My F-Rank Sagea is Secretly an EX-Rank Calamity

Chapter 12: The Clever Fraud

Asher journeyed alone. Or so he thought.

His senses were on high alert. For the last ten minutes, he had felt a faint presence tracking his footsteps, keeping a cautious distance but never quite catching up to him.

DING!

[WARNING: SYSTEM ADVICE — DO NOT DIE!]

’Of course’, Asher thought, rolling his eyes.

’You just love to ruin my mood, don’t you?’

He came to a sudden halt and spun around. He caught Marnie following behind.

Asher blinked, genuinely surprised. He certainly hadn’t expected her to follow him—not after the disaster they had barely survived back in the Nevermore Forest.

Despite the awkwardness prickling the air, he forced himself to turn back around and keep walking.

He was already dreading the mission ahead, especially since Edgar had been appointed as their official team leader.

Marnie quickly quickened her pace to catch up, walking silently by his side.

The silence between them stretched, thick and uncomfortable.

DING!

[SKILL ACTIVATION: CHARM SENSE!]

’Why?’ Asher questioned the system internally.

’There’s no threat here’

[EMOTIONAL READ: MARNIE WISHES TO SPEAK WITH YOU.]

"Ugh," Asher groaned aloud.

Marnie flinched slightly at the sudden sound, her shoulders tensing. "Hey... I’m really sorry. For what happened between us before, and... well, for everything that’s been going on lately."

"Nah, it’s cool," Asher replied dryly, his hands tucked deep into his pockets. "I might as well get used to it."

A few paces ahead, several students glanced back, snickering among themselves when they noticed Marnie walking with the academy’s most infamous outcast.

Asher sighed, casting a sidelong glance at her. "Does this not bother you? Being seen with me? I can step away if you want to join the main group."

"A little," Marnie admitted, swallowing hard. She looked down at the trail, almost as if she were trying to convince herself. "But... you’re human, right? I want to experience what that really means. Let me bear this with you."

Asher remained silent for a long moment, the ambient noise of the forest filling the void between them. Finally, he shrugged. "Suit yourself."

After what felt like an eternity of marching, the thick foliage finally gave way to a massive, open green field.

Standing directly in the center of the meadow, completely out of place, was a colossal structure: the giant metallic door that led into The Forbidden Sector Salvage.

"It... it gives me the chills," Marnie gulped, her face turning pale as she stared up at it.

The doors were a menacing, metallic blood-red, completely covered in intricate black ancient markings and glowing runes that

seemed to pulse with a faint, volatile energy.

"So, how do we open it?" a male student asked, turning toward Edgar.

Edgar stepped forward, a smug grin spreading across his face as he relished the chance to establish his true power and authority over the bottom-feeders.

"With a specialized skill I secretly mastered, of course," Edgar boasted, running a hand through his hair to look casual.

The students dutifully fell back to give him room, watching with wide eyes.

Edgar took a wide, dramatic stance.

Opening his arms wide, he gestured toward the red metal doors and began chanting under his breath.

Instantly, a white magical circle materialized over the ancient runes. A crimson circle manifest right behind it, followed immediately by a bright yellow one, all three intertwining in a complex, rotating pattern.

Each circle spun in an opposite direction. A sharp, mechanical CLICK echoed across the field, followed by a heavy THUD.

The magical circles dissolved into particles of light as the heavy, giant metallic doors groaned, slowly creaking open to reveal a yawning abyss of absolute blackness.

The students cheered loudly, a reaction that instantly fueled Edgar’s swelling pride.

"It’s... really dark in there, though," a girl muttered, stepping back in fear as she stared into the void.

Edgar’s smug smile faltered into a scowl. Internally, he completely agreed with her—the suffocating darkness of the sector was terrifying—but he couldn’t show weakness now.

"Well, as your designated team leader, I order someone to use a light spell!" he commanded.

The students looked around nervously. Finally, a girl raised her hand timidly. "I... I think I’m the only one in our faction who manifests light magic."

She channeled her Aether, creating a small, flickering orb of light to guide them through the threshold.

