Catacombs, Level 6, Gate 60.
Boss Room, grave of high-risk students.
The students, endowed with exceptional talent that is too valuable to lose control of, no longer had their personalities completely shattered by Professor Sadako’s Dark Mana.
Thus, the students who remained stored in their sarcophagi regained their freedom.
“Oh my. What happened? Your skin is so pale. You haven’t aged a bit. You’ve turned into a natural beauty!”
Unlike the lowly undead that crumble to dust and leave only bones, the students marked as subjects of concern at the Academy possess strength that transcends grade levels.
The aura of death and the maintenance of the body through Dark Mana are basic side effects that accompany them.
“Sadi Chocolate. What has happened to us?”
“Can’t you see? We died peacefully together.”
A star of Class 980 who perished too soon.
The Bloodline Again could not hide his despair.
“I can’t believe it. To think that you and I, who could have conquered the world if we had graduated, ended like this.”
“Isn’t it because you allowed that cute betrayer to ambush us? You should never have let your guard down.”
“I never thought those little guys, whom we left the weapon maintenance to, would turn against us.”
“That’s what it means to let your guard down.”
With a pleasant smile, Sadi Chocolate touched her left face, now scarred and with an eye replaced by a prosthetic.
“Well… becoming like this isn’t all bad. The pain has gone away.”
“That’s… the same for me.”
The Dark Sword.
Aga-in, who had implanted a corrupted Holy Sword infused with Dark Mana into his arm, was experiencing magic that sought to erode him to his brain, an intrusion that was far too natural and calm.
Since he was already tainted with Dark Mana.
Since he is undead.
There no longer existed a reason for rejection, nor was there a motive for forced erosion.
“I definitely… died during training, right?”
“No, I hate the Spirit Realm!”
“Is this… not a dimensional crack?”
“How did the negotiation for the teaching assistant’s salary raise go?”
“Has the assignment submission deadline passed?!”
Unlike the two who rapidly accepted death, others were still wandering about.
While strength varied greatly among different grades and departments, a seductive smile appeared on Sadi Chocolate’s face as she watched them.
“Here we go again. That wicked smile.”
“If you lose your subordinates, you should refill your ranks. There are so many whose hearts are in turmoil right here… Can you really refrain from feasting on this delightful banquet?”
After Sadi, the manipulator of minds, touched the hearts of her seniors in sorrow, everyone who had fallen into posthumous chaos regained their calm.
“Now, let’s welcome the intruders who disturb the peace of the dead.”
In the boss room of level 6, a group of students appeared in the grave of the high-risk students.
Not with pale skin, nor overflowing with Dark Mana, but rather delicate little bundles of flesh.
There were no instructors watching.
No one was there to stop them.
The first test run of the toys.
It was the perfect prey for the undead’s rampage.
“Oh my. Are you… Mandela Castera?”
“Sadi Chocolate. So you were here after all.”
If it’s revenge against someone who once defeated her, then there was all the more reason to take action.
*
Mandela felt fear.
Even she, a strong enough student to step into the Student Council, could not mingle with the seniors without trepidation from the start.
Her pursuit of strength beyond that of students and grades stemmed from shadows and powers she could not withstand.
Among them were Cruel.
And Sadi Chocolate.
Her fear.
Now a vanished nightmare.
Yet, one of the nightmares that should have vanished returned.
“You’ve grown strong, haven’t you?”
“I’ll never fall for that cunning temptation again.”
“It’s only natural for a successful person to turn their back on their past muck. They shouldn’t allow even a speck of dust to threaten their current position.”
“I know how to silence that serpent’s tongue – by force!”
Mandela’s sonic attack aimed to shake Sadi’s brain, attempting to destroy her language processing neural pathways.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Mandela wielded the combat skills she could never use against her fellow students.
However, Sadi also took a step back, responding with a sly smile.
[Mind Magician]
[Mind Magic – Mind Scanning]
For Sadi Chocolate, a monster who could constantly read and penetrate the hearts of others, a ‘sneak attack’ was useless.
The moment she conceived that intention, the ambush was foiled from the start.
Her responses were a beat faster than those skilled ones who anticipated attacks based on minute physical movements.
“However, it pains me. Experiencing a tragedy of fratricide amongst the classmates who rose to strength by killing a senior.”
The powerful figures of Seoguyeon, sensing the unusual strength of the undead students, hesitated.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Mandela Castera. Did you kill your seniors?!”
There was a story so shaking that the thought of cute juniors was bound to unsettle minds.
Mandela hurriedly protested.
“It’s a misunderstanding!”
“Whatever the circumstances, we killed our seniors. That fact remains an unchanging truth, doesn’t it?”
While the seniors hesitated to use their strength, the undead students of Class 980 stepped forward.
“So, may we be granted a moment for the reunion of our brethren? You seniors must be uncomfortable not knowing the circumstances either.”
