The Last-Seat Hero Has Returned

23. Was it you? (4)

The city of Valhalla, built around the Hero School.

As a city located in the ‘neutral zone’ along with the school, it was a place where the cultures of the three kingdoms came together to create a brilliant civilization.

Connoisseurs say that Valhalla is more luxurious than the capital of the Empire, more magnificent than the capital of the Holy Kingdom, and more advanced than the capital of the Republic.

But the more the city’s lights glittered, the darker the shadows cast beneath them.

Valhalla had the most notorious and largest slum on the continent.

In the slum of Valhalla, known as the ‘Ant Nest,’ a group of men in black robes were moving through the gloomy streets.

Even the residents of the Ant Nest, who were so steeped in drugs and alcohol that they feared nothing, flinched and turned away at the sight of the men in black robes exuding a sinister aura.

“Open it.”

“Yes, sir!”

Calix’s subordinates entered the maze-like alleys of the Ant Nest and placed their palms on an empty wall.

-Whooom!

As black light flowed from three directions into the wall, a round entrance appeared on the previously empty wall.

“Whew.”

Back at the hideout, Calix threw off his robe and let out a low sigh.

‘Now, what to do next.’

There were many things to take care of to make the dead cadet’s disappearance look like a ‘missing’ case.

‘First, we need to find someone who looks as similar as possible to that candidate.’

The plan is as follows.

A candidate, unable to bear the stress of academics and the oppression of the professors, escaped from the school and fled to his hometown.

To create this scenario, we needed to find someone who closely resembled that candidate and create an alibi that he had fled to his hometown.

‘First, we need to find out where he’s from.’

Judging by his appearance, he seems to be from the Republic.

However, unlike 500 years ago when the people of the Republic first crossed over from a world called ‘Korea,’ over time their race has mixed significantly with the continentals, making it difficult to judge based on appearance alone.

‘We need to finish this as quickly as possible before he finds out.’

Calix bit his lip with an anxious expression.

“Have you arrived, Priest Calix!”

“I heard that contact with Husk has been lost….”

As he entered the hideout, his subordinates, who had been waiting inside, swarmed out.

The number of demons that swarmed out was thirty.

They were the demons of the Demon Cult, carrying out the tasks necessary for the plan under Calix’s orders.

“Everyone, be quiet.”

Calix issued a heavy command to his restless subordinates and sat down on a chair.

“Calix, this candidate’s body….”

“Put it over there in the corner. Husk’s body should be chopped up and fed to the wild dogs.”

“Y-yes, I will follow your orders!”

Even though they were demons serving the Demon God, they couldn’t help but stutter at the cruel order to chop up a dead comrade’s body and feed it to wild dogs.

“By the way.”

Calix’s eyes gleamed menacingly.

“Who was supposed to go with Husk to drive the ‘nail’ today?”

“That….”

The demons’ gazes focused on one person.

“Was it you?”

“I, uh, that is… Calix.”

The demon, who had been backing away with a pale face, bowed his head at Calix’s feet.

“I-I’m sorry! I promise this will never happen again!”

“It won’t happen again, Ra.”

With a smirk, Calix reached out to the bowing demon.

“I don’t trust the living.”

“He, heek!”

“The only ones I can trust are always.”

The dead.

“Ca, Calix, please!”

A black light gathered in the outstretched palm.

The dark energy, formed into sharp spikes, shot like arrows and pierced the demon’s head.

“Chop up this corpse and feed it to the others.”

“Y-yes!”

The demons, who had been watching the situation with terrified expressions, dragged the corpse of the demon with its head brutally pierced into the room.

“Whew.”

Calix, who had killed a subordinate in an instant, leaned back in his chair with a calm expression.

“How is the work on the other ley lines progressing?”

“S-smoothly.”

“There aren’t any idiots like that one wandering around alone, are there?”

“N-no, there aren’t!”

The subordinates answered with tense expressions.

“Tsk.”

Calix clicked his tongue in displeasure.

There were probably some among them who secretly violated the rules.

He wanted to find and kill every subordinate who broke the rules, but then there wouldn’t be enough people for the work.

“Um… Priest.”

“What is it?”

