Chapter 1479: The Weight of Pure Mana
Originally, Kelly had planned to play along with the others, pretending she had taken the pill just as they had. Her goal was never to fight the Wilton students seriously, her real enemy had always been elsewhere. She had no intention of swallowing the mysterious substance, especially after Raze’s warning. Instead, her plan was to rely on her natural strength and pour more effort into her spells, making it appear as though she too had received a sudden boost.
Yet, what she witnessed shook her expectations. She had imagined the pill would provide a simple enhancement, perhaps an increase in speed or strength. But this… this transformation was something else entirely. Their bodies had shifted, their forms altered until they radiated raw mana itself.
As the others reeled from the sight, Liam was suddenly assaulted by several blazing beams. His system instantly guided him, mapping out the safest movements and telling him where to step. With precision, he shifted his weight, each step landing in the exact place needed to avoid the barrage.
Dame, too, was under pressure. The weakened George, who only moments ago had been staggering from Dame’s earlier strike, now moved as though he had never been touched. His body pulsed with unnatural vigor as he released a massive sphere of condensed mana. The orb burst outward in all directions like a shockwave.
Dame’s body flickered as sparks surrounded him. Using his lightning body technique, he darted backward just in time, escaping the blast with his frame intact. Even so, the air itself trembled from the sheer force.
All around them, attacks filled the arena. And the more Raze observed, the more his suspicion hardened into certainty.
These were not normal spells.
He raised his hand, analyzing the shimmering projectiles in the air. They carried no affinity, no elemental signature, no trace of fire, water, wind, or earth. They were pure mana.
That explained everything.
No affinity meant no interaction. Normally, affinities followed a balance: fire against wind, earth against lightning, water extinguishing flame, and so forth. Even unique traits still played within the boundaries of that cycle. But pure mana was different. Pure mana devoured whatever it touched if it was stronger, reducing spells to nothing but scattered particles.
It was like a game of rock-paper-scissors where one player had suddenly brought a weapon that trumped all three. As long as their output exceeded the opposing mage’s, every affinity spell would crumble against it.
When the next barrage tore through the battlefield, Raze finally moved. For the first time, he stretched out his hand, lightning bursting from his palm. Direct, sharp, and swift, his element of choice. Bolts surged forth, intercepting the oncoming beams before they could smash into Piba and Moze. The air cracked with thunder as his magic met theirs, scattering the mana blasts to harmless sparks.
Kayzel’s eyes widened. He had been watching Raze carefully from the start, and now he finally saw him intervene.
“So even with the help of the pills,” Kayzel muttered under his breath, “you’re still able to stop us.”
He clenched his jaw. He had already figured out the same truth as Raze, that their bodies now produced pure mana. And he knew what that meant. There was only one solution: more power.
“Everyone, gather!” Kayzel commanded. His voice cut across the battlefield with authority. “If we attack all at once, with everything we have, they won’t be able to resist!”
One by one, the glowing students obeyed. They moved together, energy pulsing, mana flaring violently around them as they began to concentrate their strength for a massive combined assault.
Across the field, the Wilton students regrouped as well, instinctively closing ranks around Raze. Chiba and Yolden tried to push back with water and fire, weaving spells together, but the results were the same as before. Their attacks simply melted away against the glowing shells of mana, absorbed as though swallowed whole.
“Do you want me to use my sword?” Liam asked, his voice steady even as sweat beaded on his brow. He rested his hand on the hilt. “I think in this situation it would cut through the energy. Maybe even cut through them.”
Raze’s eyes flicked toward him. He knew Liam was right. His blade, imbued with Qi, could likely pierce the mana shrouding their bodies. But he also knew the cost.
“Yes, the sword would work,” Raze admitted quietly, “but if it cuts the body itself, then the damage might be fatal. These are still students. They are young. It’s natural for them to make mistakes, and it’s natural for them to be influenced by the decisions of those above them. If I can… I want to save them.”
Safa heard the words and her chest tightened. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling. Raze, the boy who once despised the world, who once would have burned everything down for the sake of his goals, now spoke of saving others. Not just his allies, but even his enemies.
