There was a sudden force field that had covered the whole building alarming the powerful magicians within. They were the first ones who detected the changes in the environment and reacted accordingly.

But they couldn't quickly tell if this magic was to protect them and being a part of Montego's planned security or if this is a prelude to an attack.

As these powerful magicians planned to check the situation outside, they felt multiple mana fluctuations that were full of killing intent aiming towards the participants of the competition. This made them apprehensive and made sure to stay close with their students.

"There should be three unwelcomed Adept Mages in the building and eighteen Battle Mages surrounding the place."

Troy Webb said to himself. He detected the intrusion while resting in his room. The two Adept Mages disappeared without any traces after entering the building so he immediately placed himself where most students are at. He then immediately gave instructions to the managers of each participant. He also noticed that the third unwelcome Adept Mage he detected had encountered another Adept on the 14th floor.

As he determined that there are several Battle Mages together with the affiliated Adept Mage, he didn't instruct to send reinforcements on the 14th floor. He determined that the female Adept was more than enough to handle the enemy she's facing. They'd rather use their forces to secure a perimeter where they could protect all these important combat magicians.

Unlike Yumi, who was approached by an intruder, the others only felt hidden lurkers in the shadow waiting for an opportunity to strike.

They could feel that if they moved out of their place and had allowed the enemy, their beloved students may experience some danger.

***

Yumi couldn't help but be surprised upon Mark's appearance here. Mark Halevey, a student in Leonhearts and son of an influential politician, disappeared about two months ago and almost without any traces until the recent attack in Tanza City.

It was reported that a figure similar to Mark was included in the heist, unfortunately, no solid evidence was found to prove this. At the very least, due to the recent operation conducted by the Lucent Force, they busted a research facility backed by an underworld organization and traced a connection between Halevey Holdings. This business was found to be a major shareholder of the facility but denied that they are aware of the Cryptic Link Serum project.

A spokesperson from Halevey Holdings said that they were only connected to the research facility due to the other projects that were presented to them by the researchers and expressed their grievance from also being a victim.

Indeed, the research facility had contributed to the field of medicine for many years that is why there are other businesses aside from Halevey Holdings that had a share in the facility. They were able to get themselves unrelated to the facility with their status and connection.

"So you're a part of that organization..." Yumi muttered under her breath before giving a signal to Max.

"Domain Mana Shell"

Max calmly said to activate his mana artifact.

They coordinated their attack on Mark as Max activated a magic spell capable of affecting the whole place and turning them to a mana protected environment. This shelled environment will prevent Mark from using or controlling the place to escape while Yumi engages with her attacks. They planned to capture Mark alive.

Yumi extended her left hand to have a grasp on Mark's body. The former was already protected by Mana Shell and a dark light surrounded her hand. Her speed was so fast that a Haste spell used by students would pale in comparison.

Mark didn't dodge her at all and he even extended his fist in a bid to punch against Yumi's assault.

The two hands collided and Mark stumbled a bit but was able to quickly recover.

"What?"

Lucian and Max was surprised upon seeing the result. They both frowned as they were aware of Yumi's strength. Aside from her unique skill, her instantaneous burst attacks were incomparable to Battle Mages and even Adept Mages would normally dodge her full-powered attack.

Although Yumi didn't have the intention to kill Mark, she had used a large part of her Mana for that dark light to subdue him.

She had used Soul Strike of Darkness, a unique magic spell, in a bid to immobilize Mark. The spell was rumored to touch upon the human's soul and could never be defended. This is one of her trump cards that never failed her before even when fighting against fellow Adept Mages.

"Was the Cryptic Link so powerful?" Yumi who hadn't been interested in that serum was now changing her mind.

"Not bad." A cold voice sounded as Mark muttered. This is the first time he had said anything.

If Wallace was here, he would notice the changes in Mark's stature and voice aside from the complete transformation of his mana fluctuation.

This time, Mark didn't remain idle and made his move on the surprised Yumi. He lifted his and hand-like shadows extended from his hands to bind Max and Yumi. As an Adept Mage, they only needed to give a thought in activating the spell in their Mana Artifact.

Yumi ordered Max and Lucian to retreat. She recognized the spell Mark used.

Her body burst with a dark aura and the Shadow Binds from Mark's attack only passed through her body. She moved to close the distance between them and throw a paper in front of Mark. This happened so fast that Mark hadn't been able to react and could only look at the paper getting closer at him.

He felt something more terrifying than her Soul Strike a while ago. He immediately maxed out his defenses as the paper hit his Mana Shell. Unfortunately, the paper was capable of ignoring his Mana Shell.

The paper turned out to be a binding mana artifact that was capable of expanding and slither on Mark's body. It tried to mummify the latter but struggled to do so.

Mark remained steady as he used his mana force to stop the spell from binding him but as soon as he was about to overpower the spell, he saw a dark matter aiming at his forehead. He didn't feel any danger on this spell but he tried to activate a defensive spell imbued in his cloak. Unfortunately, he missed the beat to defend and a black dot appeared on his forehead. The purpose was unknown at the moment but Yumi smiled sweetly upon accomplishing the task.

"I probably get it now. You are an outstanding mana technician in the academy but it wasn't enough. Due to your family's standing, they couldn't accept someone who had a low mana affinity to inherit your father's position in the business. That's where the serum comes in, a serum capable of turning magician with low mana affinity to an outstanding combat magician."

Yumi said as she speculated the truth. She had a trace of a mysterious smile on her face while saying this and none could tell if she's mocking the young man.

Mark's father wasn't just a politician but had also become a business tycoon due to him being a long-standing influential figure. It had opened a lot of opportunities to dabble in the field.

"Too bad, you didn't reach your Adept status due to your hard work," Yumi commented while looking at the unmoving Mark.

***

Wallace was now more than a kilometer away from the hotel and could still see the high rise building of the hotel. As he looked back, he noticed that the building was covered by a film of mana that could isolate the place from having any external form of communication, but he didn't stop his journey.

"I'll be quick." He mumbled and promised to himself. He had no idea what trouble is happening in the building but his spaceship would be his priority at the moment.