Michael still looked uncomfortable about my suggestion.
But then the giant hound howled once more — and unleashed a fresh wave of immolating fla that rolled through the ruins, lting stone and vaporizing anyone who hadn’t moved fast enough.
That shut his mouth.
"Fine," he said hoarsely. "Fine! Let’s start launching people!"
I stifled a humorless chuckle.
We split up without another word — him veering left, staying on the right. Michael touched the ground with both hands, while I simply stomped it with my foot.
Seconds later, dozens of stone hands erupted from the earth all around us — each one thrice the height of a human and thicker than tree trunks.
We didn’t waste ti.
The massive arms moved at our command, grabbing and hurling people the instant they entered our range.
But it wasn’t as easy as it sounds.
Because while we were quite literally throwing Cadets to safety, we also had to divert too many hands just to fend off the Lesser Solbraiths chasing them down.
So not only were we saving people — we were also fighting monsters at the sa ti.
I swear, these bastards owed their lives for making do so much work.
I sighed tiredly as one of the giant hands scooped up a screaming trio mid-run and tossed them over the fallen cyclops like sacks of at launched from a siege engine.
They crash-landed near the plaza’s exit with a mix of grunts, yelps, and one extrely colorful curse I couldn’t quite make out — because by then, I was already catapulting another group.
Michael did the sa.
For the next twenty seconds, we fell into a rhythm.
Scoop. Throw. Scoop. Throw.
Cadets soared through the air like panicked pigeons with no wings. So tumbled when they landed, so cried, so prayed, and so shouted nonsense.
Most made it out.
A few did end up breaking bones — just like Michael had warned — but they’d live. Or at least have a fighting chance.
That’s how those twenty seconds passed.
And while twenty re seconds might not sound like much, we still managed to save over fifty Cadets in that short ti.
Honestly, I wanted to save more. But there were two problems.
First — I was nearly out of Essence. My core was almost completely dry. I was honestly surprised I hadn’t passed out already.
And second — the three-headed colossal dog had stopped chasing fleeing Cadets randomly and locked its furious gaze on us.
The beast darted forward.
But this ti, it wasn’t going after the stragglers.
It ignored them entirely — leaping over a full squad mid-sprint and barreling straight toward us, claws tearing into the scorched ground, molten drool hissing between jagged teeth.
Michael’s face drained of color. "Samael!"
"I see it," I muttered.
We deactivated our powers, turned around... and bolted.
Yes. Without any sha, without any hesitation, we made a full-speed retreat toward the eastern exit.
Hey, I’d done more than my share of heroics for the day. Now it was ti to save myself.
...But then I realized sothing.
The crowd of surviving Cadets had thinned considerably — most were already out of the plaza — but there were still dozens nearby.
And that monster would rip through all of them if it chased us there.
Michael must’ve realized it too. "We can’t run straight through the retreating crowd. We’ll lead the beast right into them — it’ll tear them apart like a squeaky toy."
"I know!" I barked back at him... no pun intended.
"So what the hell are we supposed to do?" he shouted.
I glanced at him and grinned. It wasn’t a kind grin. "Glad you asked."
Michael gave the look of a man who knew he wasn’t going to like what ca next out of mouth.
"We split at the exit," I told him. "We both keep running — but you slow down just a little and let get out of here first."
He blinked. "Wait— what?!"
I started explaining quickly, "Look, the hound is chasing us! But if you slow down, that’ll completely shift its attention from to you. Once I’m clear, you exit the plaza and take a sharp left to draw it away from the crowd."
"Why ?!" he hissed, still running beside . "Why am I always the damn bait?! And why does this sound like an elaborate plan to save yourself?!"
I clapped him on the shoulder with mock solemnity — as best I could while sprinting full speed. "Because you’re stronger than , obviously."
Michael groaned. "That is not a good reason—!"
"And also," I added with a wink, "you can’t die. You’re the protagonist. You have plot armor."
Now he looked horrified and confused. "What the actual fuck does that even an?!"
"Just trust ."