For the first time, he didn’t sound like someone bent solely on revenge. He sounded like someone who wanted to protect.
“What can we do to help?” Safa asked, stepping forward.
Raze exhaled slowly. His gaze never left the glowing figures gathering power across the field. “This isn’t a normal situation. They’re using something they should never have touched. I will handle this. I need you to give me cover.”
“No problem,” Piba answered firmly, his voice carrying conviction. One by one, the others nodded in agreement. They all knew the truth, there was no way they could stand against that kind of power. Not now.
“Then listen carefully,” Raze said. His tone dropped into command, sharp and deliberate. “Use your earth magic. Raise the ground and shatter it into dust. Break it down as fine as possible. Then use wind magic. Create a storm around us, a massive tornado of dust and debris. Hide us from their sight.”
The students’ eyes hardened. They didn’t know what Raze intended to do once the cover was made, but they trusted him. He had carried them this far, and if there was any chance of surviving this overwhelming force, it would be because of him.
And so, while the Central Academy students gathered their mana for one devastating strike, the Wilton side prepared to cloak their strongest card in the storm of the battlefield.
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Chapter 1480: Clash of Energies
All of the Central Academy students had gathered together, their bodies still surging with the unnatural power of the pill they had consumed. Mana flared violently around them, forming a storm of orange-glowing energy that pulsed and twisted like fire trapped in a glass. They were clearly preparing to unleash some devastating attack.
The only one who did not join them was Kelly. She stood apart, watching with a calculating gaze. At first, she had thought she could simply play along, pretending she had taken the pill as well. Yet the sight before her had made that impossible. The others had transformed, their bodies glowing with pure mana, while she remained unchanged. If she stood with them, she would be discovered.
So she made her choice. Quietly, and perhaps suspiciously to anyone who might have noticed, Kelly drifted across the battlefield until she stood behind the Wilton students. In her heart, she had already placed her bet. If there was anyone who could overturn this madness, it was Raze, the Dark Magus. He wasn’t simply another prodigy. He was someone who would change the world.
Raze, calm even in the midst of chaos, gave his signal. The Wilton students acted exactly as he had instructed. Earth magic surged first, breaking apart the ground and shattering rubble into pieces, grinding stone into fine particles of dust. Then wind magic followed, whipping the fragments into a whirling storm.
The dust spread fast, carried by currents of wind to the very edge of the stadium. There, it pressed against the protective barrier designed to shield the audience. The invisible wall acted as a natural boundary, forcing the swirling dust to coil and churn within the arena, until it formed an opaque dome that obscured everything inside.
The crowd erupted in protest.
“What is happening?!” one noble shouted, rising to his feet.
“Is this a large-scale spell?” another speculated. “What trick are the Wilton students using now?”
“I can’t see a thing! How are we supposed to watch if the field is covered?”
To those in the stands, it appeared as though a massive ritual was underway. In truth, there was no grand spell forming, no destructive weapon building in the haze. The dust storm was nothing more than a curtain, a carefully woven veil to keep outside eyes from witnessing what was about to unfold.
Inside the storm, Raze turned to his allies. His eyes were sharp, his tone steady, but his presence carried the weight of command.
“You did well,” he said, his voice cutting through the roaring wind. “Now, it’s time to leave the rest to us.”
Safa, Liam, Beatrix, and Dame stood with him, their expressions solemn. Each of them was ready to follow his lead, no matter the cost.
“The opponents are fighting with pure mana energy,” Raze explained. “If we want to stop them, then we must meet them with the same. Energy against energy.”
“But we don’t know how to use mana,” Liam admitted, shaking his head. “Apart from you and Safa, none of us have a clue.”
“True,” Raze replied, “but mana is not the only force in this world. Energy takes many forms. For this strike, to stop their attack, I give you permission to use your Qi. Don’t hold back. Pour everything you have into this one moment. We don’t need to defeat them here, we only need to block their strike. After that, I will handle the rest.”
The others exchanged glances, their eyes wide. It wasn’t often that Raze openly asked for their aid. His words carried more weight than any order could.
