Chapter 87
Thud, thud, thud!
Rough footsteps echoed through the male dormitory of the Academy.
Cadets who heard the sound peeked out from behind their doors to see what was happening—and upon seeing Instructor Kang Jae-seok, whose entire body bore traces of battle, their faces turned pale.
Above all else, the twisted expression on his face radiated a murderous intent, as though he’d kill the first person who dared cross him.
“Cadet Yoo Seongwoo! Is Cadet Yoo Seongwoo here?!”
“Instructor Kang Jae-seok! What brings you to the dormitory at this hour?! And that injury—!”
Dressed in clothes half-melted by intense heat and barely hanging off his body like rags, Kang Jae-seok bellowed Seongwoo’s name.
He was already half out of his mind.
He needed to confirm it.
Whether his own student was the Demon—Devil Knight.
“Cadet Yoo Seongwoo! Come out here this instant!”
Before long, he arrived at Seongwoo’s dorm room.
Beside him, the dormitory supervisor fidgeted anxiously, unable to hide her confusion.
What in the world had happened to make the cold, strict, rule-abiding Kang Jae-seok lose his reason like this?
She had worked at the Academy for years, had seen him countless times—but never once had she seen him so enraged.
As if he had forgotten that this was a place where students lived, the air itself trembled under the violent pressure emanating from his body.
Just then, a voice of salvation came from behind them.
“Haa, what the hell’s this lunatic throwing a tantrum for in the middle of the night?”
“School Nurse!”
To the dorm supervisor, the School Nurse who appeared before her looked like an angel sent to end the war.
If there was anyone in the Academy who could stop Instructor Kang Jae-seok, it was her—the only one who treated him without hesitation or fear.
The School Nurse crossed her arms with an exasperated sigh and blocked his path, her expression one of sheer annoyance.
“Kang Jae-seok, get a hold of yourself. This is the Academy.”
“Move.”
“What’s with that look? Did you get into a fight or something?”
“I said move, Chun Ga-eun.”
“Calm your energy down first. You’re making everyone uncomfortable.”
Kang Jae-seok glared daggers at her, his eyes blazing.
Ordinary people would have collapsed under the pressure—maybe even wet themselves. But the woman standing before him was not someone to be trifled with.
The School Nurse’s brow twitched.
“What, you wanna go at it?”
Crack.
The dormitory floor split as an enormous force clashed between them.
The cadets froze where they stood, unable even to breathe, while the dorm supervisor realized in horror that the woman before her was no angel ending a war—but a devil about to start one.
“Move. I have to confirm something.”
“I said, start by explaining the situation.”
“There’s no time for that!”
The Devil Knight had escaped through a Gate Stone.
If Yoo Seongwoo was truly the Devil Knight, he would surely return to his dormitory.
But direct travel to the Academy through a Gate Stone was impossible.
That was because the entire Academy was protected by layered barriers—one that nullified the Gate Stone’s power and another that restricted all non-staff movement after 10 p.m.
In other words, if Yoo Seongwoo really was the Devil Knight, he could not possibly be within the Academy.
“I just need to confirm it.”
“Confirm what, exactly?!”
“Whether Cadet Yoo Seongwoo is a Demon or not.”
At those words, the School Nurse’s face hardened.
She looked around.
Many cadets were still watching the scene unfold.
Which meant—they had likely heard what Kang Jae-seok had just said.
“You—you can take responsibility for those words?”
“I can. So move.”
Seeing the bloodshot rage in his eyes, the School Nurse sighed.
After letting out a sharp curse under her breath, she stepped aside.
“If your judgment is wrong, you’ll be the one taking full responsibility.”
“Gladly.”
With that, he marched straight toward Yoo Seongwoo’s dorm room, followed by the uneasy School Nurse and the anxious dorm supervisor.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
In seconds, Instructor Kang Jae-seok was pounding on Seongwoo’s door, as if he might break it down.
“Cadet Yoo Seongwoo! If you can hear me, come out immediately!”
“……”
No response.
No matter how hard he knocked, there was only silence. Kang Jae-seok’s expression stiffened—and so did the School Nurse’s.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
“Cadet Yoo Seongwoo! If you don’t open this door right now, I’ll break it down myself!”
“……”
Even after repeated warnings, the door didn’t open.
Mana began to gather in Kang Jae-seok’s hand.
The dorm supervisor’s face drained of color.
Just as he raised his arm to strike—
Clack!
The door suddenly opened.
Standing there was Yoo Seongwoo, looking utterly flustered.
At the sight of Kang Jae-seok’s disheveled figure, Seongwoo’s face went pale.
“Instructor Kang Jae-seok?”
“……”
The School Nurse’s cold expression turned toward the instructor.
Eyes wide open, Kang Jae-seok scrutinized Seongwoo’s face.
That predatory gaze alone made Seongwoo’s shoulders shrink.
The instructor even infused mana into his sight to confirm that the person before him was real—
Not an illusion.
Not someone disguised.
But everything—the look, the aura, the energy wave—
Everything told him that the man before him was truly Yoo Seongwoo.
‘Impossible.’
Someone with no ties or relation whatsoever using the exact same technique?
Kang Jae-seok knew about Seongwoo’s Asura Divine Art.
One of Hanul Hall’s training arenas had been half-destroyed, and the Sword Empress herself had come to apologize to him for it.
A case where someone of the Sword Empress’s level had drawn her Sword Aura against a mere cadet.
It had been a baffling incident, so he had reviewed the surveillance footage from Hanul Hall himself.
