’I am on the verge of losing my shit. We’ve been running for some time now, yet we haven’t encountered anyone at all!’

The initial plan of looking out for people to form a large group was getting out of reach as they went further away.

The remains of what was once the academy, the corpses of students and instructors, the scent of blood, and tall bone pillars were all the group saw as they ran away.

The corpses were scattered almost every time they turned a corner, always drawing a reaction from the group. Some were crushed, some eaten, some dismembered, and some were simply... dead, unable to do anything.

It definitely looked like the Black Shepherds that had been sent to make a culling. The Captain remained true to his words about hunting every single one of them.

’This is really going to take a huge blow on this land’s Sorcery Academy as a whole. Heck, it’s even destroyed, and many people have already died. It’s going to cause so much uproar outside...’

Suddenly, Cillian’s thoughts came to a halt.

"Outside, huh.’

Truth to be told, Cillian wanted to explore the outside world beyond their academy.

The only reason he was even attending the academy in the first place was that he wanted to create a solid image, have fun while he was at it, and then finish the remaining two school years of academy life before going out and truly achieving what he desired the most, which is still to have fun.

Though that wasn’t happening now.

But.

’But is this really the right thinking? People are dying. I’ve already killed three black shepherds. There’s the corpse summoner, something I killed because those white shepherds allowed it. The dual-sickle shepherd that the three of us fought, where I landed the finishing blow. Then there’s the third one I killed by fighting him alone...

’Yet I somehow think that it’s the natural thing to do, and I treated all of it as if it were pretty normal. People are dying left and right, and instead of focusing on that... I’m thinking about what I’ll do once I’m outside the Academy?’

This thought settled in Cillian’s mind. It was terrifying how this world was slowly changing his perspective, and it had turned for the worse.

Or was this his real behavior?

He let out a quiet chuckle, a tinge of madness slipping through it.

’Have I lost my mind?’

Cillian felt like he was slowly losing his sense of reasoning bit by bit. The sense of morality he had once had was chipping away, and he couldn’t pinpoint its exact reason.

No, that’s not true.

He was totally aware of where this change started.

’That Weird time.’

Since the time he met Aiden, experienced different kinds of deaths, and received the Death Flag System, he had been exposed to repeated deaths, which somehow numbed his emotions.

[A scent of Death is within you.]

Cillian’s eyes looked at the particular screen that always appears in the most random moments, but also almost in the crucial ones.

These are the random ones.

This was the only thing he wasn’t able to control in the system: this scent.

It felt like it was communicating with him.

’I mean, it will be weird if I’m not thinking it’s trying to some sort of communicate with me. Fucking with me and my mind like that for some time now.’

But Cillian wasn’t planning on entertaining with it. In fact, now that he was becoming sure that this scent of Death was the reason for his personality changing, he would want to avoid it as much as possible.

If avoiding it is impossible, then he’d like to learn and study what this scent is all about.

’That lone figure... Is this what you’re talking about?’

"Hey, we’re here!"

Cillian had to quickly stop his thoughts from spiraling when Willow suddenly spoke excitedly and pointed her finger up front.

There, they saw it.

All of them reached the ’end of the maze’ in hopes that it would lead them out. However, reality is often disappointing.

Instead of an exit, the group encountered a towering border as they got closer.

It was the ’edge of the maze’.

The edge of the maze was surrounded the maze itself by its towering pillars, almost identical to the bone pillars, like an impenetrable wall. The only difference is that it is much taller and wider.

Somehow, Cillian found the edge of the maze similar to the borders he had seen from his first death flag probe.

"You’ve got to be shitting me..."

’We really can’t leave?’

Cillian glanced behind and spotted the path they had come through. However, the same ’end of the maze’ stretched from left to right, also containing the same entrance into the maze from here to there.

There are many exits once inside the maze, but all of them will meet the same borders of towering pillars of bones.

This made Cillian annoyed.

’You mean I have to follow the fucking words of those shepherd bastards and kill the Captain like the little dogs we are?’

Kill the Captain and escape this place.

For instance, Cillian felt like that was the only answer he had left. He had already been told about the weakness of the Captain, even his Pieces and advice on how to fight him.

Fighting Captain was going to be the final outcome.

’As if!’

Cillian didn’t let these intrusive thoughts affect his rationality when he had what people called free will.

What does his free will say to him?

It was telling him to sit down and wait for the rescue.

If forming a larger group didn’t work, then it’s better to work with what they have. But it’s different now that they have reached the end line.

[Death Flag x11]

’Seriously, going there? At this point, our death flags must’ve been pointing directly to that Captain.’

"Can we finally rest?"

Melissa asked with an exhausted expression.

Once she saw Cillian nodding without batting an eye at her, she slumped on the ground with Willow and Ivy beside her. Clove and Kash rested as well after being put against the wall to rest their bodies, with the Rofter Twins right beside them to assist.

Aster, on the other hand, touched the surface of the wall. His mind was set on attempting to break it until Cillian warned him.

"Stop it."

Cillian saw Phillip taking the position to his left while Vin moved to the right, as Cillian wore a disgruntled expression.

Then Cillian answered after the two settled down beside him.

"We conserved your swords so that we’re able to use them once we’re in a really tight spot. I know you regretted not helping Melissa and the others earlier and that you could’ve done well there, but your powers are not needed here. Go on standby."

’Come on, now! How could you be stupid! You’re my trump card, here. My ace! And you’re using your sword to break a wall? Use it to protect me! Don’t break some stupidly strong walls. I mean, what if it collapses?’

That was going to be an anticlimactic way to end life.

As if Aster understood his words, he walked to the side and assumed a guarding position. Watching this reassured Cillian.

’Now that breaking the wall part is out of his mind. All we really have to do now is wait—’

Rumble—!

The moment he thought about it, the group suddenly felt intense tremors beneath their feet.

"What’s happening?!"

"The ground is really shaking?!"

On the other hand, Cillian had finally lost his shit.

"I fucking jinxed it!"