Soon, Meridith and another instructor arrived at the cavern, along with Henry and Art.

After Derek had gone off on his own, the two boys had hurried to find Meridith, who happened to be near the Housemaster's room at the time. She immediately informed Yami and brought another instructor with them.

Fortunately, Yami had been the first to reach the scene sooner — otherwise, Emma might have been turned into a beast as well, or far worse things could have happened. Still, Leo's death weighed heavily on him. He couldn't shake off the quiet guilt gnawing at his chest.

"Derek?!" Henry and Art cried out in panic when they saw Derek lying unconscious. They rushed to his side at once.

Meridith followed closely behind.

"He's fine," Yami said, walking toward them while dragging Peter along by the collar like a sack of trash.

"Wha—what happened to Peter?!" Meridith finally noticed him, her eyes widening at the sight of Peter's mangled, barely alive body.

"Well," Yami said with a sarcastic smirk, "our friend here got himself involved in some… questionable activities. So I decided to give him a quick lesson on what not to do."

The other instructor hurried over to Emma, gently unshackling her and helping her stand.

Meanwhile, Art and Henry quickly freed Derek from his restraints.

After that, they left the cavern and began making their way toward the edge of the forest. The cavern was hidden deep within, far from the main paths.

As they walked, Emma explained everything that had happened.

When everyone learned that Leo was dead, the mood turned somber. Each of them reacted differently — Meridith and the other instructor were weighed down with guilt over losing a student, while Henry and Art, who had never liked Leo, still felt a twinge of pity.

As for Peter, their emotions were entirely different. Anger. Disgust. Contempt.

But above all, confusion. Magical beasts that could speak — and worse, had the power to turn humans into beasts? None of them had ever witnessed anything like that before.

Derek was still unconscious, hanging over Yami's shoulder, while Peter, broken and barely alive, was being carried by the other instructor.

Along the way, they were attacked by several magical beasts, but Meridith, together with Henry and Art, handled them with ease. Every now and then, Yami would swing his katana, cutting down a beast in a single strike. For instructors of their caliber, these creatures were nothing more than child's play.

Before long, they finally emerged from the forest. Yami wasted no time — he took Derek straight to the infirmary, instructing the other instructor to place Peter under strict custody. Meridith, Henry, and Art followed closely behind.

But before leaving, Meridith turned to Emma. "Emma, are you alright? Do you need someone to escort you back to your house?"

Emma shook her head. "No, ma'am. I'll be fine. I can manage on my own."

"Good. And about what happened today…" Meridith's tone softened. "Please keep it to yourself for now. If word of this spreads, the academy will be in chaos. We need to inform the Headmistress first — she'll decide what to do next."

"Understood." Emma nodded. She was already aware of how serious the situation was. Just being alive after what happened felt like a blessing, so she had no problem agreeing to Meridith's request.

"Thank you," Meridith said with a faint smile before hurrying after Yami and the others, who were already some distance ahead.

Emma stood there for a while, watching their figures fade into the distance — then turned and quietly walked away.

Yami soon arrived at the infirmary with Derek in his arms, the others following close behind.

The healer inside — a woman in her early thirties — looked up, ready to scold whoever had entered without knocking. But the moment she saw who it was, her words died in her throat.

Her gaze shifted to Derek, and her expression turned serious. "What happened?" she asked quickly.

"He was forced to consume something dangerous," Yami replied in a hurried tone. "He's still alive, but we're not sure what might happen next. Please check his condition immediately."

"Of course," the healer said, gesturing toward the bed. "Lay him down."

Yami carefully placed Derek on the bed. He didn't actually know what that demon core truly was — only that it had almost killed one person and transformed another. That was why he hadn't mentioned the details. He knew revealing that someone had turned into a beast would only cause panic.

Though healers were capable of mending injuries and amplifying vitality, this situation was far beyond the realm of normal healing.

The healer began her examination swiftly, her hands glowing faintly with a gentle light. Moments later, her brows furrowed in surprise.

"I'm not detecting anything harmful," she said slowly. "In fact… his condition seems unusually stable. His internal energy is rising rapidly, almost as if he's cultivating."

Yami frowned. "Are you certain he's fine? That thing he consumed — someone else died from it."

The healer looked up, startled. "What? Someone died? Are you sure it wasn't because of the potency of the cultivation resource? If a person fails to refine the energy properly — especially when it's massive — it can be fatal, you know."

"I'm aware of that," Yami said flatly. "But I can assure you, the one who died didn't die from energy overload."

The room fell silent for a moment. The air grew heavy.

Finally, the healer exhaled. "Then I really don't know what to tell you. There's nothing dangerous inside him at the moment that I can sense. For now, you'll just have to wait until he wakes up."

Yami stood there quietly, his eyes lingering on Derek's face. Then he gave a slow nod. "Alright."

Time passed quietly. Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes into hours. Eventually, they began taking turns watching over him, ensuring that someone was always there in case he needed help.

Derek's internal energy continued to grow at a steady, unstoppable pace.

And at last, after two full days, his eyelids fluttered — and slowly, Derek opened his eyes.

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