Although they could choose to leave the Shadow World on their own after completing the mission objectives, Dekan and Cornelia didn't choose to leave immediately.
They continued to play until their time ran out and were forcibly transported out of the Demon Academy with regret.
With reluctant expressions on their faces, the Shadow World entered its evaluation and rewards phase.
After being transported out of the Shadow World, they temporarily found themselves in a small, independent space, much like a small room. This was an intermediate space between the Shadow World and the real world.
Dekan could see a void gate on the wall of the room. Stepping into it would surely take them completely out of the Shadow World.
Soon, the mission interface began to update.
[Shadow World - Strange Tales of the Demon Academy: Cleared]
[Settlement in progress]
[Evaluation in progress]
[Due to the highly coordinated actions of the team, team settlement is adopted]
[Challengers: Dekan & Cornelia]
[In this exploration-type Shadow World, the team cleared 5 regular classrooms, 2 non-strategic facilities, and 1 final classroom, as well as explored 1 non-strategic facility]
[The team has achieved the following achievements]
[Subduction Theorist S - Successfully subdued a demon teacher]
[Explosive Quota SSS - Overachieved the core mission by 3267%]
[Campus Destroyer SS - Caused extensive damage to the Demon Academy's buildings and mechanisms]
[Absolutely No Puzzles A - Successfully cleared without following any Shadow World mechanisms]
[Demon Slayer Machine SS - Killed 17 demon students, 1 demon teacher, and 1 final demon teacher]
[Siamese Babies C - Acting in coordination from start to end with a high understanding]
...
[Pool Party S - Completed a miracle that shouldn't happen at the Demon Academy, whether as a student, a human, or a demon]
[Achievement summary completed, evaluation generated]
[You are the elites among the elites of this school, pioneers ahead of your time, true rulers and absolute dominators. Compared to you, demons are as pure as babies.]
[Team's overall evaluation: SSS]
[Due to your SSS-level team evaluation, you will be granted a team attribute]
[Dekan & Cornelia receive the team attribute: Criminal Duo]
[Criminal Duo: When the two team up, there is a higher probability of starting with an evil alignment.]
[Reward settlement: Tier upgrade (Dekan - tier 2 → tier 3, Cornelia: tier 3 → tier 3), Baron Bacher's Heart of Fear (tier 5 rare material), Olivia's Ultimate Madness (tier 4 epic spell card), Olivia's Venomous Scorpion Tail (tier 6 epic material)]
"Oh, we got an epic card right away."
Compared to their rank upgrades, Dekan was more interested in the rewards they received.
[Olivia's Ultimate Madness]
[Category: Spell Card]
[Rarity: Orange Epic]
[Tier: 4]
[Effect: Greatly enhances your physical abilities and increases your agility and perception for 30 seconds after use.]
[Note: Olivia doesn't just use this skill for combat.]
Dekan looked somewhat surprised as he held the three items suspended in front of them -- a card emitting an orange glow, a heart-shaped green crystal gem, and a scorpion tail exuding a dangerous aura.
Magic cards could be crafted by cardmakers, Shadow Worlds could also produce natural magic cards. That said, the chances were extremely low. In most cases, Shadow Worlds would drop key materials for making magic cards.
After clearing a tier 4 Shadow World, it was considered good for one to obtain a blue or purple tier 4 material. Their rich rewards were likely directly related to their outstanding performance at the Demon Academy.
"Cornelia, I'll give you this card. How about the two materials for me?"
Dekan proposed.
"Sure."
Cornelia agreed readily.
Then, Dekan handed over “Olivia's Ultimate Madness” to Cornelia.
Cornelia received the card with joy, looking at the orange epic card with delight. She had never seen a natural tier 4 epic card before and the idea of getting one from a single trip to a Shadow World seemed like a dream come true.
This card suits her very well.
Uh, except for the somewhat strange description.
"Ah, it's time to go back to school."
Just thinking about going back to school, Dekan couldn't help but sigh.
"Ah," Cornelia also felt a bit emotional.
The two of them left the boundary space with their spoils of war.
The spoils from the boundary space could be brought back to the real world without the need for binding.
They stepped into the void gate in front of them and returned to the connection point between Hevenlit Magic Academy and the Shadow World.
...
It had been two days since they returned from the Shadow World.
Dekan and Cornelia received a lot of attention at school.
Since both of them were carrying the Shadow World Viewing Program, there was no need for them to provide additional records of the details of the Resurrection Cultists.
The school's logistics department had already prepared the documents they needed to submit to the kingdom.
Of course, as for the bounty from Faceless, they still needed to handle that themselves.
After class today, Dekan and Cornelia quickly went to the Kingdoms Federation’s Norton Branch to collect their bounty.
Next, they had an important matter to attend to - splitting the spoils.
"Deducting taxes, there's 264 gold left. Subtracting about 12 gold for our pre-battle preparations and card consumption in the Shadow World, there's 252 gold left. We'll leave 52 gold as team funds in our team bank account. How about 100 gold each for us?"
Dekan said to Cornelia while keeping a small notebook for accounting.
"Sounds good," Cornelia didn't want to think about these numerical issues. She trusted Dekan to handle the finances.
"Once that guy’s loot payment, ahem, once his donation comes in, we can split it again."
Dekan put away the accounting book very satisfied. This time, they could be said to be returning with a full load.
The most crucial thing was that he had confirmed with his master that “Olivia's Venomous Scorpion Tail” could be used to repair “Master.”
Dekan still needed to collect at least four tier 6 or higher demon-type epic materials.
In addition, he himself had to reach tier 6 to begin repairing his master and revive her.
The remaining four demon-type materials would mainly have to be acquired through purchases.
After all, it wasn't every time that they could encounter a demon-type boss and it wasn't guaranteed that they could defeat it.
However, such high-tier epic materials were extremely expensive.
To collect them all, Dekan would need to continue working hard to earn money.
For the sake of one day being able to see the true appearance of this demon old lady.
"Hmm?"
A voice suddenly echoed in Dekan's mind.
"Ah, Master, are you awake?"
Dekan immediately responded with his thoughts.
Master: "What were you just thinking?"
Dekan: "I was fantasizing about your unparalleled beauty."
Master: "...Don't let me hear those three words again."
Dekan: "What? You can't even say 'beautiful demon girl'?"
His master fell silent for a while.
She felt that Dekan was becoming more and more shameless.
"I'm going back to sleep."
With this thought, Dekan's mind once again quieted down.
He finally breathed a sigh of relief.
This old... beautiful girl, he didn't dare provoke her anger.
