Chapter 125: 125. Argument

“So you are saying that the cults have come up with a method to bypass our standard detection systems and have been infiltrating the core factions of Aris for quite some time now?”

Tamasya’s voice was low, but the weight behind her words was heavy, carrying years of quiet dread.

“And William told you all this?” she asked again, as if repeating the question might somehow make the implications lighter.

“Yes,” Andrea continued after a brief pause, answering her as she looked directly at Tamasya.

“I don’t know how he knows about brain seeding, but it is very clear that he knows far more about the cults than he lets on.”

Her expression hardened as she spoke further.

“As far as I have observed him, he does not bend to intimidation or threats, and he does not care about seniority or authority the way other children his age usually do,” Andrea said slowly.

“He is not the type to give in to anyone.”

She leaned closer towards Tamasya, lowering her voice

“So as his master, only you are close enough to get all the real information out of him,” Andrea said firmly. “Only you can.”

“Tsk.”

Tamasya’s eyes narrowed instantly.

“Even if you are my best friend, Andrea,” she said sharply, “I would never sell off my disciple,” Tamasya spoke in a firm and final tone as if she wouldn’t hear any ifs and buts anymore.

“The last thing I would ever do is betray the trust of my people,” Tamasya continued as she stood up from her seat, irritation clearly visible on her face.

“I have never sold you out in front of anyone till now, and I will not do it for William, or for anyone else who is one of my people.”

Andrea’s brows furrowed as she watched her rise.

“Tamasya, this is not about selling people out,” Andrea replied quickly, trying to change the flow of the conversation.

“By revealing critical information, you would be helping the whole of Aris. The Celestial Army could purge every name and every location William reveals.”

She gestured lightly, as if laying out a strategic masterplan.

“We would finally be able to strike hard at the cults after so many years of one-sided damage and loss,” Andrea said, her voice turning earnest as she also rose from her seat and slowly started walking with Tamasya at her side.

“This is not about betraying anyone; that information impacts everyone tamasya, every innocent life on Aris.”

“William will forgive you, I am sure of it.”

Tamasya stopped walking and turned around slowly.

“If William does not reveal critical information to the academy,” she said coldly, lifting her index finger as her tone began to rise,

“Then it simply means he does not trust that the academy is capable enough to use that information in Aris’s favor.”

Andrea froze.

Those words struck deeper than she expected.

For a moment, she remembered the scene from the interrogation room when Morgan had asked William about his reason for hiding information from the academy, and Will had given the same reason.

Her blood began to boil as she realized something deeply uncomfortable.

Both the master and disciple were looking down on her World Academy.

Still, she put a restraint on her emotions and spoke

“Try to understand what I am trying to say, Tamasya,” Andrea said after steadying herself,

“Some junior professors who don’t even know that William was admitted through recommendation have already started voicing suspicions.”

Her tone became carefully measured.

“They are expressing their concerns that William might be colluding with the cults,” Andrea continued. “If he does not come clean, this could put him in a very difficult position in the future.”

It was meant as a warning born out of concern.

Unfortunately, it did not sound that way to Tamasya.

“My Willy just caught spies among your professors,” Tamasya snapped loudly, her voice rising, “while you were ironically interrogating him for saving your asses instead of questioning the incompetent people working under you.”

Her lips curved into a mocking smile.

“Some of whom, by the way, work part-time for the cults.”

“Mind your language, Tamasya!!!” Andrea said sharply, her eyes glowing faintly as anger pulsed through her voice.

“Those professors are also part of the Celestial Army. They have shed blood for their Motherland, Aris. They are anything but incompetent.”

“Don’t tell me to mind my language,” Tamasya growled.

“If the warriors of the Celestial Army were competent enough, there would not have been so many crazy mishaps that cost innocent lives.”

Her voice deepened with contempt.

“Not just that, even your precious academy, the so-called backbone of the Celestial Army, was attacked at one of the most critical moments,” she continued.

“And you and your professors could not do shit about it!!”

She took a sharp breath.

“You heard William’s orientation speech, didn’t you?” Tamasya asked, gazing at her coldly. “At first, I thought he was exaggerating when he called everyone chickens.”

Her eyes hardened.

“But after I heard what happened in the interrogation room, I believe him completely.”

“The academy, its professors, and even the Celestial Army,” she said slowly, “are all chickens.”

Andrea clenched her fists.

“You don’t even know who is loyal and who is spying on you,” Tamasya continued mercilessly.

“I almost laughed when William told me that the spy of cults he caught was part of the investigation committee assigned to investigate the cults themselves.”

She sneered openly now.

“In truth, you are all a bunch of jokers making fools of yourselves every day, pretending to work but all you do is get your asses handed to your enemies.”

That was the breaking point.

Andrea’s restraint shattered as her aura flared violently, crystalline light radiating outward. The clouds beneath them began to crystallize, cracking under pressure.

Tamasya did not retreat.

Her own aura surged, and shadows spilled out from the clouds as sunlight vanished, plunging the floating office into unnatural darkness.

The clash was so immense that waves of pressure burst outward toward the land below.

***

IN THE ACADEMY CAFETERIA

Leila sat at a round table with the other seven freshers, slowly eating her lunch.

“I hope Father’s response letter arrives before we take off,” she said lightly, though her tone carried worry. “At least then I’ll know that help is on the way.”

“Even if your father refuses,” Katherine said casually while rubbing Leila’s back, “my mother won’t. She never misses an opportunity to spill blood.”

Leila smiled faintly at the attempt to cheer her up.

“I sent a letter too,” Sera added quietly, trying to sound reassuring.

But her own voice was subdued.

She did not say it out loud, but she was nervous.

They all were.

Except Galeion.

His earlier words echoed in Seraphine’s mind.

Dying on the battlefield is the most honorable thing for titans.

It was only after hearing him say that sentence that the group truly realized the situation.

There was a real chance they might die. The thought made everyone uneasy.

Everyone except Maximus, who looked completely prepared to die if it meant saving the lady he loved.

Seraphine glanced at him and felt a strange tightening in her chest.

She wondered if she herself was capable of something like that.

Would she be willing to die for William if he were trapped somewhere like this?

She did not know.

She had never thought about it before.

Then another thought surfaced, making her feel even more unsettled.

Would William do something like this for her?

Her mind immediately recalled all the nights he had risked his life just to meet her when she was stuck in the slave house.

A sharp pang of shame struck her heart.

She realized she had not done enough for him the way he had, and despite that, William had never asked for anything in return.

She was not even sure if she was ready to risk her life for him, and that uncertainty disturbed her deeply.

Suddenly, the chain of her thoughts shattered abruptly as the floor below her and everyone else was pushed by a massive earthquake.

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