A massive demonic monster emerged from the rift. No, could that thing even be called a monster? Its form was like that of a clay doll a child had crushed and discarded—grotesque, formless, and wrong.

Its body seemed to have been made from countless lumps of fused flesh. Even the ten-eyed demonic monster they had fought before, bizarre as it had been, now seemed almost cute in comparison to the abomination before them.

Elisha clamped a trembling hand over her mouth, fighting the urge to retch. “Ugh!”

Then, memories came flooding back—the sight of a village in flames and the air split with the cries of the dying.

“Eeeek!”

“Elisha! R-run!”

It was a tragedy that had befallen a tiny village of not even two hundred souls. Villagers fled for their lives, chased down by demonic monsters. And then came a roar so horrifying as if it would rip apart the soul itself.

“Bwoooorrrrr!”

The monstrous demonic monster, tens of meters tall, whipped out its massive tendrils, snatching fleeing villagers like fish on a hook. It dragged people as they screamed into its gaping maw, devouring them alive.

Enna, who used to tease her with forest bugs; Old man Oliver, who taught her to exercise, saying strength was everything in farming; and kind Aunt Felia, who secretly baked her sweet pastries behind her mother’s back—people Elisha had known, the world she once lived in, were all crushed and shredded in the monster’s teeth, reduced to pulp and unrecognizable.

“A-ah!”

Her terrified parents had shoved her into the closet, trying to muffle her sobs.

“Damn it! It’s too late to run!”

“D-dear, over here! Hide Elisha here, quick!”

Through the narrow crack, she had seen them being dragged away by writhing tentacles. She had heard their screams, faint but clear. The sound of flesh being chewed, bones breaking, and organs bursting.

Elisha clutched at her chest, gasping for breath. “Ah! Ahh!”

“Heh heh. So, you remember now?” Jackal said.

She bit down hard on her lip. “Jackal.”

He continued, “Well then. Since we’re reminiscing, how about I help you reunite with your parents?”

“What?”

Jackal tapped the demonic monster’s flesh with the back of his hand.

“Grrrk! Glrrrk!”

The monster’s flesh began to writhe, changing shape, until two human figures emerged from the undulating mass, their faces twisted in agony.

Elisha muttered, “O-old man Oliver. Aunt Felia.”

Jackal chuckled, shoulders shaking, his mouth twisting into a grin. “Hm? Oh, my mistake.”

He tapped the flesh again. With a wet, nauseating sound, the shapes shifted once more until a familiar face appeared.

Elisha’s eyes widened in horror. “Ah! Mom! D-Dad!”

Her face drained of color as she stumbled backward. The memories of that day crashed over her. The screams from afar, the crunching of bones, and the wet sound of flesh being ground apart—they filled her head, consuming her.

“Haa! Haa! Haa!”

She tried to channel her mana to calm her body, but it didn’t move, not even a flicker. The energy that usually flowed as easily as breath had gone completely still.

She looked down at her soul stigmata, her eyes trembling. “W-why?”

Dale stepped forward, gripping her shoulder. “Professor. Please step back.”

“Dale.”

He moved past her, facing Jackal.

Jackal crossed his arms, eyes gleaming with curiosity. “Ah, you’re the one who Mephisto mentioned. He said something like, ’Watch out for one of the cadets,’ didn’t he?”

Dale clicked his tongue. “That bastard sure loves running his mouth.”

Jackal snorted. “Heh! You should feel honored. In all the decades I’ve known him, this is the first time I’ve ever heard Mephisto warn someone about another person.”

Then, Jackal slowly raised his hand toward Dale. “As it happens, I’ve prepared a little gift for you.”

“A gift?”

“Of course. Did you think I gathered all those worthless thugs and sent them to the academy just because?”

He pulled a sharp dagger from his belt and slashed open his palm. Blood gushed out, soaking into the glowing markings on his body. Dozens of rifts tore open in midair around him. From within, monsters poured out, each one stronger than a usual ten-eyed demonic monster.

Shaking his head, Jackal said, “Honestly, I’m not sure a mere cadet deserves this much effort.”

He extended a hand toward the horde, the tattoos on his skin igniting with a sinister light. “My children.”

The beasts writhed in agony, roaring as they twisted their grotesque bodies.

“Grrrrrr!”

“SKREEEAAAH!”

Jackal ordered in a low voice, “Kill him.”

The ten-eyed demonic monsters charged at Dale like an avalanche.

“D-Dale!” Elisha tried to fire a web of magic to block their path, but her mana wouldn’t respond. “Damn it!”

A charging demonic monster knocked her off her feet and sent her crashing hard onto the floor. In that time, the swarm of demonic monsters engulfed Dale, their massive bodies obscuring him from view.

Elisha pressed her trembling hand against her soul stigmata again, trying to draw forth her magic, but it refused to stir. Why? Why isn’t my mana moving?

Jackal’s mocking laugh echoed through the air. “Heh heh heh. What’s wrong? Is your mana not working?”

“You. What did you do?”

Jackal slowly shook his head, calm and collected. “Me? Oh, nothing at all. I haven’t done a thing.”

“Then why...”

