The Academy's Doomed Side Character

Chapter 352: Unknown

I carefully grabbed her head.

The moment my hand touched her hair, I felt it.

That black thing lurking beyond her gaze—

It noticed me.

A strange sensation crawled through my mind, followed by a mechanical voice that didn’t belong in this world.

—Contact with —Unknown— confirmed.

—Verifying authority.

—Verifying eligibility to accept —Unknown— .

Something moved inside her.

"Kh...!"

Lena’s body trembled violently as dark energy surged beneath her skin. Instinctively, she tried to suppress it, gritting her teeth hard enough to draw blood.

"It’s okay," I said softly.

I gently patted her head.

"There’s no need to resist anymore."

Her breathing shook.

For a moment, her emerald eyes searched mine as if trying to understand whether she could trust me.

Then slowly—

The tension left her body.

The instant she relaxed, the black thing reacted.

Like a starving parasite discovering a better host.

Darkness surged out from Lena and rushed toward me through the arm that was touching her.

"Rin!"

Leo’s voice rang out sharply.

At the same time, Ryan stepped forward in alarm.

"Are you insane?!"

The black mass crawled across my arm like liquid shadow before forcing its way into my body.

A sharp pain pierced through me.

My muscles stiffened for a brief second.

"...Tch."

It hurt.

But not enough to matter.

Everyone watching froze for completely different reasons.

Leo looked horrified.

Ryan looked like he was about to drag me away by force.

And the woman from the Twelve Signs stared at me like she had just witnessed something impossible.

"That’s... that’s impossible..."

I almost laughed.

Idiot.

I wasn’t sacrificing myself.

Strictly speaking, I wasn’t completely a resident of this world like the others.

And more importantly—

This thing had no intention of harming me.

"...?"

Something wrapped around my heart stirred.

Black Shadow.

The familiar darkness coiled deep within me shifted in annoyance at the sudden intruder. For a brief moment, I could feel hostility rising between the two entities.

But then—

As if realizing the newcomer had no intention of fighting for dominance, Black Shadow slowly relaxed again and closed its eyes.

The black thing wandering through my body paused.

It moved through my veins, my chest, my breathing—

Searching.

Inspecting.

And finally, seemingly satisfied, it settled quietly in a corner near my heart.

The pain faded almost instantly.

At the same time, the darkness disappeared completely from Lena’s body.

Her trembling stopped.

The black color staining her eyes vanished, revealing clear emerald eyes once more.

For several long seconds, she simply stared at me.

Silent.

Confused.

Shaken.

There was an emotion in her gaze I couldn’t fully understand.

Relief?

Fear?

Gratitude?

Or perhaps something much deeper than that.

"It’s okay now," I said quietly.

Those were words I had wanted to say for a very long time.

Maybe even before I lost my memories.

I gently stroked her hair again.

Lena’s lips parted slightly.

"...Why...?"

Her voice barely came out.

I didn’t answer.

Because I didn’t know how to.

Instead, I simply kept patting her head softly until the strength gradually left her body.

"Oh..."

Her eyes slowly closed.

Then she collapsed forward into my arms.

I caught her before she could fall.

The warmth of her body felt strangely fragile.

Behind me, complete silence filled the room.

Then—

Clink.

The relic slipped from the woman’s trembling hand and hit the floor.

She stared blankly between Ryan and me, her face drained of color.

"N-no... no, that’s impossible..."

Ryan slowly turned toward her.

And for the first time since this started—

He smiled.

It wasn’t a warm smile.

It was cold.

Dangerously cold.

"You’re finished," Ryan said quietly.

The woman stumbled backward.

"You tortured Professor Lena," Leo said coldly as he picked his spear back up from the ground.

"You experimented on her," Ryan added, taking a step forward.

"N-no—!"

"And you just tried to threaten us with her life."

The pressure in the room changed instantly.

The woman’s breathing became frantic as she looked around desperately for an escape route.

But there wasn’t one.

Ryan blocked the front.

Leo blocked the side.

And I—

I was standing directly in front of her while holding Lena unconscious in my arms.

