Azrael sat still in the middle of the room.

He kept his eyes closed while Melissa knelt behind him. Her soft palms rested flat against the centre of his back, pushing a stream of tracking magic into his skin.

"I cannot sense anything inside," Melissa whispered, pulling her hands away with a frustrated sigh.

"There is a wall I cannot pass."

"How did he split the core?" Azrael asked, highly annoyed by the whole situation.

He opened his red eyes and glared at the floorboards.

"That is what confuses me too, my lord," Melissa replied, staring at her own hands.

"When I sealed him in the cave, I was sure his soul would move straight to the seventh layer. The ritual was flawless."

"Gruh." Azrael stood up and started pacing back and forth across the small room.

"Should we just do another ritual? We can force him out of the walls."

"My lord, I truly wish we could do that," Melissa said, lowering her head.

"But without my pendant, I do not have the energy."

"Ah, yeah," Azrael stopped pacing.

He remembered her current limitation.

Without her pendant, she was strictly relying on the natural mana of the original human girl she possessed.

That tiny reserve was already drained from summoning him into this world.

"You don’t have to worry, my lord," Melissa added quickly, trying to soothe his anger.

"His soul cannot take the body back that easily. Your core overwrites his. He is trapped in the dark."

Azrael nodded slowly.

He knew his own power very well.

What he did not know was Shane’s power.

If this mortal boy could predict a demonic possession, then for sure, he thought of a solid plan to get his body back eventually.

A trapped rat will always chew through the floorboards if you give it enough time.

"When is that cave excavation?" Azrael asked, turning to face her.

"It will be in two days, my lord," Melissa answered, her face brightening.

"I had already shared the false information with our remaining pieces in the capital. We will have a smooth journey. The academy teachers suspect nothing about the location."

"Hmm." Azrael crossed his arms.

He was sure the teachers suspected something else, though.

Why haven’t they taken action yet?

Boros had stared at him with knowing eyes.

Is the old man waiting because of this boy’s life?

If other top awakeners enter the academy to investigate, they will easily notice his drastic change, too.

Arthur was already stepping in when things got heated.

Azrael realised he could not afford to draw more attention from Boros or trigger Arthur’s intervention again.

He needs to maintain the illusion of being Shane Newman just long enough to retrieve Raviel’s pendant from the B-rank cave.

Once he has the pendant, he can begin summoning the supreme demons and burn this school to ash.

"I need to act like him," Azrael said, the words tasting like poison on his tongue.

"Yes, my lord," Melissa agreed.

"You must. So here is the thing about Shane. He walks with casual confidence, but he never brags openly. If someone asks him a direct personal question, he always deflects it or asks a question back."

Azrael found the performance deeply irritating.

He was a king forced to play the role of a court jester.

But he nodded anyway, processing the rules with cold precision.

His very first test came much sooner than he wanted.

The next afternoon, Azrael walked down the quiet stone hallway near the library.

He kept his posture relaxed, forcing his hands into his jacket pockets just like Melissa instructed.

He heard fast footsteps approaching from behind.

"Hey," a voice called out.

Azrael stopped and turned around.

Kiara stood there, her arms crossed and her hair tied back.

She looked angry, but there was a layer of hunger hiding in her blue eyes.

"It is the first of the month," Kiara said, stepping right into his space.

"We have an arrangement."

Azrael stared at her. He searched the boy’s lingering memories for context.

A blood deal.

The vampire drank from this vessel in exchange for medical supplies.

He had to act like Shane while managing a hungry predator who was biologically connected to the vessel.

"Not here in the open," Azrael said, mimicking Shane’s flat tone.

"Let us go to the hall upstairs."

Kiara narrowed her eyes but nodded.

They walked in silence to the private rankers’ lounge.

As soon as the heavy door clicked shut, Kiara pushed him back against a sofa.

"You acted like a total psycho yesterday," Kiara muttered, unbuttoning the top of his uniform shirt.

"Saying you would let your family die. What was that about?"

"I was having a bad day," Azrael deflected perfectly, resting his arms on the back of the sofa.

"Do you want to complain, or do you want to drink?"

Kiara clicked her tongue.

She leaned down, her sharp fangs extending, bit directly into the side of his neck.

He sat perfectly still.

But Kiara immediately froze. She pulled her mouth away after just three seconds, coughing hard into her hand.

She stumbled backwards, wiping her lips frantically.

"What the hell is wrong with your blood?" Kiara gasped, looking at him with wide eyes.

Azrael stood up slowly.

He buttoned his shirt, keeping his face totally blank.

"What do you mean?"

"It tastes like... ash," she whispered, taking another step back.

’She can feel the wrongness through the magical pact,’ Azrael realised.

"I told you I was having a bad day," Azrael said, stepping toward her with a lazy shrug.

"Maybe the cafeteria food is finally getting to me. If it tastes that bad, find another donor."

He walked right past her and opened the door, not looking back.

He played the part of the arrogant top ranker, brushing off a minor complaint.

Kiara stood alone in the lounge, her hand resting on her chest.

She knew blood did not just change its nature overnight.

But Azrael’s casual dismissal left her uncertain. If he were an imposter, he would have tried to hide it or make an excuse.

His careless attitude matched Shane perfectly.

Down at the far end of the hallway, Zephyr watched the interaction from behind a pillar.

He saw Azrael walk away.

Zephyr gripped the stone edge of the pillar.

He remembered the feeling of draining the mana yesterday.

’That is not Shane,’ Zephyr thought, his jaw clenching tight.