Despair spread through the hearts of the students as the head of Combat Instructor Toki rolled across the ground.
Moreover, the man who had defeated the mantis king lay on the floor, completely unable to move.
Who could they turn to for hope?
Just as their enemies desired, absolute despair consud the students, who desperately began thinking of ways to save their own lives.
And they probably would have been easily defeated if not for the presence of a powerful and radiant beacon of hope among them.
After all, Sophia, witnessing everything, simply smiled in a slightly enchanting way, then took a confident step forward. She gently touched the pendant hanging from her necklace, causing it to glow with a golden, angelic light.
Then, she effortlessly transford despair into hope.
"Resurrection," she murmured calmly.
The lifeless head that had rolled on the ground floated up. And along with the blood that had spilled, everything returned to the body to which it belonged.
Before everyone’s eyes, death was overco.
"Don’t worry, as long as I’m here, no one will die," Sophia bluffed.
The truth was that she had already used up all the mana she had left, there was no way she could fight any longer. But the important thing was to boost morale, and nothing was more reassuring than knowing soone by your side could even defy death itself.
Quickly, Silvia summoned two swords and gripped them with determination, preparing to face their opponents.
Instructor Toki also took a mont to grasp what was happening around him, but soon he, too, took a defensive stance, ready to drive those enemies away.
With everyone united in a defensive position, it wouldn’t be so easy to kill them. The hooded n knew this well.
Moreover, they couldn’t help but fear how problematic Sophia could be. Unaware of her exhaustion, they dreaded the powerful buffs she might still unleash.
It was this line of thinking that left the n with no other choice but to temporarily retreat. However, they would be back soon.
As their enemies withdrew, Sophia quickly rushed to Davi to check on her future husband. To her relief, he was alive, though badly injured.
She had almost no mana left, but there were other students with healing abilities, so he was able to recover minimally in a short ti.
anwhile, Sophia joined the professor and a few other students to discuss their next steps. They needed a plan to survive.
At the very least, part of the activity already involved spending a few days in the rift, so they had tents and minimal survival supplies. The problem was that, being in an unmapped region, they had no easy way to return to a safer floor.
Wandering around searching for a path would be even more dangerous, especially with a group full of weaker students. In this sense, the safest option was to set up a temporary camp in an area that was easy to defend.
There was still the risk of being attacked by monsters, but if they were well-prepared, they could handle it. For example, all the students who could set traps or defensive systems did so, and they managed to build a temporary base where they could rest. However, it would still be necessary to send students to scout for the best path to escape from that place.
"In that case, I want to stay in Davi’s tent!" After the serious discussions ended and the camp was set up, Alexia said with a perverted tone, hugging the boy. Once again, this would only fuel more rumors about him... if they managed to make it out alive, that is.
However, everyone was so exhausted that most didn’t even care about that. In fact, the majority of the students were already lying down in their respective tents, not even listening to this conversation.
"You’re not going," Sophia imdiately opposed the girl’s request. "I don’t want any trouble or wasted energy. We also already decided that only people of the sa sex would share a tent."
Most of the tents they had were ant for two or three people, so this issue could arise.
"But you yourself said the division isn’t exact. So won will have to share a tent with a man," Alexia countered. "And I volunteer to make that sacrifice."
"Don’t worry about that. I’ll sleep with Carlos, he’s basically a pet anyway," Sophia replied nonchalantly.
Indeed, her servant would never dare lay a finger on her. In fact, he wouldn’t even breathe the sa air as her without permission.
"Davi can sleep with Aden," the blonde concluded, shutting down any further discussion.
Alexia, who only wanted to tease a little, shrugged and went about her responsibilities. She was in charge of organizing the night watch shifts so they wouldn’t be caught off guard while sleeping.
Carlos and the others who had attended the eting also went to handle their own tasks, except for Davi, whom Sophia asked to stay behind.
And only when they were alone did she finally say:
"You were amazing."
"What’s this? You asked to stay behind just to tell that?" Davi responded with a confident smile.
"No, but I wanted to say it anyway. I asked you to stay because I need to give you a gift."
"A gift?" Davi asked, a bit surprised.
Then, wanting to tease him, Sophia approached him in a sensual manner, getting so close that their lips were nearly touching.
"Yes, a gift," she repeated in a sultry tone. "Now, close your eyes, please."
Davi simply obeyed her request, and after a few monts, he felt sothing soft pressing against his lips.
However, it didn’t take long for him to realize the truth.
That’s why he opened his eyes and saw that the blonde had simply rested the tip of her index finger gently against his lips.
"Hehehe! Were you expecting a different kind of gift?" the woman said in a seductive tone, sliding her index finger from his lips to her own.
Only then did she point to sothing she had placed around his neck. It was the necklace she had been wearing until just monts ago.
"This is your gift," she said, and noticing the confusion in Davi’s eyes, she decided to explain, "It’s a magical item, and I believe it will be very useful to you."
Then, she began to explain what the necklace did.
𓊖𓊖𓊖
The only individual tent the students had fluttered against the icy midnight wind. Inside, Professor Toki struggled to steady his breathing, his mind racing over his next steps. He knew that if he failed to bring the students back, he would face severe punishnt.
But keeping them all alive was impossible. He couldn’t protect so many.
As he agonized over his choices, sothing caught his attention, his shadow wavered in an unnatural way. Then, from within it, a hooded figure erged, its grotesque smile sending a chill down his spine.
Toki shot to his feet, his hand instinctively gripping the hilt of his sword. But before he could strike, the shadow spoke:
"I wouldn’t recomnd moving."
Another shadow lood behind him, and pointed its dagger to the man’s neck, ready to take his head the mont he made a wrong move.
"What do you want?" he asked, his voice unsteady.
"I want half." The figure’s grin widened unnaturally. "Give half of the students. Hand over the teleportation crystals."
Teleportation was an exceedingly rare ability, only a select few, like Alia, could use it to traverse the rift. Instead, they relied on teleportation crystals, though activating them required a massive device. Or... soone with one of the rare magical classes capable of wielding such power.
That ant there was a powerful mage among them.
Realizing how dire the situation was, Toki remained silent, his expression unreadable. Then, after a long mont, he finally spoke.
"What do you need them for?"
"They will be a sacrifice," the shadow lied without hesitation.
"And the rest of us?"
The figure’s grin stretched even further. "The rest can go ho."
That was all Toki needed to hear. His fingers tightened around the strap of his bag before he unfastened it, revealing the softly glowing blue crystals inside. Each one was engraved with a student’s. His eyes hesitated over them for a mont.
Then, he made his choice.
Toki handed over the teleportation crystals belonging to the lower-ranked students, Ranks D, E, and F, along with one from Rank C, chosen at random. He gave to the man, nineteen crystals in total.
He knew these were the least valuable students. He hoped that by sacrificing them, the stronger ones might have a chance to escape this nightmare.
"Here. Now disappear," he said.
The shadow’s grin stretched to an impossible width. And then, without another word, everything around them erupted into flas.
And with the fire, nineteen students vanished.
The commotion jolted the entire camp awake. Panic spread as the truth of what had happened beca clear.
And the one responsible?
He was the one screaming, his body engulfed in flas.
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