Chapter 26

Isabel Luna.

She’s the type of person who fits the sunflower metaphor perfectly, always glowing with a bright smile.

Her energy was so radiant that it could make anyone around her break into a warm smile.

However, her laughter has been fading fast lately.

All because of her childhood friend Lucas’s death.

Sunflowers turn to the sun for nourishment.

But now that the sun has vanished,

all that remains for her is nothing.

Isabel often recalls that day when she falls asleep.

Normally, first-years don’t attend Magung.

But Isabel was part of a special class with Lucas.

While first-year students are ordinary, this special class gets to enter Magung early due to their exceptional skills.

So, realistically, Isabel was supposed to go to Magung.

But on the eve of her departure,

she had a trivial quarrel with Lucas.

The reason was that Isabel was suffering from a terrible cold at the time.

Despite her sickness, she insisted on going together, but Lucas scolded her, saying absolutely not.

In the end, Lucas left, promising to buy some good tea for her cold on his way back, departing with his newly formed team.

And Lucas never returned.

All that came back was the news that Lucas had been killed by a saint, without even a body.

He was a childhood friend she grew up with.

And the last memory of that friend was their argument.

Isabel felt completely empty.

A sunflower that lost its sun begins to wilt.

She stopped eating, stopped drinking, and didn’t sleep.

Isabel was dying like that.

Then one day,

a person appeared before her.

A boy who insulted her childhood friend Lucas in front of everyone.

He had committed an unforgivable act in Isabel’s eyes.

Hanon Irey.

Consumed by rage because of him, Isabel changed.

She vowed that even if it meant her life, she would make him retract his insult against Lucas.

She became tenacious.

She ate, drank, and slept, dedicating every day to training.

She began living to defeat him and show just how incredible Lucas had been.

Hanon was a peculiar boy.

Maybe it was because he had the first button of his shirt wrong, but he always mocked her whenever he saw her.

Many in their class were dissatisfied with him, some blindly criticizing him.

However, Hanon didn’t flinch.

If anything, he goaded them on with provocative remarks.

At the same time, he proved his determination.

He performed astonishing feats that left everyone in shock,

even defeating all the members of Martial Arts when they were serious.

“What on earth is he doing?”

He was utterly unpredictable.

Perhaps that’s why lately, Isabel could only think about Hanon.

“Isabel, are you okay? You seem tired?”

“Ah, sorry. Don’t worry. I’m fine.”

In that moment, Isabel was startled by the voice calling her from the front.

This was Magung.

Yet, she was lost in thought, completely absent-minded.

“Cough, sorry. I didn’t mean to worry everyone.”

Then a student from Holy Studies, supported by Ban, spoke.

He was Gaisun, ranked 3rd in Holy Studies.

Currently, he was under a curse from the saint and couldn’t muster any strength.

Normally, he would purify himself using Holy Arts.

But unfortunately, he had exhausted all his Holy Arts fighting the saint and was cursed afterward.

As a result, he was slow to recover the strength to activate it.

So instead of overexerting themselves, Isabel’s team decided to return to the surface to help recover Gaisun.

“It’s okay, considering the opponent. It’s a relief that it ended at this level.”

One of Isabel’s team members, a male student from Magic Arts, consoled Gaisun.

As he said, the saint they faced on the third floor was much stronger than any before.

It was clear that this was a saint who had spent a significantly longer time in Magung.

If their class had not teamed up this time,

they might not have won against the saint.

Kaboom!

“Why has it been so loud up there?”

Mina, a student of Martial Arts and Isabel’s friend, frowned.

They were climbing back up the stairs to the first floor.

For some reason, it was particularly noisy above today.

“Is someone fighting the saint?”

“We just passed the seniors; could there still be a saint left? Other than minions, can there be anyone else?”

The students murmured amongst themselves.

Isabel also looked up the stairs, revealing her confusion.

At that moment, Ban suddenly raised his head sharply.

His eyes glinted ominously.

“Everyone, prepare yourselves.”

Just as his brief words were barely understood,

BAM!

An explosive sound shook the entire staircase.

All the students got startled by the huge tremor and lowered their bodies.

A tremor reaching even the first-floor stairs; whatever was happening above must have been a big deal.

“Let’s hurry up.”

Ban urged, and everyone hurriedly ascended the stairs together.

As they reached the surface, they were immediately met with a cloud of smoke.

“What in the world happened here?”

Mina waved her hand in disbelief.

Shortly after, the smoke began to dissipate, revealing a gray forest.

And the gray forest was marked with signs of battle here and there.

Massive roots torn off,

ground trampled into a gray expanse,

and scattered remains presumed to be of saints.

It was a sight that was completely unimaginable from the gray forest they had just passed.

“This is strange. It’s different from the old gray forest. The presence of the saints is horrifically filling this area.”

Gaisun, displaying a wary expression, shrank into himself.

As someone ranked 3rd in Holy Studies, even he was daunted by the overwhelming presence of the saints here.

“Isabel.”

At that moment, Ban called out to Isabel.

He was pointing at something.

