Come to think of it, I wondered what had happened to Bead. No telling if it was getting along with the kids.

At that moment.

Ding, ding, ding, ding-ding-ding!

As if reading my mind, blue windows suddenly began flooding my vision.

‘Whoa, what—what is this?! It’s like turning your phone back on after having it off and getting flooded with every message you missed…….’

The sender of every single message was one and the same.

[Bead: Hey, Chris!]

[Bead: You’re seriously the worst, you know that???]

[Bead: This is the absolute worst! Just leaving me and the students behind like that!]

[Bead: And that guy’s ma…… you know, that thing! What kind of nerve do you have, going up against someone who could kill the likes of you with a flick of their fingernail!]

[Bead: Sigh……. I’ll accept an apology just this once. This is your last chance. Reply within three counts.]

[Bead: One—]

[Bead: Wait, can you not reply right now?]

[Bead: Then at least send a dot.]

[Bead: You’re alive, right?]

[Bead: Please, just reply once. Just this once, I’m begging you.]

[Bead: If you’re ignoring me on purpose…….]

……

……

…….

“Crazy.”

My jaw dropped. How many of these were there? No matter how far I scrolled, there was no end.

‘I didn’t even know the chat window had a scroll function until now.’

Guilt hit me like a wave. I hadn’t meant for this to happen, but from Bead’s perspective, left behind, it was plenty reason to worry.

‘I should reply now, at least.’

With that thought, I checked the most recent message…….

[Bead: Hey, your students have lost their minds. What do I do? They’re saying they’re going to look for you.]

What was that supposed to mean now? I was narrowing my eyes, trying to parse the meaning of the text, when—

[Quest Complete! Received ‘Bulging Enhancement Potion’ as a reward.]

[Michael Foxin’s Awakening has been completed.]

[Progress remaining until ???: ???%]

……Other status windows that had appeared belatedly. Cold sweat ran down my back.

I was certain.

‘My beloved X-Class idiots, what do you think you’re doing the moment your guardian’s gone!’

Raising disciples was a bust.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Academy, before Chris had checked her messages…….

“So you’re saying we should just sit here? When we don’t know what kind of danger Ms. Chris could be in right now……!”

“Don’t think so simply, like when you jumped over the wall last time. Charging in recklessly won’t solve anything.”

“But while we’re just sitting here, Ms. Chris is—!”

“Now, now~ Nika, you’re getting too worked up. And Andante, don’t be so cold about it. The important thing here is Ms. Chris, right?”

Dolce’s mediation silenced them both.

Nika’s face was flushed red with agitation, while Andante’s was so pale he could have been mistaken for a corpse.

Dolce’s gaze turned to the other two this time.

“……Ms. Chris, what do we do? If those people find her…….”

Bell, unable to hide her agitation.

It was unlike her, who normally maintained composure in any situation. As if she knew the identity of the nameless figure who had disappeared along with Chris.

And above all…….

“…….”

The real problem was the boy who had been clutching Chris’s necklace in silence this whole time.

‘Though calling him a boy anymore was a stretch, given how he looked now.’

Snow-white hair. Red eyes that brought his master to mind. Skin so clear that not a trace of the curse tattoo remained. Michael, who had been so frail he looked two or three years younger than his actual age, had somehow become a fully grown young man.

Dolce recalled what had happened the moment Chris vanished in the dungeon.

* * *

“No, Ms. Chris!”

She had screamed and reached out, but her hand clawed uselessly at empty air. The rift that someone had torn open swallowed the two of them, then closed its mouth like a satisfied beast.

And then, only silence.

Everything was exactly as it had been before.

Except for the fact that the most important person had vanished.

“Ms. Chris……?”

No answer came. The surrounding maze simply faded away, as if congratulating them on clearing the dungeon.

“……!”

Only then did everyone snap back to their senses. Someone gasped for breath, and just as someone was about to cry out in panic—

Crackle, crackle…….

The sound of something burning reached their ears.

An aura so ominous, so terrifying it made their fingertips tremble.

Every instinct they had was screaming a warning. Something incredibly dangerous was about to be born in this place. They needed to run.

But—

‘My legs won’t move.’

