As soon as we entered the boss room, we were greeted by the boss.
In the darkness.
[Humans, life is originally unpredictable.]
[Isn’t that what makes life interesting?]
Two women wearing deep-dark leather clothes.
The beauties, with black wings spread behind their backs, were obviously wearing magnificent attire.
That’s why-
“Eight.”
[KRAAAAAAAAH!]
[H-How dare youuuuuu!]
With a full-power magical bombardment, Yunia obliterated the two bosses so thoroughly that not even a trace remained.
The blast was so powerful that even the traces of the trial itself vanished completely, leaving no evidence behind.
“Ah, sorry. They were bosses, after all.”
“You did well, Yunia. It would have been troubling to leave behind such indecent bosses anyway.”
Ludmila stood up for Yunia’s instant execution of the enemy.
“If Miss Yunia hadn’t fired first, I would’ve thrown my spear at full power, even if it meant some discomfort on my end.”
“So you were ready to unleash a full-power wind burst, huh?”
“Evangeline, are you perhaps interested in learning it yourself? I could teach you in a private room if you’d like.”
“…Sorry.”
Ludmila also seemed fully prepared to destroy the boss with everything she had.
They must’ve had a rough time enduring this trial, and it looked like she’d been wanting to let off some steam by blowing the enemy away.
“Junior Phoenix, was there any mechanic we were supposed to figure out?”
“They were twin Angels, so they were linked—you had to defeat them almost simultaneously.”
In the game, you had to defeat both of them in the same turn.
Otherwise, the surviving one would endlessly resurrect the other in the next turn.
A gimmick with no rewards, no XP—just infinite resurrection.
In a typical game, players might exploit that for experience farming, but in this Märchen space, that was completely useless.
“The timing varied, but once you took down one, the other had to be defeated within 30 seconds. That’s the only way to clear it.”
“Thirty seconds… Would you say that’s generous?”
Instructor Esta, who had been reaching for her sword at her waist, tilted her head.
“The two bosses we just fought—weren’t they A-rank together?”
“Exactly. The reason they were killed in one hit by Miss Yunia is because they were weak. I mean, calling A-rank weak feels wrong, but the beasts we faced during the trial were tougher, weren’t they?”
“They were. In terms of both numbers and mechanics.”
Usually, no matter how tough the path to a boss room is, the mobs you fight along the way aren’t stronger than the boss.
Sure, you might run into an exceptionally annoying encounter, but it’s rare to spend three hours on mobs only to finish the boss in three seconds.
Unless it’s some kind of special event story.
So how did we manage to clear this trial so easily?
“We’re taking on this trial 500 years later. Back then, an enemy like this—harder than hordes of A-rank beasts—might have been a nightmare. But for us, it’s just an easy fight now.”
There are bosses like that sometimes.
“Our opponents were twin Fallen Angels. We’ve got techniques that the Four Founders from 500 years ago didn’t.”
“Like this one?”
Yunia raised her mana.
A shimmering, rainbow-hued orb of non-attribute mana sparkled in her hand.
If fired as-is, it’s just a magic missile. But if she concentrated the mana into a swirling blast, it became the <Esdinas Blaster>.
“Right. Thanks to non-attribute mana, we cleared it effortlessly. But back then, the Four Founders didn’t understand non-attribute mana, so they had a hellish time.”
“…”
“I know what you’re thinking—but come take a look. The Sage left behind a fairly vivid memory here.”
We moved to where the Angels had fallen, and soon a glowing marble of magical light rose from the ground and spread out like mist.
“This space is built from the memories of the Four Founders. Some places have those memories embedded deeply. The Founders themselves couldn’t erase them—because the trauma was too strong. That’s why traces of their subconscious lingered here.”
You could call it a kind of Easter egg.
Not exactly hidden—more like a feature left by the developers to show the Founders’ backstories to players. But from the Sage’s perspective, it’s an Easter egg he couldn’t delete during development.
And some of those Easter eggs might contain awkward content.
You know how, in classic games, devs would add cheat codes that turn the game into an R-rated mode—and forget to remove them before launch?
To the Sage, it’s a cringe-worthy past.
But for those living in the present, it’s a rare chance to glimpse the veiled legends of ancient heroes.
“So, want to see the Four Founders’ story?”
“Hm, I am curious…”
But despite the rare opportunity, the reactions weren’t that enthusiastic.
“Does it contain hints for the next floor’s strategy?”