"I don’t! I don’t trust you at all! You’re just trying to save yourself—!"
"Michael," I cut him off, my voice suddenly firm. "Just do it. Trust . This’ll be over soon. If I’m right, Selene should be teleporting everyone out of here any second now. You don’t have to fight the beast — just keep it distracted for a minute or two."
His eyes widened. "And how do you know that?!"
I shrugged. "I just do."
He hesitated.
But only for a second.
Then he grit his teeth, took a shaky breath, and nodded. "Fine! You better be right! But if I die, bury next to my parents’ unmarked graves. At least in death, I want to be with them in spirit. And—"
"Oh my god! Why is everyone so dramatic?!" I was already speeding up, widening the gap between us, not bothering to listen to what could’ve been his last words.
Because I knew they weren’t.
"Just trust !" I called over my shoulder, running toward the exit as the giant dog’s rumbling growl echoed behind us.
And then I was out.
Out of the plaza.
I took the road straight ahead — the sa path the other Cadets had taken — because this was the shortest route out of the ruined site and toward the Night Castle.
There were bound to be at least a few of Selene’s personal guards — her Sentries — stationed sowhere along this road.
So from here on out, this was the safest path.
Relatively speaking.
Because no place in the Night Sanctuary was truly safe right now. Every corner of this territory was infested with Solbraiths.
So I didn’t stop.
Not even for a second.
I kept running with the retreating crowd. But I did slow down a little to glance over my shoulder — just in ti to see him.
Michael, only now getting out of the plaza, imdiately broke into a hard left turn the second he crossed the exit.
The cerberus followed him out a split-second later. All three of its heads turned. All six eyes locked onto him.
And like a predator spotting the juicier morsel, it swerved — claws gouging deep into the pavent as it veered sharply and charged after Michael like a creature from hell itself.
Away from the Cadets.
Away from this route.
Away from us all.
A few Lesser Solbraiths were still chasing after us. So were even attacking Squads on the flanks. But the danger was far less now.
Soon, the Cadets began splitting — leaping over rooftops, ducking into abandoned buildings, scattering into branching streets and alleys.
Only a handful were running near now.
I guess it was safe to say the situation was under control.
Finally... this nightmare was over.
Hundreds of lives were lost. Many promising young Awakened had died.
But at last, the massacre was over.
I let out a breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding.
The word ’exhausted’ didn’t co close to how I felt.
I was broken and blistered. Even breathing hurt. My tongue still tasted like smoke. My body threatened to collapse and never get up again.
After everything that happened today — the flag test, the Unholy Solbraith Titans, the laser-eyed cyclops, the undead horde, the flaming cerberus, the death, the chaos, the screaming — after pushing past my limits over and over again...
...I finally let my guard down.
Just for a mont.
And perhaps because of that...
...I was a mont too late to notice the dark figure — a person draped in swirling shadows from head to toe — slipping through a group of Cadets on my left.
By the ti I did notice, it was already too late.
A massive battlehamr ca swinging out of nowhere, aid straight for my skull.
My breath hitched as I barely managed to raise the sword still clutched in my hand.
Thwaaam—!!
The impact was like being hit by a speeding truck.
I blocked it, yes. But the raw force behind the blow detonated pain through my arms, down my spine, and deep into my bones.
The world spun.
And before I knew it, I was in the air.
Flung like a ragdoll— no, like a teddy bear smacked by the full force of a battering ram.
I slamd through the second-floor wall of a street-side crumbling building. Old stone and rusted iron snapped like twigs. Dust erupted around in choking clouds.
I crashed inside, rolled once, twice — before slamming to a stop against what might have been an old, broken pillar.
Everything hurt.
Everything rang.
My vision blurred.
And through the gaping hole I’d just co crashing through, a silhouette erged.
That sa shadow-draped figure stepped into the wreckage through the settling dust, dragging his massive battlehamr behind him like it weighed nothing at all.
Then he spoke.
His voice was soft. Familiar. Almost mocking.
"Found you, Sam."
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