“Uh…,” I began, trying to break the tense silence.
“P-Please be quiet!” Professor Amelia snapped, her voice barely steady.
Her gaze flickered nervously over me, avoiding eye contact as she adjusted her glasses yet again.
Even as she said it, her hands glowed faintly with mana, her expression tight with concentration, yet clearly strained.
Cold sweat trickled down the side of her face, and she seemed to flinch every time I moved or even breathed too loudly.
I glanced around, suppressing my irritation. How long was she going to make me sit here?
It had been over half an hour since I’d woken up, chained in this chair.
Professor Amelia, Principal Leilah’s assistant and granddaughter, was still muttering nervously under her breath, attempting some sort of transmutation spell on the magic cuffs around my wrists.
But the cuffs hadn’t loosened one bit, and with her shaking hands, it didn’t seem like she’d make much progress anytime soon.
“Don’t you think it’s about time you explained what’s going on, Professor?”
The moment I spoke, she jerked back, her wand snapping up defensively.
Mana flared up around her like a shield, the air around us crackling with tension.
Her eyes narrowed, though I could still see the tremor of fear in them.
“I-I told you to stay still, didn’t I?” she stammered. “Please… don’t bother or talk to me until I’m done!”
I sighed, fighting the urge to roll my eyes.
‘Seriously, what the hell was going on here?’
Professor Amelia gulped audibly, her trembling hands extending cautiously toward the cuffs around my wrists.
Her every movement was slow, tentative, as if she were handling a bomb rather than simply adjusting a pair of restraints.
Since she didn’t seem to want to offer any explanations, her lips pressed tightly together, and with her nervous energy permeating the air, I decided to let it go.
For now, at least.
Instead, I focused on piecing together my own memories, trying to recall what had led me here in the first place.
‘The Bishop Dungeon…’
Had we managed to beat it? Judging by the fact that I was still alive, I could only assume we had—or at least, I hoped so.
Everything was foggy, but I remembered being close to finishing the job.
We’d been working to close it, and then… something unexpected had happened.
I’d gotten separated from the group.
That much was clear.
But luck had been on my side—or so it seemed—when I was teleported straight into the dungeon’s core chamber, the very heart of the nightmare.
I could still picture it—the dim, pulsating light of the core.
I’d been ready to strike it down, to end the whole ordeal once and for all. But then…
SIZZ!
A sharp, searing pain shot through my head as I tried to dig deeper into that memory, sending waves of nausea over me.
Whatever had happened next was buried in a painful fog, impossible to break through.
The harder I tried, the worse the headache got. I cursed under my breath, irritated. Something was definitely off.
Why couldn’t I remember anything past that final moment in the dungeon?
It was as if my own mind was withholding the truth, wrapped in an inexplicable haze.
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
The incessant ringing echoed in my head, jarring and loud.
[Note: !!@#!@#!!!!!@#!@????]
System?
[Note: …!@!@#????]
What was going on? It felt as if the whole system had glitched out.
Is it… broken or something?
[Note: User… Status… Stabilizing…]
A long pause stretched out, and then—
[Stabilization complete!]
[User interface recalling!]
[Complete!]
[System Update complete!]
Update?
As I stared, trying to process what was happening, another message appeared.
[Recollecting pending messages via soul transmission…]
[Note: Congratulations!!!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[Status Info:]
[Name: Riley Hell]
[Race: Human]
[Level: 117]
[Strength: B [0/80]]
[Agility: B [0/80]]
[Endurance: C [0/60]]
[Luck: 0 [????]]
[Power: C [0/60]]
[Available Status Points: 59]
[Note: Congratulations, you have broken the level 115 threshold.]
[Bonus points acquired!]
[Bonus points: +10]
[Note: Congratulations, you have defeated your first SS-ranked Boss!]
[Bonus points acquired!]
[Bonus points: +30]
[Available Status Points: 59 + 10 + 30]
[Note: Congratulations, you have consumed your first soul!]
[A fragment of divinity has been acquired!]
[Congratulations!]
[Access to Nirvana – 001/100]
The barrage of system messages faded, leaving me in a stunned silence.
My eyes widened as I processed what this meant.
Leveling up multiple times, bonuses for milestones I didn’t remember achieving, and… a fragment of divinity?
[Note: The Light has taken an interest in you!]
[Note: Blessings of the light has been—]
[System error!]
[System error!]
[Note: System interference fixed!]
[Note: An Evil god advises you to ignore the light!]
