༺ Truth ༻

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

The girl’s father, also known as the chairman, shouted desperately at the figure strangling his daughter. Paralyzed by the sight of her life in danger, he was forced into inaction.

Underneath them, he could see the dead body of his wife.

And at that moment, he gave in to despair.

In all honesty, things would have gone better for the chairman if he had not moved at all.

The girl was slowly but surely absorbing all of the devil’s power and magi.

The longer this went on, the weaker the devil would become.

However, the chairman was unaware of that fact and was only worried about the safety of his daughter. He naturally had no reason to think about anything beyond that.

“Hmm, are you strong, human?”

Additionally, the devil’s leisurely attitude only fueled his fear.

Anyone in this situation would feel the same.

“I’m the chairman of the academy.”

“The academy? What’s that? Spare me the boring details; are you strong or are you weak?”

“It is a place where we guide students, and I’m in charge of that institution. Therefore, you could say I am strong.”

The chairman, who had no way of knowing what the devil before him wanted, was left utterly confused about whether he should demonstrate strength or feign weakness.

Following his intuition, he opted to demonstrate strength.

Although he was unable to discern the nature of the devil, he predicted that the devil did not like weak people.

And his intuition happened to be right on.

“Do you want to save this child?”

“Of course I do.”

“Even if all of your students and everyone else will die as a result?”

“Yes.”

Contrary to the devil’s expectations, which foresaw the man thinking for quite some time, the chairman reached his conclusion almost instantaneously.

Seeing this, the devil began laughing maniacally.

“You’re the best.”

While laughing, the devil began to emit black magi from his hands.

The amount of power being infused into the girl was so enormous that even the chairman, a 5th stage Awakener, was unable to believe it, but his attention was soon drawn elsewhere.

“Cough… cough…”

“H-Hyun-a!”

As the black substance continued to gather, the girl began emitting agonized cries.

And it wasn’t just the girl. The chairman had also been infected by that black substance.magic

In his case, however, he merely experienced a faint tingling sensation, making it clear it wasn’t immediately harming him.

After a while, he felt obligated to ask the devil a question.

“What is this?”

A small tattoo was engraved onto Hyun-a and the chairman’s bodies.

“It’s quite a simple contract. If you don’t obey me, not only will you die, but this little girl will as well.”

“…”“The conditions of the contract are simple. You merely need to protect and nurture this child until I have need of her again.”

“Are you guaranteeing my daughter’s safety?”

“Oh, this was your daughter? Of course, I’ll guarantee her life. Will you sign the contract?”

It was such an unfair contract that anyone would have rejected it. Promising to guarantee the girl’s life, yet enforcing a contract that would threaten her life.

Furthermore, the terms stipulated in the contract were ridiculously vague.

How could he know that the devil would uphold his end of the bargain?

How could he know that the devil wouldn’t use her life to coerce him into doing something else?

From a logical standpoint, the contract was clearly unfair. However, the chairman was left without time to worry about such things and quickly agreed.

He could never have imagined what atrocities he would have to commit as a result.

***

“Hyun-a?”

Completely enveloped by the black magi, Hyun-a fell unconscious.

Suddenly, I felt something.

“Fuck, no way…”

Suddenly, I could feel a powerful aura resonating throughout the academy, something I had felt before.

“…You?”

I had known we would meet again all along. More than that, I had come to this place to kill him.

However, after arriving here, I had abandoned that idea.

I had believed he wouldn’t attack me based on several clues that led me to believe that my safety would be guaranteed.

However, the being standing before me was the very same bastard who had killed me.

Just like before, he appeared in front of me while possessing the chairman’s body, completely relaxed.

“What on earth are you?”

His responding laugh was eerie to the point of being unsettling.

Furthermore, knowing that the man in front of me was no longer the chairman, I couldn’t help but feel even more disgusted.

“Just moments ago, you were still the chairman. How on ear- No. Why now?”

How he got here didn’t matter anymore. What was important was the reason he appeared now of all moments.

“Should I say it’s been a while? Or is it the first time you’ve met me? Not that it’s particularly important.

Seemingly completely unconcerned, he casually spoke down to me.

As he did so, he began to head not toward me, Ha-eun, or Seo-ah but toward Hyun-a.

As if opening a cherished treasure chest, he approached her with an expression of sheer delight.

“I would like to express my deepest gratitude.”

“What bullshit are you spouting?”

“Before you regressed, I never could have imagined such a child would be among your comrades. Her abilities aren’t exactly discernable to the naked eye.”

“Why are you speaking like she’s precious to you?”

“Because she is. This child is holding the majority of my power.”

“…?”

His unsettling revelation hit me in a flash.

‘Could it be that even then, he hadn’t recovered his full power? No. That’s not what I need to focus on right now.’

I had to defeat him, and I had to do it at that very moment.“Hmm, are you going to try again? Even though you were defeated helplessly last time?”

“I’m completely different from last time.”

There was only one skill I could use to stop the unconscious Hyun-a.

[You can use Magi Manipulation.]

「Magi Manipulation」

I immediately activated the skill, having satisfied its conditions with the ample ambient magi in the air.

While direct control would be impossible, by using the skill, I would be able to maintain a certain level of strength.

I didn’t know how effective it would be, but at the very least…

“Amusing. How amusing you are, child.”

Certain I had become much stronger, I believed I could defeat him with ease. But with one simple gesture, he completely destroyed those expectations.

“Keugh.”

Immediately after, I immediately began vomiting blood.

‘It’s the same attack as back then.’

It felt as though my very soul was being shattered.

While I hadn’t received the same amount of damage as back then, I still coughed up blood.

“Fifteen years ago, we ripped apart the dimensional wall and arrived here. Our goal was simply to slaughter those present in this place. Nothing more, and nothing less.”

“…”

“At first, there were few issues, as the inhabitants were far too weak. It was almost laughable how weak they were, and yet a problem arose. We demons need magi to survive, yet magi doesn’t exist in this place.”

“What nonsense are you saying?”

“This child really is a blessing. I don’t know how she does it, but she can absorb a tremendous amount of magi and, over time, expels several times the amount she takes in. Isn’t she remarkable? With her alone, we can cover this whole world with magi.”

“That was the only reason?”

“The only reason? You don’t understand how remarkable this child really is. This was something that should have taken much longer, but I was able to absorb more magi. As a result, I was able to achieve what I wanted faster.”

The repulsive being began to laugh maniacally.

Watching him, I wanted to strike him down immediately, but my body began to convulse, leaving me unable to respond.

Looking down at my sorry state, he laughed lightly while launching an attack.

I knew I had to dodge it, but if I evaded the attack, the others would suffer severe damage.

Therefore, I stood my ground, awaiting the incoming attack.

At that moment,

“I knew it would come to this!”

Despite the deafening noise, I felt no damage from the attack.

Strangely, it seemed as though my body remained unscathed as well.

Because I didn’t have time to lose focus, I immediately cleared away the resulting dust and assessed the situation.

I saw someone very familiar in front of me.

“M-Mane?”

Mane, who had tried to kill me earlier, unexpectedly appeared in front of me.

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