Raze himself knew the truth. He could likely overpower the Central Academy students even now. With his Dark Edge sword arts combined with the destructive nature of Dark Magic, amplified by his Qi, he could crush their mana beam. Dark Magic was the ultimate counterforce, a power that devoured anything it touched. He wanted to test it, to see for himself whether it could truly consume pure mana.
But that was a risk he could not take. The Central Academy students were conscious, aware, and watching. If he revealed too much here, his secrets would spread. No, he would keep that card hidden. There was another way, one that required his allies to stand with him.
Across the field, the Central Academy students released their gathered energy. A blinding golden light erupted from their bodies, converging into a single colossal beam. It grew in size until it towered like a lance of the heavens, piercing through the dust storm with a brilliance so strong that even the crowd outside could see the light bleeding through.
The stadium shook. The audience gasped.
“What is that?! That’s not ordinary magic!”
“It’s incredible! They’re unleashing everything!”
Inside the storm, the Wilton students braced themselves. Fear flickered in their eyes, but they trusted in Raze.
“Now!” he shouted.
At his command, the power sealed within their bodies exploded outward. Qi surged from them in torrents, breaking the ground beneath their feet, carving cracks into the stone as raw energy enveloped their forms. For once, none of them used weapons or spells. They relied only on themselves, gathering all of their strength into their fists.
Raze moved first, showing them the way. He stepped forward, performing the simple two-step motion. It was one of the first techniques all of them had learned as children. Simple. Basic. But in the hands of those who understood energy, it could be devastating.
The others mirrored him. Safa, Liam, Beatrix, Dame, all raised their fists in unison.
Then they struck.
Their punches collided with the colossal mana beam.
The clash was cataclysmic.
Qi and mana slammed together with an earth-shattering roar. For a moment, it seemed as though the world itself might collapse under the weight of the energies. The golden light pushed forward, but the Qi met it head-on, hammering into it with unyielding force.
And then, slowly, the tide shifted.
The beam cracked, its brilliance fracturing like shattered glass. Each punch tore through the energy, breaking it apart. The golden light wavered, faltered, and then was pushed back. Piece by piece, it crumbled under the weight of their combined strike until there was nothing left.
The beam vanished.
Silence followed, broken only by the ragged breaths of the Wilton students. Dust swirled around them, the aftermath of their power still trembling in the air.
They had done it. Together, they had stopped the unstoppable.
And now, Raze stepped forward, lightning crackling around his foot as his eyes fixed on the Central Academy students.
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Chapter 1481: The Loss Of Power
The clash between Qi and pure mana had shaken the arena to its very foundations. The combined strike of Raze and the Wilton students had been so overwhelming that it tore a hole through the veil of wind and dust, momentarily clearing the air above. Light poured through the gap, but the lower half of the battlefield remained shrouded in the storm. From the audience’s perspective, the fight was still hidden, yet they could feel its weight, the pressure of energies colliding, the earth rumbling beneath their feet, the vibrations rattling the reinforced barrier.
The barrier itself was groaning under the strain. Recognizing the danger, the teachers stationed around the coliseum poured their mana into it, reinforcing the walls in desperation. If either the Qi strike or the raw mana beam had escaped into the stands, no amount of shielding would have saved the crowd.
Only two men truly understood how fragile the situation was: Raze, who had lived his entire life walking between destruction and survival, and Ibarin, who knew the depths of what had been unleashed.
’What is happening in there?’ Ibarin thought, his eyes narrowing. ’Why did they erect such a screen of dust? Why would they conceal the fight unless… unless Wilton has found something new?’
For a brief moment he considered halting the match, declaring it too dangerous. But his pride, and his fear of exposure, held him back.
’No. Not without a valid reason. The spell that cloaks the arena was conjured by the Wilton side. If I interfere now, they can claim victory by default. And those pills… those pills were given to me by Gizin himself. There is no way they can lose. No way.’
His lips curled into a grim smile, though it never reached his eyes.
’It’s a shame, really. Those pills will ensure their victory, but at a cost. With them, the students will never again walk the path of magic. Their mana cores are broken even as they shine. They will burn brightly tonight and be left with nothing tomorrow. Still… what is one life, or one future, weighed against my position? Idore won’t even care if his son Kayzel is ruined.’
