CHAPTER 47: THE TRUTH ABOUT THE DARK CULT

[POV Eva]

Eva held her sword with both hands, her eyes locked on Xeria’s four eyes. Alicia, Milia, Geoffrey, Ainsley, Irwin, Beatrice, Rosalind, and Patricia also started to get ready, drawing their swords. The student council members—Mirea, Nikolai, Oliver, and Claudia—did the same, drawing their respective weapons. Seeing Eva and all the students in front of her, Xeria smiled, then burst into chilling laughter.

"Is something funny, Xeria?" Eva asked calmly.

"Relax, Princess. I don’t intend to fight all of you. Our plan already failed because that stupid pig prince was exposed, which made everyone wary and alerted them to our presence in this academy, so we will retreat for now," Xeria replied with a horrifying voice.

But, "Clang," before Xeria could run, Eva immediately leaped forward, attacking Xeria, who blocked Exelion with her magic web. Eva smiled and moved her face closer to Xeria’s.

"You think I’ll just let you walk away? Don’t dream it," Eva said, calm and cold.

"I should have known. You’re still the same as 3,000 years ago: you can’t listen to anyone and just attack, hahaha... I’m genuinely happy to see you," Xeria said.

Suddenly, a black magic circle appeared behind Eva and shot a black light sword straight toward Xeria’s leg. "Crack," the sword of light severed one of Xeria’s legs. Her yellowish-green blood immediately spurted from the severed limb. Xeria’s face changed slightly from the pain in her leg, but she quickly regained her composure and even smiled, looking at Eva with her four eyes.

Then she saw the black magic circle still open next to Eva and ready to attack. She seemed to think for a moment, then looked back at Eva and moved her face closer.

"Princess, I didn’t come here to do anything to you. Actually, I wanted to protect you from the hands of the Goddess Ophelia, so please let me go this time," Xeria whispered.

"Huh?" Eva, hearing Xeria’s words, was stunned. She loosened her grip on her sword. Xeria immediately took advantage of this to push Eva, then she opened a black, crackling portal behind her. She leaped backward straight into the portal, and before the portal closed,

"The real Cecilia is within the student council. All of this was Daniel’s, or Baalbel’s, plan. He’s the one who brought me here and intended to make you the Empress. So, goodbye, Her Highness Evelina, or Esmeralda, or Princess Eva. We’ll meet again later," Xeria said, smiling.

"Hey... wait!" Eva shouted.

But the portal immediately closed and vanished, leaving only a few sparks of lightning, which soon disappeared as well, making the atmosphere quiet once more. Eva paused for a moment, then immediately turned toward the corridor and ran in the direction Ard had gone, disappearing with Daniel. Seeing Eva run, everyone immediately ran after her.

***

[POV Ard]

Ard held Exgrandal pointed at the face of Baalbel, who had both hands raised and was smiling.

"Knowing that His Highness Azroth or Ashton was here, I wouldn’t have had to bother making this plan," Baalbel said.

"Huh... what do you mean?" Ard asked.

Baalbel immediately told him everything. He and the demon sect had infiltrated the academy because they knew Princess Evangeline had enrolled. They intended to restore Eva as the Empress of the Orthus Empire to bring back the conditions of 1,000 years ago, where humans and demons lived peacefully under her leadership, even if it was only for a period of about 15 to 17 years.

Ard immediately felt a chill because in his nine previous lives, Eva had genuinely become a female emperor who waged war on the world and killed both her father and her brother. He immediately stepped forward and pressed Exgrandal against Baalbel’s neck, who still had his hands raised in front of him, his face furious.

"You don’t know what happens to the world if Eva becomes Empress... why do you think she would bring everything back like 1,000 years ago if she became Empress?" Ard asked calmly, but in a heavy voice, and he was clearly angry.

"Because she will lead all of us to destroy the Goddess Ophelia. But since you are here now, and that means you are the Third Prince of Fredonia, I will retreat and leave everything to the two of you," Baalbel replied.

"Retreat?" Ard asked.

Without waiting for Baalbel’s answer, Ard lunged and thrust his sword toward Baalbel’s neck, but Baalbel dodged and blocked Ard’s sword with his own.

"Whoaah... relax, Your Highness Azroth. I have no intention of fighting you. Our plan has already failed. The academy and the royal family are now on high alert because that pig prince blatantly used our troops just for his games," Baalbel said.

