Squish!

Although he felt a faint trace of guilt, Caelum showed no hesitation as he crushed the green slime beneath his foot.

Then he calmly bent down to retrieve its core and store it within his School Badge, where a floating number appeared beside it like a faint holographic display.

1 Point.

"I doubt this level alone contains enough points to reach a hundred, but eliminating hundred slimes shouldn’t be particularly difficult," he murmured as he moved forward, already scanning his surroundings for the next target.

The academy had provided each student with five different weapons stored within their badges, yet for creatures such as slimes, he felt his physical strength was more than enough.

After eliminating three more green slimes without effort, Caelum eventually arrived near a small, crystal-clear lake surrounded by softly glowing orange flowers that illuminated the area with a gentle warmth.

"These look rather beautiful," he said quietly as he reached out to pluck one.

In the next instant.

Splash! Splash! Splash!

Several water projectiles shot toward him in quick succession.

Caelum shifted his position effortlessly, avoiding the attacks without even needing to move much, as they lacked both speed and force – at most, they would have merely soaked his clothes rather than causing any real harm.

Turning his gaze toward the lake, he noticed several blue slimes floating on the surface, casually launching small water spheres – not as a coordinated attack, but as if they were watering the surrounding vegetation.

His expression twitched slightly.

"I really don’t want to disturb the ecosystem here, but at the same time, I can’t allow others to farm such easy points," he muttered, justifying his actions, after all, justification is everything.

Moments later, nearly seventy percent of the slime population in the lake had been wiped out.

He casually tossed their cores back into the water, unconcerned, since the points had already been registered.

Blue Slimes were known for their regenerative nature, given time, they would reform as long as their cores remained intact.

"I should look for the entrance to the next level, I think if I stay here any longer, I might actually start feeling guilty," he added, turning away from the lake.

The dungeon constantly shifted the doorway to the next level as a type of test, so he would need to find that doorway to enter the next level.

However, just as he began searching.

The entire dungeon trembled violently.

’Something is definitely wrong...’

His expression sharpened immediately as his instincts reacted.

Rather than continuing his search for the exit, he changed direction entirely.

’If anything unusual is happening, then it’s almost certain I’ll find it around Anastasia.’

Without wasting another moment, he moved swiftly through the forest.

***

Meanwhile on another side...

"Princess, you should take my points," Loreal said firmly, showing no regard for Dorian’s earlier warning, as she had already identified what she believed to be a loophole, there had been no explicit restriction against voluntarily giving up kills.

"You should keep them, I already have seven points," Anastasia replied, her tone calm yet slightly uncomfortable, as she clearly disliked being treated differently simply because of her status.

"Princess, you should take ours as well, since you did most of the work," Zoe added, while Matilda nodded in agreement.

"There’s really no need for that," Anastasia responded again.

They had been hunting slimes for some time, and thanks to her strong fire magic, the process had been effortless, she was also approaching the threshold of becoming a Second Circle Mage.

At that moment, the entire dungeon shook violently.

"What was that?" Loreal murmured, her thoughts immediately accelerating as Caelum’s earlier words resurfaced in her mind.

’Listen, I think something very interesting is about to happen, so just in case, protect Anastasia until I arrive.’

At the time, she had dismissed it as strange.

However, now it felt like a warning.

Her gaze shifted toward Zoe and Matilda as she froze.

Their expressions had completely changed, becoming eerily blank and devoid of emotion as they moved toward Anastasia.

"What’s wrong with you two?" Anastasia asked, clutching her head as a sudden and intense headache struck her.

Loreal’s pupils contracted sharply.

An unfamiliar and deeply unsettling malicious energy radiated from both of them.

Without hesitation, she pulled out a magic scroll from her School Badge and tore it open, releasing the sealed energy within her body.

"Ahhh!" Anastasia cried out as she collapsed to the ground, clutching her head in pain.

Meanwhile, Zoe and Matilda began muttering an unknown incantation as they reached toward her.

Loreal moved instantly.

With a powerful burst of speed, she struck both of them, sending their bodies flying nearly twenty meters away.

"What are you doing?!" she demanded, her voice sharp and controlled.

They stood up, completely unharmed and not even a hint of pain showed on their faces.

"...Move away."

"What?"

Loreal did not hesitate.

She threw a dagger with precise force, and it pierced straight through Zoe’s forehead, spilling blood.

Yet Zoe continued staring at her, unblinking... as if nothing had happened.

"...Move away. The vessel must be prepared."

With an unnerving calmness, Zoe pulled the dagger out of her own skull.

Loreal’s expression grew grim.

She immediately moved back to Anastasia’s side.

"Princess, I don’t know what’s happening, but we need to leave–"

Before she could finish, Matilda suddenly appeared in front of her and delivered a powerful kick, sending her flying backward.

"The vessel will come with us," Matilda said in a flat, emotionless voice.

Zoe began advancing toward Loreal.

However, in the next moment, Loreal’s presence thinned and vanished as she slipped into the shadows, reappearing behind Matilda, where she drove her blade directly through Matilda’s heart before following up with a powerful kick that launched her body away.

Even then, Loreal did not drop her guard.

’If one of them survived a fatal strike, then the other might as well...’

Her chest tightened with emotions.

The girls she had spent time with, were they ever truly her friends?

No! Something far more sinister was at play.

"HELP!" she shouted, her voice steady despite the chaos, already preparing for the worst-case scenario that B.O.M.B had taught her.

Loreal was not an ordinary student, she was a young agent of Black Order.

She was entrusted with one of the most critical missions – Protecting the princess.

She was the daughter and disciple of Agent 101.

Her codename – Agent 101-A.