"You have already undergone complete corruption. As a 'different purpose,' you can certainly fulfill that role. That's why I left you behind."

"......!"

Nevertheless, Maizen was relatively quick-witted, so interpreting the meaning of those words was not a difficult task.

‘… They expect me to go on a rampage.’

It coincided with a certain "plan" that was being discussed within the walls of Dark Mages Faction. They probably intended to make use of him, who was destined to be discarded, and neatly dispose of him since it would be a waste to consume the corrupted individuals infiltrating Stella from within.

"Damn it, those bastards... How much have I dedicated myself to them!"

As Maizen bared his fangs and prepared to burst into rage, Raiden interrupted him once again.

"So, get out of here."

"What?"

"I don't want to see my compatriots being sacrificed like that."

He took out a small crystal from his pocket.

"Go to the western end, to 'Paradise.' Your fellow compatriots are hiding there. If you manage to survive until you find them, shatter this crystal. It will release the spell that suppresses your corruption."

After saying that, Raiden turned around without hesitation and left the laboratory.

"......"

Holding the crystal, Maizen stared blankly at the door through which Raiden had left.

‘Why?’

‘Why would he suddenly try to save me? Is there some ulterior motive here as well?’

But... anyway, it was not bad.

If he could survive and release this nauseating suppression of the dark magic, it wouldn't be so bad.

He slowly got up from his seat and tried to leave the wobbly laboratory.

However, suddenly, his gaze fell upon the annual plan he had written on the chalkboard during his human days.

"Familiar Contract Ceremony."

Tomorrow, a large-scale event with hundreds of faculty members and first-year students will occur.

At that moment, the corners of Maizen’s mouth trembled.

It could be assumed that it was a smile or some expression resembling one, but... he had reached a point where he couldn't even properly express the emotions that humans possess.

"They dared to use me as a disposable pawn..."

It would be fine to quietly slip away and live in the paradise of the dark magic beings.

However, that still... didn't sit well with his temperament.

He wanted revenge. He wanted to tear apart that boy and girl who had made him like this.

They had fully utilized him when he had usefulness, but now that he had served his purpose, they tried to discard him.

He wanted to bestow upon them a thorough death. And conveniently, hadn't a very nice item come into his hands?

Maizen chuckled softly as he caressed the gleaming black crystal on his palm.

"Do you think I will just sit here and take this?" Maizen concealed himself quietly in the laboratory.

The Manwol Tower.

Division 13, Leader Kaen.

"I have received contact."

The world's greatest mausoleum, the "Manwol Tower," and the only tower that could stand shoulder to shoulder with it, the "Sakwol Tower," always operated in the shadows, their names never revealed.

If the hundreds of dark mages they killed were ever made public, Kaen would be treated the same as a renowned hero.

As Kaen looked up, a white light seeped out from the pitch-black space with nothingness and spoke in a voice.

• The whereabouts of Maizen, who disappeared inside Stella, have become mysterious.

"Is that so?"

"......"

The expressions of the deputy commander, Grace Steele, grew puzzled at the name Maizen Tyren.

It was because she couldn't imagine a professor at Stella being infected by dark magic, no matter how much she thought about it. However, she couldn't openly express it, so she kept her mouth shut.

• A few days later, first-year magic combat students at Stella went on an external mission. "Dark magic activities are expected to begin. There is a possibility of Maizen Tyren’s involvement, so infiltrate and observe the situation."

"Understood."

"Yes~"

Thunk!

As the communication was cut off, the pitch-black space instantly dissipated, revealing a field.

Spatial teleportation, a unique technique of the Manwol Tower that allowed rapid movement over long distances, was a magic that only the high level masters in the world could use.

However, even with that astonishing magic, they started walking without any particular signs.

Grace complained with a chubby face.

"Really, why are you so obsessed with Stella?"

"The Master of the Towers possess the power of prophecy. Instead of talking back, just follow."

"Yeah, sure! But more than half of those prophecies are always wrong, which is a problem!"

"In most cases, we solve the disasters before they occur."

"Sometimes nothing happens even when we haven't done anything."

At that moment, Kaen stopped walking and stared at Grace intently.

"That's... the cases where the events were prevented or resolved by other variables before we could intervene."

"Hmph, what's with the sudden serious face? Ah, I don't know. I was planning to take a vacation after this mission."

While grumbling, Grace hurriedly scratched the staff on the ground. It might have looked rough and hasty, but he was actually drawing a magical formation of Class 6.

Other mages would be astonished by it!

Ordinary Class 5 mages would need at least ten of them to draw a formation that she could easily create with such simplicity.

"There, it's finished. Let's go quickly, have a casual look, and come back~"

Kaen nodded heavily and stood on Grace’s magical formation.

Immediately, a rainbow bridge stretched up to the sky, and the two of them disappeared in an instant.