Chapter 96
After finishing my deal with Lord Biden, I leisurely waited.
I couldn’t help but look forward to the face of the one who’d be arriving soon.
Would he come flying in again with that face all twisted in anger?
He’d get wrinkles at this rate.
Ding—.
Oh, a message.
He really never learns.
[We need to talk.]
A short text, yet it carried a mix of emotions.
Another message came in right after.
[What kind of magic did you use?]
It was from Joo Sarang.
What’s gotten her all worked up now?
I couldn’t hide the smirk tugging at my lips as I put on my clothes.
Still, Berid was surprisingly patient this time.
Normally, he would’ve come flying here, smashing down the door in rage.
The fact that he hadn’t probably meant he realized that causing any more trouble here would be the end of him.
After dressing appropriately, I headed to the place he had called me to.
Ironically, it was the same fountain where Park Siwoo and I had once risked our lives battling a Guardian.
Now, in place of the ruined Guardian statue, another sculpture stood.
Surely, that one wasn’t another Guardian, right?
Berid and Joo Sarang were already there waiting for me.
I frowned as if in a bad mood.
“Why are you calling me out in the middle of the night?”
At my words, his brow twitched.
Then, striding forward, he grabbed me by the collar.
He must’ve been really pissed.
Still, for him to display such hostility without even setting up a barrier first—bold of him.
Well, I suppose it was impressive he hadn’t immediately started throwing spells.
Without avoiding his eyes, I released my mana.
The mana flared out, forming a barrier around us.
“What did you do!” he shouted.
“Ask in a way I can understand.”
“You thought you could lay your hands on what’s mine?”
At that, Joo Sarang, standing beside him, spoke in disgust.
“Who said I was yours? I was never your subordinate to begin with.”
“Shut your mouth! You parasite, clinging to a high-ranking executive!”
“You bastard… what did you just say? You think you’re still my superior?”
Crimson energy flared from Joo Sarang’s eyes as her aura erupted.
I stopped her.
Fighting him here wasn’t a good idea.
If we spread demonic energy in the middle of the Academy again, there’d be no brushing it off like before.
Not to mention, without the Guardian’s Sword, there was a limit to how much I could suppress my power.
When I shook my head as if telling her not to bother, she ground her teeth in frustration.
I looked down at Berid with cold eyes.
“You really don’t realize that losing Joo Sarang to me was your own fault, do you?”
“My fault? I’ve always executed flawless plans for the sake of the great cause! I’ve always succeeded! Ever since you joined the Student Council—everything’s gone wrong because of you!”
Of course it did.
I’d gone through hell cleaning up the chaos he caused at the Academy.
Then, as if he’d realized something, his eyes widened.
“Don’t tell me… you were the one interfering with my operations all this time?”
“So you’re blaming your own incompetence on me now? Pathetic.”
Sharp of him.
I knew he’d been suspicious of me.
And it seemed this conversation had made him certain.
But what could he do?
He didn’t have a shred of proof.
I’d worked too hard to craft this entire situation.
Killing and resurrecting Seo Da-hee, slaying the Drake during the field trip…
Even staging that ‘failed’ field trip mission to restore Pandemonium’s honor—I’d gone through all that trouble.
All to make Berid look like an incompetent fool who ruined his mission, while I appeared as the loyal servant who fulfilled mine.
Berid’s eyes slowly began to glow red.
“Yeah… come to think of it, you’ve always been there—whether in the Student Council or in every single incident since!”
“I’m done listening.”
As I said that, I released my aura.
The air inside the barrier blazed with heat.
The temperature rose so fast that faint heatwaves shimmered in the air.
“Do not cross the line. I’ve risked my life to cover your failures and worked countless times for your ‘great cause.’ Can you take responsibility for every word you’ve said just now? You do know who stands behind me, don’t you?”
“...Kh!”
The ferocity that had seemed ready to explode within him began to fade.
You really can’t do anything, can you?
All that’s left for you is to fall.
Just then, a violent impact struck my barrier.
Bang! Bang!
What the hell—?
Which lunatic was attacking a barrier in the middle of the night?
At this rate, they’d actually break through with brute force, so I dispelled the mana.
When the barrier fell, I saw white bolts of White Lightning filling the air.
“Whoa… President?”
“Cadet Yoo Seongwoo? And Ha Yoon, too. What exactly are you all doing here?”
Those blue eyes, clear as the sky, glinted coldly.
Why were they here at this hour?
No—of course.
Yoo Iseo had recently been suspicious of several Student Council members and others.
It made sense she’d be patrolling late at night to root out Demons.
And during that patrol, she’d caught us—casting a barrier and doing something suspicious.
If I said the wrong thing here, things could get dangerous.
I needed to come up with an excuse fast…
While I was still thinking, Joo Sarang shouted out,
“It’s all my fault! Because of me, these two—!”
The icy expression on Yoo Iseo’s face suddenly cracked.
And so did mine—and Berid’s.
W–wait, what did she just say?
“What did you say?”
“I tried my best to stop them from fighting because of me, but it was no use. They recklessly put up a barrier and were about to fight…”
I couldn’t help but marvel at the nonsense pouring so fluently out of her mouth.
Was she out of her mind right now?
I glanced sideways at Yoo Iseo.
She, too, looked bewildered, clearly shocked by Joo Sarang’s words.
“So you’re saying… that barrier was over a lover’s quarrel involving Cadet Joo Sarang?”
“Yes.”
Joo Sarang answered with shameless confidence.
Yoo Iseo looked at me and Berid as if asking if that was true.
Berid didn’t answer; his head drooped low.
