Bella couldn’t help feeling a little doubtful. She raised her brows, looking at Damian: "For what reason was Teacher A expelled? Our class didn’t have such a situation."
The others also looked at Damian in confusion. Damian’s lips twitched, he gave a faint smile, glanced toward Nerio, and said softly: "She was killed."
Even though he didn’t say who did it, everyone present could easily guess who had taken care of Teacher A from his gaze alone.
A few people couldn’t help but show expressions of speechlessness. Nerio had just appeared and already killed a minor boss, and now he was nestling beside Leonard like some weak, delicate little bird—seriously, he wasn’t even bothering to put on an act!
Susan’s focus was clearly different from the others. The new teacher in Damian’s class had a name.
"Teacher Smith must be someone special. He may be connected to crucial information inside the dungeon. Damian, all of you should pay a little more attention," Susan reminded in a matter-of-fact tone.
At that moment, Thomas suddenly said, "Now it’s about time for us to talk, isn’t it?"
Susan smiled, her mood completely unaffected: "Of course. You’re always free to talk whenever you want."
Thomas sneered, swinging his arm as he called: "Luther!"
Immediately, a relatively short young man stepped forward, only about 1.6 meters tall. He wore gold-rimmed glasses, his somewhat long hair tied back, and his entire face looked so pale it seemed he might collapse at any moment.
Thomas continued: "Tell us where we can search for clues!"
Luther responded at once. His voice sounded far more spirited than his deathly pale face suggested.
Susan narrowed her eyes slightly, and the others paid close attention to this scene. With Thomas’s arrogant words just now, they were forced to take this group seriously—whether they wanted to or not. After all, what did these people have as a foundation for such arrogance, even daring to demand that a deity withdraw from this dungeon...?
In an instant, Luther’s entire body was enveloped in a faint red light. Immediately afterward, his eyes transformed—leaving nothing but pitch black, with no whites or pupils at all.
He opened his vacant eyes wide and muttered: "The sports field, it’s at the sports field..."
As soon as the words left his mouth, he started walking, and Thomas’s group quickly followed behind him, leaving the rest standing where they were.
"I feel like their abilities look even more dangerous than those dark espers—I mean, they look even darker than the dark espers themselves," Bella spoke softly. She liked cute things; these artificial espers were obviously anything but pretty.
Luis opened his glasses: "They’ve practically cut off all their escape routes with that little declaration just now."
He looked toward Nerio, seemingly wanting to say something, but in the end, no words came out. Instead, he continued: "If they’re not stupid, then they must have something that ensures they’ll win this battle, some kind of guarantee that they’ll come out victorious."
Damian suddenly said, "You’re in The Association of Espers, and yet you don’t know anything about those people?"
Luis shook his head: "Unfortunately, this is the first time I’ve ever seen them, even the first time I’ve heard about this strange project. Giving all of humanity the ability to become espers—it sounds promising, but if things were that simple, humanity would have pushed back the dungeons long ago instead of struggling to survive amidst death."
At that moment, Aria—the only ordinary human—suddenly raised her hand and softly said: "But if that were to become reality, wouldn’t it be a good thing..." At the very least, someone ordinary like her wouldn’t have to tremble in fear upon entering a dungeon, and there wouldn’t be any more ordinary people so terrified that they’d jump to their deaths, like that girl earlier in the morning. Surely, it wasn’t just Aria—countless ordinary people must share the same thought. A better future was something everyone longed for.
Silvanus narrowed his eyes. Of course, it would be good—if it were perfect. But this wasn’t even the result of humanity’s own research. Without the interference of the outer god, things would never have gone so smoothly.
Just look at the Curtis family’s experiments: the number of people who died was uncountable, all to produce a single successful test subject—Leonard.
Moreover, this was merely the first step in the outer god’s invasion of this world. Who could say whether carrying powers bestowed by an alien force might alter one’s self?
In any case, Silvanus would never allow the future that Layla foresaw to come to pass.
Even if this world had countless fools, there were still far too many innocent people.
"Anyway, we should go see what they’re up to."
Susan spoke, then took the lead to head outside. She wanted to go to the sports field, and the others followed after her one by one. Leonard reached out, instinctively trying to grab Nerio’s hand, but only then did he realize—Nerio had vanished!
[ha ha ha Leonard’s expression right there]
[Feels like a parent who just lost their precious child, I’m dying]
Leonard rubbed his face, quickened his pace, and ran past Susan’s group, dashing toward the sports field.
The sports field was behind the school, a large grassy expanse divided into several activity areas.
Surrounding the grass was a lush forest. The forest would be an ideal dating spot for young couples in a normal schoolyard.
But this was a dungeon—no one wanted to discover what might be lurking inside that little forest.
Right now, Nerio was silently sitting atop a large tree alone in the middle of the sports field. The enormous tree cast a wide shade, the favored resting spot of lazy students or those allowed to skip gym class when tired.
At this moment, beneath the tree’s canopy stood a group of tall students—five in total—who were encircling a smaller-looking student.
They have been quarreling for quite a while. Suddenly, one of the five students cursed loudly, then kicked at the smaller student.
The smaller student was immediately sent flying, his body slamming hard against the trunk of the large tree, making it tremble slightly. He collapsed onto the ground, clutching himself and groaning in pain.
Nerio narrowed his eyes as he observed the scene below but still made no move.
[Why does Nerio look so handsome ? It’s just me. He’s supposed to be nothing more than an adorable shota]
[You don’t get it—handsome is a kind of feeling]
[Suddenly, this dungeon version of Nerio feels strange. Usually, I’d know he enjoys watching amusing little scenes, but this time he isn’t stirring up trouble. Honestly, the fact that he revealed his identity right from the start is already confusing!]
[Nerio has lost his essence]
[Whoever said that, are you a fan or not? Make it clear so I know whether to bite]
"A freak like you—why haven’t you dropped out yet? You’re not afraid of us? Are you looking down on us?"
"You didn’t even tell me before kicking him just now. Did he spit any saliva out? If it gets on me and I catch something, I’m dead!"
"Just touching him already feels filthy."
The group of students crowded together, hurling insults.
The smaller student curled up on the ground, not daring to resist.
"Hey, we’re talking to you. Playing mute? You really deserve to die!" Chapters first released on novel·fıre·net
A fat student, who seemed to be the leader, roared angrily and grabbed the smaller student by the hair, yanking him up to his feet.
These brats were truly incomprehensible—calling him filthy, yet deliberately seeking him out to bully him.
And wasn’t this school supposed to have stringent rules, fiercely opposing school violence? Then why was such blatant bullying allowed to continue here ?