[Fate points gained: +1850

Combat Power: 500+]

On the other side of the academy, a single student had just decimated twelve opponents in mere minutes — without relying on a single weapon or a drop of magic. Everyone who witnessed the spectacle was left utterly stunned.

Gasps and murmurs rippled through the crowd of students. They couldn’t believe their own eyes, questioning whether the brutal display they had just watched was real or some sort of illusion.

The professors were muttering among themselves as well. Some were in pure amazement, while others still tried to dismiss the "fallen prodigy’s" feat as a mere fluke.

"What kind of trickery was that? First, casting spells without a magic circle, and now these bizarre movements...

Indeed, do we even teach such techniques at our academy? Where on earth did he learn all this?"

Myra, who had been standing off to the side, lazily strolled over to the two muttering teachers, Professor Throne and Professor Vane.

"Does it really sting you both so much that my ’fallen student’ has finally got his groove back? If his little warm-up offends you that much, why don’t I step down there and give you a personal demonstration of exactly what kind of training he’s been through? Though, I can’t promise you’ll survive the lesson."

Both professors leaned back nervously, letting out uneasy chuckles.

"N-no... Miss Argos..."

Sitting nearby, the Headmaster simply watched, a calm, knowing smile playing on his lips.

Meanwhile, down in the arena, Lucian had finished collecting all the tags.

"Alright, let’s get going now..."

He turned to look toward Iris, who was sitting a distance away, and suddenly his eyes slowly widened.

A massive shadow loomed directly over her head. Sera and Elira had silently appeared right behind her. Elira’s giant ice sword was raised high, poised to strike Iris down, while Sera stood slightly off to the side, hands casually stuffed in her pockets, just watching.

Before the blade could even descend, Lucian burst out of a portal directly in front of Iris, stopping the giant ice sword dead in its tracks with his bare hands...

"You... you both, would you knock it off..."

Neither of them heard a word — they were completely drowned in blind jealousy.

A faint flicker of lightning sparked from Lucian’s fingers. Crack! The ice blade shattered into pieces, fragments clattering to the ground.

He stood up placing himself between Iris and the two girls.

"Agh... what a pain in the ass..."

"Listen, both of you..." He looked at them with a dead-serious gaze, his voice heavier and deeper than it had ever been.

"I am doing all of this for you two... this is all part of my plan to corner Cassian, and Iris is just helping me..."

They didn’t hear a thing. Elira’s gaze bypassed him entirely, fixated purely on Iris behind him... who stood perfectly neutral.

"What kind of plan..." Sera muttered, her face shadowed.

"Iris and I are cornering Cassi—"

"Why was she sitting in your lap..." She pointed her sheathed sword at Iris impatiently and didn’t let him finish. "Who gave her the right..."

"Hey... that was a mist—"

"Lucian, step aside. She has to die."

Elira warned while a new sword began to form in her hands.

"I need to eliminate this problem... before she gets any closer to you..."

Lucian stared into both girls’ eyes for a bit longer.

Something felt completely off.

They were behaving abnormally. Elira and Sera had never been this possessive — not to the point where they’d seriously harm him too... Thinking harder, he glanced upward to those streaming creatures hovering to one side. Then he flicked his wrist.

Suddenly, a massive wind tornado almost 80 to 100 meters — engulfed the entire group. Every flying creature was swept up and scattered — crashing hard into the ground.

Back at the academy, all the screens showed nothing but rolling, distorted images. The crowd erupted into anxious murmurs.

Inside the tornado, all four of them stood as their hair and clothes whipped violently in the wind. Dust and debris pelted their faces. Iris stood possessively watching the back of Lucian.

Lucian looked at the two girls standing in front of him as His face darkened completely. His suspicion... was correct.

The moment he saw it:

[Seraphina — Brainwashed 95%]

[Elira — Brainwashed 92%]

Who could have done that...

For now, he shook off the thought and activated Zero Domain.

[10 Sec Stop Timer]

The roaring winds, swirling leaves, dust, and girls’ fluttering clothes, and their twisted expressions — everything instantly froze in place under 10 meters range.

A deafening silence fell over the shore.

Lucian stepped forward while clenching his jaw tightly, snatching both girls’ flags.

For a brief moment, he simply stood there, staring at their frozen faces... A heavy mix of guilt, anger, and confusion swirled inside his chest.

[Time Resumed]

With a sudden flash of light, both girls were instantly teleported out to the academy grounds. Found themself bewildered.

Bereft of his mana, the massive tornado gradually also slowed to a halt — and stopped.

Without dwelling on the bizarre incident, Lucian turned away and headed straight into the dense jungle. "Come on, Iris. Let’s get moving."

Iris was still a bit confused about where the two girls had vanished to so abruptly, but she didn’t give it much thought. As long as she could stay right by Lucian’s side, nothing else in the world mattered to her.

"Coming!" she chimed happily.

After walking through the woods for a while, the heavy, lingering silence became too much. Seeing Lucian acting so unusually quiet and distant, Iris couldn’t hold herself back any longer.

"Thanks, Lucian... for saving me back there," she said softly. "Otherwise, those two would have practically beaten me half to death before eliminating me."

Lucian didn’t even cast a glance in her direction. His cold gaze remained fixed on the path ahead.

"No problem."

Silence fell over them once again. The only sound left between them was the steady crunch of their footsteps echoing through the eerie woods.

Meanwhile, in a different sector of the jungle...

Marcus, whose arrogant and rotten nature hadn’t changed one bit even after the suspension, had just finished mercilessly thrashing his own three cronies.

While down at their battered bodies he openly mocked them.

"You useless bastards were never good for anything. You couldn’t even do one simple job right," he spat.

"Well, whatever... I’m feeling generous today, so I’m willing to let the past go."

His face twisted into a cruel, sadistic grimace as he loomed over his fallen lackeys. "Now, if you value your miserable lives... place those flags right here."

He pointed a finger directly down at the tips of his muddy boots, expecting them to bow.

But before the terrified cronies could move, a new voice echoed through the clearing.

"Hey... moron."

Cassian casually stepped out from the treeline, his eyes locked onto Marcus.

"If you’re that desperate to throw your weight around... why don’t you pick on someone your own size?"