Kent’s words made a flicker of unease appear on Saul’s face.

He lowered his hand and immediately turned toward the stairwell.

“If Shaya was certain I wouldn’t come back, then his attack must be targeting my residence. I need to go check it.”

Kent followed closely at Saul’s side and slightly behind.

“I’ll go with you.”

Morden deliberately lagged half a step behind, walking just behind Kent. The four wizards who had entered with Kent, however, did not follow them; it seemed each had their own task.

Upon entering the stairwell, Saul didn’t break into a run. He glanced at the thick branch occupying the left-side passage and walked upward with steady steps.

As he moved, the branches beside him continued to grow in sync with his pace.

“Is this plant from some Fourth Rank spell? Is Dean Pond here too?”

“No. The Dean wouldn’t leave the Academy easily. This is a spell scroll personally crafted by him—Greatwood Growth. While not as powerful as when cast by the Dean himself, it’s still enough to seal off an entire building.”

“What do you think the pollution source is?”

“No idea. This world has everything—you won’t understand what the true pollution source is until you see it.”

Saul fell silent.

They ascended six floors in the stairwell, still ten floors away from Saul’s room.

The spiraling staircase seemed endless, the repeating scenes above and below giving off an eerie illusion of overlapping time and space.

“Wizard Saul, how exactly did Wizard Shaya trick you into going out to find him?” Kent suddenly asked.

“He said… you were secretly cultivating wraiths to kill those who tried to leave the city.”

Kent burst into laughter, his shoulders shaking. “Hahaha, and that’s why it couldn’t be me. If I wanted to raise wraiths, I wouldn’t need to do it like that. Aren’t the naturally-born wraiths in this city enough for me to use?”

Saul stayed silent.

Kent glanced at Morden, who had been cautiously watching him the entire time, then asked Saul again, “Hm, Shaya must have painted a terrifying picture to fool you—scared you into cooperating with him to investigate me, right?”

“More or less.” Saul didn’t seem to be paying Kent much attention anymore. His steps gradually slowed, and even the branches beside him had started to grow past him.

“I’m a bit curious now—how did Shaya deceive you? Did he describe something horrifying and bizarre? Like… people standing upside down or something?”

…

At that moment, Shaya and Julie were sprinting through an underground waste treatment facility.

Julie was in a miserable state—her once smooth skin now covered in grime and scratches.

She grumbled, “I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you.”

Shaya kept an eye on their surroundings as he snapped back, “Oh, come on. You’re not like Saul. You’ve lived here for seven or eight years. You wouldn’t have agreed to come unless you noticed something too!”

Julie bit her lip. “I didn’t notice anything!”

After several minutes of running, the two reached a dead end. There was no way up, and the rustling sounds behind them were growing louder.

Julie whipped her head, scattering white hair everywhere, finally beginning to panic. “Aren’t you supposed to be good at running away? Think of something!”

“That’s strange—there used to be a small exit here.” Shaya ignored Julie, staring dazedly at the wall in front of him.

“What kind of prep work did you even do?” Julie complained while nervously watching their rear.

“I didn’t expect… Kent’s capabilities are overwhelming.” Shaya’s eyes darted rapidly as if calculating their chances of escape.

He suddenly turned to Julie and muttered, “Could it be that Saul didn’t come this time because he sensed something? No way… he’s only been here a few months—how could he know more than me?”

“How much do you think Saul knows?”

“I think…” Shaya began to answer—then suddenly froze, realizing the voice wasn’t Julie’s at all.

Julie, at that moment, was staring in horror toward the path they came from.

An old man with a head of white hair and an arm-length wooden staff slowly walked out of the tunnel and stood before them.

“Dean Pond?” Julie’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Shaya, on the other hand, didn’t seem particularly surprised.

“Mmm, hello, Wizard Julie. Wizard Shaya doesn’t look too shocked—did you already guess that Kent was working for me?”

Shaya licked his dry lips, taking two steps back until his back pressed against the wall—where their escape route had inexplicably vanished.

“I didn’t know. At first, I just thought—if Kent really wanted lots of wraiths, given his role as the organizer behind the Cleaner, he wouldn’t need to secretly breed them. Wraiths can’t be directly absorbed, and he wouldn’t need so many.”

Shaya looked at Dean Pond with a bitter smile. “Now I get it. If it’s Bayton Academy that needs the wraiths, then no amount would be enough.”

Julie was trembling so badly that even her hair seemed to shake.

She had dared join Shaya to secretly investigate Wizard Kent, but she didn’t dare go up against a Second Rank wizard like Dean Pond.

She wasn’t one of those crazy mentors from the Wizard Tower, delusional enough to think they could assassinate a Second Rank wizard.

“You don’t need to be so nervous.” Dean Pond raised his hand. Atop his wooden staff, a white rose bloomed.

“You two are both honorary mentors of the Academy. I’m not a murderer. Since you’ve uncovered the secret, then why not become official mentors of Bayton Academy?”

Julie immediately felt a weight lift from her chest. She secretly released a rainbow-colored aura. On Dean Pond’s body, there was neither the black of murderous intent nor the gray of deception.

That meant—if she agreed to become an official mentor of Bayton Academy, she could survive.

Becoming an official mentor required signing a contract. The other mentors were tight-lipped about the contents of the contract, but clearly, it wasn’t lenient.

Still, compared to death, temporary loss of freedom was tolerable.

Julie immediately forced a stiff smile. “That’s wonderful, Dean. I’d be honored to join.”

But Shaya wasn’t so obedient.

“Dean Pond, the truth is—we only found where Kent was cultivating the wraiths. We haven’t discovered anything about the Academy…”

Dean Pond didn’t give Shaya a chance to finish. “Become an official mentor—or try to run?”

Shaya’s pleading expression vanished instantly. “I knew it. There’s no way a city like Caugust could grow this powerful without a grand conspiracy behind it. Join you? You think I haven’t figured it out—those official mentors are all… Whatever games you’re playing, count me out!”

As he spoke, Shaya’s hand remained tightly clenched at his collar.

And as he finished his sentence, a flickering glow burst from his chest.

Dean Pond’s face darkened, and he just started to raise his staff—when Shaya’s entire body suddenly glowed, then began to disintegrate like he was being burned away by the light erupting from within.

In the blink of an eye, he vanished.

“Spatial teleportation formation?” Dean Pond muttered to himself.

Julie was also dumbfounded. “He actually hid a teleportation array on himself? Isn’t he afraid of attracting monsters from the spatial rift?”

“For a high-probability death, taking a low-probability risk is worthwhile. Sometimes, I rather admire Shaya.” Dean Pond looked at the spot where Shaya vanished, showing no surprise or disappointment.

“But he forgot one thing.”

“…What?” Julie hugged herself. She had a feeling the Dean was pausing on purpose, waiting for her to ask.

“In the face of absolute power—escape is meaningless.” Dean Pond smiled with satisfaction.

(End of Chapter)

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