Zenith doesn’t apologize this time. A few more seconds pass in pure tension, then she sighs...

"Viktor, pull your hand back," she said calmly...

Hearing his Commander, he slowly pulls his hand back...

"Let’s go..." Zenith said while already turning her back and walking from the mess.

Beside her, Viktor let out a low grunt. Bending down, he grabbed Adrian by the arm and hauled him to his feet. The rest of the Sovereign team also started moving following their captain.

Across the other side of the cube tension finally began to thin out. Seeing the Sovereign team settling down, the members of the other two teams — Blackmire and Blood Oak — visually relaxed. Shoulders dropped, everyone let out a breath as It seemed the explosive drama was finally over.

A few quiet seconds ticked by as the distance between the two groups grew.

while Viktor dragged him along, Adrian stumbled though his bloodshot eyes couldn’t resist throwing one last glare over his shoulder. He wanted to see Lucian intimidated.

Instead, what he saw was Lucian just stood there calmly, looking right back at him as slowly a mocking smile stretched across his face.

And then, without breaking eye contact lucian lazily raised his hand... and flipped him a crystal-clear middle finger.

Snap.

Adrian finally broke.

Gritting his teeth so hard they almost cracked, he swatted Viktor’s hand away from his arm.

"YOU BASTARD!"

Like a cornered dog, Adrian lunged straight back towards Lucian. Mid-sprint, his thumb frantically rubbed another one of his flashy rings. Vwoosh! A high-tier golden sword materialized into his grip, radiating an intense aura.

Despite the sudden lethal charge, Lucian’s expression didn’t change at all. He remained completely relaxed as his hands casually hung by his sides while he watched his enraged brother close the distance.

With a ferocious, animalistic growl, Adrian swung the heavy golden blade down in a wild, full-power vertical slash.

It was fast, though to Lucian... it was ridiculously sloppy.

He didn’t even need to waste his mana to use Overdrive on something this pathetic. With just a slight pivot, Lucian smoothly stepped sideways. The golden blade sliced through nothing but empty air, its momentum dragging Adrian forward.

His posture instantly broke, leaving his entire midsection wide open.

Lucian didn’t wait for a microsecond. Using that perfect opening, he drove a bone-rattling kick straight into his stomach.

BAM!

All the air forcefully evacuated from Adrian’s lungs in a sickening thud. A massive glob of saliva shot out of his mouth, spraying into the air as his eyes practically bulged out of their sockets.

Dropping his golden sword, he immediately clutched his stomach with both hands and collapsed to his knees, letting out a pitiful groan.

"Arghh... hueeekk..."

And suddnly,

"Pfft—BHAHAHAHA!"

Sera couldn’t hold back, grabbing her stomach as she doubled over and burst into an uncontrollable laughter.

"What the hell was that?! Lucian, haha... this guy, hah... this guy came here to make you eat shit, haha... but ended up swallowing the whole pile himself! HAHAHA!"

Standing nearby, Kaelen slapped both hands over his mouth, his shoulders shaking as he tried his hardest to swallow his laughter.

Hearing Sera’s comment, Elira quickly turned her back, her shoulders trembling in suppressed laughter.

Even lyria simply brought her fan up to cover her mouth, her eyes gleaming with amusement as she let out a chuckle.

What a shame to see a prodigy like this...

After all, what could possibly be a more ultimate humiliation? He came charging in to beat someone down, only to get folded like a cheap chair in a single hit. Looking at this pathetic display, not a single person in Lucian’s team could hold back their laughter.

Adrian was still on his knees, gritting his teeth so hard it sounded like his jaw would snap. Saliva dripped from his mouth, staining the pristine white floor of the cube.

Looking down at the miserable mess, Lucian only gave a cold stare.

"Pathetic..."

Up ahead, Zenith didn’t even bother to turn around. However, even from the back, anyone paying attention could see a thick blue vein popping on the side of her forehead. Her hand, resting by her side, slowly clenched into a tight fist.

"Viktor. Bring him."

Hearing the suppressed anger in his commander’s tone, Viktor gave a slight bow to her back. He immediately turned around and walked toward Adrian. Reaching down with his hand, he grabbed Adrian by the shoulder to haul him up again.

"GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF ME!"

Adrian shrieked like a maniac, slapping Viktor’s hand away. "I said don’t fucking touch me, you giant ape!"

He scrambled back with bloodshot eyes glued to Lucian’s calm smile... all that arrogant pride totally crushed, leaving nothing but a pathetic anger.

"I’ll kill you! I’ll fucking butcher you right here, you hear me?!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, spittle flying from his mouth.

"You motherfucking discarded trash, who the fuck gave you the right to look down on me?! How dare you laugh at me, you worthless piece of shit?! I’LL TEAR THAT SMUG FUCKING FACE RIGHT OFF YOUR SKULL! I’LL KILL YOU—"

Viktor ignored the crazed thrashing... with a sigh, he tightened his grip, dragging Adrian away across the floor like a screeching sack of garbage.

Up ahead, the rest of the Sovereign team was watching this humiliating spectacle unfold.

Dante, totally oblivious to the actual power dynamics in the room, confidently opened his cocky mouth.

"Captain, Adrian is always nothing but a headache for us. Why don’t you let me go fetch him? And hey, if you give the word, I wouldn’t mind knocking that other Valemont down a peg or two while I’m at it. I mean, he looks a little strong, though nothing I can’t handle..."

Standing beside him, Selene caught one look at Zenith’s darkened face... and her stomach dropped. Frantic, she yanked hard on Dante’s sleeve, hissing in a trembling whisper.

"D-Dante, please could you shut your mouth! C-Can’t you read the room?! We’re already hanging by a thread here... please, just don’t talk about beating anyone up right now..."

A few steps away, Cassian just stood off to the side, his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed as he watched the whole circus.

What a team of fucking retards, Cassian thought, his lips curling into a irritated sneer. If this blind moron actually steps up, Valemont is going to chew him up alive and spit out his bones. And this bitch-ass Adrian... the practicals are literally over, why the fuck is this bastard throwing a tantrum and creating a scene right now? Fucking illegitimate dog...

Despite Adrian screaming his lungs out as he was being dragged, Lucian’s expression hadn’t changed at all. He just stood there, watching with that same cold calmness. Seeing that unbothered face was driving Adrian completely insane...

But then... Adrian just stopped struggling.

It was as if some twisted memory had clicked in his brain — a sick realization meant specifically to shatter Lucian’s composure.

As he burst into an ugly laugh.

"Ha... haha... HAHAHAHAHA!"

Viktor immediately stopped in his tracks, looking down at him with pure disgust.

"Enough, Adrian. Stop embarrassing the Captain and our Academy."

His laughter cut off as he dragged a hand across his face, wiping the spit and tears from his cheeks in one messy swipe.

"Let go of me. I’m fine now," he muttered darkly.

Viktor slowly released his grip, letting him stand on his own two feet.

Fixing his wrinkled, dirty shirt, Adrian turned his head to look back at Lucian one last time. A sickeningly evil grin spread across his face.

"Hey, fucker..."

Instead of shouting, he mouthed a sentence slowly, exaggerating every single syllable so Lucian could read his lips perfectly from a distance.

I... S...

A... R... I... A...

O... K... A... Y...?

The exact second those words registered in Lucian’s mind, the atmosphere in the room didn’t just drop — it completely caved in.

Lucian’s pupils shrank to the size of needlepoints.

The relaxed expression completely dropped from his face, replaced by a dead-eyed stare that brought the entire room to an absolute standstill.

Before a single person could even process what was happening, the space directly behind Adrian distorted.

VWOOM!

Lucian shoved his hand into the deep purple portal, grabbed a fistful of Adrian’s hair, and yanked his head back hard enough to make his neck crack.

Leaning in close to his ear, he spoke in an icy whisper.

"You fucking cunt."

In the very next split second, Lucian slammed Adrian headfirst into the pristine white floor like he was nothing more than a lifeless object.

Instantly, the tension in the entire cube spikes to a hyper-strong level again. The students from the Blood Oak and Blackmire teams completely froze, their eyes glued to Adrian’s agonizing body twitching on the ground. No one dared to utter a single word, but every single face was painted with pure dread as they saw what was happening before them.

In the very next split second.