Chapter 26 Dead Or Alive?

Thud.

Nami fell down to the floor with her face drained of blood. All the plans and dreams she had collapsed with one action of the person she trusted the most. "I can't believe you would do that… I don't believe it… You must be playing with me… My own sister wouldn't do that to me…"

Miss Black's expression sank further as she crouched to pick Nami up. "Nami… I did it for us. We can now travel together and—"

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"Don't touch me!" Nami cut her sister off while jerking her hands away. "I don't even want to see you right now. What travel are you talking about? I'm not going anywhere with you."

The hateful gaze of Nami was like hot knives that stabbed right through Miss Black's Soul. It hurt her more than any injury she sustained in the past and the pain didn't want to go away. The pain only increased as time went on and she finally shed a single tear.

"Nami…" Miss Black repeated softly but no more words came out. She had no explanation for what she had done.

"I want to see his body," Nami announced as she wiped her own tears away and stood up firmly. "It must have happened a moment ago. He might still be alive."

"No!" Miss Black denied immediately and embraced Nami's waist to stop her. "Don't do this to yourself. Let's just leave before the Academy finds him."

Nami turned grim and struggled to break free. "Let go! I'm not leaving anywhere until I see him!"

Miss Black didn't have the heart to take Nami away by force. "Fine. His body is on the stairs."

Nami didn't even look back as she bolted towards the staircase. She covered her mouth when she saw the scene from above and rushed down on her own.

"Fuck… What did I do…" Miss Black cursed as she rubbed her face from any tears and followed after Nami. She was about to witness the scene of her murder when Nami suddenly came back up.

"He is gone!" Nami cried out with hope which stunned Miss Black on the spot. She quickly looked behind Nami and froze after seeing no dead bodies.

"Impossible… I pierced his body with multiple swords and even struck his heart," Miss Black pointed out speechlessly as she rushed down to check the blood stains. "I checked his pulse and he was dead. There is no way he could survive this."

Miss Black was confident of her skills but bloody footsteps going down the stairs showed that Number One has indeed survived.

"You must have been wrong! We need to quickly find and help him!" Nami called out with worry as she followed the footsteps on her own. "You better pray he is still alive!"

———

"Oof… I managed to get inside in time…"

Number One couldn't be happier to see the golden door in front of him. The moment Miss Black prepared herself to finish him off, he swiftly abandoned his body and slipped his consciousness into the space within his Legendary Artifact. He didn't think he could focus fast enough but he was successful on the first try.

"My body should be dead already…" Number One muttered and ran over to the bowl on the stand. It only had a single drop of golden liquid inside of it and he didn't hesitate to drink it.

Number One immediately felt warmer but this time he wasn't aiming to improve his Soul. He needed to revive his body for even a moment so his regeneration could kick in and finish the job.

"I should be good as long as that bitch didn't cut off my head," Number One said calmly as he recalled the last few times he died. He was panicking the first time but he already learned he would be fine in most scenarios.

The main reason why Number One jumped at the last second was to avoid any injuries to his head. He needed time to enter his heavenly space and a sword in his brain would kill him instantly.

"Alright, time to go back," Number One commented and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he was assaulted by immense pain all over his torso.

"Ugh…" Number One grunted as he tried to get up but his body resisted his idea. He was forced to remain still as his heart patched itself before he could finally move.

"Don't touch me!"

Number One's eyes widened when he heard Nami's voice from the top class floor and moved quicker. The cuts on his back opened as he ran down the stairs but he didn't plan on waiting to be killed again. His leftover Soul Energy is not even enough for full recovery so he needed to refill it quickly.

"Ahh!"

The students exclaimed in shock when they saw Number One enter the main corridor but he didn't stop for an explanation. The most logical would be to leave the Academy but he couldn't give up all the hours he had for the Soul Training Rooms. The second-best solution was getting to the place with the most people and hoping Miss Black will be stopped by the Headmaster.

Everyone stopped in their tracks to ask what happened to him and Number One continued to walk silently. He slowly gathered a small crowd following behind him which was exactly what he wanted. The students inside the cafeteria heard the incoming commotion and watched his entrance with shock on their faces.

They all had the same question in their minds and it was about the identity of the person who could possibly injure Number One to such a degree.

"Number One! What the fuck happened?!" Darius shouted from afar as he stared at Number One's bloodied uniform. He was accompanied by multiple other teachers who supervised the Soul Training Rooms together.

"Do you even need to ask?" Number One questioned back with a shrug and walked up with everyone watching. "I thought the Academy would protect their students from outside danger but you invited an Inner World Soul Artist inside the Academy and didn't do anything when she showed a desire to kill me. What kind of bullshit is that?"

There wasn't a single student talking as Number One spoke and his words were heard by the whole Academy. All students stared at him in disbelief while the teachers' eyes widened.

"There is an Inner World expert inside the Academy?" the teachers questioned Darius who immediately paled at the news.

"Quick, call the Headmaster and tell him to come here immediately," Darius ordered the teachers sternly and rushed to Number One with a serious expression. "Are you okay? How much did she injure you?"

With how Darius reacted, it was clear that Number One was telling the truth which changed everything.

Inner World expert?

Number One could survive an attack from such a high-ranked opponent?

"Do I look fine?" Number One asked speechlessly as he displayed his body. "I was pierced by more than a dozen swords. If I didn't shift my body while escaping, my heart would be pierced and I would be dead."

Everyone was speechless at how casual Number One's description was despite being barely alive and then they watched him walk towards the Soul Training Rooms.

"I need to recover my Soul Energy so I hope you can stall that psycho for me," Number One informed as he dragged his body without waiting for anyone's permission.

All students thought Number One would be entering the lowest difficulty but he passed all the rooms until he reached the hardest, the 50th room, and entered inside with a tap of his badge.

"What…?"