Quin and the instructors stood on the ship. A ssage had co from a bird, bearing a seal from the academy and the Royal Family. He broke the seal and unraveled the paper.
He read the contents, and his expression shifted from calm to serious. He looked at the other instructors.
"There has been an attack. Sapphire snuck into the kingdom and is attacking small towns and villages," Quin said.
Richard folded his arms when he heard that, his expression turning cold. "Why would they go after places that have nothing to do with the war?" he asked.
"Because Sapphire is no longer following the laws and rules that have guided us this long," Rion said.
"Exactly. Sapphire is out to wipe us out, and when they finally bring down Vermilion, they can take down the other kingdoms and finally attack the empire," Elizabeth said.
"So what do we do now?" Richard asked.
"We have to leave. The king has asked for all the help possible. It’s impossible to pull forces from the war at the borders and still protect the villages.
They want to also deploy fourth and third years of the academy and all other academies as well. There are very few knights or mages in the kingdom now," Quin said.
"So what about the students on the island here?" Rion asked.
"We can leave them for now. The island is already set on an automatic sequence. All the exams will go on as expected, and those that die will be sent to the ship here," Quin said.
"We can’t leave them all here. Soone needs to be here," Richard said. "I’ll stay," he added.
"Hmmm, fine, that’s that. You’ll be in charge while we are away," Quin said. He looked at Elizabeth.
"Elizabeth, you have a teleportation node ready for the academy, right?" Quin asked.
"Yes, give a few seconds and I’ll get us to the academy," she replied.
Quin nodded and walked to the edge of the ship. Richard followed behind.
"You think this will be a short attack?" Richard asked.
"Not in the slightest. Sapphire is not just a kingdom. It’s the second-largest kingdom on the continent. Their normal strength rivals Vermilion. And with the demons helping them, their strength will be greater than even that of the empire," Quin said.
"Greater than the empire? Are you not underestimating the strength of the Holy Empire?" Richard asked.
"I wish I would, but the demons have an entire continent to themselves, and their strength is terrifying. Endless amounts of demonized and demons. If they back up Sapphire enough, it will surely be a full-blown war with no signs of stopping," Quin explained.
Richard clenched his fist when he heard that. He looked at the island for a bit and took a deep breath.
"Sapphire, after everything, and after years and years of battling together against the demonized, they gave in to the demons," Richard said.
"It truly doesn’t make any sense why it happened. The change began hundreds of years ago. The clans noticed it, but they couldn’t start a war against Sapphire without real cause," Quin said.
Richard took a step back and waved his hands. "This is sothing the clans discussed, right? Soone like shouldn’t be a part of it," he said.
"No, it’s fine," Quin said. "The clans have been quietly watching everything from Sapphire. We knew sothing was up. Even Sally was watched.
What we didn’t expect was the fact that they would start the attack at the academy in such a manner.
I knew Sally had a plan, and I was trying to uncover it slowly. But then what happened, happened. I don’t know if it was a rush or sothing tampered with her plans, but what I know is that the attack Sally led was supposed to be worse than that and claim more lives," Quin said.
"I have a feeling we both know why her plan didn’t work as well as she wanted," Richard said.
"Yeah, Riven. I really want to get ti to et with the kid one-on-one. There’s sothing about him, not just the fact that he is incredibly talented—there is more," Quin said.
Richard was about to say sothing else, but then Elizabeth called out to them.
"It’s ready!" she said. They turned around and saw a large glowing blue magical circle on the ground. Rion and Elizabeth were already standing on it.
Quin gave Richard a nod and walked to the circle. It glowed more. Space twisted and bent like it would rip. The formation pulled all the mana around like a vortex, using it to power itself, and after a few seconds, they vanished, leaving burn marks of the circle they used on the wood of the ship.
"Finally, alone. So ti to relax," Richard said. Though the students that had been eliminated were down below in the ship, he really didn’t bother about them. They had everything they needed to survive in the ship now.
He walked along the deck, about to get to where he would relax, but then he felt a presence headed toward him.
He turned and looked in the direction of the forest. Sothing was coming—sothing fast and powerful.
He pulled out a sword from his ring, his eyes squinted as he looked for whatever it was. But then, after a few seconds, the presence vanished. He watched for a few more seconds, but nothing ca.
Feeling he was probably overthinking and worrying, he was about to place his sword back into his ring when black tendrils ripped out of the ground and into the air. Several tens of feet tall, they penetrated the hull of the ship and started ripping it apart.
Richard jumped from the ship and landed on the sand. The wyverns began snapping and thrashing when they felt the danger. They broke their binds and imdiately flew away in a rush, leaving the ship stranded there.
Richard watched them fly away. He frowned, looking for where the tendrils ca from, and then he spotted the source—Luke.
Luke’s skin was white as paper, his eyes seed hollow, and cracks were all over his face. He was a shell of his forr self, and his power was now controlling him.
But even then, there was still his will inside there—the will to destroy Riven and Noel, the driving force that kept him moving now.
The mont Richard locked eyes with Luke, Luke attacked. Massive tendrils shot toward him.
"I was supposed to relax now. Who the hell are you even supposed to be?" Richard said. He dashed forward at a shocking speed, moving with elegance that befitted him.
He slashed, cutting through the first tentacle with ease. He spun around and cut the second and the third before pushing forward.
But the tendrils grew back and tracked him from behind. But he could sense them. His body suddenly exploded with silver lightning and vaporized the tentacles that were coming from behind.
"I don’t know who you are, but you picked the wrong ti to bug ," Richard said before speeding up.
"Arghhhh, why won’t ants like you just die once and leave alone!" Luke roared in anger. More tendrils shot into the sky and curved before shooting toward Richard.
"Leave you alone? You literally ca here and disturbed ! I was about to rest!" Richard yelled and went into a flurry of slashes, cutting through all the tendrils like they were made of butter.
Luke got enraged. So many people had been standing in his way. They didn’t want him to kill Riven and Noel. There was no way he would allow that.
"JUST DIEEEEEEEE!" he roared and attacked with even more tendrils, reaching fifty.
"Hmmm, you are strong, but sadly, you lack the skill to use your strength," Richard said and began dodging and slicing the tendrils. Silver lightning crackled at his feet and made him go faster.
He covered the distance in a few seconds and went for the kill. Luke was shocked when he saw the blade close to his face, but rather than panic, his rage took over and his entire body exploded in a massive burst of flas. The force slamd into Richard and threw him back.
He flipped in the air and landed on his feet. He looked up and saw Luke burning with black flas.
"What are you?" he muttered.
"You can’t know . After all, rather than admit into the academy, you chose those two cheaters over . You all are to bla for what’s happened to , and now I’ll use you to get stronger!" Luke roared. He lunged forward, covered in flas.
"Tsk," Richard clicked his tongue. He got into his stance. Silver lightning started crackling all around, so much that it blasted small craters around him.
"I didn’t think that I’d have to battle this much today, but I’ll have to take you seriously," Richard said before dashing forward like a bullet, his sword ready to slash.
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