Chapter 277: Adel Sylvain D’Aubermont [3]

Chapter 276

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Episode 72 - Adel Sylvain D’Aubermont [3]

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It was an empty room, as if no one had used it for months, yet it was completely clean, orderly, and immaculate.

The office was exceptionally large. It contained a desk, a small library filled with Grimoires, Manuals, Elixirs, and many other things.

It also had a small training room and a meditation area designed for absorbing Mana.

In short, it was an office equipped with everything one would expect to find in both a training facility and an ordinary home.

There was a bathroom, a separate bedroom, and a wardrobe filled with various garments from different eras and fashions. There was even a large room filled with mementos and accessories, among many other things.

Crack!

At that moment, in front of the desk, behind which stood a large window overlooking the entire outside...

A crack opened in the air.

The crack stretched until it reached a height of two meters, and a moment later...

A pair of hands grasped both sides of the crack.

The next second, the opening expanded.

A long-haired figure appeared on the other side, her presence enough to draw the attention of anyone who saw her. Her beauty seemed to belong to an ancient age.

The woman who had stepped through the crack that had formed out of nowhere in the air was none other than the Director of the Holy Academy.

Bernice Sylvain D’Aubermont.

Director Bernice looked around before taking a deep breath and sitting down behind her desk.

Naturally, this was the Director’s Office.

Just as Bernice sat down...

Knock! Knock!

Someone knocked on the door to her office. Without even glancing toward the entrance, Bernice simply said:

"Come in."

Creak.

The door made a faint noise before slowly opening. On the other side, an elegantly dressed man entered the office.

He was none other than Director Bernice’s personal assistant.

With a stack of papers in his hands, the assistant entered as naturally as could be.

However, Director Bernice’s expression darkened when she saw the amount of work waiting for her.

’At this rate, I’ll spend the rest of my life working.’

She had been working at the Holy Academy as its Director for more than seven hundred years.

The first Director of the Holy Academy had been the First Saint of the Holy Church.

During that time, the only person Bernice respected was none other than the First Saint.

After her death, Bernice took control of the Holy Academy and became its Director.

The assistant standing before her was not human.

In fact, he was an Astral Spirit who had decided to follow Bernice more than a thousand years ago.

His name was Leth’Ruun.

"And that’s six months’ worth of work from the time you were away."

At Bernice’s question, the Astral Spirit Leth’Ruun replied:

"Yes. Although I worked to make sure you wouldn’t have to deal with all of this after your return, the Council of Elders and the Vice Director gave me their own affairs to handle."

"And why didn’t you refuse? I told you to do my work, not theirs."

"I’m sorry, but the work they gave me was of the utmost importance, and I couldn’t refuse it. So it kept piling up until it became this."

Clank!

The heavy stack of papers landed on the desk.

Bernice rubbed her temples, feeling a headache beginning to form as she looked at the amount of work ahead of her.

She let out a sigh before snapping her fingers.

The stack of documents scattered across the desk, becoming neatly organized and ready to be reviewed alongside the rest of the pending matters.

For now, Bernice needed to catch up on everything that had happened at the Holy Academy.

She had left for the World Congress more than six months ago. The five Ten-Star Awakened in existence throughout the world had gathered there to discuss matters of great importance.

"What happened during the final exams of the First Semester?"

At her question, Leth’Ruun began informing her of everything that had happened during the final week of the First Semester exams.

He explained the performance and results obtained in each of the exams until he finally reached the subject of the mysterious battle that had taken place.

"You’re saying that a villain of at least Class 8 or 9 appeared, and someone killed it?"

"Yes. Apparently, a barrier was erected that covered the entire mountain, so no one realized what was happening. It wasn’t until the barrier collapsed due to some kind of attack that everyone became aware of what had happened."

"When the members of the Abyss Investigation Team arrived, they found nothing but half of the mountain completely destroyed."

Leth’Ruun then continued recounting what had happened after the summer vacation.

He spoke about the beginning of the second semester and, finally, about what had happened a couple of months ago.

"Cadet Adel was accused of murdering a second-year cadet. According to my investigation, he was actually framed. The entire thing was orchestrated by the Student Council and the Council of Elders, along with the Director."

".....!?"

Bernice frowned as soon as she heard those words and asked:

"What happened with the trial?"

Leth’Ruun replied:

"The cadet Adel seems to have known that he was going to be framed, so he simply showed up at the trial. However, when he walked out, he had killed every Inquisitor present, including an entire Order of Inquisitors. After that, he disappeared."

