Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 100 Friends
"Oh? When did it become exposed?"

The hooded figure slowly turned around and removed the golden mask from his face.

After seeing the other person's face clearly, the Bathing Goddess couldn't help but let out a cry of surprise.

When Ritas mentioned the other person's name, the Bathing Goddess still held a glimmer of hope. After all, the name "John" was very common.

But it is probably not that common to see someone who comes from a common family but has the appearance and temperament of a nobleman.

"Your actions on the night of the Summer Festival were suspicious."

Ritas's expression and tone were still as calm as before. However, veins appeared on his hand that was tightly holding the white disk.

Even for Ritas, who had already roughly figured out everything, the confrontation with John now was a result he did not want to see.

"So, what really happened that night was that you left the team and captured Malik Azan on your own?"

"Ah, that's right."

John smiled and nodded.

"Malik is a much smaller existence than I thought. When he saw me, he was completely desperate. He just kept begging me for mercy. And who is the person who kept calling Malik 'my child'? Is he his mother or father, or simply a mentally ill outsider? In short, he is a little ignorant compared to Malik. He can't even tell whether it is a situation to beg or a situation to threaten."

"What do you mean? Weren't you and Malik colluding with each other before?"

Listening to John's words, Ritas showed an expression of disbelief.

How could John's series of conspiracies not be carefully planned?

"Well, of course not. Not to mention that Malik always looked down on me at the academy and wouldn't interact with a commoner like me. You should know that, Ritas. Just like your principle of not socializing because you don't want to cause trouble, I also have my own principle of not making friends. Getting close to weak people will only make me weaker."

John said, making a gesture of opening his arms.
“So, the collaboration with them was just an ‘improvisational performance’. For an artist, no amount of accumulation can compare to a flash of inspiration. And that night, I felt the inspiration coming!”

Faced with John, whose true nature had been completely revealed, Ritas seemed to have lost the ability to speak, which was rare.

The bathing goddess, who had already been overwhelmed by the aura exuded by John, did not dare to breathe a single breath.

Although she had thought that the person who could become Ritas' only friend would not be a normal person, John's madness was still beyond her imagination.

"Your plan at that time was the 'World Tree Fruit'?"

Suppressing his inner emotions, Ritas questioned again.

"'World Tree Fruit'? I prefer to call it the 'Life Fruit'. How strange, Ritas, how did you know of its existence? It doesn't seem to be something that can be deduced based on intelligence alone. But, at this point, it doesn't matter. Yes, 'inspiration' tells me that now is the best time to obtain the Life Fruit."

John turned around and turned his back to the hostile Ritas without any care, then raised his head and pointed his finger at Filigree Kota who was nailed above.

Judging from the flow of the words, the thing that is emitting light in Filigree's heart at this moment should be the mysterious "Fruit of Life".

"The 'Fruit of Life' is actually hidden under the tree house. However, it is not buried in an ordinary way. It is protected by complex mechanisms and ancient ritual magic. Under normal circumstances, it is very difficult to approach that space. Originally, I planned to spend more years to slowly solve those puzzles. But after the arrival of 'inspiration', everything will go smoothly."

“Noah.”

Recalling everything that happened on the night of the Summer Festival, especially Malik Ezan's actions after being bewitched and controlled by John, Ritas found the answer.

"That female student, was that her name? Haha, since you're the one saying it, it must be true. Yes, all the measures to protect the 'Fruit of Life' rely on the power of that giant tree. And I've long felt that Noah's power could be used as a sharp blade to forcibly destroy those barriers."

Ritas sensed something strange from John's words.

Unlike the freshmen Mercy and Tabatha, Noah, a senior student, has already studied at Earls for two years.

Therefore, considering the leaky level of Earls College, it is conceivable that she was secretly spied on by various organizations.

Moreover, since John knew about the "Fruit of Life", he might have secretly reached out to the Crown Council.

But, how did he know the specific type of Noah's ability?

Before Noah's power awakened and went out of control, no one should have known that her power could release a large number of thorns, and absorb the power of the "pseudo world tree" together with the surrounding plants, causing chaos in the force field around it.

It is only a small probability event that the protective measures of the "Fruit of Life" will be destroyed or fail.

"After destroying those protective measures, the next step is to take advantage of all the attention being focused on Malik and Noah, and then let the 'Terror' go underground and steal the fruit of life?"

That night, after the Court of Thorns appeared, it seemed as if everyone around them was engulfed by Noah's power, even John. But in reality, the "terrorist" could exist in a shadowy form, essentially invisible, yet he could conceal his true mission from everyone.

And all these added together are what made Ritas feel strange repeatedly, all the things that happened on the night of the Summer Festival.

"Have you ever thought that these impromptu plans of yours might fail?"

"Failure? Then let it be. Since we have decided to perform an 'improvisational performance', we must be prepared to face both boos and cheers at the same time."

John turned his head slightly and glanced at Ritas out of the corner of his eye.
"You are now unable to do anything because you have too many concerns. Just like after that night, you always felt that I was suspicious, but you still didn't find me out in advance. You have really become much weaker after graduating from the academy, Ritas."

As John spoke, the huge seed in which the two of them were located began to take root and sprout.

In the maze.

As the giant seed began to grow, the once-broken connection between the parasitic core and the labyrinth was reconnected.

The enormous power of the Fruit of Life was once again continuously injected into the Muri Third Labyrinth, which was already an advanced labyrinth, further forcing the labyrinth to complete its evolution.

With the infusion of power, the "terror disaster" that has become one with the maze seems to have revived.

The sound of constantly roaring "Ritas" echoed in every corner of the maze.

