Virelle woke up and went to the kitchen, where she began preparing breakfast as she normally did. After drinking, she got dressed and prepared to leave, but then remembered the situation with the students.
"Since they're going into the dungeon today, I don't need to prepare any lessons."
She walked toward a chair to sit down, but before she could do so, she noticed something underneath the door. Curious, she bent down and picked up the paper. When she opened the letter, she began reading.
"There will be problems in the dungeons today, and your students may end up dying. From now on, the dungeons will have different levels."
Virelle frowned.
"What is this? Some kind of prank?"
She turned the letter over, looking for some clue about who had left it, but found nothing. After a few seconds, she placed her hand on the floor. Her magic allowed an image of the previous night to appear in her mind. Someone dressed in black, hidden by the shadows, had left that letter.
Since that magic was still relatively new to her, Virelle could not distinguish the person's exact appearance or size. The image also disappeared quickly, leaving her without any answers.
Virelle stood up and threw the letter into the trash.
But she stopped for a moment and remembered the students.
"They're weak. If they can't survive, that's not my problem."
She scratched her neck as she remembered the students asking for help to learn magic. Some of them really seemed determined to improve, even though they were still very inexperienced.
"Fine. I'll take a look at them... just this once."
Virelle left the room and headed toward the portal. When she arrived, she found Borem holding an assistant by the collar.
"Why can't you open this so I can get inside?!"
"I'm sorry, sir! Something is happening inside and preventing it from opening! We'll need about three hours to force the portal open!"
"Damn it!"
Borem punched the ground and sat down in front of the portal, clearly impatient. Virelle approached and looked at the two.
"What is happening?"
The assistant immediately turned around when he recognized her.
"Professor Virelle! Thank goodness you arrived! Something happened! The dungeon's magical level suddenly rose to a level where only students close to the First Circle can survive!"
Virelle crossed her arms and remained silent.
Then she waited, feeling something different begin to stir in her chest.
Time seemed to pass more and more slowly for the two teachers, who continued standing in front of the portal without being able to do anything. With every passing minute, the tension increased, and both became increasingly irritated.
Until, finally, a voice echoed through the area.
"I did it! The portal is open!"
The assistant had managed to force it open. Borem immediately stood up, ready to enter the dungeon, but before he could take his first step, Virelle disappeared before him. Her speed was so absurd that Borem could not even follow her movement.
As far as he knew, just like all the first- and second-year teachers, Virelle should only be at the Sixth Circle. But after seeing that speed, for the first time he began to doubt it.
Even so, he decided to ignore the matter for now and entered right behind her.
In just one second, Virelle crossed a large portion of the dungeon. Her eyes scanned the path as she advanced, and she soon began finding the bodies of most of the thirty students who had entered that place.
She stopped for a moment when she noticed a large hole in the ground.
Then she jumped.
As she fell, she sensed that Liam was still alive somewhere. Virelle immediately enhanced her vision and managed to see what was happening far below: a gigantic skeleton was crushing Elian with one of its hands.
She did not hesitate.
She concentrated mana in the palm of her hand and launched a slash that crossed the air at an absurd speed. The energy blade struck the skeleton's hand directly and severed it.
Elian fell freely.
Virelle descended to the platform and immediately observed the few students who were still alive. All of them were seriously injured. Some could barely move, while others remained unconscious.
She remained silent for a few seconds.
It was the first time she had felt something like this.
Throughout her entire life, she had been taught that the weak were a burden. People incapable of protecting themselves should be left behind, because they would only hold back those who were strong.
Virelle had always believed that.
She never imagined that she would feel this way toward weak people.
That anger.
That fury.
It was unbearable.
The creature before her had hurt her students.
Those same students who, despite being weak, continued trying to learn and improve. Those who came before her asking for help to learn magic, even when she had no interest in teaching them.
Now they were lying on the ground.
Because of that creature.
That thing that had hurt her students.
It was unbearable.
'I'll crush it.'
With eyes filled with hatred, Virelle stared at the severed skeletal hand. The bones began moving, slowly reconstructing themselves as the hand regenerated before her eyes.
