Strongest Existence Becomes Teacher

Chapter 282: Separate Paths

In the sky,

Selene slowly opened her eyes.

At first she saw a flying woman silhouette infront of her.

She snapped her eyes opened.

For a moment she looked around in confusion before remembering where she was. The familiar bluish mana bubble still surrounded her while endless clouds drifted below.

In front of her, Zane continued flying as though crossing an entire kingdom was the most normal thing in the world.

"Oh."

He glanced back.

"Woke up finally?"

Selene rubbed her eyes and nodded.

"How long was I asleep?"

"Long enough."

Zane looked ahead again.

"We’re about to reach the capital."

That immediately got her attention.

Selene moved toward the edge of the bubble and looked ahead. At first she only saw distant mountains and dark forests, but as they continued forward, something enormous gradually came into view.

A city.

A vast city stretching across the landscape.

Unlike human cities, most of the buildings possessed darker architecture. Black stone, crimson roofs, and towering structures filled the horizon. At the very center stood an enormous castle made from dark stone that overlooked the entire capital.

Selene stared.

"Is that..."

"Yes."

Zane didn’t need her to finish the question.

"The Demon King’s Castle."

For several moments Selene simply watched the capital grow larger as they descended toward it.

Eventually Zane slowed down.

The mana bubble drifted beside him while the city walls became clearer and clearer.

Then Zane suddenly spoke.

"Anyway, we need to change our appearance."

Selene blinked.

"Huh?"

"Humans or any other species aren’t exactly loved here."

"Telling you from the experience."

Zane pointed toward the city.

"So unless you want every guard in the kingdom chasing us, we’ll need disguises."

That sounded reasonable.

Selene nodded.

A few moments later, both of them stopped in midair some distance from the capital.

"Watch carefully."

Zane raised a finger.

"I’m going to use rune magic for this."

Immediately, Zane casually traced glowing lines through the air itself.

One line.

Then another.

And another.

The rune slowly took shape.

Selene found herself unconsciously studying every movement.

The mana flow.

The structure.

The stabilization process.

Everything.

A medium-sized rune soon floated before them, radiating a faint glow.

"This is a disguise rune," Zane explained while making a few final adjustments. "It is type of self sustaining rune means it continuously absorbs nearby mana to maintain itself."

"You put information of the disguise in it alongside the structure of normal self sustaining rune and application to make this."

Then he looked at Selene.

"You’re still learning how to properly draw self-sustaining runes in the air, so this should be useful for you."

Selene nodded seriously.

The next moment, the rune flew toward her.

It touched her body.

And dissolved into light.

Immediately the glow spread across her entire form.

Selene felt a strange sensation travel through her body. It wasn’t painful, but it was certainly unusual.

The light continued shifting and reshaping her appearance until finally it faded away.

Zane nodded in satisfaction.

"There."

Selene immediately looked at her hands.

Then her arms.

Then her hair.

What had once been human was now unmistakably demonic.

Two horns curved from her head. Her hair had become white while her eyes transformed into a ruby-red color with faint hints of purple hidden within them.

Even her height felt different.

"Incredible..."

Selene touched one of the horns.

"It feels different."

She shifted her weight.

"I even feel taller."

"That’s because you are."

Zane sounded completely unsurprised.

"The rune doesn’t just change your appearance."

"It alters your bone structure as well."

Selene froze.

"My skeleton too?"

"Of course."

Zane shrugged.

"If someone examined you closely, your body structure would match that of an actual demon."

That explanation only made her more impressed.

For a few moments she continued examining herself in amazement.

Meanwhile, Zane simply waited.

Eventually he cleared his throat.

"Anyway."

That immediately broke Selene out of her fascination.

"Shall we go?"

Selene looked toward the massive capital one more time.

Then she nodded.

"Yes, Professor."

Together, they began descending toward the Demon King’s Capital.

.

.

.

The two quickly descended from the sky.

