Footsteps echoed through the silent hallway.
Two figures ran down the corridor, paying no attention to the thunderous boom behind them or the gust of wind it kicked up.
After setting off a trap, Dekan and Cornelia didn't launch another attack. Instead, they chose to run.
Dekan had already equipped Cornelia with the trio of [Hydrogen Explosion], [Hypnosis Gas], and [Venomous Ground Spikes].
These three cards were essential Spell Cards for traveling, killing, and looting.
Of course, this time their only goal was to make a huge commotion and seize the chance to put some distance between themselves and their pursuers.
"Dekan, what do we do now?"
Cornelia had already put Dekan down and was asking him as she ran beside him.
"Buy some time for now. Ideally, we can find the Dean. A fifth-tier Challenger is much harder to deal with than a fifth-tier demon."
Even Dekan's expression had turned unusually grave.
Though there was nothing more fun than fighting people,
their previous PvE challenge had only been fourth-tier.
The upcoming PvP challenge, however, was fifth-tier.
"Cornelia, we mustn't let our guard down. Those demons have to follow the rules, and they don't have Magic Cards to use."
"But these despicable Challengers are different. Who knows what kind of Underworld cards they've got up their sleeves?"
"For now, we just need to do our best to hold out until the Dean shows up."
Listening to Dekan, Cornelia nodded.
She might have been a brawler, but she trusted Dekan's judgment completely.
Besides, Dekan could make this school stay in session forever, and they still had extra Demon Passes.
Dekan was confident they had enough Demon Passes.
Sometimes students had to rely on their teachers.
But as they drew closer to the light around the corner ahead, a black, snake-like shadow silently streaked toward them from behind.
Then, as if diving into a pool, it slipped into Dekan's shadow and disappeared.
Dekan abruptly froze in place, unable to move, forced to stop in his tracks.
It felt as though his shadow had bound him, leaving him completely immobile.
Before long, he broke free and regained the ability to move.
But his legs felt as heavy as lead, and even taking a step was difficult.
"Who the hell uses this card?!"
Dekan roared.
He had a pretty good idea which card was responsible for this infuriating effect.
He had read up on all the notorious, irritating spells in the books.
He'd been hit by the fifth-tier spell Shadow Tracker.
[Shadow Tracker] [Type: Spell Card] [Rarity: Purple Rare] [Tier: 5] [Effect: Hunts down and locks down a target within a 200-meter radius, then inflicts a slowing effect. The duration of the control effect depends on the difference between both parties' attributes.] [Note: A work by Minos, Archbishop of the Resurrection Church.]
This card was practically useless against someone stronger than its user.
It consumed a lot of mana, the control effect lasted only a short time, and it could easily be cleansed by a fifth-tier Purification spell.
But using this card to bully someone weaker than you? It was about as annoying as it got!
A Prey that had been targeted could almost never escape!
"If my tier weren't too low, I'd make you a whole damn Shadow Tracker Plus!!!"
Dekan was now certain of what kind of person they were dealing with.
Clearly, this was a habitual predator who hunted the weak in the Shadow World.
"Looks like we can't get away."
Cornelia glanced at Dekan and said.
"So, yeah, I really hate fighting people—especially people who use Underworld cards like this."
Dekan sighed deeply and turned around, his expression resolute as he stared into the dim hallway.
Cornelia equipped the [Terror Warhammer] and [Cursed Soft Armor], cast a series of physical-enhancement Spell Cards on herself, and stepped in front of Dekan.
[Cursed Soft Armor] [Type: Equipment Card] [Rarity: Purple Rare] [Tier: 2] [Effect: When the wearer takes damage, 200% of the pain is transmitted to the source of the damage.] [Note: A new release in the autumn curse series by rising Card Crafter Dekan.]
"Are Dekan and Cornelia really this unlucky? It's bad enough that they entered a fourth-tier Shadow World, but now they've run into an enemy like this!"
