A humming sound echoed in Huberrian's ears, seemingly distorting her spatial perception.

  She only saw the silver liquid-like shapeshifter crashing through the classroom like a cannonball, each impact creating waves of mixed silver and blood, like steel ravaging through cake.

  The level-five demon teacher who had been standing at the classroom door was now partially devoured by the silver shapeshifter, with tear-like wounds splitting open on his body. Blood gushed like a fountain from between his bones and flesh, seeping into the grass, while his remaining corpse lay broken in two, trembling slightly like a puppet with cut strings.

  All traces of life had vanished from him, leaving only those hollow eyes staring helplessly at the garden's dome.

  The peaceful plant garden had transformed drastically in an instant, its tranquility swallowed by scalding black mist, plunging into a poisonous miasma filled with screams!

  A death premonition, like an invisible ghostly claw, gripped Huberrian's heart tightly, as if an icy current crawled from the base of her spine to her throat, making each breath extraordinarily heavy.

  Her heart pounded so hard it felt like it would leap from her chest.

  "Lady Duchess Huberrian, I've finally found you."

  Along with this hoarse voice, the silhouette walking step by step from the distant doorway became increasingly clear, emanating intense malice that made Huberrian shudder.

  Her body simultaneously became rigid and immobile, as if bound by some magic.

  The fragile level-one Great Love Poet beside her seemed unable to withstand such toxic mist's erosion, quickly dissolving into orange fluorescence and dispersing.

  This rare temporary paradise for viewing had now become a bloody garden of chaos and fear.

  The demon students' screams gradually weakened as the silver shapeshifter rampaged among them, quickly devouring them all like a harvester through weeds.

  And the silver shapeshifter's size grew increasingly massive.

  Huberrian wasn't worried about the Great Love Poet for now.

  When a summoned being is killed, it automatically returns to its card and goes back to its owner, though with a longer cooldown period than normal recall before it can be summoned again.

  Now she had to worry about herself!

  Through the dense garden filled with black mist from poison magic, between tree trunks splattered with crimson blood, the dark figure gradually approached Huberrian, like a predator locked onto its prey.

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  The figure's outer garment fluttered in the garden's stirred breeze, with steps as steady and cold as death itself, each step filled with approaching killing intent.

  At this moment.

  Huberrian finally saw the true face of the newcomer.

  It was a woman with grotesque scars on her face, followed by a black mist warlock like an attendant.

  Although this woman would have been quite delicate without those scars, her chaotic and aggressive eyes seemed to have been stained with countless killings long ago.

  A level-five challenger?

  The intense pressure of a powerful being felt like it would devour Huberrian.

  She immediately cast [Purification Magic] to remove the control on her body, then entered an invisible state and created distance.

  Even though Huberrian had temporarily concealed herself, the classroom exit was blocked by the silver shapeshifter, seemingly cutting off her last hope, leaving her no chance to escape.

  "Originally, you just needed to die naturally in this Shadow World according to the mechanism."

  The woman spoke as if she was reluctant to have to deal with Huberrian personally.

  She hadn't been certain whether she had successfully intercepted this duchess.

  But after interrogating many demon students along the way, she finally tracked down information about Huberrian's whereabouts—

  Indeed, a tall silver-haired girl with amber eyes had been seen in the school.

  The woman controlling the silver shapeshifter seemed to understand that Huberrian had now turned invisible, leaving a false body in place, and didn't waste effort attacking it.

  "This Shadow World must have matched with two skilled players, triggering the demon academy principal's protection mechanism and achieving the Shadow World's objectives."

  The woman said slowly,

  "But for you, such luck won't happen a second time."

  Though she didn't know where Huberrian's teammate was now.

  But surely they were somewhere in the school's corridors passing time.

  According to intelligence received from their informant in Huton Capital's Icerite before joining the match to snipe Huberrian—

  The one who entered the Void Gate building with Huberrian was the top freshman from Icerite Academy's Sage Faculty.

  Iron-rank registered challenger.

  Level-two support.

  Combat information from the entrance exam was hidden by Sage Faculty Dean Loren.

  Has potential but currently low threat level.

  "..."

  Huberrian maintained her invisible state, holding her breath and concentrating.

  If she hadn't been enhanced to level four by the limited dishes from the Demon King's Bestowed Restaurant, she wouldn't even have confidence in dealing with this level-five enemy.

  Even so, she wasn't sure how long she could hold out!

  "Lady Duchess, come out voluntarily, and I can make your corpse look less ugly."

  The dark woman's words overflowed with killing intent as she spoke certainly and definitively to the surrounding air,

  "No one can save you."

  ...

  At Icerite Academy at 4:30 AM.

  The outdoor giant screen in the Gela Memorial Plaza was still lit, broadcasting the Shadow World live feed under the moonlight.

  The surrounding buildings stood quiet and majestic in the night, with only scattered windows showing light.

  Students on the steps began slowly standing up, stretching and chatting with slight drowsiness, though they might be tired during daytime classes, staying up all night for such a Shadow World was completely worth it.

  After Lanqi cleared the world and cut his feed, students began leaving the plaza steps like after a movie.

  The crowd in the plaza had thinned considerably, with some students still watching the Great Love Poet's healing moments in the plant garden like an ending credits scene, or slowly packing up to leave.

  "I want to watch Lanqi's next Shadow World too."

  "But for a level-four Shadow World, the cooldown is two months, so his next challenge won't be until halfway through the semester."

  Suddenly.

  The brightness on the peaceful outdoor giant screen suddenly increased dramatically, as if something extreme had changed in the scene.

  What it brought wasn't excitement, but a spine-chilling horror scream.

  The screen's sudden change made many students who were cleaning up trash around them shudder involuntarily and quickly look up.

  "An attacker in the Shadow World?"

  The students remaining on the steps first cried out in surprise.

  Their gazes fixed on the screen, drawn in by the suddenly horrifying scene!