We opened the book.
Dust motes danced in the light of the glow-stone lamp. The pages were made of human skin—synthetic, hopefully—and the ink shimmered with a faint crimson light.
"Here," I pointed to a diagram. "The Demon’s Nail."
It was a sketch of the exact spike I had found in the Golem.
"The Nail of Malice. A catalyst created by refining the bone marrow of a High Demon. When inserted into a host, it forcibly triggers evolution by corrupting the mana core. However, it requires a constant supply of negative emotions—fear, pain, rage—to function."
"That explains the Whispering Forest," I muttered, my fingers tracing the grotesque diagram. "The ’whispers’ cause paranoia. The Nail fed on the students’ fear to power the Golem."
Elara flipped the page, her hands trembling slightly. Her eyes widened behind her thick lenses.
"Alex... look at this."
She pointed to a ritual circle. It was a geometric nightmare, a square intersecting with a circle, inscribed with runes that hurt to look at.
"To summon the Avatar of the Eclipse, four ’Nails’ must be planted in the four cardinal directions of the ley line. Once fully charged, they will open the Gate."
My blood ran cold.
Four Nails.
"We found one in the Forest (North)," I calculated. "That means there are three more. South, East, and West."
"The Academy is built on a ley line intersection," Elara whispered, terror dawning on her face. "If they plant all four... the Academy itself becomes the summoning circle."
"They’re trying to summon a Demon Lord right on top of the Headmaster’s office," I realized. "And the ’Rat’ in the faculty is helping them place the spikes."
This was bad. In the original game, the invasion happened during the Summer Festival. But if they were already planting the Nails, the timeline had jumped forward by months. The difficulty curve just spiked.
"We need to tell Professor Cassandra," Elara said, moving to close the book. "We have proof now. We have the text and the physical Nail you found."
"Not yet."
I slammed my hand down on the page, stopping her.
"If we go to the faculty with just a theory, the Rat will know we’re onto them. They’ll panic, hide the other Nails, or worse—accelerate the plan using a backup catalyst."
"Then what do you suggest? Do nothing?" Elara looked at me incredulously. "While they summon a monster?"
"Yes," I said nonchalantly, leaning back against the dusty shelf. "Think about it, Elara. Geometry. To complete a square summoning array, they need four corners. And guess what? One of them is already gone."
I patted the pocket where the Nail was stored in my dimension bag.
"I broke the North Anchor. The ritual is incomplete. They can’t open the gate with a triangle. It would just implode."
Elara blinked, her brain processing the logic.
"So... as long as you hold onto that Nail..."
"They’re stuck," I grinned. "Why bother taking unnecessary burdens? Let them sweat. Let them wonder who stole their toy. In the meantime, we hunt for the other three quietly."
I looked at the clock on the wall. The second hand was ticking ominously loud.
"Besides, we have another problem now. We have ten minutes before the Sentry comes back."
"We will have to escape from here," Elara squeaked, realizing how close we were to detention—or expulsion.
"Right. Let’s go."
I grabbed her hand. We moved through the shadowy aisles of the Restricted Section. My [Shadow Affinity] made it easy to stick to the darkest corners, avoiding the magical sensors.
We reached the blind spot near the exit gate. We had to wait for the timing of the rotating mana scanner to pass.
Elara was pressed up against the bookshelf, breathing hard. The adrenaline of the discovery and the fear of getting caught had flushed her cheeks pink. She looked down at her feet, nervous.
"Alex... thank you. For bringing me here. It was... terrifying, but amazing."
I looked at her. The button-up librarian blouse, the knee-length skirt, the thick glasses... and the knowledge that she was a genius Archmage in the making.
"You know, Elara," I whispered, stepping into her personal space. "I charge a toll for escorting beautiful girls out of forbidden zones."
"A... a toll?" She looked up, her green eyes wide and innocent. "I... I don’t have any gold on me..."
"I don’t want gold."
I reached around her waist.
"Alex?"
"Shh. The Sentry might hear you."
I slid my hand down the curve of her back, over the swell of her hips. She stiffened, but she didn’t pull away.
"You’ve been a bad girl, breaking the rules like this," I murmured, my hand resting on her ass.
