I Tricked a God

Sunlight streamed through the Academy’s enormous windows in broad bands, illuminating the spacious classroom for inscription practice.

Around a hundred small desks stood inside, arranged in dense, perfectly even rows. At each one sat a student, intently bent over either a sheet of thick paper or a thin metal plate.

Each student held a long inscription needle.

Carefully dipping the needles into dark magical ink, the students meticulously traced magical circles that at first glance appeared identical. But upon closer inspection, the tiniest elements still differed.

Those subtle differences were precisely what the professor was evaluating.

A tall woman with pale skin and delicate facial features slowly walked between the rows.

Her head was completely shaved, while unusual pink tattoos stretched across her temples, neck, and part of her shoulders, perfectly matching the same pink shade of her eyes. The professor’s white robe hung open at the front, revealing her flat stomach and a noticeable cleavage, and with every turn, her silver earrings and thin anklets gave off a soft chime.

The woman carefully observed the students’ work, occasionally pausing beside certain desks.

“The line is unstable,” she calmly said, casually tapping a finger against someone’s circle. “If you activated this inscription, it would explode right in your hands.”

The student immediately went pale and swallowed nervously.

Meanwhile, the woman had already moved farther between the rows, continuing to inspect the work.

The classroom stood in almost complete silence.

Only the scratching of needles against the plates, the soft chiming of the professor’s jewelry, and the occasional sighs of students afraid of making mistakes could be heard.

Stopping beside one desk, the professor frowned slightly before pointing at one of the runes within the magical circle with the tip of her finger.

“A poor choice, Lucine,” she said with an almost maternal strictness. “This rune conflicts with several symbols you already used. As a result, it destabilizes the entire magical circle.”

The girl seated at the desk immediately tensed and hurriedly turned her gaze to her work, clearly trying to understand the mistake.

But the professor had already moved on down the rows.

Stopping beside another student, she glanced over his plate and tiredly shook her head.

“Think of the magical circle as a whole,” the woman calmly said, running her fingers along the inscription lines. “It is not simply a collection of separate runes. A magical circle is more like an imprint of philosophical concepts that must exist in harmony with one another.”

Raising a hand to draw the attention of the entire class, she continued, “You can say, ‘Pain is a good teacher.’ But one cannot say, ‘Suffering is a blessing.’”

Several students involuntarily frowned, trying to grasp the meaning of her words.

The professor calmly turned back toward the class.

“In the first case, the meaning is built around overcoming hardship and gaining experience. In the second, the concept itself begins to contradict human nature. And a magical circle senses such conflicts far better than you do.”

As she slowly resumed walking down the rows, the professor clasped her hands behind her back and calmly said, “The purpose of today’s lesson is to add something new to a magical circle you already know. But not in order to make a discovery or create a unique spell.”

She paused briefly near the window while sunlight slid across the pink patterns on her skin.

“Your task is to understand how replacing individual runes affects the overall structure’s functionality. Sometimes even a single symbol can completely alter the behavior of a magical circle.”

The quiet scratching of needles and rustling of paper once again filled the classroom. Some students immediately began correcting something in their diagrams, while others instead froze tensely, afraid of making mistakes.

The professor leisurely turned her gaze toward the nearest desk and paused for a moment.

However, the very next instant, after lifting her eyes and seeing the student seated there, she unexpectedly smiled with interest.

“What have you come up with this time, Kael?”

Hearing the question, Kael quickly raised his gaze from the plate and calmly replied, “I’m just testing a hypothesis, Professor Helga.”

The woman raised a brow with interest and stepped closer to his desk. Lightly resting one palm against the edge of the desk, she carefully examined Kael’s magical circle while the silver bracelets around her ankles softly chimed as she moved.

Several nearby students immediately began stealing glances in their direction.

The professor thoughtfully tapped a long fingernail against the table beside one of the runes.

“Why did you replace the rune of ‘Continuity’ with the rune of ‘Repetition’?”

Kael briefly turned his gaze back to the diagram.

