Ch.182182. Untying the Knot (3)

*Clank!*

“Damn, this door is really…”

“Don’t bother trying to force it. Just leave it. It’s not like anyone’s coming in anyway.”

“You think so? Guess you’re right.”

“Let me help for a sec. Like this, and this. Just hanging it there works since no one can see it anyway.”

As one side of the unopened laboratory door keeps rattling, Miki gets irritated, and Leon helps out.

“By the way… I’ve been wondering. Why are we even here?”

“Who knows. Damian’s been making something though.”

*Splish, sizzle.*

As two liquids combine, the flask turns a strange color.

When acidic-smelling vapor suddenly bursts out, the two without masks immediately get a whiff of the harsh odor.

“Cough, cough! Ugh, seriously. What the hell are you making?”

“…”

Damian doesn’t bother to answer.

As if Miki’s question wasn’t even worth acknowledging, he was displaying unusual concentration, focusing intently on his concoction.

Miki had no choice but to direct her question to Leon.

“Hey, you know him better, right? He seemed to meet someone earlier, and he’s been like this ever since. Who did he meet? What did they say to make him act like this?”

“…”

Leon, who had been searching his memories, finally realized who Damian had met.

It was that man who once wielded considerable influence at Levrant Academy as a member of a noble family.

“Miki. Do you remember a guy named Cayden?”

“Cayden? Who’s that?”

“You know, that noble who got trapped under the Dubekan building and nearly died.”

“Trapped under Dubekan… Oh, from that time?!”

The incident of the noble children trapped in the Dubekan building collapse flashed through both their minds.

The collapsing Dubekan building and the purple smoke billowing up.

Demonized spirits breaking through the bars and pouring outside, and monsters that either regained their strength in response to the magical energy or were transformed by oversaturated magic.

And dozens of humans trapped inside.

How could they forget?

Both of them had witnessed the catastrophe from a distance, so they couldn’t possibly be unaware.

“But wasn’t he suffering from magic poisoning? Why are we talking about him?”

“He’s changed so much I barely recognized him, but the person Damian met today was that Cayden.”

“What? That’s insane. That invalid? Why would he meet someone like that?”

“I don’t know that much. Am I a mind reader?”

While he knew Damian had met Cayden, he still couldn’t understand Damian’s intentions.

“Ah, hearing about this is making me nervous…”

“Yeah, I know what you mean… Especially since that incident happened in this very building…”

Both of them felt chills running down their spines.

Recalling the situation back then and visualizing it made them shake their heads involuntarily.

“Damian, this place gives me the creeps… Can’t we just stop and leave?”

Unable to bear it any longer, Miki speaks with an anxious tone.

However, Damian, seemingly annoyed with Miki, coldly tosses two photos that look like they’ve been torn from somewhere.

“If you’re so scared, go catch these bitches instead.”

“‘These bitches’…?”

Unlike Cayden, these weren’t faces they were uncertain about.

The important question was why he wanted them captured. That was the mystery.

Then Damian made a tempting proposal to the two.

“They’re necessary for taking down Junon.”

*Pop.*

Damian completed another ampoule and said this with gleaming eyes.

“Ah, I see.”

Is that so?

Smiles spread across Miki and Leon’s faces too.

***

*Scratch, scratch.*

The pen tip moves elegantly, leaving words on the document.

*Clink.*

Next page. And then the next.

The papers seem to turn over in just seconds after a quick glance.

Even colleagues at the nearby counter can’t help but admire this amazing sight.

“Wow…”

This is the counter responsible for administrative work at Levrant Academy.

One might wonder why the work is being processed so quickly, given that these aren’t documents that should be rushed through.

Some even check the documents directly to confirm, as is happening now.

“So thorough. Nothing’s missed.”

“My goodness, I was wondering if she was really reading everything…”

Truly a master of administration.

Adel’s processing speed was so incredibly fast that such praise was warranted.

This was true not just for internal work, but also when dealing with visitors.

“Excuse me… I’m here about a monster subjugation request.”

“Ah, that counter is a bit busy, so please come here. How many people will be departing?”

“Four people.”

“Team unit, confirmed. Let me ask you a few more questions.”

What Adel asked next were names, hunting area, and target monsters.

After checking all these and comparing capabilities, she handed over the documents without hesitation.

“Just fill in the areas marked with circles. Once you’re done, please return these to that counter, and they’ll finalize everything.”

“Oh… yes, okay.”

The visitor was taken aback by her incredibly fast processing.

Usually, when submitting requests, there would be at least four complicated forms dealing with compensation issues and other matters.

But this was over quickly. Documents that passed through her hands rarely took more than 10 minutes to process.

Having completed her quota, Adel puts down her pen.

“Does anyone want something to drink?”

“Adeeeel…!”

“Could I trouble you for an iced coffee? I’ll pay for it.”

“We want iced coffee too!”

“Three iced coffees, and what about everyone else?”

Instead of going home, she helps out the other employees who are still working.

