Chaos in the Dungeon (2)

Changed 'teacher' to 'professor' from here onwards. I think it sounds better.

…

The professors overseeing the dungeon quickly discovered the anomaly.

"What is happening in sector four?"

"A student is quickly eliminating all the other students. However, something seems wrong with him. Is he on drugs?"

"Two other students in the same situation appeared in sector three and sector six."

"There is another one in sector five. He already eliminated four students."

"Something is wrong." Doris Heller, the professor of Introduction to Combat, furrowed her brows. "Stop the dive. We need to investigate what is going on."

"Is that appropriate? The dungeon's safety measures are working fine. No harm will come to the students."

Doris shook her head.

"The current situation is an obvious anomaly. Continuing the dive implies putting the students at unnecessary risk."

Just then, the communication device in the observation room rang.

A professor immediately answered it. 

In the next second, his expression stiffened.

He hung up the call and looked at Doris with a complicated expression.

"It was from above. They asked us to continue the dive as usual."

Doris stiffened, but immediately, she put on an ugly expression.

"These bastards… So this is a showcase, huh."

The professors looked at each other with complicated expressions.

They understood everything after that call.

Someone was using today's dungeon dive to showcase the effects of a product to the parties watching the stream.

Although they were not sure about what kind of product it was, just from the condition of the four students, they knew it was not harmless.

Most likely, they were showcasing an unfinished drug or potentiator that strengthened Awakened, and their aim was to ask for more funding.

They did not care about putting the students in danger during the process. As long as no student died, the higher-ups would turn a blind eye to it.

"What should we do?" A professor asked Doris.

Doris closed her eyes for a few seconds, before opening them again with an unwilling expression. 

"All the professors head to the locations of the students rampaging and remain on standby. If you notice that the safety of any student is being threatened, act immediately. Otherwise, limit yourselves to just observing."

The teachers looked at each other and nodded.

That was everything they could do now.

…

*Boom!*

The sound of an explosion followed by a sudden eruption of mana startled me.

I looked in the direction of the explosion with a frown.

"What was that?"

[Boy. Something is wrong.] The demon spoke up in my mind. [I feel the smell of the other piece. It comes from that explosion.]

My expression immediately became heavy.

"Is it here?" 

[… I don't think so. It feels faint, like the traces we have discovered until now. It must be someone with traces of the piece on them.]

I sighed in relief.

I don't know how strong the host of that piece is, but he should be stronger than me at the very least.

I don't think I can face him without any preparation.

"Should we go to investigate?" I asked.

The demon nodded.

[With such a commotion, that piece must be plotting something. Investigating is a good idea.]

I nodded and headed in the direction of the explosion.

Soon, I noticed a strange mana rampaging violently.

The mana was moving quickly, only stopping occasionally before continuing.

When I was close enough, I activated understanding to scout the situation.

Immediately, my eyes shrank.

The source of the rampaging mana was a young man. He was running through the swamp, searching for other students with a twisted expression on his face and defeating them one by one.

But something about the young man was weird. His condition did not seem natural. It reminded me of Gerona.

When she was about to commit suicide, she was also like that.

"… She is under the effect of the piece, huh," I muttered to myself.

[Boy.] The demon spoke up at that moment. [I think I already know the piece's aim. He wants to collect 'soul energy'.]

I was initially startled, but quickly, my expression became solemn.

"Is it similar to my Soul Supplementation Art?"

[It should be, but this method is more violent.] The demon explained. [The Soul Supplementation Art relies upon the intertwining of bodies and souls to steal a bit of soul energy from the person you are having sex with. This technique is harmless, but the amount of soul energy you acquire each time is little.]

[This method, on the other hand, should be similar to implanting a seed in someone's consciousness and waiting for this seed to germinate. The seeds feed on the soul energy of the hosts, slowly draining them dry, and when it's done, it sends the soul energy it stole to its creator. As for the hosts of the seed, they will end up either as dead men or idiots.]

My expression became ugly.

"And that student is being used as a host."

[Not just him.] 

The demon shook his head. To my surprise, his usually carefree tone sounded grave.

[All the students defeated by that student also harbor seeds.]

I froze.

"Wait, do you mean…?"

[It's just as you think.] The demon nodded. [The piece wants to use that student to spread the seed to as many students as possible. If it succeeds, then every student in this dungeon will become food for it.]