Although Liyakade had changed her battle strategy, the current situation was still far from optimistic.
Under Liyakade’s offensive, there was no sign of the insect swarm diminishing; they continued to surge endlessly, surrounding Liyakade and the others.
As for Darkness, Liyakade guessed she had run a little further away, unfolding the Shadow Domain from a more distant spot and releasing all the monsters to guide them toward Liyakade’s side.
Liyakade speculated that these monsters had been carried inside the Shadow Domain when Darkness infiltrated.
Just like the monsters Liyakade encountered on the back hill before the cultural festival, they were kept within some shadow of the Academy for emergencies.
Logically speaking, Darkness’s Shadow Domain shouldn’t be limitless; the space she could contain likely depended on her own level, increasing as her level rose.
Therefore, these insect swarms and monsters couldn’t be infinite either, but even if Liyakade could absorb the Magic Power from killing monsters, dragging this out would still be disadvantageous for them.
After all, the others couldn’t recover, and even if Liyakade protected them and let them focus on defending themselves, facing attacks from all directions would still consume more or less Magic Power. It was best to find a way to break through.
“We still have to find a way to break through.”
Liyakade shredded several insects in front of her and communicated with Alice and the others.
“Since these swarms are released by Darkness through shadows, there must be traces of Darkness’s Magic Power lingering on them.”
“I’m already tracking it.”
Field took out the Magic Detector from earlier. There were remnants of Shadowflower Eater inside the detector, and as Field injected Magic Power, the needle on the detector began to move slowly.
“Over there!”
Field looked at the direction of the needle, pointing further down the walkway. According to the Magic Detector, Darkness seemed to be lurking deeper within Bibo Gorge.
“Is she trying to lure us deeper?”
Liyakade pondered for a moment. They were still on the outskirts of Bibo Gorge. If they forced their way through now and retreated toward the camp, they’d surely be safe.
But doing so would definitely let Darkness escape, and once they ran, the unresolved insect swarms would inevitably head toward the Student Corps. At that point, the other students would be in danger.
Their strength was nowhere near as great as Liyakade’s group—on average, only about LV.30. One person could only face four or five such monsters and couldn’t even kill in a single blow. Even with other Teachers for protection, it would be difficult to keep all the students safe.
Adding Darkness’s sneak attacks, the other students might be wiped out and sacrificed to Darkness.
Therefore, after considering for a while, Liyakade ultimately decided to pursue Darkness and completely defeat her.
“Let’s go, we’re going after her!”
Once the decision was made, Liyakade finally stopped conserving Magic Power.
Alice began chanting quickly, casting Light Element Blessing on everyone except Liyakade.
The reason Liyakade wasn’t blessed was that she had already fully activated her Demon Bloodline, and the Light Element Blessing would only have negative effects on her.
A blue breeze swept over everyone as Liyakade accelerated the group with Wind Element.
Chloe and Field also bestowed enhancements that increased defense and attack.
“Stay together.”
Once all the buffs were in place, Liyakade charged at the front, crimson claws tearing through the air and opening a path through the insect swarm.
With Liyakade leading the charge, they passed through the swarm as if no one could stop them, following the guidance of the Magic Detector all the way to a cave in the gorge.
“So this is where she was hiding?”
Liyakade shredded more insects. Judging from their feel and size, these were clearly not mature insects but larvae.
From this, it seemed the insect swarm Darkness commanded was starting to weaken.
Darkness deliberately hid in the cave because it was filled with shadows, allowing her to fully utilize the advantages of her Shadow Magic.
“Hmph, what good does hiding in here do? In front of Alice, no matter how many shadows there are, it’s useless.”
Field scoffed at this, already eager to charge into the cave.
“Wait.”
Liyakade cautiously stopped Field and spoke to Alice.
“Alice, attack inside with your Magic first. It’s better if you can cover a wider area.”
“Okay.”
Alice nodded, and before entering the cave, she released several white light points to illuminate the inside, then gathered several Light Spheres and fired them into the cave.
