Chapter 71
“Cadet Seongwoo. What would you think if there were a traitor within the Student Council?”
At her question, I smiled inwardly.
Just as planned.
Reducing her suspicion toward me and planting distrust toward the new Student Council—That was the goal.
The seed of doubt had already taken root within her heart.
I put on a worried expression and asked,
“What makes you say that? Don’t tell me…”
“The fact that such fabricated evidence has surfaced in large quantities could be an external interference, but we can’t completely rule out the possibility that it originated from within.”
“That’s true. But my assessment couldn’t have been completely correct, and since we don’t have proper evidence, I don’t think we should jump to conclusions.”
I didn’t confirm her suspicion.
From Yoo Iseo’s perspective, this was merely a stage of uncertainty—nothing more.
If I were to agree too readily that a traitor existed, the already paranoid Yoo Iseo might instead turn her suspicion toward me.
That’s why what mattered now was the push and pull—the delicate control of tension.
I only needed to toss the bait, and guide her to find the answer herself.
Upon hearing my words, Yoo Iseo brushed her hair back, as if shaken once more.
Her expression revealed deep turmoil.
“I shouldn’t have said that. That wasn’t something I should’ve brought up in front of you, Cadet Seongwoo. Please forget what I just said.”
“Yes.”
She sighed, gathered her documents, and rose from her seat.
“Are you leaving?”
“Yes. I was originally planning to conduct the investigation and eradication of the Demons together, but now that I know there are innocent people on that list, I can’t go any further with it.”
“What do you plan to do with that list then?”
At my question, Yoo Iseo appeared to ponder for a moment before she replied,
“I feel bad for the Student Council Executives who carried out the investigation, but I’ll have to discard it. There’s no reason to keep using information that’s already lost its credibility and accuracy.”
“Still, President, wouldn’t it be better to hear others’ opinions, just in case? Someone might offer a different or even new perspective.”
It might’ve sounded like I was questioning her judgment, but what I truly meant was—
to probe everyone, just as I had her.
If Berid’s subordinates were among them, they’d surely insist that the innocent names they’d planted were Demons, trying to justify themselves.
Yoo Iseo hesitated briefly, then nodded.
“Thank you. You’ve been a greater help than I expected. And… for texting me every day while I was absent from the Student Council—thank you for that too.”
At her sincere gratitude, I fell silent for a moment.
It seemed the daily messages I’d sent after Seo Da-hee’s death had indeed been effective.
【Suspicion Level of the Academy has decreased by 1.】
Several days passed since Yoo Iseo met Seongwoo.
Late at night, a flash of light tore through the air.
Rumble!
Dozens of lightning bolts struck the earth with a sound like the sky splitting apart, leaving deep scars across the ground.
At the center of that storm stood a figure barely maintaining a human form.
Then, from the charred blackened flesh, new skin began to grow.
Yoo Iseo grimaced at the sight, as if she had witnessed something she wished she hadn’t.
“For someone whose body regenerates so well, it’s strange your clothes don’t.”
“Whose fault do you think it is that I’m in this state?!”
The man’s eyes, now fully healed, glowed blood-red like fresh wounds.
The Demon, emanating thick demonic energy, lunged at Yoo Iseo—
and she rose into the air.
Apparently unable to fly himself, he roared furiously at her from below.
“How cowardly for someone who calls herself a Hero!”
“Silence. For someone who’s been running away this whole time, you’re hardly one to talk about honor as a Demon.”
As she waved her hand, lightning surged from the air.
KWAANG!
“Graaagh!”
The Demon screamed in agony as his body blackened once again, while Yoo Iseo spoke with an icy calmness.
“You hid inside the Academy quite well.”
After her talk with Seongwoo, Yoo Iseo had ordered the Student Council Executives to re-investigate the list.
The Executives had admitted their mistakes and provided her with a corrected version.
The Demon before her was the only one whose name appeared on both the old and new lists.
Yoo Iseo’s cold eyes fixed upon him.
The Demon’s abilities were unimpressive—
his regenerative power was unnaturally high, but that was all.
Yoo Iseo pondered how to dispose of him.
She’d already tried burning him with lightning and even decapitating him, yet his insane vitality kept restoring his body.
‘Does he have a separate core?’
Just then, something black flew toward her.
She barely managed to turn her head, but a shallow cut grazed her cheek.
A thin trail of blood trickled down her face.
The Demon let out a sharp laugh.
“What a shame. Just a little faster and I’d have taken your head.”
Yoo Iseo’s eyes turned cold with fury.
“I got careless.”
The fact that such a filthy Demon had managed to wound her was intolerable.
In the next instant, her body dissolved into a flash of lightning—and reappeared right before him.
Startled, he tried to retreat, but it was a meaningless struggle.
Yoo Iseo’s hand pierced straight through his body.
“Ghhk!”
Blood poured from his mouth.
Moments later, several lightning spears materialized around him and tore his body apart without leaving a trace.
But even that wasn’t enough to make her relax.
‘Let’s seal him.’
Yoo Iseo waved her hand, and a sphere of electricity the size of a basketball appeared, unleashing countless bolts.
Soon, a prison of pure lightning formed—
and almost simultaneously, the Demon’s body, reduced to scattered flesh, began regenerating once more.
Yoo Iseo calmly observed the grotesque process.
Flesh expanded, bones intertwined, and muscle fibers stitched together—a disturbing sight, but one that revealed a clue.
Her eyes gleamed.
The Demon had finished regenerating—
only to find himself neatly folded within the lightning prison she’d created.
Realizing his predicament, the Demon’s face twisted.
“Damn it.”
He looked up at Yoo Iseo with a strained expression.
