CHAPTER 46: DISCIPLE CULTIVATION SYSTEM CH46 PLANNING IN MOTION.

"You’re finally here, Instructor Art."

Within the headmistress’s office, both she and Grim had gathered. Art was welcomed with a pleasant smile as he took a seat beside Grim, whose eyes betrayed no emotion.

"Did something happen to her?"

The thought crossed his mind. Ever since the assassin’s attack, Grim had grown colder and less approachable. If she had seemed depressed before, now she resembled a cold-blooded murderer—the same demeanor she once exhibited during her assassin days.

"Before we continue, I would like to ask—Instructor Art, how are your wounds?"

"Well enough to not hinder my productivity," Art responded, flexing his bandaged arms.

"Good. If that’s settled, Grim, you may continue."

Grim nodded.

"Red Hood. That was her name."

Cassie blinked, a mixture of surprise and horror evident on her face at the mere mention of such an ancient name.

Art, on the other hand, felt a pang of dread—because he knew better than anyone what that name entailed.

Long before the Abyssal creatures had begun their invasion of the world, the primary conflict was among the various races—more precisely, between the demons and the others.

The demons, with egos far surpassing even dragons, believed it was their right to lay claim to the world. Led by the disastrous Demon King, they began their conquest.

Under the Demon king were the Sins—the seven most powerful demons, second only to the Demon King and among them was "Pride" .

Pride, like the Demon king, was an irregular True Demon, one with capabilities far surpassing her kind.

With the title "Immortal Queen" , she was an undying Demon Lord who had escaped the blade of the True Hero, Leo, centuries ago.

Years later, after the demon race signed a treaty with the other races, she seemingly disappeared and assumed the identity of "Red Hood"—a no-nonsense assassin whose true name was known only to a select few.

If that were all there was to Pride, she wouldn’t have been a problem. But no—there was more.

The Immortal wasn’t just an assassin. She was also a member of "Pathfinders" , fanatics of the Abyss—the main villains of the story.

Right now, he—and almost everyone here—was far too underleveled to do anything against her. It was no surprise he had lost so miserably.

At first, he had thought he’d go home and cry over such an easy defeat. Now, he was just glad to have made it out alive.

But he still had another problem: "Why had Pride wanted to take Val now?"

" They shouldn’t know about her origin yet."

Currently, he was multitasking—his mind split between his own thoughts and Grim’s report.

"That was undoubtedly her."

"How can you be so sure?" Principal Cassie asked.

Grim clenched her fist.

"I killed her more than a dozen times, but she was merely playing with me. Every strike I landed, she made sure it hit her vital organs. And every time I thought I’d won, she would regenerate."

"..."

"I attacked thousands of times, but I couldn’t even leave a scar on her body."

Her voice was laced with bitterness—humiliated by how utterly outmatched she had been.

"Grim, don’t get hung up over something like that. Even *I* can’t scratch her. That’s why we leave her to the Saints."

"Wait—Headmistress, you’re bringing in a Saint?" Art couldn’t help but interject.

No matter what, a Saint shouldn’t be deployed this soon. In his mind, that would mess up the power scale and invite even stronger enemies.

"My abilities are incompatible with that woman. So, either I call in a favor from a Witch... or a Saint."

"That isn’t necessary," Art said, drawing Cassie’s full attention.

"Do you have a better proposal, Mr. Art?"

With both arms placed on the table, she inquired, intrigued by what he would suggest. Even Grim stopped sulking just to hear his answer.

"Well, first and foremost, we don’t know why she targeted Val. I’ve been observing her, and so far, I’ve found nothing noteworthy about her. I know of her connection to the Spear Saint, but I think that’s irrelevant."

"Please elaborate." Cassie urged him to continue.

"I don’t think their objective is the girl... or rather, the girl is "part" of their objective, but not the real target."

"..."

"Kidnapping—or attempting to assassinate—a student would place immense pressure on both the students and faculty. With the Rank Games approaching, stress is already in the air. And because of that, mistakes will be made. For example... overlooking something."

"A diversion!" Grim crossed her arms, summarizing Art’s explanation.

"I see." Cassie wasn’t fully convinced—she still felt Valeria was more involved—but for now, she entertained Art’s suggestion.

"I’m guessing their aim is the Ceremonial Blade of Salus, buried within the academy’s tomb."

"No, that would be too obvious," Art dismissed that possibility,currently there existed no one with the perfect attributes to wield that sword hence it was unless to them.What they wanted however was so simple it seemed almost unbelievable and it was something only him whom had played the game would know.

"They simply want to spread chaos. They want us to think they’re after something important. And when we focus all our efforts on protecting that red herring... they’ll strike where we least expect."

"So... they’re just villains?"

"Yes. First, they plant the seed of inferiority—as we see with our lovely Grim here. Then, uncertainty—as evident in our current conversation. And finally... chaos as the grand finale."

Grim shot him a murderous glare at his choice of words, while Principal Cassie marveled at his thought process.

There were times she forgot that some people did evil "for evil’s sake".

No grand goal. No deeper meaning.

They simply enjoyed chaos.

But among them existed a few who could use that chaos to further their own schemes.

One of the enemy’s objectives was to spread uncertainty, as Art had said. And because of that, she had to account for "every" possibility.

"I’ll choose to believe your reasoning. But in return, I want to hear your suggestion on how to deal with them."