“The rune of ‘Continuity’ keeps mana flowing without interruption, like a steady river,” he calmly began explaining. “That makes the magical circle stable, but the flow inside remains uniform and hardly accelerates at all.”

As he spoke, he lightly touched several runes near the structure’s central node with his needle.

“I thought that if I replaced ‘Continuity’ with the rune of ‘Repetition,’ and then altered the first sequence of symbols responsible for the direction and density of the flow, it might be possible to make the mana move in pulses.”

Helga narrowed her eyes slightly, continuing to listen.

Meanwhile, Kael was already pointing with his needle at the interwoven rune bindings.

“Theoretically, with the correct configuration, it would reduce mana consumption while also strengthening the magical circle.”

“In pulses…” Helga murmured thoughtfully, studying the structure of the magical circle once more.

“Yes,” Kael calmly nodded. “Something like a series of thrusts. Not a continuous flow like a river, but waves crashing against the same point again and again.”

Hearing that comparison, the professor smiled faintly.

“You came up with that yourself?”

Kael immediately shook his head.

“No. I read about something similar in the library.”

At such an honest answer, Helga let out a weary sigh, as though she had already grown tired of being surprised by Kael’s actions.

“In truth, this is a mana regulation technique used for far more complex magical circles,” Helga calmly said, lightly running a finger along the inner contours.

After those words, Helga turned her gaze back to Kael once more.

“But the fact that you managed to memorize such a concept and then adapt it to a simple training circle… deserves praise.”

With a faintly displeased look, Helga quietly muttered, “And Elder Cornelius turned out to be quite the schemer… He managed to recruit you before anyone else realized what you were capable of.”

After saying that, she lightly patted Kael on the back before adding in a much gentler tone, “I do hope you’ll devote enough time to the Inscribers’ Guild as well. Talent like yours shouldn’t be neglected.”

Kael merely nodded calmly in response.

“If I manage to pass the examination, I will certainly continue improving my inscription skills.”

At that answer, several students immediately exchanged dissatisfied looks.

Someone quietly rolled their eyes.

“He’s trying to act humble…” one of the boys in the back row muttered almost inaudibly.

“Damn show-off…” his neighbor added irritably, throwing a sidelong glance at Kael.

Hearing the whispers around him, Kael merely lowered the needle back into the ink, preparing to continue working on the magical circle.

Shaking the excess drops off the tip, a faintly ironic smile touched his lips.

“Trying to act humble?” Kael scoffed internally. “My knowledge is thousands of times deeper than yours, children. If I actually started flaunting it, I’d be ashamed of myself…”

But at that moment, just as the needle neared the plate’s surface, a faint tremor suddenly ran through the floor.

The inkwell on the table gave a soft clink, and the dark liquid inside rippled.

“What the…” Kael blurted sharply, raising his head.

Almost simultaneously, the other students also began pulling away from their work, exchanging bewildered glances. Somewhere in the back row, someone nervously dropped their needle, and the sunlight in the windows trembled faintly along with the glass.

Even Helga froze for a moment, narrowing her eyes.

“Professor Helga… was that an earthquake?” one of the girls asked uncertainly, breaking the silence that had settled over the classroom.

Helga continued listening intently before cautiously replying, “There are no earthquakes in the Capital—”

But she never finished.

Somewhere far beyond the Academy walls, a monstrous explosion suddenly erupted.

The windows rattled so violently that several students cried out in fright, while the floor beneath their feet shook violently once more. Almost at the same time, a wave of shocked screams rose from the streets.

Chaos instantly erupted throughout the classroom.

Some students abruptly leapt from their seats, nearly overturning their desks, and rushed toward the windows.

But before they could even reach them, a second explosion sounded somewhere in the distance.

Then another.

And another.

One muffled blast after another rolled across the Capital, making the glass rattle and the air itself vibrate with the distant rumble.

“What’s happening?!”

“Where are those explosions coming from?!”

“Is this an attack?!”

Frightened voices immediately filled the classroom while some students tried to look outside, and others remained frozen in place, afraid to even stand.

Helga abruptly moved toward the windows, striding quickly across the classroom.

“Silence! Everyone maintain order!” she shouted loudly, trying to rise above the frightened voices.

