CHAPTER 78: IT’S FINALLY OVER

"Ha... Ha... Ha..."

A young man with messy black hair sprinted through the student council hallway, completely disregarding the students gathering supplies to aid the injured.

With unsteady strides, he shoved open the council office door and began gasping for breath.

"Grey!" Vice President Ichinose exclaimed, helping the young man stand upright. "Did something happen?"

He gripped Ichinose’s shoulder and glanced around the room, which was occupied by the main force of the third years.

He was a third year himself, but nothing like the monsters in this room.

Grey might have felt inferior to his classmates even though he served as class representative, but he always gave his best and never interfered with their affairs. Even when he saw first years as strong as himself, he rarely reacted, since no one had yet matched the strength of the third years.

But less than five minutes ago, he realized the balance of power in the academy was about to collapse.

First, according to a classmate’s report, Princess Frieren Hohenzollern had defeated a sequence five drifter, and not only that, she had also made it her summon.

If that wasn’t bad enough, it was said that Anica Abraham, one of the first years, had displayed enough power to destroy a dungeon. The only reason the third years hadn’t intervened with her before was due to her lack of experience and mana capacity, but that was no longer the case.

Following that absurd report, another student witnessed a clash between Princess Rachel, who had been Corrupted and ascended to higher B-rank, and Cordelia Blackwood, which ended in the Princess’s defeat.

Besides that, there was also Matthew Von Silver and Amelia Reinhardt, who were said to have neutralized an unknown threat even Anica couldn’t handle easily.

Grey understood the president wanted the first years to grow through this crisis, but the outcome was unprecedented. They had all turned into monsters, every single one of them.

Reozaki, Derick Hillman, Ivy Lies, Lee Jisoo, and many others had contributed far beyond what mere first years should have been capable of.

But none of that was what truly sent him over the edge.

The massive orb that had been draining life force from the female students trapped inside the strange magic circle—started to behave strangely.

Curious, he went to inspect it, only to see that the miasma poisoning the air had begun to fade, and the magic circle’s mechanism had ceased functioning.

Though unconscious, the female students were undoubtedly still alive. That could only mean someone had defeated Deerheart, the one who created the orb.

Even the president had deemed it impossible for any first year except Anica, no matter how strong, to accomplish. He himself wasn’t sure he could manage it.

Deerheart wasn’t just a seasoned professor. He had also formed a pact with a demon and ascended to mid-tier A-rank. Normally, only another A-rank could even injure him.

However, there wasn’t any A-rank among the students, besides Anica.

That also meant the scene in front of him shouldn’t have occurred.

The black orb, that four of the top twenty third years had come to subdue, was cracking now from the inside out.

The president frowned slightly as Grey approached. "Why are you in such a rush?"

Grey took a deep breath. "The orb..."

The president, who had been lounging in his usual position, rose to his feet, only then did he notice the thinning miasma. "What happened?"

Grey hesitated for a moment. "It’s cracking. Someone must’ve cleared it."

The president let out a forced chuckle. "You’re joking, right? There’s no way that kid actually pulled it off."

Whether Razor believed it or not, it had already happened.

The flash of light that briefly enveloped the world, restoring sunlight and filling the air with mana once more, was proof enough.

Without another word to those remaining in the room, he, the vice president, and Edo Ade, the peculiar dreadlocked senior, leapt out the balcony.

----

The students had been doing their best to assist each other after they defeated all the mana beasts following the mass teleportation.

Because of how scattered they were from each other and with the help of teachers, it was relatively easy to eliminate all the enemies.

But what remained was the massive orb at the center of the academy.

Some teachers had been preparing a method to bypass its defenses to send three or four third years inside the orb to try and defeat Deerheart and save the female students.

Since attempting to interfere from the outside would only cause a massive destruction that would blow away both the students and the continent.

"Hahahahahaha." Loud laughter erupted inside the tent that the teachers had set up to prepare the spell.

Kelvin laughed at the top of his lungs as the other professors glared at him. "You guys shouldn’t look at me like that."

He turned to Neko-sensei and stifled his urge to burst into another round of laughter. "Seriously..." He wiped the edge of his eyelid. "What was it you said, Isa..."

He held his shoulders high, trying to mimic her soft commanding voice. "My disciple would surely end this incident, hahaha, you’re so funny."

Neko-sensei still kept a calm expression, sipping from her teacup as he continued his laughter.

Kylie, who sat next to both of them at the round table, smiled softly. "Don’t feel too bad, Isa, you’re human after all, of course you would make mistakes..."

Before any of them could speak any other word, they felt something creep into their awareness.

The unmistakable feeling of an ascension.

Someone had moved up the ranks; as veterans, they knew how to tell ranks apart, and this was undoubtedly the aura of a new B-rank.

So why? Why did it feel so oppressive to them, who were past that rank?

"The orb is cracking." Neko-sensei alerted them.

Kylie bit into her nail as she matched her companions’ pace, who were rushing toward the entrance of the blue tent. "I doubt Deerheart would have a change of heart, right?"

