Chapter 161: Reunion
The Devil Knight had been executed by the Sword Emperor.
That was how the incident came to an end.
At least, that was how it appeared to the outside world.
Naturally, my head was still firmly attached to my shoulders.
I had spent several days confined to a hospital room due to internal injuries.
As soon as our duel ended, the Sword Emperor, looking thoroughly satisfied, immediately took care of everything concerning me.
First, he summoned the Association's senior officials and demanded that they cooperate with me.
Naturally, the Association opposed what was practically an order from the Sword Emperor.
They had been called to help execute the Devil Knight, only to be told to work alongside him instead.
However, not a single senior official dared accuse the Sword Emperor of going insane and joining hands with the enemy.
After all, during the Great War, he had been the greatest Hero who stood at the forefront in exterminating Demons.
More importantly, even the Association could not casually interfere with the Sword Emperor's power and authority.
At least within South Korea, the Sword Emperor's influence could truly be described as absolute.
Furthermore, there were legitimate reasons behind his decision.
The first was that I was a traitor to Pandemonium.
A single word from the Sword Emperor was as good as a guaranteed endorsement.
The Sword Emperor himself was famous for his overwhelming hatred toward Demons.
The second was that Baek Hyun-joong might not actually be dead, and that I was the only person who knew his whereabouts.
Baek Hyun-joong was someone who had shaken Hero society even more profoundly than the Sword Emperor.
Even before the Great War, he had earned the title of the world's greatest Hero through countless achievements, and during the Great War, his self-sacrifice elevated him beyond a Hero into something akin to a religious figure.
In fact, every year on the anniversary of Baek Hyun-joong's death, the Academy opened its doors and held a memorial event in his honor.
Heroes from all around the world attended the ceremony, and it was even broadcast live.
In other words, within Hero society, Baek Hyun-joong was no different from an idol... or even a god.
And now they were being told that he might still be alive and somewhere within the Academy?
No matter how slow-moving the Hero Association was, there was no way they could ignore something like that.
Of course, at first, the Association refused to believe that I knew where Baek Hyun-joong was.
So, to prove it, I used an Oath.
An Oath that would tear my heart apart if I lied.
Since it was an oath one imposed upon oneself, it was impossible to swear it falsely.
Therefore, it was an unspoken rule that anything said under an Oath had to be believed.
Naturally, there was no chance of my heart being torn apart.
Not only had I not lied, but I was fundamentally free from magical contracts and Oaths.
I had only discovered this relatively recently, but perhaps because I was the Vessel of the End, magical contracts simply did not work on me.
More precisely, the contracts themselves still formed, but the penalties for violating them simply disappeared.
It was almost as though the End itself refused to permit them.
In any case, thanks to that, I was treated far better than before.
Although there were still a few restrictions...
I looked down at the electronic ankle monitor fastened around one of my ankles.
I understood why they had put it on me, but it still felt disgusting.
"If you attempt to forcibly remove that ankle monitor, or leave the Academy without permission, all cooperation with the Academy will immediately be revoked, and you'll once again become the highest-priority extermination target. You understand that, don't you?"
"I know. I know."
"Answer only once, Devil Knight."
I turned toward the man speaking to me.
He was the Association's assigned watcher.
Apparently, they hadn't felt secure relying solely on the Oath and the ankle monitor.
He was, in fact, a highly respected upper-ranking Hero within the Association and harbored considerable hostility toward me.
Then again, perhaps it would have been stranger if he hadn't.
The Sword Emperor had made no objections to the Association assigning someone to monitor me.
According to him, relying solely on overwhelming force was never the proper solution.
On that point, I actually agreed to some extent.
After all, placing one of the Association's own people beside me would make it easier to expose Pandemonium's spies hidden among the Association's upper ranks.
Then again, that watcher himself might very well be an assassin sent to kill me.
In any case, even if I remained completely still, they would probably make the first move.
I let out a light sigh and leaned back in my chair.
Things had gone better than I had expected.
Even so, several questions still lingered in my mind.
I recalled the conversation I had with the Sword Emperor after our duel.
After witnessing the technique that created the black flames, he had left me with a brief remark.
'Just what are you?'
He had stated with absolute certainty that mutually opposing powers could never coexist.
Especially not something as endlessly destructive as Demonic Authority.
To be honest, his words had startled me.
For a moment, I wondered if he had discovered that I was the Vessel of the End.
I answered that I truly didn't know.
That wasn't even a lie.
Even I couldn't clearly explain the cause.
I merely suspected that it had something to do with being the Vessel of the End.
Truthfully, I had always carried this question.
Out of all the countless people in this world...
Why did it have to be Yoo Sung-woo?
Back when I was just a player, I had simply accepted it as part of the game's setting.
But now that I had become that very person, I couldn't help questioning it.
And I still hadn't found the answer.
That was why I held onto a small hope.
That Baek Hyun-joong might be able to answer all of these questions.
But before meeting him, there were people I needed to see first.
"Where do you think you're going?"
The Association's sharp-faced watcher questioned me.
His face openly displayed contempt and disgust toward me.
When I didn't answer immediately, he glared.
"Know your place. Even if you've been granted a little freedom, you're still a criminal."
