At first, everyone at the Akademiya believed Soheil had died in a wild beast attack.
But the detailed autopsy report uncovered the cruel truth.
Deceased: Soheil.
Multiple external injuries...
Lacerations... internal organ contusions... massive hemorrhage...
...But the fatal injury was to the neck... fractured hyoid bone...
Mechanical asphyxiation... exact cause of death difficult to determine...
Taking Zandik's previous extreme behavior into account, the Akademiya named him the prime suspect and ultimately decided to expel him.
Rather than repent after his expulsion, Zandik pursued knowledge through experiments that grew even more depraved.
A hospital dedicated to "treating" Eleazar appeared in the Sumeru desert.
Doctors were helpless against the disease, and countless patients struggled in agony.
Then Zandik appeared, claiming he had a way to treat Eleazar. And his method...
Was to inject Archon Residue directly into the patients' bodies.
His true intention had never been to cure them. He merely treated these patients as test subjects.
After being injected with Archon Residue, large numbers of patients either died instantly or descended into utter madness.
On the Sky Screen, countless patients clutched their heads and howled in agony. Their heart-rending screams intensified the maiden-and-marionette duo's murderous intent. The coffin lid needed to be even thicker!
There were plenty of children and women among them. Without a shred of humanity, Zandik tortured these innocent lives, trading them for experimental results.
In his mind...
These were merely necessary costs.
Knowledge never descended out of thin air. It needed offerings, needed sacrifices, needed someone to pay the price for ignorance.
Zandik stood in the middle of that makeshift "ward." The air reeked of rot and pungent chemicals. All around him, patients lay curled on the floor, foaming at the mouth. Some had already fallen silent; others were still convulsing, their eyes rolling back as they