“Did you know,” he said, tapping twice on his chest, “that a soul stigmata is bound to not only the hero’s body but also their soul?”

He smiled faintly and continued, “Then, it makes sense that the mana residing in the soul stigmata is no different.”

“What are you trying to say?”

Jackal said with a knowing look, “It means that a heart demon has taken root inside you.”

Elisha had heard of the term “heart demon” before. It was a state where overwhelming negative emotions, such as fear, despair, and anxiety, sealed one’s energy flow, cutting off the flow of mana.

She stared at Jackal, eyes trembling. He’s saying I’ve fallen into that state? No. That can’t be.

From the day her village was trampled under his heel, the day her parents were torn apart before her eyes, she had lived for one reason alone. It was to face Jackal again and take her revenge. Now, when that day had finally come, he was saying she was so frightened she couldn’t even use her mana?

Her teeth clenched so hard that blood seeped from her lips. “Bullshit!”

A sharp, dizzying pain shot through her, snapping her mind back into focus. Just as her frozen mana began to stir, she heard some voices.

“E-li-sha.”

“Come here, darling.”

Those voices were so familiar that her blood went cold. Her eyes widened as she looked up. The flesh that had taken the form of her mother and father was now reaching toward her, speaking.

She screamed, falling backward. “N-no! Aaah!”

Her father’s outstretched hand and her mother’s beckoning smile were more terrifying than anything else in the world.

Elisha collapsed to the ground, curling up on herself. “Ah! Ahhh!”

She wrapped her arms around her shoulders, trembling like a frightened child.

It’s just like back then, she thought.

That day, hiding in the closet, peeking through the crack as that monster’s tentacles dragged her parents away. She was too weak, too helpless to do anything, still the same powerless little girl.

Jackal approached, his grin widening, his gaze crawling over her like a touch. “Heh heh heh! Now you understand, don’t you? The ninth-ranked hero? The Cursed-Eye Spider? No, no, no. That’s not who you really are.”

His wrinkled lips twisted into a deeper smile. “This, this is your true face.”

Powerless and helpless, she was still a little girl who couldn’t do a thing.

Jackal spread his arms wide, laughing. “This. This is the real Elisha Baldwin, the so-called hero!”

He threw his head back and howled with laughter, clutching his belly. “What a pity! Your poor student should’ve seen you like this. Pathetic! Broken!”

Jackal said lazily, glancing aside, “But then again, it seems your beloved pupil is already dead.”

His eyes shifted toward the swarm of monsters, where Dale’s figure was nowhere to be seen. Surrounded by Jackal’s familiars, the grey-haired cadet had probably met a miserable end by now.

At that moment, a quiet laugh slipped from Elisha’s lips. “Hah!”

“Hm? What’s so funny?” Jackal asked.

Nodding, she softly said, “You’re right. You know more about me than I thought.”

The cold mask she had always worn and the fear she had buried deep within herself, Jackal had seen through it completely.

“But...” Elisha’s mouth curved faintly into a smile as she turned toward the swarm of demonic monsters. “You don’t know a thing about my student.”

Jackal frowned. “What?”

Suddenly, a surge of Ashen Flame burst from the center of the horde. The monsters surrounding Dale screamed as the roaring Ashen Fire engulfed them.

“Grrraaaah!”

“Skreeeeech!”

Jackal mumbled. “What in the...?”

Through the swirling smoke and embers, a glimmer of green light cut through the haze.

Jackal’s eyes widened in disbelief. “He survived? After being trapped in there?”

Footsteps echoed through the settling ash. Dale emerged, calm and unshaken, not even sparing Jackal a glance as he walked straight toward Elisha.

“Dale...” Elisha averted her eyes, ashamed to have let him see her like that. “I’m sorry. I...”

“I disagree,” Dale said flatly.

“Disagree?”

“That loudmouth over there, acting like he knows everything about you. I don’t buy it one bit.” Dale’s voice was quiet, but firm. “I don’t know what kind of past you’ve had, Professor. I don’t know what kind of person you were as a child, or how deep your wounds go. But the Elisha Baldwin I know is cold, blunt, secretly mischievous, and sometimes, surprisingly cute.”

He reached into her pocket and pulled out her pack of cigarettes, holding it out to her. “And she’s the most amazing, most badass hero I’ve ever met.”

Elisha just looked at him. “Dale...”

“So? Did that touch your heart a little?” Dale said cheekily.

Her lips twitching, she said, “To be honest, that was painfully cheesy.”

“What?”

“I’m tempted to record it and play it over the academy’s announcement system.”

“Wait, what? That’s evil!” Dale softly mumbled, “Honestly, how do you even come up with things like that?”

She then said, “But, thanks. That helped.”

Elisha plucked a cigarette from the pack, placed it between her lips. Dale lit the end of the cigarette with the ember still flickering on his hand. She exhaled slowly, the smoke curling through the air. Then, smirking, she looked up at the grotesque effigies of her parents that the grotesque demonic monster had formed.

In a calm voice, she said, “Thanks to you, I can crush my dear mother and father with a clear conscience.”

Dale softly mumbled again, fighting the urge to sigh, “Professor, when you say it like that, it sounds way too wrong.”