“Umm…hi again?” Damien’s sheepish words resounded through the large chamber.

“Insolence! Not only did you break the academy’s rules and disregard our authority once, but you even took for granted the opportunity you were given! Are you seeking death?!”

Scorpio of the Thirteen Zodiacs, Silcerin, raged immediately. If it wasn’t bad enough that Damien committed such an offense a second time within three days, he also returned to the Board of Directors with such a flippant attitude!

If this wasn’t disregarding their authority, then what was?!

“Hahaha, relax. You’re already sending me off to war anyway. What can a cute and innocent little genius like me do when I’m sent into the real world? I’ll die!” Damien replied with a mock-pouty expression.

Silcerin gritted his teeth and flared his aura. Despite his rampant actions, nobody moved to stop him.

Damien’s first visit could be called a minor offense. It was also his first time breaking any rules, so the fact that he received harsh punishment was enough.

But clearly, their approach was too light.

A Demigod’s pressure immediately blanketed the chamber and slammed down on Damien’s body.

“Khhh!”

Damien gritted his teeth and let out a sharp exhale as he revolved his Void Mana and tried to use Dimensional Magic to separate himself from the pressure, but that was much harder than it sounded.

‘So this is…a Demigod!’ He exclaimed inwardly. The pressure he felt now was nothing like the pressure of even an extreme peak 4th class.

There was something different about a Silcerin’s aura. Every single action he took was laced with a portion of the Divinity he carried. Even if Damien formed a new connection with the Void, it wasn’t solid enough to protect him from the Divine.

“Alright, that should be enough.” The Director’s voice cut through the pressure, freeing Damien.

“Haa…haa…”

As Damien let out heavy breaths and recovered himself, the Director continued speaking.

“The sin you have committed today is the heaviest sin one can commit at our academy. We will not be taking any statements from you. You will be lucky if you escape death today.”

Along with his external words, the Director sent a sound transmission to Damien’s head. “Brat, what the hell were you thinking?!”

The usual world barrier appeared between Damien and the Zodiacs as they began discussing his punishment.

“Hehe,” Damien replied in kind, “well, it’s not like I actually killed her. Call it a bit of smoke and mirrors.”

“She’s alive?” The Director exclaimed in surprise.

In fact, he hadn’t seen the altercation at all. Hidden Death Valley’s protection arrays automatically took care of most of the academy’s policing.

However, when someone was killed, the perpetrator would be teleported to the hidden realm along with the Thirteen Zodiacs, who were notified before transportation.

All in all, the Director didn’t know any of the event’s details, nor did the other Demigods. The punishment for dealing with a genius who killed within the academy’s grounds was always death without mercy, so they had no need to.

Except…today they’d run into a rather special situation.

Since the Director already knew about Damien’s class, he decided to give a short explanation of what occurred. Without revealing the existence of the Sanctuary, using Dimensional Magic and the Celestial class as a scapegoat, Damien wove a story that fit perfectly into the conversation and explained his actions.

“I roughly get the gist of it…” the Director muttered. “But why go through all the trouble? This situation could’ve been easily avoided.”

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“Well, you have a dog of the Bloodbitch Clan with you in the room, don’t you? It’d be troublesome if he decided to spill my plans to the main clan.”

The Director sighed. Yes, it was smart to not alert Silcerin at all, but did that make his actions any better? Even if he didn’t explain himself, he could’ve at least foregone offending the man!

“Haa, I’ll see what I can do. Regardless, you won’t be getting off light this time. I hope you’ve prepared yourself.”

“Relax. Whether or not I’m punished depends on if they have the ability to punish me. If it’s escape we’re talking about, I’m more than just confident in my abilities.” Damien responded smugly. Though, his inner thoughts were quite different.

‘Their two options are killing or crippling me. Even if the Director can make sure I don’t die, I don’t think he can subvert the crippling. And judging by that old dog’s attitude, I probably won’t be excused from my war punishment due to this fact…’

Truthfully, Damien wasn’t afraid of being crippled, he was merely wary of its connotation.

If he showcased that he’d made a full recovery immediately after being crippled, he wouldn’t make it out alive. Either he’d be killed, or he’d be captured and used as an experimental subject so others could understand how to duplicate Transcendent Regeneration.

Until this point, nobody questioned the ability. This was because, even though they were rare, healing abilities that could heal limbs still existed.

A completely crippled mana utilization system and body returning to its original state through the use of a single skill, however, was unheard of.

‘Haa…how troublesome. Looks like I won’t be able to fight the Overlord any time soon.’

It was a shame, but it couldn’t be helped. For the sake of his greater plans, this small bit of glory could easily be sacrificed.

At that time, the barrier between Damien and the Board of Directors dispersed. He was put face to face with the Demigods once more.

Without suspense, the words Damien was expecting to hear…

“Damien Void! You will be forced to fight an arena battle with the current King Bracket Overlord in the battle arena! This battle will commence without the usage of the dueling system, so death will be permanent! Due to special circumstances, you’ve been given this final chance. If you can defeat the Overlord, you’ll follow through with our previously agreed punishment and return to the academy for the progress examination in 7 months. If you fail, however…you die!”

…didn’t come out of the Director’s mouth?

Damien’s eyes widened as he stood stunned. Wasn’t Hidden Death Valley extremely strict about the No Killing rule?! Wasn’t that the reason why Julius and even Reavus Bloodlock didn’t push him too much within the academy?!

A rule that could easily frighten those pompously arrogant profligate sons of rich parents into submission…

Was being broken so easily?!

Whether it was his eyes or his ears, he couldn’t believe them at all!

It was only Silcerin’s especially bitter expression that cued Damien in on the fact that the Director’s words weren’t false.

Seeing the stunned look on Damien’s face, the Director cracked a small grin. “What’d I tell you? This much is easy for me.”

Damien shook off his surprise and wryly smiled. “I guess it’s wrong of me to underestimate Hidden Death Valley’s ruler.”

“That’s right! But kid, you need to be especially careful during the coming battle. The King Bracket Overlord…is not a simple character at all.

Damien’s eyes narrowed as he listened. He glanced around the room, catching various glances of gloating or pity from the surrounding Demigods.

‘I see…they agreed to this punishment because they don’t think I have even a single percentage of a chance to succeed…well, that’s fine…”

‘Whether he’s an ant or a God, I’ll crush him all the same.’