Chapter 110: Extracurricular Activity (9)

A heavy silence fell over the cave.

The entrance collapsed in an instant with a deafening roar.

Ivan, Yuria, and Karina stared at it with dazed expressions.

“T-This can’t be…”

Karina’s trembling hand touched the boulders blocking the way.

They knew it was a trap.

But to collapse the entrance with an explosion…

It was as if they’d planned to seal it from the start, triggered right above.

There was no warning, no time to react.

Through the falling rubble, Gerard’s vacant expression flashed in their minds for a moment.

“Noooo!”

Yuria screamed at that moment.

As if denying the reality before her, she picked up the sword she’d dropped and swung it frantically.

Toward what was once the mine’s entrance.

Clang!

Clank!

But it was futile.

The boulders, laced with iron, were absurdly large and solid.

With those rocks and sand completely sealing the entrance, even dozens of knights wielding

Aura Swords couldn’t have broken through.

Karina didn’t stand idle either.

She gathered all the mana she could at the tip of her staff.

What she needed was explosive power.

Karina layered the 2nd Circle spell [Explosive Will] onto a single point on her staff, stacking it repeatedly.

Buzzzz…

The cave’s air grew hot.

Normally, spell chaining and stacking were the domain of a Mage.

But the dire situation temporarily awakened Karina as a mage, pushing her latent potential to its limits.

“Get back, Yuria!”

Karina shouted with all her might and slammed her staff into a crevice between the rocks.

She quickly pulled Yuria and Ivan away from the spot.

At the same time, red lines spread like a spiderweb from the staff.

A blinding flash filled the entire cave.

Boom!

Flames surged and rock fragments rained down like a storm.

A cloud of dust filled the cave.

Karina blew it away with magic and looked ahead.

And then…

“……Damn.”

Her expression crumpled.

The entrance was unchanged.

In fact, her explosion had caused more debris to block it.

The method she’d risked an artifact for had ended in vain.

Karina felt not emptiness but uncontrollable rage.

“Let go.”

Karina spoke to Ivan, who was holding her arm.

“I’m going to blow this entire mine apart.”

“Stop it.”

“What? Stop? Are you crazy?”

Karina glared at Ivan, eyes wide.

“Senior’s trapped in there and you’re telling me to stop?”

“If you keep trying to break through like this, the whole mine will collapse. It’s better to ask the Roenberg Mayor for help and bring technicians.”

Karina’s lips trembled.

He was right.

Her mind agreed, but her heart, overwhelmed with emotion, didn’t want to hear it.

And then…

Clang! Clank!

Yuria, now standing, swung her sword at the wall as before.

In the end, Karina lowered her head with a despairing expression.

“……Fine. Go.”

“What about you, Karina?”

“I’ll stay with Yuria.”

Ivan looked at Yuria.

Tears streamed down her face like chicken droppings as she frantically hacked at the wall, showing no sign of stopping.

“Tell the Academy too.”

“Got it.”

Ivan gave Yuria a bitter look before turning away.

A complicated sigh escaped his slightly parted lips.

* * *

‘Jackpot.’

That was my first thought upon seeing the collapsed entrance.

Yeah.

A jackpot.

‘I was just wondering how to split off from them.’

Now I was certain.

There was something inside that [Gaius’s Insight] was pointing to.

Whether it was a person, an object, or a situation, I didn’t know, but it was clear I’d be cautious if I were with the others.

‘And to split off so naturally like this.’

What perfect timing.

“And another thing.”

Among the names in the Guard Captain’s journal, I’d seen the name Papamus.

He was listed as the head administrator of this lab and as far as I knew, there was only one person in the Demon Council named Papamus.

Papamus of Pride.

He was a bishop of the Demon Council.

A bishop, a rank above high priest in the Beltus Cult, had combat prowess worlds apart despite being just one rank higher.

I’d briefly worried, ‘How do I take him down with the others?’

He was someone I’d need to use all my thief skills to defeat.

Sure, considering Ivan’s strength during the zombie incident, we might’ve managed somehow.

No, he’d grown so strong it was almost unrecognizable.