“How about we have a little chat?”
“Why would I do that?”
“You don’t have a way to kill me, and I don’t have the ability to defeat you. In that case, wouldn’t it be better if we both took a step back?”
For something coming from a Demon’s mouth, his words were surprisingly rational, and Yoo Iseo felt a slight twinge of curiosity.
“For example?”
At her question, he smirked and continued.
“I’ll give you information about the Demons hiding within the Academy. In exchange, you let me go. Simple, isn’t it?”
“And how exactly am I supposed to trust your word?”
“We make an oath, bound by mana and our lives. I’ll provide you with all the information without deceit, and in return, you won’t pursue or threaten me afterward.”
Yoo Iseo smiled coldly.
“Do you really think I would accept that offer?”
“And why not? If you think about it logically, releasing me—who poses no real danger—and using the information to wipe out the more dangerous Demons is the smarter choice, isn’t it? Besides, you have no proper means to kill me anyway.”
The Demon Shamos appeared relaxed for this very reason.
The woman before him had no idea how to kill him.
Through this contract, he planned to ensnare Yoo Iseo—that was Berid’s scheme.
But the words that came from Yoo Iseo’s lips were something he had never once imagined.
“Conditional immortality. The kind where you can revive from any form of death—but the number of revivals is limited, right?”
“……”
“And to increase that number, the cost must be… a human soul.”
Shamos’s eyes shook violently.
“H-how could you possibly…?”
“How many Demons do you think I’ve fought up to now?”
“W-wait! Just because you’ve fought a lot of Demons doesn’t mean you could possibly understand my ability—!”
His panic was understandable.
Yoo Iseo had spoken as if it were obvious, but in reality, the ability structure of a Demon wasn’t something one could easily discern.
Especially for one as powerful as his, capable of restoring a completely shattered body.
Deciding the conversation was no longer worth continuing, lightning began to form around Yoo Iseo.
Pzzzt, crackle!
With the sound of electricity sparking in all directions, dozens of lightning spears materialized.
“To sustain your life by killing others… how utterly revolting. I’ve already killed you about seven times—how many more will it take before you’re finally destroyed?”
Her eyes glowed with a cold, emotionless blue light.
Realizing her intent, Shamos swiftly changed his demeanor.
He struggled desperately within his immobile body, screaming at the top of his lungs.
“I’ll tell you anything! J-just spare me! Please, I’m begging you!”
“You’ll answer anything I ask?”
“If you just let me live, I’ll do anything—please…”
“Then spill everything you know. Do that, and maybe I’ll consider sparing your life.”
“R-really?”
“Would I have any reason to lie to you?”
“Then let’s make a vow—”
Before he could finish, his head disappeared.
One of the lightning spears floating in the air had pierced through it.
Moments later, his head regenerated, and Yoo Iseo asked again,
“I didn’t catch that. Would you care to repeat it?”
“A—a vow—”
Crack!
“Seems like you still have plenty of lives left.”
At a flick of her finger, Shamos’s head shattered each time his body regenerated.
No further questions were asked.
After his head was destroyed and restored nearly a dozen times, Shamos’s body twisted grotesquely.
Inside the lightning prison, he writhed pitifully. His hands and feet charred black from the current, trembling as if trying to communicate something.
Only then did Yoo Iseo stop the lightning.
Fully regenerated at last, Shamos screamed.
“S-stop! I’ll tell you everything! Please, just stop!”
“Fine. Then swear on your life that you won’t speak a single lie.”
“T-that’s…”
Seeing him hesitate, she coolly began to summon another spear, and Shamos shouted in panic,
“I’ll do it! By blood and mana, I swear that my words shall contain no falsehoods!”
“Then tell me everything you know about Pandemonium and the Demons who infiltrated the Academy.”
“T-that’s impossible! I’m bound by Pandemonium’s curse—if I reveal any information about it, I’ll die instantly!”
“Then you have no reason to keep living.”
“But if you ask me questions, I can answer yes or no!”
Yoo Iseo, who had been seriously considering killing him, opened her mouth.
“Is there a Pandemonium spy within the Student Council?”
“Yes.”
“Are there multiple?”
“Yes.”
Her brow furrowed at his continuous affirmations.
She had suspected as much but hadn’t been certain—and the fact that there were multiple meant that even among the new Student Council Executives, there were Demons.
After calming her thoughts, Yoo Iseo asked her next question, her voice trembling slightly.
“Is one of the traitors Yoo Seongwoo?”
“……”
At her question, Shamos fell silent.
‘No way…’
A ripple stirred in Yoo Iseo’s heart.
After a moment of silence, Shamos spoke carefully.
“I don’t know. I can’t say for sure, but names within the Academy are meaningless to us.”
“So they’re using aliases.”
At that moment, a voice echoed in Shamos’s mind.
[You’re running your mouth unnecessarily.]
A sharp pain stabbed through his chest, and his face contorted in agony.
He was certain he’d been careful not to trigger Pandemonium’s curse—
But then, realization dawned, and he screamed toward the air.
“You damned bastard! You never trusted us from the start, did you?! You’ve been watching and controlling everything all along!”
Yoo Iseo frowned, startled by the Demon’s sudden outburst.
‘Is he… talking to someone?’
Her sharp eyes scanned the surroundings.
For him to react this way meant the one who had bound him was nearby.
She listened carefully to every word he uttered.
“This isn’t what we agreed on! She already knows about my ability! What the hell are you planning, betraying us like this, Berid?!”
The moment that name left his lips—his body exploded with a boom!
Yoo Iseo quickly transformed into lightning to evade the blast, but one thing remained vivid and clear in her mind.
The name—Berid.