"Excellent! You, come to the front!" Edgar ordered immediately, completely discarding his vanguard duties so he could keep the light source for himself.

Asher frowned, disgust twisting his features at the sheer cowardice of their leader.

DING!

[NEW SAGEA ATTRIBUTE UNLOCKED!]

[SKILL: GLOWING KAITO — 10% BRIGHTNESS CAPAClTY]

’Huh?’ Asher thought, bewildered. ’I didn’t even do anything yet’.

[SYSTEM INTERACTION: VESTA KNOWS BETTER.]

’And you just hate me that much by refusing to let me in on key information! Tsk!’

[TACTICAL PROMPT: DO YOU WISH TO UTILIZE NEW SKILL?]

"Yeah, sure," Asher muttered under his breath.

"Huh? Are you talking to me?" Marnie asked, looking over at him confused.

"Nope. I summon you—Kaito!" Asher commanded aloud.

With a soft swirl of localized mist, Kaito materialized, settling lightly onto Asher’s shoulder.

Up ahead, several students turned back, scowling at the sudden summoning.

Edgar sneered, his brow furrowing deeply. "Just what do you think you’re doing, Flynn? We haven’t even encountered an enemy yet."

"Her light source is too small to cover the group," Asher replied calmly.

The girl maintaining the tiny flickering orb couldn’t help but nod in quiet agreement.

"Kaito, use light," Asher ordered.

Instantly, Kaito’s entire silhouette was engulfed in a blinding flash of pure, radiant illumination. It was so intense that several students cried out, shielding their eyes from the glare.

’What the hell?!’ Asher panicked internally, squinting through the glare. ’That is just ten percent?!’

Kaito hopped forward into the dark tunnel, completely illuminating the ancient corridor. Asher followed along nonchalantly, his hands still in his pockets, and Marnie quickly stepped into his stride, keeping close behind him.

Edgar’s pride was instantly wounded. His face flushed with anger as Asher effortlessly stole the spotlight.

"If you all want to just stand around at the entrance, be my guest," Asher called back over his shoulder. "Otherwise, feel free to follow behind."

"I was assigned as the team leader, not you!" Edgar countered, his voice echoing furiously off the metal walls.

For a few tense moments, no one moved. Then, exchanging nervous glances, a handful of the students began filtering away from Edgar, stepping into the brilliant aura surrounding Kaito.

"We don’t really have a choice," one student muttered. "We need to see where we’re going."

The remaining half of the group stayed rigidly by Edgar’s side.

"You guys have no clue what he’s going to do next!" a boy from Edgar’s loyalists yelled out.

"He’s an F-rank fraud! You’re all walking straight into danger!"

Asher ignored the comments entirely, progressing deeper into the facility. Behind him, the Umbrax faction had officially split into two distinct groups.

DING!

[NOTICE: REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY UPDATED]

[THERE ARE TWO PATHS UP AHEAD.]

’Oh?’ Asher mused mentally. ’Do you know which one is the correct route, Vesta?’

[THE RIGHT PATH: FORBIDDEN GLOOM-WEAVERS (VOID SPIDERS)]

[DESCRIPTION: Massive, pitch-black arachnids with translucent, glowing purple abdomens. They spin webs composed of pure, condensed shadow energy.]

[WARNING: Their webs do not just trap targets physically—they actively drain living life force.]

’What the hell?!’

Asher’s heart skipped a beat.

’I’m already sitting at a forty-five percent mana deficit. There’s no way I’d survive a life-draining trap like that.’

He glanced back at the students following his light.

’And definitely not with an entire entourage on my tail, either. What about the left path?’

[THE LEFT PATH: RUST-EATER CRAWLERS]

[DESCRIPTION: Giant, multi-legged centipede-like creatures covered in a thick shell that mimics corroded copper.]

’That sounds just as terrifying... what’s the catch?’

[WARNING: They spit a highly corrosive, orange rust-gas that rapidly dissolves defensive barriers and decays physical weapons, rendering standard student gear useless in seconds.]

Asher paused at the fork in the tunnel, thinking deeply.

