretly looked forward to spending an extended amount of time under Chun Ga-eun’s direct guidance.
And that expectation had remained intact right up until they saw the ocean surrounding the quiet deserted island.
But to think this island connected to a laboratory where countless inhumane experiments were taking place.
“Just think of it as practical combat training.”
“How does that make any sense……?”
“It’s not your first real battle anyway, is it?”
She spoke with the relaxed attitude of someone casually out for a walk.
How could that appearance possibly belong to someone about to destroy a major Demon facility?
Still, her words weren’t wrong.
Everyone present had already experienced life-and-death battles.
The Field Trip incident, Hell Manifestation at the Academy, Demon subjugations, Fragment clears, and more.
Things ordinary cadets would never experience throughout all three years at the Academy—
They had already gone through within mere months of enrollment.
“But this is our first time attacking such an important Pandemonium stronghold.”
“Don’t overthink it. Think of it as a chance to pay them back for all the humiliation we’ve suffered.”
As she said that, Chun Ga-eun slipped her hand into her pocket.
Seeing this, Yoo Iseo shot her a glare.
“Instructor, this is enemy territory. Please refrain from smoking.”
“……I was taking out my phone.”
“…….”
An awkward silence passed between them.
“So that’s how you see me.”
No matter how reckless Chun Ga-eun was, she wasn’t foolish enough to smoke in the middle of enemy territory.
If anything, she was extremely professional when it came to operations.
In reality, she was currently using Mana to assess not only the surrounding situation, but also the route leading into the passage and the security forces stationed across the deserted island.
Although she had already received most of the information from Yoo Sung-woo, she was preparing for any unforeseen circumstances.
After finishing her inspection, she shared the information Yoo Sung-woo had given her through her phone.
“The important objective of this operation is capturing the Demons involved in the Avatar Project and all researchers connected to it.”
“The Avatar Project?”
“A suicide squad created by implanting Demon consciousness into Demon bodies.”
The moment they heard that, the others’ expressions darkened.
“The mission difficulty will be high. The subordinates of a Pandemonium High-ranking Executive are crawling all over the place.”
“Shouldn’t proper Heroes be handling something like this, then?”
Honestly, it was a reasonable question.
No matter how strong Chun Ga-eun was as a top-tier Hero, this kind of mission should normally involve official Heroes.
But Chun Ga-eun deliberately chose not to do that.
Partly because of Yoo Sung-woo’s request—
But also because she couldn’t trust the Hero Association or the Guilds.
The Academy’s current state alone proved that.
After Hell Manifestation turned the Academy into ruins, the interference from the Association and Guilds only grew worse.
Using the support they had provided to the Academy as leverage, they began demanding various privileges.
Heroes were no longer what they used to be.
The people who once rose up to protect citizens and their families had become obsessed with filling their own pockets and satisfying their greed.
Above all else—
Pandemonium’s dark hands had already stretched into the cracks of the corrupted Hero society.
Rather than reaching out to the Hero Association, bringing along talented and trustworthy disciples was far more convenient.
Of course, she didn’t explain all of that.
She didn’t want the cadets becoming arrogant and overconfident before an operation that could begin at any moment.
“So when does the operation start?”
“We’ll receive a signal.”
“A signal?”
The moment those words ended, a violent tremor shook the surroundings and a brilliant pillar of light erupted from the middle of the sea.
“Like that.”
Immense Mana burst from Chun Ga-eun’s body.
---
Intense sunlight blazed from Solis, which No. 66 spat out.
The light was powerful enough to pierce through the laboratory and reach the surface above.
Facing that overwhelming radiance directly, a scream of agony erupted from Lord Biden’s mouth.
“KRAAAAAAH!”
The dense Demonic Energy surrounding him was pushed back by the brilliant light, and Lord Biden felt as though his body were burning alive.
Even though he had already endured the pain of sunlight before, the sunlight emitted by Solis was unbearable.
The cloak made of Demonic Energy wrapped around his body disintegrated as his flesh began burning.
He hastily deployed defensive magic, but such crude spells were incapable of blocking Solis’s sunlight.
“GRAAAAAAH!”
The Undead guarding the altar screamed in agony.
They immediately burst into flames and melted beneath the sunlight.
And it wasn’t only the Undead affected by the light.
The researchers throughout the laboratory were temporarily blinded.
Boom! Crash! Rumble!
Violent explosions and human screams echoed from above.
The light emitted by Solis was more than enough to throw every being inside the laboratory into panic.
And there were Heroes who took advantage of that opening.
The ceiling collapsed as a group of Heroes descended through it.
Holding a massive greatsword, Chun Ga-eun stared at the writhing Lord Biden.
“We came to the right place.”
Creak……!
Lord Biden’s body trembled violently.
In all the centuries he had lived, few things had ever filled him with this level of fury.
