Chapter 90: These Are Your Punishments
Led by another official, all 21 members of the Hebthej vanguard marched towards the Academy’s Hall. They followed a different route — not the one students usually took to enter the esteemed amphitheater but a darker, quieter one where a red carpet was spread through the entire corridor.
Lancet walked with some bravery. A lot of things were presently churning in his mind, regardless, he did his best to set them aside and focus on the task ahead.
The [ Purifier’s Duskguard ] Armor Set he had equipped was clearly of a greater quality compared to the armors of most of his teammates.
The base layer was shaped like a long-sleeved tunic, except it was crafted from gold core and reinforced leather. It stretched up his neck to a high collar and tightened into his body, showcasing his newly grown lean, muscular frame.
A heavy-duty leather harness forked an ’X’ across his torso, and the shoulder pads had the crest of the Elders inscribed in the center: a three-headed goat.
Silver gauntlets, leather pants and golden greaves completed the ensemble. He had no headgear, but a shield hung behind him... alongside the [ Radiant Guillotine ].
Lancet looked like a walking sun.
Once they reached a door, it was opened for them by the Academy official. One by one, led by Vernon, they stepped out onto the podium where cheers and applause were ringing loudly.
Seeing the expensive, high-grade armor the vanguard were wearing, the students fell into oohs and ahhs, pointing and murmuring about the ones they recognized from tomes about relics and other equipment.
Lancet, invigorated by the applause, tried looking away to hide just how nervous he was. He spotted Dean Ordenance on the podium. The Dean raised a hand, bringing all the noise in the hall to a brisk end.
"As our chosen vanguard are about to set off into a dangerous mission, I decided that this would be a good time to remind everyone that Awakener Supreme is a place of growth, where the future is rebuilt."
Ordenance’s eyes narrowed. "But it is also a place of consequences."
Somehow, the hall seemed to get even quieter. Consequences? Who was in trouble now?
"We allow for competition in the Academy because we believe that competition breeds growth. Iron sharpens iron," the Dean continued. "But what we do not allow... is bullying. And even worse, using your powers to harm fellow students."
Lancet’s brows perked. ’What’s going on?’
Ordenance extended his hand to his right. Suddenly, a magical downpour of emerald lights occurred in the open space. After the display, three students were standing on that same spot, bound with Grace-nullifying cuffs.
Lancet, poking his head to see, almost gasped. ’The Terrible Three?!’
Murmurs spread through the crowd of students. "Isn’t it those weird guys? What is it again? The Thunderous Three?"
"They’re morons. They tried to bully someone above their league and they got their ass handed to them."
"Were they reported? Seems like an overkill to beat them up and still report?"
"Maybe a professor saw them and asked what happened."
"Linzley Reatson," Ordenance declared. "Muskard Houndly and Caelem Graveside. A group of misfits and troublemakers that calls themselves the Terrible Three."
"Ah. Yes. That’s their stupid name."
Lancet watched in shock, not quite sure what was going on. Linzley, unlike her usual self, was horrified. Muskard kept his head low like he had accepted whatever punishment was about to be dished out to him. Caelem was the only angry one, glaring at everyone, trying to free himself from the cuffs.
"These three have dedicated their time in our esteemed institutions to hounding, brutalizing and victimizing students who they deem lesser than," Ordenance spoke with anger clear as day in his voice.
"Chance after chance have been given to these three. Yet they refuse, claiming they are despised for the uniqueness of their abilities." Ordenance scoffed. "Such gibberish. I was a student here, just as the rest of you, and there were many others who had powers even eerier than these lot. Yet, they remained focused on the path, they didn’t punish others for whatever wrong they had suffered."
"But them!" Ordenance pointed a veiny, rageful finger at the Trembling Three. "They have defied all our rules. Using their summons in Academy grounds, harming and injuring multiple students. And even worse of all, murdering a fellow student."
Shocked gasps filled the entire Hall. Eyes widened. Jaws dropped.
Lancet was perhaps the most shocked of all. He didn’t know what to think.
What exactly happened here? Did they really kill a student? Were they caught because they killed a student or because someone found out about their fight in the abandoned arena days ago?
The fight was incredibly noisy so he wouldn’t be surprised if someone had somehow found out. But then, wouldn’t that mean Lancet was also in trouble?
Ordenance unfurled a scroll then read like a judge casting judgment. "For these transgressions against the laws of our Academy, the Awakener Supreme, these are your punishments."
The students all held their breaths in anticipation.
"Untethering!"
Everyone gasped. Untethering had once been termed a barbaric act and was outlawed for a while. It was the forceful disconnection of a Summoner’s bond with their Summon.
As simple as the definition was, the act was as painful as one would imagine, causing unimaginable backlash to the soul core.
