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Solomon drove his boot into the boys’ dormitory doors. The reinforced oak splintered inward and slammed violently against the walls.

Arthur, Maximus, and Marco stood completely alert behind a towering barricade constructed from stacked wooden beds.

Arthur pushed his thick frames up the bridge of his nose. Utilizing his A-rank Telekinesis talent, the boy suspended massive wooden wardrobes near the ceiling, fully preparing to drop the dense furniture directly onto any approaching intruders.

Solomon stepped past the defensive line and set Elizabeth down onto a safe mattress. She tightened her grip on her steel sword and pulled a deep breath into her burning lungs. A bright crimson flush coated her cheeks from the unexpected transport method.

Turning his back on the fortified room, Solomon marched straight out the broken doorway. He planted his boots in the center of the narrow stone hallway and reached over his shoulder to draw Eden’s Penance.

The S-rank greatsword sparked against the floorboards.

"Stay behind the barricade," Solomon instructed, rolling his shoulders to loosen his joints. "I will hold the chokepoint right here."

[1Fizzy: bro is literally doing a spartan stand.]

[GoonLord: PROTECT THE PRINCESS AT ALL COSTS!]

[LazyCat: the hallway is too tight for them to surround him.]

[BloodKnight: Tactical perfection. A single warrior can hold a narrow pass against an army.]

[Mezz_3863: Solo Man is about to farm so many kills.]

Dozens of masked assassins flooded the corridor. They raised their curved sabers and charged the lone student. The cramped stone walls completely neutralized their numerical advantageous the tight space forcefully funneled the cultists directly into Solomon’s striking range.

Solomon dropped his center of gravity and unleashed the brutal mechanics of the Eden Imperial Sword Arts. He swung the divine relic in a horizontal arc. The pristine blade sheared cleanly through the vanguard, sending bisected bodies crashing against the stone walls.

Cultists attempted to dive under his sweeping guard to bypass the lethal radius. Solomon instantly transitioned his momentum, bringing the blade down in a vertical chop that demolished the floorboards and crushed the attackers beneath the steel.

He anchored his footing and turned the narrow corridor into a relentless meat grinder, letting the accumulating bodies form a secondary physical barrier in front of his boots.

A sudden scuffle erupted behind the barricade of stacked oak beds. Arthur let out a choked gasp. Solomon pivoted on his heel and looked inside the fortified room.

A student who had been cowering in the corner stood directly behind Arthur. The boy wrapped his left arm tightly around Arthur’s throat and pressed the edge of a green-tinted dagger directly against Arthur’s neck.

A single drop of blood welled up where the poisoned blade touched the skin.

Marco and Maximus froze in place. Elizabeth raised her sword while her eyes darted between the hostage and the traitor.

The pieces clicked together in Solomon’s mind. Corvus and the pavilion leaders had focused their investigation on the faculty and the guards. They suspected the instructors of orchestrating the prison break and the assassinations.

They never considered the possibility of the evil sect recruiting students.

"Drop the weapons or I cut his throat," the student demanded. He shifted his grip on the poisoned dagger.

[LazyCat: A STUDENT IS A TRAITOR?]

[Mezz_3863: Arthur is trapped!]

[BloodKnight: An enemy hiding within the ranks poses the greatest threat.]

[User12: Solo Man do something!]

Solomon assessed the cramped room. The barricaded space left zero room to maneuver. Swinging Eden’s Penance would strike the ceiling or hit Arthur in the process. He needed a different approach to neutralize the threat without getting Arthur killed.

Resting the greatsword against the stone doorframe, Solomon raised both of his empty hands to show compliance.

"You have the advantage right now," Solomon said. He took a slow step into the room. "We will drop our weapons. Just tell us what you want."

The student smirked and pressed the dagger harder against Arthur’s skin. "I want all of you to step back against the far wall."

Solomon nodded and reached into his trouser pocket. His fingers brushed against the leather pouch filled with silver coins he had won at the underground arena. He pulled a single coin from the bag and concealed it within his palm.

"We are moving back," Solomon assured the traitor.

Flicking his wrist forward, Solomon sent the silver coin shooting across the room like a fired projectile. The metal struck the student directly in the center of his forehead, and the impact snapped the boy’s head backward, momentarily loosening his grip on the dagger.

Solomon dashed across the floorboards. He grabbed the student’s wrist and twisted the joint outward, forcing the poisoned weapon to drop onto the ground. Bringing his knee up, Solomon struck the traitor in the ribs and shoved him away from Arthur.

The student crashed into a suspended wooden wardrobe. Arthur stumbled forward and clutched his neck while coughing for breath.

[GoonLord: COIN SNIPER!]

[1Fizzy: the distraction worked perfectly!]

[Fatal_beauty: Arthur is safe!]

Arthur rubbed his throat and leaned against the wall, pulling desperate breaths into his lungs. Solomon kicked the poisoned dagger across the floorboards, sliding the weapon far out of reach.

The disarmed student groaned where he had fallen against the wardrobe. Marco tightened his grip on his twin swords and scanned the huddled group of first-year teenagers cowering in the corners.

"If he was working for them, who else is?" Marco asked, his eyes darting between the trembling classmates.

A heavy seed of suspicion took root across the dormitory. Maximus lowered his shield, unsure of who to point the weapon at.

Elizabeth stepped away from the larger group and pressed her back to the stone masonry. Dozens of teenagers filled the room, and identifying the innocent from the hidden cultists became an impossible guessing game.

The students eyed each other, shrinking away from anyone who moved too fast or kept their hands hidden.

’I don’t know the students well enough to trust them. Honestly, I don’t trust anyone other than Elizabeth, Marco, Arthur, and maybe Maximus. I haven’t interacted with him that much, but if someone like Arthur made him a friend, then I guess he is out of the list.

However, I have no way to confirm who is innocent and who is the cultist. And all of them seem to be commoners, so they most likely wouldn’t even be the target of the cultists.’