Chapter 68: Aftermath
“Sister...”
Sia called out to Tiss in a voice soaked with pain and grief that felt like it would tear her heart apart.
Tiss, who had fainted in Sia’s arms, now wore a face that was a little more peaceful than before.
That sight made Sia feel like she was going insane, as if Tiss had slipped into eternal sleep compared to her earlier appearance.
No more tears streamed from Sia’s eyes.
Inside her chest now burned an inferno.
I hate it. Everything.
Everything was hateful and infuriating.
Even herself, who hadn’t awakened that ability yet, the Calamity Cheon Geomhwa who had turned her sister into this, and the entire world that couldn’t protect even this small, delicate sister.
Without reason or excuse, she wanted to spew out the sludge churning in her stomach in a wild frenzy.
If her blood-related brother who felt the same way had shared that pain and borne it for her, Sia would have definitely gone mad.
“Again… I couldn’t protect her again.”
Siwoo was also scolding himself with a tragic face.
Siwoo felt exactly the same way as Sia.
They were holding back despite wanting to go insane, because they were afraid that if they moved wrongly they might harm Tiss.
The two siblings didn’t even control their breathing, let alone move.
They stood frozen in place like statues.
“Whitey disappeared without a word again.”
Baba Yaga sighed, grabbing her head when she couldn’t sense White Ghost’s presence nearby.
White Ghost, who handled high-risk threats, being absent meant there were no more dangerous enemies in this area.
“Principal Baba Yaga.”
Lionel, covered in blood, approached Baba Yaga.
“Oh, kitty.”
“Has the intrusion ended?”
“As you can see, it’s all over.”
Together with the trials White Ghost had imposed on Tiss, all the intruders had been subdued.
It bothered Baba Yaga a little that the worm swarm monsters showed extremely low violence, just claiming to be meat shields, but she understood there were Gregory Cult disciples among the captured ones.
“Cooperation between siblings?”
It was clear that siblings had formed an alliance with beasts that saw each other as food and ate each other to grow stronger through a new calamity.
It might become another new anomaly, but it could be investigated later.
The raid related to the entrance ceremony in front of us had been stopped at the same time as the Calamity Cheon Geomhwa fell.
“Declare the end and do the aftermath cleanup.”
“Understood. Situation ended!”
Lionel fixed his crooked tie and shouted the lion’s roar in a loud voice.
Huuu.
“Ugh, it’s tough.”
In response, the other examinees who had fought the villains rushing from the entrance sat down in their places and let out sighs.
Rustle.
“Two black marks on the lungs, what’s this on the heart side?”
Baba Yaga examined the body of the fallen Calamity Cheon Geomhwa.
The lung side was a sword wound infused with the power of the Silent Killing Method she knew well, but the wound on the left chest was a bit different.
“What happened inside the barrier?”
It was a horribly torn wound. It looked like something had been shot out from the inside to the outside.
Tsk.
The remaining residual mana in the Calamity Cheon Geomhwa’s body was close to zero.
How intense had it been inside for her to pour out everything without looking back?
Looking at her body turned into a weapon made of blood and flesh, Baba Yaga clicked her tongue.
Even if she won inside, once she came out she would obviously be caught by her and White Ghost, right? Was there someone behind her?
Baba Yaga found it a bit strange that the Calamity Cheon Geomhwa had made such a decision.
Everything will be known once that kid opens her eyes.
After confirming the fallen Calamity Cheon Geomhwa, Baba Yaga approached Sia who was holding Tiss.
She really looks a lot like her. There’s a reason the Order’s fortune teller raised her while holding her.
The sight of Tiss, who resembled the pure white White Ghost, being held by Sia who resembled the hero, was enough to recall Baba Yaga’s old memories.
Haa.
“Kid, I know your heart is tragic, but if you want to save the fluffy one, you should start with treatment, right?”
Instead of her usual arrogant tone, Baba Yaga spoke to the child in a warm, elder-like tone.
Startled.
Sia, with a dazed face, reacted blankly to Baba Yaga’s “you have to save her”.
Sia barely lifted her head to look at Baba Yaga, as if to prevent harm to Tiss.
