Chapter 32: Raid on the Academy, Part 3

“Search the area thoroughly. While we haven’t found any further traces of cultists, we can’t be too careful.”

“Yes, sir!”

The Moonshadow agent saluted his superior and disappeared into the forest.

Following the academy attack, the kingdom had dispatched an investigation team.

While casualties within the academy were miraculously low, mostly treatable with potions, minimizing the apparent severity of the incident, the reality was far more serious.

This wasn’t just any location; it was the academy.

A cult attack on a civilian village would have been concerning, but this was on a different scale.

And the cult leader’s targets were high-profile individuals:

A royal princess, a promising Magic Tower heir, and the kingdom’s sole hero candidate.

Losing any of them would have severely damaged the kingdom’s reputation.

So, while the Knights were dispatched to appease the public, the Moonshadow were tasked with a discreet internal investigation.

Even considering the mana surge incident that had incapacitated some Knights, their failure to detect the cultists’ infiltration was unacceptable.

It implied someone had diverted the Knights’ attention, allowing the cultists to infiltrate the academy.

There was a traitor.

A noble, a high-ranking official, or perhaps even a royal.

The Moonshadow’s mission was to hunt down the remaining cultists, manage the aftermath of the incident, and investigate and eliminate any suspected traitors.

They’d been granted unprecedented authority, even the power to execute royals.

The Moonshadow agent, a low-ranking member, looked visibly disturbed by the gravity of the situation as he obeyed his superior’s orders and entered the forest.

His superior watched him disappear into the undergrowth, then slowly… melted.

His legs dissolved into the ground, lowering his perspective. The Moonshadow insignia on his shoulder liquefied and seeped into the earth.

His oversized uniform, now dragging along the ground, disintegrated, revealing a small girl with short white hair.

Her red eyes, the mark of a demon, glowed ominously as Leviathan strolled through the deserted forest.

She felt… strange.

It was a familiar sensation, one she’d experienced every time she was forcefully summoned by her enigmatic contractor, but this time, it was different.

The connection between this fragment of herself, bound by a contract formed through a torn piece of paper, and her true body in the demon realm felt… weakened.

The contract stipulated non-interference in the battle between the divinity-blessed brat and the arrogant little mage who believed herself special, so Leviathan had withdrawn. And this was the result.

She’d hidden in a nearby tree until the battle concluded, only to find her contractor gone, the contract severed.

She’d already been summoned with limited powers due to the flimsy contract, and now, with the superimposed contract forcefully terminated, her current state was… precarious.

While she could still access her Authority, which was tied to her soul, her mana flow was disrupted, preventing replenishment.

If she used magic as freely as she did in the demon realm, this mana-formed body would disintegrate.

To an observer, it would appear as if she was shrinking and growing younger with every spell cast.

“Sigh… where did she go…?”

Despite her sigh, Leviathan wasn’t entirely displeased.

While annoyed at being manipulated yet again, Kayleen, the one who had restricted her observations, was gone.

Leviathan was free to explore the human realm to her heart’s content.

Of course, she still needed to collect her payment, so she would have to find Kayleen eventually, but there was no rush.

“Then… shall we visit… a food stall…?”

She’d seen human children enjoying various treats while she was confined within Kayleen’s cleavage.

Despite her attempts to maintain a neutral expression, Leviathan couldn’t suppress the twitch of her lips.

After all, Leviathan was a being who envied the human realm, a realm that possessed what the demon realm lacked. This envy would eventually lead her to invade the human world.

“Now… I can finally… experience these… flavors…”

“Where…? Where is she hiding…? Leviathan…!”

“Hmm…! This is… surprisingly stimulating…! Can I have another…?”

In a back alley outside the academy district, Iris, defying orders to investigate the academy, searched for traces of Leviathan.

Or rather, it was the divinity of Kindness controlling her body.

Her superiors, aware of this, tolerated her insubordination.

While Iris was their subordinate, and the Solarite Kingdom worshipped the Sun God, divinity was a force best left undisturbed.

However, Kindness’s time was limited.

Iris, while possessing a soul susceptible to divine possession, hadn’t awakened her divinity yet.

For a divinity, especially one of Kindness’s caliber, to inhabit such a vessel required significant compromises and permanent damage.

Normally, divinities, averse to change, avoided forceful possession, but Kindness, driven by personal animosity towards Leviathan, whose domain was the antithesis of his own, had made an exception.

The consequence was a loss of divine status.

Iris’s body was beginning to reject Kindness’s presence.

Um… excuse me… could you… return my body soon…? I need to… get back to work…

Iris’s consciousness, which should have been dormant, was stirring.

The unforeseen delays and complications had wasted precious time.

A powerful artifact-generated barrier had prevented him from entering the academy.

After the barrier finally dissipated, he’d been apprehended by a girl claiming to be the student council president, mistaken for an intruder.

And after finally clearing up the misunderstanding and resuming his search, Leviathan’s presence vanished.

Forcefully suppressing Iris’s consciousness might buy him more time, but it would further degrade his divine status.

Frustrated, Kindness frantically searched the back alleys for Leviathan.

Ironically, the Leviathan he sought was currently…

“Hmm…! This… is delicious…!”

…savoring new experiences as she strolled down the main street.

In a corner of the Empire, a city rumored to have a passage to the demon realm: the labyrinthine city of Ravakion.

True to its name, countless underground labyrinths riddled the city’s underbelly, forming a unique ecosystem teeming with monsters.

While dangerous, the presence of monsters also meant profit.

Countless adventurers flocked to the city, seeking fortune and glory in uncharted labyrinths or hunting monsters for their valuable materials.

Merchants, too, were drawn to the city, seeking high-quality monster materials at low prices.

Paradoxically, this city, considered one of the most dangerous in the world, became a thriving commercial hub.

The “Barufus Labyrinth,” located in the heart of the city, remained unconquered despite its fame and accessibility.

Adventurers of all skill levels, from novices to veterans, ventured into its depths, lured by the promise of undiscovered treasures.

Most never returned.

But recently, the survival rate within the Barufus Labyrinth had increased dramatically.

And the returning adventurers, their faces etched with fear, repeated the same warning:

“If you enter the dungeon… beware… the merchant…”