The Academy's Doomed Side Character-Chapter 200: Calm Before The Storm [1]

In the dark, empty classroom of Velcrest Academy, the man sat alone, grinding his teeth in frustration.

He had thought everything was going according to plan.

Everything had seemed under control.

But that—he now realized—was his biggest delusion.

One by one, his carefully laid plans were unraveling.

And with each failure, his position within the organization slipped further down the ranks—until now, even his status as an executive was starting to feel precarious.

He was a member of The Twelve Signs.

Each executive represented one of the twelve zodiac signs, and he—he was one of them.

Or at least, he used to be.

The Twelve Signs.

Once, the name alone struck fear through every corner of the underworld. A villain alliance with twelve powerful leaders, each as dangerous as the next. But now...?

Now they barely lived up to the name.

Too many had been killed, arrested, or simply disappeared.

Kai Foster—the Rabbit—caught.

Ethan Cladwell, the newly inducted Snake, gone without a trace.

Accounting for the boss—who operated outside the hierarchy—and the positions that had already been vacant, only six of the original twelve remained.

Six.

Half of their strength. Half of their influence.

It was unacceptable.

Originally, this operation had been a masterstroke: a grand terrorist attack during Velcrest Academy’s entrance exam. The perfect stage to announce their return—to remind the world that they were still a force to be feared.

Years of effort had gone into infiltrating this place.

Years wasted. frёeweɓηovel_coɱ

They had even resorted to using those trash-tier relics just to establish a foothold. And now?

Failure. Humiliation.

He dug his nails into his palm until he felt skin break.

"No," he muttered under his breath. "It’s not over yet."

Kai? He was a disposable piece from the start. A tool to stir chaos and take the fall. He’d always planned to throw him away.

Ethan? Sure, his academic background and access as a former professor were useful, but people like him weren’t exactly in short supply. He could find another.

What he needed was time. A new approach.

There were fresh candidates on the table—people he could mold. Manipulate. Corrupt.

And this time, he’d be more careful.

"Take it slow," he whispered, staring blankly at the moonlight slipping through the blinds. "Pick smarter. Plant deeper."

He still had options.

Still had cards to play.

And as long as even one of the Twelve remained, their fire hadn’t gone out.

It just meant the next time they struck... they would strike harder.

And the world would regret thinking they had won.

He leaned back in the old academy chair, its wooden frame creaking under his weight. Dust drifted lazily in the moonlight, catching on his black gloves as he rested his hands atop the desk.

A part of him wondered how long it would take before the faculty noticed this classroom was being used after hours.

But then again—he had chosen this place for a reason.

It was just outside the range of the surveillance system. One of those blind spots the academy thought no one would notice. He had mapped them all. Years ago.

Let them keep feeling safe behind their walls, he thought bitterly.

That illusion of security was the easiest thing in the world to shatter.

He reached into his coat and pulled out a small notebook bound in weathered leather. He flipped through its pages—coded names, sketches, personality profiles. Students. Faculty. Staff. Everyone who mattered within Velcrest Academy was written down here, hidden behind layers of ink, symbols, and half-truths.

His finger stopped midway down the page.

"Ryen Miller. Leo Taylor."

He stared at the names for a long moment. Silent. Still. But inside, something cracked.

The chairman might’ve been the one who officially apprehended Ethan and Kai, but the reality was different.

It was the cadets.

Those two.

They had no titles, no reputation outside the academy walls, and yet they had been the ones to land decisive blows—twice.

And it wasn’t just them.

Barrier—an old asset, not quite an executive but still useful—had been caught by a cadet too. Another embarrassment.

He hadn’t paid Ryen and Leo much attention before. They weren’t part of any lineage, they didn’t stand out in early evaluations. They were supposed to be... irrelevant.

And yet, they’d left a mark.

He clenched his jaw.

He could almost still hear the mocking tone in the reports, the subtle jabs from his peers.

"Didn’t you say you had everything under control?"

That kind of humiliation wasn’t easy to forget.

"...No more overlooking variables," he muttered, flipping the folder closed with a dull thud. "You two are on the list now."

He walked back toward the board at the front of the room—half-erased diagrams, arrows drawn in chalk, a dozen sticky notes marked with codenames and operation tags.

In the corner of the board, a red circle had been drawn around the word:

Chairman.