Inside the storm, the Wilton students exchanged uneasy glances. They had just witnessed their allies, people they thought they understood, repel an attack that should have been impossible to withstand. They could not comprehend the power they had seen.
At least when Liam fought with swords, or when Dame struck with his fists, they could explain it away as skill or rare technique. But what they had just seen was something else entirely. A single punch, charged with an invisible force, had shattered a colossal beam of mana. To their eyes, it looked as though the Wilton group had cast magic of a kind no one had ever taught.
The realization was dawning on them, these students were far stronger than anyone had imagined.
Raze, meanwhile, wasted no time. Lightning sparked beneath his feet as he vanished from sight. He reappeared in a blur beside one of the glowing Central Academy students, seizing them by the arm and hurling them away. With his free hand, he conjured a mass of wind magic, blasting it outward to scatter the others and buy himself a moment.
He knew that after unleashing such a large-scale attack, the students would need time to recover. That time was all he required to test his plan.
As he pressed his hand against the chest of the glowing student, Raze’s eyes hardened. The orange radiance surrounding their body began to flicker, weakening, and then it started to flow into him. The glow dimmed, fading as if siphoned away, until it was no longer theirs but his.
He was using his extraction technique.
’Their whole bodies have been transformed into living mana cores,’ Raze analyzed, feeling the strange energy pour into him. ’But the stars that orbit the heart, the anchors of a mage’s being, are broken. If they continue to use this state, if they burn their lives like this, the heart itself will implode. They won’t just lose their power; they’ll die.’
He tightened his grip.
’The only thing I can do… is absorb it all. Strip them clean of this power. They’ll lose their stars, they’ll never cast magic again. But it’s better than letting them burn alive.’
The beauty of his extraction lay in its speed. What would take others minutes or hours, he did in seconds. And because the mana was not buried deep within but blazing on the surface of their bodies, it was child’s play to draw it out.
In moments, the student’s glow disappeared entirely. They sagged in his grasp, unconscious but alive. Raze let their body drop to the ground without ceremony, his gaze already shifting to the others.
“What the hell, how did he do that?!” Bones shouted, panic slipping into his voice. “He erased the energy! That’s not possible!”
He unleashed a barrage of beams in his fear and fury, but Raze was already moving. Qi surged through his limbs, lightning arcing down his legs. He weaved between the attacks, every step impossibly fast, until he launched himself forward. His hand clamped down over Bones’s face.
The moment contact was made, Bones screamed. His glow sputtered, then vanished, siphoned away by Raze’s relentless extraction. His body went limp, and Raze tossed him aside like broken cargo.
One by one, Raze repeated the process. Each student tried to resist, but resistance was meaningless. Their raw mana beams could not catch him, and the closer he drew, the faster their power became his. With every contact, the glow faded, their bodies collapsing into exhaustion. The once-proud champions of the Central Academy fell like dominos.
When Raze’s hand touched George, he felt something extra, something heavier. He drew not only the borrowed mana but also George’s unique affinity. Gravity magic. The sensation of weight and pull filled his veins for a moment before settling within him.
’So this is gravity magic,’ he thought briefly. ’Another piece to add to the arsenal.’
It wasn’t what he had been aiming for, but it was useful nonetheless. Extraction always gave him more than he planned, and this battle was proving no different.
Finally, only one remained.
Kayzel.
Unlike the others, he did not flinch when Raze appeared before him. He did not struggle when Raze’s hand closed over his face. His glow weakened, but there was no panic in his eyes, only something close to recognition.
“You…” Kayzel whispered, his voice steady despite his failing strength. “You might actually be able to do it. You might really be the one to take down the Grand Magus.”
And then his glow, too, was gone.
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Chapter 1482: The Price of Power
After using the extraction technique on Kayzel, Raze slowly lowered the boy onto the ground. Kayzel’s body sagged lifelessly, his limbs trembling with exhaustion, but his expression was unlike the others Raze had drained. There was no desperation in his eyes, no terror from the sudden loss of power. Instead, there was a faint curve of his lips, an almost peaceful smile.
