Chapter 100: Grabbing Another Pawn

“Everyone, on me!”

Nyra shouted, desperately calling for everyone to gather outside.

Yes, the professors were powerful, but it was still the first night of the hunt. Only the newer professors, along with a few specially skilled ones, were allowed to move.

Even a group of seniors could effectively hold them back with good leadership.

Nyra narrowly avoided a beam of light aimed at her face, retaliating with a gust of wind that tore through anything in its path.

Unfortunately for her, the rest of the seniors couldn’t join; they were already struggling against multiple professors attacking from all sides.

It was effectively a deathmatch, and the professors made sure to cut off every path the seniors could use to group up.

This had been a long time coming; the professors had always wanted a chance to finally humble the so-called “seniors’ alliance.”

Being powerful and proud was okay; being complacent and arrogant was not.

And this was the time they’ll pay for not adapting since they first developed their strategy.

“Keep fire! How can we call ourselves professors if we can’t even keep our students’ pride in check!”

The lead professor in charge of the ambush delivered with telepathy, a subtype of wind magic that allowed him to command the battlefield with little problem.

Urging the rest to continue the relentless barrage of spells while the rest fight the students head-on.

This wasn’t just an exam for the students; it also acted as an evaluation to see if the professors were worthy of teaching at Eryndor.

This was just as important to them as it was for the students.

Spells rained down nonstop.

Fireballs, compressed wind blades, jagged ice spears—every professor focused on suppression rather than elimination, forcing the seniors to keep moving while bleeding stamina fast.

Nyra clicked her tongue as she slid behind a shattered statue, breathing hard.

“Formation C! Fall back in pairs—don’t stop moving!”

A few students responded immediately, but too many didn’t. Some were pinned. Others were already being dragged out by observers after taking hits they couldn’t recover from.

’So this is what it feels like… being on the losing side.’

A shockwave blasted past her cover, turning stone into gravel.

“Tch.”

She leapt sideways just as a professor landed where she’d been standing, coat fluttering, staff already raised.

“Still standing?” he said calmly. “Good. Would’ve been disappointing otherwise.”

Nyra didn’t bother replying.

She snapped her fingers.

[Jetstream Burst]

The compressed wind detonated at his feet, launching him backwards just enough for her to reposition. Not a win—just space. Space was all she needed right now.

Her communicator crackled. “President—half our left wing’s out! We can’t regroup!”

“I know,” Nyra replied sharply. “Stop trying. Scatter and survive. Points don’t matter anymore.”

There was a pause.

“…Understood.”

That hurt more than any spell.

The seniors’ greatest strength, numbers and coordination, was now useless. The professors had forced them into isolated skirmishes where experience meant nothing without adaptability.

And the worst part?

Nyra could feel it.

That oppressive pressure from earlier hadn’t vanished.

It was still there… watching.

High above, Corvus finally stood.

Not to intervene.

Just to observe.

His presence alone caused several professors to subconsciously adjust their movements, tightening formations, increasing efficiency. No orders were given, none were needed.

Getting recognised by him alone was enough to warrant a promotion.

Nyra noticed it immediately.

“…Unbelievable,” she muttered. “He isn’t even supposed to move yet…”

She clenched her fists, eyes sharp despite the exhaustion.

Fine.

If this hunt was meant to break old habits.

Then she’d survive long enough to rebuild them.

Nyra turned, sprinting toward the darker sections of the academy, abandoning pride, abandoning control, doing the one thing the seniors had forgotten how to do.

Adapt and survive alone.

“Bravo.”

Evelina slowly clapped as she saw the chaos unfold, a sadistic grin appearing on her face as she enjoyed every last moment of it.

She was pragmatic when it came to her evil, but even she couldn’t help but take pleasure in it.

“You even made the professor move…”

Evelina hummed as she watched the destruction unfold with interest, as if she were watching a film instead of an actual war.

But then another idea came to mind, something that should be fun while also giving her more power.

Two birds with one stone.

“Cael, can you send your student to save her?”

Evelina pointed behind a few layers of building where Nyra was hiding, even that wasn’t enough to mask her location from her keen senses.

She laughed, curious about what would happen.

“Any reason?”

“It would be useful to have the student council president owe us a favour, but I’d rather avoid the attention that comes with it.”

She looked at me, her crimson eyes shining, and that always happened when she got a good idea. “I want your student to act as the middleman, so to speak…”

“Kev—”

He immediately kicked the door open and flashed me a thumbs-up. The floor beneath him was already swirling around him as he began to teleport.

“Got it! I’ll make sure to handle her!”

[Dark Step]

FWOOSH!

“Looks like someone doesn’t want to be a third wheel.”

I laugh and scratch the back of my head as I watch him disappear, feeling more excitement in that moment than he had in the entire past hour.

He wanted to be anywhere but here, far away from Corvus, and far away from third-wheeling on a couple.

“Guess that means we have the entire space for ourselves.”

Evelina walked towards me, placing a finger on my chest with the other on her hip. Undeniably bored with camping and conserving her energy, after all that excitement, who could blame her for lacking a bit of stimulation?

“Then that means we have plenty of time to catch up.”

***

“No one followed me, good…”

Nyra winced, ripping a piece of her uniform to use as a bandage to stop the bleeding from her left shoulder that was nicked by a stray earth spell.

She was already planning on what to do; at this point, she had fully abandoned all notions of regrouping with the other seniors.

The professors were clearly targeting them.

The moment they even managed to get another sizeable force ready, they’d just get attacked immediately.

“Who the hell cast that thing…”

The way the building crumbled inward, the destructive rain, and the serpent that coiled across the entire infrastructure.

It was like seeing a mini-version of Corvus at work.

Even if she combed through all the details of powerful students in the seniors’ batch, she couldn’t find a dark mage who was capable.

“Don’t tell me… It’s a junior that did that?”

FWOOSH!

Nyra immediately turned when she heard rustling behind her, her hands ready to unleash another gust of wind that could incapacitate any average mage in a single blow.

But…

“Hello?”

“A-a student?”

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