Chapter 269: Once Shrek, Always Shrek!
"My head… it hurts!"
When Zhuo Shi awoke, for a moment he thought it was all a dream.
He remembered seeing Shrek's students arriving, only for the Evil Soul Masters to self-destruct, leveling the entire beach in one horrific explosion—countless Shrek students dead or dying.
"No… impossible. I must be dreaming. This is Shrek Academy we're talking about!"
He forced a laugh—surely, this was only an illusion brought on by exhaustion after carrying the soul-guided aircraft midair for so long.
But soon, the laughter stopped.
"Elder, the Sea God Pavilion requests your immediate presence at a meeting."
"What meeting?"
The messenger's face twisted bitterly. "The explosion. The inner-court students bombed by the Evil Soul Masters."
It was yet another meeting—how many had there been now? Once, even the highest elders of the Pavilion might never call for such council more than once in their entire term. It was reserved for matters of survival, of life and death.
Now? It had lost all meaning.
Every face in the grand hall was lined with storm clouds.
Every eye riveted on one woman.
Cai Yue'er—the "redeemed one."
After slaying the Deathbringer, she had never resumed her old disguise as an aged matron.
Most of those fallen had been the personal disciples of Sea God Pavilion elders.
"How bad is it?" Feng Wuyu demanded through clenched teeth, his fury nearly tangible. He had only just stepped down as Dean of the Outer Court and appointed Cai Yue'er in his place—and now this.
The worst tragedy in Shrek Academy's history.
Each of those students had been Shrek's purest flame—loyal, driven, willing to give everything.
After twelve years of nurturing in the Outer Court, only the best advanced into the inner sanctum—each representing faith, hope, and the next generation's dedication.
Now, gone.
Though called an "academy," everyone knew—the Inner Court was no school. It was a sect, and its disciples were its very soul.
And now… almost half its lifeblood had been spilled.
Even in the days when the Holy Spirit Cult's Grand Elder had led his massacre, only a handful of the Shrek Seven Devils' protégés had fallen.
Yes, the Seven Devils were precious—but this? This was loss made countless times worse by sheer scale.
Every stare in the room stabbed at Cai Yue'er like daggers.
A Super Douluo… and you couldn't stop one Evil Soul Master?
At the head seat, Sea God Pavilion Master Yun Ming sat motionless.
What was there left to say?
Would anyone even listen?
He remembered when Zhuo Shi's distress call had reached him. He'd wanted to go himself, worried that Hades Harossa might be behind it.
But he had been stopped.
They said it was a "training mission."
Now, so many were dead.
It wasn't that Yun Ming was cold; the sorrow had numbed him. Perhaps, he thought, stepping down would finally free him from watching Shrek drown in grief again and again.
Except even that choice wasn't his to make.
Because he understood now.
This was Shrek.
And if one was Shrek for a day, one was Shrek for life.
Elder Li's voice trembled as he read from his report. "Out of forty Inner Court disciples, twenty-four confirmed dead, eleven critically wounded, four lightly injured, one unharmed."
Gasps rippled through the room.
The Inner Court never accepted more than ten per generation. In its strictest years, it had even accepted none. The total student body rarely surpassed fifty.
After relocation to the Star Luo Continent, the Outer Court had temporarily expanded, admitting several Monster Academy students as well. But to lose twenty-four in a single mission… such an event had never been recorded in all of Shrek's history.
Elder Li continued somberly, "We managed to recover as much of their remains as possible, but their corpses… were mutilated and poisoned by the explosion. We could bring back only fragments of bone."
Another elder spoke softly, his eyes glistening. "Bury them in the academy's sacred grounds. Raise stones in their honor. We'll never forget this day."
This loss was greater than even the destruction of their old homeland on Douluo.
Zhuo Shi clenched his fists till they bled. The nightmare had been real. He shut his eyes in anguish. "What of Long Yue and the others—the exchange students from Douluo University? Their conditions? Any danger to their lives?"
The new generation of the Seven Monsters could not be harmed. Even more so—the participants from the Star Luo royal family. Dai Lingyu, the princess. Dai Yueyan, its heir.
If anything happened to them, Shrek would lose more than face—it would lose its standing in the entire realm.
Feng Wuyu sighed. "They survived. Long Yue shielded them all—though he'll be bedridden for a while again."
Again. The first time had been after his fight against Qian Gu Zhang Ting.
Cai Yue'er lifted her gaze toward Yun Ming, then lowered it again. Her voice was calm.
"This incident is my responsibility alone. I will resign from my post as Dean of the Outer Court and join the Shrek Inspection Corps. I'll hunt every last Evil Soul Master myself. I won't stop until every one of them is dead."
She was no Grand Elder of the Holy Spirit Cult. She would face consequences for her failure—death, if they demanded it.
But she wasn't afraid.
The fury burning in her heart had turned into ice-cold purpose.
She would destroy them. All of them.
Every Evil Soul Master in existence.
The chamber fell silent. None knew how to respond.
Never before had such devastation scarred the academy.
Finally, every eye turned to Yun Ming.
He remained motionless, his heart a pit of exhaustion.
Before the mission, they had ignored his warnings. Now, they expected him to speak judgment.
He could only smile bitterly.
Was he their leader—or their scapegoat?
Cai Yue'er turned away, her expression hollow.
Atonement no longer mattered.
All she wanted now… was vengeance.
She didn't yet know where to begin.
Then a name surfaced in her mind—Yuanen Yehui. An Evil Soul Master, they said.
A perfect place to start.
Her blood boiled anew.
Evil Soul Masters.
Every last one deserved to die.
(END CHAPTER)
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