The moment the dungeon began to shake, Caelum reacted without hesitation.

He summoned Asta, the Divine Mystical Horse, and mounted him in one fluid motion. He was not an idiot enough to run there.

As Asta surged forward, gliding effortlessly through the sky, Caelum quickly scanned the surroundings.

Below, he noticed several senior students gathering scattered children, while two others were already rushing toward the source of the disturbance.

More importantly, he could feel shockwaves from two separate battles rippling through the dungeon.

As he approached the first one, the scene below came into view.

There the "sauce guy" was locked in combat with a figure emitting dense, oppressive demonic energy.

"Domn–" Caelum bit his tongue midway, almost as if he had invited bad luck by speaking.

’Everywhere I go, I only see demons,’ he thought philosophically.

Even so, he did not believe the senior would die, not yet.

Through his [Heaven Reading Eyes], he could clearly see the flow of mana in the surroundings, and whatever that man was preparing seemed extremely dangerous, something capable of large-scale devastation.

The energy gathering within the card hidden in his pocket shimmered with both light and lightning.

"Asta, let’s move there and use Mana Disperse," Caelum instructed.

At his command, Asta accelerated, its body beginning to glow with a brilliant blue radiance as its fur flowed like rippling energy.

As they closed the distance, the Divine Mystical Horse released a blinding surge of blue light that spread across the battlefield.

The effect was immediate.

The surrounding mana was forcefully repelled, creating a destabilized zone where energy itself struggled to maintain form.

Rocky staggered as the demonic energy he had gathered began to collapse and distort, while Ethan, who had been quietly accumulating mana to activate his artifact, was forced to halt abruptly.

For a brief moment, Ethan’s vision blurred.

It felt as though the sky and earth had merged into one as everything turned blue.

Then, a divine presence descended.

A celestial horse, like something straight out of legend, appeared above them.

And in the next instant, a terrifying slash tore through the battlefield.

The ground itself was obliterated, and a portion of Rocky’s body vanished entirely as he let out a scream that resembled that of a slaughtered beast.

As suddenly as it had appeared, the divine horse disappeared into the horizon, leaving Ethan momentarily stunned.

’Did... did the gods just help me?’ he thought, dazed.

Then his expression shifted.

’Thank-no, fuck you, Aion!’ he mentally cursed, strangely relieved that he would not have to use the card that would leave him paralyzed.

Relief quickly gave way to anger as his gaze fell upon Rocky.

Now, he truly held a grudge.

"Rocky, you son of a–!" Ethan unleashed a string of curses, deliberately dragging it out to buy himself a few seconds of recovery.

Then, his expression hardened.

"Now, eat this bastard!"

He pulled out another card, this one inscribed with yellow lightning runes, and began channeling his mana into it.

Unlike before, he only pushed it to the first level.

Although it consumed a significant amount of mana, it was still within a manageable range and would not paralyze him.

Crackling yellow energy began to gather around the card, forming arcs of violent lightning.

Rocky, still reeling from the previous attack, looked up in horror.

"L-Light... and lightning...!"

In the next moment.

A surge of yellow lightning descended and tore him apart.

***

"That should be enough, I guess," Caelum muttered under his breath.

He had already intervened more than necessary, and from what he could tell, the "sauce guy" would survive this encounter on his own now.

Even so, a question lingered in his mind.

How had a student suddenly acquired demonic energy?

He pushed the thought aside for now and urged Asta forward, directing him toward the second disturbance he had sensed earlier.

The Divine Mystical Horse surged ahead, cutting through the air until they arrived at the source of the other clash.

What he saw made his expression turn serious.

Loreal was fighting – no, struggling against two familiar figures.

Zoe and Matilda.

’So I was right,’ Caelum thought quietly.

Earlier, just before parting ways, he had sensed a strange and unsettling energy clinging to both of them, similar in nature to the malicious presence surrounding Anastasia, yet distinctly different.

Now, the truth was clear.

They were no longer themselves.

The mana signatures they once carried had completely vanished, replaced by something alien and corrupted.

At the same time, Caelum could no longer sense the vitality of living beings from them.

They looked alive.

They moved like the living, but they were not.

’What a cruel fate...’ Caelum thought gravely. To exist in such a state, neither truly alive nor properly dead, was something no one would ever wish for.

And yet, despite facing such opponents, Loreal was still holding her ground.

’She’s not an Adept for nothing,’

"Asta, make sure no one interferes here," Caelum instructed before leaping off the horse.

Channeling his aura into his legs, he executed Air Steps, an advanced movement technique taught to him by his father, and descended swiftly onto the battlefield. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

The moment he landed, he took in Loreal’s condition.

One of her arms hung dislocated, and blood stained her clothes in multiple places.

Her breathing was uneven, yet her stance remained firm.

"Another nuisance," Zoe and Matilda said in unison, their voices devoid of emotion.

"If you already knew something like this would happen, you could have said it earlier!" Loreal snapped, frustration slipping through despite her injuries.

"I’m not a prophet, Loreal. I only had a bad feeling," Caelum replied calmly, unaffected by her tone.

He could not understand the shock and betrayal she must be experiencing, and there was no point in arguing over it now.

Even so, another thought surfaced in his mind.

’If they were like this all along, how did they remain hidden inside the academy for so long? And why did I only sense that energy today?’

It was yet another mystery to add to the growing list.

Stepping forward, Caelum fixed his gaze on Zoe and Matilda, his expression turning solemn.

"I don’t know what has happened to you two," he said slowly, his voice carrying an unusual weight, "but if any part of you still remains... then I promise you this, I will grant you peace."

For a brief moment, his words carried a strange sense of reliability, as if he were an experienced adult.

Loreal clenched her fists at what she initially thought was meaningless talk, yet deep down, a small part of her wished for it to be true.

If they truly could no longer return.

Then perhaps... this was the only kindness left for them.