But only inside the giant seed, Ritas and John, the former good friends, continued to confront each other without being affected by the outside world.

"What on earth do you want to do, John?"

"What? That's a very general question. If I have to answer it, I'm just doing what I've always wanted to do."

"What you've always wanted to do is steal the 'Life Fruit'?"

Even if he racked his brains, Ritas couldn't understand John's behavior.

What on earth had John experienced in these years that made him so eager for the power of the fruit of life?

Or, if he really needed the power of the fruit of life so much, couldn't he have discussed it with him and their teacher, Livis? Since John was probably already secretly controlling the Branch Crown Council, if he had Livis' support, it would not be impossible to obtain the fruit of life in a relatively legitimate way.

At least, just say it to yourself.
"It's rare that you would 'write' your inner thoughts directly on your face. The fruit of life is just the first step. Moreover, if I spend a few more years, I might be able to get it in a more relaxed way. However, because of what I have to do later, I seem to be able to see that we will still be in a hostile situation in the future. In this case, there is naturally no need for me to waste more time. After all, I can hardly bear it any longer."

In John's words, the light of the fruit of life gradually dimmed.

And under the unrestrained forced infusion, Murray's third maze completed its final evolution amidst violent tremors.

In the center of the maze, the newly born "King of the Maze" cried like a baby. Under the protection of its huge body, a tiny flower was quietly growing.

The flower bud, which is only the size of a palm, slowly opens, and brilliant golden light emanates from the gaps between the petals and leaves.

Inside the giant seed, Ritas and John could also see the golden light in the distance.

The moment he saw the light, Ritas's mind suddenly went blank, his breathing became rapid, his mouth became dry, and all his thoughts were occupied by a strong desire.

Ritas was almost out of control and wanted to rush towards the place where the light was.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's wrong with you, Xiao Li!"

Looking at the ferocious-looking Ritas, the Bathing Goddess shrieked.

The moment that piercing sound entered his mind, Ritas's fiery heart, which was engulfed by desire, became clearer.

Just like when Merce was entangled by the fallen demon before, there seemed to be a special power in the voice of the Bathing Goddess.

"'Desire Core'!"

The bloodshot in Ritas' eyes had not yet completely faded, and he immediately realized what had happened.

That was the legendary treasure that could only be produced in a top-level maze. Some historians believed that it was one of the triggers for the war that engulfed the entire continent.

"As expected, you are a little abnormal, Ritas."

John, who seemed to be unaffected by the core of desire, then did something that caused Ritas to temporarily lose his ability to think again.

John placed his right hand at the core of his desire, twisted his thumb and index finger in the air, and the object that was previously between his two fingers was "picked" directly into his hand from a great distance.

"A maze created in this way can only produce some incomplete maze creations, but this is just right. After all, if it is a real 'Desire Core', I have no confidence that I can resist the temptation it exudes."

"Who are you?"

Ritas looked at John and realized for the first time that he had never understood the existence of this man he thought was his good friend.

“As you see.”

John said casually, then waved his hand and let go of Filigree who had been nailed to the wall.

"This is the missing student the academy has been searching for. Before I leave, I've completed the work the academy assigned me. As for the debriefing, you'll be responsible for it, Ritas. As for the 'Life Fruit' in his body, consider it a farewell gift and a reward for his help. Although the Life Fruit has lost most of its power, if used properly, it might still be able to help your student."

John waved his hand again, and an invisible force threw Filigree's body to Ritas' feet.

"John!"

Ritas sensed that John wanted to leave, so he shouted and rushed towards him.

"Oh? So you didn't come here just to reminisce with me, but also to stop me?"

John looked at Ritas with a playful look.
"How are you supposed to do this when you can't even use offensive magic?"

While John was speaking, Ritas threw several bottles filled with sticky liquid at the other party.

"Is this a new variant of 'Universal Solvent'? It'll be troublesome if it gets too much on it."

As John muttered to himself, wherever his eyes went, the bottle exploded completely in mid-air.

"It seems I guessed wrong."

As the bottle exploded, emitting thick smoke, John said with some regret.

As the smoke exploded, a large amount of white mist began to fill the space where the two were.

In a space with extremely low visibility, Ritas pressed the white disc in his hand heavily to the center. At the same time, under the cover of many blind spots, the light of the magic circle extending from the white disc quietly included John's landing point.

"So what kind of magic circle is this?!"

The Bathing Goddess, whose vision was not affected, couldn't help but scream as she watched this scene.

As she spoke, the magic circle that was quickly set up began to operate.

"Tsk, it's been three minutes. Although my beloved disciple hasn't come out yet, if I don't take action, wouldn't it be embarrassing?"

Outside the maze, Levis roughly counted the time and asked Professor Dodge beside her.

Professor Dodge, who was usually quite talkative, simply responded with a wordless dry laugh.

Just when Livis was looking impatient, a large white magic circle suddenly appeared in the vast space in front of the maze exit and began to operate.

"Huh? This magic circle is..."

"It's teleportation! Quick, Dean, get some vision-depriving magic!"

Professor Dodge, who was driving the teleportation magic circle that unfolded on the ground, immediately remembered the patterns on the white disc and urged anxiously.

Realizing the urgency of the situation, Levis raised her hand and instantly released a ball of bright light in the air that blinded everyone.

Under the continuous strong light, the large magic circle rotating at the exit of the maze stopped.

After the strong light dissipated, two figures appeared in the center of the teleportation magic circle.

They were Ritas, who was looking rather lonely with his head down, and Filigree Kota, who was in a coma.

(End of this chapter)