I squeezed.
"Ah...!"
She bit her lip to stifle the moan. The fabric of her skirt was thick, but I could feel the softness underneath.
"Turn around," I whispered.
She obeyed slowly, placing her hands on the bookshelf for support, presenting her back to me.
I hiked up her skirt. Just enough.
Beneath the uniform, she was wearing plain, white linen panties. Practical. innocent.
I ran my palm over the smooth fabric, tracing the curve of her buttocks. She was trembling.
"So soft," I noted. "Are you scared, Elara?"
"N-No..." she stammered. "Yes..."
"Good."
SMACK.
I delivered a sharp, stinging spank to her right cheek.
"Hng!" Elara gasped, her back arching, her toes curling in her shoes.
SMACK.
I hit the other side. The sound echoed slightly in the quiet aisle.
"That’s for endangering the Heir of Edelhart," I whispered, leaning in to bite her earlobe. I kept my hand on her ass, kneading the flesh I had just reddened.
"Alex... please..." she whined, her voice dripping with confusion and arousal.
"Please what?"
"More... no... we have to go..."
"Right. We have to go."
I smoothed her skirt down, giving her ass one last, firm squeeze.
"Toll paid."
I grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the gate just as the mana scanner swept past.
"Let’s run."
***
The Expedition was officially over.
Life went back to the usual routine, but the atmosphere in the Academy had shifted. The freshman class was no longer a collection of strangers; we were survivors.
And the hierarchy had been shattered.
I stood in the central plaza, staring at the magical notice board.
[Freshman Expedition Rankings] 1. Group 11 (Alex Edelhart, Emily Frost, Alicia Raven, Martin Luke) - Grade: S 2. Group 1 (Ren Montclair, Lena Brook, Trixie) - Grade: A+ 3. Group 5...
The notice board was surrounded by a massive crowd. The buzzing was intense.
"Edelhart got first?" "How? He’s F-Rank trash!" "I heard he killed the Boss alone while his team watched." "No, no, I heard he used Alicia Raven as a human shield and she’s keeping quiet about it because of family honor!" "My cousin in Group 4 said he seduced the Boss. Like, charmed it into suicide."
The rumors were getting wilder by the second.
’Seduced the boss?’ I twitched. ’It was a giant rock monster. These people have weird fetishes.’
"Those are not rumors, bitches," I wanted to scold them, but I held back. A true mastermind doesn’t argue with sheep.
"Don’t give attention to their words," a haughty, familiar voice spoke up from beside me. "They just can’t accept that someone lower than them got above."
I turned around.
It was Alicia Raven.
She looked... good. Really good. She had ditched the standard cloak and was wearing a slightly modified uniform that was tighter around the waist, emphasizing her curves. Her silver hair was glowing in the sunlight, and her crimson eyes were sharp.
She crossed her arms, glaring at the students whispering nearby. They instantly shut up and scattered under the Villainess’s gaze.
I leaned against the notice board, crossing my ankles.
"So," I said, dropping my voice to a flirtatious purr. "Do you accept it, Alicia? That someone ’lower’ than you... gets to get above you?"
Alicia froze. She replayed the sentence in her head.
Lower... Above...
Her face turned the color of a ripe tomato.
"Y-You...!" She stammered, stepping back. "You pervert!"
"What?" I blinked innocently, spreading my hands. "I was just asking about the grades. We were ranked lower before, now we are above. What did you think I meant?"
I took a step closer, invading her personal space.
"Unless... you were thinking about something else? You naughty girl."
"I-I was not!" She swatted my arm, but there was no force in it. "You always twist my words! You’re the worst!"
"And yet, you’re standing here talking to me instead of your noble friends."
I reached out and fixed her collar, my knuckles grazing her collarbone. She shivered but didn’t pull away.
[System Notification: Alicia Raven - Interest Level: 65/100 (Flustered/Denial)]
"We have Alchemy class," she muttered, refusing to look me in the eye. "And since Martin is useless, and Emily is... Emily... I guess I have to sit with you."
"A compelling argument," I grinned. "After you, Princess."
We walked toward the Alchemy building together.