Eldric's shadow loomed over me, blotting out the burning night sky.

He raised his arm.

Above his palm, a beam of blood-red energy began to condense—dense, unstable, vibrating with the same destructive force that had erased entire blocks of the slums.

That beam was now aimed at me.

Only me.

My body moved on instinct. I flipped over, crawled, scrambled—hands bleeding as I dragged myself away like an animal trying to escape slaughter.

"I don't want to die…!"

My voice was a rasp, barely audible.

"I can't die here!"

I had only just begun this second life.

I hadn't even lived yet.

They say that your life flashes before your eyes when you're about to die.

Now I understood it.

Ariana's tear-streaked face.

My quiet evenings on Earth.

My pathetic stats.

My failures.

My dreams.

There was still too much I hadn't done.

"Damn it… damn it… damn it!"

I clawed at the ground.

My points were gone.

The system was silent.

And the protagonist—Kael—just stood there.

"…So that's it?"

I laughed breathlessly.

"A villain like me is fine to die? I'm just a trigger to awaken the hero? A piece of disposable character development?!"

Is that all I was?

Just an extra?

No.

"No… shut up."

My nails dug into the dirt.

"As if I'd die satisfied with that!"

The beam reached critical mass.

The world vibrated.

Eldric's mouths opened to unleash annihilation—

—and then a woman's voice cut through the night like a blade.

"Don't touch the cadets of my academy."

A wave of pressure exploded outward.

Eldric stopped.

He recoiled—like prey sensing a predator.

A crimson blur streaked past me, landing between us.

A red cape fluttered in the wind, embroidered with the Imperial insignia.

Samantha Everhart had arrived.

She tapped her earpiece, voice cold and composed.

"Hostile entity confirmed. Samantha Everhart, engaging. I'll eliminate the threat swiftly and return."

Static crackled in response.

[Confirmed. We are securing the evacuation route.]

She drew her weapon.

A greatsword—massive, two-handed—engraved with runes that pulsed like beating hearts.

Red mana surged from her, spiraling upward like flames.

Her presence was suffocating.

Not wild, not chaotic—controlled, crushing, absolute.

Eldric's distorted voice trembled.

[You… You've reached that realm…?! Why is someone like you here?]

Samantha narrowed her eyes.

"You fused with a count-ranked demon. It has been some years since I last killed one."

Her gaze landed on the caved-in section of Eldric's chest.

The divine bullet—Lucien's divine bullet—was still embedded there, faint holy light crackling through the flesh, suppressing his regeneration and output.

That one shot had reduced Eldric's power from near full capacity… down to only forty percent at best.

Who did this?

For a moment, Samantha's eyes swept across the battlefield.

There was only one firearm user among the cadets—Cadet Martin… Lucien Ashborne.

But how—

How did a cadet obtain an anti-demon round powerful enough to embed itself in a Count-ranked demon's core?

Then it hit her like cold lightning.

Her eyes widened ever so slightly.

That is not a typical anti-demon round.

That is… a First-Order Divine Bullet.

A relic bullet forged by the Holy Empire—a nation that was slaughtered into extinction centuries ago. A weapon reserved only for Saints, Inquisitors, and Holy Assassins. A weapon that should not exist in circulation.

How did he…? How did that boy acquire a treasure of the Fallen Empire?

She didn't have time to ask.

[Daring to be distracted before me?!]

Eldric lunged, demon blood boiling, twisted limbs lashing forward.

Samantha only sighed.

"Well."

Her grip tightened around her greatsword.

"I suppose I should get serious."

The blade swung once—clean, decisive, effortless.

A raging inferno exploded along its arc, filling the air with roaring flame.

The Demon Count never even finished his scream.

His body was split from shoulder to hip—cleaved in a single stroke—and devoured by crimson fire until not even ash remained.

Silence fell.

Samantha tapped her communicator without turning back.

"Hostile eliminated. Returning with one assistant instructor and six cadets. One requires medical attention."

[Confirmed. Rescue teams are en route.]

Everything blurred after that.

I had thought I'd handled myself well. That I'd fought impressively.

But in the end—

My body gave in.

The world darkened.

And the last thing I remembered was being lifted onto a stretcher.

[Later – Imperial Academy General Hospital]

When I finally opened my eyes, I was staring at a clean white ceiling.

I was alive.

Beside me, Alicia sat slumped in a chair, fast asleep, her face streaked with dried tears. Her head jerked up the moment I whispered her name.

"…Alicia?"

She froze.

Then her eyes overflowed.

"M-Master…?! MASTER!!!"

She threw her arms around me, clinging as if I might disappear again. Her voice trembled with every breath.

She was crying. Hard.

And I… didn't know what to say at first.

What was so sad?

What was so heartbreaking?

Then I understood.

The fight hadn't just been dangerous.

It had been terrifying.

Chaotic.

Far beyond anything I was prepared for.

And yet… I survived.

My heart was still beating.

Slowly, I lifted my arms and hugged Alicia back.

"…I'm home," I murmured.

A moment later, the medical staff rushed into the room—alarmed by her shouting—and I was immediately subjected to a dozen tests and checks.

Only then did I finally learn the full aftermath of what happened that night.

After I lost consciousness, Instructor Samantha handled the rest.

Eldric was eliminated, but the damage he left behind was catastrophic.

Many were injured.

Several died.

And the estimated civilian casualties… exceeded over a hundred.

Some knights had lost their lives as well.

Even worse were the discoveries in Eldric's hidden laboratory.

The truth of his research—

The human experiments involving kidnapped children—

The attempts to fuse human bodies with monsters—

The piles of bodies, both human and demon—

It shattered what little sense of safety the slums had left.

And the biggest question remained unanswered:

How did a weak alchemy researcher obtain so many demon corpses in the first place?

No one had an answer yet. Only theories… none of them comforting.

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