Chapter 96: Undercurrents Elsewhere

The cold moonlight streamed down, and the trees outside the window swayed in the breeze, casting ghostly shadows on the ground.

Outside the quiet classroom of the Ancient Potion Society, a seductive silhouette suddenly appeared.

Anna.

She seemed desperate, not even bothering to take out a key—she simply rammed the classroom door open with her body.

Stumbling inside, she felt along the wall as she moved, finally pressing a movable brick near the far side.

A mechanical sound rang out. The wall shifted, revealing a small hidden compartment.

Inside were all kinds of potions.

Her eyes scanned the shelves quickly. Anna pulled out a green potion and a blue one from the deeper end.

She tore open the sleeve that had been slashed earlier by the High Priest’s blade, revealing her left arm.

But the arm that came into view did not bear the pale, tender skin of a young girl—instead, a single glance sent a chill down one’s spine.

It was covered in scales.

Dense, layered, pitch-black scales.

Serpent scales.

Looking at them, Anna’s eyes filled with deep-seated disgust and hatred.

She took a deep breath, as if preparing herself mentally.

At last, she steeled her resolve.

She picked up the green potion, uncorked it, and suddenly poured the liquid over her left arm.

Chi—!

In an instant.

It was like splashing strong acid.

The black scales—tough enough to resist blades—rapidly corroded, letting out a sharp sizzle, white smoke rising in curls.

“Hh—!”

At the same time, searing pain pierced through her nerves. Anna’s face went ghostly pale, and cold sweat drenched her body.

She clenched her silver teeth, her full chest heaving. Without even noticing, her right hand crushed the potion bottle in her grip.

“Why... why did it suddenly get this bad?”

“Don’t tell °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° me...”

She slammed a fist onto the desk and looked up.

The bright moonlight poured in, but it brought only infinite deathly stillness and cold.

It wasn’t over yet.

With a hand that had begun to tremble, she pulled out a sharp dagger.

She slowly positioned it above the serpent scales on her left arm.

Paused.

Then, with a swift motion, she began scraping the scales off.

Blood spurted.

As the scales came off, so did the skin beneath, leaving a grotesque and grisly sight.

But Anna continued carefully, almost like she had done this countless times before—methodically, bit by bit, scraping off each and every scale from her arm.

Only when not a single scale remained did she quickly pour the blue potion over her arm.

The wounds healed at a visible pace, soft white skin regrowing anew.

In no time at all, her left arm looked no different from that of a normal young girl’s—perhaps even more delicate and smooth.

Only then did she finally exhale in relief.

Not just because the searing pain had passed, but because a certain urge that had nearly overwhelmed her as the serpent scales grew had finally receded.

The urge to eat something.

She leaned weakly against the wall, as if all her strength had been drained.

Her unfocused eyes shimmered with a strange confusion.

“No... I need to hurry. I have to...”

In the ancient potion classroom where only she remained, Anna murmured softly.

...

...

Clock Tower.

Thirteenth basement floor.

The Mercury Well.

“Whoa—so this is the heart of Saint Maria Academy?”

A man with a vicious scar running across his face looked around at the massive, solemn structures with wide-eyed wonder, like a country bumpkin visiting the city for the first time.

“Jeez, all this stuff looks like it’s made of rare metals. Big chunks of it too—must weigh tons. Think I can scrape a bit off? Just a sliver and I’m set for life.”

“Shut up.”

In front of him, a gaunt figure cloaked in black snapped:

“And don’t touch anything unless you want the security system here to grind you into dust.”

“Alright, alright, I won’t touch anything.”

Scarface shrugged innocently. “Geez, it’s not like I’m some brat from a relative’s house. Why’re you so on edge?”

“...”

The gaunt figure continued forward in silence, holding a battered lantern that swayed in his hand, casting a pale blue glow around the two of them.

That glow carried an eerie air of death. Yet while it enveloped them, all the countless, intricate defensive mechanisms in the area seemed to go blind—ignoring the two intruders completely.

The long passageway was deathly quiet.

Apparently bored by the uneventful walk and unimpressed by the surroundings, Scarface edged closer again and asked:

“Say, are your buddies gonna be okay? I mean, some are luring away the professors, others are stalling that imperial princess—seems like pretty dangerous work.”

“They’ll be fine. They have plans for withdrawal.”

The gaunt man gave a cold chuckle.

“Instead of wasting your breath worrying about them, you’d do better worrying about yourself.”

“Worry about myself?”

Scarface blinked. “Why? Everyone’s been drawn away—shouldn’t this be the safest place right now?”

“Getting in was the safe part. But don’t you think leaving will be the dangerous one? After all, what we’re about to do... is that.”

“That what?” Scarface blinked again.

“...”

The gaunt man paused.

“You don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“You don’t even know why you’re here?!”

The gaunt man was stunned.

“The High Priest sent me, that’s why,” Scarface said as he scratched his head innocently.

“He sent you and you didn’t ask what the job was?”

“Well... Isn’t asking fewer questions and doing more work the mark of a good subordinate?”

“...”

For a moment, the gaunt man didn’t want to speak at all.

He began to regret ever letting that deranged group send someone to assist him.

Sure, manpower was tight—but bringing this idiot might’ve been the worst mistake yet.

Still, it was too late now.

Even if the guy was useless, at least he could be used as bait in a pinch.

“If you don’t know, then stop asking.”

The gaunt man turned around. “Time’s short. If you don’t want to die, stay close.”

“Oh, oh!”

Scarface nodded repeatedly and quickly followed.

But after a while, as they walked in silence, he suddenly seemed to remember something and sidled up again, face unusually serious:

“By the way, since it’s this dangerous, you’ve gotta have an escape plan, right? Like, at the critical moment, reinforcements blow open the ceiling and swoop in to rescue us?”

“...”

“If there’s no Plan A, I think Plan B works too—like pulling out a teleportation scroll after the job and whisking us away. I get motion sick and puke every time, but if push comes to shove, I’ll manage.”

“...”

“If not Plan B, then Plan C’s gotta work, right?” Scarface sounded anxious now. “Like calling down your big boss, that Something-something Moon guy, and just having him wipe out everything—can we do that at least?”

“...”

“We need a plan. You can’t do a job without a plan! If Plan C’s no good, then Plan—”

“Shut up!!”

The gaunt figure finally snapped, shouting in a mix of panic and fury:

“Moonlight’s protection has limits! You keep shouting like that and we’re definitely getting caught!”