Chapter 178
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 178
Chapter Title: Lesson 35. The Final Chainling - 3
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[Master ― You arrived? Really?]
[Me ― I told you I'd wrap it up quick. Heading straight to you now.]
[Master ― No...... sorry, we're good here. Dokgo Yeon's fighting Ryu Cheol-myeong right now.]
[Me ― You better spoil me rotten once it's over.]
[Master ― Please. Stay safe.]
Mira closed the mirror, a smile curling her lips.
She'd secured the promise.
It had stung like hell getting scooped by Lucelle, but truthfully, she'd half-expected it ever since hearing Rebellion was heading to Lucelle's homeworld for their special activity.
Still, she couldn't afford to lag any further.
Time to turn the tables, starting now.
"Mira, I'm dying here."
"You'll live, Shati."
The reason they'd wrapped up their special activity—slated for up to two weeks—in record time was dead simple.
They'd eaten the negative eval, negotiated with Professor Campanella to lock in the activity zone ahead of time, prepped the groundwork, then bulldozed through with overwhelming force to clean house in one go.
Mobilizing every ounce of the student council's connections and clout had paid off big, but on the flip side, it'd crammed two weeks of work into a single day. Fatigue was inevitable.
She'd planned to crash for a full day then head out the next, but spotting that broadcast mishap with Lucelle and Ban Yu-won had sent Mira into overdrive, launching them straight to the E-1 dimension.
No wonder their enthusiasm levels were mismatched.
"I really don't wanna give this up, but...... here."
"Took you long enough."
Mira tore open the candy bag from Ban Yu-won and handed Shati one of the individually wrapped Life Elixirs.
Shati snatched it with a grin that made her exhaustion seem like an act, popping it straight into her mouth.
"Ahh~ Feels like I'm alive again. Dating the planning chief just for daily access to these? Totally worth it."
"Yu-won's not your personal pastry chef."
Mira grumbled, tossing one into her own mouth.
As her depleted stamina and magic power surged back to full alongside Shati's during the special activity, Mira thought how lucky they were.
Without these, she never would've pushed so brutally hard.
"Transparency mode still holding?"
"Yeah, but we'll get spotted the second we hit the atmosphere. Exodus looks like they're pulling back their ships, though......"
The spaceship carrying the two hovered before Jeda, the sole mana civilization in E-1—the Jade Star.
Atmospheric entry was minutes away.
They weren't rushing; they were scanning the scene.
Exodus always parked support fleets outside the atmosphere no matter the planet they hit, prepped for contingencies. And right there, those supports were retreating through the dimensional barrier.
"Did Yu-won take them all out?"
"Planning chief's badass, but not that badass. Weird. They came in guns blazing—why bail so easy?"
"That's because Yu-won......"
"Why do you turn into an idiot whenever Planning Chief's involved lately?"
Shati spun around from magnifying the ship's display to analyze Jeda, her face a mask of exasperation. Mira met her gaze, violet eyes brimming with utter sincerity.
"Shati, you know how love gets when it runs too deep?...... It can kill you."
Mira clutched her chest with one hand.
Probably feeling Ban Yu-won through the candy he'd made her, or her heart fluttering from that broadcast blunder.
"Terminal case. No need to prove it by dying. Got it?"
Shati narrowed her devilish vertical-slit eyes, placating her roughly.
But Mira's comeback exceeded expectations.
"Of course. My life's not mine anymore."
Shati was done.
She vowed never to humor Mira's love talk again, punching detailed coordinates into the ship and altering course.
"Found Ryu Cheol-myeong. Heading there first."
"He's linked to us—going in means he spots us. Stealth's pointless. Better charge straight."
"Hold up."
Right as they prepped a flashy dive to amp the curse on Ryu Cheol-myeong and nab him, Shati's face tensed. She fiddled with the console.
A small display popped up beside the main feed capturing Jeda's surface.
It was from the rear camera—and it showed a fleet moving in formation.
"What the...... hell is this."
"Crimson Spear......"
Crimson Spear: a dimension pirate syndicate notorious across all realms.
They followed in Exodus's infamous footsteps, but unlike Exodus's hatred for higher dimensions and their rulers, rumors swirled they backed by an S-grade dimension. In some ways, shadier than Exodus.
"Just when it's messy enough, why show up now?"
Shati let out a theatrical sigh.
She knew why without asking.
They'd caught wind of Exodus and rushed over.
Maybe eyeing Jeda as a bonus...
"So that's why Exodus bailed. But why?"
"Shati...... can we request backup from the Chancellor?"
"Report's in. ......Wish they'd just clash with Exodus and call it."
Shati gunned the engines.
No matter what, prioritize Ryu Cheol-myeong, link up with Ban Yu-won.
"Mira, you okay?"
"Bad feeling......"
Mira's smooth brow furrowed.
"Target isn't Exodus."
"Then?"
"Maybe...... me."
