Chapter 84

this is a fictional story by realTensai

Alvis stood frozen, his mind reeling. The world around him blurred, fading into a distant murmur as his gaze locked onto the boy lying motionless on the ground. Blood pooled beneath the student’s head, thick and dark, trailing into the cracks between the stone tiles. A metallic scent filled the air, sharp and unrelenting, rooting Alvis in place.

I was too late.

The thought struck him like a dagger. His breath hitched as he struggled to tear his eyes away from the crimson pool, spreading farther with every second. A heavy, suffocating weight settled in his chest, threatening to crush him. For a fleeting moment, he was back at the Awanikan festival—facing the chaotic aftermath, the bloodied faces, the empty, lifeless eyes.

Because of me…

His fingers trembled, his knees threatening to buckle beneath him as he knelt closer, unable to accept what he was seeing.

His heart hammered in his chest, each beat louder, more painful than the last.

How could it have come to this?

Then, in the silence, a faint movement—a twitch of a finger, barely noticeable against the pool of red—broke through Alvis’ despair. He blinked, staring harder, his heart leaping in his chest.

The boy’s fingers moved again, a tremor so slight that Alvis might have missed it if he hadn’t been watching so closely. His body jolted to life, his mind racing as hope reignited like a spark in the darkness.

“He isn’t dead yet!”

“STOP, NOW!”

At the same time, Mr. Woltzer appeared with other well-known teachers to his side. As soon as they heard his voice, everyone froze. Everyone but Alvis.

“I need a healer!” Alvis shouted as he ran to the guy on the floor. “He is heavily wounded and will die if he doesn’t get instant treatment.”

His words triggered the teachers to rush to his side, taking the demon into their custody.

Now isn’t the time to give up. It isn’t over yet!

Alvis slapped himself, the sting grounding him, forcing his resolve to steady. But as he lifted his gaze, the full horror of the scene unfolded before him.

Bloodied students were strewn across the field, some crumpled in awkward positions, others sprawled with blood staining their clothes, their faces etched in pain or fear. A few were slumped against walls or pillars, clutching at broken limbs or open wounds. The metallic scent of blood hung thick in the air and muted groans punctuated the heavy silence.

Alvis felt a hollow ache sink into his stomach, his mind reeling as he tried to take in the carnage.

How could it have escalated to this?

In the midst of his shock, a sudden wave of urgency swept over him as he spotted the teachers taking action. Led by Principal Woltzer, a small group of seasoned educators—healers and combat instructors among them—were rushing onto the battlefield, each one with a fierce determination etched in their faces. Their normally calm expressions were replaced with grim resolve, their movements decisive and efficient as they sprang into action.

“Medic team, prioritize the injured,” Mr. Woltzer commanded, his voice steady yet filled with underlying fury. He gestured to the group, and the healers immediately split off, moving from one student to another, assessing injuries with swift, practiced movements.

“Don’t move; we’re here to help,” one of the healers, a gentle-looking woman with a glow of healing magic at her fingertips, murmured to a student whose arm was twisted at an unnatural angle. The student whimpered, barely conscious, but the healer’s soft tone seemed to calm him as she set to work, her hands radiating warmth over his injury.

Another healer knelt beside a demon student, pressing a cloth against his bleeding side. Her expression was compassionate yet focused as she began chanting a low spell, the bleeding slowing under her touch.

“Hold still; this will hurt a little, but I promise you’ll be okay.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Woltzer and the combat instructors spread out across the area, eyes sharp and unyielding. They moved quickly to isolate those who had actively taken part in the fight, directing them to stand aside under their watchful gaze.

“Form a line, now!” one of the instructors barked at a group of students who had been wrestling moments before, their faces still set in anger.

One human boy tried to resist, shouting, “They started it!—” but his words were silenced by a glare from the instructor.

“Enough! This is neither the time nor the place. You’ll explain yourself to the council.”

His voice was calm but firm, leaving no room for argument.

Alvis watched as a few of the more volatile students—demons and humans alike—were physically separated by the teachers. Some were too weak to argue back, merely glaring in silence, while others muttered defiantly, their hatred still burning beneath the surface.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Through the chaos, Principal Woltzer’s gaze landed on Alvis, his expression unreadable. He gave a subtle nod, acknowledging Alvis’ presence and the efforts he and his friends had made to contain the situation. But there was a heaviness in his eyes, a sense of disappointment that Alvis couldn’t shake.

As the teachers continued to stabilize the injured, healing magic illuminating the field in soft, warm hues, a tentative calm settled over the battlefield. The worst of the chaos was contained, but the tension lingered thick in the air, like the aftermath of a storm.

Alvis scanned the scene once more, his fists clenched at his sides, each injured student a painful reminder of the hatred that had driven them to this point. The battlefield was quiet now, but he knew the damage went deeper than physical wounds.

All Alvis could see in the eyes of the students was pure hatred. Some couldn’t even move and took in the scenery just like Alvis, yet the conclusion to which they came only made their eyes lit up with more hatred. No one saw the blame by themself. It was always the others who were at fault.

“B-Boss!”

“Lyon, Dogan, Bero.”

Alvis couldn’t help but smile as he saw his three students running towards him with no major injuries. They had a few bruises here and there, but other than that, they were unharmed.

Now, that I think of it, they are also pretty strong.

One was a half-elf with a high mana capacity, the other a strong demon, and the other a bear beastman. Their estimated power levels were also around 1500.

