Episode-725
Chapter : 1429
He punched the rock. His fist met the stone. The rock shattered into gravel.
He charged through the dust cloud. Sarah was open. The locket was exposed.
He needed precision. He needed a needle, not a hammer.
He formed a thin, razor-sharp spike of steel from his index finger.
Sarah clawed at him. He ducked under her guard. He stepped in close, chest to chest.
He saw the locket pulsing. The purple threads were tight.
"Sleep," Lloyd whispered.
He thrust the steel spike. He didn't stab her neck. He stabbed the locket.
Ping.
The steel tip pierced the silver casing. It shattered the corrupted crystal inside.
There was a high-pitched whine, like a dying engine. The green light flared once, blindingly bright, and then vanished.
The purple threads snapped.
Sarah went rigid. Her eyes rolled back. The supernatural strength left her body instantly. She collapsed.
Lloyd caught her. She was light now. Just a girl. Her skin was hot, but the cracks were fading.
"Is she..." Isabella asked, stepping closer, her sword lowered.
"Alive," Lloyd said, checking her pulse. "Burnt out. Exhausted. But alive."
He looked at the broken locket hanging from her neck. Dark, oily smoke was leaking from it.
"It was a receiver," Lloyd said grimly. "Someone was piloting her. They used her to take out the comms tower."
He looked around the courtyard. It was a wreck. Guards were groaning. The tower was rubble.
"This wasn't a random attack," Lloyd said to Isabella. "It was a tactical strike. They blinded us. Now the Academy can't call for help."
Isabella looked at the destruction. She looked at the unconscious girl in Lloyd's arms. Her face paled.
"I almost killed her," she whispered.
"Yeah," Lloyd said. "You almost did."
He stood up, lifting Sarah effortlessly. "Get a medic. And get a containment team for this locket. Don't touch it with bare skin."
He walked towards the infirmary. He felt the pain in his ribs. He felt the exhaustion. But mostly, he felt anger.
Someone had turned a student into a weapon. Someone had violated her mind and used her to break her own school.
"You messed up," Lloyd thought, directing his rage at the unseen traitor. "You made it personal."
From a high window in the distance, a figure watched. The figure lowered a small, blackened telescope. They smiled.
"Phase One complete," the figure whispered. "The Comms are down. The Knight is shaken. And the Professor... he is soft. He saves the pawns."
The figure turned away, melting into the shadows of the hallway. The game was just beginning.
Three days after the "Locket Incident," the Academy was on high alert. Guards patrolled every hallway. Students walked in pairs. The atmosphere was brittle, like dry twigs ready to snap.
Lloyd was in the training arena again. He was tired. His rib was healing thanks to a potion from Airin, but it still ached when he breathed.
Today was a sparring tournament. It was supposed to raise morale. "Show them we are not afraid," Headmaster Valerius had said.
"Show them we are targets," Lloyd had muttered, but he went anyway.
The arena was packed. Students cheered. In the Royal Box, Princess Isabella sat, watching with a critical eye. She looked stressed. Since almost killing Sarah, she had been quieter. More thoughtful.
In the ring, Jamie was preening. The arrogant fencing instructor was loving the attention. He was wearing a white dueling outfit that was probably silk. He was fighting a senior student, Tom.
"Watch closely!" Jamie shouted to the crowd. "Observe the elegance of the 'Swan's Riposte'!"
He flourished his rapier. He did a little spin. He was ridiculous. But he was also good. His blade moved like liquid silver.
Tom, a sturdy boy with a broadsword, was sweating. He looked nervous. He kept glancing at his own sword. It was a standard enchanted practice blade, designed to blunt impact.
But Lloyd, watching from the sidelines, noticed something. Tom's grip was too tight. His knuckles were white. And there was a faint, almost invisible tremor in his arm.
"Something's wrong," Lloyd thought. He activated his [All-Seeing Eye].
He scanned Tom. The boy's aura was erratic. Fear. Adrenaline. But under that... something darker.
A tendril of shadow was wrapped around Tom's wrist. It wasn't coming from a locket this time. It was coming from the pommel of his sword.
"The sword," Lloyd realized. "It's infected."
Before Lloyd could shout, Tom attacked.
It wasn't a practice swing. It was a kill shot.