It unsettled Raze more than anger or fear ever could.
’From what I’ve heard about him, Kayzel always carried the expectations of others,’ Raze thought, watching the boy’s chest rise and fall with shallow breaths. ’Born into one of the most prestigious lines, praised as a prodigy, yet weighed down by a burden no child should ever carry. Perhaps… he understands what this means now. That he’ll never be able to perform magic again.’
The pills had ruined them.
Each of the Central Academy students who had consumed one had their mana cores twisted beyond repair. It was far worse than the forced breakthrough pill Alen once gave him. That pill was reckless but at least pointed in the direction of growth, a violent push up the ladder of stars. These pills, however, were something else entirely. They did not push. They broke. They hollowed. They turned the body into a false core, wrapping mana around the heart like chains until the natural flow collapsed.
Anything that touched the mana core was dangerous, for it was intertwined with the heart itself. Raze knew that well. To tamper with it was to gamble with life.
By absorbing the unstable energy and stripping it away, he had done the only thing that might save them. It left the students powerless as mages, severed from the very essence that had defined their lives. But it spared them death. In truth, he might have been the only person alive capable of doing it.
And yet he knew they would never thank him for it. None of them would understand. None of them would be told. To them, he would always be the villain.
Still, Kayzel’s final words echoed in his mind: “You might really be able to take out the Grand Magus.”
Combined with that smile, it was almost as if the boy felt relieved, like a man freed of chains after years of captivity.
’Maybe he resented the Grand Magus too,’ Raze thought. ’Maybe he hated being used as a pawn in their schemes. Another child caught up in a war between giants.’
For a moment, Raze almost pitied him.
There was one silver lining to the ordeal: through his extraction, Raze had absorbed fragments of mana and gained several affinities the students once wielded.
The mana itself meant little. His reservoir as a Seven Star mage was far beyond theirs; their contribution was a drop of water tossed into a lake. But the affinities, that was different.
Many of the Central mages specialized in fire, an element Raze lacked. Now he carried it within him, a tool to refine later. But the most valuable prize had come from George: the gravitational affinity.
Unlocking it opened a new frontier. Gravitational magic was rare and devastating, but unlike other affinities it grew in proportion to the strength of the body.
Raze’s lips twitched at the thought. His Pagna-forged body, honed through brutal training and fueled by Qi, could turn that affinity into one of the strongest forces in existence. Sha Mo’s legendary feats, crushing fields of enemies with a gesture, pulling armies into the dirt, suddenly seemed attainable. Perhaps even surpassable.
Time magic, gravitational magic, dark magic. His arsenal grew with every battle.
Not everything could be taken, though. Kayzel’s super speed wasn’t an affinity, but a unique trait of his bloodline. Traits like that, like Enaxx’s ability to clone himself, couldn’t be extracted. Not that it mattered. Raze was already faster than Kayzel, and against the foes waiting ahead, speed alone would never be enough.
“What do we do now?” Moze asked, glancing around the swirling dome of dust and wind. “Do you want us to keep up the spell? If we clear the air, people will see what happened. Won’t we get in trouble?”
“Hey, I think we’re forgetting someone,” Yolden added. He pointed toward Kelly, standing awkwardly off to the side. “Isn’t she still part of the Central Academy team?”
All eyes turned. Kelly immediately raised her hands in mock surrender.
“Don’t worry about her,” Raze answered flatly. “She’s with us.”
“Right… but that still leaves us with a problem, doesn’t it?” Piba frowned. “Technically, the match won’t end until she’s unconscious.”
Kelly rolled her eyes and groaned. “Oh, for crying out loud. Don’t even think about attacking me. Look, I’ll make it easy.” She dramatically flopped onto the ground, closed her eyes, and went limp. “See? Knocked out. Totally defeated. You can all relax.”
The Wilton students exchanged confused glances but said nothing.
“So should we stop the magic?” Chiba asked. Sweat beaded her forehead as she struggled to maintain the massive spell. “It’s not that hard to sustain, but talking and casting at the same time is rough.”