But panic in the classroom was already rapidly escalating.

Kael also rose from his seat at once and immediately headed after the professor. A heavy sense of foreboding slowly welled up inside him, making his heart beat faster than usual.

And alongside it came another thought.

“Violet and the others finished their classes over an hour ago…” he thought tensely, moving quickly between the desks. “Whatever’s happening… I hope it’s far from our home.”

Following behind Helga, Kael carefully watched her face, hoping to see at least some sign of calm.

But the moment the professor reached the window, her expression changed sharply.

Kael’s heart tightened.

“Move,” he snapped, beginning to shove students aside in front of him.

Some immediately recoiled, while others hesitated instead, trying to see what was happening outside for themselves.

But the moment Kael finally reached the window and saw what was happening beyond the Academy walls, his body involuntarily stiffened.

“What the hell is this?!” he cursed inwardly.

The Academy’s inner grounds remained untouched.

The broad pathways, training grounds, and buildings still looked peaceful. But beyond the Academy’s borders, something completely impossible was happening.

Thick columns of smoke were rising one after another over different parts of the Capital. Some areas were engulfed in flames, ruined buildings could be seen in others, and explosions continued to thunder through certain districts.

At that moment, one of the students abruptly shoved the window open wider, and the screams of the townspeople, heavy booms, and the crash of collapsing stone immediately rushed inside.

But most terrifying of all—there were heavy booms echoing in the distance, far too similar to the sounds of real battles.

“What’s happening?!”

“The Capital’s under attack?!”

“How is that even possible?!”

The students’ frightened voices once again merged into a chaotic uproar.

Even Helga now looked genuinely tense as she continued staring into the distance.

At that very moment, a thunderous voice amplified by mana suddenly rolled across the entire Academy grounds: “All students and professors are to proceed immediately to the main hall. Maintain order and do not give in to panic. The Imperial Academy is under reliable protection.”

The students visibly panicked.

Some had already begun arguing loudly, others tried to look outside, while several girls had gone pale, clutching their study plates to their chests.

But in the next moment Helga sharply barked, “Silence!”

Pale-pink mana burst from her body in a wave, sweeping through the classroom with a soft but tangible pressure. The air itself seemed to become heavier, and the students briefly felt a slight pressure weighing down on them, instantly snapping many of them out of their panic.

Even the loudest among them immediately fell silent.

“Form two lines. Quickly,” Helga said harshly, already heading toward the classroom exit. “We’re moving to the main hall.”

That tone immediately brought the students back to their senses.

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A hurried, but far more organized, commotion began. Some picked up fallen belongings, others hurriedly put away their magical plates and ink, until the students gradually formed into a column.

Kael quickly fell into line with the others as well, moving with everyone toward the classroom exit.

But while most were now afraid for their own lives, Kael’s thoughts were occupied by something entirely different.

Clenching his teeth, he thought tensely, “I heard roars… and fragments of the beastfolk tongue.”

His chest tightened.

“But how could they have attacked the Capital at all? With its outer fortifications, that should be completely impossible…”

The faces of his friends immediately rose in Kael’s mind.

“Damn it. I need to get to the tavern,” he thought tensely, involuntarily quickening his pace along with the general flow of students.

But in the very next moment, Kael forced himself to calm down.

“Easy, Kael. The situation is still unclear. Besides, Violet and Barnabas are stronger than I am. They should be able to handle themselves.”

Yet alongside that thought came another—the opposite one.

“Except Violet isn’t a combat mage…” he added grimly to himself. “And none of them understand what beastfolk are even capable of.”

Meanwhile, the crowd of students quickly left the classroom, merging with other streams of students emerging from neighboring classrooms. Dozens of people were already moving through the Academy corridors, while the noise of anxious voices steadily grew louder.

Everyone moved downstairs in an orderly fashion.

As they descended the broad staircases, Kael saw more and more students gathering below. Some looked confused, others tried to remain calm, but tension could be felt in nearly every movement.

The professors, meanwhile, had gathered slightly apart, quickly and tensely discussing something among themselves.

