Conquest Path Of The Prince Of Darkness

On the raised platform of the assembly ground, the head instructor’s voice boomed across the microphone, cutting through the murmurs of the crowd.

"Listen up, students! The trial in the Beast Dungeon will determine your standing for the rest of the semester. You will obtain points by slaying beasts and collecting their mana cores.

The stakes are absolute, the lowest-ranking class at the end of this trial will be systematically de-ranked. If Class D finishes last, they will not merely drop a tier, they will be completely stripped of their academy resources, forced into manual labor to maintain the campus grounds, and their underperforming students will face immediate expulsion."

A collective shudder ran through the lower-tier students. The instructor leaned forward, his expression grim.

"Do not take this lightly. The beasts inhabiting this pocket dimension are exceptionally powerful. Even the lowest E-rank fiends possess lethal agility and high magic resistance. Carelessness will cost you your lives."

Lucien listened with a detached smirk, his arms crossed over his chest. He knew a trial of this scale would take more than a single day. His mind drifted away from the speech, focusing instead on his pending system notifications.

Specifically, he thought about the active mission demanding he acquire the powers of a girl named Malia.

He still didn’t fully understand why the system would issue such a specific, aggressive quest, especially since he had no idea what her underlying magical alignment even was.

’System,’ Lucien channeled his thoughts inwardly. ’Why do you want me to sleep with Malia? What is the real purpose behind this quest?’

A crisp, mechanical chime echoed in his mind.

’That’s because Malia possesses a unique, dormant bloodline trait. She is the literal key to unlocking a primordial ability that is rightfully supposed to be yours.

Because you do not currently possess the genetic catalyst that she carries, you cannot use it for the ones that has already awakened on your behalf.’

Lucien narrowed his heterochromatic eyes. ’What is the skill?’

’Information restricted. Host will discover the nature of the ability upon successful completion of the mission.’

Lucien let out a mental scoff. ’Fine. Keep your secrets. Just know that once I amass enough power, I’m going to find a way to crush this entire system and break free from your constraints.’

’I heard that, Host.’

Lucien chuckled darkly. ’Then answer me this, who made you, System? Who created this interface? Why would someone make a cheat from himself or herself.’

The system paused for a fraction of a second before a single word flashed in crimson text across his mental vision.

’It was Lucifer.’

’What? You are kidding right?’ Lucien’s thoughts arrested in shock. Before he could voice his next question, a massive, deafening tear ripped through the fabric of space at the center of the assembly ground.

A gigantic, swirling violet portal expanded rapidly, stabilized by the high-ranking faculty members. The head instructor raised his staff. "The portal is stable! Proceed through the gateway by your assigned ranks! Move!"

The crowd surged forward. As they stepped through the threshold, the spatial distortion took effect. A specialized squad of instructors, all highly advanced Celestial Priests, managed the dimensional flow, intentionally scattering the students.

Each class was teleported to a completely different sector of the massive dungeon to prevent the elite classes from instantly monopolizing the low-tier beast dens.

When the blinding light faded, Lucien found himself standing in a dense, twilight forest. The camp had already been prepared by the academy’s advance team; rows of sturdy leather tents were neatly arranged across a reinforced clearing.

Almost immediately, Adeline, Serena, and Meghan crowded around him.

"Can we stay with you in your tent?" the three girls asked practically in unison, their eyes locked onto him.

Lucien raised an eyebrow, glancing toward the nearby instructors who were patrolling the perimeter.

"They gave us separate tents based on our class divisions. If we all pile into one, the faculty will get suspicious. You know the High Priestesses expect the holy class candidates to remain pure, cloistered virgins."

Serena stepped closer, a confident smile playing on her lips. "But we know you are protecting us, Lucien. Besides, your new dual-alignment energy completely masked our signatures during the fusion. They can test our mana arrays all they want, they won’t be able to detect a single anomalous change in us. Right?."

Lucien looked between the three of them, a slow smirk spreading across his face. "Fair enough." He gestured toward the largest tent near the edge of the tree line. "We sleep in one tent then."

The three girls smiled triumphantly, the previous tension between Adeline and Meghan temporarily dissolving into shared satisfaction.

Meanwhile, far away from the holy academy’s hidden pocket dimension, the atmosphere inside the School Council room of the dark faction was heavy with anticipation.

Nyx paced near the stained-glass window, his fingers tapping restlessly against the hilt of his blade. "Where could they be? The entire upper echelon of the holy academy has vanished from our scouting grids since this morning."

Dahlia sat at the long mahogany table, idly twirling a dark, enchanted dagger between her fingers. She gave a careless shrug. "Well, maybe they finally initiated that classified holy academy trial. They’ve been hoarding dimensional keys for weeks."

Ryan, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, let out a low, aggressive growl. "It’s been way too long since we’ve had a real fight. My instincts are getting dull, and I’m starting to lose my edge."

Nyx stopped pacing, a cold, predatory gleam igniting in his eyes as he looked out over the darkened city. "It won’t be long, Ryan. Those self-righteous fools have been asking for a war, and they’re actively walking into a trap. When they return, we’ll give them the bloodbath they’re looking for."

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