Shati forgot to breathe for a beat.
"Why would they want you?...... Never mind. Means Ryu Cheol-myeong called them, factoring us in."
"Later. Hurry now."
The ship pierced the atmosphere.
Instantly, the curse link manifesting through Shati and controlled by Mira intensified, yanking at her hard.
Ryu Cheol-myeong at the chain's end surely sensed them too.
"Exodus fleet's fully retreated. Engaging Crimson Spear. Ah...... looks like you nailed it, Mira. A few ships breaking off mid-fight, heading our way."
"......"
Mira paled.
Shati knew full well Mira was the linchpin of A-1 dimension.
In interdimensional skirmishes, she'd be target one.
Or was it the reverse?
Trouble around her could escalate any conflict.
But now of all times?!
"Mira, snap out of it."
"We're here to help, but what if I drag Yu-won down instead."
Ah, damn.
Shati sighed again, hating how she'd let that thought take root.
"If my death keeps Yu-won safe, then......"
"I said no extreme thoughts five minutes ago. All for the planning chief, right? How d'you think he'd feel if you offed yourself?"
"But."
"Mira, calm down."
A massive ship floated into view.
Amid Exodus's full retreat, one ship left abandoned, seized by outsiders, standing lonely.
Even the fierce clash of red and black auras atop it was crystal clear.
One Ryu Cheol-myeong, the other...... Dokgo Yeon? Shati clicked her tongue inwardly.
Curse or no, aura quality didn't drop that far.
Facing it head-on? What kind of monster was she?
"Request approved. Full Professor's en route for backup. Problem solved, right?"
"Full Professor? Not Kantone, I hope."
"As if. Chancellor's trash, but once he commits to support, it's solid. Chin up. Time to kill Ryu Cheol-myeong."
"......Yeah. I'll kill him."
The ship hatch opened.
They leaped out, casting spells to hover midair.
The abandoned ship shrank to a model, slipping into Shati's pocket.
"Let's go."
"Right. ......Ah."
Shati had relaxed seeing Mira steel herself with a cool gaze, but her mirror buzzed next instant. Checking it, her expression turned peculiar.
"What?"
"Nah...... just confirms my hunch was spot on."
"Shati?"
"It's fine. Just checked insurance. So...... you and Planning Chief'll be safe."
The two of them, that is.
Shati swallowed the rest, unfurling her devil wings.
After a long glide, the ship loomed clear.
"You―――came――――――!!"
A venom-laced roar battered their eardrums.
He felt it too.
The moment they locked eyes, his power must've halved at least.
"How dare you insolent bitches try to bind me, Ryu Cheol-myeong!"
Red aura shaped like a crescent moon lanced toward their lives, but something Shati summoned midair with no prep blocked and dissolved it.
Iblis Ring's innate authority: Summon.
Unlike her kin, she could only call uncontrollable monsters, but she precisely controlled the coordinates. Perfect for sacrificial shields against attacks.
"You could've stayed professor-like—no issues then, you horny mutt!"
The block amplified the curse clamping him.
Professor attacking students? Payback time.
Shati thrust her hand, firing a thick black laser of dark magic.
"Die!"
"Gravekeeper of Purgatory!"
Mira invoked her contract constellation's name, unleashing its power.
A horrific authority massively boosting her pre-laid curse to weaken foes fatally unto death.
"Perish under the grudges you spawned!"
The endless red aura erupting from the ship visibly shrank.
"Kuhak!"
"――Haaap!"
And that was Dokgo Yeon's cue.
Leaping valiantly, her thrust sword finally severed Ryu Cheol-myeong's waist.
Lower half melting into death, upper fleeing skyward.
Shocking: he still lived.
"Not human anymore—a monster."
Dokgo Yeon bit her lip, pursuing, but spotting aura-charged blood gushing from the wound, she urgently dodged back.
Meanwhile, half-bodied Ryu Cheol-myeong pondered dragging one soul with him down his confirmed death path...
Not Dokgo Yeon who'd bisected him, but whoever left him this wretched.
"Kuh......!"
Blood from his waist surged with aura, forging temporary legs.
Literally squeezing life for fake limbs granting explosive leap power.
His tenacious vitality stunned allies and foes alike—the man who'd claimed a Full Professor seat at the Academy.
"With power like that, why......"
"Come with me."
Ryu Cheol-myeong leaped again, stepping air.
Every blood droplet erupting became red aura bullets raining on the pair.
Dokgo Yeon had poured all strength into that waist-severing strike—couldn't aid them.
Mira and Shati threw up barriers to block.
But next instant, an aura-laced blade closed to their noses.
What the students opposing Ryu Cheol-myeong overlooked:
Transcendent-adjacent lifeforce was insanely tough.
No matter the curse binding or wounds inflicted, transcendent will shattered limits and norms.
These mere students overlooked that one fact.
―Pfook.
Unable to withstand his obsession, one death accompanied his.