In less than two minutes, the hall was filled with countless people. The news had spread like a plague, drawing students and faculty alike to witness the catastrophe. The Invincible Five stood at the front, acting as a barrier between the chaos and the ordinary students, while the Elite Students and the rest stood behind them, a sea of anxious faces illuminated by the sinister crimson glow.
Before them, Hayatobi stood, his usual playful demeanor replaced by a stone-cold seriousness. He stared at them with an unreadable expression, the red light from the dungeon gate casting shadows all over the place, making his eyes look hollow and ancient.
"Ok everyone! We don't have time. With the Intel gotten, team Six and team ten are the only teams in there." He sighed, the weight of the situation pressing down on his shoulders.
"This situation, I have seen it once." He moved his gaze around everyone present, his voice projecting clearly to the back of the hall.
"There is a secret cult roaming around, they called themselves devil cult. These monsters use people as experiments and other disgusting things... They also have a forbidden skill which they could use to track a recently active dungeon from the three empires, and turn one into Red dungeon. They hope to kill our students, and reduced the strength of the empire." He explained, a deep frown on his face.
The room murmured in fear. The Devil Cult was a bedtime story used to scare children, but here they were, a tangible threat.
"I am sorry, but the elders and I can't leave." He said, and added: "If we do, the Devil Cult might use our absence and attack the academy, so we must stay behind."
It was a strategic stalemate. The Cult likely baited the dungeon to draw out the high-level protectors, leaving the Academy defenseless.
"But sir Hayatobi, what about the students in there?" Regina asked in surprise, stepping forward.
"I know that." Hayatobi stared at Mirabella and Hitachi.
His mind worked furiously, calculating the odds. 'Shit!! Even if the invincible five are strong, this is a red dungeon, not some playground... Only Hitachi and Mirabella can do this, besides, if they die in there, we can bring them back. But we don't have another resurrection orbs, we will have to wait for years before more appear.'
He sighed, looking at Regina's determined face. If she died, she was gone forever. He turned to Regina, his eyes softening slightly but his resolve firm.
'Regina... No, she will die in there.' He exhaled, and nodded his head, making the hard choice.
"Student Mirabella and Student Hitachi, please step forward with your attendants." He said.
The crowd gasped. With his words, Mirabella and Elizabeth stepped forward. Cupcake sat on Mirabella's shoulder, looking unbothered by the tension. Following them was Hitachi, and a man in a sharp black outfit and sunglasses. An air of death was all over him, a suffocating pressure that made the students nearby instinctively step back. This was Zoginoi, Hitachi's shadow.
"Ok... Both of you will enter this dungeon and make sure team six and seven survives! Bring them back, I don't care if you clear the dungeon or not!" He ordered, and the two nodded their heads.
"Elizabeth and Zoginoi! Both of you will keep them safe! Make sure of it!!!"
The two attendants nodded their heads, their expressions grim.
Mirabella stared at the man in sunglasses, gauging his power level. 'He must be as strong as Elizabeth,' she noted. She turned her head to the gate, the red swirl spinning mesmerizingly.
'Why does Carl always have such bad luck... I just hope his bad luck don't draw all the Bosses in that dungeon towards them. That's if there is any.' She looked up at Hayatobi, needing tactical information before diving into hell.
"How many Bosses are in there?" She asked.
"If it's a normal dungeon, they'll only be a single Boss, but a red dungeon can have a maximum of five Bosses, and each of them is a world Boss! This is a mission I am giving you two! Complete this, and you will gain huge amount of reputation and each of you will gain five hundred thousand points, and one hundred awakening stones!" He yelled, his words shocking everyone present.
A collective gasp ran through the hall. Five hundred thousand points was enough to buy Legendary gear, and rare skills, but awakening stones, precious.
"I know you all want to give it a try, but I will refuse, only Mirabella and Hitachi are allowed to venture in there!" He added, staring at the eager faces that had momentarily forgotten the danger.
'Yes. Only us because if we die, we can be resurrected,' Mirabella thought, seeing through Hayatobi's generosity. It was hazard pay for the elders. She exhaled, staring at the glowing dungeon.
'Maybe I can get something interesting in there, besides, having another 500,000 points isn't a bad thing.'
"You can get going." Hayatobi said, and made way for the four. They nodded at him, and walked towards the dungeon gateway, their silhouettes swallowed by the red light before disappearing from sight.
The gate hummed, sealing them in.
"You know this is very dangerous." Gaga muttered in a low voice, stepping up beside Hayatobi.
"I know." Merlot nodded his head in agreement.
Hayatobi turned to the two, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper so the students wouldn't hear. "We must locate the devil cult spy in the academy... He or she must have done something to the dungeon gateway." Hayatobi whispered.
"What do you mean by that?" Gaga frowned slightly.
"I kept that information out. For the forbidden skill to work, a devil cult member must be close to the gateway to activate it. Meaning, there is a spy in the academy." He said, shocking the two. The enemy was already within the walls.
"Elders!" A guard rushed towards them, breathing heavily, his face pale.
"What happened now?" Merlot asked with a frown.
"You... You need to see this." The guard said, pointing back towards the exit.
___
[Back Exit — The Academy Grounds]
The sun was beginning to set, casting long shadows across the grass. The three elders stood on the open green field, staring at a gruesome sight.
A lady was tied to a tree, her body twisted at unnatural angles. All her limbs were broken, shattered with precision rather than wild rage. On her exposed neck, the black tattoo of a horned skull—the mark of the Devil Cult—was visible against her pale skin.
"A devil cult member? What happened to her?" Gaga asked in shock. It looked like she had been interrogated by a demon.
Hayatobi stared at the broken, still-breathing lady with a deep frown. He analyzed the scene: no struggle, instant incapacitation, followed by methodical breaking.
"I am guessing someone caught her when she was planning on escaping and did this to her." Hayatobi turned his head back to the direction of the Dungeon Hall, thinking of the students he had just sent away. specifically the one who had disappeared into the hallway earlier, claiming he could kill twenty world bosses.
"And I think I know who did this." He said.