[Note: An Evil god is warning you about BITCHES!!!???]
[Note: An Evil God wants you to accept her blessings!!!!!!!!!!!]
[Note: 13 Blessings of darkness have been offered!]
[Would you like to accept?]
[Yes/No]
“…….”
“D-Done… phew~” Professor Amelia sighed in relief beside me, stepping cautiously behind the chair. “I’ve removed the chains binding you to the chair so you can move more freely now, but… the cuffs will have to remain until we reach the council room. That’s why—”
“Student Riley?”
“Yes?” I replied, feeling my nerves bristling with the pain bubbling under my skin.
“What are you doing?” she asked, squinting suspiciously at me.
“N-Nothing…” I muttered, gritting my teeth as I tried to keep the surge of energy within me under control.
Fuck, this hurts!
The system chimed in with an auto activation of my [Pain Nullifier] skill, dulling some of the discomfort, yet I could still feel the chaos beneath my skin.
One energy was blistering hot, searing through me with a raw pure intensity that threatened to turn me to ash.
The other felt like an icy void, creeping in with a chill that whispered of endless darkness, as if it could just erase me on a whim.
“Student Riley?” Amelia’s voice broke through my thoughts, laced with worry.
I forced a strained smile, doing my best to hide the turmoil. “Yes?”
“Are you… o-okay?”
“…Yes, I’m fine. Just a… slight stomach ache is all,” I managed, each word barely squeezing past the tension in my chest.
“Oh, I-I see… well, then I’ll guide you to the restroom before we make our way to the council room,” she said, visibly relieved.
“Wait, council room?” I echoed, confusion cutting through the fog of pain.
“Yes?” she replied, tilting her head with a hint of amusement.
“Why?”
“To hold your trial, of course~” she answered cheerily, her expression practically glowing, as if she were enacting some grand event for the sake of justice.
…
An archwizard or archmage was revered as the epitome of magical mastery, a figure who transcended the mortal realm.
They were legendary wizards who had not only reached the peak of magical prowess but had managed to push beyond it, shattering the limits of common sense.
In the presence of an archwizard, the rules of the world bent, molded by their will.
Some wielded spells so potent they could reshape reality itself.
In the magical world, archmages were absolute beings, and in the mortal realm, they were nearly revered as living gods.
Their mere existence inspired awe, respect, and fear, for these figures embodied power beyond comprehension.
To most, the idea of even approaching an archmage was unfathomable—a being beyond the reach of any ordinary mortal.
No body a sword master of the Heavenly Duke’s level could possibly hope of trying to bring one down…
“How are the preparations…?” Principal Leilah’s voice rang out from her place at the round table in her office, her penetrating purple gaze sweeping over the anxious faces of the academy’s staff and department heads gathered around her.
“E-Everything is progressing well, Principal. Preparations are nearly complete, and Professor Amelia is… already handling the student in question,” stammered one of the deans, his voice dropping as he dared a glance at the principal’s reaction.
Seeing his reaction Leilah scoffed lightly, her gaze hardening.
“What about the other matters?”
“They’re being managed as we speak,” one of the deans replied, trying to keep his voice steady. “Questions about the dungeon have been contained, and, well… calls from the Emperor are being delayed for now, but I think we should establish contact soon.”
Leilah sighed, leaning back in her chair, pressing a hand against her wrist as a dull ache throbbed.
She could still feel the sting—not just the physical pain, but the blow to her pride.
The thought that a mere student had managed to reduce her to this state was hard to swallow.
She had been caught off guard, yes, but it still stung.
To be beaten so thoroughly… her pride was more bruised than she cared to admit.
“…Pathetic…”
“…Useless…”
“…Trash…
“…Coward…”
The words echoed in her mind, sharp and biting.
She remembered Riley’s icy expression as he’d unleashed those words with merciless precision towards everyone he beat up that day with not even a hint of emotion on his face.
He had taken on the academy’s strongest staff after the dungeon collapsed from within, moving through them as if they were no more than obstacles in his path.
Recalling how effortlessly he’d handled them, including the way he beat her up like a ragdoll…. Leilah felt a shiver she had never experienced before.
And now, as she scanned the room, noting the anxious glances exchanged among the academy’s department heads, Leilah couldn’t help but find it ironic.
Those same people who had been defeated, even humiliated, by Riley that day were about to face him again.
She had to wonder—would any of them be able to keep their composure, or would the memory of that cold, emotionless gaze haunt them too?
‘I want to retire….’