Raze considered the situation carefully. The dome of dust and wind had concealed everything from the outside, but that wasn’t its only purpose. It was also a test. If the teachers, or Ibarin himself, had truly cared about the students’ safety, they would have intervened by now. Yet none of them had stepped inside.
That told him all he needed to know.
’Ibarin expected them to win,’ Raze thought darkly. ’He doesn’t care if the Wilton students are injured. To him, they’re disposable. And Wilton… he would have spoken up. He would have said something. But he’s gone. I don’t know how Ibarin will react when the truth reaches him.’
Raze walked over to Kelly. She peeked one eye open as he knelt beside her and pressed a small object into her palm.
It was a communicator once used by Alter to keep in contact, normally linked through the markings of Idore. But Raze had altered its design. Now, it connected only to his own network.
“If the students are ever in danger, contact me immediately,” Raze said, his voice low but firm. Then, turning back to the others, he gave the final order. “Drop the spell.”
The Wilton students exchanged glances, nervous but obedient. Slowly, the swirling dust began to thin, drifting away into the air until the stadium once again came into view.
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Chapter 1483: Shattered Legacy
Finally, the spell was beginning to fade. The swirling wind slowed, the wall of dust that had hidden everything inside settled grain by grain, and the crowd leaned forward in their seats, holding their breath.
This was the moment they had all been waiting for, the reveal.
Even Ibarin, seated high above in the honored box, looked up from where his chin had rested lazily against his hand. His lips curled into a confident smirk. In his mind, the outcome was already decided. After setback after setback, after being forced to grit his teeth through Wilton’s repeated victories, the Central Academy’s pride was about to be restored. Victory was within his grasp.
“Finally,” Ibarin thought. “The Central Academy will prove once again that it is unrivaled. And if there are side effects from those pills… we’ll dismiss them as temporary. An unfortunate consequence of training too hard. Nothing more. Nothing that cannot be explained away.”
The last veil of dust drifted to the ground. Gasps echoed across the colosseum.
The crowd froze.
Every single Central Academy student lay sprawled on the battlefield, unconscious. Their glowing forms had dimmed to nothing, their bodies motionless, drained of every ounce of power. And opposite them, standing tall, battered but unbroken, was the full team from Wilton Academy.
For one heartbeat, silence blanketed the arena.
Then the dam broke.
The stands erupted in thunderous cheers, the noise so deafening it shook the very wards protecting the colosseum. People leapt to their feet, shouting and clapping until their palms were raw. Hats were tossed in the air. Students from other academies screamed in disbelief. For a brief moment, even the announcer was struck dumb, his mouth hanging open.
“A complete… wipeout?” someone cried.
“They’re all standing! All of them!”
“Look at the Central students, they’re not even conscious! And Wilton… barely a scratch on them!”
“It can’t be real! Has something like this ever happened before?”
The disbelief spread like wildfire. Not only had Wilton defeated the Central Academy, the reigning giants of the magical world, but they had done so flawlessly. No casualties. No obvious injuries. For the first time in the history of the exchange, the so-called underdogs had humiliated the champions on every front.
“I don’t think even the Central Academy has ever managed this,” another spectator muttered. “A complete team victory, without a single fighter falling.”
“Then… this is history. We’ve just witnessed history.”
And beneath the awe was a rising undercurrent of suspicion. People were beginning to connect the dots. The tornado of dust, the concealment. The fact that no one had seen how Wilton pulled it off.
“They hid it,” someone whispered. “That dust storm… it wasn’t just a tactic. It was to keep us from seeing.”
“From seeing what?”
Nobody had the answer. And that mystery only fed the fire of curiosity, making Wilton’s victory seem all the more legendary, all the more untouchable.
The principals of the other academies sat stiffly in their private viewing deck. None offered congratulations. None moved to speak. Instead, each cast wary glances at one another, their gazes inevitably drifting toward the Grand Magus himself.
But Ibarin, so often a man whose mana leaked out uncontrollably with his emotions, was still. His smirk had vanished. His face was unreadable, his aura contained. He sat like a statue, as though carved from stone.