"I'm going to the Student Council room."
He had demanded an answer, yet once he got one, he simply shut his mouth.
Petty bastard.
Then again, this was how Demons were always treated.
If they were caught, they were executed on the spot.
What else could anyone expect?
I left the prison and headed toward the Student Council room.
Although my circumstances had improved compared to before, I still hadn't escaped prison life.
On top of that, there was the mana restraint collar wrapped around my neck like a choker.
Made with even greater strength than before, it steadily drained away my mana.
When they discussed granting me limited freedom, it had been agreed that the watcher would only remove the restraint whenever I needed to use my power to investigate Baek Hyun-joong.
Though, in the end, it would still break if I exerted enough force.
It was a little inconvenient, but not a significant penalty.
After all, I probably wouldn't need to unleash my full strength while searching for Baek Hyun-joong.
There were more than enough people willing to fight in my place.
More importantly, the main characters like Park Siwoo and Dan Chun-woo still needed to become much stronger.
At present, Park Siwoo and the other main characters had only barely reached the level of upper-ranking Heroes.
Compared to the game, however, their growth was nothing short of extraordinary.
Normally, players didn't reach that level until around the end of the first semester of their second year.
For reference, it was currently the end of autumn in our first year.
Of course, that had only been possible because countless fortunate circumstances had aligned.
First, there was the nearly perfect growth route and Fragment攻略 I had devised using my knowledge from my time as a player.
Then, by persuading Pandemonium's High-ranking Executives, I had created an environment where everyone could focus entirely on growing stronger.
On top of that, there was the appearance of Chun Ga-eun, an exceptional top-ranking Hero who had never even appeared in the game.
And all the countless ripple effects that followed.
Now that I thought about it...
Maybe it wasn't a miracle created by coincidence.
Maybe it was simply the result of me working myself to death.
Regardless, although the main characters had grown tremendously, they still weren't strong enough to stand before the End.
That was why I intended to strengthen their fighting power through this search for Baek Hyun-joong.
Finding him would never be easy.
The Baek Hyun-joong who had appeared in my dream had told me that if I wished to find him, I needed to come to the Gate hidden in the deepest part of the Academy.
However, the Gate remained sealed behind an immensely powerful barrier.
To break through it and approach the Gate, several prerequisites had to be fulfilled.
The first was to absolutely bring Park Siwoo, who possessed the Power of the Star, as a party member.
The second was to conquer the Fragment that led to the Gate.
To reach the Gate, we had to clear a total of three consecutive Fragments.
The problem was that every single one of those Fragments possessed a difficulty level that surpassed even Purgatory, the dungeon where we had obtained Solis.
If everyone struggled through those places and obtained the rewards waiting inside, their combat strength would receive the minimum reinforcement necessary.
By the time I finished thinking everything through, I had already arrived in front of the Student Council room.
Looking up at the large doors, I found myself lost in nostalgia for a moment.
I had only been away for a few months.
So why did it already feel so nostalgic?
Perhaps it was because my days as an Academy cadet had been peaceful...
And because they had been the happiest days of my life.
Once I opened the door, No. 66—
No.
Eun-ha would probably be inside as well.
This would be only the second time we'd officially met.
At that moment, the Student Council room door suddenly flew open and slammed directly into my face.
Because the mana restraint collar suppressed my Aura Sense, I hadn't noticed the door swinging open.
A dull pain spread across my face.
Just how hard had they thrown that door open?
I soon found myself face to face with the culprit.
Standing there was Seo Da-hee—
No.
Lia.
She glared at me with narrowed eyes.
"Quit standing there looking so pathetic and get inside. Everyone's waiting."
"It feels like it's been forever, Lia."
"...Hmph!"
She sharply turned her head away, clearly still furious.
I couldn't even guess why she was angry.
Because there were simply too many reasons.
Lia and I were connected emotionally.
Especially since Lia belonged to me, she could feel my emotions even more vividly.
She had probably worried constantly after sensing everything I had gone through in Pandemonium.
There had been moments when my life had hung by a thread.
Moments when my heart had nearly broken.
Even moments when the End had stolen my body.
I stopped walking and quietly looked at Seo Da-hee.
Her shoulders seemed to tremble ever so slightly.
"I'm sorry.
I only ever make you worry.
I couldn't even stay by your side."
"..."
Without answering, Lia simply walked into the Student Council room.
A thought suddenly crossed my mind.
Perhaps the others weren't all that different from Lia.
There was no way that a single conversation with the Sword Emperor had resolved every misunderstanding and emotion they held.
That discussion had practically been no different from a room full of lawyers defending me before a judge.
The others probably felt much the same.
No...
Some of them might even have been angrier than Lia.
At least Yoo Iseo and Joo Sarang had occasionally exchanged news with me through Lia.
The others hadn't even had that.
The Student Council room looked almost exactly the same as when I had left.
The spacious room.
The desks.
The sofas.
The massive blackboard.
Even the people waiting for me.
This reunion felt completely different from our sudden meeting brought about by the Sword Emperor.
Countless eyes turned toward me.
I couldn't read the emotions within them.
I wasn't confident enough to try.
Then, standing at the very center of the room, Helena shouted,
"Tie that bastard up immediately!"