Compared to the original Ivan, his Aura Sword was so vivid that even among the fourth-years now, he’d have few rivals.

But if it came to that, there’d definitely be casualties.

Yuria and Karina weren’t at that level yet.

They could coordinate, but Papamus was naturally strong against mages.

“Lucky break.”

The recent explosion had naturally resolved those worries.

Step, step.

I ventured deep into the mine.

A dark, endless tunnel stretched into the mountain.

[Night Vision] illuminated my sight, so there was no discomfort.

Just in case of traps, I used [Detection] intermittently.

What kind of experiments were they conducting here?

I didn’t know exactly, but it was undoubtedly highly secretive.

A bio-experiment with a small team.

The subjects were orphans.

Kimi wasn’t originally a target, but according to the Guard Captain’s journal, a greedy city guard kidnapped him from the playground.

“Hm?”

That’s when it happened.

A fork in the path appeared ahead.

I checked the mine map and headed right.

No particular reason.

The chamber there was closer.

Step, step.

The chamber was blocked by an iron door.

I grabbed the handle and turned it, and surprisingly, it wasn’t locked.

Creak…

Inside the spacious chamber.

It was filled with animal cages.

Various magical beasts lay like corpses in iron-barred cages.

Orcs, goblins, gnolls, frogs, lizardmen, and more.

It looked like a factory for breeding magical beasts, but I knew who they really were.

I approached the cages step by step.

It was silent.

Even hearing my footsteps, the children didn’t move.

Vomit residue clung around their slightly open mouths, and their wide-open eyes vividly showed the horrific pain they’d endured before death.

My grip on the cage tightened involuntarily.

“…….”

I turned around.

Back at the fork, I took the left path.

Like the chamber with the caged beasts, this one also had an iron door.

Wide open, as if inviting me in.

I stepped inside.

“Took you long enough.”

And there he was.

Flawless blonde hair and pale white skin.

His frame was delicate, but paired with his beautiful appearance, it gave off a decadent vibe.

“How was it? Enjoy the tour?”

Papamus of Pride greeted me like an old friend.

“The tour…?”

“Yeah. You visited the disposal room, didn’t you?”

As he spoke, Papamus pointed above my head.

I looked up.

A small eyeball, likely from a beast, floated there.

He must’ve been watching me with it.

It hadn’t triggered [Detection], so it was probably made solely for spying.

At that moment, the eyeball vanished into thin air.

Like Kimi, it had stealth abilities.

“Welcome to my lab, Gerard. I’ve been waiting.”

I looked at him again.

“You know me?”

“Of course. You’re infamous in the cult for giving Cristiano and Luis a hard time. Oh, you don’t know those two or the cult, do you? It’s a thing. Don’t dig too deep.”

Papamus covered his mouth and chuckled.

His gestures, tone, and every action felt disgusting, like a slimy laugh.

When had I last felt this repulsed?

I remembered.

When Cave, the Head Collector, ignored my orders and massacred guards.

It had been a while, but honestly, this level of anger was beyond comparison.

“Anyway, that’s why I separated you from your friends. I hate unnecessary killing and fighting. I only need you.”

“…….”

“I want your body, Gerard. You’re an important research subject…”

I didn’t want to hear more and threw a dagger.

Clang-!

The surprise attack failed.

The dagger bounced off Papamus’s barrier.

“……That’s cheap.”

But erasing that smug smile was satisfying enough.

Papamus stared at me with rigid eyes.

“Cheap, huh.”

To me, that was a compliment.

A thief should be sneaky and underhanded.

“A cadet training to be a hero, acting like this?”

I replied coldly.

“For a bastard like you, this is fine.”

With that, I activated [Starlight] from Star’s Blessing.

“Ho. An artifact that boosts physical abilities?”

Ignoring him, I kicked off the ground and swung both arms.

Daggers shot out faster than before.

Even infused with mana, the result was the same.

Clang!

They all bounced off Papamus’s barrier.

But it was a feint.

Among them, a single hidden dagger.

[Barrier Nullification]

The dagger, slicing silently through the darkness, pierced Papamus’s barrier and lodged in his chest.

‘Got him.’

