First Move, Checkmate: How Will You Respond?

Devon Raser slowly opened his eyes.

Once the dimness before him dissipated, he saw the gray, gloomy sky.

Just like his current situation, devoid of any light.

He was outside the academy.

“You’re awake.”

A voice echoed from behind him. Devon carefully identified it—it wasn’t Victor’s.

He jolted awake, shaking his body, trying to escape this desolate place.

But he found his body still restrained.

His sluggish physical reactions temporarily spared him from pain.

It was this liquid-like substance that had him completely bound here.

“How does it feel to be restrained?”

Hennie’s voice arose beside him, her expression neither happy nor sad.

Devon looked up at her, his face filled with shock.

“You… who are you!?”

Hennie: “……”

With a casual wave of her hand, she conjured a magical array. The water surface floated in mid-air, reflecting her face like a mirror.

Mysterious patterns like mud wound from her neck, slithering up to her forehead, interspersed with intricate glyphs.

These patterns and glyphs shook unstably as if they were alive.

This appearance even made Hennie barely recognize herself.

No wonder this disgusting pig didn’t recognize her.

“Heh, hehe.”

“Professor Devon really has a poor memory, it’s normal not to remember a nobody like me.”

“Do you want to see more clearly?”

Hennie completely removed her black ink hood, facing Professor Devon eye to eye. As countless images flashed in her eyes, Professor Devon froze, his memory suddenly sharpening.

Burning books, malicious humiliation, a girl’s cries that grew gradually hoarse despite her efforts to suppress them.

And the ugly sight of him leaving triumphantly.

“It’s… it’s you!? Victor’s damned assistant!”

“One by one, you and Victor, do you both want to torment me to death?”

Hennie paid no mind to Devon’s words, his attitude made her believe that Professor Devon had long been at odds with Victor.

One could say that she oversimplified people.

Now, Devon’s life and death were in her hands.

She could take her revenge at any time.

But Hennie didn’t feel as happy as one would after avenging a great grudge.

After all, she had accomplished all this using borrowed power.

There was no resistance during the execution of her plan, everything went surprisingly smoothly.

She took control of the entire academy and forcibly restrained Devon Raser within it.

It was as smooth as a story progression.

This made Hennie suddenly realize how fragile mages were.

Knights could respond to crisis with their robust physical abilities, but once mages lost their magic, they were utterly helpless.

There were so many third-order mages in the academy, but none could prevent her from sealing the academy.

However.

“I still have to thank you, Professor Devon, you made me realize that staying weak would only lead to perpetual bullying.”

Hennie didn’t move, her hands hidden under her robe, not extended.

Yet, the dark ink suddenly slithered up along her shadow, climbing onto Devon.

He was immediately drenched in cold sweat.

This thing gave him a very bad feeling.

“What… what is this thing exactly?”

Devon could only force a smile and hastily said:

“Miss Hennie, perhaps we can reconcile.”

“As long as you let me go…..”

“There’s no need for explanations, Professor Devon.”

Hennie interrupted him, her luminescent yellow eyes overlaid with an astonishing darkness, rendering even her pupils invisible, like an emotionless blade-wielder.

“After settling the grudges between us, I will turn myself in.”

The black tendrils became extremely excited in an instant, disregarding the violent battering to the point of breaking, they quickly regenerated, sweeping towards Professor Devon.

Devon’s eyes widened, his heart nearly leapt to his throat.

“My life is over!”

“Hennie!”

The tendrils stopped for a moment, perfectly halting right in front of Devon, a hair’s breadth away.

Devon was panting heavily, the sensation of death descended upon him, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

A familiar voice rang out, causing Hennie to involuntarily turn her head.

Erica Duquois stood across from her, panting heavily.

Her unfamiliar look startled Erica.

“You…how did you become like this?”

“This is a side effect of magic, don’t worry about it.”

Hennie didn’t care about her current appearance, even if she knew she must look hideous.

Erica became somewhat confused.

“Hennie, you can use magic now?”

Hennie did not answer her, turning her head away.

Seeing Devon Raser bound by countless black tendrils, Erica was utterly shocked.

“Devon Raser!? How is he here?”

“Didn’t they say Professor Victor had him restrained?”

Hearing Erica mention Victor’s name, Hennie paused, turned back incredulously, and slowly approached Erica.

The patterns on her face faded away, her excited emotions even revealing her true appearance.

“Erica, what did you say? Who restrained Devon?”

“Professor Victor.”

Hennie took a few steps back, disbelieving.

“The Professor…the Professor is still alive?”

Erica: “?”

