Chapter 199: Evil Eradication Squad (2)

“I am sad. Seeing my brother after a long time, and you have that kind of expression.”

Zairo smiled affectionately and placed his hand on Karina’s head.

Karina’s body flinched and trembled.

“……You came?”

She forced the corners of her mouth up.

Zairo, nodding in satisfaction.

“Yes. I heard a demon appeared. Where is the demon?”

He immediately brought up the purpose of coming here and asked.

“……Th, that is.”

Karina hesitated before answering.

“It’s dead.”

“Oh, is that true!”

Zairo’s pupils dilated greatly.

A genuinely surprised expression.

“To kill a demon. According to records, killing a demon is useless with normal methods, and one must possess a status befitting it?”

Afterward, he was genuinely delighted.

“You must have worked hard while I was gone? Father will be very proud.”

“…….”

“Yes. Of course, this brother is also truly proud of you. What are you doing? Tell me quickly. How did you kill the demon? Also, where is its corpse? I want to see with my own eyes the end of the demon hunted by my sister’s hands.”

Karina bit her lip.

As expected.

Zairo thought it was she who killed the demon.

No.

He was completely certain of it.

Even though there were so many people here.

Even though there were professors superior to her mixed in.

It wasn’t anything special.

Because this was Zairo’s pathological nature.

-The world exists for Zain.

It was the sentence that best summarized his way of thinking.

Commonly called bloodline supremacy.

A discriminatory concept mainly appearing among members of families with long history and tradition who exercise immense influence on the country.

Karina also possessed this elitism, and she too didn’t particularly hide this ideology but revealed it proudly.

But Zairo was different.

The degree of arrogance couldn’t be compared to Karina.

He was filled with pride for Zain to his very bones.

The way he expressed it was also quite malicious,

Unlike Karina who openly expressed it in words, Zairo didn’t reveal it outwardly.

He expressed it through atmosphere, actions, and gaze.

Just like right now.

“Hmm? Why is your expression like that? Don’t tell me you…….”

Zairo’s atmosphere cooled down in an instant.

With a face completely contrasting with the previous one that looked at Karina affectionately, he continued.

“……Don’t tell me it wasn’t you who killed the demon, but something else?”

“The one who killed the demon is Skull Mask.”

Then someone intervened.

It was Chaser, who was watching the situation from the side.

“Long time no see, Zairo. Have you been well?”

“It is a conversation between Zain blood kin. Know your place before interrupting.”

“……Still the same.”

Chaser shook his head with a bitter smile at the expected reaction.

Zairo, who silenced Chaser without even giving him a glance, asked Karina again.

“Is that strange thing’s words true? That the one who killed the demon isn’t you, but Skull Mask?”

“……Yeah.”

“How pathetic. To have the credit snatched by a thief. I was a fool to expect a slightly grown version of you.”

Karina lowered her head.

Her hand holding the staff gripped tightly.

It was an expected reaction, but being openly rebuked in front of so many people was hard to endure.

But what made her angrier than anything was that she lacked the courage to refute his words.

‘Karina can never escape Zairo’s shadow.’

A saying implicitly spread within the Zain family.

It was frustrating, but true.

Karina’s eyes turned to Zairo’s chest. A badge symbolizing the leader of a group was attached next to the Zain crest.

‘He became the captain.’

While she had just escaped being a new cadet.

No matter how hard she tried, he was always ahead of her, and no matter how vigorously she ran, she couldn’t escape his shadow.

“…….”

Zairo, who quietly watched Karina looking dejected like that, returned to his subordinates.

There was no comfort.

And no further business either.

“They say Skull Mask caught the demon.”

“…….”

“Changing target. From this time on, our target is Skull Mask and his gang.”

Zairo, who gave the order in a small but firm voice, immediately left the Plaza of Valor with his subordinates.

“Phew.”

Only then did the people, crushed by the energy and pressure they exuded, exhale all at once.

Most of them realized just now that they had been breathing shallowly due to how tense they were.

“Is that the famous Evil Eradication Squad of Zain? Why is the atmosphere like that? They don’t seem human.”

“They said they only operate outside the Empire, but to think I would meet them in person.”

“They were much scarier than I heard.”

Evil Eradication Squad.

Externally known to belong to the Special Magic Corps, but practically, it was an independent unit belonging to the Zain family.

Because they were entirely composed only of Zain family blood kin.

All 5th Circle Mages who learned ‘only’ the fire attribute.

Operating as a small elite group, the only person who knew the exact number of unit members was the captain of the unit.

And the one with final command authority was not the Corps Commander of the Special Magic Corps, but the Patriarch of the Zain family.

Everything was confidential except that their main area of activity was outside the Empire.

Thanks to this uniqueness, the mystique they possessed was famous even within the Empire.

Not long after they left, the Central Knights and the Capital Army arrived, and the situation began to settle.

The Vice-Dean returned and received reports, and Officer Baron went to the Central Knights side and conveyed what happened here.

Chaser and Ronica had an interview with a journalist from Royal Dream, and a small disturbance occurred when Allen intervened very briefly in the middle, but it ended as a short happening.