This had become a routine pattern for everyone except the newest employees.

“I’ll be right back.”

Waving her hand, Adel leaves the counter to buy snacks.

After some time, she returns with coffee in one hand and various snacks and bread in the other.

“You really are amazing, Adel.”

Of course, Adel couldn’t carry refreshments for all those employees by herself.

If someone were to accompany her, it would always be Hena, who is constantly by Adel’s side, just like now.

“How on earth can someone process work so quickly? If you hadn’t joined the counter staff, it would have been such a waste.”

Hena grins while praising Adel’s skills.

“Well… I learned from my mother, you know.”

“You mean the merchant guild work?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Is merchant guild work the same as counter duties? Sheesh. This is what you call a calling. Adel is just naturally meant for administrative work!”

“It’s not that much…”

Adel averts her gaze, seemingly embarrassed by Hena’s excessive praise.

This aspect of her hasn’t changed from then till now.

“Sigh, some of us have mountains of work waiting when we go back. And some finish everything in a few hours and get to go home? I’m so jealous.”

“I’ll help you if you say that.”

“Really? No taking it back?!”

Hearing Adel’s ready offer to help, Hena jumps up and down with joy.

But then.

*Bump.*

“Oh, I’m sorry…! I wasn’t looking where I was going because I was jumping around…”

“I’ll apologize too. Hena gets like this sometimes.”

Someone blocked the path of the two.

“Ah… the coffee spilled. I’ll compensate you… mmph?!”

“Hena?! W-what are you… mmph!! Mmph!!”

*Splash.*

The coffee and snacks held by the two female students heading back to the counter spill onto the floor.

They hadn’t said anything about the collision.

Instead, like people waiting for an opportunity, they had been glancing at the road.

And now they simultaneously covered the two girls’ mouths and took them somewhere.

***

“Damn it. A mere captured research monster making things difficult!”

Damian spits out harsh curses. His body is scratched all over.

Just from the few torn iron bars here, one can easily guess that he caused quite a fight in this place.

Near the broken bars, there are cold corpses lying around.

However, this is the monster research floor.

Monsters captured for research purposes shouldn’t have the strength to break through iron bars.

Yet these bars are broken because of the monster blood splattered inside.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re no different, are you? Huh? You’re just as weak as those things.”

*Gack, gaaack…*

Fenrir’s body is covered with Damian’s magical energy.

Though it had regained strength by drinking monster blood, it was helplessly overwhelmed by attacks infused with that sticky magical power.

“This should be quite tasty now.”

*Stab.*

With a sinister smile, Damian jabs an ampoule into Fenrir’s body.

The solution he personally made in the lab flows through the ampoule into Fenrir’s organs.

Not long after, Fenrir struggles as if facing imminent death, then suddenly becomes rigid.

And then.

*Hisssss.*

An unpleasant magical energy slowly begins to take something away from Fenrir.

Damian’s sticky magical power tears something out of Fenrir, as if extracting it.

This was far beyond a mosquito sucking bodily fluids.

Handful by handful.

Everything flowed in through the dark magical energy without exception.

Eventually, as its breath stopped, all of Fenrir was absorbed by Damian.

“Oh, good. Fresh. Very fresh indeed. This is excellent…!”

Damian swallowed hard, satisfied with the magical energy that was seeping out.

“Still, since the Grand Sovereign told me something, I should check it out.”

*Rip, crack, snap. Tear. Crack.*

The sound of tissue tearing and bones breaking.

Damian personally removed the heart that had been beating until just moments ago from Fenrir’s corpse-like body.

“It’s all eaten up. Heheh.”

It had clearly shriveled. Too much to even pulsate.

It wasn’t even the color of monster blood. Despite once being an organ surrounded by blood, it was now covered in something dark.

This was now merely a lump of muscle stripped of everything.

And at this moment, two people appear.

“Where did you go?! We just arrived… Waaah…!”

“Y-you, what are you doing here…”

Miki and Leon, who had silently captured the two female students as Damian ordered, froze with their mouths agape at Damian’s actions.

“Ah. Did you see? Can’t be helped. You can see this too, right?”

“You… your magical energy…!”

“Here. Take it. You know, don’t you?”

Slowly approaching Miki and Leon, he offers them ampoules.

Come on. Take it and crush the power of the weak like I do.

Damian waved the ampoules in his hands as if urging the bewildered pair.

Gulping, Miki and Leon nod as if understanding Damian’s intention.

And like Damian, intoxicated by the desire for power, they reached out to receive the ampoules.

They too know what he has done.

The blessing the Grand Sovereign spoke of. The prayer they had captured. The act of gaining power using the ampoules.

But there was one fact that only Damian knew, unlike them.

*Stab!!*

“Aaaargh…! What are you doing?! Why?!”

“Aaaah! You, you’re not…”

This was Damian’s private feeding ground.

“Since you saw, there’s no helping it. Right?”

With bloodshot eyes, Damian licked his lips as he faced the two who had been following him.