Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss

Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss – 68

EP.68 Secret Part 3

Karina silently surveyed her surroundings.

‘It’s empty.’

Just a year ago, this place had been bustling with high-ranking officials. However, due to various incidents and the turmoil of war, it now looked completely different. Losing interest, she turned her gaze away and stepped up to the platform in front of her.

‘…Well, it doesn’t matter.’

Her original plan to take control of this place had long been canceled by Marpe. Now, there was no point in trying to seize control or recruit people to her side.

‘So, rather than wasting energy on this place.’

It was better to focus solely on the tasks at hand and concentrate on progressing with ‘that matter.’ Thus, she decided to keep the inauguration ceremony simple, just announcing her appointment without putting in unnecessary effort.

“Hello. I’m Karina, the Second Princess, and the new principal. I know there have been recent unfortunate events causing confusion, but…”

After delivering a brief inauguration speech, Esich took over the platform and continued with the proceedings smoothly. Karina watched for a moment before slowly closing her eyes.

‘The academy…’

Marpe, who had been reassigned here, and Lea, who had seemed incredibly competent, had both caused quite a stir upon their arrival. While some of their actions might have been understandable, what they did was utterly incomprehensible.

‘What on earth happened here that led to such actions?’

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t find an answer. Sighing softly, she rubbed her face with her hands.

‘I’ll have to investigate as I go.’

Feeling that her responsibilities had increased, she eagerly awaited the end of the pointless inauguration ceremony.

***

As soon as the hour-long ceremony ended, Karina immediately handed off all the procedures to Esich and headed for the principal’s office.

‘I need to rest.’

Given the recent distressing events in the kingdom, she was mentally exhausted. Heading straight to the principal’s office to recuperate seemed like the best option. However, as she approached, she felt a creeping sense of unease.

‘Unease? How many emotions have I experienced in my life?’

It was odd to feel such an unfamiliar emotion after becoming a sword saint. As she reflected on her recent hardships, she let out a wry chuckle.

At that moment, she noticed faint traces of divine power scattered across the floor near the principal’s office.

‘… Divine power?’

While the presence of divine power on the floor itself wasn’t particularly unusual, the problem was that it was absorbing the surrounding mana.

‘Divine power that absorbs mana… Isn’t that a characteristic of the terror-inducing corpse golems?’

As that thought crossed her mind, what had seemed like mere unease now turned into a tangible sense of dread. The presence of divine power with the same characteristics as the corpse golems meant that the perpetrator of the terror was likely here. Without further contemplation, she decided to enter the principal’s office to subdue the situation.

[Welcome.]

Starting with a banner of welcome, the principal’s office was filled with pure white chrysanthemums. However, there was no sign of the perpetrator.

‘Ha.’

Indeed, it was unlikely that someone would wait for her here like an idiot. Disappointed, she noticed a plain, yet strikingly ornate box hidden among the chrysanthemums.

‘… A gift box?’

Despite the strange sensation enveloping her, curiosity drove her to reach for the box.

Rustle.

The sound of flowers being crushed was unsettling. As she opened the lid, the stench of old blood filled the room.

“…Marpe?”

Marpe’s face, eyes wide open in death, stared back at her from the box. The sight made her gag, unable to stand properly. Her body trembled as bile rose in her throat. As she struggled to maintain her composure, a letter that had been beneath the box fell to the floor.

Despite her distress, an inexplicable urge to read the letter struck her. She numbly picked it up and, with trembling hands, unfolded it.

[HAHA]

The words made no sense. What could this possibly mean? As she tried to understand the cryptic message with her bloodied hands, a small line of text at the bottom caught her eye: ‘Oh, by the way, it will explode in 10 seconds, so be careful.’

With a look of disbelief, she glanced up and saw the divine power’s energy intensifying.

‘No way… Could it be?’

