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[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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Chapter 265: Molting (3)
Following Elisha’s guidance, we arrived at the center of the first floor of the Abyss.
In terms of location, it was directly beneath the main building of the Hero Academy.
“This is….”
A single charred corpse lay at the center of the first floor of the Abyss.
“…A corpse?”
I frowned as I stepped closer to the lifeless body on the ground.
I turned my head, scanning the area around the corpse.
‘There are no signs that anyone else was here.’
In other words—
Whoever this person was had illegally entered the Abyss for some unknown reason, reached this central area, and then set themselves on fire, taking their own life.
“Hah.”
A hollow chuckle escaped my lips.
“It looks like… someone controlled them.”
“That seems highly likely.”
It made no logical sense for someone to come here on their own volition just to commit self-immolation.
‘They were either brainwashed or hypnotized—one of the two.’
The real question was: who orchestrated this, and why?
‘The passage to the second floor of the Abyss hasn’t even been activated.’
To go deeper into the Abyss beyond the first floor, one couldn’t simply rely on a physical passage.
The magic circle left behind by the “Great Sage” Julius Bastian, inscribed in the center of the Abyss, had to be activated in order to open a gate leading downward.
Or rather—
‘At least, that’s how it was before that bastard Mephisto showed up.’
Mephisto had the ability to create a rift leading to the second floor of the Abyss without needing to activate the Great Sage’s magic circle.
‘For now… there’s no sign that a gate or rift was formed.’
That meant Mephisto likely wasn’t behind this.
“Tsk.”
Clicking my tongue, I flipped the body over.
The face was burned beyond recognition, its features entirely obliterated.
I frowned and turned to Elisha.
“Can you tell who it is?”
“Not just by looking.”
Well, that was to be expected.
No matter how powerful her “Blessing of Insight” was, extracting information from a corpse that had its face and even its teeth incinerated was no easy feat.
“Dale. Step back for a moment.”
“Oh, uh, okay.”
I nodded and distanced myself from Elisha.
“Phew.”
Taking a deep breath, Elisha closed her eyes.
Srrrkk.
Thin strands of spider silk extended from her fingertips, wrapping around the charred corpse.
“Hm.”
Her expression twisted slightly when the silk touched the left side of the corpse’s chest.
“…This is strange.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“There’s no Holy Stigma.”
“…No Holy Stigma?”
So what she was saying was—
A regular, non-marked person somehow bypassed all the barriers surrounding the entrance of the Abyss, infiltrated it, and then set themselves on fire to die?
‘Bullshit.’
That was impossible.
“It looks like someone erased the lingering energy of the Holy Stigma from the corpse to destroy evidence.”
“That seems likely.”
Elisha nodded slowly.
“Damn. Does that mean tracking them is impossible now?”
“No.”
Elisha shook her head with a smirk.
“Normally, if a corpse was this thoroughly destroyed and its Holy Stigma’s energy was erased, even with the ‘Blessing of Insight,’ finding a clue would be difficult.”
However—
“They overlooked one crucial thing.”
“They overlooked something…?”
Tilting my head, I looked at Elisha, who wore a confident smile and tapped her chest lightly.
“There’s no way they could have predicted that I would undergo ‘Molting.’”
“Ah.”
The one and only variable in this perfectly concealed incident—
It was Elisha’s growth.
Yes.
Elisha’s development was something they never could have foreseen.
“Then… you can find a clue?”
“Of course.”
With a self-assured nod, Elisha stretched out her arms.
Piiiiiing!
A greater number of spider threads enveloped the corpse.
Like reconstructing burned flesh, the intertwined strands took the shape of a human figure.
“This is….”
“I reconstructed the body based on its skeletal structure. It’s not perfect, but we should be able to get a general idea of their appearance.”
“…You can do this too?”
“I told you, they overlooked something.”
Elisha shrugged with a grin.
“Hah.”
I chuckled as I looked down at the reconstructed corpse.
I had read historical records from the Republic about how scientists had reconstructed the appearance of extinct species from fossils.
‘But I never thought I’d see someone do it with pure mana control.’
Come to think of it, wasn’t her goal for this seclusion training to reach the level of “Master”?
‘This seems like it goes beyond that.’
Of course, simply having excellent mana control wasn’t enough to earn the title of Master.
But at her current level, Elisha could probably rival most Masters—except for Camellia.
“Hmm? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Oh, nothing.”
I smiled faintly as I looked at her, having grown so much in just a month.
“I can tell you worked hard.”
“…Ahem.”
Blushing slightly, she averted her gaze.
“I mean… I can’t just keep freeloading off my husband forever.”
“……”
That shy remark rekindled a familiar warmth deep inside me.
‘But now’s not the time for that.’
I turned back to the reconstructed corpse.
I slowly examined its face.
“…What?”
My expression hardened as I stared at it.
“Do you recognize them?”
“Uh… yeah.”
If my memory was correct—
This face belonged to…
“…Amon.”
“Amon?”
Elisha’s expression twisted.
“You mean… the Archbishop of Destruction?”
“…That’s right.”
