White Badge and Black Badge.
After hearing the information, making them wasn’t that hard.
The black or white crystals used for the crafting were easy to farm, and when I asked Lasty, she quickly made a mythical badge.
While it’s not special right now, it’s an item that will show its power when the time comes.
Of course, both Lasty and I researched the crystals and badges, but we couldn’t find any meaningful information.
“First, it would be best if as many people as possible made them. To survive against the disaster.”
“But is that even possible? From what I saw, it looks like only about 5%? made them.”
Yena tilted her head slightly, looking puzzled.
To make a badge, you need to gather 50 crystals from monsters that are about 10 levels higher than you.
At that time, the crystals don’t always drop, and you won’t get the same ones each time.
Estimating, you’d have to defeat a minimum of 300 to 500 monsters.
For users familiar with hunting, it’s doable, but most Deoen users didn’t prefer fighting.
‘At most about 30%?’
Even then, only about 10% can actually “fight properly.”
“Don’t worry. Crystals can be shared within similar level ranges, so the supply will increase quickly. I’ll help a bit too.”
“Lily?”
“Yes. It seems the alliance is also preparing…”
Ultimately, to face the disaster, someone needs to gather a force to fight.
That was the Knight and the Challenger Alliance from before, and since they have already achieved several results, it looks like they’ll continue next year.
“The alliance has users of various levels, so they can gather quickly.”
“Oh. Should I help too?”
“That would be great. But Miss Yena.”
“Meow?”
“At your level, haven’t you already gathered everything?”
“…That’s true.”
If she was at Yena’s level, she’d be among those skilled in hunting and fighting.
In fact, due to her training, Yena heard the news later and managed to make the badge in just two days.
“So, speaking of which, do you have any plans to give a lecture?”
“A lecture?”
“About the angels and demons. Lily knows a lot, right? It would be good to explain exactly what they are and what abilities they have.”
“……”
Regarding explaining them…
It’s not like I haven’t done it before.
Given the nature of broadcasts that require a lot of talking, I’ve mentioned it several times, and it’s not like celestial and demon races haven’t been shown.
It’s just that I hadn’t gone deep into detail or talked about it in a structured way.
‘There are also things I just don’t want to mention.’
“…I can do it, though.”
“Ohhh. That’s good. But make sure to charge a lecture fee!”
“If I were to do it, I could spend a whole week on it. The issue is that it might be a bit subjective. It might not be entirely accurate right now.”
“Better than nothing, right? You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”
Yena blinked as she munched on the snacks laid out on the table.
She looked like she didn’t really care whether we did it or not.
Even if I said I wouldn’t do it, she’d probably just nod along without changing her expression.
For Yena, relationships among the surrounding people were more important than trivial information.
“…Actually, I was thinking of sharing some information I gathered, so this works out perfectly.”
“Is it really okay?”
“Of course. Since we have a lecture tomorrow, let’s discuss it then.”
The users also needed to know.
About their hidden truths and pasts.
■
9 PM.
After a long time of operation, Lily’s academy lectures had become rather ordinary.
Lily held lecture broadcasts about twice a week unless there was a significant dungeon, task, or event.
In the end, the essence remained lectures.
Teaching someone wasn’t always fun, no matter how much one learned.
So today, even with relatively few viewers, Lily was going to conduct her lecture broadcast…
[New Course Established: Period 1 – Understanding Angels and Demons.]
Today’s broadcast was a bit different from usual.
Angels and demons.
Aren’t they the most critical elements of this game, ‘Devil of Angel’?
They were the most shrouded in mystery, possibly the very essence of Lily herself.
It had been over four years since ‘Devil of Angel’ opened, and despite encountering them many times, nothing had truly been understood.
What exactly they were and what abilities they possessed.
Knowledge on that was almost nonexistent.
“Is the bait finally being revealed?”
And this was the same for Holly Holi, a high-level user who had rushed into the lecture hall.
Holly Holi was a ranker fluctuating around the top 300, having participated in numerous bosses, dungeons, and raids.
Among users, she had quite an abundance of experiences against formidable foes, but she had never encountered angels or demons in person.
At most, she had only encountered henchmen tainted with magic.
“I can’t let this slide.”
With next year’s monthly report focusing on angels and demons, she had been expecting and preparing for this, but now they were dropping core information?
As a dedicated user of Deoen, she absolutely had to participate.
“There are quite a lot today.”
Holly Holi was surprised as she looked around the inside of the lecture hall, which was unusually packed.
Normally, it would only fill about one-third of the lecture hall.
At the start of enrollment, many participated, but it was unrealistic for a ranker with many tasks to attend every lecture.
I can’t just attend lectures every time.
But this time, a multitude of students barely managed to step into the academy to claim their seats.
“Oops. That’s my seat!”
“Sorry~”
“Hey, let’s keep it down.”
“I wonder when Lady Lily will arrive…”
The seats in the lecture hall were completely filled, with some standing at the back.
Among them were several users who didn’t get along, but within the academy, fighting was impossible except for dueling, so they only glared at each other.
If it escalated further, there would be direct repercussions.
Holy Holy chuckled to himself, watching two famous rival priest users, and suddenly noticed something peculiar.
Well, it wasn’t exactly peculiar…
“… As expected, there are a lot of whites.”
No matter where he looked, almost everyone had a white badge.
Of course, there were occasional black badges, but they were really few and far between.
Out of the 80 users who entered the lecture hall, there might be about 15 of them?
Lily had said to wear the badges if you made them, and there had been a lot of talk about white being more common, but not this much.
Holy Holy also fiddled with his brightly shining white wing badge.
‘If that rumor is true, the black side would be quite disadvantaged.’
White and black.
It was speculated that users who chose either of the two badges would duke it out in team battles.
While they wouldn’t be physically brawling, everyone was expecting them to split up into teams to face their respective angels and demons.
At this rate, wouldn’t it be a one-sided battle?
‘Of course…’
Screech…!
“Hello, students.”
Even if you put a thousand renowned rankers in the black team, they wouldn’t stand a chance.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen many familiar faces.”
There was Lily.
■
[Oh]
[What’s that]
[Lilha Lilha Lilha]
[What’s today’s broadcast? LOL]
[Look at the viewers piling in so fast LOL]
[Is it real?]
[Is Angel Lily coming?]
[Are we finally getting to the good stuff?]
[Ooooh]
[What’s with all the seats taken]
The lecture on angels and demons was announced, but it hadn’t even been 24 hours yet.
I expected a lot to come, but I didn’t think so many would flock in just one day.
It was a remarkable sight that, while many viewers showed up, this much participation from users was quite unusual given the current low attendance rates.
“Typically, we would have ten to twenty attendees at lectures, but were you really that curious?”
As I asked with a grin, the students exchanged awkward smiles.
They’d have to attend this one for sure.
[LOL]
[Curious, indeed]
I’m curious!
[Lily reveals the secrets of the angels? I can’t resist this, haha!]
[But were there really this many students?]
[I also want to go…]
[So, what will you tell us?]
“Not at all~”
“Is that so? Then should we skip it?”
“Oh, no!!”
“That’s a bit much.”
“Who was that? The one who just spoke.”
“Forbidden Mage, hold back a bit.”
Several students sitting in front shot someone a sharp glare.
That person was a decent user who attended regularly, but…
‘I haven’t seen them that often. The class on Understanding Mana gets harder every time…’
Understanding mana, or advanced magic, is a difficult subject unless you’re a genius like Leo or Candy Star.
Cough.
That user was even a ranked user in the mage class.
“Just kidding. Then let’s start the first lecture on Understanding the Celestial Race and the Demon Race.”
“Wow~”
“Today, I’ll share an overview, representative characteristics, and weaknesses. By the way, do you know about their origins? Ah, yes, Forbidden Mage.”
“Yup!”
The current 197th ranked, level 125 Forbidden Mage stood up.
They hate priests but ironically work as a mage.
[Forbidden Mage, haha!]
[They’ve been gaining popularity lately.]
[Forbidden Mage, die!]
[Who even is that, you nerd?]
[Hahaha!]
“About that. Um, it’s briefly outlined in the settings. In the beginning, there was light and darkness, and from them, angels and demons were created. Am I right?”
“Hmm… that’s roughly the same story.”
I nodded and summoned mana in the air.
Pale light and deep darkness floated in the air on either side.
The two forces, feeling like an endless abyss just by looking at them, hovered in the air, exuding their presence.
Of course, it was merely a color trick, not true holiness and magic.
“Angels and demons. Born of the ‘Celestial Gods’ and ‘Demon Gods,’ but we can’t really say they created them directly. It’s more accurate to say they created the environment.”
“Environment?”
“The Heavenly Realm and the Demon Realm.”
Boom!
As the two forces exerted their power, half of the lecture hall turned into pale light, while the other half was bathed in deep darkness.
The sight of the lecture hall split as if the space was being torn apart left the students gaping, “Wow~.”
“It wasn’t someone’s will that caused this, but they emerged. Just like numerous life forms were born from an environment like Earth.”
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