Chapter 213: Arena

“What is this…”

Liakade and the others finally entered the secret room where the original protagonist gained their power in the original work. The bizarre scene inside the room sent a chill through everyone.

There wasn’t a trace of magic to be felt in the room.

No, more accurately, not even the slightest sign of life could be sensed in this secret chamber.

Yet Liakade and the others could distinctly feel that Darkness had once been here.

Because everything in the room had been painted over with the purest, deepest black.

The purple-black vines that once hung on the walls, the potted plants emitting a faint black glow—all of it had been completely covered in black, making it impossible to tell what they originally looked like.

The few cats present could only be recognized by their shapes. On their heads, a black substance had blocked their faces entirely—eyes, nose, and mouth—all swallowed by darkness. They stood motionless, devoid of any life.

Yes, these were all the handiwork of Darkness. The first command she gave when activating Shadow Burial was actually to destroy everything in the secret room, leaving Liakade and the others with no information whatsoever.

She intended to leave nothing behind—not even the plants she had grown there, nor the Shadow Cats that had accompanied her. No one was allowed to survive. Not even herself.

After erasing every trace of her existence, Shadow Burial then pursued Liakade.

This was why the scene before Liakade and the others was as it was. Although the secret room had always had a black theme, there used to be gradations of color, faint light, depth, and the vitality unique to the Shadow Demon.

Now, nothing remained.

It was as if all color had been stripped from the room, leaving only a pure, uniform black.

Just entering such a room made Liakade and the others shiver inside at the uncanny atmosphere. The colors on their bodies appeared even more jarring against the darkness.

“So she really did make this her base of operations. And… she’s already wiped everything clean.”

Liakade looked at the slightly raised circular vessel in the center of the secret room. Just by its shape, she couldn’t tell what it was or what purpose it served.

Field walked to the table inside the room, picked up a piece of paper, and tried to feel its texture—but sensed nothing at all. The paper was just a sheet of black, with no way to tell if anything was written or recorded on it.

“Alice, can you try infusing these things with Light Element?”

“I’ll try.”

At Liakade’s request, Alice nodded, stepped forward, and picked up a piece of light black paper, infusing it with Light Element.

She expected the black to be wiped away, but the darkness seemed to be its very essence. After Alice infused her magic, the black paper began to dissolve bit by bit, just like the scene when Shadow Burial disappeared earlier.

“No… it doesn’t work.”

Alice shook her head at the sight before her.

She believed her control over magic had improved greatly, and she’d only infused a faint bit of Light Element this time, but she still couldn’t erase the blackness from the paper.

Because what remained of these papers was only their “shadow”—the contents had long since been wiped clean.

“So the trail ends here.”

Liakade sighed helplessly.

She wasn’t entirely unprepared for this outcome.

“But since the secret room was Darkness’s base, one thing is certain: Darkness impersonating the Grade Director and infiltrating the Academy is absolutely true, Miss Fianna.”

Liakade changed the subject, turning to look at Miss Fianna.

“…Yes, I can’t believe she managed to deceive us all like this. What a blunder.”

After entering the secret room, Miss Fianna finally accepted the truth.

Though she didn’t know when it happened, the Grade Director had long since been replaced—by a Shadow Demon.

“Sigh… How did it come to this?”

Fianna sighed.

A colleague she’d worked with day in and day out, the Grade Director who’d helped her settle in, had disappeared without a trace. She hadn’t even realized someone else had taken their place.

Even though the Shadow Demon had been eliminated now, she couldn’t bring herself to feel any joy.

“I’ll report this to the Academy and have them investigate. Leave the rest to us… By the way, it’s already the holidays. You all did well this semester, and even resolved such a major incident, eliminating a huge hidden threat for the Academy. Thank you.”

“I hope you can all enjoy the holiday.”

“Mm.”

***

In the distant Magic Domain, in a messy room within a castle, Lumina rubbed her eyes and sat up from the floor.

“…Darkness?”

Lumina had been asleep until just now, but suddenly sensed a fluctuation in space.

The Space Coordinate she’d set for Darkness had collapsed moments ago.

Lumina tapped a dark blue Crystal Ball on the ground, infused it with her own silver magic, and tried to contact Darkness.

But there was no response from the other side.

It wasn’t just a matter of not receiving information—the Crystal Ball on Darkness’s end had been destroyed.

It was like trying to make a call only to hear that the number was invalid—the Crystal Ball used for communication was broken.

A faint unease rose in Lumina’s heart.

The disappearance of the Space Coordinate meant the ritual altar she’d built had become invalid.

And the information from the Crystal Ball indicated that Darkness’s Crystal Ball had also been destroyed and was unusable.

Given that, the situation over there was probably extremely dangerous.

“Sigh, Darkness…”

Lumina sighed softly.

From the look of things, there was a high probability that Darkness had been discovered.

As for whether she was dead or not, Lumina wasn’t sure.

But Lumina felt that Darkness was probably dead.

