Christopher remained seated for several moments after Rio entered the office. The room looked far different from the last time he had visited. Books and journals covered almost every surface of the desk, while countless notes had been piled into neat stacks around the room. It was obvious that the Vice Headmaster had spent the entire night researching.
The portrait of the crimson-haired woman rested quietly beside him.
Christopher glanced at it before finally speaking.
"I decided to go through my master's records again."
His voice carried a trace of exhaustion. "Every journal, every lesson, every experiment she left behind. I was looking for proof that your idea was impossible."
Rio raised an eyebrow.
"And?"
A faint smile appeared on Christopher's face.
"I didn't find it."
For the first time since arriving, Rio's expression changed.
Christopher leaned back in his chair and opened one of the ancient journals resting on the desk. The pages were filled with diagrams and calculations far beyond the understanding of most scholars. Yet one thing appeared repeatedly throughout the notes.
A single name.
Buer.
Rio frowned slightly as he looked at it.
"What is that?"
"An SSS-Rank Demon from the Dark Era," Christopher answered without hesitation. "One of the oldest entities humanity has ever recorded."
His fingers moved across the page.
"My master repeatedly referenced Buer during the final years of her research. At first I assumed it was unrelated. Now I'm not so certain."
He flipped through several pages before stopping on a particular entry.
"According to these notes, creating the Arcane Core wasn't the problem. She had already solved most of the process. The real issue was the final step—the ignition."
"The ignition?"
Christopher nodded.
"The moment when an Arcane Core transitions from a theoretical construct into a functioning reality."
He closed the journal and looked toward the portrait.
"My master failed dozens of times because Arcane alone wasn't enough to sustain the transformation. Every attempt collapsed before completion."
His eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
"Then, suddenly, the failures stop."
Rio immediately understood.
"Something changed."
"Exactly."
Christopher folded his hands together.
"The references to Buer begin shortly beforehand. Then come the records describing her breakthrough. Then..." His gaze drifted toward the portrait once more. "Nothing."
The office fell silent.
"For twenty years I believed the Arcane Core itself triggered whatever punishment descended upon her laboratory," Christopher admitted. "Now I'm beginning to wonder if the Arcane Core wasn't the problem at all."
Rio's eyes sharpened.
"You think she used Buer?"
"I think she used something connected to it," Christopher corrected. "A fragment. A relic. An essence. I don't know. The relevant pages are missing."
He sighed before leaning back into his chair.
"But if my theory is correct, then my master never proved that creating an Arcane Core was forbidden. What she proved was that combining Arcane with the power of an SSS-Rank Demon was a catastrophically bad idea."
...
The office gradually fell into silence.
Christopher's words lingered in the air far longer than Rio expected. His gaze unconsciously drifted toward the portrait resting upon the desk. The crimson-haired woman seemed unchanged from before, her calm smile untouched by time, yet the image felt different now.
Before this conversation, she had been a failed pioneer—a scholar who reached beyond humanity's limits and paid the price.
Now?
Now she looked like someone who had almost succeeded.
The distinction was small.
Yet it changed everything.
Christopher remained seated for several moments, his fingers absentmindedly tracing the edge of the journal. Eventually he closed it with a soft thud and rose from his chair. Without saying anything, he walked toward the large window overlooking the academy grounds.
Moonlight poured through the glass.
Far below, students moved between the academy buildings, completely unaware that within this office, two scholars were discussing a possibility that should not even exist.
For a while, Christopher simply stood there.
Thinking.
The expression on his face was difficult to read. It wasn't excitement. Nor was it confidence.
It was the look of a man carefully reexamining a belief he had carried for decades.
Finally, he spoke.
"It seems there may truly be a chance."
Rio's eyes widened slightly.
Those words carried a completely different meaning coming from Christopher Nova.
The Vice Headmaster wasn't a dreamer. He wasn't someone who indulged in impossible fantasies. If he acknowledged a possibility, then it meant he genuinely believed one existed.
"But..." Rio hesitated before continuing. "How would we tackle the ignition?"
That was the true obstacle.
The final wall.
The very thing that had stopped Christopher's master despite possessing knowledge, talent, and resources beyond the reach of most people.
Christopher slowly turned away from the window.
Before he could answer, however, a knock echoed through the office.
Three measured knocks.
Christopher's expression didn't change.
"Enter."
The door opened a moment later.
Professor Evillise stepped inside carrying several books beneath one arm. Her violet eyes swept across the room, taking in the mountain of journals covering the desk before finally landing on Rio.
For a brief moment, she looked him over.
Then she sighed.
"You're still alive huh?"
Rio stared at her.
"I appreciate the concern professor."
"It wasn't concern."
