Chapter 190: Lilith Eradication Operation (2)

“Hmm? Isn’t it a bit noisy outside?”

It was a late afternoon, no different from usual.

The waning summer sun was not hot, but warm, and the school was slightly lively, perhaps because it was almost dinner time.

“Indeed. It must be another clash between the department professors. Pay it no mind.”

This was also a frequent occurrence.

Although less than during the semester, even during the vacation period, there were professors who came to work for personal matters.

And the Psychology and Martial Arts Department professors who met like that would not just pass each other by, but would engage in childish verbal sparring, which was like an occasional event.

“Still, it seems a bit more severe this time, don’t you think?”

“Is that so?”

“I will go and stop them. Hahaha.”

Chaser Idna, who stood up with an accustomed eye smile.

Although from a noble family and the Central Royal Knights, Chaser Idna, who did not dwell on ideological or philosophical conflicts, had always mediated between the two groups whenever such a clash occurred.

It was the same this time.

Chaser Idna left the Vice-Dean’s office to stop the friction.

“Hmm.”

The Vice-Dean, left alone.

He hadn’t thought deeply about it until then.

Because it was just an ordinary day, no different from usual.

“……”

But he began to feel that something was strange after about 10 minutes had passed since Chaser had left the Vice-Dean’s office.

‘Strange. The commotion should have died down by now.’

It was still noisy outside.

Even though Chaser had gone.

No, the feeling that the commotion had actually gotten bigger than before was surely not just a delusion.

……An unreadable sense of foreboding flows down his spine.

It was when he was about to get up to check immediately.

With a thumping sound, the door was thrown open, and the person who came in was none other than the Guard Captain.

“Vice-Dean! We have a big problem!”

“What on earth is all this commotion about?”

“The cadets are going crazy! And the professors too……”

The Vice-Dean wondered what he was talking about.

The cadets are going crazy?

And the professors too?

He wondered if he was joking, but the Guard Captain he knew was not the type of person to throw around empty jokes.

“Let’s go out first! You’ll understand the situation when you see it!”

He was right.

It was pandemonium.

When he went down to the first floor, the cadets were fighting among themselves.

Fights that far surpassed the level of simple emotional brawls, where they were hitting and being hit with their bare hands, were breaking out everywhere.

Even among them were professors.

“Wh-what is this……”

It was when the Vice-Dean was in a state of confusion at the sight that was beyond common sense.

A professor, whose eyes seemed to have gone somewhere else and was swinging his sword randomly, spotted the Vice-Dean and shouted.

“Oh? There he is! Vice-Dean Karad is over there!”

At the same time, all eyes on the first floor turned to the Vice-Dean at once.

A short silence.

What happened after was shock and horror.

“Wuaaaak! Get him! Get him!”

“He’s mine!”

“Shut up, you son of a bitch! I’m going to monopolize the master’s love! Uh-hee-hee-hee!”

And.

The sound of laughter from behind.

“I’m sorry, Vice-Dean. Kick……”

The sight that came into the Vice-Dean’s eyes as he turned his head was the figure of the Guard Captain, drawing his sword with a face full of desire.

* * *

“Is there no other way?”

At Yuria’s question, I shook my head.

Two years ago, in the battle of the Ludwig Plains, the war hero Ilai Dain, who had saved countless lives with her powerful holy magic and received the title of the Saintess of Ludwig.

A cleric who believed in the Lord, Max Obje, she possessed a stronger divine power than most bishops, and she was currently the only shield in Icata that could block Lilith’s seduction.

Therefore, now that they were on the verge of exorcising Lilith, her importance could not be overemphasized.

The protagonist, Ivan, and Section Chief Baron, who was looking at the Master level with his outstanding swordsmanship.

Honestly, I could assert that Professor Ilai was more important than the two of them combined at the moment.

‘But even she can’t turn back someone who has already been seduced.’

Blocking a mental attack and purifying a contamination were clearly different problems.

To purify Lilith’s demonic aura, which had already encroached on the mind, a primitive and pure power was needed.

‘So what’s needed is the Saint’s Catalyst.’

And I already have that.

All the preparations needed for the Lilith extermination battle had been completed long ago.

“Don’t tell me there isn’t?”

Just then, Yuria asked again.

Her face had already turned completely pale, and it seemed as if she would burst into tears if someone just touched her, but she seemed to have misunderstood my silent shaking of my head.

So I opened my mouth directly to correct her misunderstanding.

“No, there is.”

“R-really?”

Her expression, which had been so dark, brightened as if nothing had happened.

“……Right.”

Immediately after, I turned my head and, without anyone knowing, let out a deep breath.

That was, just now, so damn dangerous.

At Yuria’s sudden change of expression, I almost burst out laughing.

My carefully crafted dignity as the Master of Shadow was almost shattered in an instant.

‘I should avoid talking to Yuria as much as possible. She’s so comfortable that problems that don’t even exist will arise.’

I reminded myself to be careful again and looked around.

Before I knew it, the group had come close to me.

Because they were curious about what the item that purifies the demon’s seduction was.

I needed to talk about this anyway.

So I took the Saint’s Catalyst out of my bosom.

As I removed the paper that was wrapping it, Professor Ilai, who had recognized its identity first, hardened her expression.

“H-how did you get that……?”

“I stole it.”

At my attitude, as if asking something so obvious, Professor Ilai was at a loss for words for a moment.

“……You’re shameless. Who doesn’t know that and is asking?”

