Chapter 601 - 601: The First Variant

One of the five people waved his hand casually, getting access to the entire database of the academy. 

A holographic screen opened before them, which started showing the entire map of the Academy. 

"The portal is on the northern side."

They all disappeared. 

...

The five Royal Guards appeared outside the Teleportation Chamber. 

The leader amongst the five placed his hand on the door. Without having any need to put the password, he managed to open the door. 

The five stepped inside, observing the chamber. 

"A dead body... Looks like a teacher who worked here," One of the five commented. 

"The teleportation coordinates are set in the continent of Triton in the nation of Zeston. It's confirmed," Another man said after checking something. 

The third man started checking all the footage of the academy to see what had transpired here and who was the one that actually used the teleportation. 

"That's very interesting. I think you should check it." He invited the others to see the footage. 

The others joined him, observing the footage which showed Lucifer appearing with a Summoner Beast in the examination hall. 

It further went on to show the conflict between him and the Academy. 

"A Variant managed to infiltrate Atlantis. I think His Majesty would be very interested in it."

"True. Especially since the Variant was somewhat strong. Not bad. But if the Variants had indeed found a way to infiltrate Atlantis without being noticed, it could be very... Problematic."

"Indeed. We came here to avoid them. But now they're even coming here?" 

Seeing the discussion of his fellows, the fifth human rolled his eyes. 

"Heh, why is it something to be concerned about? When humans came here, running from Variants, we were weak. But now, the Variants are not challenging at all. Moreover, it's just a weak academy he destroyed. It doesn't mean much."

The video continued playing, tracking Lucifer. 

There were no recordings of Lucifer after he flew out of the Academy. 

The five soldiers thought that Lucifer had escaped, but after a short time, he was once again seen inside the Academy with his two friends. Both of his friends were hurt. 

"Heh, that's funny. Three Variants infiltrated, and two got hurt while facing this weak academy with first-generation equipment. See? I told you it's nothing to be concerned about. They're too weak."

The others nodded in agreement. 

Lucifer once again disappeared and came back with a black coffin. 

Seeing that coffin, everyone's eyes opened wide in shock. 

"T-that... Do you see that symbol? I-isn't that the Royal Symbol of Origin?"

Another soldier gravely nodded. "It looks like that."

He casually waved his hand, bringing up a new holographic screen that showed the Symbol on the coffin clearly. 

"It's the same."

"The coffin contains the Royal Symbol of Origin? And the intruders found it? Could it be that they actually infiltrated to get that coffin? If I'm not wrong, there was only one person who was given the right to use the Royal Symbol of Origin... Could it be that inside the coffin..."

The others remained silent and waited to see if that was the case. 

They saw Lucifer open the coffin and bring the girl out. 

It was as if all the soldiers had seen a ghost. 

"It is... Her..." One of them said blankly. "We need to inform His Majesty!"

The footage continued. The girl was kept back in the coffin, and Lucifer took the coffin. 

He came with the coffin to the Teleportation Chamber. There was no footage from that point. 

"So the person who left Atlantis was the Intruder. He also killed the guide who helped him," the first guard said, looking at Jane. 

"We need to bring the Coffin and that body back at any cost!" The guards exclaimed. 

"Yeah. But the Royal Rules state that even we can't travel without the Royal Permission. Save the coordinates of their travel location and come back to the Royal Palace. We need to inform the King first. He shall decide!"

The others nodded in agreement. The five of them disappeared again, this time traveling farther. 

The five appeared outside the Royal Atlantis Palace as teleportation wasn't allowed inside the Royal Palace for safety reasons. 

The five of them entered the Royal Palace, advancing towards the Royal Court. 

The five opened the doors and stepped inside to meet the Royal King, who sat on the main throne. 

Around the ministers were sitting on both sides of the court. The Royal General was also standing there. 

"Speak. You said you had something important to talk about?" The King asked. "He was already informed about the soldiers willing to meet him."

"Your Majesty, we were investigating a case about an illegal Intercontinental Teleportation when we came across something that you must see." The leader of the soldiers stepped forward. 

"Go ahead. Show us what you found." The King nodded calmly. 

The soldier clapped once, making an even bigger hologram appear before him. It started showing everything that happened in the Academy. 

"At 9 in the morning, these three people infiltrated Atlantis, appearing in a small first-generation academy."

"Infiltrated without being noticed? Intriguing. Did you catch him?" the King asked. 

"No, your majesty. That academy didn't inform us about an Intruder. We only went there after these people escaped from Atlantis using intercontinental teleportation at the academy."

"So some people infiltrated the Academy and escaped? You came here for permission to chase after them?" The King asked. 

"No. We came here because of what the infiltrators took with them before going back. We believe they specifically came here to take it, and they succeeded."

"Take what? What could a lowly academy possess that they would want?" The Minister of Defence chimed in. "They only had first Generation technology, if I'm not wrong."

"That's correct. They only have first generation technology, but that isn't what I'm talking about."

"What then?" The King asked, intrigued. 

The soldier clapped his hand again, making the previous screen disappear, and two screens appeared instead. 

Both screens showed a different image. One showed the closed coffin while the other showed the opened coffin with the sleeping girl inside. 

Seeing the images, the King stood up surprised. It was the same reaction with all the Ministers. 

"She is... The First Variant..." The first King said, blankly. 

"The only person allowed to use the Royal Symbol of Origin because of being the first Variant that appeared in the world..." One of the Ministers exclaimed. 

The minister of Defence also chimed in. "How did she end up there? And how did Variants know about her being there? Even we didn't know that she was there?"

******

Author Note: 

Thank you to everyone still reading the book. One small announcement: 

Will be back to mass releases every Monday based on the Golden Tickets. 

Every 100 Golden Tickets in the week will be 1 extra chapter every Monday above the usual schedule of 2 a day. 

Thank you :)