"Is it the Chancellor...?"

Kai’s hand grabbed the handle of the door, but he didn’t twist.

He stopped, looking down at the wooden floor.

"Is he already making a move against me? Making it harder for me to survive?" Kai ground his teeth in anger. His face contorted grimly. "Just because I won... Just because I desired to be free from this damn status of a Lesser Angel, he took his time to make it harder for me?"

Back then, when he was face-to-face with the Chancellor, he thought he knew it all.

He thought he could read through the Chancellor’s eyes.

He couldn’t.

Those cold, condescending eyes don’t think that his ambition to become an ordinary Angel is a hope needed to be crushed. No. In those condescending eyes, his ambition was an infectious disease. One that needed to be taken out quickly.

"But how...?" Kai clutched the door handle harder. "How can I fight back against this?"

Of course, he could work hard and triumph over the Chancellor’s attempt to root him out.

Gathering three thousand mana ores is plausible.

But until when? If the demand to keep his life increases, what then?

Kai needed a permanent solution. One that would keep the Chancellor away from his back.

Just like with Roan, he needed insurance.

"But what?"

Kai exited the levy post and headed straight for the main gate, not forgetting to use the Nigh-phantom before he left. He could scale the wall and exit that way without needing to go through the main gate, but there’s an invisible barrier protecting the academy.

Even if he could go through the barrier, he would probably be caught.

Anyone entering or leaving without passing through the main gate would be detected.

But it wasn’t a problem.

A Sky Gate appearing on the First Sky is extremely rare, so the security was loose. Kai walked through the main gate and saw the Blooded Angel guards playing cards and sleeping. No one has any intention of keeping a watch on the gate.

He slipped through them without being noticed and went north.

It took a minute, but he eventually stumbled across a building.

Kai spotted Matilda waiting at the entrance. The moment she saw him approaching, she tilted her head toward the rectangular building and stepped through a humble gate of wooden fences. Even from outside, the air was alive with sound.

Mainly throaty shrieks and piercing hisses echoing from within.

As he walked inside, he caught a glimpse of the inside through an open window.

It was a stable filled with different kinds of animals. Most of them were Pegasuses and Griffins that were sectioned and numbered. Kai had seen these animals on TV, but he had never seen them first-hand like this.

One of them, a Pegasus nearest to the window, saw Kai through his Nigh-phantom.

Almost instantly, it recoiled and neighed loudly.

Its eyes were wide with fear as it tried to break free from its restraints, seemingly spooked.

"Huh... It can see me," Kai rubbed his chin, surprised that an animal could see him.

Kai continued inside and saw that another Blooded Angel was talking with Matilda. He was not wearing the same uniform as the students, so Kai reckoned he must be the stable master. One who overlooks this entire place.

A Pegasus was positioned beside him.

And when Matilda gave him her student badge, he handed the Pegasus over to her.

"I need to get past him, too," Kai nodded.

Fortunately, that doesn’t seem to be a problem since the stable master had already retreated inside again. Matilda led the Pegasus forward onto the launch terrace—an extremely spacious, raised platform of stone and timber built specifically for takeoffs and landings.

It was flanked by shoulder-high wooden fencing.

And beyond it, the clouds sloped downward like a slow-moving avalanche into the open sky.

Kai sneaked toward Matilda silently and finally got on the Pegasus.

Once again, it neighed, feeling something off was now mounting it.

It even raised both feet high in protest.

Matilda grabbed Kai’s wrist before he could fall and placed his arm around her waist, telling him to hold on. "Easy. Easy..." She rubbed the Pegasus’ neck and gave it firm taps. "Nothing to worry about. Just another person. It’s just another person."

She calmed the Pegasus down for a good moment until it accepted the situation.

"Probably because of my imprint," Kai said. "I’ll deactivate it once we’re in the clear."

"Figured as much," Matilda shrugged and flicked the reins sharply, and the Pegasus lunged.

"Woaah!"

"Hold on! It’s my first time riding it!"

"Huh? Your first time?! Then why the heck did that Angel let you ride it alone?!"

"High Angel, remember? I’ve ridden a Griffin before, but never a Pegasus."

Matilda cast him a smirk and whipped the reins again as the Pegasus flew higher messily.

Even though it was heart-racing, the experience was completely exhilarating.

For a moment, Kai forgot about everything and took in the sensation of the night wind against his skin, and the breathtaking view of the starry night sky above and the surface below. Had it not been for a few stumbles here and there because of Matilda’s lack of skill.

"Not long ago, we were still down there living normally..." Kai looked down. Nostalgia hit.

