NOVPUBProfessor Rona's gaze narrowed, her thoughts reeling in as she backed away from the scene.
Behind her, the two Lecturers stood beside her while the other two walked up to them.
"How long has he been with us?"
"We're not sure. We didn't realise he was here until now."
"Was he even here the whole time? We did a headcount multiple times and confirmed his missing presence."
"I agree. Maybe he arrived at the same time as them?"
Professor Rona glanced at the glass door, her gaze drifting between its once hefty ridges and the broken pieces of its glass on the floor.
'No….I agree he might have come in at the time that energy was dispersed. The glass broke thanks to that, and he could have easily walked through.'
She glanced back at the fight, a cold chill creeping up her spine.
A cold chill wrapped around them in the hallway, creeping on the floor and ceiling.
A magnificent glass of ice formed in the process.
'Why do I doubt that? He's timing…it's too precise.'
While the Lecturers contemplated the situation, some students had already made their moves.
Darrell and Jane sprang up in action, the former opening up his grimoire while the latter basked in golden energy.
"Stop gawking and prepare your shields! The enemies are right in front of us!"
He exclaimed, grabbing their attention. Including those of the attackers.
The assault resumed with a heartbeat, the masked figures closing in on the students with one of them striking down his weapon on a group of girls.
They squirmed around, their frightened voices reaching the ears of those around them as a spear was brought down at them.
"What?"
Jane cried out in surprise when a gust of wind pushed the masked figure back.
Glancing to the side, closest to the Lecturers, Elsie and Sophie stood. The former, with her arm stretched forward, a gust of wind swirling around it.
"Protect everyone. They will kill both System and Non-system users!"
Professor Rona was finally able to get her wits back together as she glanced at the Lecturers.
"Scatter round. Join the students. Protect everyone."
They nodded and dispersed, rushing to different corners of the Lobby while the masked figures were pushed back by the wind.
Soon, a struggling scuffle commenced.
One where one side protected and the other attacked.
The Masked figures, which had reached the numbers of twenty-five and more, were outnumbered by the students, who were ninety-five, but only a handful of them could actually fight back.
The attackers were at the level of 80 to 90. Nearly three to four times that of the students gathered, with a minority on the lower side.
On the other hand, the number of Lecturers present was five, and all were at the 70th to the 80th level.
Where their defences were lacking greatly, depending on the much stronger students seemed like the best option.
This left Elsie, Sophia, Darrell, Silvan and a few more to take the stage.
Amongst the few were members of Princess Meadow's cohort.
A group of three remained at the back of the group, observing the situation at hand.
Perhaps it was because of the absurdity of their circumstance or the difficulty in finding a way out alive, they had brought it upon themselves to ensure the safety of their Princess.
Meadow was practically cornered behind her two bodyguards, Cricken and Rana.
Surrounding them were the bustling students, who struggled to back away from the invaders as they chipped at them little by little.
A gruesome sound of blood splattering and a body flipping away caught their grasp.
It was followed by the ear-shrieking screams of a girl as tears streamed down her face. Her expression basked in dread.
Above her was a masked figure with a sickle, one that had impaled her friend a moment ago.
He whipped her body away and swung his weapon towards her, when a blast of golden energy erupted from the crowd.
The energy blasted the standing figures, pushing them back by a strand while a pillar of light shot out into the air.
"Spirit Elf Magic; Chapter 102; Gaia's Rebellion."
A flash of light reached into the ceiling, projecting through it like an ethereal figure.
It took shape, forming a pole grasped in the hands of the goddess, Gaia.
A golden deity in robes of silk, surrounding the students in her motherly warmth.
The chaos decreased for just a moment, as the students were given a moment of reprieve.
While the dome pushed a lot of the Masked figures back, a few more were still present within.
The next sound that echoed was that of a whip as a blast of energy shot out into the air.
The screams ensued once again before a spear warped through the air.
It stabbed through the chest of the whip-wielder and drew him away from the students and the dome.
Stabbing him into the wall of the Hallway in the blink of an eye.
Meadow's gaze narrowed, her arms clawing at her scalp as she curled into a ball.
'Too much!'
A panging headache bit at her scalp, tightening around her brain like a crown of thorns, poking and knudgung at it.
The thoughts were numerous and negative, calling at her, screaming at her. Fighting its way through her psyche.
It bit at her thoughts, cutting her thread from the present and pulling her into a world of mental doom.
'Too much! The thoughts are too much!'