Virelle remained motionless.
But her expression made it clear that, from that moment on, she no longer intended merely to save the students.
She wanted to destroy that creature.
Rirus created several magic circles around the platform, and Level Two Zara Zombies began emerging from within them. Two bone swords appeared in his hands, and he immediately launched a magical attack toward the students. However, before the attack could hit them, they all disappeared from his sight. They were above, being carried by a huge plant that kept them safe while treating their injuries. Even Enrico and Kai, who had been thrown against the wall and created large holes, were there.
Virelle observed Rirus for a few moments before creating a sword made of plants. Then, without any unnecessary movement, she performed a single slash.
The attack passed through the Zara Zombies and their bone swords, continued forward, and struck Rirus, cutting through his body. But that was not all. The dungeon itself was also cut by the attack, and the slash completely crossed the entire space.
Seen from the outside, the dungeon appeared to be nothing more than a six-story labyrinth prison surrounded by a garden and a small house. However, beyond that structure, there was absolutely nothing. There was only darkness, an absolute void. Virelle's attack left the dungeon and disappeared into that infinite void, as if it had crossed space itself.
Inside, Rirus tried to stand, but new vines emerged around him and completely restrained his body.
"This level should be enough for a creature like you."
Virelle closed her hand, and the vines began tightening around Rirus. The pressure increased more and more as the plants wrapped around his body and compressed him until they formed a sphere. The sphere continued shrinking, becoming smaller and smaller, while Rirus was crushed inside it.
Virelle's family had a rule.
"Be powerful. But never reveal everything you can do."
For generations, her descendants had hidden their true strength, always concealing an entire Circle from their true levels. Virelle also followed this rule, which was why everyone believed she belonged to the Sixth Circle.
The pressure continued increasing. The sphere of vines became smaller and smaller until it disappeared completely.
Virelle was not of the Sixth Circle.
She was of the Seventh Circle.
Outside the dungeon, the assistant continued working on the portal to make sure there would be no more problems when he noticed someone coming out. Upon seeing the approaching figure, he immediately stood up and ran toward him.
"A student! Are you okay?"
It was Cris.
Or, at least, he looked like him.
As soon as the assistant touched him, something happened. His body lost its strength, and he collapsed unconscious onto the ground. At the same time, Cris's appearance began to dissolve, as if that form were nothing more than a mask. The figure continued walking normally, moving away from the portal without showing any concern about what had just happened.
A Nartheis could pass through a portal if its willpower was strong enough to overcome the restrictions imposed by it. However, each portal had its own limit, a barrier created to prevent more powerful creatures from escaping from within. This limit was stronger than anything that existed inside the dungeon, and only three percent of Nartheis could pass through.
"What a terrifying woman..."
He sighed as he continued walking.
"If I hadn't been hiding in an area that concealed mana, she would have found me."
As he spoke, his appearance continued changing. His hair became dark, his eyes changed color, and his face took on a completely different appearance. Gradually, Cris's form disappeared completely, revealing his true appearance.
Although he was a zombie, he possessed a much more human form than the others.
Naturally.
His father had invested much more effort into his creation.
A magic circle appeared before Jago, and from within it emerged the fused core of Rirus and his mother. Jago raised an eyebrow upon realizing that he had managed to retrieve it so quickly.
"That was fast. Was it that woman? Truly terrifying."
Before fusing his mother's core with his father's, Jago had placed a special magic on it. As soon as his father was destroyed, the core would be sent directly to him, ensuring that he would not lose it even if Rirus were defeated.
Holding the core, Jago began walking away from the dungeon. Several people were already approaching the portal, so he could not remain there for long.
"I still haven't completely absorbed Terroclast's core. It's better to wait... I thought it would be faster."
He looked at the core he was holding, analyzing the energy contained within it. Even without absorbing it immediately, he knew that it would be enough to greatly accelerate his evolution.
"Still, with this fused core, I'll be able to evolve into a Faizes quickly."
Jago looked back one last time, observing the entrance to the dungeon.
"Goodbye, pile of trash."
A smile appeared on his face as he continued walking.
"From now on, no one will stop my evolution."