Chapter 116
Wild Instinct (Lv 4) was gripped with fear.
"…"
Malice Wraiths appeared at every turn, but they were no match for Martin and Gilbert anymore. The escape went smoothly. We reached the first floor quickly.
"Thank you! Thank you, cadets!"
"We survived because of you!"
People expressed their gratitude as they fled outside.
"…?"
Then I heard a sound. I turned.
"Martin?"
Gilbert followed. Without answering his question about where I was going, I headed for the stairs.
"…"
"…"
The staircase, lit by green ergency lights, felt like a scene from a horror movie. I moved slowly, descending to the basent.
"The morgue is down there."
"…"
"There won’t be any living people."
He seed to think I was going to save people… Well, he wasn’t wrong.
Wild Instinct (Lv 4) was gripped with fear!
Even trembling… it was telling . Voices from the basent. Voices trembling with fear, yearning for salvation. Burning with the will to live in a stifling, narrow space.
"Hm."
I stopped. Because it wasn’t just the sound… sothing else started to reach .
"The sll of blood is thick, Martin."
"…"
"What’s happening…? This isn’t good."
"…"
Gilbert prattled beside . Honestly, your presence here is what’s worse. As I walked in… I saw the morgue door, leaking a pungent sll of blood. Kicking it open, I saw it.
"Insane."
The morgue was bathed in red light. No… blood. Blood. Blood. Blood! The bodies of the deceased were strewn about, as if ground up in a blender, and a complex pattern was etched across the entire morgue. A magic circle, drawn with blood and brain matter, the kind demon worshippers would use.
"These things!"
Gilbert, entering late, gasped at the sight of fifty people collapsed on the magic circle. All were fanatics of the Demon Lord Cult. Suicide. They’d offered themselves as sacrifices.
Know-It-All (Lv 4) accessed the knowledge of the Great Library. Astonishing and terrifying. This is a magic circle for summoning a top-tier demon lord. There are likely four more like it. And above all…
"Damn it."
…the summoning ritual is already complete.
While Gilbert glared around in fury, I smashed the lock on a tal drawer and yanked it open.
The sound that called here originated from within.
"Haa, I’m, I’m saved! Thank you! I’ll repay this debt…!"
The person who erged was.
"…Wait, you… Trash Martin?"
The Vice Principal. The one who’d once been hell-bent on expelling .
‘So, what’s this?’
The Vice Principal was supposed to be overseeing the Grand Festival. Then who was that out there? No, it’s obvious.
‘We’re screwed.’
We’d been thoroughly played.
***
"Will Gilbert be okay?"
Bord looked anxiously toward the hospital. Elisha nudged him.
"Staring won’t help, so focus on the closing ceremony, Bord. That way, you can tell Gilbert about it later."
"Yeah, sure."
The closing ceremony. The final event of the Grand Festival, led by the Vice Principal. It would’ve been nice if the emperor had co… but his absence was likely due to the subtle rumors of illness circulating among high nobles.
[The Grand Festival has finally reached its closing ceremony. Today felt long if long, short if short…]
Elisha scanned the surroundings, frowning, and asked.
"By the way, where are they?"
"Who?"
"You know, the café club."
"…Oh… the Café Exploration Club?"
Bord looked around at the massive crowd, then gave up with a grimace.
"I don’t know."
"They’re not here. Princess Adela, Cadet Luri, Empress Anette, and… uh, Cadet Anette aren’t here either. Now that I think about it, Teacher Hectia’s missing too."
"Gilbert and Martin are probably in the hospital… It’s odd that those four are absent."
"Ugh, should we skip out too?"
Attendance at the Grand Festival wasn’t mandatory. Honestly, they’d rather be by Gilbert’s side, peeling fruit, gazing out a window, and reminiscing.
"No way, Elisha. Though… it’s tempting."
"I know. Just saying."
But they were mbers of the Four Great Ducal Families. They had noble duties to fulfill at events big and small.
"Hey, Elisha. Bord."
Mary called them. One of the top five brains in the story.
"Sothing’s definitely happened. We just don’t know it, but another incident is unfolding."
Her words hardened Elisha and Bord’s expressions. They’d grown sensitive to ignorance. They’d seen too much blood spilled due to it in past incidents. The one who’d mitigated or prepared for that blood, even a little, was Martin.
"If… with both Gilbert and Cadet Martin absent, a major disaster strikes…"
It couldn’t happen. That alone must not happen.
Gilbert was a champion of justice. No one was unaware of how tirelessly he worked for peace.
The sa went for Martin. He seed to oppose Gilbert, cold and indifferent… but he too aid his gun at the darkness from the shadows, an ally with the sa goal. Just in a very different way.
"Alright."
Bord turned.
"While those two rest, let’s handle this ourselves."
Just as Gilbert had grown three, four, five tis stronger than in the original story, so had his party. They just hadn’t stood out as much in the Cadet Duel Assessnt due to Gilbert and Martin’s prominence.