Kael immediately spotted Valeria and Dukhlas among them, their expressions grim.

So grim that a cold feeling settled in Kael’s chest once more.

“The situation is bad…” he concluded inwardly, continuing downward with the other students.

Kael’s group had just reached the first floor and begun spreading out not far from the professors, as more and more professors gathered nearby.

“I’ll get closer…” Kael muttered internally, and taking advantage of the commotion, he moved a little closer to the professors.

Moving casually forward, he discreetly enhanced his hearing with mana, focusing entirely on the professors’ conversation.

And almost immediately, Dukhlas’s hoarse voice reached him: “The Military Districts have already mobilized. But suppressing the riot will take time.”

Standing beside him, Valeria took a slow drag from her long smoking pipe before exhaling smoke to the side in irritation.

“How did the slaves even manage to remove the mana-suppression seals?” she said coldly. “None of this feels right…”

At that moment, one of the professors—a heavyset man with a thick mustache and a deep bass voice—also gave a grim nod.

“There are quite a few powerful mages among the slaves,” he said. “We definitely won’t get away with minor casualties only. How did the military allow this to happen?”

Helga bared her teeth in irritation, crossing her arms over her chest.

“All the Generals are on the front lines right now, and the Emperor himself is absent from the Capital.”

Valeria took another drag before slowly exhaling smoke with an openly grim expression.

“If a combat mage at the level of a Spiritual Weapon Mage appears in the city…” she said darkly. “Then the Archmagisters themselves will have to join the battle.”

After those words, several professors visibly tensed.

“Archmagisters…” Helga muttered. “The Academy’s Headmaster is currently in the southern provinces. So the Guild heads are the only ones left to defend the Capital? Losing any of them would be a heavy blow to the Empire…”

But Dukhlas unexpectedly shook his head.

“Calm down. Not all the Generals are absent,” he countered calmly. “I recently received a letter from General Salazar regarding his imminent return to the Capital.”

Hearing that name, some of the professors looked slightly relieved.

Dukhlas himself paused for a moment, quickly calculating something in his head.

“Judging by the timing, he should already be somewhere nearby. If the communication talisman can reach him, General Salazar will head here at full speed.”

“I hope so,” Valeria said coldly, once again turning her gaze toward the smoke beyond the windows. “Because this looks nothing like an ordinary slave revolt.”

Listening to the professors’ conversation, Kael involuntarily clenched his teeth.

“A slave revolt? Nonsense…” he thought grimly, rapidly going over everything he had heard in his mind.

“To remove mana-suppression seals on such a large scale…” Kael continued thinking, carefully watching the instructors. “Some powerful beastfolk must have infiltrated the Capital beforehand and posed as slaves.”

That thought made him tense even further, because he understood that something like this could not have been organized in just a few days. Someone had been carefully preparing this uprising for a long time.

Kael’s eyes darted from side to side as he tried to piece together everything that was happening.

“Efforts like this must be aimed at something far bigger…” he muttered almost inaudibly.

Raising his gaze toward the Academy’s main exit, beyond which the distant sounds of battle could now be heard, Kael once again felt a familiar tension tighten in his chest.

“I just hope the others are alright…”

But at that moment, another powerful explosion thundered somewhere very close by.

The floor beneath their feet shook noticeably, and the Academy’s enormous entrance doors flew open with a deafening crash.

Directly beyond them stood a gigantic stone arch separating the Academy grounds from the city. What had only recently been a perfectly intact structure was now partially destroyed—a massive crack stretched across one of the supports, while chunks of stone and dust constantly rained down from above.

At that moment, frightened cries rippled through the rows of students.

“There’s someone there!”

“Look!”

“Enemy!”

All eyes instantly turned forward.

Beyond the Academy grounds, directly amid the swirling clouds of dust and smoke, two indistinct figures slowly approached.

For several seconds, no one could properly make out their silhouettes.

But then a strong wind suddenly blew through, rapidly scattering the dust to the sides.

And the moment the dust fully cleared, one of the students cried out in horror, “Beastfolk!”

Two beastfolk with black fur stood beneath the arch. But several aspects of their appearance stood out immediately.

