Hunter Academy: Revenge of the Weakest-Chapter 419 95.4 - I am here

Is everything in this world can be seen through?

The answer to this question would most likely be no. No human is omnipotent. Nothing in this world can know everything beforehand. No matter how many plans we make, no matter what we do, or how far we achieve, there are times we realize that we are not that great after all.

But, in our very essence, we want to be like the gods that we believe in.

We want to be the greatest, the ones that direct everything. That is why we fall into the delusion that we are great when everything is going our way.

Those thoughts. They suddenly appeared in my head. While I was hunting down the demonic humans one by one, secretly, suddenly, a bad premonition indulged my heart.

The reason for this wasn't some sort of intuition. It was because my eyes were observing things that I knew subconsciously should happen differently.

When something tells us that the thing in front of us is wrong, most of the time, it is not because of the fact that we somehow get a divine revelation. We are not that special.

It is because our subconsciousness sees and notices the signs of difference. And that was what exactly was happening to me right now. The reason why I was feeling such a thing.

'Why are they not appearing?'

This was the first question that came to my mind. After all, according to the game, the high-ranking executives of the organization must have appeared by now. That was how it went in the game, the plan of their attack.

Even in the cutscenes, it was explained that this attack was being prepared for two or three years. Therefore, I doubted that such a plan would be changed thanks to the derivations from the game.

That was also the reason why I notified Eleanor while securing the evidence that the professor had contacted the 'Mad Puppeteer.'

I precisely waited for that moment. I had already secured a lot of evidence on him, contacting many different people of demons.

They are also recorded in my memory, and I won't forget their faces. But, even then, I didn't stop until I found Mad Puppeteer.

I knew she would not be able to contain her emotions. After all, that Mad Puppeteer is her weakness. Something that can be used against her for a while.

This place was bound to be their grave. I confirmed this. After all, two other S-rank Hunters were also there, and they were from the Real Demonic Human Bureau. Though the situation concerning the Demonic Human Bureau is a lot more complex to explain, those hunters are real Demon Hunters, at least.

Amelia and Callum.

Those two are future-named characters that will significantly impact the storyline, and this is something that won't most likely change.

With their existence confirmed, I was sure that everything was about to go according to the plan I made.

After all, even if Verian Drakos is strong enough to kill professors and go against Eleanor one-on-one, he wouldn't be able to face three S-rank Hunters by himself.

And once Verian Drakos was killed, this would deal a significant blow to the Demon Followers since he has the Bestowal of a [Demon Lord]. Why is this that important?

The answer is related to how Bestowals works.

Once a person Bestowed is killed, the Bestower will also receive significant damage, making them require a lot of time to recover.

And this will become something that is exploitable. After all, just like humans, demons are also greedy and obsessed with power.

No. Compared to humans, demons are worse. After all, the hierarchy of strength runs a lot deeper in their society.

And, if other [Demon Lords] were to be informed that the other one was weaker, what would happen?

An internal war.

This was such a good opportunity to exploit. Since it was also the time for the semester to end, I would have a lot of free time to work against them.

But things didn't happen as I wished.

'They were not here.'

The fact that those people were not even here.

'Why?'

The first question to ask was why. Why did they not appear here?

Did they just abandon the three-year plan that they had made? But for what reason? What could possibly make them abandon such an important plan?

The answer was evident.

'They knew.'

The fact that they knew the academy was preparing to trap them. No other thing could be explained. Then what was the reason?

How did they know?

'Did they see the future? A divination? Oracle?'

But this didn't make any sense. After all, if I can think about this early, Eleanor must have also already thought about it. There is no way she wouldn't interfere with such things.

After all, nothing is omnipotent. Every power has its own weaknesses and counters. Therefore, Eleanor must have already taken countermeasures to address that.

So, if divination or foresight wasn't the reason, then it had to be something more direct and reliable.

'Someone from the inside must have informed them.'

The realization hit me with chilling clarity. Someone within the academy, someone with access to the plans and strategies, had betrayed us.

And that certain someone must have displayed enough evidence to persuade Valkara to abandon the preparation of three years, which would mean they were at least aware of the existence of Callum, Amelia, and other hunters here.

This would mean they knew quite a lot. The most possible candidates would be the ones that Eleanor would have contacted.

It wasn't just an average informant. It had to be someone deeply embedded within the academy's operations, someone trusted enough to be privy to critical information.

'A mole, then.'

Someone who is playing both sides, feeding the demons the necessary intel to thwart our plans. It explained everything—their preparedness, the absence of the high-ranking executives, and the altered sequence of events.

