With a hideous scream, Sator's body collapsed to the ground.
Looking down at him rolling on the floor, clutching his leg and shouting, Yun Siwoo muttered.
"Don't make such a fuss over just a broken leg. What you did deserves far worse."
From Yun Siwoo's perspective, he had been quite lenient.
Honestly, he wanted to execute immediate punishment, but he only broke Sator's leg to prevent him from escaping.
Still, he couldn't do that in front of the classmate who was related to Sator.
Well, the other side probably wouldn't say much anyway.
Sylvia was looking at Sator with an expression as cold as ever.
Sator, who had been screaming, looked at the gazes of the two people.
Their eyes were like those looking at a crawling insect on the floor, or a failure.
Sator felt something boiling up inside him, more intense than the pain in his leg.
His hand, which had been clutching his leg, now reached for his neck.
While scratching his neck, Sator muttered.
"What is it, what is it... I'm not a failure. Don't look at me like that. I didn't fail. I didn't fail..."
Next to where Sator was writhing and clutching his leg, there was a container he had placed earlier.
The container was full of the dark energy he intended to inject into the test subject.
Sator grabbed the container by his bedside.
His mind was filled with the thought that he must succeed in his plan.
That's why the action Sator chose was,
"I didn't!!! Fail!!!!!"
to slam the container he was holding onto the ground with all his might.
Cracks appeared on the container, and the dark energy equivalent to the bodies of several hundred low-level demons burst out.
The dark energy that spilled out from the container quickly covered the area where Sator was and spread in all directions.
At that moment, a starlight flickered.
The light that stopped the spread of the dark energy, which was about to engulf the man tied to the chair, came from Sylvia's hand, which she had urgently extended.
A star spirit, one of the few beings that could overpower the dark energy.
If she had taken the time to chant a spell, she could have not only stopped but also purified the dark energy. However, with the hastily summoned power of the star spirit, it was difficult to stop the spread of the dark energy equivalent to several hundred low-level demons.
They needed to escape the building before the dark energy overwhelmed them.
But to maintain the current state, she couldn't move, so Sylvia shouted to Yun Siwoo.
"I can't hold it for long, so move the people who can't move first!"
"Just hold on a little longer!"
The moment a strange black aura burst from the container, Yun Siwoo had already cut through the iron bars and chains restraining Scarlett, picked her up, and disappeared through the hole in the ceiling.
Sylvia clenched her teeth and looked into the dark energy she was suppressing.
She couldn't help but be shocked again by what her blood-related family member had done.
Releasing such a concentrated amount of dark energy was a suicidal act, meant to kill everyone in the room, including himself.
Scarlett, who had been left outside, was seen again as Yun Siwoo, who had returned to the basement, lifted the middle-aged man tied to the chair and carried him away.
From inside the dark energy, a loud voice was heard.
"Ah, the light of hope! The World Tree has chosen me too! I didn't fail! I didn't fail!"
Sylvia, who was maintaining the spell, was moved by Yun Siwoo, causing the starlight to scatter.
"Ah?"
Sator, seeing the starlight suddenly disappear, flailed his hands, but the light slipped through his fingers.
"No... no! Why! The light! My light of hope! Cough, cough..."
Sator wiped his mouth, which was suddenly filled with coughing.
He realized it was not just coughing but also coughing up blood when the pain of his insides being torn apart hit him.
"Ah... eh...?"
Overwhelmed by the immense pain, Sator looked around and muttered incoherently.
The basement, filled with dark energy, was pitch black.
It seemed to be saying that he had failed.
"No... no..."
Sator, desperately denying it, crawled on the floor.
"The light, the light must be somewhere..."
Then, something glowing in the darkness caught his eye.
Sator crawled towards it.
The glowing object on the floor was the restraint device.
The hematite, which was flashing red.
Hematite can absorb and store flames, but it must eventually release them.
When it approaches its limit, the hematite, which usually glows white, turns red.
And the flashing red light meant that the flames would soon be released, so be cautious.
Seeing that light, Sator realized.
He had failed.
The shock momentarily restored his sanity.
"..."
