"How many again??" hearing what Novus said about the strength of the group they are currently watching, Medea couldn’t help but express in utter shock, her fingers repeatedly tapping on the hilt of her blade as if something completely different was occupying her mind as she heard the news.

"Several hundreds, all E Tier; there are also around a dozen of D Tiers in total..." even Novus himself still feels disbelief as Sensory Expansion covered the entire area, this place alone housing such a number of beasts, reminding him of the beast wave he just encountered inside the Evolution Domain.

This one, however, isn’t only composed of all assortments of slimes, as there are vicious Silver Direwolves and Ironhide Bears all around, not to mention the assortment of avian and aquatic beasts that seem to be more than capable of matching any of the academy’s above-average senior students in terms of strength.

"..."

Witnessing the contemplating silence and the troubled expression on the lady’s face, the young man closes his eyes as he takes a deep breath, trying to find it in him the right words to clear her mind.

"That’s a lot of points; do you want them, Senior Medea?"

"Mn." still listless, she answers without thinking too much, only realizing it a moment later and feeling like she shouldn’t have answered like that, thinking that Novus will convince her away from doing so.

"Then let’s establish a better plan to deal with them."

Hearing his words, she snapped out of her thoughts, looking at him with a surprised gaze as she looked at his faint but assuring smile, that calmness amidst the current situation causing her to return a smile as well before nodding, agreeing with his suggestion.

Moments after Novus and Medea planned their approach against the number of beasts they encountered, developments on the other side of the exam were made with Runia returning from her search of the teleportation array’s older energy core, the lady rushing in an attempt to create a remedy for the array’s current problem.

"V-vice Headmaster, there is news from the staff surveilling around the SE-3 sector..."

While Runia herself had taken direct control over the replacement of the teleportation array’s energy core, yet another development was reported by another professor; her hand couldn’t help but tremble a bit, as it was just bad news after bad news, hence the assumption that this one is just like the previous reports.

Still, she merely nods in acknowledgement, telling the professor to proceed as she continues with her job, taking out the newer energy core and replacing it with the previously discarded one in an attempt to create a temporary fix to the issue.

"T-the horde of beasts gathering around that sector is currently thrown into chaos... as for the reason, w-well, we think it might be better to see it for yourself, Vice Headmaster."

Following the professor, Runia finds herself standing in front of the projected screen with a live feed being sent directly by the field staff sent by the academy to ensure the students’ safety, her eyes revealing a bit of shock and panic as she sees a familiar face in the chaotic situation.

Two human mages are fighting against a horde of beasts that can pose a threat even to a large hunting group.

’Medea...’ looking at the blade-wielding lady whose motion borders dancing rather than fighting, Runia couldn’t help but clench her fist in worry, wanting nothing more than to go there personally to cleanly deal with it all.

After a moment of staying frozen, torn between two decisions, she heaved a calming sigh, choosing to trust in her younger cousin, as she knows just what kind of headstrong character she can be, her still trembling fist loosening a bit as the thoughts of directly intervening still pop in her mind every now and then.

However, such an idea borders on the line of impossible right now, as even with the issue she noticed finally being fixed with the replacement of the teleportation array’s energy core, it would be irresponsible of her as the Vice Headmaster of the academy to just leave, especially when both the Headmaster and the other Vice Headmaster are not within the academy’s premises right now. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Vice Headmaster, not only beasts, but monsters are starting to form up organized groups as well..."

Another professor voiced out their concern, and his words forced the attention of everyone else to stare at the screen he was watching right now, a screen displaying the map of the entire infested island, revealing numerous large areas of red that seemed to circle around the entirety of the place.

A perfect encirclement.

That was the only thing these veteran mages could think of as they saw the groups of monsters and beasts locking down the once safest paths for students to reach the periphery of the island.

And as if forcing the students to exhaustion by sending in weaker opponents for them to deal with first is not enough, the organized attack pushes the students even more by gradually pushing them to separate places, isolating and preventing every group from meeting each other, as if they plan on dealing with the targets one by one.

"What are the field staff doing?"

As she massaged her forehead from problem after problem just piling up on top of each other, Runia asked with a calm, collected voice, a trace of frustration oozing out of her being, turning into pressure that made it difficult for anyone else in the area to breathe.

"T-they cannot keep up with the number of beasts appearing, Vice Headmaster."

"..."

Hearing those reports, Runia fell into complete silence for a moment, taking a good, long look, scanning every single individual that is working in this place right now, a certain sharp ruthlessness apparent in her gaze, a light that disappears as quickly as it reveals itself, before she finally heaves a sigh.

"From this moment onwards, the Annual Great Subjugation Exams are completely canceled, rescue and combatant personnel, prepare for direct intervention, prioritize student safety, and eliminate all the beasts and monsters you will encounter as soon as you are teleported within the infested island’s premises..."

"Yes, Vice Headmaster!!"

The personnel answered in unison as each of them rushed towards the teleportation array with haste; most of their eyes were filled with the same level of urgency that most professors and assistants show, revealing just how much of the academy truly values the students they are nurturing.

"Start the array."

As Runia’s voice fell over the room, the staff immediately began doing their utmost to meet this lady’s repeatedly shattered expectations of them, some hands shaking in fear of failing this powerhouse once more.

"Spark system functional and in operational condition, ready to link trigger temporary spatial bridge."

"Energy core in operational condition. Main mana supply route is active, secondary mana supply route is currently in passive-charge, prepared to shift to active-standby."

"Main control all green, array specs all in operational range, prepared for transfer."

The teleportation array underneath the personnel’s feet began glowing the same glow as before, the intensity of the light increasing ever-so-slightly as time went by.

As they watch the slowly approaching activation of the array, the room felt all too silent from the tension, each one of them feeling like the process feels way slower than before as the array gradually engulfed the rescue and combatant personnel with its light.

As soon as the light faded, the staff, professors, and assistants watching the personnel disappear immediately diverted their attention to the map of the island once again, trying to search for the newly transported personnel’s signals amidst the mix of beasts and monsters, students’ and field staff’s signals.

"W-what?! How??"

"T-this..."

"Why... would they appear there??"

Watching the green colored dots representing the reinforcement they sent, everyone couldn’t help but mutter in confused shock, their gazes shaking as they felt like they were gradually being led by something unknown into a deep, dangerous trap that they had yet to realize.

Runia’s expression dropped once more, the calm façade gradually collapsing as she also had her eyes pasted on the map screen where the rescue and combatant personnel’s signal could still be seen.

However, right now, they are several kilometers away from the infested island, meaning they need to either swim or fly just so they can reach its range.