Ryo took a deep breath, his crimson eyes flickering with a cold glint. "Alright..." he muttered under his breath, focusing his mind. The system's voice rang in his head.
[Would you like to use Conceal Aura/Presence?]
"Yes."
Instantly, his overwhelming aura vanished as if it had never existed. The room fell into stunned silence. The Vampire Lord, the Dragon Emperor, the Academy Headmasters, and even his fiancées, Seyra and Selena, widened their eyes in shock. They couldn't feel anything from Ryo anymore. It was as if he had become an ordinary human—or perhaps something far beyond their comprehension.
Seyra took a hesitant step forward, her voice trembling. "H-have you grown even stronger... in the short time we were away? This isn't like when we last saw you in class... and that was barely an hour ago."
Ryo remained silent, his gaze unreadable.
The Headmaster of the Academy, an elf who appeared to be in his mid-twenties but was undoubtedly much older, finally spoke. "We understand that you acted to protect your classmate, but we cannot ignore the fact that you killed those students. I am not saying they were innocent... but you still ended their lives."
Ryo's voice was eerily calm as he responded, "Not more than they had."
The priestess headmaster, an elderly woman draped in sacred robes, narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean by that?"
Ryo's lips curled into a smirk as he cast a sidelong glance at the demon headmaster. "Why don't you ask your honorable demon headmaster? He knows everything."
Everyone's gaze shifted to the demon headmaster. The man, usually composed, was trembling, unable to utter a word—because his tongue had been cut off.
Before anyone could react, Ryo vanished in an instant. A mere second later, he reappeared, holding a large metal locker wrapped in multiple layers of protective barriers. Without hesitation, he raised his hand and shattered the barriers as if they were made of thin glass.
The room watched in horror and awe as he tore open the locker, revealing stacks of documents inside. He skimmed through the pages, his expression darkening with every line he read.
"Bribery..." Ryo muttered. "Every year, students paid him to keep their crimes hidden. And more than that..." His voice grew colder as he lifted another set of documents. "Selling students to the slave markets in his homeland. These students were never seen again."
Selena's face paled, and Seyra clenched her fists in fury. The other headmasters' expressions turned grim as they absorbed the truth.
Ryo tossed the documents onto the floor, his gaze fixed on the demon headmaster. "I saw it all... in my first life."