Artificial Gate Massacre Epilogue

Saffron had taken the most severe damage amongst our group. Thanks to her bravery and sacrifice, Perseus and Lucas were comparatively unharmed.

When I had returned, both boys were awake.

Perseus' leg was broken and Lucas was trying to staunch the bleeding from Saffron's side though he himself was also bleeding from his right arm.

Thankfully, nobody was poisoned, I sighed with relief.

The bloody symbols that had appeared on the drider's chest had increased the monster's violence but had also decreased the monster's intelligence. Their attacks had become more powerful but also more clumsy.

"I managed to take care of the drider," I told them, before breaking into a coughing fit. I had breathed in too much ash.

Their eyes widened when they saw me.

I can't blame them… I probably look terrible.

My synthetic armor was torn in several places. My side was still bleeding from the first drider's attack. Spider silk clung to my body in various places and there was probably plenty in my hair. 

Fine, gray ash coated my whole body, leaving trails where I walked. 

Light burns, like extremely bad sunburn, covered my exposed face and neck.

Perseus was the first to break the silence. "W-what happened?"

"The dust is very fine in this cave," I explained. "So I led the drider to the spiders' nest and covered myself with spiderwebs before using some firebombs. The dust ignited and…"

I made a vague explosion gesture, before wincing-- the movement irritated the burns on my neck.

The boys gaped at me in shock.

"What? Was I supposed to roll over and die?" I asked them grumpily.

Lucas shook his head wordlessly while Perseus simply laughed softly.

I moved next to Saffron, ripping the rest of my synthetic armor and wrapping it around her torso.

"Let's get out of here." 

The walk back to the entrance was painful and tedious. Lucas and Perseus were jumpy, but I knew that there was nothing else.

"They" wouldn't want to expose themselves this early.

After several minutes, we managed to make it back to the Gate. We found several more dead bodies right next to the portal.

"They probably tried to send help when they lost connection with their cameras and the other guards…" Lucas conjectured, seemingly trying to resist his fear.

When we stepped through the blood-red portal, the staff immediately rushed over. The whole group was taken by the staff into the nurses' office, where we found several other students.

1, 2, 3…

I began counting.

…20, 21, 22.

My heart sank.

Two more students died than in the original novel.

I sighed to myself as Dr. Andre placed a plastic mask over my face.

Then, the world became a blur… and my tired, hurt body succumbed to sleep.

***

The Academy held a funeral for the dead freshmen.

By then my wounds had mostly healed, though I had bandages all over my face and underneath my clothing to help cover the burns. My side still stung whenever I moved, but I could walk.

I learned that the other two groups of four low ranked students had been killed.

Perseus, Saffron, Lucas, and I were the only surviving low ranked students.

When Class A stepped forwards one by one to place flowers on the stone platform, I simply followed the line.

As I placed a gentle white blossom in front of eight framed photos, I felt… 

Nothing.

If the price of my existence is the deaths of others…

Then, I must live with that.

I steeled myself for the future. I knew that similar events would happen in the future and that this would not be the last funeral I would attend.

That didn't mean that I would stand by and just let people die.

I will do my best so that less people will join you in the afterlife, I swore.

Butterfly effect might kill more people, but I would do my best to save them.

When we returned to our dorms, I simply got out of my formal clothes and leaped into my bed.

I began collecting my thoughts, preparing for the next event.

The Academy was on high alert in subtle ways-- doubled security patrols, additional security enhancements, and more staff bustling around.

There was no way for there to be E ranked monsters in F ranked Gates. 

And the fact that it happened in all nine Gates means the Academy obviously knows that there was outside interference.

But they don't know that the perpetrator is one of the teachers.

Obviously, they won't believe me.

I need to get stronger.

I walked over and locked the door, before removing my stash of demonic cores from under my bed. These were the cores I had gathered from the artificial Gate.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get the cores that the others had acquired-- they had already sold theirs for some money.

Inside the small pouch were eight smaller cores the size of the tip of my pinky. However, there were two larger cores that were as large as my thumb.

"..." I wordlessly grabbed one of the smaller spheres. The membrane that protected the demonic core had dried up and resembled a shriveled fruit peel.

The membrane came off easily and dissolved into dust. When my fingers brushed against the core, bloody light began coursing under my skin.

Currently, my greatest priority is raising my maximum mana capacity.

Mana enhancers rarely encountered problems with running out of mana, but that would change once we began learning magic.

Although naturally talented mages already could use magic, such as Rebecca and Perseus, most students had yet to tap into their potential. Their classes on magic focused more on theoretical applications and understanding formulas.

The fifth class on our schedule was magic studies class, but we focused more on understanding how magic worked and different schools of magic.

Soon, the Academy would begin accelerating the pace of the classes after the Artificial Gate Massacre and they would begin teaching us how to use magic.

Magic would open up many opportunities for me and allow me to fight more creatively than before.

Thus, my lacking mana ability had to be strengthened.

I needed to solve this problem as soon as possible.

"These coincidences that keep happening… My encounter with Lucia… my fight with Leo… and me coincidentally rescuing the main characters…"

"What was that saying again? 'Once is happenstance. Twice is a coincidence. Three times is enemy action.'"

A storm was brewing and I had to be strong enough to withstand the waves.