Spurt.

The sharp sound echoed through the quiet forest.

For a moment, the hooded warrior didn’t understand what had happened.

He blinked.

Then he looked forward.

And his pupils shrank.

His arm—

The forearm that had been holding Lia by the throat—

Was gone.

Blood sprayed violently from the torn stump.

For a heartbeat he simply stared at it.

Then the pain reached him.

“ARRRRRRAAAAAAGHHHHHHHH!!!”

His scream tore through the forest as he stumbled backward, clutching the bleeding limb.

“My hand…!!!”

Only then did he notice the figure standing in front of him.

A man stood calmly between him and the fallen girl.

Tall.

Composed.

A handsome middle-aged man with sharp features and intense black eyes. Strands of white streaked through his otherwise raven-black hair, giving him a distinguished yet dangerous appearance.

In his arms—

He was holding the girl the hooded warrior had just been choking.

Lia.

The hooded warrior’s breathing stopped.

His entire body began trembling.

His eyes widened in pure terror.

“Y-y-you… a-are…”

His voice shook violently.

“Lucen Merrith… Vice-Chairman of the—”

Before he could finish the sentence—

Lucen vanished.

One moment he stood several meters away.

The next—

He was directly in front of the hooded man.

Lucen casually raised a finger.

And flicked the man’s forehead.

Pop.

The hooded warrior’s head exploded instantly like a burst fruit, scattering blood and bone across the forest floor.

Lucen slowly lowered his hand, his expression cold.

“Scum like you,” he said quietly,

“are not qualified to say my academy’s name.”

For a moment the forest was silent again.

Then Lucen turned his attention to the girl in his arms.

His expression softened slightly.

“Poor child…”

“She must have had so much trouble coming here.”

He carefully set Lia down and took out a small potion bottle from a pouch at his waist.

With surprising gentleness, he brushed her hair back from her forehead—like a grandfather comforting his granddaughter.

Lia stirred.

Her eyelids fluttered weakly.

Then suddenly—

Her eyes snapped open.

She threw a punch forward in pure reflex.

Lucen caught it effortlessly.

“Calm down, child.”

Lia froze.

Her eyes focused on his face.

“…Vice-Chairman… Lucen?!”

She struggled to speak urgently.

“We have to go… the academy…!”

“The academy is under attack…!”

Lucen nodded calmly.

“Calm down, child. Calm down.”

He handed her the potion bottle.

“Drink this first.”

“I have already removed the corrupted mana from your leg wound.”

Lia blinked in surprise.

She looked down.

The dark corruption that had been spreading through her leg earlier was gone.

Only a normal wound remained.

She quickly drank the potion.

Warm vitality spread through her body as the injuries began slowly healing.

“Vice-Chairman,” she said quickly,

“not only the academy—they are attacking the city too!”

Lucen nodded again.

“I know.”

“The emergency rune transmitted a pre-recorded message from Seris.”

He looked toward the distant sky thoughtfully.

“Chairman Caelum will be arriving as well.”

“But we should go first.”

Lia nodded immediately.

She turned toward the stone gate.

The blue vortex she had come through earlier was already gone.

Quickly she pressed the activation rune on the pillar.

Nothing happened.

Her eyes widened.

“No… no… this can’t be…”

Lucen sighed slightly.

“They must have destroyed the gate in the academy city.”

Lia grabbed her head anxiously.

“Then how do we get there…?”

Her thoughts raced.

Ron… Selene… Jax… Maera…

They were still fighting.

If the Vice-Chairman didn’t reach them soon—

They would die.

Lucen stepped closer to the gate.

“Come.”

“We will use another gate.”

Lia blinked in surprise.

“Another gate…? Like another city gate?”

“But wouldn’t that take too much time?”

Lucen shook his head.

“No.”

“I’m not talking about another city gate.”

He looked at the stone frame calmly.

“Nobody knows about this gate… except me.”

He paused briefly.

“…and now you.”

“It leads directly to a gate hidden deep underground in the academy.”

“It exists only for extreme emergencies.”

“…like now.”

Lucen placed a new mana crystal into the carved pocket.

Then he adjusted several rune coordinates with precise movements.

The pillars began glowing.

Ancient runes awakened across the stone surface.

The air twisted.

A blue swirling portal formed between the pillars.

Lucen stepped aside slightly.

“Come.”

Lia nodded firmly.

Without hesitation, both of them stepped into the portal.

And vanished.

—

A swirl of blue light twisted violently.

Then—

Lucen and Lia stepped out from another portal.

The stone gate behind them glowed faintly for a moment before Lucen quickly reached toward the pillar and pressed a rune.

The blue vortex collapsed instantly.

The underground chamber fell into darkness again.

Only faint rune-lines embedded in the walls gave off a dim glow.

The place was silent.

Ancient.

Hidden.

Lucen stepped forward toward a small circular platform carved into the stone floor.

“Come.”

Lia followed without hesitation.

She stepped onto the platform beside him.

Lucen tapped a rune panel built into the side of the pedestal.

With a low mechanical hum—

The platform began rising.

Stone gears deep within the walls slowly turned as the lift ascended through the narrow vertical shaft.

Lia stayed silent during the ascent.

Her heart was still pounding from everything that had happened.

After several seconds—

The platform stopped.

A stone door in front of them slid open with a grinding sound.

Lucen stepped out first.

Lia followed.

The moment she emerged into the open air—

She froze.

