Episode 233: Beyond Redemption (1)
Training finally ended as the sun dipped below the horizon.
“Ugh… ugh…”
“Argh… argh…”
The students lay sprawled on the ground, utterly exhausted. They were drenched, as if they’d been caught in a downpour, testament to the grueling ordeal they’d just endured.
“Pathetic. You collapse after just this much?” Demian clicked his tongue in disapproval as he surveyed the students.
Their faces showed a mix of frustration and resentment. After all that hard work, being called pathetic was a bitter pill to swallow.
“Got a problem with what I said?” Demian’s eyes narrowed, and the students quickly masked their expressions.
“Starting tomorrow, we’ll double the intensity of the training.”
“What?”
“Double?”
The students were aghast. Today’s session had been so intense they felt they might die from it. It wasn’t training; it was torture.
“Did you think you could slack off and still get good results in a week?” Demian’s scolding only deepened their sense of injustice. None of them had ever asked for high scores; it was all Demian’s doing.
“Still, in your current state, tomorrow’s training might be too much.”
Suddenly, Demian drew his longsword, causing the students to recoil in fear.
“Sir! Please, spare us!”
“Please, don’t kill us!”
They pleaded desperately, their fear so palpable that even Demian was taken aback.
“When did I say I was going to kill you? Just watch.”
Demian plunged his sword, Dawn, into the ground and activated his power of Envy. This ability, the third he had unlocked, allowed him to convert his magical energy into a different form.
He transformed his magic into divine power and channeled it into Dawn. The sword hummed with satisfaction as it absorbed the energy. Dawn, a sword capable of generating divine power and performing miracles, now shone even brighter with Demian’s added strength.
Light radiated from the sword, enveloping the students.
“Huh? What’s happening?”
“Whoa!”
To their astonishment, the pain that had wracked their bodies vanished. They stood up, moving their limbs in disbelief at their complete recovery.
“Even the best healing potions don’t work this fast…”
“What kind of sword is that?”
“I’ve heard about it. It’s the legendary holy sword he got from the Divine Order.”
“A legendary holy sword? How did he manage to get something so rare?”
The students whispered in awe. Once they were fully healed, Demian sheathed Dawn, and the light faded.
“Feeling better now?” he asked.
They nodded in unison, prompting a smile from Demian.
“Good, then you’ll be ready for tomorrow’s training.”
Their faces fell. Being healed wasn’t a blessing; with that sword, Demian could push them to their limits every day.
“See you tomorrow. And just so you know, if anyone skips class, I’ll hunt them down.”
“Yes, sir…” they replied weakly as Demian turned to leave.
“Oh, one more thing.”
He turned back to them.
“I need some of your hair.”
The students exchanged puzzled looks at the odd request.
“Come on, lean in.”
Without explaining, Demian went around, snipping bits of their hair and placing them in a small pouch.
“Alright, I’m off.”
This time, he left the training ground for real.
As soon as he was gone, the students collapsed onto the ground.
“Damn it…”
“How did we end up with a teacher like that?”
They sighed heavily, cursing their fate.
“Hey, Oliver! You sold us out to him, didn’t you?”
“You traitor!”
Their anger turned to Oliver, who protested his innocence.
“I was threatened too!”
“And you just caved?”
“You should’ve kept your mouth shut!”
But their anger, fueled by the harsh training, left no room for Oliver’s excuses.
“Now’s not the time to fight among ourselves.”
A voice cut through the tension. The students turned to see Penelope Borja watching them with a stern expression.
“If we don’t do something, we’ll be stuck with Demian’s training. None of you want that, right?”
“Of course not!”
“Who wants to train under that maniac?”
Their voices rose in agreement. Penelope nodded.
“I feel the same. I can’t waste time on this useless training when I should be honing my sword skills.”
“But what can we do?”
A rough-looking boy asked. Penelope shook her head.
“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking for your ideas.”
“I have a plan.”
Another boy spoke up, drawing everyone’s attention.
“This kind of brutal training can’t be allowed! If we tell the other teachers, they’ll surely discipline Demian.”
He sounded excited, but the others were skeptical.
“Which teacher would listen to us?”
“Is there anyone who cares about Class 13?”
“Well, I…”
The boy faltered, unable to answer. The students in Class 13 had been cast aside by the academy, and no teacher would stand up for them.
