I Killed The Main Characters

Chapter 104: Stepping Stones [2]

I knew this week was going to be a disaster.

Every sign pointed to it, every move I'd made had been preparing for the fallout.

But there was one thing I didn't see coming...

I'd known about the breach before anyone else did.

I saw it, days before Xander and Rylan had to go clean it up.

The eastern forest plains had always been a weak point in Ravenwood's defense.

Most students didn't know about it—hell, even most professors didn't. But I did.

I'd spent countless hours studying the layout of the grounds, tracing the flow of mana through the academy's barriers, noticing the cracks that no one else seemed to see.

So when the monsters came pouring in, I wasn't surprised.

Goblins, hobgoblins, and worse—creatures I'd only read about in old texts and remembered from the game.

They broke through the weak point, swarming the grounds like a plague.

Xander, Rylan, and a handful of second-years dealt with it. Barely.

They fought hard, and in the end, they managed to seal the breach, but I already knew what caused it.

It wasn't some freak accident or natural occurrence. No, someone let them in.

Someone powerful enough to control a horde of monsters, to manipulate the flow of mana and tear open the academy's defenses from the inside.

But that was just the beginning.

The breach was a distraction, something to keep us busy while the real chaos unfolded elsewhere.

There was a field study last week—one I was supposed to be part of.

But I sent Maya instead. She needed the break more than I did.

I could see it in her eyes, the way she moved like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.

I told myself it was for her own good, that getting her out of the academy for a bit might clear her head.

But deep down, I knew the truth. I couldn't afford to be distracted by a field study.

Not when the second act was about to begin, and Maya was destined to become the final boss.

I've spent months preparing for it, mapping out every possible scenario, every twist and turn the narrative could take.

I know the story better than anyone, even the people who wrote it.

But knowing doesn't make it any easier.

Am I ready for what's coming? Maybe. Maybe not.

But I've prepared as best as I can.

Most of my time this past week has been spent in the special training room, pushing myself to my limits.

Magic flows through my veins, but I need more than raw power to survive what's coming.

I need control, precision, strategy.

And I need to understand the hidden acts—the ones that will trigger Hell Mode if I make the wrong move.

That's why I enrolled in the magic engineering department. It wasn't an impulsive decision.

I needed to learn how their devices worked, how the enchanted items, runes, and machines tied into the larger scheme of things.

There's a hidden act that involves those technologies, one that leads directly into the third act after Hell Mode is triggered.

I can't afford to be caught off guard when it happens.

But the deeper I dug into the engineering department, the more dirt I found.

Ravenwood is supposed to be a place of learning, a sanctuary for magic, but it's built on secrets. Dark ones.

Take the smuggling, for example.

Cursed artifacts, dark crystals, forbidden items—they've been making their way into the academy for months, maybe years.

No one knows how, but I had my suspicions. The security at Ravenwood is tight, but whoever's behind this has connections.

It wasn't just students sneaking things in; there had to be professors involved, maybe even people higher up.

And then there were the human trafficking rumors. At first, I thought it was just gossip. Students disappearing, only to return broken, their spirits crushed.

But the rumors were true. Nobles—powerful ones—had been using their influence to traffic commoners, even lower nobles. Girls, mostly.

Promising them a future at Ravenwood, only to turn them into commodities. It made me sick to my core.

I didn't stop there, though. I kept digging. And the more I learned, the darker it got. Embezzlement, blackmail, even blood magic.

There were students—ones I knew—performing rituals in hidden chambers, using forbidden magic to summon demonic entities.

They sacrificed their peers, using their blood to fuel their twisted spells.

And the worst part? The administration knew.

They had to know, but they did nothing. Or maybe they couldn't do anything.

The cult had its claws deep in Ravenwood, and it wasn't letting go.

I knew all of this. I saw it coming.

I had been preparing for it, planning every move, every response.

But what I didn't see coming was my own expulsion.

Among all the names of those expelled or suspended for their involvement in these crimes, mine was listed.

Not because I had done anything wrong—no, I had been careful, more careful than anyone else. But I had gotten too close to the truth. I had seen too much.

Someone in power must have decided I was too much of a threat, and they acted before I could.

And that's how I ended up here.

Outside the gates of Ravenwood, standing in the dirt with my belongings scattered around me like trash.

The maid didn't even look at me when she tossed them out. My books, my clothes, even my pendant—all of it lay in the dust, meaningless.

The head of the disciplinary committee, a man whose face I had seen a hundred times, stood just inside the gates. He didn't bother with pleasantries.

He no longer cared who I was or what I had done.

"You've been expelled, Ashbourne," he said, his voice cold and detached.

"Until further notice."

I didn't say anything. What was there to say?

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I had seen this coming—just not for myself.

The gates swung shut behind me with a finality that sent a chill down my spine.

The sound echoed in the silence, like the closing of a chapter.

I stood there for a long time, staring at the iron gates of Ravenwood.

It should have felt like the end.

But it wasn't.