[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-became-the-academy-s-final-boss":3,"chapter-i-became-the-academy-s-final-boss-i-became-the-academy-s-final-boss-chapter-5":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","I Became the Academy’s Final Boss",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1319724,1753,"Chapter 5","i-became-the-academy-s-final-boss-chapter-5",5,"\u003Cp>Chapter 5\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I looked around the area where the artifacts were displayed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It would be difficult to just take the Heart of the Demon and leave like this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the finish line was right in front of me, and I couldn't give up that easily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There had to be a way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment my eyes landed on the numerous artifacts exhibited in the main hall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If this place displayed the largest number of artifacts in the country, there might be something here that could weaken the power of the Heart of the Demon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oh, right.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before entering the main hall I had subdued some guards and taken a few potions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn't be sure they would work in reality.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The temptation the Heart of the Demon sent felt, in a way, like a status ailment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If there was a potion that could remove or nullify status ailments for a certain time, maybe I could carry the Heart of the Demon out safely?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had to check, but they had said the items were going to be auctioned, so they were very unlikely to be replicas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn't have much time left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was uncertain when the unconscious White Witch would wake, and by now the Hero Association had probably noticed my intrusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, several heroes would arrive to capture me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was not the time to hesitate about whether it would work or not.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I took out the pouch of potions I had hidden in the darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Please, be there, please...!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A blue potion came into my sight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A status-ailment immunity potion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its exact name was Mind Protector.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I hurriedly opened the cap and downed the potion in one gulp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It slid down my throat with a strange swallow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thick and familiar sweetness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It tasted like watermelon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But I didn't feel anything different.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, it was a potion, and with a cool name like Mind Protector I expected some flashy effect or change — but there was no effect, nothing at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was only one way to find out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I reached for the Heart of the Demon that had fallen to the floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Different. Clearly different.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment I gripped the Heart of the Demon I instantly dismissed my doubts about the potion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I still wanted to take the Heart of the Demon, but the urge wasn't as severe as before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If before it had felt like I would die without it, now it was just that I didn't want to let it go from my hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was something I could endure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That solved the problem of taking the Heart of the Demon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All that remained was escaping safely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I wrapped myself in darkness again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because my magic was low it couldn't take the form of armor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even so, it was enough that they couldn't tell who I was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stepped toward the exit of the museum.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bang! Bang! Bang!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bullets suddenly slotted into the floor at my feet and I had no choice but to stop moving.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were already here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because I had expended too much stamina fighting the White Witch, I hadn't realized the heroes were surrounding me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A careless mistake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I spread the little remaining mana and scanned the area.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They hadn't shown themselves, but I detected three people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If I were at full strength maybe I could handle it, but in my current state facing three heroes at once was too much.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Completely exhausting my mana earlier had been a reckless move.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then I felt movement behind me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He was already dying, huh.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One of the heroes who had been hiding struck with a sneak attack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A sword aimed at my head came down fiercely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since I had been concentrating on the opponent's movements from the moment I sensed them, responding wasn't difficult.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I twisted my waist and caught the blade, pulling it toward me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When I pulled the sword the attacker had brought down with greater force, the flow of his strength was taken and his balance completely collapsed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn't miss the opening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thwack!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ughhh!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My fist pierced his solar plexus, his body arched like a bow, and he flew away far off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My movements were a beat slower than I expected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Countless bullets rained through the air during that brief moment, and attacks from other hidden heroes poured in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They weren't as powerful as the White Witch, but they were still overwhelmingly burdensome for me right now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The hail of bullets was annoying, and one of them I couldn't see.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One of them shot from afar. The other attacked while concealed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their bullets began to pierce my defenses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A stinging pain hit my thigh and blood splattered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A bullet had gone through.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once I allowed one attack, it became even harder to defend against the subsequent strikes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blood flowed under attacks I couldn't see.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My health and mana were at the bottom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The situation was utterly desperate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To make matters worse, I heard numerous footsteps from outside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Damn...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Could it be the guards had already fully recovered?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was already hard enough; if even the guards arrived it would be a straight path to a bad ending.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well, the game hadn't even started so maybe it wasn't an ending yet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Armored troops poured out of the main hall's front doors like an ant swarm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In an instant the guards who had formed ranks surrounded me and leveled their muzzles at me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Surrender immediately. Devil Knight!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even in such a desperate situation I felt embarrassed at being called Devil Knight. I must have really lost it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I slowly raised my hands to show I surrendered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What are you waiting for. Kill him now!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He raided the artifacts that were going to be auctioned! If you shoot him now, the artifacts for auction…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A small argument broke out between the heroes and the guards about how to handle things later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now's my chance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I wasn't about to die quietly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I slowly fell to my knees, clutching the Heart of the Demon so tightly it felt as though it might shatter in my grasp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blood streamed from my wounds, running down my arm and soaking into the Heart of the Demon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thump.