A muscular senior like Professor Plato.
A swordsman senior, armed with the cold and sharp aura of Sing and the swift momentum of Rockbell.
A magical senior, who had mastered all magics of the Multicolor Magic Tower.
Another senior, a behemoth who sunk the continent’s designated taboo of chimera research into his own body.
A political heir who doesn’t even consider the great nobles of the Empire.
All seniors of Seoguyeon halted their steps.
“Settle things.”
“If you clear the charge of killing seniors, then we’ll assist you.”
“If you’re not confident, then hold out.”
“As long as you don’t die, there will be an opportunity.”
“Whatever decision we make, she’ll do as she pleases.”
Just one person, even the past masters of Seoguyeon were wary of.
Moving slowly but with unwavering speed was the current top student of Seoguyeon, the greatest of the Second Catacomb Expedition.
Crack.
Velvet Belle.
Only she declared her intention with her steps.
Once again, the time limit applied, and when she reached her destination, all enemies would be repelled by her strength.
Velvet had given an opportunity.
To Mandela Castera.
A chance to settle her past grievances and wash away her shame.
“I’ll separate the strong from the weak. Sadi Chocolate. You might think your scheme worked, but we were the ones granted the opportunity.”
The Four Kings of Class 980 stepped forward, shoulder to shoulder with Mandela.
The Fearsome Deadcat.
The Blue Fist’s Io.
The White Knight Roe.
And the Noble Lady Mandela Castera.
“Who’s this? A thieving cat that just peed everywhere?”
“Hah. Have you been training hard, you junk?”
“The connection to the gods was all you ever had, but even that’s getting weaker. You’ve regressed, Roe.”
In response, the undead students of Class 980 spoke.
“The Apex Beast, Lion the Beastman.”
“The Red Fist Gigados.”
“The Gray Wandering Knight Dio.”
The Deadcat, Io, and Roe.
The expressions of the three twisted simultaneously.
However, thanks to the storm of malice that wouldn’t even permit a decent retort, they could offer no counterargument.
“You guys call yourselves the Four Kings of Class? 980’s aura is completely dead. Well, you did actually die.”
If Sadi Chocolate was the spiritual pillar of Class 980, Aga-in was regarded as the pinnacle of the strongest of his grade.
Before that paralyzing strength, no moment of relaxation could be afforded.
“Are you ready to take me on, Mandela?”
Cold sweat formed on Mandela’s hands.
Just like Sadi Chocolate, both she and Mandela Castera specialized in area control and area attacks.
Against a single entity, especially one built up to legions’ worth of strength, it simply wouldn’t align.
Yet, she was the only one left.
Among the Four Kings of Class, only Mandela remained.
Though the absence of someone to check on Sadi nagged at her mind, she had no choice but to fight with the hands that were left.
Unexpected figures hurried past her as she shifted her heavy steps.
“Whether you’re the Four Kings of Class or just withered weaklings, aren’t you being a bit too cheeky?”
“You said it, Lotto.”
“Hmph. I also possess the temperament of a vile villainess. I just had nobody to hang out with since my crew disappeared, you know?”
The noble fighter with spiky hair and the massive Berserker Hestia who bravely scorned Aga-in without fear.
Following them, as if shadowing Mandela, emerged Jiang, crackling with static electricity, and Kasia.
Irene, Rosgini, Sandkooker, with all the magic students’ strong.
And also, countless second-years and transferred students’ strong.
“What do you guys think you’re doing stepping into a fight where your seniors have told you to back off!”
“The seniors told us not to fight, but they never said to tell us not to!”
Titosso, bravely raising the Light Stand, pointed at Aga-in and shouted.
“Whether you’re the strongest of your year or not, if you’re confident, why don’t you fight 1 vs 20, fair and square?!”
“You guys have no idea how strong Aga-in is!”
“You seniors don’t know how strong we are!”
“That’s right. Especially that guy, [Vladimir], who has the fate of the Bloodline destined to destroy the world. There’s no way a being powerful enough to scare even Oknodie through me would be here!”
“…Me?”
Regardless of how much trouble a toothy student girl was making, Dobi of the Church of the End, who had stealthily melded into the group, opened his arms and glorified,
“Bloody Super Moon Disaster.
The Blood Mage of the Vampire will seize the entire world, absorbing the powerless beings into the bloody moon — a trigger for the Bloodline Battle’s victor in that bad ending route.
The progenitor Nosferatu. The Slayer of Ancestors, Dracula. Following them, the last vampire who will etch his name into the heavens.
The Lord of Disaster Vladimir shall turn you into a mere trickle of blood!”
“A truly exceptional big shot has entered as a junior. I wonder if he even possesses half that bravado.”
Dobi’s exaggerated promotion maximized Aga-in’s aggression towards Vladimir.
Vladimir’s vampire ears perked down like a scared little dog.