One of them now had massive hooves instead of legs, while long black horns resembling roots curved forward from his head. His chest rose heavily, releasing hot steam from his nostrils.

The second looked even more horrifying.

Curved bones protruded from his face, forming a kind of bone mask that concealed half his muzzle. And the tips of the fur all across his body slowly smoldered with greenish flames, sending faint smoke curling around him.

“They merged with their contract spirits…” someone nearby muttered in shock. “They’re Spiritual Mages…”

Kael’s gaze fixed on them as well, instantly assessing them as a single thought flashed through his mind: “This is a catastrophe.”

But his thoughts were abruptly cut off.

The beastfolk in the bone mask suddenly grinned widely and roared loudly, “Ghrakh dor-khal vekh!”

His voice rolled through the Academy courtyard in a deep, beastlike growl, making several students flinch involuntarily.

The horned one burst out laughing before replying, “Grukh nar vaal-uzh… Kharzak vekh-tul drogar-greth. Zhurvak.”

Even without understanding the beastfolk language, many could feel the blatant mockery and bloodlust in those words.

But the students didn’t even have time to fully panic before a sharp metallic clank suddenly rang through the hall.

And immediately afterward, Dukhlas’s low bass voice rolled out, “It’s been far too long since I last carved up some damned beastfolk.”

Along with those words, dense red mana began pouring from his body.

It quickly spread over the professor’s arms, neck, and face, gradually transforming his body. Dense red scales began emerging across Dukhlas’s skin, while two sharp horns slowly extended from his forehead.

Flexing his hands within his heavy combat gauntlets, he stepped forward and turned toward the other instructors.

“Hey, scholars!” Dukhlas barked loudly. “Which of you understands the beastfolk language? What did those two say?”

The heavyset professor with the thick mustache was the first to respond.

Frowning, he quickly answered, “The beastfolk have too many dialects, so it’s hard to say for certain… But they definitely mentioned our younger generation of mages.”

Hearing that, Kael merely narrowed his eyes, as though mentally flipping through dozens of beastfolk dictionaries at once.

And after piecing together the words he had heard, Kael grimly repeated their meaning inwardly, “Looks like we got the tastiest prey… There’s nothing more satisfying than killing the enemy’s geniuses before they can mature.”

With a faint scoff, he mentally added, “That’s what they said. Those two are here simply to increase the Empire’s losses.”

At that moment, Valeria’s calm voice came from nearby: “Since when do you care about the words of damned beasts, Dukhlas?”

As she spoke, red scales also began slowly spreading across her neck and cheeks, dimly gleaming beneath the sunlight.

With a faint snort, Valeria casually tossed her smoking pipe into the air.

It spun several times before abruptly enlarging with a dull thump, landing back in Valeria’s hand as a full-sized combat staff.

Scarlet runes immediately flared along the black wood.

“Take the students somewhere safe,” Valeria said calmly, resting a hand on the enormous pipe. “While we teach these beasts some manners, it’ll be too dangerous here.”

As she spoke, she raised her single hand over the wide opening of the pipe where the tobacco would normally sit.

In the next moment, a dense stream of blood began pouring out of Valeria’s spatial ring.

The dark-red liquid poured into the artifact, and the instant it touched the inner runes, the contents of the pipe immediately began to boil.

And right afterward, thick clouds of red smoke began pouring out.

And the moment the red smoke started spreading through the Academy hall, Dukhlas and Valeria both shot forward at the same time.

With several broad strides, they practically flew outside, instantly crossing the distance to the arch, then almost simultaneously leapt into the air and landed heavily before the beastfolk, blocking their path to the Academy.

The stone beneath Dukhlas’s feet immediately cracked.

A wide grin spread across his face as he stepped slightly ahead of Valeria and bent his knees a little, as though ready to launch himself into an attack at any moment.

Valeria, meanwhile, slowly struck her enormous pipe against the ground several times.

With each strike, the red smoke grew denser and denser, rapidly enveloping the space around the two of them in a thick crimson veil.

The two beastfolk merely laughed at the sight.