Her eyes met mine again.

That alone made her entire body flinch violently.

"P-please..." she whispered. "Don’t kill me..."

For a brief moment, I thought about the original story.

About all the suffering she caused.

All the deaths.

All the people ruined because of her greed.

Then I looked down at Lena resting weakly against me. freewebnøvel.coɱ

"...Ryan," I said calmly.

"Yeah?"

"Don’t let her die too quickly."

The woman’s face turned pale with terror.

Ryan’s smile widened slightly.

"Got it."

And at that moment—

The entire building suddenly shook violently.

BOOOOOM—!

The ground ruptured beneath the masked woman’s feet.

No—

"Fast" wasn’t enough to describe it.

One moment, she was standing across from Leo.

The next, she was simply... gone.

Not even an afterimage remained.

Even my enhanced senses failed to follow her movement.

A violent shockwave exploded through the room a split second later, blasting dust and shattered stone outward as everyone instinctively tensed.

And then—

She reappeared directly in front of the Leader of the Twelve Signs.

The woman froze.

The masked figure slowly turned her head and looked at her.

The air itself became heavy.

Then, for the first time since arriving—

She spoke.

[After checking, he says she’s still useful, so I’m retrieving her.]

The voice echoing from behind the mask was unexpectedly clear and beautiful.

Calm.

Elegant.

Cold enough to make the room feel lifeless.

[I’ll save her, so please don’t interfere and stay still.]

Silence followed.

Not because her words were shocking—

But because of the way she said them.

There was no tension in her voice. No caution. No fear.

It wasn’t confidence either.

It was indifference.

As if the outcome had already been decided.

The leader of the Twelve Signs stared blankly at the masked woman before stumbling backward.

"W-wait... you came here personally...?"

Her voice shook violently.

So they knew each other.

No... more than that.

She sounded terrified.

I narrowed my eyes.

Originally, there weren’t many characters in the story who could stand against Ryan and Leo at the same time.

Even if I excluded myself—someone who had only just stepped into the realm of superhumans—the number was still ridiculously small.

But if my guess about her identity was correct...

Then this woman couldn’t even be considered a character from this novel.

The masked woman shifted her stance.

A simple movement.

Yet the atmosphere changed instantly.

She was serious now.

Leo reacted first.

Without wasting a single breath, he lunged forward.

His spear shot through the air like lightning, precise and controlled. It wasn’t a reckless attack—it was a probe. A strike meant to measure the opponent.

Clang!

The masked woman caught the spear barehanded.

Leo’s eyes widened.

Not because she blocked it—

But because he couldn’t understand how.

There was no mana fluctuation.

No strengthening technique.

No visible skill.

She simply grabbed it.

Leo immediately retreated, creating distance with sharp footwork as his expression hardened for the first time since entering the chamber.

Ryan moved at the same moment.

The holy sword in his hand burst with radiant light before he swung downward from behind her.

BOOM!

The masked woman released Leo’s spear without hesitation and casually swung her fist backward.

The holy light shattered instantly.

Not deflected.

Shattered.

Fragments of divine energy scattered through the room like broken glass.

Ryan’s eyes narrowed sharply.

[...Are you done?]

Her tone remained polite.

But beneath it was something terrifying.

Emptiness.

As if none of this mattered to her in the slightest.

Ryan clicked his tongue and tightened his grip on the sword.

"...What the hell are you?"

The masked woman tilted her head slightly.

[I don’t believe I’m obligated to answer.]

"Arrogant bitch," Ryan muttered. frёewebηovel.cѳm

Yet despite his words, he didn’t rush forward recklessly.

Neither did Leo.

Because they both understood now.

This opponent was dangerous.

No—

Monstrous.

The masked woman placed one hand on the trembling leader of the Twelve Signs.

The woman flinched violently.

"W-wait...! I can walk on my own—"

[Quiet.]

The trembling woman instantly shut her mouth.

That single word carried overwhelming pressure.

I watched silently.

The feeling from earlier returned again.

Déjà vu.

That voice.

That unnatural presence.

And the strange familiarity clawing at the back of my mind.