“Should we halt the work on the ley lines until we create an alibi for that candidate?”

By tomorrow, at least the professor who issued the permit to the candidate would know that one candidate had disappeared.

Until they created false evidence that the candidate had run away on their own, the risk of continuing the work was too great.

“Hmm.”

Calix, who had been thinking for a moment at the subordinate’s words, shook his head with a heavy expression.

“No, proceed with the work as planned.”

“Ha, but!”

“Even if the professor who sent the cadet to the outdoor training ground loses contact for a day or two, they won’t immediately report it to the school.”

In that case, the professor who issued the permit can’t avoid responsibility either, so they will have to be cautious.

‘At most, they will search alone.’

Of course, the risk of the operation increases regardless.

“If the operation is delayed, the plan will be delayed.”

“But isn’t there still a year left until the full execution of the plan?”

“You fool! Why do you think we’ve been preparing for this operation for years?”

Calix clicked his tongue in disdain.

“Infusing the ley lines with a bit of ‘curse’ to create a large-scale ritual is such a complex task that even He had to prepare for a long time.”

And above all.

‘The moment it becomes known that the plan has gone awry, I am dead.’

No matter what, this incident had to be concealed.

“If you understand, quickly find someone who looks similar to that cadet.”

“Ah, understood.”

Main bowed his head and approached the corner where the cadet’s corpse was placed.

“Let’s see… what did this guy’s face look like?”

Earlier, the situation was so urgent that there was no time to examine the cadet’s face.

As he moved towards the cadet’s corpse placed in the corner.

“…Huh?”

Gray ash fluttering in the corner.

“What is this?”

Main frowned and brushed away the gray ash scattered on the floor with his foot.

And then.

Slash!

“…Huh?”

With a flash of blue light, Main’s head rolled on the floor.

“Yes… that’s how it was.”

The gray-haired cadet, who was thought to be dead with a pierced heart, rose from his place.

“Wha, what?”

“What the…!”

The demons standing around, as well as Calix, looked at the cadet who was rising with eyes wide open in disbelief.

“Alive…?”

No.

That couldn’t be.

‘Didn’t I pierce his heart?’

Hurriedly getting up from his chair to inspect the cadet, he saw that the chest, which had been pierced through by the thorn of magic, had completely regenerated.

“W-What is this…?”

Even Calix, who usually didn’t show his emotions, was stammering in shock.

“Didn’t you say earlier that you don’t trust the words of the living?”

The gray-haired cadet, Dale, who had risen from the corner, looked back at Calix and let out a chuckle.

“From now on, don’t trust the dead either.”

“……”

Calix’s expression twisted fiercely.

“I don’t know what trick you used… but did you think you could get out of here alive?”

This place was the hideout of the Demon Cult, where thirty demons were gathered.

And he himself held the position of ‘priest’ among the demons.

Even an active hero wouldn’t be able to handle a priest-level demon, let alone a mere cadet.

“You seem to be mistaken about something.”

“Mistaken?”

Dale smirked and tapped the floor with the sword in his hand.

“I’m not the one who should be worried about getting out alive.”

The ones who should be worried.

“Are you.”

“…What?”

Calix’s face twisted in disbelief.

Dale, as if uninterested in Calix, leisurely turned his head to look around the hideout.

Scattered around the hideout were black nails the size of a fist.

‘Did they say they were pouring curses into the ley lines?’

And the real plan starts next year, huh.

“…Ha.”

Given this many clues, failing to realize what their ‘plan’ is and who ‘that person’ they speak of is, disqualifies me as a regressor.

– It was a curse.

– …A curse? By whom?

Suddenly.

A conversation I had with Iris in the past came to mind.

The one who cast a curse over the entire school, taking her sight, the title of ‘Saint’, and even the life of a dear friend.

The one who made it so she could no longer smile like a mischievous child.

– The Archbishop of Dreams, Ashtaroth.

“Ha, haha.”

They say when a person is too angry, they end up laughing instead.

“Right….”

I took out a glass bottle filled with blue liquid from my bosom and gulped it down.

“So it was you?”

Clang.

The sound of the empty glass bottle falling and breaking on the floor.

Sun Sword.

Form 6, White Light.

A pure white light filled the room.