And the technique used by the Devil Knight was identical in every mechanism to Seongwoo’s Asura Divine Art.
Kang Jae-seok seized Seongwoo firmly by the shoulder.
The School Nurse’s brow furrowed at the sight.
“Kang Jae-seok!”
But he ignored the voice and released mana toward Seongwoo.
To inspect his body.
If he truly was the Devil Knight, there would be injuries somewhere on his body or in his energy core.
The flames the Devil Knight wielded were unlike ordinary fire—once they clung to something, they never extinguished.
They had burned through Kang Jae-seok’s own technique and scorched his body.
Since those flames had surrounded the Devil Knight entirely and rotated at incredible speed, even with superhuman regeneration, there should have been at least some trace left behind.
However, no matter how thoroughly Kang Jae-seok scanned Seongwoo’s body with mana, he couldn’t sense a single mark.
Eventually, his hand dropped from Seongwoo’s shoulder.
The tension drained from him all at once, and he slumped to the ground with a dull thud.
Startled, the dormitory supervisor hurried over to support him.
Had it all been his imagination?
Or was this all part of the Devil Knight’s deception?
He had no way to tell.
At last, Instructor Kang Jae-seok looked up at Yoo Seongwoo.
“I’ll ask just one thing. Did you leave the Academy at any point today?”
“No, sir.”
Upon hearing that, Kang Jae-seok lowered his head deeply.
“…I apologize for causing such a disturbance at this late hour.”
As he left, his broad back somehow looked endlessly small.
I’d managed to escape using the Gate Stone, but I couldn’t take a single step. My entire body writhed in pain.
It was the backlash from performing Asura Descent using the Flames of Gehenna, not the Infernal Flame of the Asura Divine Art.
Even now, the Flames of Gehenna were gnawing away at my body.
“Ghhhhh….”
The air reeked of burnt flesh, and thick smoke filled the surroundings.
Everything—the ground and the area around me—had already been reduced to ashes.
Thankfully, it was an open field; otherwise, the fire would’ve spread further.
Kh…
The pain surpassed even what I’d felt when struck by the Guardian’s attack.
I wanted to heal myself with the Power of Restoration right away, but I couldn’t.
Barely managing to sit cross-legged, I began circulating the Asura Divine Art.
I tried to rein in the rampaging flames devouring my body, but control didn’t come easily.
The searing agony made it nearly impossible to focus.
Honestly, even I had to admit—it was sheer madness.
If I hadn’t possessed the Power of Restoration, my body would have turned to ash the moment I attempted it.
Still, the power it unleashed… was incredible.
It had blinded even Kang Jae-seok and bought me enough time to escape.
If I could elevate my mastery and perfect the technique someday—
Then I would truly wield power worthy of the name Asura.
After maintaining the Asura Divine Art for a long while to suppress the Flames of Gehenna, I finally felt the fire coming under control.
Good. Just a little more!
Right on cue, the Power of Restoration, which had been waiting in reserve, began repairing my body and soothing the flames.
This time, the Flames of Gehenna seemed to concede, fading away slowly.
Phew.
Only then could I let out a sigh of relief and collapse onto the ground.
For now, Asura Descent using the Flames of Gehenna was sealed.
If it hurt this much, failing to escape next time would just mean dying outright.
If Kang Jae-seok had gone mad and was tearing through the area searching for me right now…
I retrieved my uniform and belongings from subspace.
I’d stored them there before transforming into the Devil Knight—just in case. Thank goodness I did.
Checking my phone screen, I saw a message from Lia.
[Instructor Kang Jae-seok came by.]
【Suspicion Level of Instructor Kang Jae-seok decreases by 7.】
The suspicion that had spiked before the battle had dropped again.
Choosing the Mask of the Deceiver was precisely for moments like this.
With this ability, I could act freely as the Devil Knight.
At least now, Kang Jae-seok wouldn’t be able to easily suspect me again.
Bzzz, bzzz.
My phone vibrated noisily.
When I checked it, the caller ID was hidden.
I instantly knew who it was.
It wasn’t the Heavenly Demon.
She wouldn’t bother using a restricted number—she didn’t even know how to make a call like that.
Which meant the caller could only be those guys.
When I answered, a voice I’d never heard before spoke, brimming with excitement.
“Devil Knight! As expected of Pandemonium’s greatest fixer. I knew you’d handle the mission perfectly. Have you seen the news? It’s filled with stories about Pandemonium and you.”
As expected, someone from Pandemonium.
“I see. So, what’s the purpose of this call?”
After all that chaos, it would’ve been stranger not to make the news.
I’d nearly obliterated the Daehos Guild, a high-ranking official from the Association had been brutally killed,
and even a top-ranked hero like Kang Jae-seok had failed to catch me.
Honestly, it was a job well done—too well done, even.
Not that I’d planned to go this far.
It wasn’t as though money would start falling from the sky just because I did well.
Then the Demon from Pandemonium who had called spoke again.
“The high-ranking executive who ordered the mission is very pleased with your performance. You didn’t just clean up the mess Berid left behind—you elevated Pandemonium’s reputation. Naturally, you’ll be rewarded.”
“Just get to the point.”
I couldn’t care less about what the high-ranking executives thought.
After that chaos with Kang Jae-seok, I was exhausted.
The caller paused briefly before speaking again.
“So, the reward’s been sent. It should arrive right after we hang up.”
Reward?
My weary, half-closing eyes snapped wide open.