The announcer, recovering from his shock, finally found his voice. “L-Ladies and gentlemen! The results are in! Wilton Academy are the winners of the group battle! Let’s hear it for them!” His voice cracked with excitement as the crowd erupted once more. “And don’t forget, tomorrow night, we will have the special teachers’ event, followed by the closing ceremony of the magical exchange!”
The cheers redoubled, the colosseum shaking with the sound. Students and guests began rising to their feet, flowing out in noisy, chaotic streams as they carried the news with them.
Raze and the others did the same, walking quietly off the stage. Light mages hurried past them, rushing to tend to the unconscious Central Academy students. Their glowing hands hovered over bodies that were drained and broken in ways they could not understand.
But Raze’s mind was elsewhere.
What will happen to them now? he wondered. I saved their lives, but their futures are ruined. And what of Ibarin? He never came down, never confronted me like I thought he would. Which means… I’ll have to move to my final plan. I can’t wait any longer.
Eventually, even the other principals could no longer endure the tense silence. Without a word to the Grand Magus, they rose from their seats and filed out, their expressions grim, their thoughts their own. None dared speak to him. None dared acknowledge what had just taken place.
But Ibarin remained seated long after the colosseum had emptied, long after the night sky had rolled in and the distant hum of festival celebrations drifted on the breeze. He sat alone, hands folded, staring at the battlefield below with a hollow look in his eyes.
What did I do wrong?
His fingers dug into the armrests of his chair.
Did I not train them hard enough? Am I not fit, even as a Grand Magus, to lead the greatest academy in the world?
His thoughts twisted darker with every passing moment.
No. It wasn’t me. It couldn’t have been me. It must have been the pills. Yes, the pills weren’t strong enough. That has to be it. Or perhaps… perhaps it was something else. That white-haired boy… His teeth clenched. For Wilton’s students to emerge without even a scratch, when mine were enhanced beyond their limits, there’s no explanation. Unless… one of them has already reached the Eight Star level.
The idea chilled him. It was unthinkable. For a youth to climb that high, that fast, it shattered the very foundations of what he believed.
“Why?” he whispered aloud. “Why would anyone push so far? Unless…”
Paranoia twisted around him like a serpent. The students had come from nowhere, their power hidden, their origins unclear. They weren’t normal Wilton students, that much was obvious.
Were they raised in secret? Brought here deliberately? Is this a scheme to remove me?
His fists clenched until his knuckles turned white.
Is this Idore’s work? Is he the one behind this? Did he set this entire event up to disgrace me? To strip me of my throne?
At last, Ibarin rose to his feet, his face shadowed and grim.
“Regardless,” he muttered, his voice low and venomous, “it appears I need to have a talk with my very best students… about their failure.”
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Chapter 1484: The Weight of Silence
After the brutal events of the day, the Central Academy students did not scatter to celebrate like the rest of the participants and guests. Normally, after an event, they would return to their dorms, or slip away to one of the academy’s private training facilities—places that only they had the privilege of accessing. While other academies feasted, mingled, or enjoyed the nightly festival, Central’s students would push themselves harder. They would spar, study, and train until exhaustion.
Enjoyment was for the lesser. At least, that was the belief they had been taught.
But now… things were different.
The group moved together as one, drifting through the lively festival streets. Lanterns glowed warmly above, laughter and chatter rippled through the air, and vendors called out, advertising skewers, dumplings, sweet pastries, and fried meats. The air smelled of roasted spice and sugar. Yet for the Central students, the sounds and smells seemed distant, muffled by the dull ringing of defeat.
It wasn’t just the loss. Losing was bitter enough, but they all sensed something far worse—a hollowness inside them, an emptiness that went beyond disappointment.
For the first time, the invisible hierarchy that had always hovered over them, with Kayzel at the top, had crumbled. They had all lost. All of them. No one was spared. And in that shared failure, they clung together, as though afraid of being left alone.
As they walked, guests and strangers greeted them kindly.
“Well fought!” one man said cheerfully.
“Central was incredible, but Wilton… Wilton was just better this year. Any other year, and you would have taken the crown!” another reassured.