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A fierce pain erupted in my chest as the Heart of the Demon began to pulse rapidly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An unending thirst and an indescribable sense of fulfillment struck me at the same time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even the protection of the Mind Protector potion I had stolen from the guards began to feel meaningless in the face of this overwhelming urge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My dried-up mana surged like a tide, and an endless wave of euphoria consumed me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My body burned hot, as if I were about to ignite, and the pain twisted into pleasure that rattled every nerve.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The inexhaustible mana pouring out from the Heart of the Demon filled me to the brim — I could barely contain it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If I didn’t release this uncontrollable desire, I felt like my body would explode with a pop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The solution was simple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To tear apart and slaughter the enemies before me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To ravage and toy with them in the most brutal ways I knew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My head grew hazy, and my body began to move on its own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My wounds had long since healed, and the darkness shrouding me deepened, becoming pitch black.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I slowly rose to my feet yet none of them dared to move.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No, they couldn’t.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I could feel what they felt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The terror flickering in their trembling eyes, the suffocating pressure of prey before a predator.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every emotion they felt seeped into me, as if it were my own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, from among the guards, a scream-like command erupted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“F-Fire! Everyone, fire!!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tatatatatang!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The muzzles surrounding me all flared at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A desperate command and a barrage of bullets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their pathetic struggle looked almost adorable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Countless bullets riddled my body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chest, head, abdomen, arms, legs — holes opened everywhere, and blood gushed out, spilling onto the floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, the rain of bullets ceased, and silence followed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one, except me, could even breathe. Their bodies trembled where they stood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why? Y-you can still keep trying... Struggle all you want…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My words slurred the bullets embedded in my face made speaking difficult.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I must have looked miserable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My whole body was riddled with holes, blood and entrails threatening to spill from torn flesh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet looking at their trembling, terrified faces. I couldn’t keep the corners of my mouth from curling upward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The darkness cloaking me gathered my flowing blood and filled in my wounds, restoring my body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I hadn’t even bothered to block their attacks because I wanted to see those faces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When I took a slow step toward them, the guards collapsed to their knees.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even those who called themselves heroes could do nothing but freeze in place, trembling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sight of them drowning in despair and fear — it was breathtaking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If I could, I would have turned them to stone, preserving their expressions for eternity in display.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kwah-gang!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A tremendous explosion suddenly pierced through my body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A white bolt of lightning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, the princess from dreamland had awakened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I wanted to see that face filled with fear and despair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As I slowly turned my head, I saw her: a disheveled mess.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The hair that once reached her waist was partly burned away, clumped with blood and dust.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was barely breathing, yet she glared at me with defiant eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Did you sleep well, princess?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“……”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When she drew forth a surge of blinding lightning, her body blazed as she charged at me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But her struggling was no different from a moth flying into a flame.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When I caught her by the throat, her body reverted back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Someone like her wouldn’t fall easily into despair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But her end that was a future already written.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if I did nothing, she would crumble in time, drowning in her own despair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Khuh… keh, keh!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even so, her eyes still burned with fighting spirit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ah… how much more beautiful would that face be when despair finally painted it over?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thought thrilled me beyond reason.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I pulled her close, holding her in my arms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You poor child… do you even know your own end?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Kh… khuhk!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Even if I don’t break you, you’ll destroy yourself. You’ll shed tears of blood from a terrible betrayal, surrender yourself to evil. You’ll fall, and in your fall, you’ll shatter everything. Poor child, I shall bless your end.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her eyes trembled violently, and her once-blue irises flared white.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A bolt of lightning, incomparable to before, struck down upon my head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kwagagagagang!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ceiling of the main hall collapsed completely, a lightning strike powerful enough to fell everyone there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, my body was seared by that immense current.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And just like waking from a nightmare, my sanity returned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What… what had I done?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I immediately pulled something from the pouch and threw it into the air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A massive black rift split open in the void, and I kicked the Heart of the Demon into it as I hurled myself through.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A Black Gate. The primary means of movement used by demons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had been impossible to use due to the museum’s protective magic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the White Witch’s final attack had obliterated the main hall, breaking the seal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In an instant, I was hurled onto a barren, dusty plain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My head throbbed like it had been hammered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My body was thrumming with strange vitality.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where I was that didn’t matter right now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I turned to where the Heart of the Demon had fallen nearby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its black, gem-like form flickered with a sinister energy, its aura flicking like a snake’s tongue toward prey.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I thought back on the power it had given me and on the things I had done with it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What… what in the world had I done?\u003C\u002Fp>",1973,"2026-06-05T19:04:26.586Z",1,"novelbin.me","5a58bdee2d714fbce0dc518349b98ad3598ee954446d88df4d8197d0d98dd9fc","i-became-the-academy-s-final-boss-chapter-6","i-became-the-academy-s-final-boss-chapter-4",137,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-became-the-academy-s-final-boss-cover.jpg"]