CHAPTER~23 THE BLACK DEMON
Dark.
Then pain.
Not the sharp kind—the deep, crushing kind that felt like my bones were remembering things I wished they’d forget.
I groaned.
Every nerve in my body screamed in agreement.
When I forced my eyes open, white light stabbed straight through my skull. The ceiling swam. My throat was dry, my chest tight, and my left hand—
I hissed.
The bandage wrapped around it was massive. Far thicker than before.
Its been Twenty-four hour.
Slowly, painfully, I lifted my head.
The bed beside mine creaked.
A familiar figure lay there, wrapped so thoroughly in bandages he barely resembled a human anymore.
Lucen.
He looked like a marshmallow
Unconscious but Alive.
I let out a weak breath of relief.
Then I felt it.
Pressure.
Hostile.
I turned my head.
The next bed.
Aria Asteron.
She was Awake.
Propped up slightly, maroon eyes locked onto me with a death glare sharp enough to qualify as a weapon.
Her mana was suppressed, sealed tight—but the intent behind her stare promised future violence.
I raised my good hand weakly.
“hello,” I said with an awkward laugh
Her eye twitched.
A voice came from my left, amused and far too cheerful.
“i heared you cooked her.”
I turned.
Iris Aethelgard sitting on her bed arms crossed, smiling like she’d just finished watching her favorite pet.
I closed my eyes.
“…I need to pass out again.”
“I can help with that,” Aria replied instantly.
I laughed—quick, nervous—and turned my head toward the bandaged lump beside me.
Lucen.
“What happened to this fellow?” I asked, voice dry.
Iris snorted.
“Arthur.”
I blinked. “…Arthur did that?”
She nodded casually. “Their match was right after yours. No lightning. No theatrics. Just pure, old-fashioned brutality.”
My smile faded.
Lucen had always fought straight. Too straight.
“He didn’t back down, did he?” I muttered.
“Not once,” Iris replied. “Even when his ribs cracked. Even when Arthur told him to yield.”
I exhaled slowly, pain flaring in my chest for a different reason.
Idiot.
Aria clicked her tongue, eyes still fixed on me.
“So you inspire people to get broken now too.”
I turned my head toward her, wincing.
“Looks like it,” I said softly. “Sorry.”
Her glare didn’t soften.
But it hesitated.
“…Tch.”
She looked away..
Iris leaned back against her pillows, fingers laced behind her head like this was all a vacation.
“Oh. By the way,” she said lightly, “the Headmistress asked for a dinner.”
I stiffened.
“…Dinner?”
She nodded. “With all the Elites.”
A chill ran straight through my spine, ignoring the painkillers entirely.
“The black demon?” I asked.
Iris burst out laughing.
“That’s what you call her?” she said, wiping at her eye. “Wow. Bold. Suicidally bold.”
“So that is what she’s known as,” she muttered.
“Oh, absolutely,” I replied, grin sharp. “Some call her the Black Demon. Others prefer the Tail of Ruin.
Aria finally spoke, voice cold.
“She doesn’t invite,” she said. “She collect"
The room went quiet.
I stared at the ceiling, heart thudding harder than it should.
“…And what happens at these dinners?” I asked.
Iris’s smile thinned—just a little.
“Well,” she said, “people usually leave
Some conscious. Some unconscious.”
Lucan spoke next, voice calm despite the fact that he looked like he’d lost a war with bandages.
“And it’s one of the most important nights of your life.”
He shifted slightly on the bed, the wrappings creaking.
“The kind that decides whether you rise—”
A faint breath.
“—or fall.”
“Still breathing,” i muttered. “So I guess you’re alive, Mr. Marshmallow.”
“Coming from you?” Lucan said
"At least I didn’t half cooked an Elite and pass out like a tragic hero.”
Aria clicked her tongue.
“Don’t encourage him.”
I closed my eyes, a crooked smile forming.
Great.
Dinner with the Black Demon.
A hospital ward full of Elites.
And somehow…
I like this
________________________________________________
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
TRIAL OF LUCK: COMPLETED
Result: SUCCESS — OVERACHIEVEMENT CONFIRMED
• Target defeated: Higher-Rank Elite
• Conditions: Extreme disadvantage
• Outcome: Probability ceiling exceeded
Overachievement Bonus Applied
Luck Adjustment (×2 Modifier)
Luck: −11.7 → −7.3
Status: Still unfavorable. Stll fatal.
