Ch.121Chapter 121. Into the Light (2)

The academy felt strangely unfamiliar after being away for so long.

Crescen Academy had changed a lot during my absence.

All the buildings that were destroyed during the festival incident had been restored, and the training forest grounds that had been damaged during my battle with Landgar had been completely restored to their original state.

The chancellor, Binuar, had also returned.

‘Fortunately, no new quests appeared during that time.’

I felt somewhat awkward about going straight to the classroom, so I looked around the academy grounds while thinking.

If a new main quest related to the academy had started while I was unable to move, I would have failed the quest right then and there.

With the penalty of game over and reset—something I didn’t even want to imagine.

‘I hope Elaine hasn’t told anyone about me in the meantime.’

Elaine was the only person at Crescen Academy who knew my true identity.

On the day I left for O’Neil Kingdom to save Erika, Elaine removed my mask and saw my face directly.

I could have avoided Elaine’s touch if I had wanted to, but I didn’t.

I don’t know why.

Many things happened after Elaine discovered my identity that day.

To rescue Erika, I fought alongside Jacqueline on the allied forces’ battlefield, and I succeeded in infiltrating the Flora Palace alone.

Princess Arte Flora of Flora Kingdom was a black magic user.

And not just any black magic user, but one of the elders of The Nameless Organization—a very high-ranking black magician.

After rescuing Erika and bringing her to Yuria, when I confronted Princess Arte again, I lost control and went berserk.

It was too difficult to maintain my composure.

In all my time on the Arcaria Continent, I had never seen one of my companions injured so severely.

Even I didn’t know I could lose my reason and become so enraged at the sight.

Princess Arte summoned new creatures without pause, and I swung my Black Shadow Sword just as relentlessly.

To be honest, I don’t clearly remember which creatures attacked me or how I responded.

I fought with what people commonly call a “broken thread of reason.”

Not caring whether the surroundings were destroyed or whether people’s attention was drawn.

As a result, not only the underground prison where the fight started but also nearly half of the Flora Palace was destroyed.

Of course, it wasn’t entirely my doing—the creatures summoned by Princess Arte contributed significantly as well.

I vaguely remember the creatures unleashing powerful techniques, destroying the palace without restraint.

‘I should have caught her then.’

Despite engaging in a spectacular battle with Princess Arte, I ultimately failed to capture or kill her.

Princess Arte was far superior to Landgar or the First Elder Kilvis when it came to escape techniques.

When the situation turned unfavorable, she summoned dozens of creatures at once and fled.

If it had been just an attack, I could have teleported them to the island, but since they were all living beings, I couldn’t do that.

I was concerned that if I teleported them to the middle of the island, the creatures might escape and attack people, causing chaos.

Many of the creatures could fly.

As a result, I lost Arte while dealing with dozens of creatures one by one.

In the end, I swung my Black Shadow Sword with the intention to kill rather than capture, but I failed to land a proper hit on Arte.

After the battle, I wasn’t in great shape either.

Due to going berserk and overusing my abilities, I suffered from severe headaches.

I nearly lost consciousness right there at the battle site, but I managed to teleport to the entrance of the villa.

The last thing I saw was the entrance to the villa before losing consciousness, and when I opened my eyes again, I was with Addy.

I took a long rest at the villa under the care of Addy and Jacqueline.

I wanted to go to Yuria’s house immediately to check on Erika’s condition, but at that time, even simple teleportation was difficult.

Thankfully, Yuria sent word that Erika was recovering.

Many things happened while I was recuperating at the villa.

For one thing, though completely unintended, the Black Shadow Corps had become something of a heroic organization.

Addy and Jacqueline stayed in the west and continued to interact with the Laurellai Kingdom’s army.

Addy worked hard even from the villa, saying it was a golden opportunity to revamp the Black Shadow Corps’ image.

Perhaps because of that, even O’Neil Kingdom, which had always treated us as enemies, made statements that seemed to acknowledge us.

Addy rarely praised me, saying that thanks to me, things had become much easier, and asked what I had done in O’Neil.

In any case, the Black Shadow Corps, which had been operating in the shadows, was suddenly transformed into an organization secretly sacrificing itself for the continent.

Yuria had been hunting black magicians on her own, but that was literally Yuria’s independent action and had nothing to do with us.

