Agonizing, scorched screams burst from all directions at once, tearing through Lucian’s ears

Though Elira....

She remained confused for a few seconds. Then her eyes narrowed thoughtfully as she watched the living hell unfold. Burning bodies, writhing goblins... everything.

Setting aside her unsettling questions for now, she said only one thing:

"Lucian... you did something."

Lucian nodded while continuously firing bullets at the goblins charging from the sides. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Yes..."

"I don’t have time to explain... let’s focus on surviving first."

At least 20% of the inner layer goblins had died and piled up. Everywhere, that foul stench — burning flesh and blood — rose from the mass of bodies and mixed into the forest air.

Elira suddenly stopped her dagger attacks.

She took one step forward.

Lucian caught the movement from the corner of his eye.

"Hey... what are you doing?"

An unsettling feeling crept through Lucian — that this girl was definitely about to cause some major havoc.

Please tell me she’s not going completely crazy...

The very next moment, Elira launched herself into the air. She ascended higher and higher, creating a staircase of freezing steps beneath her feet... no sword in hand, no dagger.

Something far more catastrophic was brewing in her mind.

Below, Lucian was being overwhelmed by the relentless flood of goblins. He had to move swiftly in all directions just to handle the situation. Losing focus for even a second would be inviting death — but still he needed to know what Elira was planning.

Just to buy himself 5 seconds, he incinerated the approaching goblins with lightning and created a large fire ring around himself.

[Alert: Heavy Mana Drain — 274 → 230]

His mana was draining rapidly from relying so heavily on elemental magic... yet he took this massive gamble just to buy 5 seconds.

Elira ascended nearly 300 feet into the sky... then plummeted downward like a deadly comet.

From that height, those all green bodies below looked like nothing more than ants to her.

With the force of a falling star, she slammed directly into the most densely packed area of the horde.

The force was so overwhelming that spiderweb cracks spread across the ground for a great distance.

And from the shockwaves, mid-lunging goblins were violently thrown in different directions — some crashing into trees, others slamming into their own allies.

[20% of the horde wiped out by Elira’s impact]

Witnessing this, Lucian was left completely stunned.

What the fuck is with this brute strength...

Lucian finally had a brief window to catch his breath, meanwhile Elira... She was now tearing through them with pure hand-to-hand combat, like a total battle maniac.

In nothing but her black bra and skirt with her silver-white hair flowing... while maintaining that deliberately calm grace, she looked exactly like an alluring war angel.

Is this girl even human?

An elbow to anyone coming from the flank. A snap-kick for those behind. A driving knee for any creature charging her stomach. A single touch was all it took to put a goblin down for good, whether they were A-rank or C-rank it did not matter at that time.

Lucian’s mind raced even as he fought — if she possessed this kind of overwhelming brute strength and raw combat power, why did she rely so heavily on ice magic?

In spite of that, there was no time for deeper questions. He shook the thought away from his head mid-charge, refocusing entirely on the slaughter.

The massacre only intensified as minutes bled into one another. After nearly 2 hours of relentless carnage, every single goblin had been reduced to a lifeless corpse.

Blood and mangled bodies littered the ground in every direction...

Lucian collapsed, lying flat on his back against the ground, his lungs burning as he gasped for air.

Elira was right beside him. Like him, she had dropped to the ground, sitting with her legs stretched out and leaning back slightly, both hands planted firmly on the dirt behind her for support.

His academy uniform bore numerous blood-red stains, but Elira’s body was something else entirely — she had practically bathed in crimson blood...

It was a good thing she’d been fighting in just her bra, otherwise the stench of so much goblin blood might have never left her robe. Though strangely, her robe lying on the ground nearby remained somehow clean despite all this massacre...

Still, say what you will — their fighting combo was undeniably perfect. One with brute strength, the other with strategic magic.

Bing...

[MISSION COMPLETE]

[Slain Goblins: 729]

[Calculating Rewards...]

[You have gained: + 1000 Mana]

[Mana Capacity: 1033/10000]

[PATH STAGE → EDGE STAGE]

[New magic affinity scroll acquired - Light (Mythic)]

[Total Affinity - Fire, Water, Lightning]

[Wish to unroll the scroll and absorb the affinity monologue? Y/N]

[You have gained: + 14,774 FP]

[Bonus for ’Massacre’ Achievement: + 2,000 FP]

[Current FP Balance: 20,510]

[Your Physical Strength has risen from C to B]

[Your Magical Control has risen from B to A]

[Your Combat Power has increased: 550 → 5450]

[New feature unlocked in shop]

[Wish to view? Y/N]

[System Note: Not bad, Son. You actually managed to survive a life threatening scenario without crying for your master. Maybe there’s hope for you yet.]

Too many notifications were flooding in at once. Lucian was utterly exhausted — not in any state to process information properly. For now, he dismissed the screen and turned his head to look at Elira.

she was still catching her breath, completely drenched in blood, looking like some kind of vengeful ghost.

For a moment, Lucian just stared at her... then a faint smile tugged at his lips. The next second, he began to chuckle softly.

Elira turned toward him.

Seeing him laugh in this blood-soaked aftermath... she couldn’t help but smile too.

Her gaze drifted unconsciously to the pale skin beside his closed eyes, where small creases had formed from his laughter. She found herself noticing the subtle details — the way Lucian was laughing, his teeth glittering faintly in the dim light, tiny dimples appearing on both cheeks.

It was... strangely captivating.

Ever since Elira had arrived at this academy, she hadn’t encountered anything truly interesting. Everything felt predictable. Flat. Lifeless — whether it was the professors droning on about theory or her classmates going through the motions.

With her goddess-like appearance, many seniors had fallen hopelessly for her. Several first-years had even mustered the courage to confess their feelings.

But she felt nothing toward them.

Whenever any human tried to approach her, she would read them instinctively — peeling back their surface intentions like layers of parchment. And after reading them, she always discovered the same common thread:

People were either approaching for their own benefit, or they were driven purely by lust and desire.

Elira could always see the ending clearly from the very beginning. That’s why she remained perpetually silent, never bothering to engage with anyone — which eventually earned her the infamous title of Ice Princess.

When Lucian first approached her, she had observed him as well.

But the more she silently watched him, the stronger her curiosity became — an almost magnetic pull drawing her to see him again and again.

Slowly, imperceptibly, in this entire academy filled with hundreds of students and faculty, she found herself spending most of her mental energy trying to understand just one person.

Lucian.

Days melted into weeks... and what had started as casual observation twisted into something far more consuming. The curiosity evolved into obsession. The obsession calcified into addiction.

She fell into a loop she couldn’t escape — developing a compulsive need to follow him, watch him from the shadows, study every minute detail of his behavior.

Stalking him.

And now, seeing Lucian this close in the aftermath of carnage — his face unexpectedly relaxed, those dimples deepening as genuine laughter escaped him — something stirred violently inside her chest.

Her heart... fluttered.

She tilted her head slightly, glancing down at her blood- soaked bra, then slowly brought her right hand toward her chest. Her slender fingers pressed gently against her skin, feeling the rhythm beneath.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Her heartbeat was pounding — hard, insistent, and completely unfamiliar.

For someone like her, who had spent years maintaining emotional detachment as naturally as breathing, this sensation was utterly foreign.

What... am I feeling?

Lucian continued chuckling beside her, genuinely content despite being surrounded by mutilated corpses and rivers of blood.

Then—

Bing.

[impressive. Here, let me give you one more reward.]