Chapter 384

As we talked, our wet clothes gradually dried.

Before getting dressed, I cautiously brought up something I hadn’t mentioned yet.

“About Red Rain…”

I had barely started, but Riviera seemed to know exactly what I was going to say.

“It was my choice to join, and it’ll be my choice to leave.”

She said it casually, as if it were no big deal.

But I couldn’t help but worry.

It wasn’t just some neighborhood club. It was an evil organization that was trying to destroy the world.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. What else can I do? Die?”

“Cough, cough, cough!”

N-No, that’s not okay at all!

I coughed, trying to regain my composure.

“I-If something happens, tell me immediately. I’ll do everything I can to help you.”

“Hmm, something’s happening right now.”

“What?”

“I’m so hungry I could die.”

“…Ah, r-right.”

I hurriedly stood up and put my clothes back on.

Hunger was a serious matter.

“What do you want to eat? Meat? Noodles? Bread?”

“Anything is fine.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

We left the lakeside.

And we ended our meeting with a delicious and expensive meal.

* * *

*Gulp, gulp.*

Professor Lapit was downing bottles of strong whiskey, one after another, without any food.

His expression was dark and troubled.

After a while,

Someone appeared.

“You called?”

It was Riviera.

Her face was full and satisfied, unlike before at the lake.

It seemed like Max had treated her to a good meal.

“Yes, I did.”

*Thud*

Lapit put down the bottle and took off his glasses.

His scholarly appearance instantly transformed into that of a stern, middle-aged man.

This was his true self.

He had been wearing glasses to hide his true appearance.

“We need to talk.”

“About what?”

He stood up without a word and pushed aside a bookshelf in the corner of the living room.

*Creak!*

A hidden space was revealed.

It was a staircase leading down to the basement.

A secret entrance.

“Follow me.”

He walked down the stairs.

His attitude was cold and distant, unlike his usual self.

Riviera tilted her head in confusion, but she followed him.

*Flick*

A light turned on in the dark basement.

It was a spacious basement room.

And on the floor, there was a strange diagram that looked different from a magic circle.

It was a curse formation.

Something only Lapit could create.

“Step inside.”

“Hmm, alright.”

She blinked, but she obediently stepped into the formation.

She could sense that this was a serious matter.

“Go.”

He activated the curse.

It was a teleportation formation.

He had prepared it for emergencies, to escape the Holy City.

A blinding flash enveloped them.

And when the light faded, they were gone.

* * *

“Hmm? This is the place?”

Riviera looked around and said with a knowing look.

The Plains of Sorrow.

The place where the mock battle between the second and first years had taken place.

It was a place filled with memories for her.

She still remembered the mock battle where she and Max had fought bravely against the first-year Golden Generation.

“Yes, spatial teleportation isn’t my specialty.”

Lapit said calmly.

“But this should be far enough.”

It was indeed far enough.

This place was quite a distance from the Holy City.

But that didn’t seem to be what he meant.

“It won’t be a problem even if there’s a commotion.”

“Aha.”

Riviera nodded in understanding.

“You’re going to use your power?”

“Words won’t get through to you.”

Lapit seemed determined.

Now she understood why he had looked so serious.

“I’ll say this one last time. Please come to your senses, Riviera. It’s not like you to throw away your lifelong goal for some bad boy’s sweet talk.”

“I’m perfectly sane.”

“So you’re going to insist…”

He closed his eyes and opened them again.

“Then I’ll have to knock some sense into you.”

“Good timing.”

“What?”

“I also have something to tell you, with my fists.”

She continued, “I’m glad I don’t have to feel guilty about this.”

“Huh?”

He frowned in disbelief.

But he quickly composed himself and said coldly, “Fine, try it if you can.”

Lapit had known Riviera since she was a child.

He was confident that he knew the extent of her powers.

He was sure that he could defeat her if they both fought seriously.

“Okay, here I come.”

She charged at him without hesitation.

And so, a fierce battle erupted on the Plains of Sorrow.

* * *

The Plains of Sorrow were a complete mess, as if an earthquake had struck.

If this hadn’t been Holy Church property, where no one ever went, there would have been a huge commotion.

And there,

“Ugh…”

Lapit lay collapsed on the ground, his body battered and bruised.

Blood trickled from his mouth.

He seemed to have suffered serious internal injuries.

“You can’t defeat me, Professor.”

Riviera stood before him.

Her face was pale, and her body was covered in wounds. She wasn’t in good shape either.

But compared to Lapit, she was practically unscathed.

“C-Cough! You… Your power…”

Lapit looked at her with shock in his eyes.

