While the Dark Mage King’s seven sons scattered across the underworld following his command, Stella Academy was in the midst of conducting its second-semester finals.

However, Stella Academy’s second-year second-semester finals included a somewhat special additional exam.

In truth, the term special didn’t only apply to Stella Academy, as the second-year finals served as a major competitive event between prestigious schools.

This competition was meant to compare how exceptional and skilled the students trained by each school were.

But why specifically target second-years?

Originally, this competition was held for third-year second-semester students. However, by the time most students reached their final year, they were too busy with external activities to participate in such events.

Naturally, not all second-year students participated in the competition. With over a thousand second-year students at Stella Academy alone, the event would grow to an unmanageable size when combined with other schools.

Instead, only a select group of students took part, those dissatisfied with their final exam scores and seeking to earn extra points, or those wanting to showcase their magical talents and make a name for themselves.

As expected, the protagonist-level students all participated, and Baek Yu-Seol was no exception.

However, as with any schedule, things didn’t always go according to plan.

"To prepare for the competition among the five prestigious magic schools of Arcanium, the academy has created five identical dungeons and five enormous holographic monsters for the event..."

While this was being explained to the gathered second-years in the auditorium, Baek Yu-Seol had slipped away and was talking quietly with Scarlet in a secluded spot.

"The Green Core was stolen?"

"Yeah! Because of that, the Green Tower’s plan to restore the Mullen Highlands to nature has hit a major setback."

"Did something happen to the Mullen Highlands?"

"Oh, you haven’t heard? Well, you’ve been busy lately, so I guess that makes sense. The dark mages apparently set up a Persona Gate there on purpose and detonated it on a large scale, completely devastating the highlands."

Baek Yu-Seol frowned and shook his head at Scarlet’s explanation.

"They never stop causing trouble."

"Right?"

"The Green Tower... they’re already busy trying to restore the petrified Saryun Desert."

"Oh, you know a lot about the Green Tower despite how secretive they are!"

"I’ve heard bits and pieces."

The Green Tower, also known as the Pillar of Rasselon, was a highly unusual magic tower.

It fails to meet nearly every standard of a typical magic tower: it consistently had insufficient staff, fell short on annual research contributions, lacked magical achievements, violated magical laws, and frequently separated itself from the rest of the magical community.

Despite this, the Green Tower retained its status as a magic tower for two key reasons:

First, its Tower Master was the Class 9 Grand Mage Toa Legron.

Second, while they didn’t generate significant revenue, they assisted in cleaning up after disasters around the world, such as purifying areas damaged by Persona Gates.

"Anyway, Toa Legron issued a formal request asking if you could retrieve the Green Core for them. What do you think?" With her sparkling eyes, Scarlet pulled a magically sealed document envelope from her bag.

It seemed this situation was particularly amusing to her, perhaps because Toa Legron was Scarlet’s former pupil.

"If you’re interested, Toa Legron even mentioned being willing to visit Stella personally."

"No, thanks. Someone busy enough to push such an important task onto me won’t have time to visit here anyway."

"Exactly! I guess he already knew you’d be considerate and accept the request. It’s so exciting!"

"What exactly is so exciting...?"

Regardless of Scarlet’s enthusiasm, the theft of the Green Core was a significant event. It might not be a bad idea for Baek Yu-Seol to personally get involved and resolve the matter.

The competition between the five prestigious schools of Arcanium, including Stella Academy, was an event Baek Yu-Seol was looking forward to, but this wasn’t the time to prioritize such entertainment.

"Oh, and by the way, I caught a bird loitering around your dorm this morning."

"A bird?"

"Yep! Wanna see it?" 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

When Baek Yu-Seol nodded, Scarlet waved her fingers in the air.

A bird with its wings and legs bound suddenly plopped onto the ground.

On its forehead was a golden magical emblem, making it obvious to anyone that it was carrying a message.

"...Why are you showing me this now?"

"Why do you think? The person who sent this bird seems really suspicious. I was worried they might try to attack you or something!"

"That’s overprotective. I can handle something like that on my own."

With that, Baek Yu-Seol reached out his hand to the bird. As he did, words flowed out from its beak, forming a message. When he saw the sender’s name, his eyes widened.

’So that’s why Scarlet was being overly protective.’

The sender was none other than Rudrick Hallow, the Tower Master of the Shadowy Tower of New Moon and the former mentor of Elthman Elwin, a renowned master of spatial magic.

Rudrick was known for surpassing Elthman in spatial magic, a feat he achieved by dedicating himself entirely to the craft. In exchange for forming a contract with the Hallow Connection, he gave up all other types of magic, channeling his full power into spatial magic.

As a result, Rudrick was so limited in other areas of magic that he couldn’t even perform basic spells like a simple light spell. To compensate for his weaknesses and expand his reach, he established the New Moon Tower.

As Baek Yu-Seol slowly read through the letter, his expression turned slightly grim.

By coincidence, Rudrick Hallow had sent him a request to retrieve the Green Core at the same time as Toa Legron’s request.

But there was something odd about the contents of Rudrick’s message:

[Mage Baek Yu-Seol, I do not know if you have noticed, but Toa Legron’s recent behavior has been suspicious.]