At that moment, the flames burst out.
The basement, filled with dark energy, and the building itself.
And the last scream of the elf, filled with regret, was swallowed by the flames and disappeared.
*
When Luke opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the building engulfed in flames.
The flames were burning as if determined to leave nothing behind, just like when the research facility burned down in the past.
Luke struggled to get up to check on Scarlett's safety.
He saw Scarlett, unconscious, surrounded and protected by a pair of young boy and girl.
Luke let out a sigh of relief and looked at the students surrounding Scarlett.
One was the famous Astra's daughter, Sylvia Astra, and the other was the boy he had seen in front of Scarlett's house before.
It seemed these two had saved them, but there was someone else he couldn't see, so Luke asked.
"Where is Sator?"
"Inside... there."
"Is that so."
Sylvia, with an unsatisfied expression, nodded towards the burning building.
Though he had done bad things, they had some connection.
It was inevitable that the taste would be bitter, so Luke stiffened his expression and answered softly.
Sylvia looked at Luke for a moment and then asked.
"Are you Luke Aegis? Were you involved in the plan?"
Luke was slightly taken aback by the question and replied.
"Didn't you know, Miss Astra? You're the successor, after all."
"From your reaction, it seems you were involved. I just found out today. That Scarlett was a test subject. I have a lot of questions, so will you answer them?"
"Before that, let me ask you one thing. What's your relationship with Scarlett?"
In response to that question, Sylvia slightly bowed her head and looked at Scarlett.
While stroking the ring on her left index finger, she answered in a slow but firm tone.
"Scarlett is my most precious friend."
Looking at her expression, Luke felt it.
Even though she had heard that Scarlett was related to a witch from Sator, she truly thought of her as a friend.
The boy, who had said he liked Scarlett before, also had an expression that hadn't changed much since then.
Luke thought that these two might be okay and opened his mouth.
Scarlett needed friends like these to live a human life.
"The boy also said he was Scarlett's friend, right? If you two do me one favor, I'll answer any questions you have."
"Let's hear what the favor is first."
"Promise not to tell anyone else about what you heard today. It's not good for Scarlett's identity to get out."
Realizing the meaning, the two nodded and began their questions.
Each time Luke spoke, their expressions twisted.
In the middle of this, the boy asked Luke.
"Did you say I would regret it because of Scarlett's identity?"
Luke smiled sadly in response to the question.
"I told you Scarlett had been subjected to various experiments, which put a lot of strain on her body."
A deep, deep sorrow that he had to accept.
"She won't live long."
Seeing the children's shocked expressions after those words, Luke smiled sadly and said,
No, he pleaded.
"Kids, I have one more favor."
To help Scarlett live a human life.
"Can you stay friends with Scarlett until the end?"
To help her spend her remaining time happily.
The children, who answered, had expressions that seemed like they were about to cry.
*
Sometimes, knowing the truth can be painful.
Unfortunately, the truth often falls into that category.
*
It happens sometimes.
Your body can't move, but your mind is awake, like being pinned down.
What I mean is, I can hear the conversations others are having.
I heard the man's voice.
"Scarlett has been subjected to various experiments, which put a lot of strain on her body."
"She won't live long."
Hearing this, I felt anew that the person who sent me here had a terrible sense of humor.
Even if it's an academy story, it's not that bad.
"Even if we stretch it, she probably won't live much longer after graduation..."
Not having a future after graduation was indeed sad.
At most, three years.
That was the time I had left.
Author's Note
Have you ever seen such stories?
They claim to be academy stories, but suddenly the time skips and the story progresses after graduation.
This is because the story's progression is limited when confined to a school setting.
However, if the story suddenly jumps to after graduation and the characters are older, isn't it no longer an academy story?
Then, I suddenly thought.
If the time limit is until graduation, isn't that a perfect orthodox academy story?
So, Evande's lifespan became three years.
Of course, it's a happy ending, so don't worry :)
Sator, which means "creator" in Latin, met his end like this.
The subtitle of Chapter 69 is Last.
It means the end, the final, the conclusion.
Sator met his end, and Evande learned about her end.