Kelvin forced out a light chuckle as soon as he gazed on the scene beyond the tent, then muttered. "What the hell?"

Almost simultaneously, the student council landed next to them, and the students of Noctis who were also in the area moved closer to see what exactly was causing such a fuss.

The orb that they had all been planning to subjugate had cracked and shattered into sparks of light.

Neko-sensei smiled, then chuckled softly. "Looks like you owe me, Kel."

Kelvin lowered his head, then raised it back, but he couldn’t stop himself from smiling. "That kid really is a monster."

In the exact spot where the orb was meant to be, a single figure stood with a calm expression.

His presence felt like that of a mundane human; perhaps that was the most terrifying thing about him.

He wore a worn-out white shirt that didn’t quite fit him, and because of that, his lean yet muscular physique was hidden behind the fabric.

The shirt was tucked into his black trousers, and his first three buttons were undone, with his sleeves slightly rolled up.

Pale-lilac hair that glimmered in the sun was tied up in a half-up ponytail, his eyes were soft pale-lilac too.

However, his most striking feature was his face, which was almost without any imperfection.

The female students around the area felt like they were attacked by another force, this time, not a monster, but they could still feel blood trickle down their noses.

No one said a word as the figure tilted his head.

The first to finally speak was an odd first year, who was bleeding from both nostrils. "Hot!" she exclaimed, but before anyone could react to her words, someone dashed past them and jumped on the young, stunning man.

"Kai!!!!"

"Damnit Amy, you know I’m injured." The man exclaimed as he tried to pull back the red-haired girl that clung onto him, blood dripping from his lips from the force of her tackle.

The teachers, who had been stunned, looking at him with awe, smiled almost simultaneously.

The kid who was the weakest first year not even two weeks ago was now by far one of the strongest among the students.

But... he was still a kid, and a student of the academy.

President Razor turned around with a smile on his face.

Ade looked at him then sighed. "You win this time."

Razor grinned. "Oh, have you accepted that I made the right decision?"

Ade looked at the young man again, who was now surrounded by many students. "Seeing this, I doubt anyone would argue with your decision-making ever again."

Razor nodded. "Seems like things are about to get hectic."

"Whose fault is that?"

He turned to Ichinose. "Don’t be like that."

Ichinose glared at him.

Razor grinned mischievously. "Is it because I didn’t kiss you on the forehead last night, or because the incident took away cuddle-cuddle time?"

The vice president’s face flushed deep red, then she smacked him on the head. "Idiot!"

Razor rubbed the center of his head, shifting his gaze from Ichinose — who had moved ahead of him — to Ade, who was chuckling. "What did I do?"

He tilted his head. "I think she didn’t hit you hard enough."

***

In a dim room lacking even a hint of light, three figures sat at a round table with stars directly ahead of the side of the table they occupied.

Faint outlines of forms stood behind them like shadows, and their presence carried a subtle weight.

After a while in silence, the woman at the left side of the group marked with the number six spoke. "So Deerheart failed?"

Number twelve, who sat across from her, laughed. "I told you he’d be worthless, no real warrior relies on trivial things like charms."

"Shut it, you brute. You think everything can be solved with your fists?"

"Is that because you’re a coward like him, miss six?" Twelve mocked.

Faint traces of number six’s mana leaked into the air. "What did you just say?"

Just as number twelve was about to rise from his seat, a crushing pressure pressed down on both of them. "The two of you need to stop, now!... I’m not in the mood today."

The two of them seemed to tremble slightly, darting their gaze downwards. "Yes, archbishop."

The man bearing the number one, exhaled. "Number seven, did you obtain the details?"

Number seven chuckled lightly, with her distinctly feminine, slightly teasing voice. "Is it finally my turn to speak, Amon?" Her tone turned cold. "Don’t you think Lord would be quite disappointed that your underling helped the young lord awaken before his ceremony?"

Amon turned to her, then back to the center of the table. "Yes, I know, that’s why..." He paused, then rested his curled fingers beneath his chin. "... we are gathered here today... So, let us commence with April’s assembly of the demonic archbishops."

*****

Author’s Note:

As the first volume comes to a close, I want to take a moment to thank you all from the bottom of my heart — for reading.

Whether you stumbled upon this story by pure accident, followed it Chapter by Chapter, or binged the entire thing in one long sitting at 3 a.m., your time and imagination have given life to this world in ways I could never have done alone.

This story, its world, and the characters in it, especially Kai — mean a lot to me. I’ve spent more nights than I’d like to admit thinking about how each scene should unfold, how every line of dialogue should go about, and how the world should feel alive even when the characters aren’t speaking.

...Kai’s journey is far from over. This was just the opening act. There are still layers upon layers waiting to be peeled back.

If at any point you found yourself pausing to think about a line, or if a character made you laugh, sigh, or just silently nod in agreement... "then my efforts didn’t betray me."

I thank you all one more time for being here. For reading. For caring. And I will try to do my best in Volume Two.

Until then—

Well... it’s not like the wait will be that long.

Stay safe. 😷😷

By Author: Water7