Instead of heading directly toward the capital, Zane guided the mana bubble to a secluded area outside the city walls. Once they were close enough, the bubble vanished and both landed softly on the ground.

Selene was still adjusting to her new appearance when she noticed Zane’s own features beginning to shift.

Unlike her transformation, his was minimal.

A single horn emerged from the right side of his head, his ears became pointed, and his eyes narrowed slightly as slit pupils appeared.

"That’s it?" Selene asked.

Zane shrugged.

"I’m already devilishly handsome. No need for major adjustments."

Selene immediately regretted asking.

A snap echoed through the air.

Two hooded cloaks formed from mana and landed neatly in front of them.

"Put these on."

A few moments later, both were covered from head to toe and began walking toward the capital gates.

Unlike the bustling human cities Selene was used to, the number of visitors entering and leaving wasn’t particularly high. Most demons seemed to already live within the city, and the atmosphere around the gates felt far stricter.

As they approached, several guards immediately turned their attention toward them.

The armor was similar to what Zane had seen in the village earlier, though noticeably better crafted. The demons wearing it also appeared stronger and more disciplined.

One of the guards stepped forward.

"Hey."

His gaze lingered on them.

"Remove the hoods."

"Where are you from?"

Zane answered casually.

"A small village east of here, near the valley."

The guard nodded.

Then pointed at them.

"Remove the hoods and enter."

Zane tilted his head.

"Do we really need to?"

The guard’s expression hardened.

"Do as you’re told. Don’t ask unnecessary questions."

As he spoke, the pressure of a four-star warrior rolled outward.

For most travelers, it would have been intimidating.

Zane simply blinked.

"Okay then."

He removed his hood.

The guard’s expression immediately changed.

For a one-horned demon, Zane’s appearance was absurdly handsome.

Even several nearby guards glanced over.

The first guard coughed awkwardly.

"The girl too."

Selene lowered her hood.

The reaction was even stronger.

White hair flowed over her shoulders while her ruby-red eyes seemed to glow beneath the sunlight. Combined with her horns and transformed features, she looked like a noble demon from a prestigious family.

For a moment, the guard forgot what he was doing.

"Ahem..."

He quickly recovered.

"You can enter now."

Zane smiled.

"Thank you."

Then he extended his hand.

The guard hesitated before shaking it.

The moment their hands touched—

His face froze.

A crushing pressure slammed into him.

Not enough to harm him.

Just enough.

The guard felt as though a colossal mountain had suddenly appeared above his head. His instincts screamed at him to kneel while every survival instinct he possessed warned him not to offend the man standing before him.

Then it vanished.

Just like that.

By the time he recovered, Zane and Selene had already passed through the gates.

The guard remained standing there with widened eyes.

"...Eight-star warrior..."

Nearby guards turned toward him in confusion.

"What?"

The guard swallowed.

"...Nothing."

Inside the city, Zane and Selene pulled their hoods back up.

Selene immediately looked toward him.

"Professor, you’ve gone overboard on him."

Zane rolled his eyes.

"I went easy."

"You call that easy?"

"I only used the pressure of a seven-star warrior."

Selene nearly tripped.

That was exactly what she meant.

Nobody in their right mind considered releasing seven-star pressure "going easy."

For perhaps the hundredth time since meeting him, she wondered just how strong her professor actually was.

Zane glanced sideways.

"Very."

Selene blinked.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Zane waved it off before suddenly reaching into his pocket.

"Anyway, here."

He handed her two objects.

The first was a small circular device with a pointer.

The second was a metallic cube.

Selene examined them curiously.

"What are these?"

Zane’s expression became more serious.

"Listen carefully."

Immediately, Selene focused.

"You and I are splitting up."

"What?"

Her voice rose before she quickly lowered it again.

"What? Why?"

"Didn’t we come here to find Jax?"

"We did."

Zane nodded.

"But we’re also here for someone else."

Selene frowned.

"Someone else?"

"The chairman."

Her eyes widened.