The one wearing the bone mask unexpectedly slapped the horned one across the back and bellowed, “Throk garen Vrakh-Khator. Dravak… nar khuzh morgh-vaar.”

And in the next moment, the black fur of the horned beastfolk erupted in green flames as well.

The fire quickly spread across his shoulders, horns, and arms, while the air around him began to distort from the heat.

Watching through the clouds of her own smoke, Valeria calmly remarked, “I see they have extensive combat experience…”

Dukhlas gave a slight nod without taking his eyes off the enemies.

“They understood the nature of your smoke immediately,” he replied grimly. “This battle won’t be easy.”

But before Dukhlas could finish speaking, the horned beastfolk suddenly slammed his hoof into the ground.

A heavy, muffled boom rang out, and the stone plaza before the Academy suddenly heaved upward. Thick roots woven from green mana erupted from the cracks with a thunderous roar, hurling entire slabs of stone forward with monstrous force.

But at the sight of this, Dukhlas only grinned viciously.

Red mana exploded beneath his feet, covering the ground in a web of cracks, and in the next instant he lunged directly into the attack.

His fists lashed out with lightning speed.

Dense blasts of red mana shot one after another from his combat gauntlets, colliding with the incoming debris in midair and triggering a series of explosions.

Shockwaves rippled through the air, while dozens of stone slabs shattered into sharp fragments that scattered in every direction like shrapnel. Several chunks slammed into the Academy faсade with deafening crashes, shattering windows and blasting chunks out of the stone walls.

But that had only been a distraction.

Dukhlas had not even fully landed after colliding with the stone slabs when the beastfolk in the bone mask suddenly vanished in a flash of green flame.

And in the very next moment, the space behind Valeria suddenly warped, and a gigantic bony claw wreathed in green fire tore out of the air.

The strike was aimed straight at her back.

But Valeria did not even turn around.

She merely whirled her gigantic pipe, and all the red smoke around her instantly compressed into a single point.

And in the next instant, the mass of smoke exploded.

A crimson flash swept across the plaza, accompanied by a deafening blast.

The bony claw instantly shattered to pieces, while the space behind it fractured like shattered glass. The masked beastfolk’s figure almost immediately emerged from the distorted air, hurled backward by the powerful shockwave.

But even so, he managed to twist away in midair, landing with a loud laugh.

It seemed the beastfolk in the bone mask was already about to take advantage of the situation and break through to the students.

But in the next moment, the blood-red smoke that had exploded moments earlier suddenly began gathering into dense scarlet masses in the air.

Then dozens of thin beams shot forward from it.

“Don’t get cocky,” Valeria said sternly.

Every strike was accompanied by a sharp hiss, while the ground at the points of impact instantly melted and blackened, as though struck by blazing spears.

The beams were anything but random.

Valeria was clearly cutting off every possible path forward for the beastfolk, forcing him to retreat step by step.

At the same time, the horned beastfolk had already reached Dukhlas directly.

His muscles suddenly bulged, while the green flames on his fur blazed even brighter.

With a roar, he drove a straight punch forward.

Dukhlas met the blow head-on.

The two blows collided at the center of the plaza, and in that same instant the ground beneath them literally sank from the monstrous shockwave.

A thunderous boom rolled through the area, while the nearest trees cracked and splintered, shedding branches under the force of the impact.

But at the exact moment of impact, Dukhlas suddenly smirked.

Then spat a mouthful of his own blood at him.

Even in midair, the blood instantly split into dozens of razor-thin scarlet blades that screeched into the beastfolk’s fist, slicing through flesh and muscle down to the bone itself.

Yet the horned beastfolk did not even flinch.

On the contrary—a wide grin spread across his face.

The green flames granted by his ally instantly surged into the wound on his fist, burning away Dukhlas’s scarlet blood as though it were something foreign. The green fire vanished almost immediately, but along with it, Dukhlas’s foreign mana disappeared as well, which had been burrowing deeper into his body like a parasite.

The beastfolk snorted, and in the next instant his horns suddenly shuddered.