The words were meant to comfort. Instead, they felt like salt in an open wound. The polite congratulations, the sympathy disguised as praise, made their chests tighten. They forced thin smiles, but the heaviness in their eyes told the truth.
Eventually, they found themselves at a long stretch of food stalls. The festival lights gleamed on colorful banners, and families bustled about with trays of grilled meat, steaming bowls of noodles, and sweet candied fruits.
The Central group sat together on an empty bench, a line of weary faces side by side. Vendors brought plates of food, setting them down with polite bows. Yet not a single hand reached out. Bowls steamed untouched, meat cooled, and sweet buns went stale.
Silence weighed over them.
Kayzel raised his hand slightly. He muttered, his lips moving to cast a silence spell. But nothing happened. His eyes narrowed.
Kelly noticed. With a flick of her wrist, she cast the spell for him. The shimmer of magic sealed them off from the outside world, allowing their words to remain private.
Kayzel’s shoulders sank. “I wanted to ask you all something,” he said quietly, staring at the untouched plate before him. “The healers mended our wounds. My body feels fine. But… do any of you feel it? Mana. Can you feel it in your cores at all?”
The others looked up, startled. His words settled into their stomachs like stones.
“I’ve been drained before,” Kayzel continued. His eyes were shadowed. “I’ve emptied myself completely of mana in battle. But this… this feels different. I’ve never felt so empty. So… disconnected. I had to ask if it was the same for you.”
Nannan’s face paled. She closed her eyes, searching inward, but the silence in her body was absolute. “I can’t feel anything,” she admitted. “Not even a spark. I can’t use my trait anymore either. That’s never happened before.”
Their unique traits required mana to manifest. Until one awakened a core, most never even realized if they possessed an affinity. For her trait to vanish—it was as if something fundamental inside her had been stolen.
“Do you think…” Bones leaned forward, his voice low. “Do you think it was the Wilton students? That white-haired one, Raze?”
Kayzel shook his head slowly. “No. This… this feels different. It wasn’t them.” He lifted his gaze, meeting theirs for the first time that evening. “It was the pills. It has to be. And if you want proof…” He tilted his chin toward Kelly. “She never took one. And she’s the only one here who still has her magic.”
Silence followed. Heavy. Unforgiving.
They remembered the surge of energy when they had swallowed those small, glowing pills. The violent rush of mana that had flooded their bodies. It had been intoxicating, overwhelming. Power unlike anything they’d ever known. Of course such strength came at a cost.
“Shouldn’t we… talk to the Grand Magus about it?” George asked cautiously. His voice trembled. “He was the one who gave them to us. If anyone knows what’s happening to us, it’s him.”
“No.” Kelly’s reply came sharp, immediate. She sat forward, her eyes flashing with urgency. “That’s the worst thing you could do.”
The others blinked at her. “What do you mean?”
“Can’t you tell?” Kelly said, her voice dropping lower. “From the way he looked at us, the way he spoke? The Grand Magus is obsessed with winning. That’s all he cares about. We lost. Do you really think he’ll care what those pills did to you? He knew. He knew, and he gave them to you anyway. Your lives, your futures, your mana—it didn’t matter to him. All that mattered was victory.”
Her words were a blade cutting through the last threads of denial.
Nannan rose to her feet, fists clenched. “And what about you?” she snapped. “You didn’t even use the pill. If you had, maybe—just maybe—we wouldn’t have—”
“We would have lost,” Kayzel interrupted firmly, his voice like iron. The table fell silent.
He met each of their gazes in turn. “No matter what we did, no matter how hard we fought, that white-haired boy would have defeated us. And I agree with Kelly. The Grand Magus knew all along what those pills would do.”
His words stripped away the last of their excuses.
The silence pressed heavier than before, filled with the weight of realization. They had been used. Tools, nothing more.
Footsteps interrupted their thoughts. Staff members approached—three of them, moving with stiff precision. Kelly dropped the silence spell at once, not wanting to give away that they had been speaking privately.
One of the staff stepped forward. His expression was neutral, unreadable. “I hope you have enjoyed your evening,” he said, his tone flat. “But unfortunately, the principal wishes to see you all. Now.”
The students’ hearts sank in unison.
****
*****
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