“Hand over the fluffy one to this old woman. I will take responsibility and definitely save the fluffy one.”
Baba Yaga knew that Tiss had many things to learn, and personally she didn’t want to see the new student Tiss die at all.
“Please take care of my sister.”
When Baba Yaga called her by name, Sia reluctantly loosened her arms holding Tiss.
Baba Yaga carefully used telekinesis to lift Tiss into the air.
“It’s late, but you surviving brats. Welcome to the Academy. With this, I declare the end of the entrance ceremony.”
With Baba Yaga’s final proclamation, the magic circle rose, and she disappeared with Tiss.
Finally, the Academy entrance ceremony ended.
…
…
…
The scene where Baba Yaga took Tiss away was in the midst of aftermath cleanup.
“Come on, everyone, stand up and move.”
“Ugh, I’m in too much pain… ouch, it hurts.”
“What, injury? Injury can’t be helped.”
“It’s fortunate… then I’ll go in first.”
“Drink one more potion placed over there.”
“Eh?”
Pong.
Lionel secretly gave a potion to Levi who was trying to slip away and smiled.
Lionel himself meant it as a way to relax, but…
Grumble.
Lionel’s smiling face with the lion’s head was no different from a lion’s face in front of its prey.
“Hiiik!”
Levi, who became a rabbit in front of the lion, gulped down the potion in a panic and fled.
The cleanup of the messy entrance ceremony after Tiss disappeared ironically used the healthiest examinees.
From the examinees’ perspective, it wasn’t boring or unwilling work.
“There, that person, the hero who advertised Blue Aqua? Coming all the way here to apply.”
“I, the black and white haired one from the Jin family sent someone!”
“As expected, she’s the young lady of a prestigious family.”
The atmosphere in the area was quite excited.
Immediately after the simultaneous terror attack in Area 3 was suppressed, the bureau dispatched all remaining personnel to the Academy and started the aftermath cleanup.
The examinees who had finished treating their wounds with the intermediate potions provided by the Academy were buzzing with stories about the recent battle.
Those who were shaking with blood on their hands had already been filtered out from the previous exam.
The main stories were about Baba Yaga and White Ghost, the returning old legends.
For White Ghost, besides being white, they knew nothing, but still couldn’t hide their excitement just from the fact that the legend had been there with them.
Besides the two legends, various stories circulated.
“As expected, the advanced class was passed down from before the entrance exam?”
Among hundreds of students, the topic characters were naturally those who stood out from the 0th exam to the entrance ceremony.
Not only Irmina and Jin Seoyul, who were already famous, but also Levi, who was mocked by Lionel but survived without dying in the monster wave by cleverly avoiding it.
If Baba Yaga evaluated the examinees, she would show a dry reaction like comparing acorns among squirrels, but there were obviously noticeable ones.
“There, the blonde siblings, aren’t they like the heroes from the old legends?”
“I heard there’s a rumor that they’re descendants of the hero, is it true?”
“They even fought the Calamity Cheon Geomhwa.”
“Are they already at active duty level?”
It was Siwoo and Sia.
Not like Irmina, who was a case of being from a famous family or a child prodigy since childhood, but Siwoo and Sia, who appeared out of nowhere like dropped from the sky, were on the lips of the examinees.
Their activities in the previous exam were impressive, but the image of them not backing down even a step against the Calamity Cheon Geomhwa was deeply imprinted in the minds of the other examinees.
That appearance without any retreat was truly a real hero.
In fact, Siwoo and Sia, the topic protagonists, didn’t hear or think at all that they were the main characters of the story.
The fact that Tiss suffered a major injury had thrown them into hell while still alive.
Siwoo and Sia endlessly scolded themselves for their weakness and moved like machines without saying a word.
“There, you…”
Even a hero who tried to say something moved away pretending not to notice the dark atmosphere of the three.
“Sia unnie.”
“Dorothy, huh.”
“Is our angel okay?”
Sia hugged the approaching Dorothy and muttered in a small voice.
“It’ll be okay. It really… it will be okay.”
It wasn’t really thinking it would be okay, but a reaction mixed with anxiety from wanting to hear those words.
Sia unnie is so pitiful.
