The rest of the meeting went by in a friendly manner. From what Alec learned, this long of a committee meeting was a rarity. Understandable, considering the number of decisions they had to make

Unlike the first two parts about the reorganization and renaming, the rest was more about the technical side of magical academia. Still, Alec didn't hesitate to state his opinions and shift the educational methods slowly. Granted authority by Professor Howard, he did his best to add some scientific lessons to the curriculum instead of magic-focused classes all the time. The good thing was that the committee members weren't a bunch of impotent jesters for Alec to push around. When Alec made a recommendation, they could twist it in a way that would be more applicable in real life.

That way, the review committee meeting came to an end. Alec parted ways with the professors after bidding his farewells. Professor Howard hadn't signaled anything about the neutron for the moment. But Alec could occasionally spot a somber expression on his face. He had already understood the problem—nuclear fission. So he kept his silence. Maybe even Professor Andrew didn't know yet.

All that to say, Alec and Professor Howard were the only people shouldering this forbidden piece of knowledge. As for what time would show, they would see.

***

The next day, Alec and Evan were patrolling the academy grounds. This was an everyday, mundane task of the disciplinary committee. Members would have to patrol and inspect the students' behavior. And those that didn't act properly – As stated in the disciplinary committee handwritten by Edward Spellson – would be... Gently warned, let's say. This was enough for most people. Still, occasionally, some would get too heated and don't comply.

There was even a time one tried punching Alec in the middle of a fight. Alec hadn't even had to retaliate, as the guy's fist had broken on contact with Alec's cheekbone. Funny, really. That was left from a time when Alec's physical prowess was unknown. Nowadays, many students either shivered in fear or greeted him respectfully. The disciplinary committee had gained quite the momentum, and the armband carried a lot of weight. Occasionally even more than that of the student council armband. After all, The Student Council was a bureaucratic organization. The Disciplinary Committee on the other hand...

"My fists are getting itchy," Alec muttered out of nowhere. Wrinkles lined Evan's forehead as he threw Alec a disgusted glance.

"You have been getting into this way more than you should," he said, punching Alec on the arm.

"What can I say? No one is causing any ruckus anymore. We might just lose our jobs at this point," Alec said. "Then still, as long as the dealer is around, we will be around too."

"Haha..." Evan awkwardly laughed, averting his eyes. "Anyway. Shouldn't we reduce the patrol shifts' lengths?"

"What do you mean? It's not like we are the ones suffering from it. We have been making the others work overtime for the, what? Last two weeks?" Alec said with a shrug.

"Yeah..." Evan's voice trailed off, his face expressionless.

While walking, Alec felt his heart jump. It was an out of nowhere reaction. There was no sensory input that would cause him to react this way. So why? Still, something inside him screamed. When he turned his head, he noticed Evan to be in a similar situation—if not the same.

"What's that?"

"Drink this," Alec said before downing half a bottle of mental cleansing potion. Whatever was happening, it wasn't something good.

Evan took the bottle from his hand and drank the rest. By now, Alec had gotten used to picking and choosing the intensity of the potions, and the amount they would have to drink. He always kept some in his pockets.

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Pang. Once more. Alec's heart jumped as if trying to warn him of something. His mana brain spun in excitement. It also seemed incapable of understanding what was happening, at least until the potion took effect.

In front of them was a student, lying on the ground and shaking, twitching. His uniform was disheveled and ripped in places. Out came tumorous growths, mounds of flesh full of purple, pulsating veins, irregular, thick hair, and little pieces of bones breaking out of the skin. His skin had become a ghastly green, losing its luster and life. All contents of fat seemed to have receded, leaving him bone dry. Maybe the tumors had taken it away.

"Holy shit..." Alec muttered in disbelief, his eyes widening in terror. They gave each other a brief look with Evan before stepping forward.

In the meantime, the student's back arched. A perfect arch, in fact. His arms thrashed in all the wrong directions, causing popping and cracking sounds to emanate. His bones weren't broken before, they just did.

However, before his transformation was done, Alec slid to his side on a knee. Gathering all his strength, he punched down. He intentionally didn't look at his face. If he did, he might have felt bad about killing him. Just a small trick to dehumanize his enemy.

As Alec ripped through the student's skull with a crunching noise and hit the stone block paving below, the demonized student's head exploded and splashed pus everywhere. Expecting it, Alec had already blocked his nostrils and eyes using his other arm. Unfortunately, he couldn't avoid getting splashed in other places.

Coursing the mana in his veins, Alec fought against the pus' corrosive effects. He had learned this from Edward, who had also learned it from someone else after the whole demonic taint ordeal. It seemed that signature mana – namely, mana that comes from the body – had a strong effect against corruption. The signature mana's disposition also depended on the personality of the mage and affected how effective it was in fighting against corruption. In what way exactly? That was unknown.

As Alec's body sizzled and smoked, his clothes slowly melting, Evan started blasting him with daily-use cleaning and water spells. They couldn't use most spells in the academy, so they had to fight physically, thus creating the need for the disciplinary committee. Fortunately, Evan had just enough access to clean him of the pus.

Left completely drenched, his clothes melted in places, Alec sat on his knees. Silent. He looked down for a moment gasping for air, then turned his head to look at the demon's corpse.

"What the fuck are we going to do now? Will we be able to show Edward this?" Alec asked. He wasn't sure if the incense would be strong enough.

"Maybe if we are the ones to lead him to it, we can weaken the anti-meme more easily. And considering its cyclic nature, it should have started decaying some time ago," Evan said with his arms crossed and his back to a nearby tree.

"Sure. I will stay here, and you bring him," Alec nodded along. Evan took off in a dash and left. He came back a few minutes later with Edward in tow. They were both running, a deep frown on Edward's face.

He stood about a meter away from both the demon and Alec. He first looked at the mangled corpse and then eyed Alec.

"Strip," he said.

Alec's mouth twitched.

Once both Evan and Edward inspected his body, they found no taint. Alec knew this. He had used his mana to check. From what he knew, his mana flow would have been disrupted by the taint. Still, it was good to get checked out.

"This is very, very bad," Edward said with his arms crossed. His eyes were glued to the corpse on the ground. His hands relaxed and tightened repeatedly. Alec could see muscles move inside his cheek, probably gritting his teeth.

"It's time to take drastic measures," he said. Alec couldn't figure out if he was simply talking to himself or them.

"Follow me."

The trio left the corpse lying on the ground. Alec placed a memetic ping on it just for good measure, even if they weren't going to need it. They followed Edward through the academy grounds before finally reaching the alchemy shop. They greeted Alyssa and went by, going to the underground rooms. Edward found Professor Emma there and told her about the situation.

They went back. The corpse was still there. Alec didn't need to do any memetic shenanigans. Professor Emma utilized some rudimentary fire magic to incinerate the corpse.

"It was too weak of a student to spread the taint," she said. She eyed Alec and Evan before turning toward Edward. "But the next one might not be like that. If it was someone like you or Mr. Alec here, any student in a hundred-meter radius would immediately burst into demonic flames and transform."

"Or if it was a professor..." Edward muttered.

"That would mean an academy-wide incursion. Absolutely every professor would have to get involved," she explained. Neither Alec nor Evan betrayed any emotions, perfectly straight-faced.

"Then it is the time for the witch hunt."