“Teacher Anima, the situation is bad.”
One of Avalon Academy’s instructors hurried to Anima’s side, face full of anxiety. He lowered his voice to prevent others from overhearing.
He had come to report extremely important news.
“The Holy Land’s holy knight order received a distress signal from deep within the Demon King’s Castle ruins and went to rescue them. But on the way, the knight order was attacked by demons, the rescue failed, and they have retreated to the Holy Land camp.”
“What about Director Nikita? Is there any follow-up news from him?”
Anima was very nervous.
He knew that Nikita had led a group of elite instructors deep into the Demon King’s Castle ruins, supposedly to search for the Demon King’s legacy.
Yet an accident had occurred—something like this had happened.
“After sending the distress signal, there has been no further contact. We’ve kept trying to reach him, but it still shows disconnected,” the instructor shook his head. “Given the circumstances, I’m afraid he has already been…”
“It’s over. Director Nikita really is more likely dead than alive this time!”
Anima became frantic.
Ever since arriving at the Demon King’s Castle ruins, he had had many ominous premonitions, feeling that this exploration activity would surely end badly.
In the end, his premonitions had come true.
Nikita had probably been ambushed.
With the remaining instructors’ combat strength in the camp, even if they gathered together, it would be absolutely impossible to mount a rescue.
If the instructors left, what about the remaining students?
Moreover, the combat strength of the teachers here might not even be enough to handle the terrifying conditions in the Demon King’s Castle ruins.
After weighing the options, he could only seek help from the Holy Land.
Yet in the end, this was the result.
Not only had a demonized person appeared among the academy students, but the secretly operating instructor team had also met with disaster.
“…Sigh. For now, don’t spread this to the other students. Gather all teachers and students and return to the maglev airship. Continue trying to contact Director Nikita’s communication device. If after twenty hours there is still no contact, then we will return to Avalon Academy. If we stay too long, the other students will also be in danger. We must ensure their safety.” Anima instructed the instructor beside him.
“Understood.”
The instructor nodded. He could understand Anima’s choice—there was nothing else they could do right now.
“Sophie has already gone back…”
After quietly overhearing the conversation between Anima and the other instructor, Via finally let out a sigh of relief in her heart.
After she had ordered Kurei to spare Sophie, the holy knights must have carried Sophie back to the camp for recovery.
The holy knight order probably wouldn’t act rashly. In other words, Sophie was safe.
“Everyone, return to the maglev airship! Without academy permission, no one is allowed to leave the airship, or it will be treated as a serious violation!”
Anima, representing the academy, announced to all the students.
“Pay attention—act immediately. This is an emergency situation. No questions!”
Many students felt puzzled. The exploration activity wasn’t far from ending—why do this?
However, no one wanted to violate rules and lose credits, so they all chose to return to the maglev airship. Naturally, this included Via, who continued pretending to be an outsider and boarded with the crowd.
“Stella, what did you mean just now?”
Lucy seized the opportunity to run to Stella’s side and question her best friend.
“Just now? Lucy, what are you referring to?” Stella looked very confused.
“Are you playing dumb? You were just speaking up for Via!”
Lucy was extremely dissatisfied.
She knew very well that once Stella publicly revealed her identity as an imperial princess to others in the academy, combined with her own mysterious aura and beauty, she would instantly become the academy’s top idol.
“She’s my target!”
“Lucy, I was helping you,” Stella replied calmly. “Because I heard you say you were interested in Via and cared about her a lot. I thought that if she got into trouble, it would be better to help her out.”
“…No way. If she has any problems, I’ll handle them myself—I don’t need you! Anyway, you can’t get close to her!!” Lucy was getting anxious.
“Oh, fine. Keep working hard, Lucy.”
“Tch. I really don’t understand—why did my plan fail?”
Lucy couldn’t help complaining.
She had originally planned to wait until Via was in danger, then make a timely rescue, using the life-saving favor to pressure Via and achieve her goal.
Yet Via had wandered outside like nothing happened and returned to the camp safely.
“I only told you about this—no one else knew!”
“I don’t know either. Maybe you messed up somewhere~” Stella shrugged. “Be more careful next time, Lucy.”
…
Twenty-four hours had passed.
Nikita still hadn’t led the elite instructors back to Avalon Academy.
With no other choice, Anima temporarily took Nikita’s place, commanding the remaining instructors to bring all the students aboard the maglev airship. They started it up, flew into the sky, and headed back toward Avalon Academy.