“Uh… not really?”
“Then would hearing their story help us understand more than we do now?”
“Maybe… probably not?”
“Then I’m not interested.”
“…”
“Climbing to the next floor and testing our skills is more important.”
Yunia insisted on continuing the raid, more firmly than expected.
It felt like those players who, during story dungeons, skip the in-game cutscenes and just yell “ugh hurry up guys lol” before charging into the raid.
It felt like we had just skipped an event cutscene that was supposed to reward us for beating the boss.
“So… we don’t have to watch the story of the Four Founders, right?”
“Hmm…”
“Unless, of course, it’s something that might tarnish their image or reputation…”
“That… could happen, yeah.”
Recalling the memories, I reflected again on what had happened in this place.
“Their image within the party might not be the same as the one recorded in the history books.”
“Everyone. How about we take a short break?”
Instructor Esta suggested a moment of rest to the group.
“Those who want to rest can rest. Those who want to watch, go ahead. I don’t think it’ll be very long anyway.”
“Hmmm…”
“Student Yunia. I know you’re probably a little disappointed the boss died so anticlimactically, but this is a good time to recover your mana and mental focus. You might mess up trying to overcompensate out of frustration.”
“Understood.”
Yunia quietly stepped back to lean against the wall.
“Phoenix, can you show us the memory of the Four Founders now?”
“Yes. Though… the beginning might be a bit shocking, so be warned.”
Click.
“The first part starts—”
[F*ck! A***!!]
“…”
Silence.
Everyone froze. A voice none of us recognized—an unknown woman, shouting obscenities far more raw and explicit than anything we’d heard before.
[You f*cking p*rverts!!]
[Calm down, Arleta.]
[You think I can calm down right now?! Aaaaargh, this is so frustrating!!]
The woman referred to as Arleta was having a meltdown unlike anything even the Academy faculty would ever show.
“No way…”
“Is that… the <Saint of Compassion>?”
One of the Four Founders of Esdinas Academy.
A representative of the Church of the Goddess—graceful, serene, and elegant in appearance, immortalized in statues and scripture.
<Saint> Arleta.
[Those damn Fallen Angels are seducing monsters with their bodies, acting like cheap wh*res!! AAAAAAAHH!!]
The Saint’s voice was far more emotional and vulgar than anyone could have imagined.
[Hahaha, looks like Arleta’s mad again. Hey, want to calm her down?]
[Why should I?]
[Who else but the next Emperor of the Empire could manage her?]
[Let her be. If the Church of the Goddess finds out that Fallen Angels are opening their legs for monsters and turning themselves into sl*ts, of course she’s gonna be cursing like that.]
The Emperor was even more unfiltered than the Saint herself.
[More importantly, how did you capture those Fallen Angels? We needed three of us to handle just one. But you took one down solo.]
[Hm… It had around a million HP, and our attacks chipped away about 10 per hit, right?]
[That’s about right.]
[So I just hit it a million times and killed it.]
[…]
The Hero, though speaking plainly, was casually saying something absolutely insane.
[Isn’t that right, Allister?]
[…Hmph.]
Watching it all unfold from a distance was the Sage.
[If you hadn’t killed it outright and just disabled it by cutting off its limbs, we could’ve studied it to find a more efficient way to handle other Fallen Angels.]
He muttered with an irritated scowl.
“Uh…”
“…Instructor Kadisha?”
Her face—and even her presence—was disturbingly similar to Instructor Kadisha.
“Wait, so…”
[Ugh, seriously, if someone hadn’t gone and killed it, we could’ve gotten a sample.]
[If you want a sample from an angel, go find a different one! This thing can’t even be called a Fallen Angel anymore!!]
[It’s not that it can’t be called that—you just don’t want to call it that.]
Humanity made a choice.
[If ‘falling’ means a single angel having an o*gy with a hundred monsters…]
[SHUT UP!! That’s taboo! It’s banned! It’s sealed!! That thing is not an angel!! I’m going to the Church to demand an immediate cover-up!!]
They chose to hide the truth.
[If Fallen Angels are just those who mate with earthly beasts to create hybrids, then yeah, that’d be a problem. Right, Hero?]
[Well… I mean…]
[Hero?]
[…It’s nothing.]
Even 500 years ago—
[There are things in this world better left unknown.]
—Some chose to know the truth, but had no choice but to bury it.
Angels.
And what it truly meant to fall.