There was a woman running energetically, carrying someone.

The blue-haired woman’s face was familiar from somewhere.

She was definitely Aisha Bizbel, a first-year student.

Soon, Isabel’s eyes widened in shock.

Because in Aisha’s arms was Hanon.

“H-Hanon?”

As Isabel muttered his name in surprise, everyone reacted.

“Hanon, that trash?”

Isabel’s friend Mina grimaced.

“Oh, that famous transfer student.”

A male student from the Magic Arts expressed his curiosity.

“Mina, you shouldn’t say that about a fellow academy friend.”

Gaisun chastised Mina.

At least everyone knew Hanon’s name.

The impact of what he had done in a short time had captured everyone’s attention.

“Let’s go.”

Ban, the only one calm in the group, initiated their movement toward Hanon.

Then everyone followed Ban as they headed toward him.

Gradually, they could see the team from the first floor.

Among them, the most shocked was Gaisun.

“Sir Miel!?”

The saint, Sir Miel of Eden.

He was there because of his high status, comparable to that of a queen.

Other students also expressed their surprise in succession.

The name of the saint held significant weight even among the students.

However, Sir Miel didn’t even glance their way.

He was simply using Holy Arts to heal Hanon in front of him.

Everyone held their breath as they looked at Hanon.

Hanon was in a terrible state.

His skin was burned and charred, and his left arm was completely twisted.

It was a serious injury by any standard.

“…Seron, what happened?”

Ban asked the stunned Seron.

Seron turned around, dazed, and blinked in surprise.

“Uh, uh, Ban? Isabel and Mina, when did you get here?”

He was so out of it that he didn’t even realize Isabel’s group had arrived.

“Seron, can you tell us what happened?”

When Isabel asked again, Seron scratched his head nervously.

“Well, um, a saint appeared on the first floor, you see? I think they said that after ninety-nine terrains in Magung, it’s dangerous for the hundredth terrain to appear.”

Seron rambled on.

But Isabel’s team was comprised of bright and skilled individuals.

Even as Seron babbled nonsensically, they all understood perfectly.

The gist was that the gray forest had reached its hundredth state and thus faced a saint much more dangerous than before.

Hanon seemed to have known this fact and led everyone to face and defeat the saint.

That was the conclusion.

“Is he an idiot? If he knew that, he should have told us to gather people to fight earlier.”

Mina expressed her disbelief after hearing the entire story.

But Gaisun denied her words.

“No. The gray forest maintained the same state until we got down to the second floor. There might be conditions that activate the gray forest.”

A condition where a saint doesn’t appear until the number of people has sufficiently diminished.

In fact, such conditions had been consistent throughout the history of Magung expeditions.

Hanon knew this and waited until all teams had moved to the second floor.

“Moreover, it’s the gray forest. When there are many people, fighting becomes even harder.”

Gaisun pointed at the ground, which had turned gray.

As he said, the gray forest made it tougher to fight with more people.

Regardless of whether they wanted to or not, they had to face the saint with a small squad.

“W-What about the seniors?”

At that moment, Poara, who had been silent, spoke up.

“They were planning to stay until something unusual happened in the gray forest.”

Even if the hundredth gray forest was perfectly normal,

or even if the activation condition of the saint was that everyone must be absent,

that was still fine.

“They intended to wait until the very end to prevent everyone from being unable to return because of the saint.”

If they held this position until the end, the other students who had gone down Magung could return safely.

For that reason, Hanon willingly stayed in the gray forest.

This was an academy.

What happened in Magung would become the accomplishments of the students, benefiting them.

Beyond the mission of protecting the world from Magung,

this was where those who wanted to make their name known gathered—the Jerion Academy.

But Hanon willingly sacrificed all of that, choosing to wait on the first floor.

Only so that everyone could return safely.

And the saint that appeared was so dangerous that if it hadn’t been for Hanon’s directions, the team would have perished.

If the other teams had been left behind, rather than being able to block the saint, they would have been wiped out,

and exhausted students returning from battles on the lower floors would have been brutally massacred.

Thus, Hanon fought and defeated the saint even at the cost of his own body, enduring such a state.

“Everyone looks like burnt sweet potatoes, and that’s not how it should be…”

Seron muttered with a dark expression.

Everyone’s faces grew solemn.

Among them, Isabel just stared at Hanon, deep in thought.

In her mind echoed the words Hanon had said on the day he first arrived at the academy.

“I came here to ensure that such disgrace would no longer befall the prestigious academy Jerion.”

To ensure that no more disgrace would come to Jerion Academy.

Isabel’s eyes opened wide.

She finally understood.

His intentions included ensuring that not a single student would die and return safely.

It was as if he vowed never to let a death like Lucas’s happen again.

“That’s what he meant.”

Isabel’s fists clenched and trembled.

While Isabel had fallen apart over Lucas’s death,

Hanon had trained himself and stood firm to prevent such tragedies from ever happening again.

The realization dragged Isabel down into despair.

“I’ve lost.”

In so many ways, she had lost to him.

Isabel looked at Hanon and silently reflected on her defeat.