The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

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Ekaterina, 'The Thousand Eyed God', and a beast that she knew was capable of wreaking havoc even in the Wonderland of Doom.

Throughout the thousands of years of its existence, there had been no lack of either brave or foolish people who had tried to subdue and conquer it. Of course, most of them were after either the fame or the rewards that would come by from killing such a high-level beast.

To that end, many great parties, some consisting even of hundreds of 'heroes' of the time, had been assembled with the aim to bring the beast down, but they all ended tragically.

The 'Thousand Eyed God' wasn't just a high-ranking beast… but also a symbol of terror.

Even Aurora wouldn't dare to tackle the thing lightly if it set its sights on the academy some day, even if she had the support of all the other pillars and the senior professors. And this was because of its extremely effective ability to poison people.

The number of people who would be able to defend themselves from just the passive poisoning from the 'Thousand Eyed God' could be counted on one hand, which directly eliminated a vast chunk of the academy's forces from being able to contend against the beast in the first place.

"What do you think, teacher?"

Aurora couldn't help but look at her student with a complex feeling in her heart. Recalling how she had only stumbled onto the Terran forces when she had led the girl out, and now she had even ended up resolving the mystery herself when the pillars had previously returned empty-handed, she couldn't help but wonder… if it was fate.

"Teacher?"

The platinum blonde sighed. "You did well… But let me think about it."

Even in her wildest dreams, Aurora had never imagined that someone would be daring enough to try to 'tame' the 'Thousand Eyed God'.

Not to mention anything else, even taming a regular fully grown spirit beast was considered a joke. This was because their intelligence would already be quite developed, no longer at a level that anyone could manipulate, and the most one could hope for would be a 'partnership relationship'.

But thinking about the ability of the array… assuming Evelyn was able to figure out its functions correctly… it made sense.

Sacrificing a few individuals with high vitality in exchange for being able to control a beast at the level of the Thousand Eyed God was definitely within the capabilities of a force the size of the Kingdom of Terra. Unlike their academy, their population was large enough, and they could also make use of experts seeking refuge.

What gave Aurora pause, however, was the question of 'why'. Even if the Terrans had the ability to control the 'Thousand Eyed God', it didn't seem like a 'long term' solution given the flawed nature of the array and the sacrifices it required.

Combined with the desperate behavior of the Terran forces in the forest… Aurora could only come to one conclusion.

"The Terrans want to use Ekaterina in a war?"

Evelyn nodded. "That's what I was thinking. With that beast being as strong as the two sentinels, it should definitely be able to tip the scales in their favor, helping them conquer the Lavinian—"

Aurora interrupted the pink haired girl as she shook her head with a wry smile. "No, Evelyn… If their target had been the Lavinian Empire only, the sacrifices they are making don't make enough sense."

Evelyn tilted her head in confusion. "Eh? What do you mean?"

"The Lavinian Empire's royal family is extravagant. Even if the Kingdom of Terrazyme manages to conquer them, if you combine the cost of the war with the price they would have to pay to control Ekaterina long enough… it's not worth it. Their foundations would be shaken to the core."

The pink haired girl blinked in shock. From what she had learned so far, Lavinian Empire was the most powerful among the five superpowers on the continent, and she had thought that it would be the goal for which the Terrans were willing to pay such a price. "T-Then?"

Aurora smiled grimly. "What they're after… is probably the Etherium Heart of the academy."

Evelyn stared at her teacher blankly. "The what?"

Aurora clutched her student's palm, and Evelyn could tell that her teacher wasn't as calm as her face usually made it seem. "If the Tower of Solitude contains the lifeblood of the academy, then the 'Etherium Heart' is the... well, the heart."

The pink haired girl blinked. "B-But it should be pretty safe, right?"

Aurora smiled. "Of course. I keep it very close to my heart. No one can get it, as long as I'm alive."

Evelyn gulped. "O-Oh… Y-You should be careful, then, since we now know they're after it…?"

For some reason, she couldn't help but feel a little worried when Aurora put it this way. 'No, what am I thinking? It's absurd for me to worry about someone so much stronger than me. Even Aurora will laugh if she knew.'

Aurora shook her head. "Everyone who knows about it has always been after it, that's nothing new. Once you are strong enough, I will give it to you, as long as you can make me a promise."

Evelyn couldn't help but furrow her brows. "Hey, you just said earlier no one can take it away as long as you're alive. Even if you're my teacher, I'll get mad if you joke about giving away something that's connected to your life, you know?"

The platinum blonde tilted her head in confusion. "Everyone dies one day, Evelyn, even the thrones. You're the Lotus Throne now because the previous one died, you know? I have lived for a long time already, and the only wish I have left is to raise you to be able to able defend yourself. Once you reach the peak of your power, enough to contend against the Thrones, the Etherium Heart—"

Evelyn yanked her hand away from Aurora as she sneered. "I promise to protect the academy… as long as you're alive. If you die for whatever reason, I will have no attachment left with this place, and I'll make it my mission to destroy it."

Aurora looked at her blankly.

The pink haired girl chuckled. "What, you think it's unfair?"

The platinum blonde was silent for a while before sighing. "Stubborn and selfish. Also… ungrateful."

Evelyn smirked. "Call me whatever you want, I won't even mind being called a pervert. But if you want to make sure I don't do things you don't want, you better stay alive to keep an eye on me, then."

Aurora shook her head ruefully. "Forget it. I wasn't planning on dying anytime soon, but talking about it as an eventuality. You're not mature enough yet to talk about it, so let's discuss this later."

Evelyn snorted and looked away, making her attitude clear on the topic.

There were few people she cared about in this world, but those she did, Evelyn couldn't bear the thought of losing at all.

Aurora smiled. "Don't be angry. Let's talk about what you plan to do with this thing, then."

The pink haired girl begrudgingly accepted her teacher's truce as she nodded. "I will keep it for now, and try to see if I can make it work on some weaker beasts first, and go up from there, what do you think?"

Aurora nodded. "That is fine. I will help you later, if I can."

Evelyn grinned. "Right, also, there was also another thing I wanted to ask…"

The platinum blonde tilted her head. "Yes?"

The pink haired girl smiled, though there was something unsettling about it. "Teacher… how much spirit power do you have?"

Aurora blinked. "Um… should be around… sev— No, wait. You shouldn't know yet."

Evelyn frowned. "Why not?"

Aurora looked a little conflicted. "W-What if you get discouraged?"

The pink haired girl couldn't help but pout. "Aw. Just tell me, it will motivate me."

The platinum blonde frowned. "No. Let's not discuss this anymore. I don't wish to hinder your growth—!"

[Checking status…]

[Probe failed due to the level difference being too high!]

Evelyn frowned. She'd thought that now that she was much higher level, her probe skill would work, but unexpectedly, it failed again.

Aurora looked at her in disbelief. She had thought that after warning her student the last time — so sternly at that — the girl wouldn't dare to ever try it again. But unexpectedly, not only did she dare, she even did it so deliberately and cheekily, as if there was no fear of her authority in her heart at all. "Y-You actually dared to try that again with me?!"

The pink haired girl stuck out her tongue, her mirthful expression just compounding Aurora's disbelief. "Sorry, teacher. I just wanted to see if I could somehow feel how much spirit power you have this way."

And then, as if to test the limits of the platinum blonde's patience, Evelyn batted her eyelashes playfully. "Won't you forgive me?"

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