The black bony protrusions cracked outward, extending forward and branching outward like a web of spears, instantly sealing off the space in front of him.

Dukhlas immediately leapt backward.

The sharp horns shrieked through the air inches from his chest, while the professor himself rolled across the ground and landed heavily beside Valeria.

“Still hard to tell,” he said without taking his eyes off the enemies. “We need a few more exchanges.”

Meanwhile, the beastfolk regrouped beside each other as well.

Judging by their tense movements, they weren’t satisfied with that first exchange either.

The beastfolk in the bone mask sharply nodded toward the Academy and spoke irritably, “Throk vargen ul-drakh… Drazh vakh!”

Noticing the direction of his gaze, Valeria immediately glanced back over her shoulder.

The professors were currently escorting the students off Academy grounds, quickly leading the crowd to safety.

“We’ll avoid trading direct blows for now,” Valeria said coldly, turning her gaze back toward the beastfolk. “They’re targeting our students. They’ll start using wide-area attacks now.”

And as though confirming Valeria’s words, the beastfolk attacked simultaneously.

The beastfolk in the bone mask threw his arms wide, and dozens of long bone spears engulfed in green flames instantly began forming around him.

The air beside them immediately hissed and rippled, as though the spears themselves were infused with powerful poison or acid.

And in the very next instant, all of them shot forward at once, straight toward the retreating students.

Almost simultaneously, the horned beastfolk sharply leapt upward.

His black horns briefly flared with mana, and then he clapped his palms together with monstrous force.

A deafening boom rang out.

The air in front of the beastfolk literally compressed, forming an enormous translucent shockwave infused with dense green mana.

It surged forward like a gigantic blade, tearing through the stone plaza with violent cracks and leaving behind a deep trench stretching directly toward the crowd of students.

But Dukhlas had already surged forward.

With one monstrous leap, he shot ahead and landed directly in the shockwave’s path with a thunderous crash, roaring as he slammed both hands forward.

Red mana burst outward in a violent torrent, instantly forming an enormous translucent shield shaped like a dragon’s head.

In the next instant, the sonic blade slammed into it.

The air literally exploded.

A devastating shockwave tore across the plaza, shattering windows and hurling chunks of stone into the air. Even Dukhlas was forced backward, his feet gouging deep furrows into the ground, but the shield held.

“I’ll take the big one!” he roared through the roar of the collision. “The masked one is yours!”

Almost simultaneously, Valeria was already spinning her enormous pipe above her head.

All the blood-red smoke around her rapidly condensed into dozens of tiny scarlet skulls that immediately shot forward to intercept the bone spears.

But instead of colliding directly, the little skulls latched onto the beastfolk’s spears, deliberately altering their balance and trajectories.

Some sharply veered upward.

Others spun off to the side.

Others crashed into the Academy faсade and the trees surrounding the plaza with deafening force, while several exploded midair in bursts of green flame.

But despite the density of the attack, not a single spear reached the students.

✦ ✦ ✦

Kael was among the fleeing students as well.

Together with the others, he quickly moved toward the Student Quarter, yet his gaze barely left the plaza where the battle was still raging.

He watched Valeria and Dukhlas’s every movement closely.

Narrowing his eyes, Kael thought grimly, “Judging by the situation… the same chaos is unfolding all across the Capital right now.”

Another explosion thundered somewhere in the distance.

New pillars of smoke continued rising above the city, while the distant echoes of countless battles continued to roll toward the Academy.

As he watched the professors systematically leading the students deeper into the Academy grounds, Kael quickly began piecing everything together.

“They want to hide us in the Student Quarter…” he concluded inwardly. “Then some of the professors will return to help Valeria and Dukhlas.”

Realizing that, and imagining what might be happening across the city at that very moment, Kael clenched his teeth harder.

“I can’t just sit here while the people close to me are in danger.”

For a brief moment, dark thoughts flashed through his mind.

“If one of them dies…”

But in the very next instant, Kael sharply shook his head, forcing those thoughts away.

“I’ll escape at the first opportunity,” he decided firmly, continuing to move together with the crowd of students. “With my skills, I can get to the tavern fast…”