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[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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The face that surfaced above the restored corpse was undoubtedly that of the Archbishop of Destruction, Amon.
“W-Wait. Are you saying that the Archbishop of Destruction came here and took his own life?”
“No, that’s not it.”
Recalling memories from a past life, I shook my head firmly.
“This is a fragment of Amon… no, a ‘spark.’”
“…A spark?”
“You know how, when a fire is burning, if you bring dry wood close to it, the flames spread? It’s like that.”
Here, the dry wood refers to a demon who bears the blessing of Amon or a similar demonic entity.
“I don’t quite understand the analogy. Do you mean it’s some kind of puppet?”
“Rather than a puppet… it’s more like an avatar.”
Once the flames spread—meaning once a demon receives Amon’s power—their soul and consciousness are completely burned away, and Amon’s consciousness takes their place.
In other words…
By sacrificing the life of a demon, Amon can create a remote-controlled avatar of himself.
“When a demon becomes an avatar of Amon, their physical body also transforms to resemble him.”
“I see. That explains why the corpse had the face of the Archbishop of Destruction.”
Elisha nodded in understanding.
“That means… the Archbishop of Destruction is planning something.”
“…Most likely.”
Originally, Amon and his apostles were supposed to begin their major movements about ten years from now.
‘So it’s not just the formation of the Three-Nation Alliance that happened earlier than expected.’
Or perhaps, the formation of the alliance itself might have accelerated Amon’s movements.
‘Either way.’
What’s certain is that not just the heroes, but the demon army as well is beginning to move much faster than in my past life.
Sigh.
The rapidly changing future made me let out a weary sigh.
“…Hmm?”
Elisha, who had been quietly examining the corpse, tilted her head.
“What? Did you find something else?”
“No… Hmm. Dale, can you come closer for a moment?”
“Huh? What is i—mmpf!”
Elisha grabbed my neck and pressed her lips against mine.
She pushed her tongue into my mouth and drank my saliva, her ominous eyes gleaming even more dangerously.
“…Just as I thought.”
Her expression hardened as she examined the corpse again.
“W-What do you mean ‘just as you thought’?”
“…It’s similar.”
“Huh?”
“The residual energy inside Amon’s avatar… and the ‘flame’ inside you, Dale. They feel remarkably alike.”
“Well, isn’t that natural since both originate from the power of the Demon God?”
The Primordial Flame inside me was created by the Demon God.
Amon was essentially a subordinate of that Demon God, so it wasn’t surprising that their energies felt similar.
“No… It’s different.”
Elisha shook her head quietly.
“If it were simply because they came from the same Demon God, then I should sense the same energy from other Apostles of Destruction as well….”
Her expression turned tense as she bit her lip.
“This… feels more like the Demon God itself… No, that can’t be.”
“…What are you saying?”
The Demon God itself?
“Sigh, never mind. Let’s drop this for now.”
“…But—”
“Jumping to conclusions can be dangerous, can’t it?”
“……”
She was right.
When people latch onto a premature hypothesis, they often become trapped in it, unable to consider other possibilities.
“…Alright.”
“For now… let’s take this corpse back to the Hero Academy.”
“Yeah.”
I stepped out of the Abyss with Elisha and attempted to move directly to her office.
Or rather, I tried to.
“I will continue the investigation alone from here. Candidate Dale, you may return.”
Her tone had shifted back to ‘Candidate Dale.’
“You’re going to investigate alone? Shouldn’t I be part of this as well?”
“Even if you help, it’s unlikely to yield any additional results. There aren’t many clues aside from this corpse.”
“…That’s true.”
She wasn’t wrong.
“Leave the reporting to the principal and the strategy preparations to me.”
“…But—”
“Heh. Don’t you have something else you should be doing, Candidate Dale?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Lately, aside from my personal training, I had been practically unemployed.
What could she be talking about?
“Hmm. Looks like you were too preoccupied to check the time.”
“What do you mean by that…? Ah.”
Checking my Hero Watch, I realized that tomorrow marked the start of the new semester.
‘Wait, how long was I in the Abyss?’
Between getting ensnared by a lust-crazed spider and nearly being devoured (in more ways than one), I had completely lost track of time.
“Ugh. Fine. I’ll head back to the dormitory.”
“No. There’s somewhere else you need to go first.”
“Huh?”
“Heh. By now… everyone should have gathered there.”
Elisha smiled and glanced in the direction of the Party House.
* * *
Following Elisha’s suggestion, I arrived at the Party House.
“Ah, Dale!”
“Brother! Where have you been?! We’ve been looking for you everywhere!”
“Ugh… D-Did you go meet the Empress again…?”
As soon as I arrived, my party members rushed toward me.
And then—
“I heard everything from Lanez while you were gone.”
The Saint approached me with a bright smile.
“Ah, Iris. Nice to se—”
Squeeze!
“Guhh!”
Iris grabbed my groin in a vicious grip, her innocent smile still on her face.
“I heard you’ve been swinging your dick around like it’s your job, you bastard.”
[PR/N: DESERVEEEDDD!!!!CUT IT OFF!! CASTRATE THIS FUCKER!!!]
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[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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