Seemingly satisfied with that exchange, Evillise crossed the room and placed her books onto the desk. Unlike most professors, she didn't bother asking permission before taking a seat.
Not that Christopher appeared surprised.
In fact, he simply nodded toward her.
"Good timing."
Evillise leaned back in her chair.
"I would hope so considering you spent half the morning sending me research papers."
A faint smile appeared on Christopher's face.
A rare sight.
"I already shared my findings with Professor Evillise."
Rio looked between them.
That alone explained quite a bit.
Despite how often they argued, neither was the type to entertain nonsense. If both had independently examined the records and reached similar conclusions, then Christopher's theory carried considerably more weight than simple speculation.
Evillise folded her arms.
"Unfortunately, after reviewing everything, I couldn't find a flaw in his logic."
The admission sounded painful for her.
Christopher clearly enjoyed it.
"That may be the nicest thing you've ever said to me."
"Don't get used to it."
The Vice Headmaster chuckled softly before returning to the desk. He opened another journal and began turning through its pages.
"The ignition remains the central problem," he said. "Everything else can theoretically be solved. The Arcane accumulation. The framework. The stabilization process."
His fingers stopped upon a page filled with calculations.
"But the ignition..."
His eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
"...that is where my master failed."
Evillise shook her head.
"No."
Christopher looked toward her.
She tapped the journal.
"That is where she succeeded."
The room became quiet.
Even Rio found himself leaning forward slightly.
Evillise's gaze shifted toward the portrait.
"Your master solved the ignition."
There was no uncertainty in her voice.
"The evidence is obvious."
Christopher didn't disagree.
Instead, he remained silent.
Waiting.
Allowing her to continue.
"What she failed to do," Evillise said, "was survive the consequences that followed after.."
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Christopher slowly nodded.
"Exactly."
He rose from his chair once more and walked toward a nearby blackboard.
This time, there was something different in his eyes.
Not certainty.
Not confidence.
Curiosity.
The kind possessed by scholars standing before an unsolved mystery.
"My master used Buer's essence to force the ignition."
"That lead to her enraging the goddess herself"
"Therefore the Divine Punishment"
The chalk floated into his hand.
"The question we need to answer is simple."
He turned toward Rio.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"How do we achieve the same result..."
The chalk touched the board.
"...without an SSS-Rank Demon?"
"..without enraging the lady"
...
That truly was the hardest part.
Currently, I sat within the Third-Year classroom as Professor Evillise continued her lecture. Yet my thoughts were nowhere near the lesson.
If using a fragment of an SSS-Rank Demon had enraged the Goddess herself, then where would we find a source capable of producing similar pressure without provoking divine wrath?
No matter how I thought about it, I couldn't find an answer.
"Assistant."
I didn't react.
My gaze remained fixed on the notebook before me.
"Assistant."
Still nothing.
"...ASSISTANT."
I blinked.
Oh.
She was calling me.
"Ah, sorry."
I quickly handed Evillise the notes she wanted.
A vein visibly twitched on her forehead.
Several students chuckled quietly.
Unfortunately for them, Evillise slowly turned her head and gave the class a cold glance.
The laughter instantly died.
Silence returned.
A few hours later, I walked through the academy hallways.
My mind still lingered on Christopher's research.
Eventually, I found myself standing before a large mission board.
Various requests covered its surface.
Monster extermination.
Herb gathering.
Escort missions.
Investigation requests.
"Oh."
A faint smile appeared on my face.
"So they have outside missions too. Just like Nexus Academy."
As I examined the board, a woman approached me.
"Um?"
I didn't even bother turning around.
"Yes?"
"Are you the assistant professor for Professor Evillise?"
"I am."
The woman visibly relaxed.
"Ah, well, I was hoping to schedule an appointment with her."
I pulled out a form and handed it over.
"Sign this."
"Um, okay."
A minute later, she returned it.
I skimmed through the information.
"Hm. All done."
I nodded.
"She should be available tomorrow evening."
"Ah, okay."
The woman smiled.
"Thank you."
Only then did I glance at her.
She appeared fairly ordinary.
Brown hair.
Average height.
A decent face.
Nothing particularly memorable.
As she turned around and walked away, my eyes casually drifted downward.
Then they stopped.
Around her neck hung a black cross.
A black cross..
Then my eyes widened.
A black cross?!
Without hesitation, I immediately chased after her.
She had only turned the corner moments ago.
Yet when I reached it—
Nothing.
The hallway was completely empty.
"What?"
I looked around.
No footsteps.
No presence.
No trace.
Slowly, I lowered my gaze toward the paper she had filled out.
Something had been written across it.
A message.
Hello Noctis.
My eyes widened.
Below it—
A name.
My hands trembled slightly.
Reina Emberheart.