’This isn’t going to be easy. Vesta, which path gives us the highest survival rate?’

[NOTICE: BOTH COMBAT PATHS WILL COMPLETELY DESTROY YOUR CURRENT PARTY.]

[SAGEA ANALYSIS: KAITO POSSESSES NO EXCLUSIVE COMBAT SKILLS ACROSS EITHER ENCOUNTER.]

[SYSTEM ADVICE: RELY ON WITS AND FRIENDS.]

’Friends?’ Asher scoffed internally, glancing back at the anxious faces of the students.

’These guys... aren’t my friends. But I guess I have no choice.’

Both halves of the split faction came to a halt at the massive dividing junction of the two pathways.

"What do we do now, Edgar?" a student from the loyalist group asked, his voice echoing in the metallic chamber.

Edgar flinched, staring down the dark corridors. "Well... my instincts say—"

"Come on, guys. Let’s go right," Asher’s voice cut through the air, completely overriding Edgar.

Without waiting for an argument, Asher strode down the right-hand tunnel, and the students attached to his light source surprisingly followed right behind him.

"Hey! Just what do you think you’re doing?!"

Edgar yelled, his ego taking a brutal hit.

"You’re going to get them all killed!"

Edgar stood at the junction, his mind racing as he debated whether to swallow his pride and follow, or risk taking the alternate route.

"Let’s just go left, Edgar," one of his remaining followers reassured him, trying to salvage the mood.

"I’m sure the left side has way more useful relics anyway. We’ll leave those losers behind."

"Yeah, Edgar! Lead us to victory!"

"At your command, Captain!"

The praise washed over Edgar, instantly restoring his fractured ego. His pride fully refueled, he smirked and raised his hand.

"Fine! Follow me!" Without another thought, they plunged into the left path, relying entirely on the girl’s dim, flickering orb of light.

>> THE VEILED SANCTUM <<

High above the physical trials, the Lords of the Academy sat within the shrouded sanctuary, watching the floating Aetherscope projections with critical eyes. Each of them silently judged the split second decisions of the students, noting Edgar’s fragile pride—and Asher’s strange, calculating glare.

>> THE ARGENTUM FACTION <<

Meanwhile, deep within the local forest, the vanguard was experiencing absolute chaos.

[WARNING: CAUSTIC ACID-FLIES — SWARM CLASS!]

Despite the Argentum students fiercely commanding their Sageas to launch coordinated magical strikes, nothing seemed to be working against the sheer volume of the swarm.

Sapphire slammed her wooden staff into the earth, channelling her Aether to project a shimmering azure barrier around the defenseless Umbrax students, keeping them shielded while the front-liners engaged the beasts.

"Sterling! Speed attack!" Sapphire commanded. Her predatory feline bolted mid-air, its claws tearing through the vibrating insects, reducing dozens of them to mangled pieces.

"They just keep coming!" another student screamed, swinging a blade frantically as the buzzing intensified.

’What do I do? What do I do?! Our standard elemental attacks aren’t putting a dent in the swarm numbers!’ Sapphire panicked.

internally, sweat dripping down her temple as the barrier flickered under a volley of spit acid.

Around her, other vanguard students tried their absolute best to hold the perimeter, utilizing their mid-tier partners.

A Razor-Mane Panther launched a flurry of obsidian fur blades into the cloud, while a Glint-Wing Falcon dove at supersonic speeds, creating shockwaves to scatter the insects.

Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream tore through the forest.

"He’s hurt!" a student yelled, breaking formation to drag a fallen comrade backward.

A stream of the flies’ corrosive, orange-green acid had completely engulfed the boy’s right foot.

The volatile liquid hissed violently, burning hot and eating right through his combat boot as the boy thrashed on the dirt, crying out in sheer horror.

Panic threatened to shatter Sapphire’s concentration entirely as the swarm closed in from all sides.

"Listen to me, everyone!" Sapphire roared, her voice strained as she raised her glowing crystal staff high into the air. "Stop fighting individually! Prepare to aim at the center of the cloud—we fire all together on my mark!"