“We are sorry. All of this happened because we couldn’t stop them.”

“Raise your heads. You did your best, there is nothing better than that. Also, you contacted me, and in the end, no one died. Everyone is safe now, and that is only because you were here.”

“Good words you said there, Alvis Silva.”

A massive paw lay on Alvis’ shoulder as these words reached him. He turned around only to see the mighty tiger beastman standing right behind him.

“Mr. Woltzer.”

“P-Principal Woltzer,” the three first years hurriedly repeated after Alvis.

However, he didn’t even respond, his face ice cold, the goofy smile he was known for having vanished since the start of this survival game.

“Tell me what happened.”

“Y-Yes sir,” Bero replied, stepping forward, his voice shaky but determined.

“It all started over a quest. The student council, as you know, is responsible for assigning quests. To make it fair, we use a lottery system. It considers who’s already completed quests and who hasn’t, but… there’s still a chance someone could get assigned to multiple quests, even if they’ve already completed one.”

Alvis felt a pang of frustration, not at Bero, but at himself, as he was the one who came up with this system. He’d been confident this lottery would keep things smooth, but had it done the opposite?

“Today, a demon who’d already finished a quest got assigned to another one. This didn’t sit well with some of the others.”

Alvis couldn’t help but grit his teeth.

“Continue.”

“A human student—one who hadn’t completed any quests yet—decided to go off on his own and finished the quest anyway, ignoring the assignment rules. When the demon found out, an argument started. The human explained he only took the quest because he was starving and needed coins for food. To be fair, he’s pretty big for a human, so he probably needs more calories than most.”

Alvis could practically feel the human student’s desperation.

Who wouldn’t break a rule to survive?

But he could also see why the demon would feel slighted.

Going by the rules he was in the right after all.

Bero glanced at his friends before continuing, his voice tinged with regret.

“The demon, though, wasn’t interested in hearing him out. Since he was assigned the quest, he demanded the rewards the human had taken. That’s when it got ugly—the human argued it was unfair that demons were allowed to have bigger portions in the first place. Others joined in, and everything just… exploded.”

“We tried to stop it, but by the time Lyon, Dogan, and I got there, it was already out of control. And then… this happened.”

Alvis just took it all in, the reason behind this gruesome scene being digested in his brain.

“Is this all?” Mr. Woltzer asked, his voice steady, yet disturbingly hollow.

“Yes,” Bero replied.

Mr. Woltzer’s gaze fell, and he stared blankly into the space before him, silent. His mouth moved almost imperceptibly, a faint whisper slipping past his lips, so low that only Alvis caught it.

“It’s been mere hours since my announcement... Was there truly no other way? Is there really no way we can understand each other?”

The words barely left him, but Alvis saw the shift in his eyes—Mr. Woltzer’s once bright, determined eyes, that steady amber flame that guided them all, had dulled. His usual intensity, the spark of purpose that had reassured so many, was gone. In its place was a hollow vacancy, as if something had finally, irrevocably, cracked.

Somehow, a shiver ran down Alvis’ spine as an ominous feeling twisted his guts. Never before had he seen such an impression from Mr. Woltzer. It was something he couldn’t even imagine.

Almost as if he has given up on us.

Alvis shook his head, not even wanting to entertain this thought.

“You did a great job, student council,” vice principal Ms. Zoya said. “You can go rest now. We will take care of the rest.”

“O-Okay,” albeit reluctantly, the three first years agreed and so did Alvis.

They left the horrific scene and went toward the dorms.

“Boss,….-- is this the end?” Dogan asked, his eyes lowered to the ground. “This hatred in their eyes…. I’ve never seen something like that before. After seeing all of what just happened, I just can’t imagine how we should get along from this point forward.”

His four arms started trembling as sweat fused with tears dripped down his face.

“Someone almost died! He… he almost died. We were so close before the worst-case scenario.”

Alvis opened his mouth, yet no words would leave it. He tried again, yet his brain refused to let out something coherent; to let out a lie. He would like nothing more than to say everything would be fine, but they had all already realized that they’d reached a turning point.

Just now, the people were ready to kill each other.

There was no way their hearts could recover after this. The hatred and distrust had grown too much after seeing a schoolmate almost die.

From this point forward, the first kill could happen at any moment.

Alvis could only grit his teeth and clench his fist in frustration.

“No matter what happens, stay true to yourselves and keep your morals. And never forget, I will protect you.”

The gears in Alvis’ brain shifted as his mindset adapted to the changing situation.

Come what may, no matter how much this situation will escalate, the people dearest to me won’t be hurt!

After hearing Alvis’ comforting words, the first years could fully exhale for the first time. However, it also lit a fire in their eyes.

“We don’t want to be a burden to you,” they said simultaneously. “We want to support you just like you support us. So please don’t feel like you have to handle everything by yourself.”

Al, the same way you worry about the sake of your loved ones, they worry about yours. Don’t think you have to do everything on your own.

Alvis’ eyes widened as Lia’s words replayed in his head.

Once again, he forgot to look at things from the other’s perspective.

“I’m falling into old habits,” he said, sighing. However, he took a deep breath in and out before saying the words he had to say. “I will be counting on you, then.”

Alvis’ heart felt lighter after releasing these words and he could only smile as he waved them goodbye as they entered the dorms.

But who could’ve known that it was already the next day that everything would change?