The situation had turned dire. Of all the Central Academy students who had once been hailed as the pride of their institution, only one among them could still use magic. Kelly. The others stood helpless, drained and broken, their cores nothing but hollow silence.
That left Kelly with a grim truth: the burden of survival rested solely on her.
Her only advantage was the one thing she had always kept hidden, her Dark Magic. Unlike wind, fire, or lightning, there was no formal training, no neat counter-spells printed in textbooks. Dark Magic was a forbidden art, rarely studied, whispered about in fear, and deliberately excluded from the academy’s lessons. No one truly knew the best way to counter it.
But by using it, Kelly would be branding herself. Every spell she cast pulled her further into the light of suspicion. If the staff didn’t kill her here and now, she would be hunted later. Her fellow students would never look at her the sa way again.
Even as her heart thundered in her chest, her mind repeated one cold fact: If I reveal this power, they’ll know I belong to the Dark Guild.
But then her eyes flicked to Nannan, who only monts earlier had nearly been struck down by a fireball. She rembered the girl’s terrified expression, her body bracing for death. Kelly clenched her fists, teeth grinding.
The event was over. The pretense of honor, of competition, of rules, gone. All that remained was survival.
’Screw it,’ she thought.
Her hand snapped up, and a torrent of black energy exploded outward. The beam surged like liquid shadow, devouring the fireball as though it had never existed. The brilliant fla sputtered once and vanished into nothingness.
The staff mber’s eyes widened. He staggered back, but shock quickly twisted into rage.
Kelly dropped to her knees, pressing her palm against the ground. Shadows erupted, twisting around her in spirals, forming a barrier that absorbed the lightning bolts and gusts of wind that slamd into it from either side. The air around her chilled, and even the bravest of her classmates instinctively took a step back.
"She’s using Dark Magic!" one staff mber bellowed. "Get rid of her, completely! She must be working for the Dark Guild!"
The three mages turned on her at once. Fire, wind, and lightning bombarded her from every angle, crashing into her shields. Kelly gritted her teeth, retreating a step at a ti, weaving her darkness into new forms, shards that countered fla, wisps that snuffed out sparks, walls that bent the wind aside.
But even with her strength, it was three against one. Almost impossible.
If only I’d used it earlier, she cursed inwardly, sweat dripping down her temple. When George first knocked that man down, I could’ve finished it. Why did I hesitate? Why did I care what they thought of ?
On the sidelines, the other Central students stood frozen. Two of them strained under George’s weight as they tried to pull him to safety, but their movents slowed until they stopped completely. Where could they even take him? Back to the venue? Hide among the guests? Seek their families? No. If the academy itself had turned against them, dragging their families into it would only spread the danger.
They were trapped.
"Should we help her?" Bones muttered, his hands trembling.
"You really think we should?" another snapped back. His voice was harsh, but his eyes betrayed fear. "She just used Dark Magic! You all saw it! That ans she’s one of them, one of the Dark Guild. Everything makes sense now. Why she didn’t take the pill, why she kept warning us about the Grand Magus. She’s been lying to us the whole ti!"
"But is what happened to us really because of her?" Kayzel’s voice cut through, heavy with exhaustion yet steady. "The Grand Magus made every decision long before Kelly revealed herself. We all took those pills without knowing what they’d do. Whatever the Dark Guild is, Kelly didn’t force us into this. She..." He paused, staring at Kelly as she deflected another lightning strike. "She fought back when no one else could."
Nannan’s voice trembled, but her words carried fire. "And she saved . The only reason she revealed herself in the first place was to protect . That counts for sothing. The least we can do is try to resolve this, to stand with her sohow."
Their words fell heavy over the group. The truth was undeniable, without their mana, they were useless. They could barely stand, let alone fight. And yet their hearts ached with sha, watching Kelly fight alone, watching her burn herself away for their sake.
On the battlefield, Kelly’s body shook. Her breathing grew shallow. She had used more mana in these few minutes than she had in months. Each spell she cast now was weaker, slower. Dark tendrils sputtered into mist, barely enough to hold back the relentless storm.
"Damn it!" she scread, her voice cracking. "Damn it, damn it, I don’t care about dying, but to die like this, in a stupid place like this!"
Her knees buckled. Another blast of fire streaked toward her,
And then a voice carried across the clearing.
"Do you really think you’ll be dying?"
The staff mbers stopped. Kelly’s head snapped up. The other students turned with wide eyes.
From the treeline, a lone figure erged. His pace was steady, his presence commanding. White hair caught the moonlight like silver fla, and his calm eyes burned with an intensity that silenced the air itself.
Even the staff recognized him instantly.
"That’s him..." one whispered, fear leaking into his voice. "The Wilton student. The one who defeated Kayzel..."
"What’s he doing here?" another hissed. "This has nothing to do with him. This is a matter for Central Academy. He should stay out of it unless he wants to cause trouble."
But the boy did not stop. He walked forward, unhurried, utterly unconcerned with their threats.
"Unfortunately for you," Raze said, his voice carrying with quiet authority, "I won’t be leaving."
His gaze locked onto Kelly, then swept to the staff. "Because the one you’re trying to hurt... is one of my people."
As he spoke, the air around him darkened. Shadows rippled outward from his body, crawling across the ground, wrapping the trees, twisting the night itself.
Dark Magic flared. Not in flickers, not in sparks, but in a tide so suffocating the staff staggered back. It was no longer a secret, no longer hidden.
***
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