“I’m still growing, so I’m getting stronger.”

“T-That’s not… “

“Just kidding. I actually found the real secret library.”

The lost blood magic secrets that had been hidden in the real secret library…

That was the reason for her sudden growth in power.

“W-What? Cough, you… You found it…?”

“It’s a secret library, so it’s a secret.”

“Y-You… Cough, cough!”

He coughed up blood, unable to contain his excitement.

She looked at him with a hint of pity in her eyes.

That rare expression on her face showed the nature of their relationship.

“Sorry, I didn’t want to fight you, Professor. But I want to save you. And this was the only way.”

“Ugh, save me? Just kill me! Cough, If I die by your hand, I’ll have no regrets.”

She ignored his desperate plea.

“No.”

“Cough, Witch!”

“Go to sleep, Professor. When you wake up, the world will either be safe or destroyed.”

She sent a chilling red energy towards him.

*Thud!*

“Ugh?!”

He cried out and then lost consciousness.

She picked him up and cradled him in his arms.

Her lips moved silently.

“I hope you live to see it.”

* * *

“T-Terrible news, Heavenly Lord!”

The messenger shouted, his face pale.

But the Heavenly Lord’s voice remained as cold as ice.

“Speak.”

“W-Well…”

“Speak.”

“Y-Yes…”

The messenger reported the disastrous situation in the Holy City with a trembling voice.

Armin, the organization’s second-in-command, was dead, and all the pawns they had meticulously planted throughout the city had been eliminated.

It was already the worst possible situation, but that wasn’t all.

“P-Professor Lapit has suddenly disappeared… And W-Witch Riviera is unreachable…”

He couldn’t believe it himself.

How could three of their core executives, one dead, one missing, and one ignoring their calls, disappear like this?

It was something he couldn’t even imagine in his wildest dreams.

“Missing and unreachable?”

“…Y-Yes, Heavenly Lord.”

“Human affairs are never perfect.”

A hint of emotion finally appeared in the Heavenly Lord’s voice.

A slight tremor.

But it quickly disappeared without a trace.

“Spilled water cannot be retrieved. Forget about them.”

“B-But we have to do something about Witch Riviera…”

“It’s pointless. She has severed her ties with us.”

“Huh?”

The messenger blinked in surprise.

He hadn’t liked the way Riviera had been hanging around that enemy, Max.

But he knew,

That her desire for revenge was real.

A lifelong grudge.

The Heavenly Lord must have trusted her and entrusted her with an important mission.

To eliminate Max when the opportunity arose.

…But she had severed her ties with them?

That meant she had betrayed the organization.

Had her lifelong grudge really crumbled because of some man’s sweet talk?

It was impossible.

She wasn’t that kind of person…

“Humans are foolish creatures who make decisions blinded by emotions. The Witch is no different.”

“…”

The Heavenly Lord’s certainty…

It made him see the situation in a new light.

‘C-Could it be that the Witch betrayed us?’

There was no way that their foothold in the enemy’s territory, which had been perfectly intact until now, could have been exposed and destroyed so suddenly.

It all made sense if it was an inside job.

*Crack*

He clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white.

“H-How could this be! We have to make the traitor pay a thousandfold!”

“Calm down. They will receive their due punishment on Judgment Day.”

“B-But…”

“I said calm down. Wait. The time will come. Acting now is what our enemies want.”

“…I-I apologize, Heavenly Lord.”

He bowed his head at the Heavenly Lord’s cold words.

It was the Heavenly Lord who made the decisions.

He was just a pawn.

That was his duty.

“Leave the Holy City alone. I have another task for you.”

“What is it…?”

“There are preparations to be made in the kingdom.”

* * *

Riviera’s words were true.

She had said that she would take care of the Professor herself.

When Professor Lapit, who had been our homeroom teacher in our second year, suddenly disappeared without a trace, I realized the meaning behind her words.

And her other words,

That this semester would be peaceful…

They were also true.

My last semester…

The academy was too peaceful.

But I couldn’t let my guard down.

I knew that this was just the calm before the storm.

With the Saint’s help, I steadily carried out my plan.

To secretly build up my forces within the Holy City, without Red Rain noticing.

The core of my force was, of course, the 300-strong Turtle Unit that had performed so well in the civil war.

But that wasn’t all I had to do.

I had to become stronger myself.

I had obtained several new hero abilities, so I had plenty of room for growth.

Of course, it wouldn’t come easy. It would require constant effort.

And so, time flew by as I trained diligently.

Towards the end of my academy life.