Krom quickly turned around, his eyes fixed on Alan's figure. That boy had actually infused his own mana into soone else's spell, manipulating the outco unseen and unheard.
Such a precise control over mana—so delicate, so insidious—was far beyond what any tier-bronze magus should be capable of.
And yet, Alan had done it.
Which could only an one thing.
Alan's true strength was far above tier-bronze.
And if that were truly the case, then Alan absolutely could not be allowed to walk away alive today.
Lioncrest Academy had already burned all bridges with him. If they let him live, and he returned later—stronger, prepared, fueled by vengeance—he would beco a catastrophe waiting to happen. A ti bomb aid straight at their academy.
With that thought, Krom began summoning a storm once more, condensing a violent hurricane into the palm of his hand, preparing to strike Alan down before he could react.
But just as he was about to act, a disdainful laugh rang out from the sidelines.
It ca from the blind noblewoman standing nearby.
"Really, Krom? How shaless can you be?" she said coldly. "Using your full strength against a junior half your age? If word gets out, do you think your old face will be worth anything anymore?"
Krom froze in place, montarily caught off guard.
He looked again toward the crowd gathered outside the academy.
Sure enough, all eyes were on him.
And none of those faces looked pleased.
After all, Eisen had kidnapped Alan's sister, lured him here by force, and still got himself killed because he was too weak to handle the consequences.
And now?
Not only was Lioncrest Academy refusing to admit any fault, but their mbers were lining up to try and kill Alan in retaliation.
They were practically parading the word "shaless" across their foreheads.
And to make matters worse, Krom—one of the academy's own vice headmasters—was participating in what had essentially beco a youth deathmatch.
No matter how you looked at it, Lioncrest Academy had already thrown all dignity out the window.
Krom's body trembled with fury. He turned and roared at the noblewoman, "How Lioncrest Academy conducts its business is none of your concern, outsider!"
The noblewoman chuckled coldly. "If you're in the wrong, do I not even have the right to speak?"
Then she raised her hand and pointed at the many common folk standing outside the academy. Her voice grew sharper.
"Even if I have no right to judge you, what about them? The people who've lived in this imperial capital for generations? The ones who live near Lioncrest Academy, who have fed and supported your staff and students for decades?"
"You haven't just disgraced yourself, Krom. You've disgraced the entire imperial capital. You should be ashad."
Krom opened his mouth, but no words ca out.
Every word the noblewoman had said cut to the bone—and what's worse, she wasn't wrong.
Eisen had indeed started all this by targeting Alan's younger sister, using despicable ans to bait him here.
And now?
Not only had they tried to gang up on Alan, they were still losing.
Losing while outnumbering him.
If this got out, if word spread that Lioncrest Academy had been trampled by a single boy… it would be a nationwide joke.
No—people from Barton, even the Kent Kingdom would travel across borders just to laugh at them.
Feeling the crowd's support behind him, Alan lifted his holy sword staff and rested it casually across his shoulder. He turned toward Lioncrest Academy's towering gates and spat.
"So what happened to all that talk from earlier?" he taunted with a smirk. "Didn't you say you'd crush without even trying?"
"Where's that big attitude now? Cat got your tongues?"
"You lot still dare call yourselves students of Lioncrest Academy? I say you should change your na entirely. Stop calling it Lioncrest—start calling it Catcrest."
"Why you—!"
One of the academy students, his eyes bloodshot and fists clenched tight, couldn't take the insult.
"Vice Headmaster!" he shouted. "I can't take this anymore! The dignity of Lioncrest Academy cannot be trampled by this trash!"
With that, he charged straight at Alan.
Alan's lips curled upward. He stepped forward to et the attack head-on.
Swish!
A brilliant arc of holy fla burst from his blade.
The student didn't even have ti to scream. He was instantly reduced to a scorched corpse, collapsing to the ground in a blackened heap.
After cutting the attacker down with just a few casual movents, Alan lifted a finger and beckoned to the remaining students like he was inviting them to dinner.
"Next one—co and die!"
The remaining Lioncrest students were furious, but after seeing what had just happened, none dared to move.
Alan scowled.
"What's the matter?" he barked. "Where's that arrogance you had when you kidnapped my sister? Wasn't Eisen screaming about how he was going to kill to avenge the academy?"
"So how is it that he's dead… and I'm not?"
That one sentence turned every Lioncrest face dark and stormy.
Alan might as well have been slapping them across the face. He was calling them cowards—directly, shalessly.
And none of them had the guts to refute him.
"Enough of your nonsense! Lioncrest Academy will not allow soone like you to continue defiling its na!"
Another student, unable to hold back, took a step forward to argue—but Krom rushed to stop him.
"No! Don't go near him! It's a trap!"
But it was too late.
Before Krom could reach him, the student's entire body burst into flas.
It was not a normal fire.
Holy fire—radiant and rciless—consud his flesh, his spirit, his very soul, reducing him to nothing but a pile of unremarkable ash.
Krom clenched his jaw so hard his teeth nearly cracked.
To be humiliated like this—by a re boy—was almost too much to bear.
More and more students from Lioncrest Academy began arriving, drawn by the commotion.
But as they ca upon the scene and saw their peers lying in blood and ashes, their expressions twisted with grief and fury.
"You bastard! How dare you… how dare you!"
One of the new arrivals, a younger student who had admired Eisen deeply, began weeping tears of blood. His eyes locked onto Alan with vengeance.
He raised his sword and charged forward.
Alan didn't even flinch.
With one motion, he raised his holy sword staff and t the attacker head-on.
Clang!
The enemy's sword hissed and smoked. Under the heat of Alan's sacred flas, it lted like wax, disintegrating into a puddle of useless iron.
Then, with one clean thrust—
Shlick!
Alan drove his blade into the young man's chest. His eyes lost their light instantly.
With a casual flick of the wrist, Alan hurled the body aside like a discarded rag.
The others around them began to stir—rage bubbling up once more.
But then—
"ENOUGH!" Krom roared.
"Anyone who dares take one more step… will be expelled from Lioncrest Academy on the spot!"
At those words, the furious crowd finally cald.
Krom stood still, fists clenched, eyes locked onto Alan with a hatred so sharp it could cut steel.
He wanted nothing more than to kill this boy on the spot.
But deep down, he knew the truth.
With the power Alan had shown today—not even Krom, nor any number of their top students combined—could defeat him.
Keeping this standoff going would only humiliate them further.
And then—just when the situation couldn't get any tenser—a new figure arrived at the academy gates.
Krom's pupils shrank.
The man who had just arrived…
Was none other than the other vice headmaster of Lioncrest Academy.
Kelin.
The very sa man who had rejected Alan's application not long ago.
Because of his poor judgnt, not only had they lost a monstrous talent like Alan…
They had also, indirectly, caused the death of the once-promising Eisen.
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