'But, that is still….Eleanor wouldn't trust that many people easily.'

If the traitor was someone from Eleanor's side, then there was no need for me to identify the traitor since Eleanor could easily deal with this alone.

At this point, she must have reached the same conclusion as I did, and she could foresee everything.

But something didn't make sense.

'I had already seen him.'

Verian Drakos.

Most people wouldn't be able to notice his disguise, but nothing can pass through my eyes. Even if he had perfectly hidden his demonic energy and no ounce of it was even leaking, I knew it was Verian from the start.

The way he positioned himself and the way his eyes observed his non-focused areas from his posture gave away the weapon he was using. The clothing he had chosen, everything matched my analysis of his character from the game.

He also mumbled from time to time to himself, which gave away the fact that he was giving orders. I could observe his lips, after all.

Just yesterday, he was in the academy.

But, if he were to be informed by an insider, why would he still risk himself to come here? Why would he show himself? I didn't get this point.

If someone inside knew about this plan, they could have informed him way before then how it was supposed to be, and there was no way, with his personality, he would take such a risk.

And suddenly, out of nowhere, he left the academy last night?

Why?

'Was the informant able to access the information just yesterday? Or are they trying to make a distraction?'

But this wouldn't happen unless the informant knew that someone on our side knew about the existence of Verian, which is not possible since Eleanor doesn't know about his existence.

After all, if they knew, there was no need for them to wait for the attack to happen. They could just attack him to capture him.

This made it evident that something else was in play.

'Think, Astron, think.' I needed to connect the dots. Verian's sudden departure, the absence of high-ranking executives, and the presence of a mole—these were all pieces of a larger puzzle. But how did they fit together?

'The timing.' Verian left just last night, shortly after I had confirmed his presence. It's too coincidental to ignore. If the mole had informed him of our plans, then they must have known I was watching him.

'This is impossible.'

This part can not be possible. No one in this world knows about what I think. Even the ones closest to me only know me on the surface. My interactions were limited, and my movements were careful.

'It must be something else. They must know about this beforehand.' The mole had to be someone with access to such sensitive information and someone who could relay that information without raising suspicion.

'Eleanor's inner circle.' But as I thought about it more, it made less sense. Eleanor was meticulous in her selection of confidants. The mole had to be someone who could bypass even her scrutiny.

'The faculty or higher administration?' But even they were under tight observation, especially during times of heightened security. And I doubted Eleanor would even trust them after seeing the professor.

'The students.' The mole didn't need to be someone from the administration or faculty. It could be a student with the right connections and access. Someone who could blend in without arousing suspicion. This would make sense from the suspicion part. However, it is also limited to another.

It raised another question.

'If they were to be a student, who would be? Which student?' There were many possibilities, but it had to be someone with the means and motive to betray the academy. Someone who had something to gain from aligning with the demons.

There were many students who turned into a villain in the future. The list could go on further, reaching at least fifty.

The amount of students Ethan would need to kill in the future was this high. I knew every one of their names.

But none of them had the necessary access to this information. There was no way a student could know about the plan when even the academy faculty members didn't know about it.

It was not possible.

'Nothing seems to fit into this puzzle.'

I couldn't find the missing piece, no matter how hard I tried.

As I mulled over these thoughts, frustration began to creep in. The pieces of the puzzle were scattered, and no matter how I tried to arrange them, they didn't form a coherent picture. There was something I was missing, something crucial.

And then, suddenly, a thought struck me. It was so simple and yet so profound that it almost felt like a revelation.

I myself was an odd phenomenon. A special being who had the knowledge of another world. Whose soul somehow was split and was not complete.

What if there was someone else like me?

The idea was both unsettling and intriguing. If I existed in this world with the knowledge of the game, why couldn't there be someone else with similar knowledge or abilities? Someone who also knew the events that were supposed to unfold and had their own agenda.

What if the mole was another person with foreknowledge, someone who understood the intricacies of this world as well as I did, or perhaps even better? Someone who could predict our moves, manipulate events, and guide the demons with precision.

It made sense. It explained the discrepancies, the shifts in the timeline, and the uncanny awareness the demons had of our plans. It wasn't just a traitor; it was someone playing a deeper game, a parallel player in this world.

But who could it be? Another transmigrator? A reincarnator? Someone from my world or another with similar circumstances? The possibilities were endless, but the implications were clear.

'A person similar to me but is against me. A person who needs to be exterminated.'

They foiled my plans.

'You are going to pay for it.'