Chapter 71: What She Left Behind

After losing the Abyss Induction Crystal, the magical beast’s aura had weakened considerably, and most of the contamination patterns covering its body had faded.

Although losing the implant had dropped it back to its original Level 27, it was still a Level 27 Abyssal subspecies.

And now it was slowly standing again.

Its crimson eyes locked onto the two humans.

Albert turned around, his staff rising as he spoke. "I’ll handle this one."

"Leave the corpse intact," Victor said from behind.

Albert paused. "For research?"

"Of course." Victor glanced at the massive wound in the Star Devouring Shadow Beast’s chest where the core had been implanted. "Someone went through all that trouble to put something inside it, so we should at least find out how they did it."

Albert nodded, and the next instant, golden light descended.

This time, there was no delay. Stripped of its contamination enhancement, the Star Devouring Shadow Beast had only just lunged forward when dozens of golden magical patterns completely sealed off every direction it could move, and a massive spear formed entirely from condensed mana descended from the sky.

BOOM!

The entire ground sank as the Star Devouring Shadow Beast was nailed directly into the earth. It struggled once, then twice, but by the third time, it stopped moving completely.

Victor watched the corpse for a moment.

The difference was almost ridiculous. With the Abyss Induction Crystal embedded in its body, the beast had been forcibly pushed far beyond its original state. Yet once that external enhancement disappeared, Albert had ended the fight almost immediately.

If nothing else, that proved just how much power the crystal had been forcing through its body.

There was no experience notification, no level increase, nor did Victor mysteriously gain any strange power from its death. Death was simply death, and what truly held value was what it left behind.

Once the Star Devouring Shadow Beast’s life signs completely disappeared, uncontrolled residual mana began leaking from the corpse. It was ownerless, so Victor naturally wasn’t going to waste it.

Mana Devour quietly activated, continuously absorbing and decomposing the dissipating energy without any exaggerated commotion or immediate breakthrough. It merely accumulated bit by bit on top of the increase to his maximum Mana he had already gained.

He didn’t remain beside the corpse for long. The residual mana was already thinning rapidly, and what remained would be more useful preserved for the academy’s examination than unnecessarily damaged.

Once the last usable traces had been absorbed, he stopped Mana Devour and stepped away from the body.

By then, Albert had finished checking their surroundings as well.

He lowered his staff and spoke, "Let’s go. The academy should have regained control of the outer area by now."

Victor looked north. "What about underground?"

"We’re not going."

The answer came without even a moment of consideration.

Victor had expected Albert to at least inspect the underground area after everything they had discovered, especially now that they knew someone had deliberately tampered with the trial ground. Instead, the vice dean had rejected the idea immediately.

His surprise must have shown slightly on his face because Albert caught it.

"I know you want to investigate Experimental Zone Twelve, but that woman already told us it isn’t inside the academy anymore. If we keep charging underground, we’ll only be walking into an area the enemy prepared in advance."

Victor hadn’t intended to recklessly force his way deeper either. They had already obtained plenty of clues. The Abyss Induction Crystal had been dismantled, Leah was safe, Zero had provided critical information, and they had obtained a new organizational symbol.

At this point, the potential reward from continuing deeper had already begun falling below the risk.

"Fine."

He gave the surrounding forest one final glance before turning back the way they had come.

The two began retracing their path, but before they had even gone a hundred meters, Victor suddenly stopped as Combat Intuition activated.

The sensation was very faint. It wasn’t killing intent, but it felt as though someone were watching him.

"What’s wrong?" Albert turned around.

Victor didn’t answer. His gaze swept across the surroundings, passing over the trees, broken branches, and gray mist, but there was nothing. Even the System gave no notification, and a few seconds later, the sensation disappeared as though it had never existed.

"Nothing."

He started walking again, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t shake the feeling off.

...

The situation outside had changed considerably during their absence. Several academy instructors were moving around the damaged perimeter, while the remaining students had already been pushed well away from the trial ground. The previously unstable barrier had also been brought back under control, although traces of residual mana still flickered across its surface.

Victor had barely stepped through the newly opened passage when someone among the waiting group noticed him.

A familiar silver figure broke away from the others and rushed toward them. Even Cecilia didn’t have time to stop her.

"Victor!"

Leah’s face was still somewhat pale even though her Astral Core had completely stabilized. She ran all the way to Victor, and only after confirming at first glance that he hadn’t suffered any serious injuries did she finally seem to remember what truly mattered.

"Where is she?"

Victor stayed silent for a moment; however, Leah had already gotten part of the answer from his expression alone.

"She... wasn’t your mother," Victor said without beating around the bush. "At least, she wasn’t the original Elena."

The color gradually drained from the girl’s face. "What do you mean?"

Cecilia and several instructors had also approached, but Victor didn’t explain it in front of everyone. He only looked toward Albert, and the vice dean understood right away.

"Everyone else, move back. This area is temporarily sealed."

Although the instructors looked confused, they still withdrew, leaving only Victor, Leah, Cecilia, and Albert. Only then did Victor continue.

...

Thanks for your support, guys! I appreciate it! Let’s not forget to vote, gift, and review. The next Chapter is the bonus for golden tickets.