Chapter 11: Red Horned Demon (2).

“What is this?” Chayeon said, looking at the stairs before him.

“Hmph, don’t you even know this? It’s a barrier someone put up,” Arena said triumphantly, but Chayeon, who had been at the academy for a month, already knew that much.

What he was curious about was why there was a barrier in a place like this.

The structure of the third floor of the old building was strange.

Coming up from the second floor to the third, there was a long hallway connected to the outside windows.

It was purely by chance that he had found a passage across from the windows, going into the building towards the center, starting from one of the lecture halls.

Entering, another hallway appeared, spiraling oddly towards the center.

Reaching the center, there were stairs leading to the upper floor, and the barrier was at its entrance.

Chayeon stretched out his hand again, but as before, he could only touch the transparent wall and couldn’t go any further.

“I’m asking why there’s a barrier in an abandoned building.”

“…! Ah, I know! That’s, that’s obviously what you were asking!”

Leaving the jumping Arena behind, Chayeon poked around, trying to find a way in, but he couldn’t see a gap anywhere.

“There must be some reason. Let’s go back.”

After hesitating for only a moment, Chayeon turned around. Thinking here wouldn’t produce an answer, and more than that, he wasn’t even curious.

“Huh? Are we going back already?” He thought he had satisfied her desire for exploration, but Arena’s expression was somewhat regretful.

However, Chayeon had no intention of humoring her any further.

Judging by the fact that he still hadn’t heard from her after so much time had passed, he suspected that Seohee had indeed forgotten their appointment.

It was a wasted trip, but he understood that she had her reasons. He owed Seohee a lot, so perhaps that’s why he’d become so tolerant.

“Let’s go together!” As Chayeon started to leave alone, Arena quickly stuck to his back with a trembling voice.

If she was this scared of being alone, why did she even come inside?

As they spiraled back out through the hallway and returned to the outer hallway, something strange caught his eye.

“Huh?”

Arena seemed to have seen the same thing, letting out a vacant voice.

Beyond the window, the outside that could be seen from the outer hallway was dark. He’d briefly forgotten because the inside of the old building was dark, but it was the middle of the day now.

Chayeon took out his smartphone and checked the time: 16:11 (4:11 PM).

More time had passed than he had expected, but it shouldn’t be this dark.

Moreover, incredibly, a moon was floating in the sky instead of the sun.

“What is this.”

“Th-that, I don’t know.” The Arena next to him trembled, clinging to him. She seemed even more scared now that it was dark outside. She really was a timid kid.

“Let’s get outside for now.” Just as he was about to go outside to understand the situation, Heukgu’s voice came.

<<Hide.>>

At that word, Chayeon quickly grabbed Arena’s arm and hid behind a wall.

“Kyaa! Wh-what are yo-mph!” Chayeon quickly rolled up the handkerchief he had and stuffed it into Arena’s mouth, who had made a loud noise, then cautiously peeked out from behind the wall, straining his ears.

Clang! Clang!

The sound of sharp metal striking the floor, faintly audible from far away, gradually grew louder.

Clang! Clang clang! Clang!

Arena, who had been widening her eyes and trying to protest, seemed to have heard that sound as well, holding her breath as she peered out from behind the wall.

At the end of the dark hallway, a woman emerged into the moonlight from beyond the window.

The woman, wearing a black full-body tights suit, with red hair fluttering, was walking towards them.

The crazy outfit of wearing nothing but full-body tights was noticeable, but even more noticeable was what was on her head.

A red horn-like object was protruding from her right forehead.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sharp metallic sound that struck the ears was coming from the woman’s feet. The sound echoed every time her stiletto heel struck the floor.

“Hum♪ Hum hum♪” The woman was walking down the hallway, humming a tune that sounded somewhat eerie.

“Wh-who is that? What is that!?”

“How would I know.” Arena asked in a whisper, but how would Chayeon know?

The vibrations from Arena trembling all over were being transmitted to Chayeon through his arm.

“It looks dangerous, let’s go back.”

Arena nodded at Chayeon’s words and turned around. It was then that,

“Where are you going, kids~?”

She was looking at them from right in front, her eyes showing mostly white.

“Kyaa!”

“Sh*t!”

Chayeon, who had made a loud noise without realizing it, kicked reflexively.

The woman’s face, kicked by Chayeon’s front kick, crumpled as she flew backwards, and Chayeon, who was light, also fell backwards from the force. Using that momentum, Chayeon ran in the opposite direction.

“Come this way!” As Chayeon shouted loudly, Arena, who had been frozen by the sudden situation, hurriedly followed Chayeon.

The two of them sprinted towards the stairs.

“Wh-what is that!? A ghost? Is it a ghost!?”

