"...Don't project such murderous intent. Seriously... it's making it hard to even breathe."
Bezel rubbed her trembling arms with both hands. The goosebumps on her skin refused to subside.
"Answer me."
Bezel glanced sideways at the opening leading to the underground. Her goal was to retrieve the Forbidden Grimoire hidden there.
If her original plan had gone smoothly, she would have already escaped with the Grimoire by now. All that had to happen was to avoid encountering the silver-haired maid in the library.
Using Space Displacement to reach the underground and retrieve the Grimoire was proving difficult. Her opponent was acutely sensitive to spatial magic, and searching for the Grimoire in the chaotic underground would take time.
I should give up on the Grimoire.
It wasn't worth risking my life for, so I decided to abandon it.
"If you won't answer... I'll make you answer."
Yuria gripped her dagger in a reverse grip. Dark Aura surged from the blade, and the shadow beneath her feet writhed like a separate entity.
Sensing the danger, Bezel frantically waved her hands at Yuria.
"Wait, wait! Calm down! You want to know where your Master went, right? I'll tell you."
Yuria's movements froze. The writhing shadow stilled as well.
Is that man really that important to her? Aside from his large cock, he doesn't seem particularly impressive.
In fact, he even seemed a bit dim-witted.
Apart from his size, Yujin wasn't Bezel's type at all.
"Your Master and the Dragon have gone to the Dream World."
"...The Dream World?"
"It's Lev's ability, granted through our contract."
Levs, who had been sitting at Bezel's feet, began to fade away.
"Bring my Master back."
"I can't. I'm too weak to fully control Lev's power. Lev himself has exhausted too much energy today..."
Yuria took a step forward. Bezel flinched and retreated.
"C-calm down. Your Master isn't dead yet."
"..."
"Right. Let's stay calm. The Dream World is both tangible and intangible a realm of the mind, you could say. Something like that."
"...Are you saying you sent a physical body into the realm of the mind?"
"I know it sounds contradictory, but Lev's makes the impossible possible. He's a high-grade Demon, after all."
Bezel glanced around nervously, preparing to flee. She wasn't foolish enough to continue a battle she couldn't be certain of winning.
"...So, where is Master?"
"Your Master is likely wandering through the Dream Realm. Time flows differently there, so a day might have already passed in that world."
"Stop dodging the question. You know that's not the answer I want."
Bezel smiled bitterly.
"When your Master will return... even I don't know. But since he went with the Dragon, the chances of his return are quite high provided the Dragon doesn't kill or abandon him."
"..."
Yuria, seeing no further value in conversation, moved. Bezel matched her movements, utilizing Space Displacement, one of Levs' abilities.
Yuria immediately veered right. With her keen senses, she detected the subtle distortions in space, pinpointing where Bezel would materialize.
"Oh my, how terrifying," Bezel said, waving her hand. A violet magical beam shot toward Yuria, whose body swayed like a willow tree. The beam grazed only her afterimage.
"How can you move like that without even being an Aura Master?" Bezel exclaimed, her voice incredulous, yet her hands continued to weave spells. The space around Yuria's left ankle twisted and warped. Just before her leg could be completely distorted, she pulled it free.
Afterward, Bezel continued to attack using spatial distortion. Yet Yuria evaded the distortions which would have been imperceptible to ordinary people without even looking at them. It was almost as if she possessed precognitive abilities.
"I can't deal with this," Bezel muttered, her face contorting in frustration as she backed away. A distorted space materialized behind her, her escape route to the city's outskirts.
"...I won't let you escape."
Dozens of shadow blades materialized around Bezel, leaving her no room to evade. However, the blades were blocked by the spatial distortion field she had erected.
Yuria swung her dagger. A black Aura Blade crackling with dark thunderbolts shot toward Bezel.
"Hmph. Just some pathetic... Huh?"
Bezel, who had been laughing leisurely, panicked and quickened her retreat. The black Thunderbolt had torn through the space-distortion field. The black Aura Blade severed Bezel's left arm as she vanished.
"Aaaah! You'll pay for this!"
Bezel disappeared, leaving only her severed left arm behind.
Yuria approached the arm, scanning her surroundings. She suspected Bezel might be feigning escape and hiding nearby. However, her senses detected nothing. It seemed Bezel had truly fled.
"Cough. Cough."
Blood mixed with her coughs.
The final Aura Blade Yuria had used was a forced technique. Though its power was immense, it had twisted her Qi and blood vessels, causing internal injuries.
After vomiting blood several times, Yuria frowned at Bezel's severed left arm lying on the floor. Shadows writhed and enveloped the limb. With a sickening crack and snap, Bezel's arm vanished.
"..."
Yuria slowly walked to the spot where Yujin had disappeared. Amidst the chaos of battle, she carefully picked up Yujin's belongings that hadn't been retrieved and gently placed them into the Shadow Subspace. This included the Lucky Pervert Amulet Yujin always wore on his wrist and his smartphone. She also gathered Priscilla's belongings nearby, just in case.
Yuria spread her right palm and stared intently at it. Calluses were visible. Though she tried to conceal them through diligent maintenance, the evidence of her relentless training remained indelible.
"...Weak."
Yuria clenched her right fist so tightly it felt like her bones would shatter.
If she had been strong enough to deal with Bezel swiftly, Yujin wouldn't have been dragged into this mess. A burning desire for power surged within her.
Yuria's gaze shifted. She couldn't afford to stand here idly waiting for Yujin to return. Time was too precious, and she still had work to do.
Yuria descended into the underground library.
The bookshelves lay toppled on the floor, books scattered haphazardly around them. Most of the volumes were grimoires forbidden texts containing arcane knowledge.
