"…So this is the strength of Arcadia Academy."

His purple lightning exploded violently.

BZZZZZTTTTTT—!!!

The ground cratered beneath him.

The entire battlefield flashed purple.

Even the airship trembled from the shockwave.

He raised his sword.

"Don't die from this."

Alaric's lightning aura crackled, twisting violently around him, warping the air with sheer pressure. His smile sharpened into something feral. Focused solely on killing.

Cristina's expression shifted.Cold. Calculated.

She swung her scythe once to disperse the frost storm around them, then spoke sharply

"Adelia."

Adelia, who had just deflected another lightning streak with her gauntlet, glanced her way.

Cristina's voice was steady. Far calmer than the situation warranted.

"Go back to the airship," Cristina said. "The students are in the airship. Despite having staff, they are not as skilled and strong as us. So someone needs to be there to protect the students."

Adelia froze.

"…What?" She understood what Cristina was saying. But the enemy was too strong. It was better if they fought together.

Cristina kept her gaze locked on Alaric, not giving him even a sliver of opening.

"We will handle him. You must protect the students."

Adelia's heart thudded. She wanted to go as well. The students were there. Amon was there.

"All right, I will. You take care of him. Don't die—"

"Of course. We won't die," Cristina cut sharply.

Her ice-blue eyes were filled with something heavy. Certainty and responsibility.

"Students come first, after all."

Asher fired a wind blade that collided with Alaric's speeding figure, forcing him off balance. Aria launched a quick barrage of water bullets to keep him from charging again.

Cristina continued, voice clipped and severe:

"Amon and the others are inside that ship. There seems to be enemies invading from the other side of ship. You're good in close combat. Also best in healing. You should go there fast. Quick."

Adelia's nodded. Still she thought again. Whether she should go or help her friends.

The airship… the students… Amon.

Cristina was right.

She can't remain here.

Aria shouted from the back, wand glowing,

"GO, Adelia! The ship needs someone strong! We'll keep this bastard busy!"

Asher backed them up,

"We won't die that easily! Move!"

Alaric laughed, crackling bolts swirling around him.

"Aww… splitting up, are we? Wonderful. Makes killing each of you easier."

She looked toward the distant airship. Smoke rising, the metallic hull trembling, and the faint echo of screams.

Inside… Amon and the others were fighting for their lives.

She inhaled.

Exhaled.

Then nodded. "I'll be back the moment they're safe. Handle until then."

Cristina gave a rare small smile.

"We'll hold him until then. Or maybe kill him."

Alaric zipped forward.

BZZZT—!!

—but Asher intercepted him with a violent gust, sending dirt flying everywhere.

Aria unleashed a wall of flames to block Alaric's path.

Cristina slammed her scythe into the earth. Ice chains erupting upward, binding the battlefield.

Adelia didn't hesitate another second.

Golden light burst beneath her feet.

FWOOOSH—!!

She shot into the forest like a streak of sunlight.

Branches snapped around her as she sprinted toward the airship at full speed, heart pounding.

'Please be safe. All of you. Amon… please.'

The moment Adelia stepped inside the passenger cabin, her breath caught.

The place was a disaster.

The metal wall on the left side was completely torn open, bent outward like crushed foil.

The floor was cracked, seats overturned, and faint smoke drifted through the gaping hole. The air reeked of burnt mana and iron.

Students were scattered across the room. Some trembling, some injured, others frozen in fear.

A boy clutched his bleeding arm. A girl was crying quietly beside an overturned seat.

Adelia's eyes widened in horror.

"Oh no…"

Without another word, she rushed forward, light blooming around her hands.

"Hold still—"

A warm glow enveloped the injured boy as his wounds knit together.

She moved quickly from one student to the next, healing cuts, stabilizing bruises, calming terrified breaths. Her expression grew colder and colder the more she saw.

Whoever did this… they wanted to kill them.

But then, she paused. There was something missing here.

Her heart dropped.

She scanned the cabin again.

"…Where are they?"

Amon. Seraphina. Arnold. Aisha. Marcus. Eliana.

None of them were there.

Her pulse spiked.

"Where are they?" she whispered, voice tight. "Where are those six?"

She turned sharply—finally spotting Matthew, who was helping a younger student stand. His face was shaken but still holding together better than many others. He was one of the top-ranking students.

Adelia hurried to him.

"Matthew."

Her voice came out sharper than she intended. "What happened here? Where are Amon and the others?"

Matthew swallowed hard, fear still lingering in his eyes.

"Professor… eight figures came in through the wall. They tore it and entered."

Adelia's face hardened instantly.

Matthew continued, voice trembling slightly.

"They attacked us without warning. Their focus… their main target… it seemed to be Seraphina."

Adelia's stomach twisted.

"They kept aiming spells and blades at her. They weren't trying to injure. They were trying to kill her."

Her fists clenched at her sides.

Matthew gestured toward the far side of the cabin—where another section of the wall was cracked open.

"The cabin was too cramped to fight them freely. Despite being so many students here, we cannot attack freely. Still, we were able to kill two of them. Seraphina made the call—she broke that part of the wall with help from Arnold and escaped outside with Arnold. The masked attackers went right after them."

Adelia's eyes widened.

Seraphina… outside? With assassins chasing her?

"And the others?" she pressed. Matthew nodded quickly.

"Amon, Aisha, Marcus, and Eliana… they followed right after. They went into the forest direction. They were trying to help Seraphina."

Adelia's heart nearly stopped.

Those six went alone? Against that kind of enemy?!

She took one step back, breathing hard.

For a moment, her emotions threatened to break through. Fear, anger, panic—

Then everything inside her clicked into cold, sharp focus.

Her pupils narrowed.

"Matthew, stay here. Guard everyone you can. No one else leaves this cabin."

Matthew nodded, gulping.

Adelia turned toward the gaping hole in the wall, golden light already swirling around her fists.

'Seraphina… Amon… everyone… please hold on.'

She sprinted toward the forest.

Adelia was going after them.

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