"I’m in."
The silent female knight, Lina, turned too.
"Yes…!"
Mary turned as well.
"Alright, then…"
As Elisha started to turn.
A bzzzt vibration sounded. Many pulled out their cadet handbooks. Sothing only soone imnsely popular could trigger.
[Gilbert: Demons have appeared in the hospital. Cause and scope unknown, so demons may likely appear elsewhere. Please spread the word, arm yourselves, and protect each other!]
People were shocked. It was from the Gilbert, fad as a champion of justice.
"Hey, did you see this?"
"Yeah. But is it real? Demons out of nowhere?"
"It’s from Gilbert. Whatever it is, we should prepare."
"Right, it’s Gilbert. There’s a reason."
They exchanged glances, manipulating their handbooks to spread the news. This was Gilbert’s reputation—the tower of good deeds he’d built. But.
[Now, let us all celebrate the Grand Festival’s closing ceremony…]
Screams erupted. One? No. Dozens, hundreds, thousands of screams burst forth simultaneously. Bord, Mary, and Elisha turned in shock to see the Vice Principal draw a knife from his robes and plunge it into his own throat.
[Let us beco one with Brahmus, the demon lord of monstrous gluttony…]
The world inverted. The blue sky turned deep red. The ground beca blood-soaked earth. Rivers flowed with blood.
A vast energy sparked, summoning sothing from another dinsion. Red light coalesced into the form of a beast. A massive, colossal beast.
As the calamity descended, explosive shockwaves shattered glass, and the academy’s defensive magics activated and broke repeatedly.
"What… what is that…?"
Soone’s murmur spoke for everyone.
It lood over the academy, second only to the imperial palace in size and grandeur. Not flying. Standing on two—no, four legs. Four legs planted on the ground.
A beast. A colossal beast.
***
While climbing from the basent morgue to the first floor, I felt the building shake. A vivid tremor, enough to make stumble. At the sa ti, faint sirens began wailing from afar, heralding the apocalypse.
"…Martin… this is…"
"Shut up."
"…"
"Shut up and let’s go up."
This wasn’t about hating Gilbert. This was a real calamity.
I climbed the stairs with unease and made it safely outside the hospital. Did I look around? No need. The source of the apocalypse was clear.
The massive entity at the academy’s closing ceremony field was visible even from the distant hospital.
Wild Instinct (Lv 4) witnessed the descended calamity. This is undoubtedly one of the disasters we’ve been preparing for. Observe its thick, sturdy scales, its pillar-like fangs, its eyes that see the world as a banquet. This is a calamity! Fear clouds the mind!
My heart felt like it stopped. My blood didn’t just cool—it froze.
Know-It-All (Lv 4) accessed the Great Library. This is Demon Lord Brahmus, one of the seven ancient rulers who once dominated this continent. The greatest demon lord seated at the throne of monstrous gluttony. When he opens his mouth, mountains are re morsels; when he stands, the world lies beneath him; when he advances, none can stop him. He is… an unbeatable foe. Flee. You must flee.
Wild Instinct and Know-It-All fell into unprecedented chaos, like machines breaking from overload.
‘That’s Brahmus.’
Know the centaur? A creature with a human upper body and a horse’s lower body.
The demon lord’s form was similar. Its lower body resembled a massive mammoth. Where its chest and abdon should be was a giant, truly giant mouth. Above it, a colossal upper body with four arms and a face.
The beast’s massive mouth opened, unleashing a deafening roar. A world-shaking sound.
[Oooooooo—!]
The descent of the demon lord.
[Paradise…! Our lost paradise…! Infinite, abundant food, oh, our paradise…!]
Brahmus thrust his gaping mouth forward, biting into a small academy building. Half the structure vanished instantly.
[Hungry! Starving! Paradise! Brahmus has arrived!]
Nothing was visible inside the massive mouth at his chest and abdon. Like facing the abyss below an endless cliff, fear surged. Only infinite gluttony existed within.
‘Can we beat sothing like that…?’
Wasn’t that absurd?
I’d read the original story thoroughly, knew the demon lords’ strength. I understood. But this… this was impossible. Ridiculous. I had to flee! Flee! Flee!
"Let’s go."
Passing , Gilbert stepped forward. He drew his sword, coating it with mana and stellar force.
That sight jolted my mind, which felt like it would remain petrified forever.
"…Are you insane, Gilbert?!"
I grabbed him. Gilbert was essential for preparing against the apocalypse! He couldn’t die here!
He looked at with surprised eyes. I shouted, undeterred.
"Don’t you get we need to flee?! That thing wasn’t made to be beaten! Escape, grow stronger, and challenge it later!"
Demon Lord Brahmus. Among countless demon lords, one of the seven mightiest. The demon lord of gluttony. Destined to swallow the world, the end of mortality.
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