Chapter : 1430
Tom roared. The broadsword glowed with a dark, jagged red light. He swung it at Jamie's head with enough force to cleave a helmet.
Jamie, to his credit, reacted instantly. He parried.
CLANG.
The impact sent sparks flying. Jamie stumbled back, his smile vanishing. "Student! Control yourself! This is a spar!"
Tom didn't hear him. The shadow on his wrist pulsed. It tightened. It jerked his arm back for another swing.
"I... I can't stop!" Tom screamed. Tears were streaming down his face. "It won't stop!"
He lunged again. The sword moved with supernatural speed. Jamie barely dodged. The blade sliced through the air where his neck had been.
"Guard!" Jamie shouted. "Malfunction!"
The Royal Guards stepped forward from the edges of the arena. But they were too far away.
Tom turned. He wasn't looking at Jamie anymore. The sword was pulling him. It was dragging him toward the Royal Box. Toward Isabella.
"Target acquired," a whisper seemed to echo through the arena.
Tom charged the stands. He leaped over the barrier with impossible strength. He landed in the box, right in front of the Princess.
Isabella stood up, drawing her own sword. She was ready.
But Jamie was faster. Desperate to be the hero, desperate to save his princess, he leaped after Tom.
"Get away from her!" Jamie yelled.
He landed between Tom and Isabella. He raised his rapier to block Tom's downward slash.
It was a good block. Perfect form. He would catch the blade and deflect it to the side, away from everyone.
Lloyd watched. He saw the geometry. Jamie had it.
But then, Lloyd saw something else.
From the shadows of the upper stands, a ripple of distortion appeared. A tiny, invisible bolt of force shot out. It wasn't aimed at Tom. It was aimed at Jamie.
The bolt hit Jamie's elbow.
It was a nudge. A tiny, precise push. But in a duel of inches, a nudge was fatal.
Jamie's arm buckled. His parry collapsed. Instead of deflecting the sword away, his blade slipped. He pushed Tom's sword down and forward.
Directly at Isabella.
Isabella gasped. She twisted her body. The corrupted broadsword sliced across her arm, cutting through her uniform and drawing blood.
If Jamie hadn't "pushed" it, the blade would have missed her entirely.
Silence fell over the arena.
Isabella clutched her bleeding arm. She looked at Jamie. Her eyes were wide with shock and betrayal.
Tom's sword finally shattered from the impact with the stone floor. The corruption faded. Tom collapsed, sobbing.
But all eyes were on Jamie. He stood there, his rapier still raised, looking horrified.
"I... I didn't..." Jamie stammered. "My arm... it slipped. I tried to block!"
"You pushed it," a guard shouted. "I saw him! He redirected the blade into the Princess!"
"Traitor!" another guard yelled.
Before Jamie could explain, five Royal Guards tackled him. They slammed him into the ground. They disarmed him. They bound his hands.
"No!" Jamie screamed. "I am loyal! I love her! It was an accident!"
Isabella looked down at him. Her face was hard. She was bleeding. And in her world, results mattered more than intent.
"Take him away," Isabella ordered coldly. "To the dungeon."
Lloyd stood frozen on the sidelines. He had seen it. He had seen the invisible bolt. He knew Jamie was innocent. He was an idiot, but he wasn't an assassin.
But he couldn't prove it. The bolt was gone. The energy signature had vanished.
"It was a setup," Lloyd realized. The cold logic of the plan terrified him.
The enemy hadn't just tried to kill Isabella. That was a bonus. The real goal was to frame Jamie. To remove one of the Academy's strongest fighters. To sow distrust. To make the Princess doubt her own allies.
"Divide and conquer," Lloyd whispered.
He watched as the guards dragged a weeping Jamie away. The students were shouting. Some were crying. The Academy was breaking apart.
Lloyd scanned the upper stands, searching for the source of the invisible bolt. He saw a figure slipping out of a side exit. A cloak. A flash of a silver pin.
He started to run. He needed to catch them.
But Headmaster Valerius stepped in front of him. "Lloyd. Stop."
"I saw something," Lloyd said urgently. "Jamie was framed. Someone interfered."
"I believe you," Valerius said quietly. "But you cannot chase them now. Look."
He pointed to the chaos. The students were panicking. The guards were aggressive. Isabella was bleeding.