He was even angrier than when the Heavenly Demon and the other High-ranking Executives mocked him.
He knew exactly who the person standing before him was.
Chun Ga-eun.
A top-tier Hero who appeared like a comet and became the Academy’s protector.
The problem was—
Why was she standing before him now?
And why precisely when he had just been ambushed?
Wasn’t that far too convenient?
The test subject destined to become his new body attacked him the exact moment he attempted to seize her body.
And simultaneously, one of the few top-tier Heroes in the world appeared before him.
Could such a coincidence exist statistically?
Impossible.
He realized he had been manipulated by someone.
As though reflecting Lord Biden’s fury, Demonic Energy surged violently around him.
The surviving Undead let out savage howls.
Seeing that, Park Siwoo and Helena felt fear for the first time.
The power radiating from a Pandemonium executive directly assaulted their minds and crushed their spirits.
As the others froze in fear, Chun Ga-eun stepped forward.
Her expression twisted irritably.
“That idiot…….”
For a moment, Chun Ga-eun wondered whether she had just been betrayed.
According to the original plan, Lord Biden was supposed to disappear immediately after they entered.
But even though Yoo Sung-woo should have already received the signal, Lord Biden remained here.
‘Or did something happen to that bastard?’
If that were true, then they had basically walked willingly into a tiger’s den.
At that moment, Park Siwoo’s shout broke her thoughts.
“Sung-woo……?”
Why was that idiot’s name suddenly coming up now?
Then she spotted No. 66 secretly trying to escape.
A woman possessing a face strikingly similar to Yoo Sung-woo’s, though with softer features and feminine curves.
Chun Ga-eun immediately realized that she was the person Yoo Sung-woo had asked her to protect.
‘Is she his younger sister or something?’
For an instant, her attention drifted elsewhere.
But that wasn’t important right now.
Chun Ga-eun focused back on the enemy before her.
The dense Demonic Energy erupting from Lord Biden swallowed the sacrifices prepared on the altar.
Having fulfilled their purpose, the sacrifices accepted the Demonic Energy and began reconstructing themselves into something new.
The grotesque masses twisted together and merged into one horrific form.
Watching the horrifying sight, Chun Ga-eun and the others frowned.
Soon, the completed Flesh Golem roared.
KUWOOOOOOO!
Because it had been created from all the sacrifices gathered on the altar, the Flesh Golem’s size was enormous.
But it didn’t stop there.
Lord Biden’s cloak expanded and transformed into a Gate.
Glowing eyes could be seen beyond it.
Lord Biden’s proud Undead Legion.
Seeing this, Chun Ga-eun shouted toward him.
“Are you sure you should be wasting time here?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Did you really think I’d challenge an immortal Lich without preparing some kind of trick?”
Hearing that, Lord Biden let out a mocking laugh.
“You think I would fail to notice an insect invading my fortress? It seems the vermin somehow discovered the passage leading to the Life Vessel, but it will never survive.”
Lord Biden already knew someone had invaded his castle.
Of course, because he had been focused entirely on the experiment, he hadn’t had time to confirm exactly who it was.
Still, he understood the situation.
The Death Knights had been destroyed, and even the passage leading to the Life Vessel had been exposed.
And yet, Lord Biden felt no anxiety.
Because the strongest Undead he had ever created guarded the Life Vessel.
A Death Knight made from the corpse of a Demon.
Not some ordinary creature—
An actual Demon corpse.
How much time had he spent perfecting and researching it?
It was the masterpiece of his entire life.
Even if it had only been a low-ranking Demon, a Demon was still a Demon.
Its body couldn’t even be compared to that of a human, and it possessed no limits.
There was a single flaw, but compared to its overwhelming abilities, it was barely worth mentioning.
Lord Biden’s army began emerging from his cloak.
Black Magic Circles spread through the sky.
Seeing this, Chun Ga-eun’s face hardened, and the others immediately prepared for battle.
At that moment—
Lord Biden’s aura suddenly faltered.
An intense confusion overwhelmed him.
Even more than when he first faced the sunlight emitted by Solis.
‘My Death Knight……?’
The connection to the masterpiece he created with his own hands—
His life’s greatest creation—
Had been severed.
Lord Biden’s gaze snapped toward Chun Ga-eun.
“What exactly have you done……?!”
“What do you mean what? So are you really not going to check on it?”
Creak!
Lord Biden felt overwhelming humiliation, but the guardian protecting his Life Vessel had vanished.
He needed to return and confirm the Life Vessel immediately.
“Laszlo!”
The Vampire Butler appeared before him.
Even he had been unable to fully withstand the sunlight, as his skin was charred black.
“I leave my army to you. Eliminate them at all costs.”
Lord Biden’s cloak swallowed him whole, and his figure vanished.
Watching that, Chun Ga-eun smiled.
Now—
The real operation was finally beginning.