They had appeared inside a circular chamber beneath a massive stone pedestal.

Lia slowly turned back and looked upward.

Behind them—

Towering toward the sky—

Was the golden statue.

Zane’s statue.

The same statue standing in the academy garden.

She realized immediately.

They had just exited from inside the pedestal that supported it.

The secret emergency gate Lucen mentioned was hidden here.

Lia stared up at the statue.

The golden figure of Zane seemed to be flying upward toward the sky.

Her hands tightened slightly.

Professor…

She closed her eyes briefly.

Please…

Give me strength…

So I can protect my friends.

Behind her, Lucen had already started walking.

“Let’s go.”

Lia opened her eyes immediately and nodded.

“Yes, Vice-Chairman.”

And the two of them stepped out from beneath the statue—into the battlefield that Astralis Arcanum had become.

Meanwhile,

Near the academy’s outer boundary, the battle had not stopped.

The ground was shattered, buildings cracked, and the air was thick with smoke and corrupted mana.

Bodies of Vassel soldiers were scattered across the battlefield.

But the defenders were barely standing anymore.

Maera lay on the ground nearby, breathing weakly, her red gauntlets stained with blood. Drevin wasn’t far from her—his bow fallen beside him, his body covered in injuries.

Both of them were barely conscious.

Selene was kneeling a short distance away, trying to steady herself. Blood ran from the corner of her mouth as she struggled to keep her mana circulating.

Her staff trembled slightly in her hand.

In front of them—

Ron stood with his spear, breathing heavily. His body was covered in burns and deep cuts, yet he still refused to fall.

Beside him, Jax kept firing his pistols, though his arms were shaking from exhaustion.

They were all at their limits.

But the worst condition belonged to the person standing slightly ahead of them.

Seris Velmira.

Her robes were torn and soaked with blood.

One of her eyes was gone, leaving a dark wound where it once had been. Her breathing came in heavy gasps as she clutched her shoulder, trying to stop the bleeding.

“Hah… hah…”

Her vision blurred for a moment.

Where is Lia…?

Did she make it…?

Did she do what I told her to do…?

Then why—

Why weren’t the reinforcements here yet?

To her left lay the battered, headless body of Tedus—the Vassel warrior she had killed earlier.

But the man standing in front of her now was far worse.

He floated calmly in the air.

His hood had been removed.

A middle-aged man with grey-black hair and an anchor beard. His cold, cruel eyes looked down upon them as if they were nothing more than insects.

He was a mid 7-star warrior.

And that was a wall no one present could overcome.

Seris was a peak 6th-circle battle mage.

But after the sixth rank, the gap between levels became monstrous.

Ten peak six-star warriors could not defeat even a low seven-star warrior.

That was the reality of power in this world.

The floating Vassel warrior looked down at her.

“You shouldn’t struggle anymore, Seris Velmira.”

His voice was cold and detached.

“Disciple of the Ice Monarch, Lucen Merrith.”

“He won’t be able to come rescue you.”

Seris gritted her teeth.

Ignoring the pain screaming through her body, she launched upward.

Lightning erupted across her gauntlets.

She punched straight into the man’s chest.

Nothing happened.

Not even the slightest movement.

Her eyes widened slightly.

But she kept attacking.

Punch after punch after punch.

Lightning flared with every strike.

I know that he is one star above me…

But still why…?

Why isn’t he even taking damage?

Not even a scratch…

The man watched her attacks calmly.

Then he spoke.

“Rank gap, little one.”

“The strength difference grows vastly after the sixth star.”

“You cannot hurt me.”

Before Seris could react—

He flicked her forehead.

A simple flick.

But the force behind it was monstrous.

Seris was blasted downward like a meteor.

BOOM.

Her body crashed into the ground, creating a deep crater in the academy courtyard.

“Professor!”

Ron rushed forward immediately.

He grabbed her arm and helped pull her out of the crater.

Seris struggled to stand, barely able to remain upright.

Meanwhile the Vassel warrior slowly descended toward the ground.

He landed softly before them.

Then looked at them all.

“Seris Velmira,” he said calmly.

“Now die alongside your students.”

But then—

Something changed.

The air shifted.

A pressure fell upon the battlefield.

Heavy and overwhelming.

The ground trembled slightly beneath their feet.

The pressure focused directly on the Vassel warrior.

His body froze.

Cold sweat instantly formed on his forehead.

This pressure—

It felt similar to the terrifying aura of his superior who was currently fighting Acting Vice-Chairman Aldren Sagewell.

Slowly—

He turned his head.

Looking toward the direction the pressure came from.

His eyes widened.

“What was that…?”

Then a voice spoke from directly behind him.

Cold and Chilling.

“Your death.”

Before he could even turn around—

His body disintegrated.

There was small explosion but no scream.

The man was vanished into dust.

The battlefield fell silent.

Ron’s eyes widened and Jax stopped firing.

Selene looked up weakly.

Even Seris stared in shock.

The dust slowly settled.

And from within it—

A figure appeared floating.

Lucen Merrith,Vice-Chairman of Astralis Arcanum.

His expression was calm.But his eyes—

Were filled with unmistakable anger.

His gaze slowly moved across the battlefield.

The injured students.

Seris kneeling with one eye gone.

The shattered academy grounds.

For a moment, Lucen said nothing.

A quiet thought crossed his mind.

If only he were here…

None of this would have happened.

Lucen’s eyes darkened slightly.

If only Zane were here…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep