"Look… Everyone look!"

"Is that the student they've been trying to find?"

​​

"How old is he? Why does he look so small?"

"I heard he killed his own father."

"Really!? We had someone like that in the Academy!?"

"I think I know who he is! He was the freshman who gathered all the attention of various guilds on his first day!"

"What? The speedy boy?"

The students all poked their heads outside the windows as they watched Van being dragged by the people from the Explorer Association. Most of them were still unaware of why the whole Academy was placed in lockdown. And so, as they saw a student all tied up and gagged, some of them were shocked beyond belief.

Their whispers and murmurs were the only things that you could hear. The enclosed barrier did not help, as it helped echo and amplify the sound of their words.

The Headmaster and Angela Elton were also already waiting at the gates, both of them looking at Van with a complicated expression on their faces.

"V… Van!"

A loud roar then echoed throughout the Academy as Harvey suddenly jumped down from the freshman's building, heading straight towards Van. However, before he could even reach him, Ms. Elton suddenly appeared below him, grabbing his feet and pulling him to the ground.

"M...Ms. Elton!? What are you doing!? Shouldn't we stop them from taking Van away!? They are treating them like some sort of monster!"

"Don't make any more unnecessary scenes, boy. There are lots of ears listening… lots of ears, don't make it harder for your father."

"But--"

Harvey was going to clamor some more, but as soon as his eyes wandered towards a girl being carried on the shoulders by one of the Explorers, he quickly left Ms. Elton's side.

"What did you do to Bea!?" Harvey once again roared as he rushed towards the man carrying Beatrice. The Explorer, however, gently dropped Beatrice on the ground as soon as he saw Harvey rushing towards him.

"What did you do to her!?" Harvey quickly carried Beatrice out of the way, "Bea, wake up! Wake up! F*ck!"

Harvey slammed his fist on the ground, the feeling of helplessness weighing on him by the second. He knew that if he ran amok here, there were more than a dozen people that could stop him. It would be useless.

No. Even if it was useless, he had to try.

And so, with that thought, he gave Beatrice to Ms. Elton, asking her to take care of her. He then took a deep breath as his teeth started to chatter from the anger that was overflowing from inside of him.

"Calm down," however, before he could do anything, Victoria suddenly tapped his shoulders. "Fighting here might hurt Van even more."

"Then what… What are we supposed to do? Just watch as they parade Van like this in front of all these people? He is hurt, Vicky. Look at his legs… it's… it's mangled."

"...I know," Victoria muttered, her voice quiet as she looked to the side. It wasn't only to Harvey's benefit that she used her power to calm him down… it was also for her. Seeing Van like that, a heavy weight instantly pinned down her chest. She was almost unable to breathe as only stuttered gasps seem to want to burst out from her.

And so, as soon as she was able, she used her skill on Harvey, losing a part of her emotions in the process.

"Good thinking there, demonspawn." Ms. Elton quickly nodded her head while checking on Beatrice's condition. But seeing as she was only unconscious and didn't have any noticeable damage on her body, she quickly let her go, returning to the Headmaster's side.

"Are you sure this is alright?"

"Yes." The Headmaster could only let out a breath as he nodded his bald head.

'The others might think this is a sign of weakness.' Elton quickly shut her mouth. Her thoughts echoing in the Headmaster's mind.

'Can you not use my skills without my permission? And even as they see this as a sign of weakness, so be it. We are not ready. At least not yet… but I did call a neutral party.'

'I see... Well, it's your reputation on the line, Hans. Up to you. What? Yes. He has. He has definitely become weaker. Think we should replace him as the Headmaster? No, at least not now. He is still useful.'

'This is why I don't like using my skills on you, Angela. You're always filled with noise. I can hear at least a thousand voices.' Headmaster Hans let out a deep sigh as he watched Chris hand Van to the city guards.

What a foolish display, he thought. They might as well skip the process since the city guards were now basically a pawn to the Explorer Association. Without a doubt, they got it from colluding with the pigs from the Circle. If only--

'I can hear your thoughts, you should probably turn off your skill so I can no longer hear your annoying weakas--"

Before Elton's thoughts could be completed, Headmaster Hans slightly tilted his head, turning off his skill and shutting Elton from it completely.

"Headmaster, do know that the Explorer Association and Chairman Hearst will forever be grateful for this." As soon as Chris was done handing Van to the city guards, he immediately approached the Headmaster.

"Of course, tell the old man that he should drop by here from time to time so we can have a glass from time to time." Headmaster Hans let out a light laugh as he shook Chris' hand. However, Chris' next words immediately turned his smile into a frown.

"You can tell him yourself, sir. The Chairman should be here at any moment."

"...What? Surely, you jest?" The Headmaster let out a light chuckle as he lightly tapped Chris' shoulder.

"Not at all, sir. For some reason, he wanted to see the boy for himself before we sent him to the Pit. So we sent word to him as soon as we were able to catch this slippery rat."

"...I see." The Headmaster once again smiled. But his thoughts were currently in disarray as he frantically used his skill once more.

'Don't come here. I repeat, abort. Abort! The Old One is--'

*BOOM*

"!!!"

However, before he could finish his thoughts, a thunderous cracking noise reverberated and echoed throughout the whole Academy. Shaking the very foundations on which it stood, literally.

"W… what's that!?" The students who were poking their heads out of the windows almost slipped as the ground shook violently.

"Is… Is the world ending!?"

"No! I'm too beautiful to die this young!"

"N...no, look! The… the barrier, it's…"

"It's cracking!?"

*BOOM*

Once again, the students covered their ears as another thunder echoed throughout the Academy, as if the drums of death itself were welcoming them, beating into their ears.

Not only the students, but the staff, the city guards, and the people from the Explorer Association looked in horror as the Academy's barrier crackled.

The Academy's barrier, completely made from a unique metal that one could only find inside a Rank A Portal. They were often used as armor, or weapons by only the highest-ranked Explorers.

But all the Academies in the world used it as their wall, their barrier in order to protect the students if ever a Portal were to appear near the Academy.

It was known to be impenetrable. Or so it was.

'...Is this who you mean by a neutral party, Hans? Are you crazy? You're crazy, aren't you? I told you we should have replaced you as the Headmaster. Retire, no… resign and publicly hand your position to me… No, wait. Too much responsibility. Keep it. This is a mistake, a huge mistake. The others will have your head for this.'

Elton once again copied Headmaster Hans' skill as she looked at the wall. The Headmaster, on the other hand, wanted to pull his hair out… if he had one.

The thunderous rhythmic sound already echoed in his ears, and now Angela Elton was nagging in his mind. But there was one thing he couldn't deny, though. He did make a mistake.

He called her just to scare the people from the Explorer Association and the city guards, but to think that the old Chairman himself was on his way here?

If the situation wasn't alleviated as soon as possible… then the thundering noise that echoed throughout the Academy right now, was probably the signal of the start of a war.

*CRACK*

And then, slowly, the moonlight forcefully seeped through the cracks. It's light glimmering behind the silhouette of the Academy gates. And, with another thunder, the light burst in full.

The barrier, as well as the gates, seemed to blow up as it flew a long distance before rolling on the ground, almost hitting some members of the association and the city guards.

Chris furrowed his eyebrows as he quickly stepped to the side. The worst situation that he has thought of has come. When he came to know that Van was friends with one Victoria Gates, he had thought of this scenario happening.

He just didn't think that it actually will.

"...F*ck me." He muttered, every facade of calmness completely devoid from his face.

And then, ever so slowly, a silhouette revealed itself entering the Academy. The edges of her back basked by the moonlight, her every step sent shivers crawling to the spine of everyone present.

"Where do you think you're taking my granddaughter's future husband, you corpses!?"

Charlotte Gates has arrived.