An hour and a half slipped quietly by.
At night, the Demon King’s Gifted Restaurant glowed dreamlike against the darkness, radiating a noble, unique magic.
With the delicate notes of the restaurant’s instruments lingering, Lan Qi and Huperion finally finished their dinner.
The two left reluctantly, as though waking from a dream and returning to reality.
Even Huperion, despite herself, had been pulled into the dreamlike atmosphere of the Demon Realm.
But the moment she stepped out of the restaurant’s glass doors, she realized—this faint stirring of her bloodline’s awakening was a warning. She felt one step farther away from being “human.”
—
In the vast corridor.
Lan Qi strolled ahead, as though merely out for a walk.
Huperion followed, dragging the coffin-like gift box behind her.On both sides, magnificent skylights revealed every star in the Demon Realm’s night sky.
Starlight poured down, making the angled corridor look like a crystal bridge linking earth and heavens.
A breathtaking sight—but the two figures upon it seemed utterly out of place.
Inside the coffin-shaped box, the silver-haired demon lay quietly.
His body was like a cold gemstone, now given a noble resting place.
Under the light of lamps and stars, the corridor shimmered with mirrored brilliance.
This hall stretched all the way toward the teaching district—their next destination.
It would be a while before the corridor reconnected to the teaching zone, but for them, this waiting was a rare pleasure.
Here, they could calmly admire the Demon Realm’s starry sky—something invisible in the human world.
Neither Lan Qi nor Huperion had plans to wander through other functional corridors.
After all, if they strayed too far, when the next recess came, their guide demon, Bachel, might not be able to find them.
Huperion set the silver-haired demon’s “coffin” at the end of the corridor.
This place was even quieter than the rest—only the cold, gentle radiance of starlight surrounded them.
The two sat side by side, beginning to tally their spoils.
A simple round of looting—and they already had a pile of credit coins.
“A huge harvest! Truly—good people reap good rewards!”
Lan Qi grinned in delight.
Looked like they could still enjoy the facilities before returning to the human world.
“Yes, yes…”
Huperion’s lips curved wryly, her tone soft, resigned.
Sometimes, being with Lan Qi felt like babysitting a child.
But when they finally finished ransacking the silver-haired demon’s belongings—
Both their expressions turned to shock.
“…No way. Was this guy really this rich?”
Only after closer inspection did they realize—
Every single one of the silver-haired demon’s credits was minted in denominations of 10.
Black-gold coins etched with special marks shimmered in the starlight. Each was worth ten credits—or could be used as a single “10-credit coin.”
Which meant—the demon’s fortune was ten times greater than what Lan Qi had first thought.
Then, Lan Qi’s eyes fell on something else, pulled from the demon’s inner pocket.
It was a black seal, carved with intricate designs, its surface like smooth obsidian—cold to the touch.
“…”
Lan Qi tried to discern whether it was a magical tool. But even he couldn’t figure out its true function.
Finally, he looked at another item: a document.
His eyes narrowed, confusion deepening.
“Why doesn’t he have a student ID? Instead… this is a certificate from Demon King’s Castle?”
His murmur echoed faintly in the vast corridor, stirring ripples in the silent air.
—
At the same time.
On the top floor of Purgatory Corridor Academy, in the meeting chamber.
The walls, deep violet, were carved with ancient motifs, heavy with mythic weight.
From the tall dome, faint starlight poured down, casting moon-shadows and motes of dust across the chamber.
In the center stood a great round table, surrounded by professors.
Each face was grim, etched with worry.
Under the dim glow, their figures seemed blurred, the oppressive air so dense it felt like the slightest sound might reverberate like thunder.
The vice principal sat at the head, brow furrowed, silent for a long moment.
At last, he looked around at the professors and spoke heavily:
“Professors, the special envoy from Demon King’s Castle will be arriving at our academy within days.”
“According to the principal, this envoy is skilled at disguise and infiltration. It’s likely they’ll enter as a student—or even as a teacher—to observe and investigate.”
“During the principal’s absence, we must continue to uphold discipline with utmost strictness. Whatever happens, do not offend the envoy of His Majesty.”
When his words fell, the professors all nodded, but no one spoke.
They understood—the envoy was not what truly kept the vice principal awake at night.
The real trouble was someone else, arriving soon.
The envoy of the Vampires.
The vice principal rubbed his forehead wearily, his breath misting like winter fog before vanishing into the air.
His eyes rose, gaze unfocused, tone half to himself, half seeking an answer from the others:
“The Demon Realm’s Ministry of Education is pressing hard. The vampire envoy will soon arrive at Purgatory City. If they uncover that humans have indeed infiltrated our academy, violating the North-South Pact, we’ll all be in grave trouble.”
The North-South Pact, also called the Non-Interference Treaty of Vampires and Demons.
In this chaotic age, the southern vampires ruled supreme—human kings were little more than their thralls.
The northern demons, in contrast, were weakened, clinging to the glacial fortresses of the far north.
For all dealings between humans and vampires, demons were bound to remain neutral. That neutrality was the condition for vampires sparing the demons.
But now—
The vampires suspected demons of secretly trying to shatter this fragile balance.
And the spark was—
A ridiculous rumor that had begun spreading in the Demon Realm some time ago:
That a human, disguised as a demon, had infiltrated to steal their knowledge.
At first, the demons dismissed it.
It was always demons who disguised themselves as humans—never the other way around.
But then—
The Vampire Grand Duke had, through brutal interrogation of an imperial researcher’s family, extracted scraps of key intelligence.
And learned that a handful of survivors from a certain imperial secret unit likely lurked within this very academy—for a long time already.