That plan was already moving forward. He’d started laying the groundwork to isolate him, even if it took months.

As for Ryen and Leo?

They wouldn’t be ignored any longer.

"I hope you enjoy the peace, boys," he said under his breath. "Train hard. Laugh with your friends. Win your little sparring matches."

He grinned.

"Because the next time you get in my way, I’m not sending pawns."

He paused for a second.

Then scratched their names onto the lower corner of the board beneath the word Elimination.

The chalk squeaked faintly as he underlined Elimination, then stepped back to observe the board.

Ryen Miller. Leo Taylor. The Chairman.

Three names, three variables.

Three cracks in what should’ve been a flawless plan.

He stood there for a while, arms crossed, the soft ticking of the old classroom clock the only sound in the room.

Then he moved.

Dragging a nearby crate toward the center of the room, he opened it with a click. Inside were several small, neatly packed vials—liquid relics, forbidden concoctions, and prototype enhancers developed through less-than-legal methods.

"These were supposed to be used during the Year-End Disruption..." he murmured. "But I can always improvise."

His gaze turned sharp as he picked up a violet vial, swirling its contents.

"Velcrest Academy prides itself on being impregnable." His voice was quiet, almost amused. "But even the strongest walls crumble when the rot starts from within."

He had already started placing pieces inside the Academy. Transfers. Support staff. A few cadets who had been properly incentivized. The coming festival was the perfect opportunity—open gates, relaxed security, guests everywhere.

A perfect storm.

"Chairman... I’ll see how well your ideals hold up when you’re alone."

His smile vanished.

"And as for you, Ryen, Leo..." He leaned over and crossed a line through their names—not striking them out, but marking them. Like prey.

"...Let’s see how far that luck of yours can carry you when there’s no one left to pull you out."

His words echoed in the empty classroom like a curse.

Just one week.

That was all he needed.

In one week, the chairman of Velcrest Academy—the strongest shield protecting the academy—would be removed. Silently. Permanently.

And once that domino fell, the rest would follow.

"The moment the chairman is neutralized," he murmured, his fingers tightening around the edge of the desk, "I’ll deal with you two personally."

His eyes narrowed, burning with a quiet, murderous resolve.

"Ryen Miller. Leo Taylor. You should’ve stayed out of this."

Just one week.

In just one week, the tides would shift. The careful chessboard he’d been setting up behind the scenes would finally tip in his favor.

And then... the name of the Twelve Signs would echo once more, not as a forgotten relic of villainy—but as the nightmare of a new era.

He stepped back, the lights of the classroom flickering as if responding to the weight of his intent.

"Celebrate while you can, Velcrest," he said under his breath. "Your collapse begins with the fall of your king."

The lights in the room continued their low flicker, casting long, erratic shadows across the walls—jagged silhouettes of diagrams, notes, and names that looked more like a war map than anything that belonged in an academy classroom.

The man—known to few by any real name, but whispered in coded channels as Virion—turned away from the board at last. He shut the crate with a click and snapped a lock over it. The vials inside, volatile and illegal, were too dangerous to leave exposed. Even the air felt heavier in their presence.

But everything was ready now.

Almost.

He crossed the room to a dusty control panel embedded behind a false cabinet door. A rusted keypad blinked to life as he entered a code.

Access: Approved. Welcome, Executor.

A hidden panel slid aside with a faint hiss, revealing a black earpiece and a stack of sealed envelopes. Each marked with a different symbol. He slipped the earpiece on and pressed a finger to its side.

There was a pause. Then a quiet static-filled tone, followed by a soft, female voice—calm, cold, and unmistakably inhuman.

"Connection stabilized. Report, Executor."

"Phase One is complete," he said. "The cadet interference was an anomaly. Two names have been added to the killboard: Ryen Miller and Leo Taylor. They’ve shown unexpected competency."

"Noted. Is Asset Seven still compromised?"

"Still under observation. If he defects, we burn him."

"Acknowledged. Proceed with Phase Two."

He hesitated. "What about the Chairman?"

"...Proceed. Full discretion. The Authority won’t interfere—as long as the death isn’t traceable."

That was all he needed.

The line cut out.

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Author Note.

Thank you for reading the Chapter. I hope you continue to do read more in future. Bye

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