Just like Anthony had promised, the security arrived a few minutes later to eliminate the Awakened Beast. To their surprise, it was already dead, and had its essence crystal dug out.

Looking at the boy with bloodied hands, they could only glance at each other and retreat with the corpse.

"I’ll be going."

Kaiser said curtly, picking a handkerchief from his pocket and trying to clean his bloodied hands.

Ariel and Liam nodded, not saying a word as he left.

Ariel jumped down from the building, then walked out of the alley with Liam.

The sound of hurried footsteps entered their ears. Both guys turned.

"Haa...haa... what the hell happened?"

Panting and pressing on her knees, Hazel asked.

Judging by her expression, she had definitely rushed over after hearing some news.

From behind her, Ysabella also appeared, panting slightly.

"Hazel! Eh... Liam?!"

The blonde girl froze, then instantly barreled into Liam, almost tackling him to the ground.

Hugging him, she sobbed in relief.

"Wahh, you’re okay. I was really worried when you suddenly disappeared."

While Liam reassured and petted her, Ariel turned to Hazel. There was a silent question in his gaze.

"Ysabella notified me of Liam’s disappearance. What exactly happened?"

She straightened, folding her arms with furrowed brows.

Ariel glanced at the dark alley, then explained.

"I suspected that another attack was bound to happen, so I informed Liam and a few other key figures I’m connected with to turn on their locations so I can track them. Everyone is out in the night currently."

Hazel’s eyes widened slowly. "Wait. You predicted an attack?"

Ariel shrugged. "I expected it."

Glancing at Ysabella who was now listening to him, he continued.

"When Liam’s location abruptly changed, I was immediately notified, and came over. Of course I didn’t forget to call Kaiser and the Student Council President."

"Kaiser?!"

"Student Council President?!"

Hazel and Ysabella shouted respectively, surprised by the revelation.

Ariel nodded.

"Kaiser is a strong person. He single-handedly subjugated the Awakened Beast with ease."

Hazel fell silent. ’That guy... even with the limiter on, he killed an Awakened Beast? Well, he has killed a fiend before so I guess that’s normal.’

Then she remembered how he had effortlessly stopped the Level Five automaton’s attack when she was weakened two days ago.

Unaware of her thoughts, Ariel continued.

"As for the president, I simply called him because I know he’ll be able to suppress any Awakened—even if they’re Rank 3."

Everyone nodded. That made sense. Anthony was a Rank 3 Awakened, after all.

"So that was how the incident was resolved?"

Ariel nodded to Hazel’s question.

The girl sighed in relief, then frowned. "Where’s Kaiser?"

The silver-haired boy answered flatly. "He left."

"To?" She raised a brow, curious.

Liam and Ariel shrugged, not knowing.

"He didn’t mention."

Instantly, Hazel had a bad feeling. She turned to Liam, about to speak when—

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Ariel’s phone beeped, and he hurriedly took it out.

His eyes narrowed instantly. "Several of the people I planted are being attacked. This is serious."

Hazel made a quick decision. "We need to split up and report to the authorities."

Ysabella nodded, a flicker of determination crossing her face.

"Yeah. Those peo—"

A wave of pressure cut her off. Something in the air had changed.

They all turned around, looking into the alley next to them.

Four eyes opened in the darkness, then another four, and another four, until there were five Awakened Beasts lurking in the darkness.

Ysabella gulped, tightening her grip on Liam’s arm.

Ariel glanced at his screen, then pocketed his phone.

"We’ll have to deal with them. No escape."

.........

In the detention facility built quite some distance from the main campus, the chubby clerk was cuffed with two limiters, being interrogated by two people.

One was President Anthony, and the other was Instructor Steve.

The burly man already had the criminal under his ability, so he could only speak the truth.

Anthony handled the questioning.

"How many of you are in your organization?"

The chubby man answered, his expression blank.

"I do not know."

Anthony’s lips curled down faintly, but he continued.

"Who exactly are you working for?"

The criminal answered again.

"I do not know. I only know he is our Lord."

"Your Lord?" Anthony tilted his head. "Have you seen him before?"

The criminal nodded. "Yes, but I cannot remember."

"Can’t remember?" Anthony was puzzled, "Why can’t you remember?"

Expression still flat, the man shrugged indifferently. "Because I am not worthy of beholding his face."

Sighing, Anthony and Instructor Steve exchanged a glance.

The blonde student continued the interrogation.

"Do you know when last you saw him?"

This time, the man’s expression twisted slightly—confusion, puzzlement, surprise, then resignation.

"I can’t remember that too. But it seems I have seen him even before I was born. It is vague... ethereal... supreme!"

He spoke with a reverent expression that made Anthony facepalm.

Sighing, he decided to ask the last question.

"Do you know if there’s any other plan to attack the students tonight? Maybe by someone else."

Hearing this, the cuffed man gave an unsettling smile.

"Any? Of course I do. You only caught me. Not the several contracted beasts I have all over the academy."

Anthony and the Instructor’s eyes widened, their expressions turning grave.

"Ah—don’t think forcing me to command them to stop would work, though. I already broke the contracts."

"Welcome, to the Chaosring."

.........

Meanwhile, Kaiser had been heading back to the dormitory when he suddenly paused. There was someone blocking his path.

It was an extremely unfamiliar person—not a student, and clearly not a worker in the academy.

He didn’t look surprised, merely staring at the person’s masked face.

He tilted his head. "You finally showed yourself, rat."

The masked man didn’t seem offended by the insult, adjusting the cuffs of his suit.

"I didn’t expect there to be a devious student like you within the academy, actually twisting my plans to this extent. However, do you think you can stop me?"

Kaiser shook his head. "No, you’re wrong. I’m not trying to stop you. I am merely using you to execute my own plan. We have goals that align—at least temporarily."

The masked man released a sound of surprise.

"Oh? In that case, we can cooperate."

Kaiser sighed and shook his head. "Unfortunately, we can’t. You aren’t qualified yet."

He rolled his shoulders and stretched his joints. On his wrist, the yellow glow of the limiter faded.

"After all, my own goal has already been achieved."