Via sat on her bed in her room, looking at the armlet on her wrist.
This exploration activity had been a major incident for Avalon Academy: a demonized person had appeared among the students, a Diamond-rank director of instruction had been lost, along with several elite instructors—a disastrous loss.
But for her, it was quite a good outcome.
She had obtained the Demon King Armament and even regained activation rights.
However…
The way the Demon King Armament authenticated her identity was truly strange.
“Why is the authenticated ID number 001?”
Via was still quite puzzled about this.
In her previous life, Demon King Ville’s authentication number had been 013.
That meant her past self was the thirteenth user of the Demon King Armament. Number 001 was the very first user.
Due to the passage of time, she only knew rough details about the first few users and nothing specific about those earlier ones.
Thus, the true identity of number 001 remained a mystery.
However, there was a high probability that 001 was the original King of Demons.
“Was it a mistake in the Demon King Armament’s system? Did it recognize me as the very first Demon King?”
For now, no one could answer Via’s question.
…
…
Holy Land knight order camp.
“Miss Sophie, how are you feeling now?”
In a hazy state, Sophie heard someone calling her name.
She struggled to open her eyes and found a cleric casting sacred arts, providing treatment for her.
Under the gentle golden light enveloping her, the pain throughout her body was greatly alleviated.
“I… didn’t die…”
“Great! Miss Sophie is awake—she’s out of danger!”
The cleric was very excited upon hearing Sophie’s voice.
“Thank heavens—it must be Lady Sylvia’s protection!”
“Where am I now?”
Sophie gritted her teeth and sat up.
She felt as though every bone in her body was about to fall apart. Although there was no immediate life-threatening danger, her mental state was still unstable.
“Miss Sophie, don’t worry. We’re back at the camp now. There are no demons nearby!” The holy knight captain, wrapped entirely in bandages, was lying on the bed opposite and speaking to Sophie.
“Captain? You’re still alive?”
Sophie remembered the captain being smashed multiple times by the demon maid’s giant hammer—yet he had held on. His body was truly sturdy.
“Yes. This must be the favor of Lord God, allowing us to survive the demons’ hands. Though we sustained many injuries, our lives remain,” the holy knight captain said. “Don’t worry—after we left, those demons didn’t pursue us. We’re in the camp now; we’re absolutely safe.”
“That was…”
Sophie recalled what had happened earlier.
She and the holy knights had entered deep into the Demon King’s Castle ruins to rescue members of Avalon Academy, only to be attacked by demons and even encounter the Demon King.
The Demon King who should have died long ago had revived—and was wearing the cross necklace she had given to her younger sister.
“Miss Sophie, the person we encountered earlier… it should have been Demon King Ville, right?” The holy knight captain’s expression was grave.
“It was him. No one else—I wouldn’t mistake him…”
“This is truly disastrous. Demon King Ville has actually resurrected in the Demon King’s Castle ruins!”
The holy knight captain’s tone grew serious.
This was now completely a major event. The Demon King’s resurrection could very well determine the future direction of the world.
“The evil Demon King is humanity’s greatest threat. We must return to the Holy Land as soon as possible, report this matter, and inform His Holiness the Pope!”
“Via…”
Sophie seemed to completely ignore the holy knight captain’s words.
Her thoughts were entirely on her younger sister. She wanted to confirm Via’s condition as quickly as possible.
The cross necklace being on the Demon King left only two possibilities.
The first: her younger sister had entered deep into the Demon King’s Castle ruins, encountered Ville, had the cross necklace taken, and possibly even…
The second possibility was one she didn’t want to face: Ville had the most direct connection to the cross necklace.
“I have to go to the outskirts of the Demon King’s Castle ruins!”
“Now?” The holy knight captain was very surprised.
“Yes—to Avalon Academy’s camp!!”
“But Avalon Academy’s maglev airship has already departed and is returning to Avalon Academy,” the holy knight captain replied. “Even if we go now, it’s too late.”
“Then I’ll go to Avalon Academy!”
“But our most important task right now is to return to the Holy Land—”
“No!!”
Sophie’s emotions surged.
Without waiting for permission, she jumped out of bed, ignoring her current physical condition, and started walking toward the outside of the camp.
No matter what, she had to see her younger sister.
“I must go to Avalon Academy. No one can stop me!”
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