Chapter 86: Infiltration {Mass Release}
The academy grounds at night felt completely different compared to daytime.
Quieter.
Colder.
Even the pressure lingering in the atmosphere somehow felt heavier now.
Most pathways were illuminated by soft artificial lights while patrol teams occasionally moved through certain areas with measured steps.
Neither Logan nor Luna drew attention to themselves as they walked.
At some point during their movement, Luna’s body suddenly began fading.
Not quickly.
Not dramatically.
She simply... disappeared.
Even Logan’s eyes narrowed slightly seeing it happen directly before him.
A few seconds later, her voice echoed softly beside him.
"Can you still sense me?"
"Not at all."
"Hehe."
A light giggle escaped from somewhere beside him.
The two soon reached the outskirts of the academy before finally stopping near a heavily restricted zone surrounded by towering metallic walls.
The treasury area.
Even from a distance alone, the pressure surrounding the place felt abnormal.
Several patrol teams continuously rotated around the perimeter while hidden defensive formations flickered faintly beneath the ground like veins of silver light.
Luna unconsciously lowered her voice.
"So this is the place..."
Logan’s eyes remained fixed ahead.
"From this point onward, one mistake kills us."
For the first time since meeting him, Luna felt genuine tension creep into her chest.
Not because of the treasury itself.
But because Logan’s tone had changed.
Until now, he had remained calm regardless of what happened.
But standing here...
Even he had become serious.
That alone made the danger feel far more real.
Logan slowly exhaled once before speaking again.
"Stay close to me."
Luna nodded silently and reached out, her fingers lightly touching his shoulder.
Then both of them disappeared into the darkness together.
The moment Luna touched him, the world around them seemed to blur slightly.
Not visually.
It felt more like their existence itself had been pushed away from attention.
The lights still illuminated the pathways.
The patrols still moved.
Nothing visibly changed.
And yet somehow, it felt as though nobody would naturally focus their gaze in their direction anymore.
Logan glanced downward briefly.
Even standing beside Luna, he could barely make out the outline of his own body.
Interesting.
"No wonder nobody notices you," he muttered quietly.
A faint smile entered Luna’s voice.
"You say that like it’s a compliment."
"It is."
The two continued forward without making unnecessary noise.
The treasury zone ahead felt oppressive in a way the rest of the academy didn’t.
The deeper they moved into the restricted area, the quieter everything became.
There were no students here.
No distant conversations.
Only the occasional sound of footsteps from patrol teams moving through the metallic pathways surrounding the treasury.
From afar, the structure itself resembled a massive black fortress buried halfway underground.
No windows.
No visible entrances.
Just smooth dark walls covered in faint silver patterns that pulsed slowly beneath the moonlight.
Luna unconsciously lowered her voice further.
"This place feels creepy."
"It should."
Logan’s gaze moved carefully across the surroundings as they walked.
Nothing about the treasury was simple.
Even the patrol patterns were deliberate.
Every route overlapped with another after a fixed interval, leaving almost no true blind spots.
Almost.
Ahead, two instructors slowly crossed paths near the outer perimeter.
Neither looked relaxed.
One carried a long silver spear while the other occasionally swept his gaze across the surroundings with narrowed eyes.
Luna instinctively slowed her breathing.
The two instructors passed within several meters of them.
One wrong step and everything would end instantly.
But neither instructor reacted.
They simply continued walking.
Only after they disappeared did Luna quietly exhale.
"That ability of yours is terrifying," Logan said softly.
"You’re only realizing that now?"
"There’s still a limit to it."
Her expression shifted slightly.
"You noticed?"
Logan gave a faint nod.
"When we move too quickly, the distortion around us changes slightly."
It was unbelievably subtle.
Almost impossible to detect unless someone possessed absurdly sharp perception.
But it existed.
Luna looked genuinely surprised now.
"Most people can’t detect that."
"I’m not most people."
That answer made her stare at him quietly for a second before eventually looking away.
Honestly, the more time she spent around Logan, the stranger he felt.
It wasn’t only his strength.
Or the way he fought.
It was the way he observed things.
Too calmly.
Too carefully.
As though he was already familiar with dangers most freshmen shouldn’t even understand yet.
Logan eventually stopped moving.
His eyes narrowed slightly toward the ground ahead.
"Don’t move."
Luna instantly froze.
At first, she didn’t understand why.
Then she noticed it.
A faint silver line crossing the pathway ahead.
No.
Not a line.
A layer.
It flickered so faintly she nearly missed it entirely.
"What is that?"
"A perception barrier."
Logan crouched slightly while studying the distortion.
"The treasury scans everything entering this zone."
Luna frowned.
"Then how are we supposed to get through?"
"The barrier refreshes itself every few seconds."
His eyes remained fixed ahead while he spoke.
"It’s small, but there’s a gap during the reset."
Luna looked at him strangely.
"How do you even know that?"
Logan ignored the question entirely.
Instead, he quietly counted inside his head.
The silver layer pulsed once more.
Then weakened for the briefest instant.
"Now."
The two crossed immediately.
The moment Logan stepped through, he felt a cold pressure brush faintly against his skin before vanishing completely.
Then they were past it.
No alarms.
No flashing lights.
Nothing.
Luna blinked slowly.
"That actually worked..."
"For now."
The deeper they moved into the treasury grounds, the heavier the atmosphere became.
Even Luna stopped speaking entirely after a while.
The silence here felt unnatural.
Like the entire place was watching them.
Then suddenly, footsteps echoed nearby.
Logan reacted instantly.
His hand grabbed Luna’s wrist before pulling her behind a massive metallic support structure near the treasury wall.
A second later, two instructors walked past.
"...heard Ethan got crushed during the simulation."
"Hm."
The older instructor gave a short laugh.
"That silver-haired freshman?"
"Yeah."
"I watched part of the footage earlier."
"What did you think?"
A brief pause followed.
Then,
"He’s dangerous."
The second instructor frowned slightly.
"Dangerous enough for Selene to personally pay attention?"
"That’s the problem."
Their voices gradually faded as they continued walking.
Meanwhile, Luna slowly looked toward Logan after the footsteps disappeared entirely.
"You’re already famous."
"That’s not a good thing."
"And yet you still attacked Ethan like that."
Logan leaned lightly against the wall while observing the treasury ahead.
"He tried to kill me first."
Luna couldn’t even argue with that.
Everyone watching earlier had seen it clearly.
Still...
"You really beat him half to death."
Logan glanced at her calmly.
"He’ll survive."
"That’s not the point."
A faint smile tugged lightly at the corner of Logan’s lips.
"You sound worried about him."
"I’m worried about you."
That actually made Logan pause briefly.
Luna herself seemed slightly surprised she had said it aloud.
The atmosphere between them turned strangely awkward for a moment.
Fortunately, Logan broke it first.
"We’re here."
Luna quickly looked away before following his gaze.
At some point during their conversation, they had already reached a side section of the treasury itself.
Up close, the structure felt even more oppressive.
The black metallic walls towered above them silently while faint silver patterns moved across the surface like living veins beneath metal skin.
There were no visible doors.
No entrances.
Nothing.
Luna frowned slightly.
"How exactly are we getting inside?"
Logan stepped forward slowly.
Then his hand touched one section of the wall.
Several seconds passed.
Then,
click.
A nearly invisible section of the metallic surface shifted inward slightly.
Luna’s eyes widened.
"There’s a hidden entrance?!"
Logan stared at the darkness slowly opening before them.
"No."
His eyes narrowed faintly.
"This is a maintenance route."
And without another word,
he stepped inside first.
