A man stood in the place where Stephen had been before. His robe was embroidered with silver threads bearing the same pattern as that engraved crown carved onto that expressionless mask, which distinguished him from the people Stephen had killed, as well as the five people standing behind him.
The five people bowed to the figure standing in front, waiting for them to speak.
The person bearing the silver crown pattern on their robe spoke. Their voice was beautiful and feminine, yet it caused anyone who heard it to feel fear and a strange shiver.
"The mechanism of this place has been stopped. Are the students of Hope Academy really this smart?"
She took several steps forward, the sound of her heels echoing throughout the cave, causing tension among the followers behind her who still kept their heads bowed.
The woman stopped after taking several steps, then turned slightly and looked at the followers from the corner of her eye while they still bowed to her.
"Hm?"
"Why are you still bowing? Raise your heads."
After seeing them stand upright, she clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"Tsk. A bunch of fools who only do what they're told."
The five people nearly cried.
'But the last time we stood without you ordering us to, you kicked us. What do you want us to do???!'
The woman asked inquisitively,
"How many were brought here?"
One of the five spoke,
"We do not know their total number, but the ones we managed to capture and bring to the sacrificial site have exceeded seventy by a little."
After hearing this, the woman laughed mockingly.
"Heh, that bastard couldn't even control something this simple."
"I should have entered the academy instead of that useless idiot."
"Tsk tsk."
"And even more infuriating, they sent me to clean up his mess. Aaaghh, how annoying."
The five people broke into cold sweat as they looked at her cautiously. They decided not to say a single word out of fear that she would vent her anger on them.
She suddenly turned and pointed her hand at one of the five people.
Her hand emerged from beneath the robe. Her arm was wrapped in black fabric, and her sleeves were decorated with transparent black lace. Her hand was pale white, and her slightly long nails were painted with dark red polish.
"You, lead the way to the sacrificial altar."
The person quickly nodded and led her onward.
…..
Stephen pulled his sword from the corpse of the person who had been attacking Nathan. When he was about to swing the sword to clean some of the blood off it, he heard a surprised voice from behind.
"Oh!! Ste….."
Before Nathan could finish his sentence, Stephen had already reached him with incredible speed and covered Nathan's mouth with his hand.
'This idiot!!'
A total of twenty students, including Kai, Leonard, and Ira, were looking at Stephen and Nathan in confusion.
Fortunately, they had been far away, so no one heard what Nathan had almost said.
Nathan looked innocently at Stephen as if saying,
(Why did you cover my mouth?)
Stephen almost sighed in annoyance, but he restrained himself and spoke to Nathan in a low voice only the two of them could hear.
"Don't speak."
A trace of confusion appeared on Nathan's face. He looked around for a moment and noticed the students around them, then looked at Stephen and noticed his robe and strange height. His eyes widened in understanding, and he nodded at Stephen.
When Stephen saw Nathan's nod, he removed the hand covering Nathan's mouth.
Once Nathan was able to speak again, he looked Stephen up and down, then spoke excitedly,
"Awesome!"
Stephen felt exhausted from the entire mess right now, starting from the ring, then Kai, and now Nathan. On top of that, he had to deal with the members of the Hollow Crown organization and safely get the students out of this place.
Stephen thought to himself that it would be better to leave everything and live a comfortable ordinary life, simply lying on his bed and spending the money he had gathered as Black Crow peacefully in a house by the lakeside. Eight years until the start of the war and the end of the world was a long time for Stephen to live comfortably, and he didn't mind the world being destroyed and dying afterward.
But the problem with this plan was that once the war started, he would be forced to witness Mark's death before his eyes. Just thinking about Mark's death stirred anger within Stephen, so he quickly discarded the idea of living comfortably for eight years.
Kai and Leonard quickly approached Ira and helped her stand.
Kai asked,
"How did you get here?"
Ira, who was leaning on Kai's shoulder, told them what had happened from Agnes's disappearance up to their fight against the student.
"After David disappeared from that servant student's kick, this damned Nathan ran from behind and went toward that strange ring, and we found ourselves here."
Expressions of confusion appeared on Kai and Leonard's faces.
Kai looked at Nathan, who was smiling beside Black Crow and talking with a cheerful grin.
Kai asked,
"Did he jump after David?"
"Has their friendship become this strong in such a short time?"
Ira looked at Nathan with a complicated expression, then sighed and shook her head.
"It's become difficult to understand Nathan, especially after entering the academy."
Leonard looked toward Stephen and Nathan and spoke,
"Do they know each other?"
Kai refocused on Stephen and Nathan when he realized it wasn't only Nathan talking, but Black Crow was also speaking to Nathan. His face frowned, and he pressed his lips together in annoyance.
'Why is Blackie talking to him?'
Kai handed Ira over to Leonard so he could support her, then headed quickly toward Stephen and Nathan.
Stephen and Nathan noticed Kai approaching, so both of them fell silent.
Kai reached them, the frown still visible on his face. He looked at Stephen and pointed at Nathan with his hand.
"Do you know him?"
Nathan raised his eyebrows for a moment, then smiled amusingly. An entertaining show had appeared before him, so he looked at Stephen, waiting for his answer.
Stephen felt strange about Kai's question.
'…Why does it feel like a child discovering that his father is playing with another child?'
Stephen remained silent for a moment, then spoke,
"What business is it of yours who I know?"
Kai felt as though a huge rock had been thrown at him. He looked at Stephen in shock, then betrayal.
Kai's shoulders slumped, and he looked at Stephen like a puppy that had suddenly been abandoned.
When Stephen saw Kai's expression, he stiffened in place.
'Why do I feel like a villain?'
Stephen turned around, trying to ignore Kai, and spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear.
"Everyone, follow me carefully."
Stephen moved forward, leaving Nathan and Kai behind. He had to find David, because Nathan had told him a little earlier that David had disappeared, and Stephen was truly feeling a bit nervous now.
'I hope it's not too late.'
Kai looked at Nathan in annoyance. This was the first time Kai had truly felt annoyed by someone. Even when he was ignored, bullied, or spoken badly about, he never felt annoyed, but now he was genuinely irritated.
Nathan looked at him, then smiled mockingly and spoke,
"Oh, I've known him for hmm… ten years."
Nathan lied without even blinking.
Kai's eyes widened, and the curve of his mouth lowered further as he clenched his fist tightly.
'Ten years!... Ten years!'
'He knew him even before I did.'
Nathan looked at Kai's expressions for a moment, then smiled with amusement and followed Stephen with relaxed steps while lightly whistling.
That faint whistling sound irritated Kai, but he suppressed his annoyance and followed them as well.
The path ahead was entirely equipped with the same mechanism, so it appeared like a puzzle to Stephen, and he had to solve it. Along the way, he stopped many mechanisms, killed some members of the Hollow Crown organization, and rescued some students as well.
But despite all that, they found neither David nor Agnes, yet they continued moving forward.
Finally, Stephen reached the end, where he could see a slightly brighter light at the end of the path.
Stephen stopped the students behind him and moved forward alone as usual to inspect the situation.
Stephen got close enough to see what was happening, then his eyes widened upon seeing what was before him.
"This….!"