DONG!
DONG!
DONG!
The academy bell echoed without stopping.
Students abandoned their classes and rushed toward the central plaza.
Whispers spread through the crowd.
“Did the Cult attack again?”
“Is it another monster?”
“No… look at the teachers.”
Every instructor wore a serious expression.
Even Headmaster Aldric looked unusually tense.
Yozaro had only just returned from the mountains.
His clothes were torn, his hands scarred, and he hadn’t even had time to rest.
Yet something told him…
This was more dangerous than any beast.
Headmaster Aldric stepped onto the platform.
His voice was calm.
But heavy.
“Three nights ago…”
“The academy archives were broken into.”
“A confidential document was stolen.”
The crowd gasped.
“The barrier protecting our campus was also temporarily disabled.”
“Only someone inside the academy could have done it.”
Silence fell.
“There is…”
“…a traitor among us.”
Within minutes, the academy changed.
Friends looked at each other with doubt.
Dormitories were searched.
Teachers questioned students.
No one trusted anyone.
Kael muttered,
“I hate this.”
Rex nodded.
“This is exactly what the Cult wanted.”
That evening, Team Seven gathered in Orion’s basement.
Maps and notes covered the table.
Luna pointed at a list of names.
“There were only twelve people who had access to the archive.”
Mira frowned.
“Can we trust the list?”
“The list came from Headmaster Aldric himself.”
Kael sighed.
“So one of twelve.”
Rex leaned over the table.
“Let’s eliminate people one by one.”
Yozaro remained silent.
His eyes stayed fixed on a symbol drawn in Orion’s journal.
A broken crown.
The same emblem used by the Cult.
Something felt off.
Fenrir suddenly began growling.
He walked toward an old bookshelf.
Sniff.
Sniff.
He scratched the wooden floor.
Yozaro knelt beside him.
“There.”
Luna examined it.
“It’s from the Cult’s uniform.”
Kael blinked.
“Wait…”
“That means someone entered this room after Orion died.”
The next night, Yozaro returned alone.
He purposely left Orion’s journal open on the desk.
Then he extinguished the lantern and hid in the shadows.
Hours passed.
Nothing.
Just as midnight approached…
The basement door slowly creaked open.
A hooded figure slipped inside.
The stranger quietly reached for the journal.
Yozaro stepped forward.
“I’ve been waiting.”
The figure froze.
Then turned.
Instead of attacking…
They smiled.
“You’re smarter than I expected.”
The intruder threw a smoke crystal onto the ground.
BOOM!
The room filled with thick gray smoke.
“Stop!”
Yozaro sprinted after the fleeing figure.
They raced across rooftops under the moonlight.
The mysterious person moved with incredible speed.
Not as fast as Varis…
But far faster than an ordinary student.
They reached the academy clock tower.
The figure stopped.
“You’ve improved.”
Yozaro drew his sword.
“Who are you?”
The hood slowly fell back.
Yozaro’s eyes widened.
“…Professor Selene?”
She had taught Ancient History since his first year.
She was kind.
Patient.
Every student respected her.
Selene smiled sadly.
“I hoped…”
“…you’d never discover the truth.”
“You’re with the Cult?”
“No.”
“I infiltrated the Cult years ago.”
“…What?”
“I’ve been pretending to serve them.”
“I was the one secretly sending information to Orion.”
Yozaro lowered his sword slightly.
“So…”
“You’re a spy.”
She nodded.
“But someone inside the Cult discovered me.”
“They stole the documents before I could.”
She looked directly into his eyes.
“You’re in danger.”
“No…”
“You’ve always been in danger.”
A black spear pierced the night.
SHHHHK!
It tore through Selene’s shoulder.
She cried out in pain.
Three masked assassins landed on the rooftop.
“The traitor has been found.”
“Eliminate both.”
Yozaro stepped in front of Selene.
“You can still move?”
She forced a weak smile.
“Barely.”
“Good enough.”
The assassins attacked together.
Yozaro blocked the first strike.
Turned.
Countered the second.
The third nearly cut his side.
Blood stained his shirt.
They were trained killers.
Working together perfectly.
Yozaro was being pushed back.
Then—
BOOM!
A fireball exploded between them.
Kael landed beside Yozaro.
“Told you we’d never let you investigate alone.”
Rex crashed through a rooftop wall with his axe.
“Now it’s a party!”
Luna’s ice arrows rained from above.
Mira immediately began healing Selene.
Team Seven had arrived.
Outnumbered, the assassins exchanged glances.
One of them threw a black crystal onto the roof.
The crystal exploded into a wall of darkness.
When it faded…
The assassins were gone.
Only silence remained.
Selene looked at Team Seven with relief.
“They’re moving faster than we expected.”
Yozaro knelt beside her.
“Who are they working for?”
She whispered one name.
“The…”
“…Crimson Cardinal…”
Before she could explain further…
She lost consciousness.
Elsewhere
Deep beneath an abandoned cathedral…
A man wearing crimson robes opened his eyes.
His face remained hidden beneath a hood.
A servant knelt.
“My lord.”
“Professor Selene survived.”
The Crimson Cardinal smiled.
“It doesn’t matter.”
He looked toward a giant stone door covered in seven locks.
“The Heir is finally walking toward us…”
“And every step brings him closer to the truth.”
The first lock on the ancient door glowed faintly.