"Chairman Caelum?"

Zane nodded.

"After the attack on the academy, he came to Malgrith Kingdom."

"And never returned."

Selene stared at him.

"What?"

"We were told he was handling something outside the academy."

"No."

Zane shook his head.

"That’s why Seris has been managing everything."

For several moments Selene remained silent, trying to process the information.

Then she looked down at the circular device.

"And this?"

"A Jax detector."

Selene blinked.

"A what?"

"A Jax detector."

Zane repeated it as though it were perfectly normal.

"It’s a magical device, I made it a long time ago in case something like this happened."

He pointed at the indicator.

"It uses a combination of magical systems to detect a specific mana signature."

"In this case, Jax."

"The blinking red dot is him."

"The pointer is you."

Selene stared at the device.

Then at Zane.

Then back at the device.

"That’s how you knew where he was?"

"Exactly."

"And whether he’s alive."

Internally, Zane added another thought.

Although I knew that without the device.

But for the sake of the plot, let’s pretend this is important.

Meanwhile, Selene was still trying to understand everything.

Eventually she pointed at the cube.

"And this?"

A smirk appeared on Zane’s face.

"That is a very special thing ."

Selene suddenly had a bad feeling.

"I call it..."

He raised the cube dramatically.

"...the Plot Armor Device."

Silence.

Selene stared at him.

"The what?"

"The Plot Armor Device."

Zane sounded proud.

"If you’re ever in a situation where you’re absolutely certain you’re about to die, open the cube and press the red button inside."

"And then?"

"It teleports me to your location."

"No matter where I am."

Selene’s eyes widened.

That was an absurd artifact.

Yet after everything she had witnessed Zane do, it somehow felt completely believable.

Then she frowned.

"But why is it called a Plot Armor Device?"

"It doesn’t have anything to do with armor."

Zane immediately began snickering.

Then he patted her head through the hood.

"You wouldn’t understand."

Selene became even more confused.

"Professor—"

"Anyway."

Zane pointed toward the city.

"Get moving."

Then he remembered something.

"Oh, right."

He pointed at the circular device.

"Press the side rune when you’re close enough."

"It’ll give you Jax’s precise location."

Selene nodded.

This time she didn’t ask any more questions.

There were already too many answers she needed to find.

Taking a deep breath, she turned and headed deeper into the Demon King’s Capital.

Zane watched her leave for a few moments.

Then he turned and disappeared into a different part of the city.

The two went their separate ways.

--

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Demon King’s Capital...

Inside a dimly lit room, a woman sat quietly in an elegant chair. The room itself was luxurious, yet strangely unsettling. Shelves filled with books lined the walls while various bottles, preserved organs, and unknown specimens rested inside glass containers.

The woman slowly turned a page of the book she was reading.

Then the shadows behind her stirred.

Without making a sound, a figure emerged.

The person’s entire body was concealed beneath dark cloth. Even their face and hair remained hidden, making it impossible to determine whether they were male or female.

The woman didn’t even bother looking back.

"Report."

The masked figure lowered their head.

Then they did something unusual.

Reaching toward their face, they calmly removed their left eye.

The eyeball remained perfectly intact.

Its pupil slowly faded until the entire eye became white.

The masked figure extended a hand.

The woman accepted it.

Then...

She swallowed it.

For a few moments, silence filled the room.

The woman closed her eyes.

Images began flashing through her mind.

Every detail the eye had seen flowed directly into her consciousness.

Eventually, she opened her eyes again.

"Oh..."

A smile slowly appeared on her face.

"I see."

The masked figure remained motionless.

The woman leaned back in her chair.

"Very interesting."

Her fingers tapped lightly against the armrest.

"That handsome man..."

Then her smile widened further.

"And that girl."

The excitement in her voice was unmistakable.

"What fascinating specimens."

The masked figure remained silent.

Meanwhile, the woman’s eyes seemed to gleam in the darkness.

After a long pause, she licked her lips.

"I want him."