Once the light points advanced into the cave, Liyakade led the others inside.
As they ventured deeper, the number and size of the insects gradually decreased.
However, within the cave, a disturbing sound echoed faintly.
“Puchi puchi–“
“W-What is that sound?”
Chloe swallowed nervously, moving closer to the others, feeling as if something in the darkness was watching them.
“Tch, quit trying to scare us.”
Field glared at the direction indicated by the Magic Detector, conjured a ball of flame, and launched it into the shadow.
The fire instantly lit up the end of the cave, and the scene before them made everyone shiver.
“This, this is…!?”
On the stone wall lay a mutilated female corpse, grotesquely swollen for some reason. As Liyakade and the others watched, several larvae slowly crawled out of the corpse.
“Eeeeeek!!!!”
Alice and Chloe screamed in terror. They had never seen such a horrifying sight. Even Field, a Princess, was so shocked she stepped back.
“This…how could…”
Illuminated by the firelight, Field recognized the corpse—it was Irina Zi, who had been abducted from the prison by Darkness.
They thought Darkness wanted to team up with Eric and Irina Zi to fight them, but unexpectedly, Irina Zi was already dead.
But then why was the Magic Detector pointing at Irina Zi’s corpse?
Field swallowed, staring at the gruesome remains, and even she felt a tinge of fear.
“Help me…”
“Who?!”
Field reflexively shone the fire toward the source of the plea.
There, Eric was tied to the stone wall, disheveled. His abdomen and lower body had been gnawed by larvae, blood oozing down the wall, disappearing as it touched the ground and merging into the shadows.
“Help…me, Alice…”
At that moment, Eric, barely alive, felt nothing but deep regret.
Eric had followed Darkness’s orders, bringing Irina Zi here and forcing her to ceaselessly give birth to Shadowflower Eaters.
The scene was so horrifying that even Eric couldn’t bear to look.
But Darkness refused to let Eric leave, ordering him to stay and watch over Irina Zi.
At this point, Eric’s fear of Darkness outweighed his desire for revenge. He only wanted to escape after fulfilling Darkness’s command.
However, Darkness had never intended to let Eric live.
When Irina Zi’s life could no longer sustain the larvae, Darkness mercilessly nailed Eric’s limbs to the stone wall, forcing Irina Zi to continue producing larvae, then letting the larvae devour Eric’s limbs and organs for nourishment.
No matter how Eric begged, Darkness only smiled coldly. She didn’t cut out his tongue or vocal cords—she wanted to savor his pained, despairing screams.
Thus, Irina Zi died before Eric’s eyes, and most of Eric’s body had been eaten away.
“Help me…”
Eric used his last strength to beg Alice for help.
He knew the Light Element had healing powers—even if his body was ravaged, as long as the bleeding stopped, he could survive…
If only he’d refused Darkness from the start—spending the rest of his life in prison would be better than this!
Yet, before Eric finished speaking, a crimson flash pierced his temple.
“Liyakade…”
“He’s beyond saving.”
Liyakade looked at Field, her face expressionless.
“Alice’s level isn’t high enough to regenerate lost limbs. His internal organs are gone— even if you stop the bleeding, he wouldn’t last long. This is the price he paid for succumbing to the Demon Race.”
“Why do you think he was here? It had to be that Darkness used revenge against us as bait to lure him. Since he agreed, he had to be prepared to be drained of value and then killed.”
With that, Liyakade suddenly swung a claw toward the way they came. A crimson arc collided with Darkness’s claws, sparks flying and illuminating Darkness’s crazed face.
“Hehe, Liyakade, you’re absolutely right.”
The four turned in unison toward Darkness.
It turned out that Darkness had never hidden in the cave at all.
Because the insect swarm was born from Irina Zi, the Magic Detector pointed at her corpse, while Darkness had been hiding outside. The attacks Alice launched into the cave hadn’t touched Darkness in the slightest.
Darkness had drawn Alice and the others into the cave to create a battlefield in her favor.
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