Even if the humans didn’t kill her, she wouldn’t try to escape after being discovered.

Instead, she’d throw herself into a fight, trying to kill that newly appeared Light Element Magic User from the prophecy.

A long time ago, when they discussed the prophecy and the future of the Demon Race, Lumina had opposed Darkness going to the Royal City of the Kingdom of Calderra.

But everyone else agreed, and Darkness herself was willing to go.

If you walk by the river long enough, your shoes will get wet.

The humans weren’t fools—if she infiltrated the Royal City, she was bound to be discovered eventually.

Lumina wasn’t the least bit surprised by Darkness’s death.

Still, why insist on revenge?

The war ended a thousand years ago.

A thousand years is enough time to erase most grudges.

Besides, the Demon Race wasn’t purely a victim.

Wasn’t it the Demon Race that started the first war?

They nearly conquered the entire continent, defeated all the Fantasy Races, and were eventually struck down by Heavenly Punishment, returning to their original lands.

So there’s no need for revenge.

There are no real winners in war.

Even after a thousand years, the others’ hatred hasn’t faded at all.

Lumina couldn’t understand it.

And the Prophecy of the Demon King’s Revival and Return of the Light Maiden only fanned the flames of their anger and desire for vengeance.

“Forget it. It’s your own choice, anyway. Let it be.”

Though Darkness’s death left Lumina feeling a bit touched, more than anything, she simply sighed.

There wasn’t much sadness—her relationship with the other had never been especially close, at best just colleagues.

There was nothing to mourn.

At that moment, another voice intruded.

“Lumina, any news from Darkness lately?”

A female voice, dry yet casual, called from afar.

“She’s dead.”

“What!?”

Hearing Lumina’s blunt yet calm response, Arena was first shocked, then her tone grew serious.

“This isn’t funny. What happened to her?”

“She probably died.”

Lumina turned to look at Arena in the shadows, explaining in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Her Crystal Ball and the Space Anchor I created were both destroyed. That means she was discovered by people from the Royal City. Since that’s the case, what do you think her fate was?”

At Lumina’s rhetorical question, Arena fell into complete silence.

If only the Space Anchor had been destroyed, Arena could have convinced herself that Darkness just needed to relocate and broke it intentionally.

But even the Crystal Ball used for communication had been destroyed.

That meant Darkness’s predicament was far worse than a mere relocation.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

There was a trace of reproach in Arena’s tone.

“I only found out just now.”

“So if you’d known earlier, would you have told me?”

Faced with Arena’s question, Lumina was silent for a moment, then gave her answer.

“No.”

“Heh, just as I thought.”

Arena let out a light laugh.

Seeing Lumina’s indifferent attitude, Arena had long since realized that even if Lumina had learned the news earlier, she wouldn’t have told her.

Darkness’s death didn’t affect her at all.

“Lumina!”

A massive skeletal hand stretched out from the shadows behind Arena, whose figure was obscured.

The bony fist shot toward Lumina, but a silver light flashed and Lumina’s figure instantly flickered to another spot.

“You have no right to call yourself the head of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Race!”

“Is life in the Magic Domain so hard to bear?”

Lumina didn’t respond to Arena’s words, instead throwing the question back at her.

“There’s nothing wrong with our own land, is there? Why is revenge so necessary?”

“The entire continent—once, it should have belonged to us.”

“…Is that really how you see it?”

At this, both fell silent.

Arena didn’t continue attacking Lumina, because she knew she couldn’t win.

Lumina had no intention of fighting either.

She’d only lashed out in anger upon hearing of Darkness’s death.

After a long silence, Arena stopped arguing.

If Lumina wanted to cling to peace, let her.

No matter what, Arena would seek revenge.

“How is Lord Minotauros’s Blood Sacrifice progressing?”

“Four more years to go.”

Lumina, while wanting peace, hadn’t completely refrained from aiding them—she just didn’t help actively.

The offerings Darkness sent were still faithfully sacrificed to Minotauros.

“Why do you ask? Don’t tell me…”

Hearing Arena’s words, Lumina seemed to guess her intentions.

“Yes, exactly as you think.”

Arena interrupted her.

She intended to inherit Darkness’s will, prepare to head to the border of the Royal City, and slaughter the inhabitants of border towns to offer them as sacrifices to Minotauros.

“No… just be careful.”

Lumina wanted to dissuade her, but in the end, she simply told Arena to be careful.

“Don’t bother pretending here. If you really want to help me, if you’re truly worried for me and Darkness, then go and fight alongside us!”

“…If Minotauros is resurrected, if the one who claims the throne of the Demon King is Minotauros, then I’ll help you. If you wish to attack the human world and conquer the other Fantasy Races, I’ll join you then.”

“Heh, better be.”

Hearing Lumina’s change in attitude, Arena finally calmed down.

She turned and disappeared into the darkness.

Left alone, Lumina lay down helplessly, closed her eyes, and resumed her sleep.