Dekan and Cornelia had seemed so relaxed earlier, but the students watching couldn't help growing worried.
Anyone who attacked other Challengers inside a Shadow World was a heinous criminal.
They were skilled at disguising their identities and fighting Challengers.
And because they had hunted Challengers for a long time and stolen their Magic Cards, they were never weak.
Most importantly, they liked to sneak into lower-tier Shadow Worlds and were masters of slacking off.
"Wait, those four creepy masks..."
A senior student cupped his chin, frowning as he watched the bandage-covered man on the screen and the four giant masks hovering around him.
Soon, new information appeared on the screen.
[Information match: 97%. Equipment identified as Evil Spirit Mask. Card user identified as B-rank wanted criminal Faceless One, an elite member of the Resurrection Church.] [Evil Spirit Mask] [Type: Equipment Card] [Rarity: Orange Epic] [Tier: 5] [Effect: Provides the wearer with a large shield that automatically regenerates. Reflects 25% of the damage taken back to the source of the damage.] [Note: Feel the pain.]
"Figures. A bastard from the Resurrection Church!"
"The Resurrection Church?"
A new student seemed confused by the name. After all, he hadn't really encountered the Shadow World yet.
"An out-and-out cult! Their doctrine says the world will be reborn after a disaster. They believe that fewer people will leave more resources for everyone, making people happier!"
"In reality, they're just a bunch of lunatics obsessed with looting!"
At the mention of the Resurrection Church, many senior students and teachers gritted their teeth.
"Then why don't they attack their teammates from the start and make the Shadow World fail?"
"The Resurrection Church is said to have two factions. The Kingdom Association calls them the Hawk Faction and the Dog Faction. Both aim to plunder and destroy, bringing about disasters. The Hawk Faction leans toward seizing resources, while the Dog Faction pursues destruction for its own sake."
"So the Hawk Faction actively works through Shadow Worlds, and at first they're no different from normal people. But when they're close to clearing one, they look for a chance to kill people and steal their cards."
"The Dog Faction makes no effort to clear Shadow Worlds. They might even obstruct the mission from the start, while looking for a chance to get their teammates killed and take their cards."
"Anyway, if you run into anyone from the Resurrection Church, beat them to death! It's not against the law!"
If Shadow Worlds brought disasters, then the Resurrection Church was undoubtedly a man-made calamity!
They liked to leave exhausted Challengers to die in despair, take their cards, and even torture them.
Even if senior students had never personally encountered a Resurrection Cultist, they knew people who had been harassed by them.
Some had even lost their lives to Resurrection Cultists.
They both hated and feared the Resurrection Church.
The entire Observation Hall fell silent.
The students held their breath as they watched Dekan and Cornelia.
Even after everything Dekan and Cornelia had done to torment demons earlier, no one in the Observation Hall could help worrying about them now.
The known information about Faceless One appeared on the screen, piece by piece.
A fifth-tier Summoner, with high Stamina and Spirit.
Summoners were already the most reliable class for bullying the weak, and Faceless One's deck had been built specifically to hunt them.
His Spell Cards were mostly for disguise and tracking, his Equipment Cards were for survival, and a large number of Summon Cards let him overwhelm his targets.
Many senior students knew what that meant: Dekan and Cornelia were in dire straits.
As a second-tier Challenger, Dekan could bring only 20 tiers' worth of cards into a Shadow World.
The people in the Observation Hall had already seen most of the cards he'd brought during the challenge.
With the cards the two of them had right now, their odds of defeating Faceless One were practically zero.
The tier gap was enormous, and besides, Faceless One was a tormentor who was as damn cowardly as they came!
He would never give Dekan the chance to finish him off in a single blow!
"We can only hope Dekan's still got something up his sleeve."
"To be honest, I suspected at first that Dekan was with the Resurrection Church, because he's even worse than their cultists... But now I just hope he'll be even more ruthless and kill this villain!"
"Come on, Dekan! Cornelia!"
Before you continue