Base Charm: 4.0 → 6.5
• Unique Charm ×1
Source: Headmistress Eldra Williams
Effect: Unknown
Status: Dormant
• Elite Reputation Charm +1
Source: Academy Elites
Effect: Elite-tier attention increased
Side Effect: Rival hostility highly likely
• Reputation Influence +0.50
Source: Professors & Students
Effect: Fear, awe, and unhealthy curiosity
Rewards Granted
• Sense — Enhanced Reaction Window
Bonus increased: +0.4s → +0.5s
New Effect: [Predictive Drift]
Identifies the most lethal incoming action for a brief moment.
• Title Unlocked:
[Elite Short-Circuiter]
Defeated an Elite via elemental inversion and mana overload.
Penalty Applied
• Mana Circuit Damage (Severe)
Status: Active
Warning: Further overload may cause permanent collapse
Estimated Recovery Time: Unknown
Hidden Flag Activated
▶ INTEREST: HEADMISTRESS ELDRA WILLIAMS
No reward issued.
No explanation provided.
Opt-out: Impossible.
[SYSTEM NOTE]
You were not meant to win.
Now they will watch how you survived.
________________________________________________
While I was resting, I noticed something impossible.
The Fire Queen looked… worried.
Not at me.
Her maroon eyes kept drifting sharp, guarded toward the bandaged war machine in the next bed.
For a second, I thought the painkillers had finally won.
Whaaaaaaat.
Oh my good.
Then our eyes met.
Hehehe
I smiled.
Not a sweet smile.
Not a brave one.
A wide, stupid grin—the kind that probably made me look like absolute trash.
Her expression hardened instantly.
The worry vanished.
The Fire Queen was back.
But—
Just for a heartbeat, right before she turned away—
color touched her ears.
…Yeah.
Worth it.
The rest of the day passed in a blur. Painkillers dulled the ache
i found myself led into the grand dining hall,
“This… is making me nervous,” I muttered, voice low.
“Yeah, it sure is,” Aria replied, calm as ever, maroon eyes glinting.
The hall stretched before us.long, polished, and impossibly elegant. At the central table, the other Elites were already seated.
Arthur’s stoic gaze met mine briefly. Theo smirked, clearly amused by my arrival. And Elena…
she sat like a flame in human form, posture perfect, expression unreadable.
All at once, the reality hit me: this wasn’t a dinner.
This was a gathering of apex predators, and I was the unexpected, bleeding underdog joining them.
We sat on our designed seat
Then
The room’s atmosphere shifted the moment the door creaked open. Even Elena’s perfect posture faltered slightly.
And then she appeared.
The Black Demon Eldra Williams.
Her tail lazily playing behind her, swaying like a predator savoring the hunt. Her dress was black as always,
A mischief- smile tugged at her lips, sharp and unsettling.
Behind her, composed and silent, came Instructor Selene Lunaris, a shadow of calm amidst the storm Eldra carried.
Every student at the table felt it.
The air tightened. Conversations halted mid-word. Even the finest warriors of the academy shifted subtly in their seats, as though gravity itself had changed direction.
The Black Demon had arrived, and the dinner had begun.
Eldra Williams paused at the head of the table, letting her gaze sweep over every Elite. Her tail curled lazily behind her, a dark ribbon of intent.
“You all displayed satisfying fights,” she said, voice low, deliberate, carrying effortlessly through the hall. “You have potential… real potential.
If you push yourself, if you truly try. Go above your limit … by the end of year,
perhaps you might even manage a thirty-second eye contact with me without flinching.”
She didn’t wait for a reply. Smooth as shadow, the folds of her black dress whispered as she took her seat. The table seemed to shrink under the weight of her presence.
Her eyes flicked to me once more, sharp, expectant. “Right, Louis?”
The room froze. Every gaze locked on me.
A question that willdecide my future
A question that decide will i
rise or fall
I smiled, slow and deliberate, repeating under my breath: “Make eye contact without flinching.”
I knew exactly what type of woman Eldra was.
Then, in a single heartbeat, I stood up. Every head turned, mouths slightly open, breaths held.
My Boots hit the cold marble table with a sharp clink, and I climbed atop it, the Elites’ jaws dropping in unison.
The polished stone gleamed under the overhead lights, but I didn’t hesitate. Step by step,
I walked toward Eldra, my shadow stretching long across the marble.
When I reached her, I stopped just a hand’s width from the edge of her seat. Every muscle tense, every eye on me, I leaned forward,looking directly to her eye
“Maybe,” I whispered, a crooked, audacious grin forming.
Shock rippled through the room. Saleena’s jaw slackened. Arthur’s face went pale.
Even the composure of Elena, Iris, and Aria cracked. The air itself seemed to hold its breath.
For a moment, it was just us—Louis and the Black Demon.