People belonging to the Academy organized the chaotic campus as if they were one body, and professors recorded the damages incurred from this incident.

“By the way, didn’t they say they were going to catch Skull Mask before they left just now?”

“……Huh? They?”

“No. I mean the Evil Eradication Squad. Did you forget?”

“Ah! That’s right!”

And.

Not long after the typhoon called the Demon Invasion passed, another typhoon was rushing in.

“Wait a minute. What did you say just now?”

“Eh? Me? More importantly, who…….”

“Haha. I am Luslo, a journalist from Royal Dream. Hello?”

“Ah, yes. Well.”

“More importantly, you said just now that the Evil Eradication Squad went to catch Shadow…….”

People’s interest immediately focused there.

It was only natural, as Shadow was a thief group that drove topics with ridiculous performances wherever they went.

And the Evil Eradication Squad that declared to catch them is the Empire’s strongest mage organization.

What will happen?

And who will win.

‘This is huge. Really huge.’

A serial killer was actually a demon from the past.

Not only was that demon known as an Academy cadet, but it turned out to be a cadet’s sister.

And the one who caught such a demon is Shadow, whom there is much talk about whether they are villains or heroes.

Just this alone is huge scoop material, but the Evil Eradication Squad appearing at the end did what? Declared war on Shadow?

Luslo smirked, anticipating the atmosphere of the Empire that would explode after seeing this newspaper the next day.

From old times, stories like ‘who wins if this side fights that side’ are topics and interests inherent in human instinct that everyone, regardless of age, loves to chatter about.

‘Crazy. I’m already looking forward to it too?’

Perhaps the clash between these two forces might have happened someday.

Just that the event called the Demon Appearance hastened that time.

Karina, whose self-esteem and mood had plummeted due to Zairo’s appearance and was feeling down, also saw that interview while returning to the dormitory by chance.

And fell into thought.

She was also curious about the result.

Furthermore, since she had even seen Zairo’s journal at the mansion, she knew that the confrontation between the two forces was not the first time.

10 years ago, the ‘Fall of the Moon’ where Shadow was erased from the world.

The Evil Eradication Squad existed at the center of it.

Will the past repeat itself?

Or will it be written anew.

The Evil Eradication Squad is composed of her blood relatives, and the person leading it was also someone she had watched since childhood.

Karina knew well how amazing people they were, and also how amazing Zairo Zain, who came to lead them at a young age, was.

But.

For some reason, Karina thought Zairo might lose for the first time.

Why?

She couldn’t pinpoint exactly why, but there is this.

That Shadow always exceeded common sense and expectations.

Of course, it must have been the same 10 years ago when they fought the Evil Eradication Squad, but…….

Back then.

‘Skull Mask wasn’t there, was he?’

Separately, Karina still held personal feelings toward him.

‘I still have a lot to pay back, but even that Skull Mask is taken by Zairo? Absolutely not.’

Zairo Zain was leading the Evil Eradication Squad.

It means he got one step closer to the owner of the family.

In fact, it would be fine to see him as the next Patriarch.

But Karina believed there was still a chance for a turnaround, and she thought that chance was exactly catching Skull Mask.

And the next morning.

Karina, who opened the Royal Dream delivered to the front of the dormitory door as soon as she woke up, couldn’t hide the smile of joy on her face.

The situation was like this.

Perhaps it was too much to escape the campus covered with knights and soldiers carrying the two unconscious sisters, Rachel and Reina, so Shadow eventually got caught by the Evil Eradication Squad.

Like that, the two forces clashed.

But, surprisingly, the result was a crushing defeat for the Evil Eradication Squad.

A single photo was printed along with a few short articles on the last page, which contained the image of Zairo Zain kneeling on one knee with a stiffly frozen expression.

***

“Senior!”

I woke up from sleep with the voice ringing in my head as soon as morning came.

“Senior! Senior Gerard!”

It wasn’t a dream.

Someone was actually shouting.

I jumped up and opened the window.

I saw Yuria shouting my name loudly in front of the main gate of the male dormitory.

When our eyes met, Yuria smiled brightly and waved her hand.

“……What is it?”

I waved back for now and returned to the room.

And looked at the clock.

Only then did I realize the sun was already high in the sky and frowned.

“Damn it. I really overslept.”

Now that I look, I was still wearing Shadow’s leather suit.

“This is crazy.”

Someone didn’t see when I looked out the window, right?

Yuria must have seen, but from where she was, she wouldn’t have seen below my neck.

“Haa. Where did I leave my mind while living.”

I roughly washed my face and got ready to go out.

And traced my memory.

Early this morning.

Meaning, I somehow brought the two sisters, Rachel and Reina, to Lunatic and entered the dormitory.

And passed out just like that without changing clothes.

It was tiring.

The battle with Lilith, and accepting Uriel’s power.

I realized personally only now that the recoil is immense when accepting the power of a transcendent existence into the body.

‘Also, there was the pursuit of the Evil Eradication Squad.’

I faced that guy, Zairo Zain, whom I hated facing the most after possessing a villain’s body, for the first time.

And the battle that broke out immediately.

If not for Dayle, I probably would have died right there.

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