"She’s just some inexperienced little girl. Is she really that difficult to deal with?"

"She’s the Sorcerer chosen by the Death Eye."

At that, the Astra Headmaster slowly shook his head.

"The problem comes from a third party. Someone else has interfered. Every person I sent was killed."

The expressions of the senior members immediately changed.

"Are they after the Death Eye?"

"Unknown for now."

The technique carried by the Death Eye itself was not the real issue.

What truly worried them was the secret hidden behind it.

If an outsider uncovered that secret and chose to exploit it, the consequences would be catastrophic.

"We need to send more people. The Death Eye cannot be lost."

The Astra Headmaster nodded.

"Then let Zephyr and Sylas handle it. Those two may have plenty of grievances with us, but their abilities are beyond question."

"Zephyr and Sylas..."

Just hearing those names gave the higher ups headaches.

Both had been born into prestigious Sorcerer families, yet somehow ended up as reformists.

They constantly clashed with the conservative elders and caused trouble at every opportunity.

Still, after thinking it over, nobody could deny they were the strongest available candidates.

No matter how unwilling the elders felt, the task could only be handed to them.

After a moment of silence, the room filled with reluctant agreement.

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

The Astra Headmaster made the final decision.

"Then it’s settled. We’ll leave it to the two of them."

Slide.

Inside Alpha Division, the classroom door opened.

A spiky haired man wearing a black blindfold stepped out.

He still wore the black Cursecraft Academy uniform, looking much the same as he had ten years ago.

Only now, he carried himself with far more composure.

Ten years ago, he had been a student of Alpha Division.

Now, he was its instructor.

"Alright then, enjoy your time at Astra."

That said, his attitude remained as carefree and unreliable as ever.

Outside the classroom, Sylas waited for him.

The two walked off together.

Like Zephyr, Sylas had remained at Cursecraft Academy after graduation and become an instructor himself.

They now dedicated their lives to training the next generation of Sorcerers for the Sorcerer world.

A breeze drifted down the hallway, causing Sylas’s empty left sleeve to sway lightly.

After what happened ten years ago, Zephyr had lost his sight permanently. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Nothing could heal it.

Sylas, meanwhile, had lost his left arm.

Still, they had survived.

Several students peeked out from inside the classroom, staring at their backs with admiration.

"So those are Professors Zephyr and Sylas..."

"They’re famous even outside Astra."

Nowadays, their names echoed throughout the entire Sorcerer world.

Zephyr, in particular, was recognized as the strongest Sorcerer alive.

A true legend.

At present, the Sorcerer world possessed four Special Grade Sorcerers.

Two of them belonged to Astra alone.

The academy effectively held half of the world’s top combat power.

"We seriously lucked out getting assigned to Professor Zephyr’s class."

"By the way, why does Professor Zephyr wear a blindfold? Can he even see where he’s going, or is he just trying to look cool?"

The loudmouthed freshman immediately got smacked on the head.

Ordinary Sorcerers might not know, but those from established Sorcerer families were all familiar with Zephyr and Sylas’s past.

Ten years ago, a major incident had shaken the Sorcerer world.

Astra had suffered a massacre at the hands of the Cursed Spirit faction and taken devastating losses.

In response, the academies had united and launched a full scale retaliation campaign.

What exactly happened during that operation remained unknown.

Only the outcome was clear.

The academy side had been almost completely annihilated.

Two Special Grade Sorcerers.

Thirty Grade One Sorcerers.

Dozens of Grade Two Sorcerers.

More than one hundred Sorcerers in total had died.

Only Zephyr and Sylas returned alive.

In truth, both of them had technically died back then.

"The Death Eye..."

Zephyr spoke lazily.

"If I remember right, the one that revived us was called the Life Eye, wasn’t it? A technique that restores the body through the soul. Pretty interesting ability."

"Yeah."

Sylas nodded.

"The Death Eye’s inherited technique is True Hit. It’s basically like the bearer is permanently maintaining an enormous Domain."

"Tch. Sounds dangerous as hell."

If the Death Eye bearer also happened to possess some bizarre instant death technique, fighting them would become absurdly lethal.

After becoming Special Grade Sorcerers, Zephyr and Sylas soon inherited leadership of their respective clans.

Now both stood at the top of major Sorcerer families.

As core figures within the Sorcerer world, they naturally knew about Risei’s legacy and the secrets surrounding it.

Unfortunately, because they belonged to the reformist faction, the conservatives constantly pushed them aside.

The upper council never invited them to meetings.

Not that either of them wanted to attend a gathering full of ancient fossils anyway.

The two sides despised each other.

Zephyr had even smashed up the conference room multiple times before.

Right in front of those old conservatives, too.

Laughing the entire time while wrecking everything in sight.

The dark looks on their faces had brought him endless joy.

Changing the subject, Zephyr sighed.

"Wonder what happened to that guy. Haven’t seen him show up once in all these years. Feels like he vanished off the face of the earth."

"He’s strong," Sylas said calmly.

"Nothing would’ve happened to him."

"True enough."

Back then, Caelum had barely entered Astra and already possessed enough power to crush over a hundred Sorcerers like insects.

Even now, Zephyr still didn’t think he would survive another encounter with him.

Nobody who hadn’t fought Caelum personally could understand just how terrifying he truly was.

And among those who had fought him and lived...

there were only the two of them.

When Caelum got serious in battle, he almost always killed on the spot.

Fast.

Efficient.

Merciless.

Back then, Zephyr’s Domain had lasted less than three seconds before Caelum shattered it.

The psychological trauma from that moment still lingered to this day.

Strongest Sorcerer?

Zephyr scoffed at the title.

The events of the past had long since passed.

Both he and Sylas had matured.

Even though they now stood on opposing sides, neither harbored any hatred toward Caelum.

In fact, their attitude toward the Sorcerer world itself had become increasingly difficult to understand.

They constantly opposed the conservative faction, to the point where the upper ranks openly isolated them.

Yet despite being the symbolic leaders of the reformists, the two never took any truly radical action to change the rotten structure of the Sorcerer world.

They were more like two lazy slackers drifting through life without a care.

Though Zephyr apparently considered smashing the elders’ meeting room a form of activism.

He called it the composure of a mature adult.

Sylas glanced at him.

"So what’s your answer to the old men’s assignment?"

Zephyr rolled his eyes.

"Those ancient bastards do nothing except dump work on me. No chance. Absolutely not. The world can collapse for all I care."