Yujin had instructed her to retrieve only the Forbidden Grimoires from the underground library, but Yuria resolved to seize this opportunity to collect every useful book in the entire library.
As Yuria was storing books in her Shadow Subspace, she narrowed her eyes at one particular Grimoire. Its cover appeared to be made from animal hide, and she sensed an unusual power emanating from it.
While other Grimoires radiated a Mana-like energy, the aura emanating from this particular volume felt distinctly different.
Is this the Grimoire Master mentioned?
Yuria cautiously reached out her hand. Yujin had said it was safe as long as she didn't open it, but that proved to be false. The moment her fingers touched the cover, the Grimoire levitated into the air, emitting a blinding light that engulfed her completely.
Thud.
The Grimoire fell to the floor. Yuria had vanished without a trace.
"Eek-eek?!"
The Eight-Armed Monkey collapsed with a grotesque shriek.
Beside it, Kyle, sword in hand, scanned the surroundings. The ground was littered with the corpses of Eight-Armed Monkeys. Not a single living one remained.
"Looks like things have finally settled down," Charnel said, smoothing out the wrinkles in her robes a short distance away from Kyle.
"It wasn't as dangerous as I expected."
"That's because Master sealed that stone, preventing any more Demonic Beasts from emerging."
Kyle's gaze lifted to the sky. He could see the black stone sealed within ten Magic Circles. Lowering his gaze slightly, he spotted the Dean and Professors working to restore order.
Kyle looked at the Dean, a sense of unease creeping over him. Why had Priscilla sealed the stone instead of the Dean? After all, the Dean hadn't played any significant role in the events.
"...Charnel," he said, his voice low, "is your Master... perhaps a Dragon?"
Kyle was remarkably perceptive when it came to matters outside of romance. He had noticed the Dean's peculiar deference toward Priscilla and the special privileges she enjoyed compared to other professors. Most importantly, every time he faced Priscilla, he felt an alien sensation as if he were confronting something far greater than a mere human.
"W-what?! What are you talking about? There's no way she could be a Dragon!" Charnel stammered, nearly losing her balance before regaining her footing and shouting.
Her reaction only confirmed Kyle's suspicions.
"Professor Priscilla is a Dragon. Judging by her hair color... could she be a Blue Dragon?"
"Kyle, you'd better keep quiet. Master doesn't like her true identity being revealed," Charnel warned, lowering her voice.
Kyle nodded. Knowing Priscilla was a Dragon didn't change anything.
"The Professors seem busy, so let's check on Ruby and Yujin. The Great Barrier should keep them safe, but you never know..."
They returned to the arena. Ruby was unharmed, but Yujin was nowhere to be seen.
"Ruby! Where's Yujin?!"
"He said he had important business to take care of and left. Didn't you run into him?"
"Important business...?"
"Kyle! Where are you going?!"
"We have to find Yujin! He must have gone to the dormitory... no, the city!"
Kyle remembered Yujin's important errand: the maids. After informing the Professor, he raced to the city to search for Yujin. Fortunately, the city remained peaceful, its residents unaware of the Academy's attack.
Kyle located Yujin's maids, Rizel and Kelly, within the city. But his face didn't brighten; it darkened further.
Yujin and Yuria were nowhere to be found.
He returned to the Academy, hoping he had overlooked something. Yujin's dormitory was empty, as were the dining hall and Student Council room.
The only suspicious place was the half-destroyed Library. Signs of a fierce battle were evident, but who had fought whom remained unclear. Only the bodies of several librarians had been discovered.
"Where are you? Yujin, Yuria..."
"Aaaaaah!"
Bezel screamed as she burst into the forest. Clutching her severed left arm with magic to staunch the bleeding, she grimaced in pain.
"My precious left arm... Levs, help me! With your power, you can restore a single arm, right?"
Meow.
A three-eyed black cat appeared at Bezel's feet.
Levs sat on the ground, silently observing her.
"...How long are you going to keep pretending to be a cat? I need your help!"
Meow.
"...Can I hit you? Sometimes your obsession with being a cat is so frustrating. When will you stop?"
Meow.
Instead of pain, Bezel felt a tickling sensation in her left arm. She glanced down to check it. Her arm was slowly regenerating, a rather grotesque sight.
This wasn't Lev's dream manipulation ability. It was merely the Demon's power, using Magic Power to regenerate his physical body.
"Levs, thank you," Bezel said.
By the time she finished her greeting, the cat had already vanished.
Bezel walked along the forest path. She felt no lingering attachment to Goldway Academy. Once she lost interest in something, she never looked back.
What occupied Bezel's thoughts now was the silver-haired maid.
I don't know her exact age, but she's probably in her early twenties. Yet she's already reached such a Cultivation Realm... If she has time, she'll only grow stronger. For the future, I need to eliminate her as quickly as possible.
But there was no suitable method. The Pantheon, the organization Bezel belonged to, was currently facing dire circumstances.
"...The Dragon and that maid are both figures of interest. We need to proceed with caution, avoiding any unnecessary entanglement for now."
I realized there was a warm, pleasantly soft female body nestled in my arms. Instead of opening my eyes, I chose to move my hands.
The sensation of a soft, yielding breast filled my palm. It was so large I couldn't fully cup it with one hand.
I rubbed my head against something. The pleasant scent of skin emanated from the shoulder and armpit area.
"Hmm... F-cup...!"
I gently rolled the still-developing nipple between my fingers, subtly swaying my hips. A smooth, elastic sensation pressed against my groin. Even without looking, I knew it was a woman's thigh.
"Move aside before I blow your head off."