Chapter 141: Impending Chaos!

"Are you sure she left?"

A hoarse yet unclear voice echoed in a luxurious tent, reverberating from nowhere, lingering in the air like a stain that refused to fade.

The only one who heard it was a middle-aged man, seated cross-legged on a mahogany chair, unbothered as he slowly sipped his tea.

"Yeah, I’m 100% sure. Don’t doubt Lord Lilith’s skill in tracking a target. Especially when it’s a female."

The middle-aged man was Professor Ruther Kane. Even inside his tent, he was wearing his usual suit, appearing elegant as usual.

"Good... as long as that Black Witch has left this place, our Crucible can act without restraint."

It wasn’t only Principal Logan who found Isabella’s presence in this Whiteleaf forest. The same was the case for the hidden members of the Crucible.

In fact, they were quite afraid that Isabella was also after the dungeon they were aiming at.

Fortunately, from how she suddenly disappeared, it seemed she was just passing by.

"Yeah...but how is planning going right now? Did you locate that thing you want?"

Ruther didn’t care and asked what he wanted to know the most instead.

"...."

"...not yet, but we are close."

The hoarse voice seemed a bit annoyed.

"We already know that the Logan bastard is just diverting our attention by sending students to this place. The real location of that dungeon is near the Academy. We just don’t know where it is yet."

"But he can’t hide it forever. The moment we discover its location, it will be the moment we clash directly. Elite Hunter Academy isn’t so strong that it can gobble up everything."

The voice harumphed, totally not taking the strongest academy in the entire Arden Country seriously.

Then again, looking at it objectively, the Crucible wasn’t weaker than the Academy.

In fact, it was rumored that the four Elders of Crucible had directly received power from Demon Gods, while their leader was said to be the incarnation of a demon himself.

No matter whether it was true or not, considering they were surviving despite being hated by the world, nobody could deny that they were strong.

"What is with this Dungeon anyway? What is it inside that both Logan and you bunch want so desperately?"

Ruther suddenly asked, as even he was unaware of this.

From his sources, he only knew that Principal had found a dungeon, and he was training and testing the new students to find someone who could help him retrieve something from inside.

That’s why he was doing odd things, such as throwing students inside an E-rank dungeon or sending them to training abruptly.

All to find a suitable student.

But looking at how even high-level members of Crucible were targeting it, Ruther couldn’t help but feel that whatever lay inside wasn’t something a mere student should ever be involved with.

’It doesn’t make sense.’

"You don’t need to know."

Unfortunately, the hoarse voice refused to answer, leaving Ruther visibly frustrated.

"Okay, then... what about my reward? When are you going to act? You do know I need sacrifices, right?"

Ruther knew that even if he insisted, the voice wouldn’t tell him anything. After all, the demon he had contracted with, ’Lilith,’ was only a mid-ranking entity.

In Crucible, a member’s status and strength were determined by the rank of the demon they served.

Of course, someone like him wouldn’t be trusted with core secrets.

So he asked about what mattered most.

Being a servant meant fulfilling his end of the contract. And since his master was Lilith, she obviously demanded offerings from her servants.

Unfortunately, even as a professor, targeting students from the Elite Hunter Academy wasn’t easy under normal circumstances.

Only when something went wrong... could he truly take advantage of it.

"Don’t worry...I know. In fact, we have decided to forward our plan a bit due to that Witch’s appearance."

Fortunately for him, this time the voice gave him some good news.

"Oh? Plan? What kind of plan?"

Ruther asked, a bit intrigued.

"Well, it is nothing much. We just decided to open a Demon Gate in the forest, that’s all."

The voice replied as if everything was natural,

"We know that Logan wants to train this new batch of students to find the one he needs. So, let us help him a bit, shall we?"

"Keke...Don’t you think a Demon Gate is a good training gift for his beloved students?"

For the first time ever, the voice let out a creepy laugh as if amused. Only, this time Ruther didn’t share his sentiment at all.

"D-Demon Gate? A-Are you sure?"

Rather, he unexpectedly let out a stutter, unbefitting of his usual elegance.

But what could he do after hearing such an absurd term all of a sudden?

A Demon Gate, as the name suggested, was a passage leading directly to the Demonic Realm.

It was quite similar to the usual portals to dungeons.

Only, unlike normal ones, a Demon Gate allowed two-way movement.

Not only could humans enter that realm through it, but the demons within could also cross into this world freely, depending on the gate’s level.

That was why it was called a ’Gate’ and not a ’Portal.’

The moment it appeared, the chaos it would bring would no doubt surpass any ordinary Gate.

For a moment, despite being a demon servant, even Ruther felt a chill, hoping the voice was merely joking.

"Of course, we are sure."

Unfortunately, that hope was immediately crushed.

"Haha... no need to be afraid. The Demon Gate we are opening is only on the tenth floor of the Abyss."

Seeing his reaction, the voice explained lightly, though its laugh remained unsettling.

"Besides, it is only a random opening, not the act of a true demon. So there is no need to worry about an invasion or anything like that."

Even the Crucible wasn’t foolish enough to launch a full-scale demonic invasion right outside the capital of Arden.

All they wanted was to show Principal Logan that they shouldn’t be underestimated, and that he should stop hoarding exclusive control over that dungeon.

In essence, to make their presence known.

"Tenth floor?"

Sure enough, the moment Ruther heard it was only the tenth floor, he visibly relaxed.

After all, the Demonic Realm had a total of a hundred floors. If the connection led only to the tenth, then it was hardly a concern, at least for him.

Besides, his power as a demon servant would increase significantly due to its appearance, allowing him to find more sacrifices.

All of a sudden, he felt that the Crucible wasn’t that unreasonable after all.

"Alright, that’s all for now. I’ll inform you when it is opened. You’re free to act as you wish at that time, but don’t get caught. Otherwise, we won’t save you."

The hoarse voice warned before slowly fading away.

"Oh... and see if you can find any good seeds in this chaos. It would be even better if you capture the students that Logan favors most."

Before it completely disappeared, it added one last remark, then vanished entirely, leaving Ruther alone in his tent to ponder.

***

"Hey, Soren... why do your eyes look like that? Didn’t you sleep last night?"

Sylvia asked, clearly shocked to see the deep dark circles under Soren’s eyes.

Not to mention his worn-out state, as if he had just returned from working in a field all night long.

Seeing how tired he looked, not only she but Aurelia, Aria, and Evan looked at him curiously.

After all, wasn’t this guy just fishing all day yesterday?

They were the ones who fought the monsters, so why did he look like the one who had gone through it all instead?

"Oh? Ah... d-don’t worry. I was just...

yawn

... b-busy with some-."

Soren tried to reassure them, but ended up letting out a long yawn unconsciously, a small tear forming at the corner of his eye.

For a moment, he paused mid-sentence, looking even more exhausted than before.

’Damn that Hidden Lore or whatever... why the heck did it take so long?’

He couldn’t help but curse inwardly. If he had known it would take this long to go through the lore, he would’ve waited for a better time before activating it.

His system didn’t even warn him.

He was already exhausted from his encounter with Elise and Elara earlier, and now, having not slept a wink all night, he naturally felt completely drained.

"But... I have to say that lore is really something else, isn’t it?"

Soren couldn’t help but think.

Surprisingly, unlike what he had expected, the Memory Crystal didn’t contain the hidden lore of Elise Vans.

Instead, it held lore related to him, or rather, the lineage he belonged to: the Kingswells.

’So, the Kingswells came here from outside this world... through a dungeon? Isn’t that... ironic?’