Chapter : 207

“Lucian.”

The Emperor’s eyes trembled faintly as he stared down the long, dark corridor.

The passage stretching before him was a path permitted only to the Hero who bore the Holy Sword.

A route leading to the vault where everything the first Hero had left behind for his successors was said to be stored.

A channel that could be opened only with the Holy Sword’s key—the greatest treasure of treasures, one the Emperor was not supposed to let leave his body even while he slept—had finally opened after a thousand years.

“Thank you for granting such an impudent request, Your Majesty.”

Facing that black passage, Lucian bowed lightly to the Emperor.

“As a Hero, it is a right you may properly demand, so do not trouble yourself over it.”

In the first place, this was an arrangement the previous Hero had left for the next Hero.

Not for the imperial family, but for the Hero.

Lucian’s request was entirely reasonable.

“No one knows what lies inside, Lucian.”

Over the past thousand years, there had been more than one Emperor who, driven by curiosity over what the vault contained, had tried to open the passage door with the key.

There had also been Emperors who had exhausted every possible means to force this door open.

But whether protected by some mysterious power or not, they had not even been able to open the way leading to the passage.

Among those who had seen this dark corridor, the Emperor was now the only one besides the Founding Emperor.

“So, I wish you victory.”

The Emperor bowed his head. Lucian left him behind and stepped forward.

The corridor was filled with darkness, yet with every step Lucian took, light seeped in, illuminating the gloom.

When he turned his head briefly to look back, the door was already shut tight, as though the Emperor had departed.

Perhaps it had closed the very moment Lucian entered this passage.

Now, Lucian alone remained in this space.

At the newly sharpened awareness of it, his hand trembled slightly.

Was it still the nightmare’s influence? He had grown uneasy about being alone.

“Ha-ha.”

He used to find solitude comfortable, and now he found it uncomfortable. It seemed he had changed a great deal.

“It is fine.”

It was fine even if he had changed.

No—Lucian was, rather, genuinely glad for that change.

It was proof that he was escaping the past, the cursed child who had been pointed at and condemned, and it meant he had gained people precious to him.

Yes—friends who had come looking for him even in a dream, when he had been floundering and unable to escape the darkness of the past.

Precious people at the Academy, and many others who believed in him.

If he claimed their expectations were not heavy, that would be a blatant lie. But—

“I am truly fine.”

I want to protect them, no matter what.

Unlike that cold, desolate space, he had now settled in a warm and peaceful place.

I have friends now. Friends who got angry or grieved on my behalf.

He wanted to protect the people he cherished.

His wish was simple and unmistakably clear.

Reaching the end of the corridor, Lucian looked toward a door that had somehow grown bright.

There was nothing there.

So much for the claim that a vault lay beyond it—there was nothing at all.

Standing before the wall, Lucian felt the Stigma on the back of his hand grow faintly hot.

Was it telling him to draw the Holy Sword? When Lucian raised the Holy Sword, the light in the space seemed to swell.

Was he supposed to swing the blade at the wall like this?

“Hoo….”

After a deep breath, Lucian made a light slash.

It did not require much strength.

A single swing was enough.

It was nothing more than a paranoid procedure to verify whether the one who had entered truly was the Hero who possessed the Holy Sword.

RUMBLE.

The wall split with a grinding sound, and another passage opened.

“As I thought.”

Lucian’s eyes widened as he stared at the wall cracking apart and dispersing into smoke.

The scattered smoke gathered again, writhing as it began to form a single shape.

Before long, it became the perfect shape of a person, who bowed politely toward Lucian.

《Descendant of the Hero.》

Lucian blinked.

The wall had been cut open by the Holy Sword, and beyond it stretched a vast space.

Yes—like stepping into a dungeon.

Unable to believe it, Lucian blinked several times, but the scene did not change.

《Welcome to the Hero’s Repository.》

At the solemn voice pouring from the smoke, Lucian’s expression twisted.

“What is this now.”

A remark Theo would have made slipped from Lucian’s lips.

—

“Fel, do you have any interest in learning magic from me?”

Beatrice, her mouth clamped shut with one hand, murmured in rapture.

“You are the first one since Lilia that I have offered to take as a disciple!”

You can be confident! Beatrice’s eyes sparkled as she raised a thumb.

Of course, Fel was someone who understood magic with the utmost perfection.

But to succeed in modifying holy magic again after having already modified it once, in a situation that was truly beyond hopeless—genius was not even a sufficient word for it.

“I am already enrolled at the Academy, Professor.”

“You know that is not what I mean!”

How could anyone commit the atrocious act of keeping a talent like this bound to nothing more than the position of the Sword of Doctrine? It was a catastrophic waste of human potential.

“Thank you for the praise, but I am fine.”

“Ha, honestly.”

Lilia was an excellent disciple too, but mages were, by nature, greedy for disciples.

Still, it was virtually unheard of for an Academy professor to newly take on a student who had already entered the Academy as a disciple.

In Lilia’s case, Beatrice had taught her even before she enrolled, because she had shown promise early.

