Virelle woke up and headed to the kitchen, beginning to make coffee. After drinking it, she got herself ready.
"Since they're going into the dungeon today, I don't need to prepare any classes."
She went to sit down but noticed a letter under the door. She picked it up and began to read
"Today there will be trouble in the dungeons, and your students may end up dying. From now on, the dungeons will have different levels."
"What is this, some kind of joke?"
Virelle flipped the letter over and then placed her hand on the floor. An image from the previous night flashed into her mind—someone dressed in black, hidden in the shadows, had left the letter. Since this magic was still new to her, she couldn't discern their size or form exactly.
Virelle stood and tossed the letter in the trash but paused, remembering her students.
"They're weak. If they can't survive this, it's not my problem."
She scratched her neck, recalling how the students used to ask her about magic.
"Alright. I'll go check on them—just this once."
She left her room and went to the portal, where she saw Borem frantically grabbing an assistant by the collar.
"Why can't you open it so I can go in?!"
"Sorry, sir, but something's happening inside that's preventing it. We'll need to wait around three hours to force it open."
"Damn it!"
Borem slammed the ground and sat in front of the portal impatiently.
Virelle approached.
"What's going on?"
The assistant, panicking, turned to her
"Professor Virelle, thank goodness you're here! Something's happened—the dungeon's magic level suddenly rose to one where only Circle One students can survive!"
Virelle crossed her arms and waited. Time seemed to slow for both teachers, and they grew increasingly irritated.
"Done! I got the portal open!"
The assistant forced it, and Borem stood quickly—only for Virelle to sprint past him at absurd speed.
From what Borem knew, like all first- and second-year teachers, she was supposed to be Circle Six. But seeing that speed made him question it. He decided to ignore it and followed after.
In just one second, Virelle sped through the dungeon, seeing the bodies of most of the thirty students who had entered.
She found a hole and jumped in, sensing that Liam was still alive somewhere. With her enhanced vision, she saw a giant skeleton squeezing Elian. Virelle immediately channeled mana into her palm and slashed the hand, freeing Elian.
She looked at the few students she found alive—all with serious injuries.
It was the first time she'd ever felt this way. Her entire life, she had been taught that the weak were a burden.
She never thought she'd feel this way about the weak, This feeling of rage was unbearable. That creature that had hurt them—was unbearable.
'I'll crush him.' With furious eyes, she turned to the regenerating skeleton hand.
Rirus created several magic circles and summoned Zara-level two zombies. Two bone swords appeared in his hands, and he launched a magical attack at the students—but they vanished.
All of them were above, being carried by a plant that tended to their wounds. Even Enrico and Kai, who had been thrown against the wall, were there.
Virelle created a sword made of plants, and with a simple movement, she sliced through all the zombies, the swords, and even Rirus himself. The slash cut through the entire dungeon.
From the outside, the dungeon looked like a prison with a garden and a house. But beyond that, there was only darkness—an absolute void.
The slash Virelle unleashed exited through the dungeon and vanished into the empty space.
Inside, Rirus struggled to rise but was ensnared by vines.
"This level should be enough for a creature like you."
She clenched her fist, and the vines wrapped tighter, forming a sphere around Rirus.
Virelle's family had one rule
"Be powerful—but never reveal everything you can do"
So for generations, her descendants had always hidden their true power by one entire Circle.
The pressure increased, the vine sphere around Rirus grew smaller, and then vanished into thin air.
Virelle was not Circle Six.She was Circle Seven.
---
The assistant fiddled with the portal to ensure there were no further issues when he saw someone exiting.
"A student! Are you okay?"
He rushed over and saw Cris stumbling—when he touched him, something made him collapse unconscious.
Cris's appearance began to dissolve. He walked normally now, distancing himself. A Nartheis could exit a portal if their willpower surpassed the portal's restrictions—but each portal had its own limit, stronger than anything inside. Only 3% could escape.
"What a terrifying woman... If I hadn't been hiding in a mana-concealing spot, she would've seen me."
His hair and eyes turned dark, his appearance changing completely.
Though he was a zombie, he had a far more human form than the others—of course, because his father had put more effort into him.
The fused core of Rirus and his mother appeared in Jago's hand via a magic circle, and he looked slightly surprised.
"That was fast. Was it that woman? Truly terrifying."
Jago had planted a spell inside his mother's core before fusing it with his father's. The core would come to him as soon as his father was destroyed.
He held the core and walked away, seeing several people approaching the portal.
"I haven't fully absorbed Terroclast's core yet, so I'd better wait. Still, with this fused core, I'll be able to evolve quickly to Faizes."
Jago looked back one last time.
"Goodbye, trash heap. From now on, no one will stop my evolution."