Strongest Existence Becomes Teacher

Chapter 283: The Search Begins

Selene walked through the streets of the Demon King’s Capital with her hood pulled low, occasionally glancing at the small circular device Zane had handed her.

The blinking pointer marked her own position, while a tiny red dot remained fixed farther ahead.

She quietly adjusted her direction.

Jax...

Please be safe.

I’m coming for you.

The bustling streets gradually gave way to a quieter part of the city. Fewer people walked around here, and before long Selene found herself standing at the entrance of a narrow alley.

She looked down at the detector once more.

The red dot was still ahead.

Just as she was about to continue—

"Looking for something?"

A mocking voice echoed through the alley.

"We could help."

Selene looked up.

Five... no, six demons blocked the path ahead. Every one of them had a single horn, and judging by their expressions, none of them had any good intentions.

They wore arrogant smirks as their eyes wandered over her figure beneath the cloak.

Selene simply looked at them for a moment before turning away.

She continued walking as if they didn’t exist.

The demon standing in the middle laughed.

"Where do you think you’re going now?"

His grin widened.

"We saw you near the city gate."

"It’s been a long time since I’ve seen someone as beautiful as you."

The other demons immediately burst into vulgar laughter.

One of them licked his lips.

"Boss..."

"I can’t wait to taste this woman."

"Hahaha!"

The leader raised a hand, silencing them.

"I’ll go first."

His gaze greedily swept over Selene.

"After all, such a noble lady deserves special treatment."

More laughter filled the alley.

Selene’s expression didn’t change.

Instead, she sighed quietly.

"No matter the race..."

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"...you’ll always find people like this."

She shook her head slightly.

"Always running their filthy mouths despite having no real strength."

The leader’s smile disappeared.

"What did you say?"

His expression darkened.

"Catch her."

"I’ll discipline her myself."

The demons immediately rushed forward.

Selene calmly reached into her pouch.

Two folded papers appeared between her fingers.

She released them.

The papers unfolded in midair as glowing orange runes separated from their surfaces.

One rune instantly split into dozens of smaller runes before releasing a violent burst of electricity.

Crack!

The lightning spread through the charging demons.

Their bodies stiffened.

Every muscle locked in place.

"W-What...?!"

Before any of them could recover, the second rune transformed.

Dozens of glowing runes gathered together, forming a gigantic orange fist.

BAM!

The fist slammed into the leader’s face.

Before he could even hit the ground—

BAM!

Another punch.

Then another.

And another.

The enormous runic fist relentlessly pounded every demon caught in the alley while they remained temporarily paralyzed by the electric shock.

The sound of fists colliding with faces echoed one after another.

Selene watched the scene for only a second.

"...Morons."

She tucked the detector back into her cloak.

"You wasted my time."

Without looking back again, she continued walking deeper into the city.

The giant runic fist continued beating the unfortunate demons long after she had disappeared from the alley.

High above the rooftops...

A shadow silently observed everything.

Hidden from sight, the figure narrowed its eyes while watching Selene leave.

Then it vanished into the darkness.

Selene quickly followed the direction shown by the Jax detector.

The streets gradually became quieter as the buildings around her grew larger and more luxurious. Before long, she stopped in front of a massive estate surrounded by high walls and ornate iron gates.

She lowered her hood slightly and looked at the detector.

"...This is the area."

Her eyes narrowed.

"So Jax is somewhere inside this estate."

Remembering something, she recalled Zane’s words.

"Press the side rune when you’re close enough. It’ll give you Jax’s precise location."

Selene pressed the small rune engraved on the side of the detector.

The circular map immediately changed.

The image zoomed inward, revealing a far more detailed layout.

"...Amazing."

She carefully studied it.

"According to this..."

"The locator says Jax should be inside."

Her gaze shifted toward the front gate.

Two guards stood there, both carrying spears. Unlike the ordinary city guards, these two radiated much stronger mana.

"...They’re not going to be easy."

Quietly reaching into her pocket, Selene took out the small metallic cube Zane had given her.

Then she unfolded a sheet of rune paper.

A tiny orange rune floated out and attached itself to the cube.

The cube immediately shrank until it was only about the size of a dice.

Selene nodded before taking out another sheet.

A second rune attached itself to the cube.

This time nothing appeared to happen.

Satisfied, she placed the tiny cube into her mouth.

Then swallowed it.

Next, she drew out her wand.

Unlike Zane, she couldn’t freely create advanced self-sustaining runes in the air yet, so she relied on the rune magic she had practiced countless times.

