I Swear I'm Not a Demon Masquerading as a Human

Faced with intense pressure from the vampires, the Demon Kingdom Inspectorate remained adamant about adhering strictly to protocol. They had escorted the Vampire Envoy across the treacherous, frozen northern wastes into the Demon Kingdom and were now accompanying the envoy to the academy to conduct an investigation.

This envoy possessed a unique blood-based ability that allowed them to detect humans disguised as demons. If the envoy were to actually uncover a human within the academy, the leadership of Purgatory Corridor Academy could not escape the consequences. To appease the vampires' wrath, the demon authorities might even make them scapegoats!

Furthermore, to prevent the headmaster from interfering, the Department of Education had reassigned him, ostensibly for an "important agenda," but in reality, to temporarily strip him of his authority.

The deputy headmaster's voice was heavy with exhaustion as he said, "By all estimates, the Vampire Envoy will arrive at the school in just a few hours."

For the academy, the only glimmer of hope now lay in covert assistance from the Demon King. The Demon King's public stance remained ambiguous. After all, from his perspective, openly helping the school deceive the vampires was out of the question. Doing so would enrage the vampires and violate the treaty.

However, even before the headmaster was reassigned, the Demon King had secretly sent word: if the vampires truly dispatched an envoy, he would send a resourceful confidant of his own to assist the school.

If there really were humans hiding within the academy, the very people the vampires were hunting, then this special envoy from the Demon King's City would be the academy's last lifeline! Yet, with the Vampire Envoy due to arrive in mere hours, there was still absolutely no sign of the special envoy!

"Where on earth are you, Special Envoy..."

The deputy headmaster rested his hands on the desk. His brows were furrowed with distress, and his expression was pained. His eyes held a look of bewilderment, as if searching for a way out of the darkness. Now, his only hope was that the special envoy, bearing the Demon King's Black Jade Token, would appear quickly to help them deal with the Vampire Envoy.

***

Meanwhile, beneath the starry sky visible through the glass, Lance looked down at the ID card in his hand, his fingers gently tracing the text on its surface. His gaze shifted back and forth between the Demon King's City Residency Permit and the black seal, his eyes filled with puzzlement and contemplation.

Lance muttered to himself, "Is this guy not a student? He gives off the vibe of someone with connections."

It felt like they had just inexplicably defeated a hidden monster and had it drop some item of obscure purpose.

Hyperion didn't quite know what to make of it. Under the mechanics of the Shadow Realm, this silver-haired demon shouldn't have been killable in the Demon King's Bestowed Restaurant. After all, it was the safest spot in the functional zone, but unfortunately for him, he'd run into Lance, a walking nightmare. So, it wasn't exactly surprising that he was carrying some oddball items.

Lance stood up and said, "Anyway, we have five periods in total. For the third period, we need to find a Difficulty 3 classroom and give it a shot."

Only in a Difficulty 3 classroom was there a chance of encountering a senior teacher, and only from such a demon could they glean information about the high-level meeting that was held at the school a while back.

Lance checked their mission objectives. Their academy exploration progress had reached 18%. The two of them had spent over an hour enjoying a wonderful dinner during the second period.

Entering the restaurant hadn't increased their exploration progress. This indicated that the functional zones didn't contribute to that metric. The other two teams had likely contributed 4% each, meaning they had each entered and cleared a Difficulty 2 classroom.

"Looks like we're falling a bit behind. We need to step it up!" Lance rallied himself and Hyperion as he was filled with a sense of responsibility. After all, failing to successfully clear the Shadow Realm challenge would trigger a natural disaster in the real world!

"Alright." Looking at the natural smile on Lance's face, Hyperion couldn't help but suspect that he was simply full and content and eager to get back to having fun.

She sighed and followed her energetic partner. How could a challenge in the Shadow Realm be like this? It was completely different from what she had imagined. It felt more like she was just accompanying Lance to enjoy a demon-themed amusement park.

Bathed in the light of the starry sky, they worked together to move the silver-haired demon's corpse to the window. Then, they tossed the body. It shot out like an arrow released from a bow, passing through the window of the transparent glass corridor and slowly plummeting into the endless abyss of Purgatory.

As his figure vanished into the darkness, nothing remained but the empty glass corridor and the silent night sky. Hyperion breathed a sigh of relief. Lance had thoughtfully lent a hand instead of leaving the heavy lifting entirely to her. Now, the penalty to their merit points would be shared between them, sparing her from bearing the full brunt of the deduction.

The two leaned against the wall, chatting to pass the time until the ancient, melodious tolling of a bell once again filled the school grounds, shattering the silence. The junction connecting the corridors suddenly began to rotate slowly, as if imbued with a life of its own. The sound of grinding and clashing stone was reminiscent of a pendulum striking steel, and it erupted into a thunderous roar.

Before long, the corridor in the functional zone reconnected with the corridor in the academic zone. During this process, a winding, pitch-black stone staircase spiraled downwards. It was devoid of any visible supports and appeared to be suspended in mid-air.

Surrounding the staircase was nothing but endless darkness, leaving one completely disoriented. About ten minutes later, they saw Bakar hurrying toward them up the stairs. His pace was rushed, and as he ran, he carefully navigated around the gaps in the steps.

Bakar dared not show the slightest disrespect to Lance and Hyperion, bowing his head respectfully as he said, "My apologies for the delay."

Lance smiled and patted him on the shoulder, his manner casual and easygoing. "It's alright, Bakar. Just take us to a Difficulty 3 classroom, preferably one focused on the arts."

"Difficulty 3..." A look of surprise instantly crossed Bakar's face, quickly giving way to sheer astonishment. They were suddenly ramping up the intensity just like that, aiming to challenge the toughest classrooms in the academy.

Lance shrugged; he could see the fear in Bakar's eyes. "You can just wait in the hallway if you prefer. I'll give you three credit coins right now as payment."

Bakar was stunned for a moment, then nodded vigorously in gratitude. For some reason, he felt that ever since Lance and Hyperion had visited the Demon King's Bestowed Restaurant, not only had their credit coins not dwindled, but they were also throwing money around like the nouveau riche. Yet, in a high-security zone like this, how could the meter possibly run in reverse?

Lance grinned. "Lead the way."

He was so wealthy now that he couldn't even count all his credit coins. There was no need to drag Bakar through the challenges with him, so paying him a few out of pocket was no issue. All he really needed was to stay close to Hyperion, whose strength had been boosted to Rank 4 by the special meal, so they could look out for each other.

Lance felt that once they cleared just one more classroom, a Difficulty 3 one, the hidden crisis lurking within this academy would surely become clear.

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