[He has likely asked you to retrieve the Green Core.]

[However, the Green Core is a core technology of the Green Tower. Why would he entrust such a critical task to an outsider?]

[I suspect it is because he is no longer capable of handling the Green Core himself.]

The Green Core was a remarkable artifact, capable of enhancing the vitality of surrounding natural life proportional to the amount of magic infused into it. It wasn’t something entirely created by human technology but rather a sacred artifact derived from Soft Green Spring Moon of the Twelve Divine Moon, augmented by human engineering.

Because of its sacred nature, the Green Core could not be handled by someone with a tainted soul; anyone who did so would immediately succumb to corruption.

’It’s a plausible argument.’

Why would they entrust the retrieval and transport of the Green Core to an outsider? If it were such an important artifact, wouldn’t Toa Legron, no matter how busy, step forward to handle it personally?

Still, Baek Yu-Seol couldn’t fully trust either side.

From his perspective, just as Toa Legron couldn’t be entirely trusted, neither could Rudrick Hallow.

In the game, Rudrick’s New Moon Tower never outright became an enemy faction. However, depending on certain choices, they could immediately turn hostile if the wrong decision was made.

If Baek Yu-Seol’s actions ever went against their interests, they would be ready to point their blades at him at any moment.

[Therefore, I ask that you retrieve the Green Core and return it directly to Toa Legron.]

"...What?"

"Huh? What’s wrong? What does it say?"

Baek Yu-Seol had expected Rudrick to ask him to steal the Green Core and bring it to the New Moon Tower. But upon reading this request, his expression turned to one of complete disbelief.

And when he read the following lines, his astonishment grew even further.

[If he has truly fallen to corruption, the Green Core will become tainted and disintegrate.]

[If that is confirmed... I will personally sever Toa Legron’s head.]

[He is a Class 9 mage.]

[Should he succumb to dark corruption, he would become as dangerous an enemy as the Dark Mage King himself.]

In other words, Rudrick intended to use the sacred artifact, the Green Core, as a test to determine whether Toa Legron had fallen to corruption.

Currently, the New Moon Tower was close to developing technology capable of identifying dark mages disguised as humans. However, whether this technology could be effectively applied to a mage of Toa Legron’s level - one equivalent to a Class 9 mage - was uncertain.

Thus, Rudrick Hallow was willing to take drastic measures to verify Toa Legron’s corruption.

’It’s a valid point.’

If someone as powerful as Toa Legron were truly corrupted, it would pose an enormous threat to humanity.

Thus, while it would certainly be beneficial for Rudrick to eliminate Toa Legron if he had truly fallen to corruption...

’The Green Core is far too precious to be used for something like this.’

The artifact held infinite potential. Using it merely to determine whether someone had succumbed to dark corruption - especially when it had already been tainted by the dark mages - felt like a waste.

It was understandable why Rudrick had made such a decision, as there were currently no other means to verify whether a Class 9 mage had fallen to corruption.

’But I have another way.’

It wasn’t anything groundbreaking.

He simply needed to meet Toa Legron in person and confirm it with his own eyes... while wearing his Sentient Spec.

’Still...’

Baek Yu-Seol glanced at Scarlet.

She was looking at him with sparkling eyes, as if silently asking, ’You’ll accept my student’s request, right?’

Toa Legron.

She still believed in him.

Because he was none other than the student she had personally raised.

"...I’ll accept."

"Oh! As expected! I can already see how happy my student will be!"

"Besides, the location where the Green Core was stolen is close to the venue for the Arcanium magic schools’ second-year competition. If I finish the mission quickly, I can still stop by the event."

"Really? If you take me with you, we can wrap it up even faster!"

"No."

Baek Yu-Seol shook his head firmly, his expression turning serious.

"There’s an additional request. It’s related to the Green Core."

"An additional request...?"

"It’s from Rudrick Hallow. The condition is that I don’t tell anyone else and handle it alone."

"What?! You’re going to trust the words of such a shady old man?"

It couldn’t be helped.

As someone dedicated to eradicating dark mages, Rudrick Hallow wasn’t necessarily wrong in his actions.

In the game, he was willing to go to any lengths to eliminate dark mages and even employed extreme methods that sometimes put him at odds with the player. However, his ultimate goal was always the revival of humanity, making him a significant and respectable figure.

"Hehe. So, you’ll prioritize my student’s mission, right? He’s so excited about it, especially since he sent you the request himself!"

"It depends on the situation."

Baek Yu-Seol avoided giving a definite answer.

Depending on how things unfolded, if Toa Legron had truly succumbed to dark corruption, he might have to join forces with Rudrick Hallow to eliminate him.

And if that time came...

What would happen to Scarlet?

Would she be devastated to see Baek Yu-Seol kill her one and only mentor?

Would she feel disappointed? Or would she turn against him?

’... I hate either possibility.’

He didn’t want to see Scarlet’s bright, sparkling expression and happy smile turn into sorrow.

But for the future of humanity and the greater good, even if Scarlet ended up in pain and tears, Baek Yu-Seol was resolute in his decision. He would never go back on his choice.