Chapter 70: Realization

Until that moment, most of the students had been thinking about the safe zone as a refuge from the undead. They had seen no hostile creatures inside its boundaries, and the temporary peace had allowed them to believe that they had finally escaped the worst of the crisis.

Kael’s suggestion forced them to reconsider.

They had no proof that the safe zone was completely secure.

They did not know whether its protection extended to every threat in the forest, nor did they understand why the undead had suddenly appeared in such numbers.

For all they knew, the safe zone might offer nothing more than a temporary advantage.

Seraphina was the first to respond.

"He’s right. We shouldn’t assume that the absence of hostile creatures means we’re completely safe."

She glanced toward the edge of the sanctuary, where the trees formed a dense wall around the clearing.

"We still don’t know what caused the crimson barrier to appear, and we haven’t established contact from outside. Until we understand what’s happening, preparing for another attack is the sensible choice."

Several students nodded in agreement.

Leon remained silent for a moment before speaking again.

"There’s something else you should know."

His serious expression drew everyone’s attention.

"My team discovered a dungeon beneath an abandoned structure in the forest. We encountered the undead inside."

The announcement immediately stirred the gathering.

"A dungeon?" Seraphina asked, her brows knitting together. "Are you certain?"

Leon nodded.

"We found an entrance hidden beneath the root of an enormous tree. At first, we assumed it was an ordinary underground passage, but the interior was far larger than it should have been. The corridors were filled with undead."

He paused, recalling the encounter.

"We eventually reached a chamber where we encountered an overwhelming number of them. We couldn’t continue exploring without risking everyone’s lives, so we retreated."

Leon hid the truth that they had a hard time beating a single undead. It would be very embarrassing to tell them about it.

A senior student frowned.

"Wait. Are you saying the undead attacking us came from that dungeon?"

"That’s what we believe," Leon replied. "Their appearance and behavior were identical to those roaming the forest."

The students exchanged uneasy glances.

Until then, many had assumed that the undead had simply appeared throughout the forest when the crimson barrier descended. The discovery of a dungeon suggested that the situation might be more complicated than they had initially believed.

Some of the students began whispering among themselves, trying to piece together the information.

Kael, however, remained composed.

So Leon’s team found the dungeon after all.

In the original game, the dungeon was an important part of the examination. The players who assumed the role of the protagonist would explore it and could gather some valuable resources. They could even acquire the Lunar Relic inside.

But the situation this time was definitely different from the original story. The undead should never have been roaming freely throughout the forest at this point in the story.

And given the crimson barrier, Kael had a fairly good idea of what that meant.

Someone had deliberately pulled strings behind the scenes. A mastermind was behind all this. Kael just silently prayed it wasn’t that thing. But with the crimson barrier, the chance was a bit higher. At their current strength, they would be no match against that monster.

"Did you see anything unusual inside the dungeon?" Seraphina asked Leon. "Any signs that the undead were being controlled or that someone had been there before you?"

Leon shook his head.

"We didn’t investigate long enough to determine that. The undead attacked as soon as we entered their territory, and we were too busy surviving to examine our surroundings."

"They even chase us outside," Leon added.

Everyone gawked upon hearing it.

The undead went outside to chase them?

"So that means those undead really came from the dungeon," one of the senior students said loudly.

Leon nodded silently.

Lilith, who had remained quiet throughout the discussion, finally spoke.

"That still leaves an important question unanswered."

Everyone turned toward her.

She rested a hand against her chin, her expression thoughtful.

"Even if the undead originated from the dungeon, how did they escape?"

Leon frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Most dungeons don’t work that way," Lilith explained. "Creatures that materialize inside a dungeon are bound to its internal structure. They can move throughout its chambers, attack intruders, and sometimes regenerate after being defeated, but they cannot simply wander outside whenever they please."

She looked toward the surrounding forest.

"That restriction is one of the fundamental characteristics of dungeons. Unless the dungeon itself is damaged or its rules are deliberately altered, the creatures inside should remain trapped within it."

The gathering fell silent.

Lilith continued, her voice becoming more serious.

"Yet we’re dealing with undead roaming freely throughout the forest. If Leon’s discovery is connected to what’s happening here, then something must have allowed those creatures to cross the dungeon’s boundaries."

She paused to let the implications sink in.

"And if the dungeon hasn’t been damaged by some natural phenomenon, then someone may have interfered with it."