"......!"

Bernice’s expression changed several times as her thoughts focused on Adel.

"He killed an entire Order of Inquisitors. Every Order of Inquisitors has an Eight-Star leader."

Leth’Ruun nodded and continued.

"Yes. However, he had advanced to Five Stars and apparently awakened the Divine Body. Moreover, he killed the leader of the Order of Inquisitors with incredible ease."

Director Bernice couldn’t help but be stunned.

Throughout all the centuries she had served as Director, she had never seen anyone with such incredible growth and combat ability.

It was simply extraordinary.

Perhaps he was a talent that appeared once every thousand or ten thousand years.

Or perhaps he was someone chosen by the heavens and fate.

"What about his whereabouts?"

Leth’Ruun, however, shook his head.

"Unfortunately, no one seems to know where he is. Even the bounty hunters were unable to find him. Ever since he left the Academy, he simply disappeared without a trace."

Bernice nodded slightly.

"And recently, something... shocking happened."

"Shocking?"

Bernice asked in confusion, prompting Leth’Ruun to reply:

"The Pope and the three Cardinals are dead."

"......!"

For the second time, Director Bernice couldn’t hide her surprise.

"Those four are dead? When?"

"Less than a week ago."

"Who killed them?"

"It was someone who calls himself the Prophet. He appeared out of nowhere a couple of months ago, but no one knows who he is or his true identity. The only thing we know is that he supposedly can see the future, and he is estimated to be a Nine-Star Awakened."

Nine-Star Awakened were exceedingly rare throughout the Sacred Continent.

There were fewer than fifty in the entire world.

And throughout the Sacred Continent, there were fewer than ten.

Bernice knew the names of every Nine-Star Awakened, yet even she couldn’t connect any of them to the identity of the Prophet.

’He’s probably the leader of a new organization.’

The emergence of a new organization led by an unknown individual was something that normally needed to be investigated thoroughly.

However...

"If I ever meet the Prophet, I should thank him."

Ever since the death of the First Saint, Bernice had suspected that her death had not been natural.

At first, she had thought that she had died of natural causes. However, the more she investigated, the more irregularities she discovered.

For that reason, as far as Bernice was concerned, the Holy Church was nothing more than a disgusting place.

They were lucky the Holy Church hadn’t disappeared by her own hand, as she still hadn’t uncovered the truth behind the First Saint’s death.

’But if her death wasn’t natural...’

Then the Holy Church would have disappeared a long time ago.

"And the second-semester exams ended normally a week ago."

"Nothing out of the ordinary happened, such as an interruption by the villains."

Leth’Ruun shook his head.

"Fortunately, everything went smoothly."

Bernice nodded slightly.

But suddenly, she remembered something and immediately asked Leth’Ruun:

"What happened with the blood analysis?"

"The blood analysis... I discovered something completely unexpected."

"....."

Hearing his words, Bernice quickly asked:

"Did you discover the true identity of the owner of the blood?"

"Yes. And the owner of the blood had been here all along."

For ten years, there had been a Supreme-Quality Elixir capable of regenerating any part of the body in an instant.

There was practically nothing it couldn’t regenerate. There was even a small possibility that it could bring a dead person back to life.

However, that Elixir had been created from the blood of a single individual.

Its incredible effects came exclusively from that person’s blood, and for ten years, the Elixir had circulated everywhere, both legally and illegally.

Bernice had tried to find the owner of the blood used to create the Elixir.

She had discovered that he was between seventeen and eighteen years old.

Which meant that his blood had been taken from him since he was a child.

Throughout the entire first semester, she had sent people to search for the whereabouts of the owner of the blood.

However, she had never managed to find him.

That was why, even though there was only a small chance...

She decided that, before the cadets left the Academy for summer vacation, every single one of them would visit the infirmary and provide a drop of blood under the pretext of checking for any health problems.

But in reality, the goal was to find the owner of the blood used to create the Elixir.

And she had finally found him.

"Then who is it?"

It had been quite a gamble, but in the end, the owner of the blood had been inside the Academy all along.

’I should have searched here instead of wasting time looking for him outside.’

In response to her question, Leth’Ruun replied:

"The owner of the blood used to create the Supreme-Quality Elixir is Cadet Adel, who is currently expelled from the Academy."

".....!?"

Bernice’s mouth nearly dropped onto the desk.

The shock was so great that, for the first time in a long time, even she couldn’t believe what she had just heard.