Ethan's fingers curled into fists so tight, he felt the skin along his knuckles stretch taut. His pulse thundered in his ears. But he forced himself to stay calm. Sienna did not really matter that much to him, but that did not an he would sit by idly and let everyone walk all over her.
If he did not react today, then they were going to keep doing it again. And again. And again. That was how people like Damon operated—testing boundaries until they found no resistance, then pushing harder until nothing was left but bruises and silence.
Ethan wasn't about to give them that satisfaction. Not because of so grand sense of justice, but because he can. He was all aware of the rules of the academy by now. Anything goes in the dungeon. This was why these lowlives were forcing him to co to the dungeon.
There were no records inside the dungeon, and each student essentially entered at their own risk.
A brutal little loophole, cloaked in the na of "training." A place where power ruled and the academy turned a blind eye so long as the death toll didn't get too ssy. It was the perfect place for bastards like Damon to act out their cruelty without consequences. That was the trap.
Ethan understood that. But Damon didn't understand him.
"I will co with you." He said slowly, as he walked over to the dungeon all on his own.
Damon's grin widened. "You must really love that bitch."
Ethan didn't respond. He didn't flinch. He just kept walking and entered the dungeon portal. Damon laughed loudly and followed behind him in a hurry as if he was worried that Ethan would change his mind.
As the shimring light of the dungeon swallowed Ethan whole, the world twisted. The chill of the academy's grand hall gave way to the damp, earthy breath of the underground. Moss-covered stone stretched endlessly in all directions, dimly lit by glowing fungi clinging to the walls.
Behind him, the portal rippled again. Damon stumbled through with his two lackeys in tow, all of them laughing, loud and oblivious, like they were walking into a ga. "Hey, Johnny-boy," Damon called out, cracking his knuckles, "Let's not get lost, alright? We wouldn't want our little noble to trip and cry for mommy."
Ethan turned to face them. No smile. No witty remark. Just a stillness so intense it made Damon's words falter at the edges.
"You wanted this," Ethan said, his voice low, almost casual. "Rember that when you start begging."
The laughter died.
More students walked out from deeper within the tunnel. Sienna walked with them. "Who did you say was going to beg?" The one at the front spoke.
Ethan's gaze shifted past Damon to the group erging from the depths of the dungeon. His eyes locked onto Sienna first—unhard, composed, and strangely calm, as if she had been expecting this encounter.
Then, his focus moved to the one who had spoken. A tall student with charcoal hair falling across one eye, wearing a long black coat threaded with crimson patterns.
"Who did you say was going to beg?" the student repeated, stepping closer. "Wait and see just what happens to a commoner who doesn't know his place."
Ethan did not listen to the drivel the guy was spewing about commoners and nobles. Frankly he was tired of hearing the sa bullshit.
"Ya. Ya. I get it. I just need to know one thing." He turned towards Sienna. "You set up?"
Sienna didn't flinch at the question. Her expression remained cool, unreadable—but her eyes locked onto Ethan with a gaze similar to the others as if she was born superior to him.
Ethan remained silent for a mont and then laughed. "Fine. Then. This makes everything so much easier." He started laughing loudly, and that made everyone uneasy.
"This piece of shit has gone crazy. Let's just deal with him already. I don't want to waste my ti over filth like this."
Ethan wiped a nonexistent tear from his eye, still grinning, but his eyes were cold now. "Crazy?" he said, voice dropping to a whisper that still carried through the dungeon. "No. Crazy would be letting you all walk away from this. Did you think that you trapped here?"
"Shut the hell up." Another student shouted, and right at this ti, Damon walked behind Ethan and activated a skill, clearly preparing to strike at the back of Ethan's head.
But at the last mont, Ethan dodged. "You should have aid sowhere else. I really don't like getting hit at the back of my head." He grabbed his arm and the next instant, he twisted it, fully breaking the damn thing.
Damon scread and shouted in pain. He stared at Ethan as if he were seeing a monster. He couldn't understand why soone in E rank, soone without a mana core, would possess a strength like this.
Damon fell to his knees, clutching his mangled arm, eyes wide and disbelieving. His breath ca in ragged gasps, the bravado shattered clean through. Even the one in the crimson-threaded coat, so quick to speak of commoners knowing their place, had gone still.
Ethan tilted his head slightly, cracking his neck, and spoke with a calm that sliced through the tension like glass. "Who is next?"
"Shut the hell up. It doesn't matter if you have so pitiful strength stacked up, idiot. In front of mana nothing else will matter. How could a commoner filth understand sothing like this?"
Then another person shouted. "You are all alone here. Don't forget. Your bitch betrayed you. You are not getting out of here alive."
"All alone?" Ethan murmured, as if testing the phrase on his tongue. Then he laughed again, quieter this ti, more like a whisper shared between monsters. "You really think I'm alone?"
Sienna gulped. All of a sudden, she had a bad feeling. At that mont, her gut feeling told her that she had chosen the wrong side.
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