Dorothy, who had been watching Tiss for the past 2 years.
Siwoo oppa and Sia unnie had formed a bond for a much shorter time than herself, even though they were separated from the angel earlier, but it was sad that they cherished the angel as much or more than herself, but didn’t see her face often and kept getting involved in such accidents.
Pat pat.
Dorothy stroked Sia’s back with her small fern-like hands, wanting to comfort her.
“Siwoo, Sia, and Dorothy new students. You three can go now.”
Lionel, who had been managing and supervising the new students left at the scene, saw the three and issued a dismissal order on the spot.
“It’s not over yet…”
“Looking at that face like you’re about to die right now, it would only bring down the morale of the surrounding colleagues. Return first and take a rest. I’ll pass on the news about Tiss the new student as it comes.”
“Please, Lionel Hunter-nim.”
“…Understood.”
“Please take care of the angel.”
Siwoo, Sia, and Dorothy finally stood up from their seats and staggered back to the dorm.
There were a few people who watched the topic protagonists walking away with interest.
Jin Seoyul, the young lady of the Jin family, was one of those who was interested in the three.
“Hmm~ I knew he wasn’t a loser, but to this extent.”
She left the welcoming people from the family to their duties and sat on the chair, polishing the weapon she had used until recently.
Jin Seoyul’s gaze from the prestigious family was directed at Siwoo and Sia walking away.
“What do you think, loser princess?”
“Seoyul, don’t call me that. You haven’t dropped that concept yet?”
“Hee~ Calling a loser a loser, what’s the problem?”
Jin Seoyul, turning her head to talk to the person in front, had a strange smile.
A girl with icy blue hair and an expressionless face sat in the chair opposite Jin Seoyul.
“Then, cold Grand Duchess. If it were you, could you fight the Calamity Cheon Geomhwa alone?”
“Steel Witch Cheon Geomhwa?”
“Loser, if you can’t fight, how about enduring?”
The Grand Duchess simulated a defensive battle against the Calamity Cheon Geomhwa according to Jin Seoyul’s words.
Although she had suffered a severe injury with one arm cut off, the opponent was the former A+ hunter Calamity Cheon Geomhwa.
Even if she opened her ability and Hwando’s power, it was reality that she couldn’t win, let alone hold out for a minute.
“If it were my father, maybe. But with me, it’s impossible. What about you, Seoyul?”
Jin Seoyul also simulated whether such a battle would be possible against the Calamity Cheon Geomhwa with her own skill.
Even considering that there were two siblings, what if she did it herself?
Imagining standing there and enduring was impossible.
“I’m also honestly impossible♡ Such foolish things, I wouldn’t even start in the first place.”
“True, your gloomy twin blades are for assassination in the first turn, not protecting someone.”
The Grand Duchess was someone who passed the criteria set by Jin Seoyul herself, so she didn’t show any displeasure with her calm evaluation.
“Then… how did that girl who defeated the Calamity Cheon Geomhwa do it?”
…
…
…
Time passed, and even the returning students who had been away from the Academy during the vacation returned to the dorm.
Most students had moved to the dorms to prepare for the new semester.
“This new one went through an enormous thing, huh?”
Both returning students and new students mostly had the story of the entrance ceremony raid as the main topic of conversation.
But among them, there was a separate topic character.
“So… who exactly was that white-haired beast girl who defeated the Calamity Cheon Geomhwa?”
Tiss, the white-haired beast girl who defeated the Calamity Cheon Geomhwa who wasn’t present at this place, was the protagonist.
“White Ghost’s daughter, right?”
“Eh, not exactly daughter, maybe a made one?”
“Wasn’t it the secret weapon raised to create a second hero party at the Academy?”
While Sia, Siwoo, and Dorothy stayed silent, the people who didn’t know about that day’s events and Tiss’s identity just kept rambling about empty rumors.
As a result, baseless rumors spread noisily among the students, and curiosity only grew.
Before long, time passed, and only one day remained until the start of classes.
Around that time, Tiss, the party to the silent rumors…
“I remembered. Who you are.”
She was being tormented by the white girl who looked exactly like herself, who had climbed onto the bed.