“Snap out of it and just run!”

Clang! Clang! The sharp sound of stiletto heels echoed down the hallway behind them.

The two of them quickly went down to the second floor.

“Why is this building designed with such a sh*tty structure.” Chayeon, who had come down to the second floor, complained.

The stairs didn’t connect from the first floor to the third floor in one go; instead, the stairs going from the first floor to the second floor, the stairs going from the second floor to the third floor, and the hidden stairs going from the third floor to the fourth floor were all in different places.

To go down to the first floor, they had to go to the other side of the hallway again.

As they ran with all their might, the sound faintly came from the side of the stairs they had come down.

Clang! Clang!

“Hum♪ Hum hum♪”

‘Sh*t, the distance to the stairs is too far!’ Judging from her appearance earlier, that unknown woman could close the distance in an instant and appear before them.

If so, not getting caught was more important than running away right now.

Just as Chayeon was about to suggest that they hide, it was then that, “A classroom! Let’s hide inside a classroom!”

Arena, with a voice that had become calmer compared to before, made the suggestion first.

Chayeon silently entered the classroom right next to him, and Arena quickly followed behind him.

Entering inside, the two crouched down behind the large platform on the teacher’s desk, holding their breath.

Clang, clang, clang.

The metallic sound was getting closer and closer outside the classroom door.

Clang clang! Clang! Clang! Clang, clang, Clang…

The clanging sound, which had come all the way to the front of the classroom door, gradually faded away.

“Did she leave?”

Just as he was relieved, the metallic sound came again with clang, clang.

The sound, which had come close to the classroom, was repeating the process of moving away and then coming close again.

“It seems like she’s patrolling the second floor.”

“Did she hear us?”

“I don’t know.”

Judging by the fact that she wasn’t going down below, it seemed that she was certain that they were on the second floor.

At the same time, that meant that there was a high possibility that the woman was looking for them.

“That is… a demon, right?” Arena asked with a voice that was much calmer than before.

Chayeon had the same thought.

The red horn on her right forehead, and that atmosphere.

It was the first time he’d seen one, but Chayeon was certain of it somewhere in his heart.

That that was a demon, the ones he’d only heard about.

<<That’s right. That’s what a demon is. Judging by the energy I feel, it’s a Level 2 Threat.>>

Heukgu’s voice echoed in his head.

‘Hey, Heukgu. You said that demons were nothing to you.’

Of course.

‘But why did you tell me to hide? Do something with that great power of yours.’

If I unleash my abilities, I can blow away a demon like that like dandelion seeds. However………………

‘However?’

Conditions and time are needed to do so.

It sounded like an excuse to anyone who heard it.

Was this guy really just a chuuni, boastful, terminal-stage delusional spirit?

“Jeon Chayeon…?”

Arena, seeing that Chayeon had been silent for a long time, called him with anxious eyes.

“Ah, uh. It probably is. It seems like it’s a Level 2 Threat.”

“A Level 2 demon!?” At Chayeon’s words, Arena widened her eyes in surprise.

“A Level 2 demon means it’s a demon with a unique name! Why is something like that here!?”

“Name? Is it a dangerous guy?”

“Of course! What have you been listening to in class!?” Arena whispered in a dumbfounded tone.

It wasn’t just the scary atmosphere, it seemed like it was a truly dangerous existence.

How should they escape, avoiding the eyes of that kind of guy?

Chayeon was racking his brain when suddenly Arena grabbed her broom and got up from her seat.

“Arena?”

“I have to catch her!”

Saying that with a determined expression, she pulled the sword from her broom.

A pure white blade was pulled out from the broom handle, which served as the scabbard.

“What do you mean by catch, th-that was a sword?” Chayeon, who was seeing Arena’s broom sword for the first time, trailed off, muttering as if he had forgotten what he was about to say.

Regardless of whether he did or not, Arena walked towards the classroom door.

“Hey, hey, wait a minute.” Chayeon hurriedly approached and grabbed her shoulder.

The girl who had been trembling a moment ago was gone, and a girl with a determined look was standing there.

“You said that thing was dangerous. How can we catch something like that?”

“Then are you saying we should just leave it alone? Let that dangerous demon roam freely inside the academy!?” Arena’s two eyes were burning with justice.

Chayeon couldn’t keep up with that sudden change.

“Jeon Chayeon, you’re stronger than me! But you’re always without motivation or a sense of duty…! Hmph, well, you were originally that kind of person!” Arena gritted her teeth and brushed off the hand on her shoulder.

“Just stay there and watch! I’ll finish it and come back!” And then, with the sword in her hand, she confidently walked to the classroom door and threw it open.

“Come out! I, Kawada Arena, will be your opponent!”