“There is something I would like to ask.”

Fel, who had been breathing Holy Power into an artifact, spoke up.

“What is it?”

“If we fail to stop Iris Viden… I am wondering what actions the imperial family might take afterward.”

At Fel’s question, Beatrice was momentarily at a loss for words.

“I… cannot give you a definite answer.”

If it had been Evan, he could have answered readily, but Beatrice found it difficult to predict.

She could not use prophetic magic to see the future, and above all—

“Duke Nevera—that man is the biggest problem.”

He shamelessly claimed that Iris had nothing to do with him, but Beatrice knew the two had interacted for quite a long time.

And among the nobility, it was well known that the Duchy of Nevera had supported Golden’s establishment in the Empire in every possible way.

“…This is driving me insane.”

How had it come to this—every single troublesome person was a parent or guardian connected to the Academy? And most of them belonged to the first-years, at that.

“Come to think of it, you too, if we are being strict about it—”

Was Caelus Levian, his adoptive father, not outright branded a heretic and being hunted by the entire Church?

“I have a feeling I know what you are thinking, and I find it very unpleasant.”

“Ah… I am sorry.”

No matter how free-spirited she could be, it was a rather rude thought.

She must not have been in her right mind from exhaustion.

“There is not much time left.”

“You are right.”

Beatrice looked toward the sun, which was already sinking low.

There was not much time left.

Within that time, they had succeeded in modifying the magic, and fortunately, they could carry things out without civilian casualties, but—

“Hoping no one dies is a futile hope, is it not?”

“…….”

Beatrice clenched her fist as she stared at the blazing red sun.

At the very least, as a professor, Beatrice would die before any student did.

That was her pride as an Academy professor.

Beatrice—the red-haired witch—would protect that pride no matter what.

Gazing at the sun that resembled her own hair, she made a firm vow.

—

“A few days have passed since the semester started, and there are still no people.”

It was not only Riedenfeld that was empty—the Academy was empty too.

An Academy this quiet made him recall the time right after Part 1 ended, when the Academy Reconstruction event had been underway.

“It even feels more desolate than back then.”

At least then, it had all been ruins, so the absence of people had felt natural.

Now the Academy was well maintained, yet there was no one in sight, which made it feel even more chilling.

《Do you have the leisure to indulge in such impressions?》

“You are the one who told me to go to the Academy!”

《You are making a fuss over only a few days.》

“Only a few days? A fuss?”

What was this demon bastard babbling about?

My head twisted at an unnatural angle as I glared down at Albedo with furious eyes.

“I do not want to hear that from the bastard who would not let me sleep and shoved magic formulas into my head!!!”

A demon was not a demon for nothing. Demon magic truly was extraordinary.

I had not wanted to understand why mages were tempted by demonic power, made contracts, and ended in ruin, but now I understood.

I did not want to sell my soul for power, but once you experienced it, you understood why choosing that power in the moment felt natural.

To the point where you wanted to close your eyes to the ruin that awaited in the future.

《Did you think you could learn magic capable of dealing with Ouroboros so easily?》

“Well, when it comes to magic, I am a genius.”

If nothing else, I had no doubt about Theo Lisitoel’s genius.

Especially when it came to magic.

I had even heard that the only person who had learned teleportation magic at my age was my father.

At this point, I did not think it was enough to deserve criticism even if I felt a little proud.

《That “when it comes to magic” sounds like the last shred of your conscience.》

Honestly, this was why I disliked perceptive lizards. How did he always hit the nail on the head? It was infuriating.

《If you knew what Ouroboros was, would you really have wanted to come to a group that would oppose it?》

Albedo scoffed lightly.

《It truly is an Academy founded by a Hero who swung the Holy Sword bestowed by the God of Light.》

That was one hundred percent sarcasm.

“I do not think you need to criticize them just because they are not fighting alongside us.”

Everyone’s life was precious, after all.

To be honest, if I had not been involved, I would not have stepped in either.

I had barely opened up sincerely, and Albedo stated flatly—

《As if you would have.》

What was that? This strangely ambiguous remark that sounded like an insult and a compliment at the same time. I decided to take it as praise.

“Thank you for the compliment.”

《What is your impression of the Academy, seeing it with your own eyes?》

“Wow. I really have to work hard.”

《And?》

“…I am scared.”

I clenched my fist tightly.

The pain digging into my skin told me clearly that this was reality, not a dream.

How had I, a young man who simply liked games, ended up like this?

So this was what people meant when they said you never knew where life would take you.

Though even if life was dramatic, it was hard to imagine being possessed into a game I had played for ten years. And not even as the protagonist, but as the weakest NPC.

I took a slow breath and looked at the grand Academy.

“Ah.”

Ding.

A bright notification sound rang out—one I had not heard in who knew how long.

+++

<Main Quest>

Stop Iris, who is trying to devour Ouroboros’s power.

The Beast of Destruction must not appear in the world yet.

The system earnestly wishes you victory.

-Reward: Fragmented Truth

-Failure: Destruction

+++

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