Even in the midst of a brutal war, such cruel tricks with corpses were unheard of. Was someone really planning to use corpses to create an explosion in the academy? It seemed beyond reason that one would violate the basic decency of humanity in such a manner.

As the divine power’s influence grew, it expanded at a pace too rapid to endure. It soon erupted in a massive wave, causing the divine power to explode.

BOOM!

The principal’s office was engulfed in a blinding white light, as if it intended to consume everything in its path. Intense pain surged through Karina’s body.

“Arghhh!”

Since becoming a sword saint, she had not felt pain like this. The intense divine power inflicted excruciating agony, setting her entire body aflame. Despite her attempts to extinguish the flames by expelling mana, the fire on her body not only refused to diminish but flared even more fiercely.

Desperate, she leaped through the window and threw herself into the fountain outside.

“Ugh…”

Her entire body burned, and blisters formed on her skin. Clenching her fists in pain, she saw Esich rushing towards her in a panic.

“Get the priests here immediately! Hurry!”

Struggling to stand, Karina saw her reflection in the fountain—her body covered in wounds, a sight she had never seen before. Rage surged within her, and she gritted her teeth. A memory surfaced in her mind.

─ Princess, did you know? One of the hero’s traits is the ability to consume mana.

It was something Bishop Lea had said during her torture of the hero. As those words came to mind, she froze in disbelief. If Lea’s words were true, the divine power seen in this incident and the previous one was strikingly similar to the hero’s traits.

She initially thought, perhaps this was all the work of the hero. However, she quickly shook her head, rejecting the notion.

‘It’s not yet the time for the hero to appear.’

‘Ha. My mind is getting cluttered with all sorts of thoughts.’

Deciding it was best to focus on healing her body before entertaining any more wild theories, she slowly climbed out of the fountain, determined to uncover the truth behind all these events.

***

Watching Karina plunge into the fountain, Jeong-hyeon sighed with regret.

‘I should have put in more divine power.’

If the flames had been more intense, he could have enjoyed watching her suffer for longer. Resolving to fill the next trap with even more divine power, he turned to head back to the dormitory. Then, he remembered something he had forgotten.

‘Oh, right. I took a letter from Karina’s drawer, didn’t I?’

Jeong-hyeon had been so preoccupied that it had slipped his mind.

Deciding to check it right away, he unfolded the letter, only to find it written in incomprehensible characters.

‘What is this? An alien language?’

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t decipher it. Frowning, he decided to ask Miria for help and headed back to the dormitory.

Upon returning to the dormitory, Hana, who had been busy stacking divine power fragments, ran up to him and clung to his thigh. Jeong-hyeon patted her head and handed the letter to Miria, who was lying nearby.

“Can you decode this for me?”

Miria, with a bewildered expression, took the letter and then exclaimed in shock.

“Wh-what’s with the blood?”

“It was already on there, so don’t worry.”

Hearing his words, Miria gave him a complex look but then shook her head, seemingly giving up on questioning further.

“Alright… So, what is this?”

She opened the letter and read it, blinking in surprise.

“It’s a royal cipher.”

How did she even know the royal cipher? He wondered about Miria’s true identity as he nodded. Miria picked up a pen and continued.

“Hmm… I learned it a long time ago, but my memory is a bit fuzzy. Still, since it’s short, I think I can manage to decode it.”

This was good news. Jeong-hyeon nodded, signaling her to proceed with the decoding. Miria began to scrutinize the letter, jotting down notes repeatedly.

‘It must be quite difficult.’

Even though it was a short sentence, three hours had passed, and she still hadn’t cracked it. The difficulty level seemed high. He waited patiently, stroking Hana’s hair as she dozed off. Suddenly, Miria shouted, “I’ve got it!” and stood up.

‘Thank goodness she managed to decode it.’

If she hadn’t, it would have been a real headache. He asked her what it said, and Miria gave an unexpected answer.

“It says, ‘The hero will soon be resurrected.’”

At those words, Lucia, who had been watching, dropped her teacup to the floor.