After settling Song Yiyi in, Jiang Chen took the medicine from her and went straight to the principal's office.
When he reached the principal's office, he could clearly hear coughing from inside.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Jiang Chen stood at the door without going in.
From inside, the principal seemed to know someone was standing outside. "Is that you, Yiyi? Why are you standing outside? Come in."
Hearing the voice, Jiang Chen finally turned the doorknob, opened the door, and walked into the principal's office.
Inside the office,
everything was dim.
Clearly, the lights were off.
Jiang Chen reached over and pressed the light switch by the door.
There was a click.
The lights came on.
By their light, the principal saw Jiang Chen standing in the doorway,
and the medicine in his hand.
"Why do you have the medicine Yiyi brought for me?"
"Song Yiyi had something to do, so she asked me to bring the medicine to you."
"Oh!"
The principal sat in his chair and said, "General Pagoda waited for you in the office for quite a while. When you didn't show up, he went to take care of official business."
"Just leave the medicine on the table. I'll take it in a bit."
"Principal, there's something I've been wondering about." Jiang Chen remained by the door, not taking a single step forward. "Why is there God-Demon Grass in your medicine?"
"You know that God-Demon Grass is a substance that suppresses demonic energy. Humans can't take it."
Holding the medicine bottle, Jiang Chen asked, "Principal, can you explain?"
"What are you talking about? I don't understand."
"Or are you just pretending not to understand?"
Jiang Chen looked at the principal with a sharp glint in his eyes, as if he already knew everything.
"Principal, why don't you listen to a story?"
"It's about the War of Ten Thousand Monsters. A wounded old man was surrounded by demons. In his desperation, he fled into the Ten Thousand Monster Forest, ventured deep into the monsters' territory, and found a demon's heart."
"To stay alive, the old man ate the demon's heart and gained tremendous power. He wiped out the demons, but became half human and half demon."
"To suppress the demonic energy inside him, he had to take God-Demon Grass every day."
"But the demonic energy of the Demon's Heart grew stronger and stronger. The old man gradually lost control of it, and the Demon's Heart began to take over his body."
"In the end, he became a demon completely."
"So now, should I call you Principal, or a Super S-Class Demonic Beast?"
Faced with Jiang Chen's accusation, the principal fell silent for a moment before saying, "If I'm a demon, why hasn't the Demon Qi Stone at the school reacted?"
"Because you take God-Demon Grass every day. It can suppress the demonic energy inside a demon and keep the Demon Qi Stone from reacting."
"God-Demon Grass remains effective for 24 hours. Once that time passes, it stops working."
"If you really aren't a demon, Principal, why don't we wait and see whether the Demon Qi Stone reacts?"
The principal's expression didn't change, and his voice remained steady. "Jiang Chen, don't make wild accusations without proof."
"I've been telling the truth this whole time."
"Principal, General Pagoda never came today, did he? The General Pagoda who killed Nie Xiaoqian was actually you, wasn't he?"
"Some abilities can change a person's body and appearance, even letting them become someone else."
"I imagine you have an ability like that, Principal."
"Outrageous! Do you even know where you are, behaving like this in my office?" The principal was truly furious.
Anger spread across his face. "Jiang Chen, don't think I'll go easy on you just because you're S-Class!"
"I'm the principal of an ability school. Why would I become a demon just to cling to life?"
"Since you won't admit it, Principal, I'll spell it out for you."
"Fifteen years ago, during the War of Ten Thousand Monsters, the monsters were at the gates, and everyone had prepared to die. Everyone except you, Principal!"
"Because you had a young granddaughter who needed you to care for her."
"Her parents had both died fighting the demons to protect this city."
"And you were the only family she had left in the world."
"You didn't want to die. If you did, who would take care of Song Yiyi while she was still so young?"
"To survive, you were willing to sell your body to a demon!"
"Am I right, Principal?"
Jiang Chen watched the principal's face flicker between light and shadow. "It's almost time. The effects of the God-Demon Grass in your body are about to wear off."
"Whether you're a demon or not, the Demon Qi Stone will tell us."
The principal's expression changed at once. "Jiang Chen, don't push me too far."
"Too far..."
"Because of your selfishness, this entire city is on the verge of being destroyed. So tell me, who's going too far—you or me?"
"Principal!"
"Does it only count as going too far once the demon inside you truly awakens?"
"Jiang Chen!" The principal rose from his seat and braced both hands on the desk. He had used so much force that even his clothes trembled.
"I'll say this one last time: give me the medicine!"
Jiang Chen slammed the medicine onto the floor.
The medicine bottle shattered,
spilling its contents everywhere.
By then, a panel had appeared before Jiang Chen.
Target: Principal Song Species: Half human, half demon! True Form: A fusion of a human and a ten-thousand-year-old tree demon. Level: SS-Class.
Was SS-Class the same as Super S-Class?
As Jiang Chen wondered, a Zanpakuto appeared in his hand.
A thick black aura now swirled around the principal.
Not far from him, the Demon Qi Stone lit up.
As soon as it did, the school's barrier activated.
The barriers were designed specifically to fight demons and had some effect on them.
But the principal was clearly an exception.
He twisted his stiff neck, murder in his eyes. "Jiang Chen, you know things you shouldn't. I won't let you leave here alive."
Jiang Chen immediately realized that when a demon and a human shared the same body, the barriers no longer affected the demon.
He had thought the school's barriers could at least suppress the demon,
which would give him better odds.
Now he saw that he hadn't thought it through.
In that case, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and fight.
The principal noticed Jiang Chen drawing his sword and sneered. "Do you even have the strength to fight me now?"
"Your ability is nearly spent, isn't it?"
"Even the strongest person can't fight two S-Class Demonic Beasts in one day."
"Especially when you only awakened your ability recently."
The principal had already passed beyond the bounds of humanity. Countless black willow branches sprouted from his back.
The sight was horrifying.
He walked slowly toward Jiang Chen, looking at him like prey, a cruel smile spreading across his face.
But one sentence from Jiang Chen stopped him in his tracks.
"Principal, don't you think that if I dared to come here, I must have been fully prepared?"
Jiang Chen spoke with calm confidence, looking as if he had planned for everything. The principal had no choice but to reconsider him.
If anyone else had said it, he might have thought they were bluffing.
But Jiang Chen...
For a moment, he thought it might actually be true.
After hesitating briefly, he felt a blade appear behind him and pierce his heart in an instant.
The person who killed him looked exactly like him.
Who was this person...?
Before you continue