No.

It almost did, but a figure suddenly appeared and blocked it.

As if it had been there all along, the ‘thing’ deflected the dagger and glared at me.

I was rushing in to finish the job but backed off at the unexpected third party’s appearance.

‘……What is that?’

It was a grotesque creature.

Human-like, but it had no eyes or nose where a face should be.

Only a mouth.

Sharp, thorn-like teeth lined its slightly open mouth, and a thick tail trailed behind its muscular body.

A creature neither human nor beast.

‘Chimera.’

And…

‘It vanished.’

It used stealth too.

Whoosh!

Dodging its attack was purely instinctual.

As the chimera vanished, I used [Ghost Step] to move aside, spotting five claw marks where I’d stood.

‘This is crazy.’

This thing and the spying eyeball, were creatures that didn’t appear in the original story.

“Kuk kuk! What do you think? My new creation. The final form of this bio-experiment, you could say. Cool, right?”

I bit my lip.

Invisible, undetectable, it was hard enough to dodge, let alone attack.

There was only one answer.

‘Aim for the head.’

I quickly activated [Dagger Shift].

“Huh?”

Papamus flinched as I vanished from my spot.

I reappeared right beside him.

I swung Raven immediately, but felt nothing in my hand.

Papamus had already used [Spatial Leap] to vanish.

[Demon’s Touch]

Reappearing behind me, Papamus unleashed dark magic.

Multiple black hands sprouted around him.

They grabbed the daggers scattered on the ground and flung them into a corner of the chamber.

He’d instantly identified and countered [Dagger Shift]’s weakness.

“Kuk… This way, you can’t use that weird vision, right?”

“…….”

“By the way, what’s with you, Gerard? Aren’t you a heroic cadet? How’s a heroic cadet using a thief’s powers?”

My expression hardened.

This guy knew about thief visions.

He didn’t recognize Raven, so he didn’t know about Shadow.

‘Has he fought another thief before?’

My thoughts were interrupted by the chimera’s attack.

Bam!

…It was a dead end.

The invisible chimera’s attacks were bad enough, but now Papamus joined in, casting dark magic from a distance.

Boom! Bang!

[Dagger Shift] was blocked.

If I managed to close in with [Dark Sprint], Papamus would use [Spatial Leap] to keep his

distance.

And then the breaking point came.

“……!”

Looking down, I saw the ground swelling beneath me.

“Got you.”

I quickly raised Raven.

Boom!

An explosion rocked the world around me.

My body slammed into the wall, a dull impact hitting me like a hammer.

Thud.

I collapsed flat on the ground.

A cold sensation touched my neck.

The chimera, no longer in stealth, held its claws to my throat.

“Goddamn it…”

A curse slipped out.

Had I ever been cornered like this?

As expected of a bishop.

Not easy.

Not easy at all.

…And honestly, it felt infuriatingly unfair.

‘Two against one? That’s too much.’

If it were just Papamus, it would’ve been different, I told myself, clinging to a mental victory.

“Hmm. Is it over?”

Papamus asked.

Not to me.

Nod.

The chimera, answering, waited for Papamus’s next order.

“How does a heroic cadet use the same skills as that guy?”

Papamus muttered, approaching me.

“That guy?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah. There’s this crazy guy.”

“What’s his name? Where is he now?”

“Mm. Telling you isn’t hard.”

Papamus, chuckling with his hand over his mouth, suddenly turned serious.

“A test subject dares to ask questions?”

“…….”

“Cut off his arms and legs. So he can’t escape.”

The chimera moved as ordered.

Pressing its claws against my neck, it raised its other hand.

Bam!

And its head exploded.

“……Huh?”

In the sudden turn of events, I blinked dumbly, covered in the chimera’s blood and brains.

In that fleeting moment, the flash that pierced its head was unmistakably a dagger.

And that dagger was one I’d given to someone as a gift.

“…….”

I turned to the direction the dagger came from.

There, a pitch-black subspace gaped wide open.

…I felt it.

An overwhelming presence blooming from within death.

Thud! Boom! Thud! Boom!

At that moment, my heart raced wildly.

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