Nevertheless, Yuria’s announcement solidified the Black Shadow Corps’ image as an “anti-black magic” organization.

To the point where we no longer needed to hide our identities wherever we went.

‘I should get going now.’

After finishing these thoughts and a walk around the academy, I headed to the lecture building.

Quite coincidentally, as soon as I entered the lecture building, I saw familiar and missed faces.

Elaine, Cynthia, and Emily.

I could tell it was the three of them just by seeing their backs.

“Oh, when did you come back…?”

“You came today?”

“How…”

“Wow. Ryu!”

The three who were stunned at the sight of me soon came to their senses and started saying what they wanted to say.

Cynthia asked when I had arrived with curiosity, and Emily showed her delight openly.

Elaine was looking at me with disbelieving eyes, muttering to herself.

“Haha. Everyone’s so welcoming? But don’t you have class today? Isn’t it class time right now?”

“…You do know what day it is, right?”

“What? Is there something special today?”

“Summer vacation starts today.”

“Huh?”

I didn’t expect this.

I knew the academy operated on a semester system with two semesters per year.

But how was I supposed to know exactly when the vacation periods were?

And to think it happened to be today.

If I had come just one day later, I might not have seen anyone.

“Did you report to the professor?”

“No? I came straight here.”

Cynthia sighed deeply, and Emily laughed as if she found the situation amusing.

Elaine still couldn’t take her eyes off me, with an expression of disbelief and wonder.

“Should I have reported in?”

“Pfft-“

As soon as I spoke, Cynthia burst into laughter.

Along with Cynthia’s laughter, Emily next to her also laughed brightly.

The only one who couldn’t laugh comfortably was Elaine.

Elaine was staring at me with an awkward expression, licking her lips.

Elaine probably had a lot to say.

Since she was the only one who knew I was the leader of the Black Shadow Corps.

‘Let’s talk later.’

I don’t know if it was properly conveyed, but I mouthed the words to Elaine.

Elaine frowned slightly, then nodded and smiled.

Anyway, it was nice to see everyone laughing.

It made me feel at ease somehow.

**

Throb-

“Ugh!”

Arte instinctively clutched her right shoulder at the sharp pain.

Her left hand still felt the emptiness where something should have been.

‘Damn it.’

Arte cursed inwardly as she gripped the empty space where her right arm used to be.

Although quite some time had passed since she lost her right arm, she still couldn’t get used to this sensation.

Thud- Thud-

Arte continued walking with heavy steps while holding her right shoulder.

It was almost three months now.

Three months—the time it would take for the Creator to complete the ritual and for the nameless demon to resurrect.

Arte had barely survived the battle with the Black Shadow Corps leader that day and had been barely hanging on.

Hiding in a cave in the north where the Creator had told her to come after three months.

Originally, sacrifices for the nameless demon’s power should have been present at the time of resurrection.

But there were no sacrifices inside the cave or nearby.

If anything could be called sacrifices, it would be the few remaining creatures Arte had created.

“You’re late.”

“…Yeah.”

Arte, who had been taking one step at a time while enduring the throbbing pain, stopped at the voice coming from ahead.

A clear male voice.

A human voice that shouldn’t be heard in this space right now.

Arte instinctively raised her head to look at where the voice came from.

There stood a naked man with dignity.

Without a single thread of clothing, standing in his natural form as if just born into this world.

Looking at the man gazing down at her, Arte realized.

This man, no, this being was…

Thud-

“I bow before you, Creator!”

Arte threw down the food she was carrying and knelt down, prostrating herself.

She had sensed it was about time for him to awaken, but to think it was today.

Arte barely held back the tears that were welling up.

How much she had suffered all this time.

Though it might seem short, Arte, having lost an arm, had experienced the most difficult days of her life.

“I need sacrifices.”

“I’m sorry. Things went wrong.”

Whoosh-

Arte answered while still keeping her head bowed.

At the same time, she summoned the creatures she had prepared for when the Creator awakened after completing the ritual.

“For now, at least these…”

Woong-

Before Arte could finish speaking, the presence of the creatures summoned around them disappeared in an instant.

“Hmm.”

Gulp-

Arte swallowed and carefully raised her head.

The Creator was frowning, clenching and unclenching his fist.

“This will do for now.”

‘Finally…!’

Arte felt a surge of emotion and excitement at the sight.

Finally, he had been resurrected.

The nameless demon.