Caelem’s eyes widened, and he started to yell. "No! No! You can’t do that!" Muskard was quiet. Linzley started to cry.
However, Ordenance was not yet done.
"20 years in the Penitentiary and 10 years working as kingdom servants!"
Everyone was shocked. It wasn’t that the punishment wasn’t fitting, most of them had never seen a punishment being carried out in front of them this way.
The Penitentiary was a prison for Awakeners. Inside there, the worst kind of Awakeners were kept. Those who turned to join the Demon Lords, mass murderers, rapers, serial killers and terrorists who thought having power meant they could do whatever they wanted.
These kids were really going to spend 20 years in a place like that? They were going to be brutalized in there! Nothing prisoners loved more than young, fresh meat.
And if they somehow survived that, they would spend ten more years being slaves to the kingdom. With an unremovable S-Grade slave crest, they’ll be forced to literally do ANYTHING a kingdom official asked of them.
Some prisoners preferred even staying in the Penitentiary than doing that.
Linzley’s knees buckled, and she collapsed onto the podium, sobbing hysterically. Muskard stared blankly ahead, his spirit visibly breaking behind his dull eyes.
But Caelem refused to break quietly.
"No! You can’t do this! We are Awakeners!" he cried out, his voice cracking wildly.
Dean Ordenance stared down at him with zero pity. He raised his hand, delivering his final verdict with booming authority. "The judgment is set. Guards, take them to the nullification cells and prepare the Untethering."
As the Academy guards seized his arms to drag him away, Caelem’s frantic eyes swept across the stage until they locked dead onto the vanguard line. Specifically, onto Lancet.
"Leogardt!" Caelem screamed, his voice raw and echoing across the silent hall. "This is your fault! You think you’ve won?! I swear to the Elders, Lancet, I’ll survive the Pen! I’ll come back for you! This isn’t over, you hear me! It’s not over!"
Lancet acted like he had no idea what the Beast Tamer was talking about.
The heavy doors slammed shut behind the struggling boy, but his venomous words hung in the air like a lit fuse.
"Lancet? Did he say Lancet?" a student asked another in the crowd.
"Was Lancet the one they bullied?"
"Wait... does that mean the slum guy was the one who beat them up and tied them in the homeroom?"
"Hold on, if they were caught because of that fight... did Lancet Leogardt catch the people who murdered that Year Two Specialist?!"
"He’s trying to be some kind of vigilante, I think. Catching bad guys."
Lancet kept his face perfectly neutral, staring straight ahead, but internally, his mind was reeling. ’Murder?’
He had known the Terrible Three were sadistic, idiotic bullies, but he had no idea they had actually crossed the line into killing another student.
He didn’t remember them actually killing anyone in the lightnovel. So what was going on?
"Let this be your final warning," Dean Ordenance’s voice boomed, ending the growing gossip. He swept his severe gaze over the thousands of students seated in the tiers. "Do not mistake our leniency for weakness. If any of you dare to use your powers to harm your fellow students in the shadows, or worse, if you ever dare to commit the unforgivable act of murder... you will face this exact same fate.
"There is no mercy for those who turn their Grace against humanity."
The silence in the hall was absolute. The students swallowed hard. It was incredibly rare to see the Dean this intense, but somehow it had happened twice in a single week.
Then, Ordenance closed his eyes, taking a deep, long breath. When he opened them again, the suffocating pressure in the air vanished. His shoulders dropped slightly, and his tone shifted, lightening to something much warmer, almost fatherly.
"However," the Dean said, a smile touching his bearded face. "We shall not let the shadows of the misguided dim the brilliant light of our current heroes."
A collective, massive sigh of relief washed over the student body. Scary Dean was finally gone.
"Look upon your vanguard!" Ordenance gestured grandly to the twenty-one Awakeners standing before them in their gleaming, high-tier armor.
"Today, they march into the abyss so that the innocent may live! They carry the banner of the Awakener Supreme, and they carry our unwavering hope. We wish them victory, we wish them strength, and above all, we wish for their safe return! Give them a send-off worthy of future legends!"
The Assembly Hall exploded. The cheers were deafening, shaking the angelic pillars and rattling the vaulted ceilings. The students roared, stomping their feet and chanting the names of the popular members of the vanguard.
Under the overwhelming noise, the twenty-one Awakeners turned and marched off the podium, passing through the archways that led toward the underground launching corridor.
Once the doors closed behind them, Lancet exhaled a shaky breath. So many things were happening at once. He had been really worried back there that he was also going to be called.
Normally, schools didn’t care if one fought back, as long there was a fight both participants were equally punished. The problem was; it didn’t seem at all like Dean Ordenance knew he was involved.
If he did know, the Dean was intentionally leaving him out of it.
Why?