Dark Dragon: The Summoned Hero Is A Villain

Arlo took a step forward, his boots crunching against the shattered glass on the floor.

"Professor," he began immediately, "I was attacked in my room."

Faye's gaze flicked to him. "Attacked?"

Arlo nodded and gestured towards the bodies sprawled across the floor. "By them. They broke in through the window. The three of them were fast and strong. Noah arrived in time to help me fight them off. If not for him, I don't know if I'd have survived their attack."

Faye's eyes followed his motion, and when she saw the faces of the fallen intruders, her face went slack.

The calm she'd carried into the room vanished, replaced by cold shock.

"These…" she whispered, crouching beside one of the corpses. "Clark Mason. And Gus Turner."

Her voice dropped lower. "The missing students."

Arlo nodded grimly. "Not anymore."

Faye drew in a slow breath, forcing composure back into her voice.

"Reanimated," she said, recognizing what had happened. "But the mana signature is fragmented. They were puppets."

As she spoke, she raised a hand, a spell formation forming above her palm and igniting before anyone could even catch what it could be.

The air shimmered faintly as her spell activated, sealing the room in a containment ward.

"I need to make sure there's no contamination," she murmured.

Then she looked up at Noah with a frown. "This is Arlo's room, but how did you get here?"

Noah stepped forward, arms crossed. "I found them climbing up the dorm wall," he said. "I followed and saw them breaking into Arlo's room."

Faye frowned. "And what exactly were you doing awake at this hour, Mr. Webb?"

He met her gaze without flinching. "I heard scratching outside my window," he said simply. "It didn't sound normal, so I went to check. That's when I saw them."

Faye studied him for a long moment, clearly suspicious but too focused on the situation to ask more questions. She nodded slowly. "Very well."

Neither Noah nor Arlo mentioned their ongoing investigations, their theories about the Lady in Dark, or how it might be connected to the missing students.

The less the teachers knew about that, the better.

A sudden flare of red-orange light filled the room, accompanied by a faint rush of heat.

A teleportation spell ignited in the air, and two figures stepped through the circle that formed near the window.

Cecilia and Professor Oliver emerged from the glow, both looking battle-ready.

Faye immediately turned to them. "Two of the missing students were found," she said quickly. "Or what's left of them. Reanimated corpses. They attacked Arlo Kael. Noah Webb intervened."

Oliver's eyes swept over the corpses. "So it's begun again," he muttered darkly. "Seal this off. No one else gets in or out."

"Already did." Faye muttered.

He looked at Arlo and Noah, his gaze hard. "You two saw what happened, which means you understand the danger of what you've witnessed. This does not leave this room. Not to your classmates, not to your friends, not to anyone."

His tone left no room for argument.

Arlo nodded silently. Noah followed suit, his expression unreadable.

"Good," Oliver said. "Because if word of this spreads before we understand it, panic will follow. And panic kills faster than any monster."

At the other side of the room, Cecilia knelt beside the nearest corpse.

She raised her hands, casting a spell. A pale blue glow enveloped the bodies, sweeping through them.

Her eyes flicked between the three corpses, her expression blank.

"They've been dead for at least two days," she said finally, glancing toward Faye. "But the decay looks far worse than that. The reanimation spell used on them must've accelerated it."

Faye crouched beside her. "So, not fresh?"

"No," Cecilia replied, tracing her fingers over the dull skin of one corpse's arm. "The spell forced their bodies to move in ways flesh wasn't meant to."

"The stress tore at their muscles, warped their mana veins, and burned out what little essence was left. It makes them look like they've been dead for a week, but they haven't."

She leaned closer, eyes narrowing as the pale glow shifted color slightly.

"That also means something else," she added. "Whoever performed the reanimation was inexperienced. They can't control it properly."

Faye's frown deepened. "A student?"

"Possibly," Cecilia said softly. "Or someone self-taught. Either way, not a necromancer of any real skill."

Across the room, Professor Oliver stood with his arms crossed, his gaze moving between the corpses and the two students.

His jaw tightened. "Enough. I'll take it from here," he said curtly.

He gestured toward the door. "Webb, Kael, out."

Arlo looked like he wanted to argue, but the authority in Oliver's tone silenced him. He gave one last look at the bodies, then followed Noah out of the room.

"Arlo," Oliver said as they stepped into the hall, "you're spending the night with Webb. His room is on the lower floor. Go there, stay put, and don't leave until morning. Understood?"

"Yes, Professor," Arlo said quietly.

"Good."

Oliver shut the door behind them, sealing the scene inside.

The walk back to Noah's dorm was silent. Both of them were lost in thought. When they finally reached his room, Noah lit the lamp by the window and locked the door.

Arlo leaned against the wall, arms folded.

"That was close," he muttered. "If you hadn't shown up when you did—"

"I wasn't saving you," Noah said dryly. "I was curious."

Arlo huffed a laugh. "Could've fooled me."

Noah ignored the comment and sat at his desk, staring out the window. "Can your eyes trace where those puppets came from? The mana strings, maybe?"

Arlo shook his head, frustration flickering in his gaze. "No. Whoever controlled them knew what they were doing. Inexperienced, yes, but not careless. They burned the strings clean the moment they let go. There's no trail, and no residual connection."

"So they were taught," Noah said. "Someone showed them how to hide their work from you."

"Exactly," Arlo replied. "The question is who."

For a while, the only sound was the crackle of the lamp flame.

Then Arlo said quietly, "Maybe I should help with the missing students investigation. If they were reanimated, the puppeteer's still here. We can find them faster together."

Noah turned toward him, his expression thoughtful. "Or maybe that's exactly what they want," he said.

Arlo frowned. "What do you mean?"

"What if the puppeteer is a distraction?" Noah asked. "A cover sent by the Lady in Dark to pull you off your investigation. If you shift your focus, she gets more time to hide."

Arlo's eyes narrowed. "You think she'd go that far?"

"I think she's capable of anything," Noah said quietly. "You keep tracking her. If she's behind this, you'll find out soon enough. I'll handle the puppeteer."

Arlo hesitated, then nodded slowly. "All right."