The Academy's Doomed Side Character-Chapter 150: Ambush Failed [1]

"I still don’t get it. Why the hell are we in this piece of junk?!"

Ethan’s voice bounced off the cramped steel walls, full of that signature mix of disbelief and irritation he carried like a second weapon.

Kai didn’t even bother turning around.

"Because this piece of junk is the safest way into Velcrest Academy," he snapped, fists tightening around the edge of the navigation console. "We’ve been over this, Ethan. Three times."

"Yeah, and it still doesn’t make sense," Ethan muttered, leaning back against a rusty pipe that groaned in protest. "You’re telling me this—what is this, a century-old submarine?—is our big infiltration plan?"

Kai took a deep breath, trying to hold back the urge to throttle him.

They were currently submerged in the icy waters of Lake Virella—a massive, half-forgotten route that connected Dreswyn to Novagrad, and Novagrad to Velcrest through a buried mana channel system older than any map. Most people thought it collapsed decades ago.

They weren’t most people.

Kai exhaled slowly. "You want to walk through the front gates of the most heavily fortified magic academy on the continent? Be my guest. Let me know how that works out."

Ethan rolled his eyes, muttering something about rust and tetanus. Then he kicked the base of the pipe with the heel of his boot, and the whole damn submarine groaned again.

Kai closed his eyes.

This is fine. Everything’s fine. Definitely not about to be crushed by water pressure or betrayed by the only guy crazy enough to work with me.

Ethan crossed his arms. "We could’ve teleported in. Broken a seal. Hijacked a delivery convoy. You know—something smart."

"We can’t teleport in," Kai snapped. "You of all people should know that. After what happened last time."

There was a pause.

Right. That last time.

Neither of them liked talking about it. Mostly because it ended with half a mountain imploding and a permanent ban from every teleportation circle north of the capital.

Ethan sighed and slid down to sit on a crate.

"Fine. Submarine. Great. Love it. Five stars. When’s the part where we don’t suffocate in here?"

Kai glanced at the flickering mana gauge above the console.

"We’ll surface near Novagrad in two hours. From there, we move through the maintenance tunnels until we’re under Velcrest. That’s where the real fun begins."

Ethan tilted his head. "And by ’fun,’ you mean explosions?"

Kai gave a tight smile. "Only if they try to stop us."

Ethan chuckled. "They’ll try."

"Then they’ll fail."

Silence settled between them again, broken only by the low hum of mana engines and the occasional creak of the sub adjusting to pressure shifts. It was cramped. Cold. Not exactly luxury transport. But it was discreet.

And right now, discretion was life.

After a minute, Ethan’s voice broke the quiet again, softer this time.

"...You really think he’ll be there?"

Kai didn’t answer right away.

He knew who he was referring to.

Rin Evans.

The thorn in both their sides. The wildcard. The one who’d survived, twice, when he shouldn’t have.

"He’ll be there," Kai said eventually. "They’re giving him a medal, aren’t they?"

Ethan cracked his knuckles, eyes narrowing.

"Good. I owe him something."

Kai nodded, fingers brushing the hilt of the concealed blade strapped under his coat.

"So do I."

Outside, the water churned in quiet, merciless currents.

Inside, two dangerous men waited for the moment the tide would shift.

----

The next few hours passed in tense, quiet motion.

Kai spent most of it watching the gauges, checking runes, recalibrating the steering matrix every few minutes. The sub was holding up—barely—but he didn’t trust it to last longer than it had to.

Ethan, meanwhile, had taken a nap. Of course he had. Legs stretched over a crate labeled "Mana Conduit Fuses (DO NOT SHAKE)," arms crossed behind his head, snoring like they weren’t committing an act of war in a floating metal coffin.

Kai shook his head, then checked the external sensors.

A soft chime sounded.

> [Surface Point Approaching: 0.5km]

He leaned forward and toggled the periscope rune, its dull blue glow sparking to life. A blur of underwater silt cleared to reveal jagged stone and the faint shimmer of the Novagrad under-tunnels just ahead. The entrance looked like a collapsed mine shaft—overgrown with algae, sealed off from the world.

Perfect.

He flicked a switch.

The submarine slowed to a crawl. Metal scraped gently against rock as it docked beneath the surface shelf.

"Wake up," Kai said, standing. "We’re here."

Ethan jolted upright, hair a mess and blade already half-drawn out of instinct. When he realized they weren’t under attack, he scowled. "You could’ve said that without sounding like a serial killer."

"I’ll consider it next time," Kai muttered, pulling on his cloak.

The two of them climbed up the narrow ladder, pushing open the overhead hatch with a wheeze of compressed air. A freezing gust greeted them as they stepped onto the wet stone shelf inside the cavern.

Above them, crumbling support beams groaned under centuries of decay.

"This is nostalgic," Ethan muttered, brushing frost from his sleeves. "Old gods, it even smells the same. Rotten stone and rat piss."

Kai ignored him, tapping a sigil into the wall. A section of stone groaned, then retracted with a clunk, revealing a narrow passageway lit with flickering runes.

The tunnel that led directly beneath Velcrest Academy.

Ethan gave a low whistle. "Still know how to impress."

Kai’s tone was flat. "Don’t be."

They moved in silence after that.

Twisting corridors. Slippery steps. Echoes of their movement bouncing around them like ghosts of failed missions past. Every once in a while, Ethan would reach out and draw a rune over a junction, erasing their tracks. They weren’t just sneaking in—they were vanishing behind themselves.

Eventually, they reached a steel door reinforced with ancient spellwork. Kai stepped forward and pressed his palm against the seal.

A soft click echoed in the chamber. The door hissed open.

And beyond it—

The underbelly of Velcrest.

Mana pipelines glowed like spiderwebs above their heads, lighting the crawlspace with eerie blue. Every step sent a faint vibration through the floor. They were right below the central wing.

Kai checked his watch.

11:27 AM.

The commendation ceremony would begin in thirty minutes.

Plenty of time.

In less than an hour, Velcrest Academy would fall.

At least, that was the plan.

And if something went wrong? Well, that’s what their third member was for—already embedded within the Academy walls, waiting for the signal.

It was airtight.

Too airtight, if you asked Ethan.

Everything had gone too smoothly—no patrols, no interference, no hiccups.

His gut didn’t like that.

There was a tightness in his chest, a feeling he couldn’t shake. Not quite fear... but close. Like déjà vu with teeth.

He glanced sideways at Kai, who was checking their route on a smudged map under the red glow of a utility lamp. Calm. Focused. Cold.

Too calm.

"...This is about revenge, isn’t it?" Ethan asked suddenly.

Kai didn’t look up. He didn’t have to—he knew exactly what Ethan meant.

"Of course it is," Kai said quietly. "That’s why I’m going to kill them all." He finally turned, meeting Ethan’s gaze. "And don’t act like you’re different. You’ll kill them too."

Ethan tilted his head. A crooked smile tugged at his lips.