Although they could choose to leave the Shadow World as soon as they completed the objectives, neither Dekan nor Cornelia chose to leave right away.
They played until time ran out, and only then were they forcibly teleported out of Demon Academy, reluctant to go.
At last, the Shadow World reached the settlement phase as they looked back wistfully.
After being teleported out of the Shadow World, they found themselves temporarily in a small, separate space, much like a little room.
It was a patch of Critical Space between the Shadow World and the real world.
Dekan could see a Void Gate in the wall. Stepping through it would presumably let them leave the Shadow World completely.
Soon, the mission interface began to update.
[Shadow World: Demon Academy Tales cleared] [Calculating] [Generating evaluation] [Due to the team's highly coordinated actions, the team settlement method will be used] [Challengers: Dekan & Cornelia] [In this exploration-type Shadow World, the team cleared five ordinary classrooms and one ultimate classroom, and explored two non-clearable facilities and one non-clearable facility.] [The team achieved the following accomplishments] [Domination Theory S--Successfully subdued a Demon Teacher] [Explosion Index SSS--Exceeded the core mission requirements by 3267%] [Campus Destroyers SS--Caused extensive damage to Demon Academy's buildings and mechanisms] [Never Decrypt A--Cleared the Shadow World without following its mechanics at all] [Demon Killing Machine SS--Killed 17 Demon Students, 1 Demon Teacher, and 1 ultimate Demon Teacher] [Inseparable C--Always acted in coordination, with excellent teamwork] ... [Pool Party S--Achieved a miracle that should never have happened at Demon Academy. It shouldn't have happened whether you were students, humans, or demons] [Achievements reviewed. Evaluation generated] [You are the elite among this school's elite, pioneers ahead of your time, true rulers and absolute masters. Compared with you, demons are as pure as infants.] [Team rating: SSS] [As you achieved an SSS rating while in a team, you will be granted a team trait] [Dekan & Cornelia have obtained the team trait: Sinful Partners] [Sinful Partners: When the two of you form a team, you have a higher chance of receiving an initial identity aligned with the evil faction.] [Rewards: Rank increase (Dekan: Second Rank → Third Rank; Cornelia: Third Rank → Third Rank), Heart of Batchel's Fear (Fifth-Rank rare material), Olive's Ultimate Madness (Fourth-Rank epic Spell Card), Olive's Venomous Scorpion Tail (Sixth-Rank epic material)]
"Huh, we got an epic drop right off the bat."
Dekan was more interested in their rewards than in his own rank increase.
[Olive's Ultimate Madness] [Category: Spell Card] [Quality: Orange Epic] [Rank: 4] [Effect: Greatly increases the user's physical abilities for 30 seconds, while also enhancing their agility and perception.] [Note: Olive doesn't use this skill only for combat.]
Dekan was somewhat surprised as he looked at the three items hovering in front of them, then picked them up.
They included a card radiating an orange glow, a green crystal gem shaped like a heart, and a scorpion tail that gave off a dangerous aura.
Magic Cards could be made by Card Crafters, but they could also be found naturally in Shadow Worlds.
The odds were just incredibly low.
Most of the time, Shadow Worlds only dropped the key materials used to make Magic Cards.
After clearing a Fourth-Rank Shadow World, it was usually good enough for each person to get one Fourth-Rank blue or purple material.
Their rewards were so generous that it was probably directly related to their outstanding performance at Demon Academy.
"Cornelia, how about I give you this card and keep the other two materials?"
Dekan suggested.
"Sure."
Cornelia agreed without hesitation.
Dekan handed Olive's Ultimate Madness to Cornelia.
She took the card and gazed at the orange card with delight.
She had never seen a naturally occurring Fourth-Rank epic Magic Card before!
She'd never imagined that a single trip into a Shadow World could earn her a Fourth-Rank epic card.
It was like a dream.
The card suited her perfectly.
Uh, except the description was a little strange.
"Whew, time to go back to school."
At the thought of returning to school, Dekan couldn't help sighing.
"Whew."
Cornelia felt the same way.
The two of them left Critical Space with their spoils.
Items acquired in Critical Space didn't need to be bound to their owners to be brought back to the real world.
They stepped through the Void Gate before them and returned to the Shadow World access point at Havenlit Academy.
Two days had passed since they returned from the Shadow World.
Dekan and Cornelia had attracted quite a bit of attention at school.
Since both of them had carried the Shadow World Spectator Program, they didn't need to provide additional records about the details of their encounter with the Resurrection Cultist.
The school's logistics department had already prepared the documents they needed to submit to the Kingdom Association.
Of course, they still had to handle the paperwork themselves to collect the bounty for the Faceless One.
After classes that day, Dekan and Cornelia hurried to the Kingdom Association's Norton Kingdom branch to collect the bounty.
They had something important to do next: split the spoils.
"After taxes, we've got 264 Gold Coins left. Then we subtract about 12 Gold Coins for our prep and card wear and tear from the Shadow World, leaving 252. We'll keep 52 as team funds in our squad's bank account, then split the rest, 100 each. How does that sound?"
Dekan said as he jotted down the figures in a little notebook.
"Sure."
Cornelia didn't want to think about numbers.
She was happy to leave the accounting to Dekan.
"Once that old guy's ill-gotten gains—uh, charitable donation—comes through, we can split it again."
Dekan put away the notebook, quite satisfied. They'd made a fortune this time.
Most importantly, he'd confirmed with Master that Olive's Venomous Scorpion Tail could be used to repair her.
Dekan still needed to collect at least four more Sixth-Rank-or-higher epic materials of the demon type.
He also had to reach the Sixth Rank himself before he could begin repairing Master and bringing her back to life.
He would probably have to buy the remaining four demon-type materials.
After all, they wouldn't always run into a demon-type boss, and they couldn't count on defeating one even if they did.
But high-Rank epic materials like those cost a fortune.
If he wanted to collect them all, Dekan would have to keep working hard to make money.
All so that one day he could see the true face of this demon old lady.
"Hmm?"
A voice suddenly rang in Dekan's mind.
"Ah, Teacher, you're awake?"
Dekan immediately replied telepathically.
Master: "What were you thinking just now?"
Dekan: "I was imagining your peerless beauty."
Master: "...Don't let me hear those three words again."
Dekan: "What? I'm not even allowed to say 'beautiful young girl'?"
Master fell silent for a moment.
She felt that Dekan was becoming more and more shameless.
"I'm going back to sleep."
With that thought, Dekan's mind fell quiet again.
He finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He didn't dare make this old... beautiful young girl angry.
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