Seraphina’s expression darkened. Lilith’s words also proved Kael’s theory that someone was behind all of this.

"You’re suggesting that someone deliberately released the undead?"

"It’s a possibility," Lilith replied. "We shouldn’t dismiss it simply because it sounds unreasonable. Someone who understands how dungeons work could potentially manipulate their restrictions, summon creatures from within them, or find another way to bring those creatures into the outside world."

She glanced at Leon.

"Of course, we don’t have enough evidence to determine exactly how it happened. But if the undead were released intentionally, then the person responsible must possess considerable knowledge of dungeon mechanics and enough power to carry out such a plan."

A senior student swallowed nervously.

"Then this isn’t some kind of natural disaster?"

"No," Lilith answered. "Not if our assumptions are correct."

Her words settled over the gathering like a heavy blanket.

Until then, they had been searching for an explanation that did not involve another intelligent threat. The crimson sky and the sudden appearance of the undead had already been terrifying enough without the possibility that someone had deliberately orchestrated the entire incident.

But Lilith’s reasoning was difficult to dismiss.

The undead had appeared too suddenly, and their presence had coincided with the mysterious barrier that isolated the forest.

If someone had caused this, then the students were not simply trapped in an unfortunate disaster.

They were targets.

Seraphina clenched her hands.

"So we’re dealing with people who deliberately turned the forest into a hunting ground."

Her voice was quiet, but the anger in it was unmistakable.

"Why would anyone do something like this? What could they possibly gain from killing a group of academy students?"

Nobody answered immediately. The question was simple. The answer, however, could be far more disturbing than any of them imagined.

Kael lowered his gaze, his thoughts turning toward one of his game knowledge. If it was that event, then they were deliberately offered as...

Sacrifices.

He remembered the ritual’s intended function from the information associated with the Bloodlit Sky event. Their deaths were meant to provide the energy necessary to activate a summoning ritual.

The crimson barrier was not an accident.

And the students were not simply unfortunate victims caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Someone had prepared this entire situation in advance.

Kael kept his expression neutral as he considered the implications.

If the ritual required the deaths of the students, then the people behind it would not stop simply because their initial plan had encountered an obstacle.

They would keep searching. They would find the sanctuary eventually. And when they did, the students gathered here would have nowhere to run unless they prepared for the confrontation in advance.

Kael raised his head. Just then he noticed everyone was staring at him in disbelief.

"Sacrifice?" Seraphina said in a questioning tone.

Kael realized he spoke his thoughts out loud.

But he found the situation a good opportunity to tell them what he knew.

"Well. I read something about it before. A dark ritual used many lives as sacrifices to activate a dark summoning spell," Kael explained.

Hearing it, Lillith touched her chin as she seemingly remembered something as well. "Hm, now that you mentioned it, there’s indeed a dark ritual like that," she said.

Seraphina glanced at Kael then to Lilith.

"If that’s true, we should assume that whoever caused this knows we’re here, or will eventually figure it out," she said. "If they went to the trouble of releasing the undead, I doubt they’ll abandon their plans just because we managed to survive."

Leon glanced at her, his expression troubled.

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"Following Kael’s suggestion, first, we strengthened the shelter’s defenses. Second, we organize everyone into groups so we can respond quickly if something happens. We need people responsible for guarding the perimeter, people who can treat the injured, and people who can gather supplies without leaving the others vulnerable."

Seraphina paused before adding, "We should also avoid sending anyone out alone. Until we understand what we’re dealing with, we can’t afford to lose more people."

Rinha nodded.

Then she opened her mouth. "Agreed. We should also establish a way to communicate with the teams still scattered throughout the forest. There may be survivors who haven’t found their way here yet."

"That’s a good idea," Seraphina replied. "But we should keep the search parties small and give them clear routes to follow. We can’t risk sending everyone out and leaving the sanctuary undefended."

The senior students began discussing how to divide the survivors into manageable groups.

For the first time since the gathering had begun, their conversation shifted from speculation toward practical preparations.

Yet the tension remained.

They had discovered a possible explanation for the undead, but they were still far from understanding the full extent of the crisis.

Somewhere beyond the sanctuary, the man with three pupils continued searching for his missing sacrifices.

And as long as the summoning altar remained inactive, he would not rest until he found them.

The students had bought themselves time.

Whether that time would be enough to save them was another question entirely.