“I agree with the others. The teachers won’t help us.”
Penelope’s voice was laced with disdain. She, too, had no faith in the faculty.
“Then let’s inform our families. We can make this a public issue!”
Another student suggested, sounding hopeful.
“Families? Do you think they’ll take our side?”
Penelope’s question silenced them. They’d all threatened to tell their families when Demian pushed them too far, but it was just bravado. In reality, their families wouldn’t lift a finger for them. They were as good as disowned.
”…I have an idea.”
Oliver spoke up again, and the others frowned.
“The guy who sold us out has a plan?”
“Are you going to snitch to Demian again?”
“I told you, I had no choice!”
“Let’s hear him out.”
Penelope’s words quieted them. Her presence commanded respect.
“The key is to avoid training, right? We just need to escape before Demian catches us.”
Oliver’s suggestion made their faces twist in disbelief.
“That’s your plan?”
“Didn’t you see the ones who got caught trying to run?”
“How do you outrun a Master Class?”
A Master Class’s detection range was vast, which was why they couldn’t escape Demian earlier. If he waited near the dorms in the morning, they had no chance.
“I’m not finished!”
“What now?”
“The academy’s been around for ages, right? Over time, they’ve added to the buildings.”
Oliver explained.
“That means there are secret passages everywhere. Our dorm is no exception.”
“Wait, you mean…?”
“Yeah. I know a few secret passages.”
Oliver’s revelation brightened their faces.
“We sneak out through the passages at dawn and return in a week. By then, Demian will be gone.”
Their faces lit up with hope.
“Oliver, you genius! You had a plan all along!”
“You’re the best!”
They cheered, crowding around Oliver.
But they had no idea.
“Secret passages, really?”
Demian had been eavesdropping on their entire conversation from outside the training ground.
With the heightened senses of a Master Class, he could hear them from afar.
“Pathetic.”
He clicked his tongue. Did they really think they could escape him with such a plan?
“I’ve already prepared for this.”
Demian pulled out a leather pouch filled with the students’ hair. He’d collected it for a reason.
With a part of their bodies, he could use tracking dark magic.
“Not that I need it to find them.”
Even if they used secret passages, they’d still be within the academy.
Demian’s sensory range extended far beyond the academy, enveloping the entire city.
While it was difficult to detect anything underground, the moment something surfaced, he could sense it immediately.
Despite this, Demian had a specific reason for resorting to dark magic.
He needed to find Sla.
He was too busy searching for Sla to waste time dealing with students. That’s why he considered the convenience of dark magic.
“I’ll have to deal with it for sure tomorrow,” Demian muttered under his breath, clenching his fist. His knuckles cracked audibly.
Though the sun had set, Demian’s work was far from over.
Instead of heading to his quarters, he made his way to the library building. At this late hour, not a single student was around.
Demian entered the building and headed to the last classroom on the third floor.
There, a man was waiting.
He had an unremarkable face and wore large glasses, exuding no sense of aggression.
“Sir Demian, right on time,” the man said with a smile. Demian approached him and asked, “You’re with the Extermination Squad, correct?”
“Yes, my name is Jake. Just a commoner, so feel free to call me that.”
This man was the Extermination Squad member the Swordmaster had infiltrated into the academy. Though a commoner by status, he was indeed part of the squad.
“Mind if I verify something?”
“Go ahead.”
Demian took a small monocle from his pocket and put it on. Instantly, he could see the brand on Jake’s forehead.
Sla had the ability to disguise as others. There was a chance the infiltrated squad member could have been replaced by Sla.
To ensure safety, the Swordmaster had marked the foreheads of the squad members with a magical seal.
Even the members themselves didn’t know what the seal looked like. Only Demian Haxen had been informed by the Swordmaster beforehand.
“You’re genuine. Have you found anything on Sla?”
“I’ve tried, but no significant leads yet,” Jake replied, shaking his head.
Jake had infiltrated the academy as a staff member around the same time as Demian. Given the short duration, it was understandable that he hadn’t gathered much information.
“However, I did hear something strange from the staff.”
“Strange? Like what?”
“They say there’s been a noticeable increase in missing students recently.”
Demian furrowed his brow at this.
“Students are missing, yet the academy remains silent?”
“Well, the thing is, they say the students didn’t disappear from within the academy,” Jake said, scratching the back of his head.
“They apparently went missing outside the academy.”