Dekan and Cornelia's Pool Party

"Damn it! Does a heartache count as pain?! Can this guy be any more shameless?!"

"Which side is the cult here, anyway?!"

"The Resurrection Church has finally kicked a steel plate! Truly, evil is met with even greater evil!"

Although everyone at Havenlit Academy was teasing Dekan, they were all laughing joyfully.

The entire Observation Hall was filled with a festive atmosphere. The moment Dekan landed the winning blow, there was a brief silence, followed by an eruption of cheers like a landslide or a tsunami.

In a seat in the back corner, a young man's expression was full of agitation, his hands clasped together as if he had been praying for Dekan and his companion the entire time.

"Whew—"

When he saw Dekan and Cornelia defeat the Faceless One, he finally let out a sigh of relief and stood up.

A faint smile still lingered on his face, refusing to fade.

Yet, beyond relief, his expression seemed to carry a hint of irrepressible bitterness and helplessness.

Just as he turned to leave the classroom, he saw a slender young girl standing behind him, blocking his path.

The girl's posture was noble and cold, and the corner of her mouth seemed to carry a trace of playfulness, as if she had been observing his expressions.

"Croix, you aren't fantasizing that you could be like them, are you?"

The girl's tone was very blunt.

"No... I would never harbor such delusions."

Croix realized the girl might have been watching him for a long time, and feeling deeply embarrassed, he hung his head.

At the same time, he seemed to recall some unpleasant memories and dared not face the girl any longer.

"Heh, it's good that you have self-awareness. You are no different from those people in the Resurrection Church. Remember the mistakes you made, and the miserable state of my sister—no one will ever cheer for you!"

Seeing Croix's attitude, the girl's anger seemed to flare up even more.

"...I know."

Hearing the girl's aggressive words, Croix's tone weakened even further, yet he never once retorted.

He simply bypassed the girl and walked quickly toward the door.

"After seeing their performance, you should understand by now: you are not suited for clearing the Shadow World! You are the embodiment of disaster yourself, so how could you possibly be the one to end it?!"

The girl shouted at his back.

Croix's footsteps faltered, he bit his lip hard, and then quickened his pace again.

He vanished from the Observation Hall as if fleeing in a panic.

In the hallway of the Demon Academy, two stealthy figures appeared, each seemingly dragging a comatose body.

They pulled the "corpses" by their feet, dragging them across the carpet and making a "shhh-shhh" friction sound.

Finally, they brought these two "corpses" to their base of operations: the cooking classroom.

Dekan locked the door and ran to the other side of the classroom to open a window.

Then he ran back to Cornelia's side, grabbed the Faceless One's shoulders, and together with Cornelia, moved the unconscious Faceless One to the window.

"One, two!"

Following the count, the two coordinated skillfully and tossed the Faceless One out the window together.

They repeated the process, tossing the Spellcaster out the window as well.

"Job done!"

Although Cornelia could have easily tossed these two guys out by herself, since it was a group effort, it was better for everyone to participate in disposing of the evidence.

It showed a better sense of team responsibility.

When encountering villains who attack other challengers in the Shadow World, killing them incurs no legal liability; this is a special provision approved by the Kingdom Association.

The observation programs carried by Dekan and Cornelia had also recorded absolutely sufficient evidence.

"This terrain is truly convenient; otherwise, taking down the Faceless One might have taken quite a bit of effort."

Dekan sighed with emotion.

His evaluation of this school had gone up yet again.

"What should we do? I kind of don't want to go back."

Cornelia felt as if she had returned home; she sat down on a chair by the Baroque Long Table without even realizing it.

Then she slumped over the table, seemingly unwilling to move.

"It would be nice if there were a chance to visit the Demon Realm in the future."

Dekan looked out the window, as if searching for a paradise on earth.

"Together."

"Absolutely, but let's get to work first; we still have an important project."

As they spoke, the two moved to nimbly scavenge the ingredients from the cooking classroom.

Dekan also instructed Cornelia to dismantle some of the cooking equipment from the room.

He would need these parts later to modify the piano.

"Right."

Dekan clapped his hands, as if he had just remembered something.

He turned on the school broadcast and said, "Challenger, please come to the cooking classroom. Your friends are looking for you. Please head to the third room in the west corridor of the school building immediately upon hearing this broadcast..."

It didn't take long before Dekan and Cornelia saw the challenger they had previously rescued rushing toward the cooking classroom to find them.

After an hour of rest and the ample potions from the infirmary, the challenger's wounds had healed significantly.

Not bad, full of energy—ready to get to work.

The exploration progress was still 2.3% short.

Dekan looked the challenger over with satisfaction and patted him on the shoulder.

"Here, see if there's anything you want."

Dekan pulled a stack of cards from his pocket and handed them to the challenger; these were the spoils scavenged from the Faceless One and the Spellcaster.

Just as only soul-bound magic cards could enter the Shadow World, the same logic applied to taking cards out of it.

They had to be bound before they could be taken.

Dekan and Cornelia couldn't bind Tier 4 or Tier 5 cards, and they didn't have many empty card slots left.

Earlier, Dekan had consumed three Venomous Ground Spikes and three Captain Dekan cards, freeing up 9 points of card slot capacity.

Without discarding their own cards, they had ultimately only taken a collection of cards totaling 9 points as loot.

Among the remaining cards were Tier 4 purple cards; it would be a waste to just leave them behind.

So, Dekan let the challenger see if he needed any of them, as he could at least take the Tier 4 cards.

"Are these really for me?"

Even though Dekan had explained the situation, the challenger was still hesitant to take the cards so easily.

"Yes, these cards are perfectly legal. However, for any cards you choose, you must wire sixty percent of their market value to the designated account I've given you. No problem, right?"

As Dekan spoke, he handed him a slip of paper.

[Norton Kingdom Capital Bank, Account Number: 948957812, Payee: Beautiful Soul Squad]

"No problem at all! Thank you, Brother Dekan!"

The challenger hurriedly took the slip, struggling to memorize the account information on it.

To him, this was a massive profit no matter how you looked at it.

Even if he resold the cards the moment he returned to the real world, he would still make a clean profit!

"Also, you'll need to clear two rooms on your own later. If you really can't handle it, use this ring to call for help."

Dekan handed the ring to the challenger.

This ring was no longer of much use to him and Cornelia.

Although they didn't want to do any more work, they couldn't let this challenger get into trouble.

After all, they were still waiting for him to return to the real world and wire over a large sum of "charity."

"Understood! You can count on me!"

The challenger agreed happily.

He had been slacking off for a while, and since Dekan had saved his life, it was only right that he start pulling his weight.

"By the way, what are you two going to do next?"

The challenger looked at the way Dekan and Cornelia had ransacked the cooking classroom and couldn't help but feel very confused.

"Ah, just doing what a student ought to do."

Dekan answered very seriously.

Cornelia, standing to the side, seemed to have grown impatient, occasionally standing on her tiptoes to grab Dekan's attention.

"Let's go!"

"Right!"

With that, the two left the challenger behind and exited the cooking classroom.

They carried their haul toward the headmaster's office as if they had just finished shopping at a mall.

A piano was already sitting at the entrance of the headmaster's office.

Cornelia opened the door, and the two moved the piano and their supplies inside.

The moment they stepped into the spacious headmaster's office, they saw the long-awaited swimming pool.

And so, after several dozen minutes of preparation.

Dekan and Cornelia finally began their happy pool party.

The Tier 4 Shadow World, Demon Academy Tales, ultimately drew to a close with the bizarre scene of Dekan and Cornelia happily splashing in the water.