"Don’t look down. Never look down." Matilda said. "It can drag you under. Angels have tried to flee to the surface before, and every one of them was hunted down by Demons the moment they landed. Keep your eyes forward, or skyward. Don’t torture yourself with the past."

Kai could only sigh.

He could not blame the Angels for trying to escape the First Sky, especially after everything the academy had put them through. Heck, if he were weaker—if he were still the man he used to be, he’d probably be diving down right now.

Living on the surface had been horrid for him.

But it was far better than living on the First Sky. Far better if he were being honest.

At least down there, it’s still civilized.

"How are you faring?" Matilda asked without looking. "It must’ve been hard to accept."

Knowing how hard Kai fought on the Blood Rite, she knew the news must be devastating.

It was also embarrassing.

Everyone practically knew about Kai’s demotion.

How could they not? Kai’s demotion was announced through the hallway speaker for every single student to hear. It was humiliating and also a statement to others who were inspired to elevate their status after hearing what Kai did.

"I already accepted it."

"That’s good. I saw your face earlier, and I thought you still suck up on it."

"No, that’s because of a different problem."

"Different problem?"

Kai paused for a second, deliberating whether he should tell Matilda about it.

Even though she looked supportive right now, bearing no ill intent even after he was demoted to a Lesser Angel again, it was still hard for Kai to trust her. In his mind, if she knew that he’d need to gather three thousand mana ores or else he’d be killed, she might screw him over at the last minute and not go through with her promise.

Not giving him a portion of her mining spoils that she owed.

If that happened, that would really be the end of him.

"Let me guess, is it your weekly quota? Or better yet, is the punishment for failing execution?"

"How in the world did you guess that?"

"Just a hunch," Matilda’s lips curled a little. "I’ve seen your eyes when it’s either kill or be killed."

Kai didn’t have anything to say to that.

Seems like he has a pair of very expressive eyes for her to know exactly what he was thinking.

"How many mana ores?"

"Three thousand. What about yours?"

"Mine is one thousand and five hundred. Half of yours."

Kai let out a hollow chuckle, steeped in self-pity. Even a High Angel was given a quote of no more than fifteen hundred mana ores. And yet he, a Lesser Angel, was double that. If this isn’t proof enough that the Chancellor really wanted him dead, he didn’t know what was.

"I can help you with that. Don’t fret it too much."

"You can, but what about the next time? What if the next time it’s six thousand? What then?"

"..."

Matilda doesn’t have the answer.

It was a legitimate concern that the academy would only make it harder for Kai to keep living.

Just talking about this made Kai angry again.

He needed to find something that the academy cared about. Something that he could use to put a big pressure on the Chancellor’s back. But he didn’t know what. As much as he wanted to meet with Archangel Morriva, he needed to handle this first.

A thought came to mind.

"Are you trustworthy now, Matilda?" Kai suddenly asked.

It was a question that Matilda wasn’t ready for, but she wasn’t late to answer.

"No, I’m not," She answered firmly. "But I’m trying to be."

Kai smiled a little at her answer.

Had she told him that she was now trustworthy, he wouldn’t believe her. At least with this, with her answer, she was really becoming trustworthy. But even so, Kai still hesitated. I think it’s better to ask Bree than Matilda. But she’s not here right now, and I need answers, or else I’ll really go crazy.

"I have a new servant, Talitha. She’s Abigail’s older sister," Kai said—confusing Matilda as to where he was going with this. "I tried to refuse her, but she said she’ll be killed if I decide to throw her out. Saying that the academy would find a reason to kill her."

"But an Angel’s family members can’t be harmed. She’s lying."

"What reason does she have to lie to me? And she doesn’t seem to be lying."

"Abigail could fool you, and you think her own blood sister can’t? She might be the one who taught Abigail to act innocent."

"Okay," Kai stopped her from pressing further.

He knew that this came as a shock to Matilda, as she had her own family. And the thought of them not being safe is scary for her. But still, Kai needed her to accept it. "Let’s assume she’s not lying. Why do you think the academy needs justification to kill her? No cameras here. No representatives from the Demons or the surface. Nobody can stop them.

"I don’t see any reason for them to need a reason to get rid of normal people."

"Hmm," Matilda contemplated for a second. "But that’s mainly your assumptions."

"What do you mean by assumptions?"

"Do you have proof that the surface of the Demons wasn’t watching the Angels? If we’re going by class, the Demons are at the very top, then the surface, before us, the Angels. I’d argue that we are being watched by both classes. We students just don’t know it."