“I thought you were asking because you didn’t know.”

“What is that small stone?”

It was Karina’s question from the side.

Professor Ilai, who had bitten her lip, explained it as concisely as possible.

“The relics of the past Archpontiffs.”

It was an extremely concise summary, but the explanation seemed to be sufficient.

Because everyone in the group, including Section Chief Baron, was looking at me as if they were going to kill me.

“To insult a saint who has entered eternal rest…… you vile grave robber!”

Gwyn, the most gentlemanly of gentlemen, grabbed the hilt of his sword and even half-drew it.

I had roughly expected this kind of reaction, so I was rather indifferent.

“Then what were you planning to do when you met the seduced people? Were you planning on killing them?”

“We can just avoid them and go!”

“Avoid them? For how long?”

“Huh? Th-that is……”

Karina stutters.

I let out a small laugh.

“You seem to be seriously mistaken because I’ve been avoiding them, but the ones swarming around us and all over this campus are all people who have fallen for Lilith’s seduction. And all of them are your friends, seniors, and your fellow faculty members. Do you think you can break through them and reach the demon just by avoiding them?”

At my question, everyone in the group became as mute as if they had eaten honey.

I swept my gaze over their faces once and then, looking at Professor Ilai last, I said.

“I didn’t steal the saint’s remains because I wanted to. It was solely to exorcise the demon.”

“……”

“If you still want to hold me accountable, please do so after the demon is exorcised and everything is over.”

Professor Ilai couldn’t answer.

Because his unspoken words had reached her ears.

[The Saint’s Catalyst is absolutely necessary to defeat the demon, and using it is a decision that only I, a thief, can make.]

[I will bear the weight of the sin of blaspheming the faith. So you just pretend you don’t know.]

So Professor Ilai just stared at the floor silently.

‘You coward, Ilai Dain. And you can still call yourself a pure cleric?’

She was so ashamed of herself that she couldn’t lift her head.

* * *

It seemed it was time to tell them my plan, so I stopped at a suitable place and looked at the group.

“As you all know, our final goal is to exorcise Lilith. But the Academy grounds are vast, and we don’t have enough time to find her.”

“If we use the artifact you have, we should be able to find Lilith easily.”

It was Ivan.

“I’m talking about the ‘Tracker’s Seal’. The one you stole from me.”

I wasn’t so dense as to not feel the thorn hidden in his tone.

I can feel the pure hatred for a villain and the anger for having stolen the gift Pirion had given him in his gaze as he looks at me.

You little shit.

He doesn’t even know that I saved him back then.

He doesn’t know that the Tracker’s Seal was a cheap price to pay for his life.

“I don’t have it.”

“Are you trying to deny it?”

Deny it?

I have nothing to be afraid of, so why would I.

“Does it look like it?”

At my question, Ivan just stared at me without answering.

The ‘Tracker’s Seal’ required the biological information of the target to be tracked, but we had never even seen a single strand of Reina’s hair.

Ivan wouldn’t know that, so it seemed he had asked simply to confirm whether I was the culprit who had stolen the seal.

“Let me continue. I have no artifact, no way to find Lilith, and we have no time. Because even at this moment, Lilith’s influence will continue to grow.”

“……”

“So we are going to the Vault.”

Just then, Section Chief Baron asked.

“Hmm? The Vault? Why there of all places?”

To explain that reason, it was necessary to first explain Lilith’s purpose.

The reason why the Beltus Cult, which worships demons, is trying to destroy the Academy.

And the reason why the demons are after this place, Frey Heroes Academy.

The reason is because of the legacy of the great hero, Aidan Frey, which is preserved in the basement of this place.

The predecessor of Frey Heroes Academy was the Aidan Grand Temple.

Following the will of Aidan Frey, who said, ‘Darkness is always waiting for an opportunity, so we must be prepared,’ the royal empire established an institution to train heroes in the Aidan Grand Temple, and that is today’s Academy.

So in the basement of the main building, there is the Aidan Grand Temple, but of course, the path leading down to it is tightly hidden, and the only two people in the Academy who know the way are the Dean and the Vice-Dean.

“So you’re saying that right now, Lilith is after the Dean and the Vice-Dean to enter the hero’s temple. Is that it?”

“That’s right. To be precise, she’ll be looking for Vice-Dean Karad first. Since Dean Bell Toro is currently away.”

“How on earth do you know such information?”

Section Chief Baron asks with a dumbfounded face.

“If you haven’t forgotten who I am, that seems like a rather foolish question.”

“……”

“Anyway, we have to make contact with the Vice-Dean before Lilith finds him. By now, the main building and other major buildings have probably already fallen into Lilith’s hands, so if the Vice-Dean has safely escaped, he will be hiding in the Vault. Because that’s the safest place right now.”

In the landscaped forest surrounding the Vault, there were various traps and magic formulas laid out.

In the current state of confusion, there was no more suitable place to hide.

In fact, in the original work, after the event broke out and the main building was breached, the next refuge that Karad chose was the Vault.

‘I hope nothing has happened.’

The variable was, of course, the mainstream story that had changed so much.

The fact that Section Chief Baron, who should have been a mid-boss, was here with us was, in a way, one of the variables.

‘If he’s not there, I’ll have to assume he was caught by Lilith and run to the main building.’

I had to stop Lilith from entering the underground temple at all costs.

Because it wasn’t just Aidan Frey’s legacy there.

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