They were overwhelmed. Simply by existing in the same space.

Not even facing the dungeon boss had felt like this. This pressure was more akin to when that unidentified boy had appeared earlier.

“That guy, what in the world……?”

Nika barely managed to force the words out, aghast. What held his gaze was Michael.

“…….”

Dark crimson flames slowly coiled around the boy’s body. Michael stood rigid, head bowed, like a log helplessly burning away.

Yet no one thought to save him. Because the flames belonged to Michael, and unlike during his rampage, he was in perfect control.

“……Ms. Chris sacrificed herself. For us.”

With that murmur, horns sprouted from his forehead, rippling into existence.

Whoosh—!

Michael’s entire body transformed into a single flame. Something fiercely burning began to walk.

One step, then another.

With every step he took, flames bloomed, and the trailing edges of fire hung behind him like long hair.

As it brushed past them, goosebumps rose on their skin. The flames had clearly touched their flesh…….

‘It’s not hot.’

The unmistakable warmth of a human being.

Was that really Michael? As someone’s cold sweat dripped to the floor in the face of that unbelievable reality—

“Ms. Chris.”

Michael dropped to his knees. His hand reached for something on the ground.

‘That’s Ms. Chris’s necklace…….’

The necklace Chris had worn constantly since the start of the second semester. A small bead on an old cord—the very thing she had torn off and thrown aside just before she disappeared.

The moment his fingers touched the necklace, the flames scattered, and his true appearance began to emerge.

“You told me yourself. That as long as I didn’t leave, you would remain my master.”

Michael’s voice was gentle. So gentle it felt jarring.

“Then this disciple of yours…….”

His hands, larger than before, cradled the necklace as if it were the most precious treasure in the world. As he gently rubbed it against his nose, a face emerged—strikingly pale with sharp, defined features.

Eyes closed, wearing an expression of absolute serenity.

“Must rightfully follow where you’ve gone.”

But everyone present could sense the thick emotion seeping through that quiet whisper.

Something beyond mere respect and attachment toward a master. Something that transcended such things.

As he slowly opened his eyes, revealing blood-red irises, someone thought:

‘Ms. Chris, isn’t that dangerous?’

Breathtakingly beautiful, yet above all else, threatening.

A new figure had shed its old skin and emerged from within a single flame. Did the world call this an Awakening, or something?

When Michael, who had behaved as if offering a solemn prayer, finally rose to his feet,

the dungeon’s landscape had completely transformed into a room that had lost its master entirely.

“Ms. Chris, did you finish clearing the dungeon—!”

Yujin, who had thrown the door open as if he’d been waiting for exactly this moment, froze mid-sentence.

“……Michael.”

He seemed to recognize the drastically changed Michael at a glance. Yujin’s expression flickered between surprise and something that looked like anguish.

“Keu-ssaem…… Where’s Ms. Chris?”

It was the question of someone who already anticipated the answer. In that hollow voice, resignation could be read.

Michael’s lips parted slowly.

“I will go bring her back.”

“And you know where she is?”

“I do.”

Michael raised his red eyes to Yujin and spoke. Without a flicker of hesitation.

Yujin could tell from his expression.

This boy would find Chris Dotten, no matter what.

‘Again.’

A hollow laugh almost escaped him.

“……See, Keu-ssaem? Even when I try to explain everything, the world keeps getting in the way like this…….”

No one heard Yujin’s self-deprecating murmur.

After a moment, Yujin nodded.

“Alright. But there’s someone you need to talk to first. Whatever you’re planning to do…….”

“You need my permission first. Don’t you?”

Lily Bedallua, Principal of Bedallua Academy, had followed Yujin in. For someone who normally couldn’t be bothered to budge, she had come in person—the dungeon clear must have drawn considerable attention.

“This dungeon, Chris, you brats—all of it belongs to Bedallua Academy! And yet here you are, doing whatever you please? You kids think passion alone is enough to accomplish anything. Tsk, tsk.”

Lily clicked her tongue as her eyes swept around the room. Then she declared.

“All of you, outside. Now. And you’d better explain exactly what happened in there.”

Regardless, the Academy’s students were obligated to obey their Principal.