"Rune Magic, Third Circle: Strengthen."

An orange rune formed and attached itself to her chest.

"Rune Magic, Third Circle: Haste."

Another rune settled onto both of her legs.

"Rune Magic, Second Circle: Presence Weaken."

"Rune Magic, Second Circle: Invisibility."

The last two runes floated behind her before quietly merging into her back.

The surrounding air seemed to grow strangely quiet.

Finally, Selene removed the hooded cloak she had been wearing, revealing the appearance of the disguised demon girl beneath.

She reached into her pouch once more and took out two more rune papers.

The runes separated from them and slowly attached themselves to the cloak.

Almost immediately, the cloak rose into the air by itself.

Selene grabbed it, adjusted its position carefully, then took a deep breath.

"...Hopefully this works."

"These guards are high level."

She released it.

Whoosh.

The cloak suddenly rushed forward.

From a distance, it looked exactly like a hooded person sprinting toward the estate.

The two guards instantly reacted.

"What—?!"

"Hey!"

"Get back here!"

Both immediately chased after the running cloak.

Exactly as Selene had predicted.

At that very moment, she dashed in from behind.

Her strengthened body and haste rune allowed her to slip through the open gate almost silently while the invisibility and presence-weakening runes concealed her existence just enough to avoid drawing attention.

She quickly hid inside a nearby bush.

"...Phew."

A relieved sigh escaped her lips.

"That was easier than I expected."

Then she shook her head.

"...Though those spells wouldn’t have helped if they had looked directly at me."

Taking out the detector once more, Selene continued deeper into the estate.

She carefully avoided servants, maids, and passing guards, moving from one hiding place to another until she finally reached the location indicated by the detector.

A single room.

She quietly opened the door.

"Jax..."

"I’m here."

The door creaked open.

Silence.

It wasn’t a prison.

Nor a bedroom.

It was simply an office.

Shelves lined with books.

A large desk.

Several documents scattered across it.

Nothing more.

Selene frowned.

"...What?"

She looked down at the detector.

The blinking pointer representing her own position had completely overlapped with the red dot representing Jax.

The two had become one.

"...That’s impossible."

"It says Jax is here."

She slowly looked around the empty office.

"But... there’s nobody."

Her brows furrowed.

"...Is this device broken?"

Then suddenly—

A realization struck her.

"...Wait."

She looked down at the detector again.

"If the red dot and my position are perfectly overlapping..."

"...and I still can’t see Jax..."

Her eyes slowly widened.

"I was only thinking horizontally."

She looked at the floor beneath her feet.

"I completely ignored the height of the estate."

"Which means..."

"Jax is either directly above me..."

"...or directly beneath me."

She immediately shook her head.

"No."

"If they’re keeping him captive..."

"The basement makes far more sense."

A determined look appeared in her eyes.

"Now I just have to find a way underground—"

Her words stopped abruptly.

A sharp pain exploded across her back.

Her vision blurred.

Darkness swallowed everything.

And Selene collapsed.

--

Meanwhile...

After separating from Selene, Zane wandered through the streets of the Demon King’s Capital as though he were an ordinary tourist.

One hand remained inside his pocket while the other carried a small paper bag.

Every now and then, he reached inside, took out a dried purplish-blue berry, and casually tossed it into his mouth.

Crunch.

"Hmm..."

His eyes lit up slightly.

"These dried chilling berries are really good."

He grabbed another one.

"They’re basically this world’s version of dried blueberries..."

"...except they leave a refreshing coldness in your mouth and stomach and actually lower your body temperature for few minutes."

Another berry disappeared.

The streets around him were strangely quiet.

This was supposed to be the largest city in the Demon Kingdom.

Its capital.

Yet despite the enormous buildings and big markets, something felt... off.

Very few people actually walked outside.

Most of the presences Zane sensed were inside houses and buildings rather than on the streets themselves.

He glanced around for a moment.

"...I am curious."

Then he shrugged.

"But not curious enough to waste my time."

Crunch.

Another berry vanished.

Without realizing it, he had already crossed a large portion of the city.

Eventually his footsteps stopped.

Standing before him was an enormous black castle that towered over every other structure in the capital.

Its walls stretched toward the sky while countless towers overlooked the entire city below.

The Demon King’s Castle.

Zane looked up at it for several moments before reaching into the paper bag once again.

Another dried berry found its way into his mouth.

A small smirk slowly appeared on his face.

"Caelum..."

He quietly chuckled.

"I’m coming for you."

Still chewing on another berry, Zane casually walked toward the Demon King’s Castle.