Transmigrated as the Chapter 49: Deviations [6]

Chapter 49: Deviations [6]

Irene never saw him.

The attack slammed into the back of her neck with enough force to throw her forward across the clearing. Heat burst across her skin a split second before pain followed.

Her vision blurred as her palms hit the dirt.

Then the noise returned all at once.

"Lady Irene!"

"Rear attack!"

"Protect the statue!"

Several voices crashed together.

Irene forced herself onto one knee, ignoring the agonizing sensation of her flesh burning.

Smoke drifted between the trees.

All the trees were on fire.

There was no explanation of how someone could have reached her blind spot. None at all.

There had been nothing.

No shift in air.

No mana fluctuation.

Nothing.

Irene wasn’t a master, but any student at her level could automatically sense someone else’s mana signature if they were that close.

It was very hard for a skilled mage to get snuck up on, which is why assassin and stealth skills were rare. Not because they were hard to learn, but because, in many cases, they just weren’t very useful.

So how had this happened?

Someone had crossed into striking distance without triggering a single instinct she had trained for years to trust.

Irene took a deep breath to ease the pain, but the smoke in the area just caused her to cough uncontrollably.

Her lungs were burning.

Three students moved toward Irene to shield her position.

She couldn’t see much due to the smoke, but he assumed the person who had attacked her was gone by now.

Two others rushed toward the statue where Darius remained trapped inside the stone restraint. Several turned toward the forest searching for the attacker, while another group spread toward the outer perimeter.

It was a mess.

Their decisions made sense individually, but without anyone to give orders, the actions did more harm than good.

Was that why the assailant had attacked her?

The attack hadn’t been exactly powerful either. But Irene hadn’t expected it at all, and she didn’t have time to augment her body with mana.

Irene opened her mouth to speak, but pain spread through her neck.

Despite that, she spoke.

"P-protect the sta–"

Her words broke into a rough cough.

"Are you okay, Lady Irene?"

She had told them not to call her that, since Luminara didn’t want students using their status to oppress other students, but that didn’t stop the students in her class.

"I-I’m fine. Protect the s-statue."

The student turned to relay the order.

But most of the students had fled into the forest already, looking for the attackers.

A burst of flame erupted along the south edge of the area.

The three students near Irene instinctively as the fire burned even hotter.

"What the fuck is going on?!" one of them growled. "Is this an attack from another class?"

Smoke drifted between the outer guards and the statue in thick gray layers.

Visibility dropped as seconds passed.

The smoke was getting in her eyes now, causing her to blink uncontrollably as her eyes watered.

She could faintly see the statue.

Darius was taking the opportunity to work towards freeing himself.

Mana pressed outward from inside the cracks running through the stone grip.

He was trying to break the flow of the mana through the runes.

Irene grit her teeth and went to shout another order, but then something unexpected happened.

A fireball shot towards Darius.

Darius cried out in pain, unable to defend himself due to having most of his mana suppressed by the runes, and it stopped him from breaking the formation of the runes.

What was that? Someone from S class? I don’t know anyone who uses a basic fireball spell in the S class. Maybe a different class interfering?

Irene couldn’t figure anything out. Every answer raised two more questions.

"W-where is Wesley?" Irene asked.

"Wesly? The one maintaining the golem? He’s right here–"

But Wesley was nowhere to be seen.

Panic set.

"F-find him!"

Her voice came out broken and ragged, but the urgency was clear.

The students in front of her spread out.

If only the rest of class S hadn’t gone to chase in the forest, they would have had far more ease in securing Darius.

The runes slowly started to appear around Darius, and the cracks in the golem started to formm.

"He’s breaking free!"

"Where the hell is Wesley?!"

Panic was spreading now.

Irene forced herself forward despite the pain tearing through her neck and lungs. Every breath burned from the smoke.

Something was wrong.

No.

Several things were wrong.

The attack on her.

The fire.

Wesley disappearing.

The pressure on Darius.

The S class students splitting apart.

Suddenly, A figure emerged through the smoke near the western side of the clearing.

"Over there!"

The figure vanished back into the smoke before the attacks connected.

"Chase him!"

Irene gasped. "N-no! Stay here!"

But her voice was far too weak.

They didn’t listen, believing their decision to be correct in that moment.

Irene’s chest tightened.

This wasn’t good.

Every decision they made pulled them further apart.

Another fireball streaked through the smoke.

Darius was going to escape.

No. Irene could not let that happen.

If that happened, all of Grace’s plans would go to waste.

Irene knew that Grace was the only way class S could win this unified war, and if the first order she issued failed, everything would be a waste.

A person slipped through the opening created by the shifting smoke while everyone else focused on Darius.

Her eyes widened.

"STOP HIM!"

The shout tore through her throat.

The statue crumbled, and the man was there to watch it happen.

He stepped closer, and for the first time Irene could see his face clearly.

The face was familiar.

Too familiar.

Her breath caught in her throat.

No.

No, this couldn’t be happening.

Irene grit her teeth and tried to get up, but it didn’t work.

She couldn’t muster any strength in her body.

She was alone.

Powerless.

And the one who caused it all looked at her with a blank expression, as if deciding what to do with her.

Was that really her brother?

Darius squirmed in pain next to him, weakened by the effects of the runes and the fireball attack that was sent at him earlier.

Ronan stared at Irene for a moment longer before he turned towards Darius.

He raised his arm.

And he hurled a fireball towards his own team leader’s leg.

Darius didn’t have enough time to react with his mana, and his shin bent in an unnatural manner.

His scream was masked within the sounds of the chaos.

"Ronan! What the fuck are you doing!?"

The boy who approached was someone Irene didn’t recognize.

He had brown hair, short, and was glaring at Ronan.

"Darius! Are you okay? Ronan, what the fuck is wrong with you!? Why would you attack Darius!?"

Ronan didn’t answer, ignoring the boy. Instead, he bent over and grabbed the node on the floor.

Irene’s classmates, who were chasing the brown-haired boy came into view.

"We found him! He’s trying to save Darius! Stop him!"

Ronan didn’t look concerned. Not with the fact that the class S students were rerouting back, or the fact that he had attacked his own leader indiscriminately.

Ronan sent her one last glance.

And he disappeared into the smoke.