Chapter 388: Terror Esme sighed as she wiped her forehead with the back of her wrist, her fingers were trembling from how long she’d been working. She wore a pristine lab coat... well, it had been pristine this morning. Now it was dotted with silver traces of magical residue. She lowered the last vial carefully into a cooling rack. "All I have to do now is wait," she murmured, finally letting aherself sit back in her chair. Her back cracked audibly, making Esther wince. The table beside them looked like the aftermath of a small alchemical war. Dozens of used flasks lay discarded, each one carrying a scent of incense, metal, or sterile herbs. And in the very center of the room, arranged like little soldiers standing in formation, were twenty vials of completed formula... each one missing the final ingredient. ’The holy energy Rain gave me in the morning has already disappeared...’ Esme thought with a sigh. ’I need her to imbue them directly. These instruments can’t hold pure holy energy without destabilizing.’ 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶 That was the part that annoyed her the most. If it was her regular set then yes, they would be equipped enough to handle it but the ones in the academy were a bit behind... so she sat and waited. "It’s already evening... when are they coming back?" Esme asked, rubbing her eyes. Esther shook her head beside her. "I’m worried about my big sis—" Before she could finish, the lab door opened, and the group of girls stumbled inside. Actually, "stumbled" wasn’t the right word. They collapsed. Sybil face planted first. Rain slid halfway across the polished floor and then just... stayed there. Flare lay down like someone who had accepted the sweet embrace of death. Even Charlotte groaned as she fell onto her back. Only Sylvia remained upright. She calmly closed the door behind her, dusted off her dress, walked to her usual seat from yesterday, and sat down without a word. Esme blinked. "Um..." "Fuck! Every bone in my body hurts!" Sybil shouted and then laughed like she wasn’t even the slightest bit normal. Flare stared at her. "Are you insane?" But Sybil’s expression shifted rapidly into something sweeter. "Everything is fine... Azel is alive." Every head jerked toward her. "What do you mean?" "How do you even know?!" "Are you sure?" "Boss?!" Even though the girls had looked like corpses seconds ago, they all forced themselves upright. Rain was still on the floor, but even she sat up, stretching her arms slowly. "Rain," Sybil said, motioning to her. "Tell them." Rain exhaled softly before responding. "As the next Saintess, I can receive messages from the goddess. And she affirmed..." She paused, letting the tension hang. "Azel is alive. He is walking the island right now." Flare covered her mouth. Charlotte’s eyes widened. Sylvia, who rarely reacted, slipped for a moment and looked shocked. Even Esme froze mid-blink, suddenly forgetting about the piles of work surrounding her. "If Boss is alive," Charlotte blurted out immediately, "then why isn’t he here yet? Or better yet... why don’t we go looking for him?!" "It takes a long time to reach the area he’s in," Rain replied. "And we don’t know if more of them are lurking around. Like that woman who..." Silence fell. Esme and Esther didn’t know the details. But the look on the girls’ faces made it clear that whatever happened had been brutal. "You know what I think?" Sybil said after a moment, her tone taking on a dreamy softness. "Azel is the one that killed her." Rain turned to her sharply. "Azel is strong, yes. But she was far stronger. I’m not sure." "Whatever, whatever," Sybil waved off. She turned her attention to the younger girl. "Esther. Please tell me you got us dinner and drinks." Esme lifted her hand, showing her storage ring. "We did. The maids cooked a full dinner for everyone staying in the Academy." Sybil’s grin returned. "Bless you." The room finally settled. ... Ald adjusted his hair in the mirror of his office, admiring his reflection from several angles. "Damn... I still can’t get over how handsome I look." It was deserved. A year ago, he’d gotten bold and tried to kiss Mynes after a particularly productive training session. And Mynes, being Mynes, activated a flame rune and burned half of his face. The Healers had managed to fix what they could, but the burns were deep, and his healing constitution wasn’t anything special. Every morning since then, he had woken up dreading the reflection staring back at him. But now? Now, he finally looked like himself again. Beautiful. "Time to fulfill my part of the contract," he said, putting on a sleek hat and brushing off his professor’s coat. Due to the Academy-wide crisis, sleeping quarters had been rearranged. Students crammed into classrooms. Professors with offices or private spaces were instructed to stay inside their own rooms unless absolutely necessary. Ald stepped into the hallway, adjusting his posture. The corridor lights were dim, and students walked quietly through them. The curfew wouldn’t hit until midnight... when Torrent would begin his nightly sweep, catching anyone walking around and hurling them into the nearest room. It took Ald nearly ten minutes to reach the Grand Mage’s office at the far end of the administrative wing. He stopped outside the door and knocked. "Who?" Luke’s voice called from inside. "It’s me. Professor Ald." The door unlocked automatically. Ald entered to find Luke sitting at his desk, a bright crystalline sphere hovering above the table... projecting the entire barrier dome that surrounded the Academy. Ald swallowed. ’Done.’ He’d spent a year practicing a spell that was surprisingly convenient for this mission. Developing a special form of ocular mana transmission... using waves of magic through his eyes. With these waves, he could bypass structured spell formations or damage barriers without touching them directly. And with the cursed mana Nari had infused into him via contract... He was ready. "Your face..." Luke blinked, studying him closely. Ald’s eyes narrowed at the crystal. He transmitted cursed mana through his gaze... thin, invisible pulses shot forward. The barrier surrounding the crystal itself shimmered. One... two... ten... twenty layers of defense. Ald forced more energy through. The wave hit the crystal’s protections. And bounced off. "...was healed with cursed mana." His body flew backward like a ragdoll. He burst through the closed office door, landing painfully in the hallway. ’Damn, I’m fucked.’ His vision spun and pain erupted through his spine. Luke appeared in front of him, hovering slightly above the ground. The Grand Mage’s eyes were cold. "You’re with them," Luke said calmly, raising both hands as dense mana spiraled around his fingers. "You’re going to tell me all about your contract with the—" Luke froze. Ald froze. They both stared into the office. A woman leaned casually over the survey crystal chewing on a smoking pipe. Aria. "Damn," Aria said as she casually stabbed the crystal with the Reaper Blade. "You look bad." The blade sank through the crystal like hot iron through snow. The crystal shattered instantly. And outside... The dome barrier over the Academy collapsed... bringing down terror.