Now it was Erica’s turn to be stunned, she opened her mouth, questioning:

“Who told you Victor was dead?”

Her gaze involuntarily locked onto the trembling figure of Professor Devon.

……

“I didn’t expect…such a thing to happen…”

“So now…”

Erica looked at Hennie’s unfamiliar form, having a guess in her heart.

She knew demons would seize the opportunity when a person is most vulnerable, attaching themselves to human bodies, constantly absorbing negative emotions as nourishment for their growth.

She suddenly understood what Caifla meant by ‘dirty things’.

Erica slowly moved to Hennie’s side, patting her shoulder gently, saying:

“It’s okay, Hennie.”

“Let’s go find Professor Victor, he must have a way to expel these things from your body!”

Hennie stepped back, giving a bitter smile and shaking her head.

“It’s too late, Erica.”

A smile returned to her face, seemingly having regained her spirits after hearing about Victor.

But correspondingly, a sense of resolve to face death also appeared on her face.

“I borrowed too much power, a barrier that can cover the entire academy, even a Saint Mage like the headmaster would need a lot of time to prepare.”

“Do you think the demon will let me go?”

“It can’t wait to swallow me whole right now.”

Listening to Hennie’s narration, Erica was taken aback.

“So, you knew all along, that the demon had targeted you, right?”

Hennie nodded.

“After I’ve taken my revenge, I will turn myself in.”

“For someone like me who no one cares about, dying in prison won’t affect anyone.”

She smiled wistfully, the surrounding tendrils once again began to sway in a near-mad frenzy.

Devon Raser was trembling from head to toe in fear.

If he had known this would be the outcome, he would not have dared to bully the little assistant!

Now, regret had come too late.

Erica Duquois was silent for a moment, then she glared fiercely at the immobilized Devon Raser.

“How do you want to retaliate? Kill him?”

“I support you.”

Hennie looked at Erica with a puzzled expression, and chuckled:

“Erica, why would you think that?”

“He burned all the knowledge I’ve accumulated over ten years and destroyed my dreams.”

“In return, I will also make all his knowledge disappear.”

“For a professor, shouldn’t that be the most painful punishment?”

Erica Duquois: “……”

Devon Raser: “……”

Even the tentacles stopped, no one knew why.

Maybe even the Demon was rendered speechless by her declaration.

Without fear, Erica Duquois moved back to Hennie, gripping her shoulders and spoke earnestly:

“Devon Raser publicly humiliated you, didn’t he?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Hennie nodded.

“He burned your hard work, had students deliberately harass you, play pranks on you, tarnish your reputation, and finally kicked you out of the academy!”

“That’s right.”

Erica Duquois grabbed Hennie’s shoulders and began to shake her.

“Wake up! Hennie! You traded your life with a Demon, and all you want is to erase this pig’s knowledge?”

“If that’s all, you might as well turn him into a fool!”

Devon: “……”

“You are clearly a villain now! As a villain, do your job!”

“Isn’t it good to kill him?”

“But……”

Hennie began to ponder.

“Just to easily take a person’s life, wouldn’t I be no different from a Demon?”

Devon, the only part of him that could move, his pighead, was furiously nodding. Erica grabbed some ink from the ground and smeared it over his face.

To her, Devon Raser’s face was even more disgusting than these tentacles.

“Help!”

Erica held her head, took a deep breath, and fell into frustration.

Hennie’s worldview was completely different from hers.

As a noble, and one from the top echelon, Erica learned about the dark side of society very early on.

But Hennie was different, she had not experienced the intrigues and deceptions among the nobility.

Life and death are still a distant concept to her.

And to casually determine the life and death of others, in Hennie’s eyes, this was also an impossible thing.

Perhaps she was thinking too simply, since she lost her job, let Devon Raser also lose all his knowledge, thus he would suffer an equivalent punishment.

Hennie was too naive!

Naive to the extreme!

“Forget it! If you won’t kill, I’ll kill for you!”

“When he’s dead, come back to the Professor with me, he will definitely find a way to keep you alive!”

With that said, Erica’s hands instantly condensed a terrifying flame.

“2nd Order Magic: Flame Bullet!”

Before Hennie could react, the intense fireball flew towards Professor Devon’s face.

Just as it was about to touch Devon,

Biubiubiu~!

Three silver blades shot out suddenly, dispersed the flame, blocked the magic, and clanged onto the ground.

Erica stood still, looking at her scattered magic, and suddenly turned her head.

A beautiful woman with purple hair was laughing at them, swinging several silver knives in her hand, and waved at them.

“Two adorable little girls.”

“Why don’t you tell your sister what you’re playing?”

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