She was no longer capable of listening to the thoughts as the thoughts invaded her instead. In a toxic mixture of sensory overload, it echoed within her brain.
Rana had been focusing on the scene unfolding when she felt a nudge on the hem of her pyjamas. Glancing behind her, she suddenly wrapped her arms around Meadow, startling Cricken who sat beside her.
"What's wrong?" He asked as his gaze shifted between Meadow and Rana.
Rana opened her mouth to reply when she was stopped by Meadow, who slightly pinched her without Cricken observing such.
Her ability in mind reading was none to a few, and Rana was one of those few.
Knowing this, Rana sighed inwardly.
'Not even her parents know…and now, even Cricken. Why does everyone around my Lady want her dead?'
She shook her head.
"She's just feeling nauseous. This place is too tight for the Princess."
Cricken shrugged, glanced around and turned back to her.
"Do you see any more space to run to? We're trapped. We must remain till the Lecturers and the great families settle the matter."
Meadow grunted as she pulled herself up and grabbed onto Cricken's collar.
"I don't care what excuse you have today. Act your worth and help with the defence. Now."
Cricken raised a brow in surprise, a mask of indifference on his face as he stared at her.
For a moment, they were locked onto one another, emotions clashing, authorities clashing.
Cricken sighed.
"Is this an order from the Princess, or a request from a classmate?"
"Cricken?" Rana called out while the princess pushed her back, her eyes laced with intent, yet the suppressed pain revealed itself in her features.
"It's a request. Raph and the others may be able to help in this matter, but not enough.
We need to get the students out of here while fighting them back…..we need you."
Cricken clicked his tongue as he stood to his feet.
"As you wish, Princess."
A spark of light ignited in his grasp, and a poleaxe formed within it. In a single step, his body lunged into the air and past the dome of golden light.
Rana watched his departure carefully before turning to the Princess.
"How about Princess Manita?"
Meadow scoffed. "That bitch wouldn't spend a day in the Academy unless it's an order from father."
"So, what now, Princess?"
Meadow remained silent for a moment, her head arranging the line of thoughts that invaded her.
The Chaos did not just surround her–it crawled inside, violent and cloying, until her thoughts were no longer her own.
The terrors that went through her classmates' heads on nearing death continued to pour into her mind like flood water. Their panic seeped through the cracks of her focus.
'Someone save us!'
'I don't want to die!'
'Goddess be with us.'
Their thoughts clawed at her, foreign and frantic, twisting her own into grotesque shapes. It was like being trapped in a crowd of rebelling peasants–a hundred voices shrieking different lines, yet all chanting the same raw, animal fear. Over. And over. And over.
She gasped in shock, absorbing the raw emotion that mixed with those thoughts, making peace with it. Or at least trying to.
She glanced over at Rana.
"We wait for the seniors. They are more than enough to put a stop to this nonsense."
With the ending of her statement, a malevolent red light shone on her eyes, sparking her curiosity towards the source.
Rana squinted as well, as she raised her arm over her face, protecting herself from the infrared rays.
Confusion arose in the Lobby, students gasping and turning around, their gazes etched on the broken doors.
There, a crimson light permeated through, its source unknown, its purpose unknown, yet it remained unsettling and adamant.
Its presence was felt, but what it brought with it was something more, something irksome. Something that screamed for dread.
With the confusion rising, a sudden sound erupted. Not from the students, the attackers, or the defenders, but from outside.
The sound was like a whale call, a sonic hum, a harbinger of misfortune.
It rang again, and then again, and for the last time, before a loud explosion erupted.
Its sonic wave swept through the Hostels, nearly uprooting it from its foundations as it quaked from the after-shock.
The students screamed in shock, while the attackers snickered behind their masks.
Raph glanced back, his glossy white eyes painted by the tint of the crimson colour, his gaze narrowing at the sight.
'A transcendent seal….' He thought when a chuckle pierced his ear.
With a frown, he glanced back down at the man he had subjugated with his landing.
It wasn't that they were still stuck in that same position because it felt cool, no, the Burly man was simply unable to push him off. And Raph was having a ball of a time stumping him to the floor, slowly and painfully.
A cold chill crept out from his lips.
"What's funny?"
"Oh….it's nothing…but, you may not want to expect help from those seniors of yours."
He chuckled even more, but Raph remained unperturbed, cold even. Without a care in the world.
'Oh, so that's what they sealed.'
He swung his double-edged katana into the air, its blade forming a crescent arc that flickered white light.
His voice was cold as he said.
"We never needed them."
