"I still can't believe the so-called strongest academy was about to get flattened. Anyway, be grateful—the Lunaria squad has arrived."
A loud, mocking voice echoed from above, and a mont later, a massive do of shimring tal, ten ters wide, slamd down around the squad like a protective fortress.
Pure mana rained from the heavens, hamring against the do like furious hail, only to be repelled with ringing clangs.
The magical constructs outside continued to batter the do for a few seconds, but when they halted, the tal structure retracted smoothly into the ground like lting steel, revealing the Wysteria squad—alive, battle-worn but safe.
Their bodies bore bruises and shallow cuts, remnants of the brutal battle before.
But more than their survival, what drew the eye was the presence behind them—another squad had arrived, cloaked in quiet nace. The Lunaria squad.
Leading them was Captain Amir, his eyes gleaming with battle-readiness.
Behind him stood the elite: the top three students of both the second and third years—Grey, Greg, Scarlet, Charlotte, Dante, and Lyra.
They stood shoulder to shoulder, silent and unmoved, their gazes fixed on the 258 enemy mages from the Drakesville Kingdom.
"Great. More pests to crush," growled the Silent Executioner, dismounting from his ebony steed. His eyes glead with the thrill of combat.
"So… the Emperor sends more lambs to the slaughter," sneered the scarred general, the suffocating dark clouds above them parting to reveal a chillingly serene blue sky.
"Hey, what's with the scowl?" the Silent Executioner asked, locking eyes with Grey, who stood just behind his squadmates, his brow deeply furrowed.
"Do you know why I'm pissed off right now?" Grey asked as he stepped forward, his brown hair catching the breeze.
Above, a majestic wind bird soared, wings spread wide as it circled protectively overhead.
'Wait!' Nozel's pupils shrank as he recognized the figure approaching. 'That peasant... the one who dared to challenge
during the assessnt!'
Grey's voice cut through the rising tension. "It's because you dared step foot into my kingdom," he began, his voice low and trembling with fury.
"No one—absolutely no one—has the right to invade this land as long as my family lives here. Yet you ca. And worse… you attacked."
His eyes scanned the battlefield—the lifeless forms strewn across the blood-soaked ground.
Innocent civilians, slaughtered rcilessly. Their bodies bore no signs of resistance; they had been annihilated without a chance to fight back.
His gaze fell on the broken bodies of a mother and her child, cut down near the doorstep of their ho.
As his eyes lingered, their faces morphed in his mind into those of Jesse and Clara.
Grey's fists clenched. A thick vein pulsed on his temple. His jaw locked so tightly his teeth looked ready to shatter.
"Why?" he asked, voice ragged.
"Why what?" the scarred man replied with a smug grin.
"Why kill them?" Grey asked. "They were innocent… defenseless. They weren't even mages. They didn't even have the ans to shield themselves. So why?!"
The wind bird above flapped harder, the wind spiraling with Grey's emotions.
"Why?" the Silent Executioner echoed, his eyes sweeping over the corpses as he smirked. "Because this is war. And in war… the weak die. That's how the world works."
"That's how the world works?" Grey repeated, his voice trembling with rage.
His hands clenched tighter, knuckles whitening. Blood began to drip as his nails dug deep into his palms.
'If this had been Town Kiten… if I had never awakened my affinities… would Mum and Jesse have suffered the sa fate? Would I be burying my own family right now?'
A strange aura rippled outward from Grey, warping the very air around him.
The crowd instinctively backed away, even his allies. Ryan blinked, disturbed by the shift. "Uh… Amir? What's up with your squad mber? He's kinda... delaying the fight."
"Shhh." Amir raised a finger to his lips, a knowing smirk on his face. "This is what he needs. Right now, he's seeing these bastards as if they murdered his family. It just beca personal."
Ryan scoffed, crystal pillars erupting around him. "Personal or not, it won't matter. He's still out of their league."
"Oh really?" Amir's smirk widened. Then his expression faltered. "Oh… shit. You might be right."
Grey was still as a statue. His fists remained clenched, his eyes narrowed like a predator zeroing in on prey.
Suddenly, energy crackled around him. The air pressure shifted violently, slamming into the surroundings.
His hair danced wildly in the wind. His eyes blazed a luminous white. His body began to glow—pulsating with a surging power.
'These people… these people…' Grey's mind replayed the lifeless faces of the fallen. His heart thundered with fury, his magic responding with lethal clarity.
"They didn't deserve this!" Grey roared. A wave of energy exploded from his body, knocking so squad mbers backward. Only the captains remained rooted, eyes wide in anticipation.
"Is he... doing what I think he's doing?" Ryan muttered.
"What good will it do against the generals?" Amir replied, shrugging. As he spoke, a long tallic sword materialized in his hand.
tal boots clamped over his feet. Armor encased his chest, and he raised the sword, ready to charge.
"Oh? A fiery one," the Silent Executioner said, stomping down as the ground trembled beneath him. "But fury alone won't save you. All your shouting ans nothing if you can't act."
"Act?" Grey echoed. His body radiated with violent energy, his brows furrowed in disdain. "I'll do more than act. I want to make these mother f*cking bastards who massacred these people pay!"
A monuntal wave of mana surged out of him, and Grey slowly rose above the ground, levitating as if the world itself was bending to his fury.
"BREAKTHROUGH!" he roared.
A vortex of raw energy collapsed into his body. A confident smirk curled across his lips as he raised one hand high.
The wind bird above him multiplied—one beca two, two beca a dozen. Each bird retained the size of the original, circling around Grey in a srizing dance.
Then, lightning armor began to form around him—first gauntlets, then boots, and finally a glowing chestplate that radiated with electric arcs.
The wind birds flapped their wings in unison, releasing hundreds of wind blades each that hovered in midair, suspended like blades of judgnt.
"What the hell?!" Amir exclaid, his jaw dropping.
"What kind of breakthrough is this?!" Nozel shouted, frustrated and terrified.
"Alright, screw it," Scarlet muttered. "I officially give up trying to keep up with him."
"A monster…" Ryan growled. "Amir, you bastard—you got the good stuff."
"This damned peasant just made our breakthroughs look like a joke," Dante grumbled, eyes wide in disbelief.
Grey's voice echoed like thunder across the field. "No one invades the Supre Mage's world without facing judgnt. And punishnt for trespassing…"
He gazed down at the remaining 280 enemy mages, who had begun frantically preparing spells to counter the oncoming storm.
"…is death."
His tone was cold, absolute—an executioner's decree.
___
{A/N}
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