"What did I do?.....sob! ….sob!...."

Max's brows twitched, he had already been hearing that for an hour now.

"Shut up already. Ain't I here even when I didn't do anything wrong?" He said with a frown.

"Haa! Nothing wrong! My ass! It's all because of you… I wouldn't have come to even watch the match if you didn't steal from the shop….things wouldn't have gone the way they did in the arena if you controlled your strength!!" Edward screamed with tears flowing through his face.

"You still dare to scream on my face after seeing what I did?" Max asked as he looked at him and Edward staggered a few steps back with a fearful look before moving towards the corner of the cell.

Yes, they were in a cell.

The guards had brought the students to the detention area and had put them in a cell. Each cell had accommodation for two people. The place was comfortable and most likely used to hold people before the trial. It seems that they were planning to do it according to the procedure.

Max was indeed surprised, he was ready to face injustice after all. To think that they were willing to do it like this…..Max couldn't help but feel that something was wrong here….

'Well, even though they locked everyone up for now. I doubt they could keep them until the day of the trial.' Max thought inwardly. The trial was two days from now and it seems that they weren't going to let him out.

'Master and Headmaster both are not in the capital….I don't think I will be getting out soon…' Max's brows creased on the thought and he sighed. It was then that he suddenly remembered something and turned his head towards Edward.

Grandmaster!!

"What are you doing there, brother?"

Edward raised his head to look at Max and then looked around to see if someone had come. But he failed to find anyone.

"I am talking to you…." Max replied with a smile.

'What's wrong with him? Did I do something?' Edward thought and his body shivered as he looked at the smile on Max's face feeling all crept up.

"W-What do you want?" Edward asked as he looked at Max.

"Nothing, do I need a reason to talk to you." Max replied making Edward feel even more suspicious and threatened at the same time.

"You don't look good…why are you sweating so much?" Max suddenly asked as he observe him.

"Isn't it hot today…" Edward said with a forced smile.

"Isn't it winter now….you can even see the fog in the morning….." Max said with a blank face.

"Ah! I think it's because of the fight…..I still haven't got the fire out of me…" Edward laughed awkwardly as he replied.

"Take this and cool down…" Max said as he passed a can of cold drink.

"'H-How did you get it in here?" Edward asked as his eyes widened.

They were properly checked before being put in here, they weren't allowed to bring anything from outside. Even artifacts were taken away.

"Hey you! How did you get that thing here?" The voice surprised both Max and Edward and they saw one of the patrol guards standing near the cell.

"I-I..I.." Edward looked at the can and then at the guard not knowing what to say.

"Young Man you need to come with me for a second…" the guard said as he opened the cell and grabbed Edward.

Edward turned his head towards Max only to see him looking in the other direction.

...

On the other side, the Academy was in chaos. Several students had suddenly passed out because of some attack. The scene was caught by the media reporters who were present on the Academy ground at that time.

The news had already taken over every possible media platform. The terror attack on the Orca Academy, the unbreachable fortress was breached.

…

"Bang!"

The newly replaced desk was once again shattered into pieces. The Mage King's mood had turned destructive from gloomy. One after another, it seemed someone was toying with him.

"What is that? Why haven't I heard about it?!!" The Mage King screamed in anger.

"Sir, we are still working on it….the cause is still unclear….'' The Assistant replied, sweating buckets.

"Sir, we finally have some lead…" the Assistant said as he looked at the incoming message before speaking further, "It seems that it was the result of a failed experiment. It seems one of the professor's experiments had malfunction leading to the disaster…"

"Which crazy guy let him become a professor? Fire him.." The Mage King was clearly angry and the guy wouldn't be spared it seems.

"Sir, you were the one who asked for his placing in the Academy..." the Assistant said with a forced smile.

The Mage King frowned. He didn't remember placing someone in the Academy except for…

His eyes suddenly widened in realisation and he turned towards his Assistant…..

"Yes Sir, it's that person…."

The Mage King became silent. Nothing was going his way today….

"Sir, about firing?" The Assistant asked after a bit of hesitation and Mage King glared at him.

"Ok, then I will prepare to release the information and clear the misunderstanding…." The Assistant said as he began to contact the management team.

"No, don't do it now…" the Mage King suddenly said as he looked at his Assistant. " Let the situation continue for a while….we will use it to cover the incident today….that incident will not be good for public satisfaction after all."

"I agree…. There shouldn't be many people who had watched that. Most of them should be people related to the students who had found out about the broadcasting through the cameras in the arena. After all, it seemed that the decision to broadcast was taken on the spur of the moment by the broadcasting company to get a breakthrough as they severely lacked in viewership…." The Assistant replied after a bit of thought.

"Good then….proceed in that direction…." The Mage King replied with a nod.

….

"Where is this?"

Axel finally opened his eyes up, he was still feeling weak and his vision appeared to be fuzzy.

"Don't struggle, let me help…." A voice entered Axel's ear and he saw a fuzzy figure.

The person helped him up and he finally rubbed his eyes and it slowly started to turn clear….

It turned out to be a girl and a familiar one…

"What are you doing here?" Axel asked with a frown and his mood immediately turned sour.

"Lear asked me too….he is going to look for Max and there was no one else to look after you…." Lisa replied as she sat on a stool beside the bed and took the fruits she had brought and begun peeling them.

'Where in the hell is Kevin?' Axel thought and lines began to appear on his face. That guy did he abandon him…..

"You can leave...I am fine…." Axel said as he looked at Lisa with a calm look.

"Cling!"

Lisa put down the knife on the plate and walked up to the cabinet beside, before placing it on the table.

"Why?" Lisa asked as she turned her head. This had gone for too long. Today, she wanted answers…..

"I kept chasing you for over a year….I just wanted to say thank you at first…..but you kept avoiding me….I admit there was a time that I took it as a challenge but I don't do it anymore…..even after I joined you all, it seems that things haven't changed in between us…..I want the answer today…"

Axel looked at her face, the air around them turned serious…he could see her eyes glistening…but…..this was how it was supposed to be….he just couldn't accept it…he didn't have the right to....this was the right thing to do…..

"Because I hate you…" Axel said with an expressionless face as he looked at her….

"Why?"

A soft voice entered Axel's ear once again and he looked at her....

She wanted to know today....she wasn't willing to back down with that....she would end it today for once and all.....she didn't want to go through what she had gone a few minutes earlier.....she still couldn't get those out of her head....