Kaboooom—!!!
Destructive flames whipped through the window, resembling a truckload of TNT going off, shattering glass, and obliterating parts of the dormitory apartment walls.
The entire building trembled like a house of cards, barely holding itself from collapsing.
Cadets living in the dorm reacted quickly, rushing out of their apartments in an attempt to evacuate before the structure crumbled.
And, in the next moment, it did.
A booming shockwave rippled outward from the towering building, triggering a series of explosions that brought it down like a castle of sand, dust and debris flying everywhere.
Some Cadets who couldn’t get far in time were ruthlessly injured from the chunks of concrete falling onto them.
Those who did manage to escape to the safe distance stood there utterly stumped and bewildered, staring at the rubble with wide eyes full of shock, uncertainty, and even a hint of fear.
It was common knowledge that the dorm buildings in Global City were constructed from reinforced steel and alloys enchanted with strengthening runes.
In fact, these buildings were designed to effortlessly tank several high-level battle magic assaults.
So, how did one of them collapse so easily? What caused it? A natural disaster, maybe? No, that couldn’t be possible.
Global City was a wall-enclaved island. Like any other island, it did experience frequent earthquakes. However, nothing of this magnitude had occurred before. No natural disaster could explain the collapse of one of their buildings.
Immediately, everyone’s thoughts converged on the same conclusion – an attack. Perhaps it was another vampire assault. It had happened before. What’s to say it couldn’t happen again?!
But to their relief, in the very next moment, their fears were dispelled when the rubble shook, and two silhouettes rose from it. They were Cadets.
Both of them were clad in a thick layer of shimmering azure aura – martial aura – indicating that they were high-level, exalted warriors.
Upon closer look, the Cadets were able to identify them as two of the Top 25 Cadets of the academy.
The silver-haired figure was obviously Lucas Morningstar. His knees were slightly bent, and he was wielding a lustrous sword with a ghostly glowing white blade.
In front of him stood a girl with flowing waist-long black hair, donning a highly burnished silver armour. She gripped a matte black spear in her hands; its head pointed at the young man before her. It was undeniably Amelia Black.
“Lucas, stop!” Amelia yelled, twirling her spear and cautiously stepping back. “At least let me explain!”
“Explain what exactly? How do you know something you shouldn’t?!” Lucas snapped at her. “Now that I see it, every time I tried to change fate, you were the one who stopped me. You were always there to mess something up.”
“Change fate?” Amelia frowned. “What in the heavens are you talking about?!”
“It makes sense! You left your position during the mock war, forcing a situation where Nero would have no choice but to use his Gift! You bumped into that waiter during the Silveserine, causing him to spill drinks on Aster, who then had to visit the washroom where the vampire was! You killed the vampire at the cafe before I could question her! Then, at the practical exam, you distracted me, so I couldn’t see the other heads of the Hydra until the very last second!”
Lucas’ voice carried a sense of accusation and betrayal. He gritted his teeth, gripping the hilt of his sword harder.
“Every time something went wrong in my plan or went wrong in general, you were there… Once is a coincidence, twice is a pattern, thrice is a confirmation!”
A moment of tense silence hung between them before Lucas sighed, his hands shaking, heart racing, and palms sweating. “Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me you weren’t sabotaging me.”
Amelia opened her mouth to speak but then glanced at the Cadets standing far away and stopped. Her gaze trembled as she looked down. In the end, she couldn’t deny him.
Lucas closed his eyes, took a resolute breath, and then shot his eyes open, his piercing gaze burning with unyielding determination.
“So be it,” he said and dashed forward like an arrow let loose.
Amelia clicked her tongue and also rushed forward, meeting Lucas head-on. Sparks flew as her spear collided with his sword, the force of his attack pushing her back slightly.
Lucas disengaged and swung his sword from the other side. First and foremost, he was a spearman, so he was well-versed in dealing with his own kind.
Spears had great reach, but if one could step into close quarters, there was little a spearman could do to protect themselves.
But Amelia was also aware of this. Hence, she tried to parry Lucas’ sword and take a step back simultaneously.
That was a mistake.
Her spear easily phased through Lucas’ weapon as if it were made of nothing but air. Almost instantly, his whole also body wavered and vanished into thin air like a distant mirage.
“Fuck!” Amelia cursed out loud. She didn’t want to use attack magic to avoid hurting him, but Lucas clearly had no intention of holding back. He was using Mirage Walk, after all.
If she wanted to live to see another day, Amelia had to go all out. So she weaved a quick hand sign with one hand and silently chanted something in a whispering tone.
Suddenly, the wind started swirling around her, and at the next moment, sharp and invisible wind blades shot forward in every direction, threatening to cut through anything in their way.
Lucas’ figure became visible a few steps behind Amelia. He unleashed a flurry of slashes, his glowing white blade moving in a ghostly blur, shattering any blade that entered his attack range.
Amelia used this moment to spin around and chant another spell. She pointed the head of her spear at Lucas.
As if waiting for that moment, particles of pure darkness coalesced at the tip of her spear, clustering together to form an ominous black orb radiating a foreboding purple glow.
In the next second, the pulsating orb of darkness erupted in a ruinous beam of pure black energy.
However, Lucas was ready for almost anything thrown at him. He stamped his foot on the ground to acquire proper footing and brought his sword over his head.
As his blade was engulfed in the hypnotising glow of pinkish-red flames, without waiting for a heartbeat, he whipped his sword down in a perfect vertical slash, sending forward a crescent arc.