Rise of the Harem King
Chapter 49: I’m sorry.

Chapter 49: I’m sorry.

The flames spread rapidly, throwing the camp into chaos. Worse still, no matter how hard they tried, the students couldn’t extinguish the fire, it continued to consume everything around them with relentless aggression.

Sophia immediately raised a barrier, providing a safe haven for most of the students. At the same time, Alexia and Silvia managed to put out at least a portion of the fire.

Meanwhile, Adem volunteered for the dangerous task of rescuing those trapped within the flames.

It didn’t take long for them to realize an obvious fact: half of their group had vanished. The possible explanation came from the charred corpse of Toki, after all, half of the teleportation crystals were missing.

And the one responsible for this was most likely the very man now lying dead. The blonde could only sigh in frustration.

"The situation is exactly as you imagine," Carloa approached his master. "All the students from the three lowest ranks are gone, along with one Rank C student."

"Can you locate them with one of your observers?" Sophia asked.

Hearing this, Alexia, who was standing beside her, turned to Carlos with anxious eyes. After all, Davi was among those who had disappeared, and she desperately wanted to find him.

"Well..." Carlos thought for a moment before summoning a small creature that resembled a bat, but with disproportionately large eyes. "Yes, but..."

He hesitated, but when Sophia firmly ordered him to speak, Calor finally revealed that all the missing students had been sent to a relatively distant area. And, to make matters worse, they were now two floors deeper in the rift.

"Honestly, I think it’s impossible for them to survive long enough for us to reach them. And even if we did, there’s little chance we’d be able to rescue them ourselves. I recommend giving up on them." Calor finally advised.

Indeed, attempting to save the students at this point was sheer insanity. To begin with, it should have been impossible for the lower-ranked students to survive. However...

"I’m sure they’re alive. After all, Davi is there," Aden smiled confidently, trying to reassure everyone.

What followed was silence, as not everyone shared the same confidence and optimism as the boy.

"Yes, you’re right," Sophia said. "We will go save them."

Then she clenched her fists, swearing to herself that she wouldn’t allow any student to die, especially when all of this was likely her fault.

In any case, she began giving orders so the students could reorganize. She intended to leave that place as soon as possible, but she knew she couldn’t act carelessly.

After calming things down, Sophia called Silvia and Alexia so they could talk more privately inside one of the few remaining cabins.

She asked her legal assistant to keep an eye on the surroundings to ensure no one would try to eavesdrop on their conversation.

And once she was sure no one was listening, she said:

"I’m sorry."

Silvia, always with very little expression, tilted her head slightly to the side, looking confused.

Meanwhile, Alexia quickly cut the blonde off, saying that her only priority at that moment was saving Davi and that Sophia shouldn’t feel guilty about anything.

"It’s not about that," Sophia began to explain.

Many said she was the greatest prodigy the Belfort family had produced in decades. In fact, she might have been the greatest prodigy in their history.

Just by being able to use <Revive>, she was already a support far above any other. But, on top of that, she had inherited many of the family’s best abilities.

If her talent alone was already remarkable, when combined with her dedication and leadership, it became obvious to many that she could be the new leader of the clan.

The problem was that this position had been vacant for years. Ever since the girl’s grandfather died, no one in the family had been able to rise as a clear leader.

And the various small factions that formed afterward all wanted power for themselves. Some of these factions supported Sophia, but most opposed her.

"In particular, my aunt is not a woman who will simply give up power," she explained in an irritated tone.

Amanda was also very talented and had accumulated a lot of power for herself over the years, especially within Enki.

Moreover, after she allied herself with the leader of the Darnel family, the consensus was that she would become the next director of Enki.

After all, everyone believed Amelia would die on the mission she was given.

By securing that position, the only barrier she would need to crush to consolidate her power within the family was Sophia.

That’s why it was very likely that this entire situation was an attempt to assassinate the blonde.

"Still, I never expected that viper to go this far for her personal ambitions," the blonde declared to herself.

Alexia was a bit surprised by the story, but it wasn’t as if this was news to her. She knew the internal politics of the Belfort family very well, as she had worked for Luis for a long time.

As for Silvia, she had no opinion on the matter. She knew her older sister would know how to handle those problems. The girl had no interest in such irrational affairs.

"In the end, exploring the dungeons has become a huge power struggle," Alexia sighed.

𓊖𓊖𓊖

Do these idiots not understand the risk humanity is facing? Morrigan thought as she coldly stared at the arrogant blonde in front of her.

It had been a week since the group of students entered the rift, and they had yet to return. When search teams were sent to find them, they weren’t in the area where they were supposed to be. In fact, they couldn’t be found at all.

This was, in all likelihood, an assassination attempt. More importantly, they needed to send a large force into the rift to investigate the incident and rescue the students.

Yet, Amanda kept coming up with all sorts of excuses to convince the council to deny the request at its fullest.

"And do you have any proof for these accusations?" Amanda asked with a wide, malicious smile.

The other council members murmured among themselves, some even expressing their discontent with Morrigan outright.

Many of them knew she might be right. However, most had already allied with the blonde, or they still harbored resentment toward Amelia. As a result, they opposed anything spoken by her servant.

A group of talented young people had clearly fallen victim to sabotage, but these useless old fools were more concerned with their political gains and losses.

For example, the few who sided with the redhead at that moment were members of factions that supported Sophia.

With a sigh, Morrigan recalled what her master had once told her. ’Humanity has lost its fear of the rifts, and that will be our downfall.’

At that very moment, that same master was likely fighting desperately against the most powerful beast ever seen in the Urush Rift. And yet, everyone else was relaxed, focused only on increasing their wealth and influence.

Do they really think that after eliminating my master, they’ll be able to handle that beast?

Her heart tightened. She knew the council had conspired to force Amelia into facing that monster alone. They saw it as an opportunity to get rid of a talented genius.

But how did they plan to defeat the creature once Amelia was gone? Even if they assembled a team with the best warriors in Enki, it would still be an incredibly difficult mission.

And what about the future threats? Every year, reports showed that the rift was becoming more dangerous.

In the end, Morrigan at least managed to convince them to send the rescue brigade. However, no extensive investigation would take place because, of course, they conveniently ’didn’t have the manpower for it at the moment.’

She let out a deep sigh and left that useless meeting behind. It was clear that no one there had any real interest in investigating the true culprit behind the sabotage.No one there cared about the loss of talented students. After all, no one there feared the rift. And with a tightness in her chest, the only thing the girl could do was believe that her master would return and fix everything. Or maybe...

"I hope he comes back alive. Enki needs you, Davi..." she murmured to herself.

Then, she remembered the request the boy had left her. It was something simple: fixing a sword. Well, the weapon’s condition made the task much harder, but still...

Instead of asking for something for himself or thinking about his own needs, he’s always worried about others. He’s just like you.

Morrigan smiled as she thought about the similarities between that boy and her master. Without a doubt, the two shared the same determined gaze and a strikingly similar way of thinking.

"Maybe I can place some of my hopes in him as well..." she murmured.

Then, she turned to the sword he had asked her to repair. Most likely, the boy expected her to find a skilled blacksmith. The irony of it all made her chuckle.

Obviously, Davi had no way of knowing this, but Morrigan came from a long line of blacksmiths. In fact, she was probably the best in Enki.

"I guess I’ll take care of this challenge myself," she murmured with a nostalgic smile as she gazed at the weapon.

𓊖𓊖𓊖

Meanwhile, Lara and Ember were engaged in one of their usual combat training sessions.

During their sparring, the redhead casually mentioned that she had lent a large sum of money to Davi, though even she had no idea what he intended to do with it.

Lara was stunned by the amount and even more surprised that her friend had given away so much without even asking for a reason.

Ember, clearly embarrassed, simply admitted that she couldn’t bring herself to say no to Davi. Hearing that, Lara could only smile wryly as she pondered whether she, too, would be able to refuse him.

The truth was... probably not.