"Huh... explain what you mean about Eva leading you against Ophelia? Tell me now!" Ard shouted in anger.

Baalbel, who had been smiling, suddenly became serious. He studied Ard’s face and tilted his head. His eyes blinked, then he stepped back, using his hand to push down Exgrandal, which was aimed at his face, gripping the blade until his hand bled.

"It seems you still don’t fully remember what happened 1,000 years ago. The Demon God Malekh has indeed been released, but he hasn’t come out of the gate of hell, even though his seal has been opened, because he knows the purpose of you opening the seal," Baalbel said.

"Huh... what do you mean?" Ard asked, surprised.

"Do you forget your purpose in opening the seal 1,000 years ago?" Baalbel asked seriously.

"I don’t remember," Ard replied.

"Your goal was for Malekh and Ophelia to reunite as one body again so you could defeat them both at once," Baalbel stated.

Ard was immediately shocked, but he did feel that he might have had such a goal. When he placed Evelina’s body underground, he promised to return after finishing everything, and he understood that "finishing everything" meant opening the seal, freeing Malekh so he could return to his body, and destroying both Malekh and Ophelia, who would have reunited. Memory after memory, and feeling after feeling, began to assault Ard and made him lower his sword.

Seeing Ard slightly shaken, Baalbel took advantage. He immediately opened a portal and leaped into it. After that, he turned to look at Ard,

"Your Highness Azroth, I leave everything to you. Please save this world. Only you and Her Highness Evelina can. Oh, that’s right. That jerk Prince Edmund is in the secret room I was going to show you. I’ll show you the way. Goodbye," Baalbel said.

The portal then closed without waiting for Ard to respond to Baalbel’s words. After the portal vanished, Ard stared at the spot where it had been and fell silent, unable to speak. He put Exgrandal back into his dimensional storage. He immediately tried to recall his dream from when he left the underground cave. While stunned, he suddenly noticed a glow on the floor. He immediately walked, then ran, following the glow on the floor that stretched across the entire corridor.

He then turned a corner and met a dead end between a classroom and the library. He saw the glow continue right through the wall on the floor. He slowly approached the wall and touched it. Instantly, "Grek... grek," the wall transformed into stone boxes, then flew to the side, stacking up and opening.

Behind it was a staircase leading down. Ard immediately descended the stairs and kept going, also retrieving Exgrandal from his dimensional storage just in case. When he reached the bottom, he saw a cave-like room illuminated by torchlight from within.

When he looked inside, his eyes widened as he saw a dried-up lake with two large, human-sized crystals standing side-by-side in the center of the dried-up lakebed. Ard immediately looked around and examined the cave. It really was the cave from his dream when he placed Evelina in the crystal and left. He also saw stone ruins that looked ancient, blocking the cave passage that connected to the sea.

"No doubt, this is the cave from the dream," Ard muttered to himself.

He turned to see a table, a map, many files stacked on the table, a box of potions with strange liquids of unknown function, and several scrolls containing magic circles for summoning demon troops. And when Ard looked beside the table, he saw Cecilia, who was tied up and had fainted, leaning against the cave wall.

Ard immediately walked over, then knelt in front of Cecilia to help her, but suddenly, "Shhriing," a sword was aimed right beside his face and at his neck from behind. Ard smiled and, without turning around, said,

"How are you, Your Highness Edmund? Still planning a rebellion?" Ard asked casually.

"S-Silence, commoner! I’m going to kill my father who opposed me marrying Eva! Don’t interfere!" Edmund yelled from behind Ard, brandishing his sword.

Ard just shook his head, then he stood up and turned around with the sword still pressed against his shoulder. Edmund looked terrified, and his sword began to tremble as he looked at Ard, who appeared completely calm and unafraid of him.

"Your Highness Edmund, please leave here and surrender because, no matter what, I will never give Eva to you. Eva is mine forever," Ard said, looking sharply at Edmund.

"W-What?" Edmund asked, trembling, which left him momentarily distracted.

Ard immediately subdued Edmund by sweeping his sword aside and instantly pinning Edmund face-down on the ground with both hands behind his back and tying him up. Meanwhile, behind the staircase wall, Eva leaned against it, covering her mouth. Her face was red, and behind her hand, she was smiling widely after hearing Ard’s words.