Come to think of it, wasn’t his usual shtick hanging around Yoo Iseo, acting all loyal and pitiful?
Now it looked like he’d been caught cheating or something.
Since he couldn’t say a word, Yoo Iseo’s gaze turned to me.
Then Joo Sarang clung to my arm, as if trying to show off.
I wanted to say something, but no excuse came to mind.
“Well, uh… that’s… how it turned out.”
“Uh, I see… This is a bit confusing. I never thought something like that would happen among Student Council Executives…”
“It’s fine between us,” Joo Sarang added quickly. “It’s just that Senior Ha Yoon was a bit… clingy.”
She paused, then added, “Actually, a lot clingy.”
At our words, Yoo Iseo cleared her throat a few times, trying to regain her composure.
“Anyway, I understand the situation now, but fighting within the Academy is not acceptable. Especially with the current state of affairs, please be cautious.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
At Joo Sarang’s cheerful reply, Yoo Iseo shook her head and patted Berid’s shoulder.
Berid said nothing, bowed slightly, and silently left.
He must’ve been seething with frustration.
I kept my eyes on his retreating back.
With this, our relationship was clearly severed.
Not that I was worried—it was bound to happen eventually.
Still, I had to keep an eye on what Berid would do now that he was cornered.
Before he could make a move, I needed to strike first—Berid and his underlings alike.
But before that—
“Can you move away a little?”
“Ah, why?”
“They’re gone now, so move—hey, I said move!”
Berid was quicker at cutting off his ties than I expected.
After that night, he must’ve resolved to clean up everything fast.
In other words, the Demon of Indulgence, Pan, had died a meaningless death.
He took on the suicide mission that was originally meant for Joo Sarang, charging into the Association alone.
He took the fall for everything—the incident involving essence, the Honey Jack case, and even the failure of the fabricated Demon list meant to create chaos.
And just like that, all the blame was pinned on him.
As a mid-ranked Demon, his so-called “terror attack” ended without causing so much as a ripple, buried quietly.
Surprisingly, the fact that a Demon had infiltrated the Academy’s Student Council didn’t spread widely.
Berid used what remaining power he had to suppress the media—and both the Academy and the Association helped cover it up.
After all, it wasn’t in either of their interests to admit that there had been a Demon in the Student Council.
And thus, the Demon of Indulgence, Pan—once known as Kim Ji-woo—was erased from the Academy.
Sitting beside me, Joo Sarang murmured,
“It ended more quietly than I expected.”
“Do you really think so?”
This was only the beginning.
For Yoo Iseo, this incident gave her both the conviction and justification to start weeding out the Demons hidden within the Student Council.
And Pandemonium wouldn’t just sit still, either.
Anyone with half a brain could tell what this meant.
Berid had failed his infiltration of the Academy.
Not just failed—he had humiliated Pandemonium from the inside.
He would have to take full responsibility for that failure.
Now, he’d be under pressure from both sides.
The Academy would hold him accountable as the Vice President who brought a Demon into the Student Council while Yoo Iseo was away.
And as for Pandemonium…
They’d probably send assassins after him—along with countless horrific punishments that involved the use of souls.
So Berid would soon make his final move.
I already knew exactly what that would be—thanks to my experience with Become a Hero.
If the boss of Act 1 had been Yoo Iseo after her corruption into a Demon, then the boss of Act 2 was Berid, the shadow behind the Academy.
In the game, Berid did everything in his power to corrupt the Academy while Yoo Iseo was gone.
The cadets endured hellish school life, growing stronger through the torment.
Then, led by Park Siwoo, Dan Chun-woo, and Helena, the Protagonist’s party cornered Berid—the true mastermind.
And finally, driven into a corner, Berid realized he had nowhere left to run.
So he decided to turn the Academy into hell itself.
Using the Fragment of the Gate, he drew out the Gate’s power to overlay the real world with a demonic environment.
In the process, demonic beasts from Hell poured out, plunging everything into chaos.
It’d be nice if I could prevent that from happening—but Berid was clearly wary of me now, which would make that difficult.
So before that happened, I needed to do what I could.
First, I needed more people.
The hellification of the Academy was an event that took place around the middle of the game.
But Dan Chun-woo, Park Siwoo, and Helena were still only at early-Act levels of strength.
Even with me around helping them grow, it was only to a certain extent.
Right now, their power wasn’t enough.
Just then, Joo Sarang’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
“Hey, aren’t you gonna answer that call?”
“Call?”
“Yeah, your pocket’s glowing.”
Who could be calling me?
When I checked my phone, an unknown number was displayed.
“Who could this be…?”
“Don’t know the number?”
“Yeah.”
“Then it’s probably spam. Just hang up.”
Maybe.
Ignoring it, I turned my gaze to the girl still clinging to me.
Right—I still needed to settle things with her.
Back when Yoo Iseo had barged in on me and Berid, Joo Sarang had made that explosive excuse about us.
“Don’t cling to me too much. People will get the wrong idea.”
“So what if they do? I don’t care. Should I start calling you honey from now on?”
Her teasing eyes curved into a sly smile, and I couldn’t help but sigh.
I really couldn’t grow fond of this one.
“I do care.”
Just then, the phone that had been ringing nonstop caught my attention again.
I’d been ignoring it on purpose, but they just kept calling.
At this rate, they’d probably keep at it until I answered, so I picked up.
Then a familiar, deep voice came through the receiver.
[Seongwoo? I’ve called you several times—why haven’t you been answering?]
“Who’s this?”
[It’s me, Chilho from Chiwoo Workshop. Your weapon’s finished. Come and pick it up.]