Deep underground, Palvina was struggling to cast any spells that could manifest themselves properly. She was mainly fighting with her swords, dueling with Sion, who wielded his pistols as daggers, being constantly pushed back, barely keeping up with her.
"Damn, it, hurry!" He thought, gritting his teeth as Koa was gone, retrieving the Water Egg.
Palvina knew that something was off, and her senses were warning her to get out of there. She wasn't playing around, fully committed to ending it fast, no matter the costs. Just when Koadriana returned, holding the Egg in her hands, she saw Palvina's sword go through Sion's defenses, and the boy vanished from sight before her weapon could decapitate him.
"Shit!" Koa cursed, watching her opponent change targets, aiming directly at her. There was no time to celebrate victory in a battle, not until everyone was gone from her sight. That was Palvina's main rule she always adhered to.
"You're next!" She spat, bringing down the blade in her right hand, and Koa raised the Egg by reflex, blocking her insanely speedy attack.
What happened next drew the colors from Palvina's face as her artifact shattered into dozens of pieces with a chilling, loud clang, leaving a broken blade in her hand. An artifact should not break like this, not even if it was hit by spells or other artifacts. At least, not if those things were much stronger and way higher-tiered spells or treasures.
"..." She was utterly thrown off-balance and stunned, unable to process what just happened. Koa, on the other hand, kept her composure. She wanted to use the Egg differently… but if it was this strong, then it would suffice!
"Eat this!" She shouted, smashing it against Palvina's face, and now it was her turn to try and block by reflex, only to see and hear her second sword be shattered into pieces. She wanted to cry, but then her vision was blurred as she was teleported out before Koa could smash her head with the Egg. "Hah! Run, you bitch!"
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……
In the outside world, when being teleported out, Sion landed in a room where, surprisingly, Lauron was waiting for him. Looking around, he quickly recognized he was in the hospital wing of the Academy. Touching his neck, he could feel a thin wound, and looking at his fingers, they were stained with blood.
"That… was close." He whispered with a nervous smile.
"It is to make sure you remember the feeling." Lauron smiled, snapping his finger, and a creamy-colored light surrounded Sion, healing him quickly. "You are mostly intact; you can leave."
"Thanks!" He bowed but then looked around. "Are all of them coming here?"
"To different rooms. I have a clone stationed in every one of them, caring for the most critical injuries. The rest will be dealt with later on." He nodded towards the door, signaling that he should leave.
"Aren't you curious about-" Sion wanted to ask, but Lauron shook his head.
"No. You deal with it. Lia has to grow up. If your group loses, then so be it. I can help with small things because she is my sister… But I won't meddle in your things too much because she is my sister! Now go! This week is plenty busy for me already!" Lauron grumbled. As one of the best healers in the Academy, he was stationed here, 24/7, for the whole week.
Stepping out of the room, he caught a glimpse of Olivia's retreating figure hurriedly descending the stairs. He was thinking of going after her but realizing that she was out, meant the rest of the Misfits had won. Which was great for him and alarming if he met with anybody from Olivia's group. He was unsure if the system would teleport him away now, too, if Olivia decided to kill him.
"Hah… but this is going to… create a storm, that is for sure!" Sion sneered, feeling very happy with himself, especially after what happened when he went to register their group the first time. "Retribution is the best feeling ever!" He laughed under his breath and then shivered as an ear-splitting, painful, and enraged scream echoed through the corridor, coming from one of the many rooms. "Pft… Bwahahahaha!" He laughed before hurrying away, recognizing it as Palvina's voice, deciding he would party tonight. "Koa, whatever you did, fucking A-plus!"
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Inside the forest, Kafka and the Misfits were just regrouping and closing down the announcement that told everyone, shocking the many participants, that Olivia's group had been knocked out. Suddenly, many who wanted to go after the only first-year group stopped dead in their tracks. They had two… no, the following announcement a second later showed they had three Eggs now and even defeated Ember. THE Ember. One who was undefeated on the Dueling List for years. This was… unheard of and something that was going to spread as a wildfire in the Academy after the yearly Egg Hunt is over. This was not a concern for the Misfits as Jellybean was applying ointment onto Lia's scratched-up face.
"Owie… it stings! Ahaha… continue~" She grinned happily.
"Your hands are severely burnt, Boss," Keily commented, bandaging her injuries too.
"We need to raise some healers," Koa murmured, looking around as nobody else besides Jellybean was genuinely proficient in healing magic, not even Sion's subordinates. Everybody focused on fighting, and nobody was truly tailored for a support role. "My guys are made perfectly!" She grinned, slapping Jellybean's back, who smiled merrily.
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"Yeah… you're right!" Lia nodded, squirming, "We are too focused on offense and not on defense!"
"We are." Raufon chimed in, holding a bag of ice against his face, and he and his men looked like they were pummeled into looking like a bunch of red grapes, puffy, swollen, and purplish in color.
"How many people have we lost?" Lia asked, watching those who were present.
"I am left with Jellybean and with Ash. The rest are gone." Koa sighed.
"The three brothers saved me…." Keily murmured, feeling guilty, but Shishi just patted his head with a smile.
"We are fine!" Raufon said proudly as they were beaten up but not 'killed.'
"Sion's whole group is gone," Shishi added.
"Sion too." Koa nodded, "So we lost one group of Misfits completely."
"Well, you did defeat one if not the strongest group in the Academy!" Kafka came over, laughing. "I say you can be proud of what you did!"
"With your help!" Lia turned towards him after she was somewhat patched up, stretching her hand out.
"My pleasure." Kafka chuckled, shaking her hand, nodding towards Aurora, who was out cold by now. "She will be fine, but for now needs rest."
"We can take care of her." Aurora's subordinates said as they all survived the battle, already guarding her.
"Good." Koa nodded, watching them with amusement, "It seems she worked some kind of charm on you boys, eh? Well, this is the best opportunity to feel her up!" She joked, making their faces twitch as they knew; If that happened, Aurora would castrate them for sure.
"Let's go back underground and rest! We can decide what to do next after that! What about you?" Lia looked at Kafka questioningly.
"We'll come with you." He replied, "I'm unsure if Olivia had any backup plans, so we will stick by you until the end of the competition. I also wanted to talk with you all anyway."
"About what?" Koadriana asked, her voice a bit colder as she didn't forget the Council refused their initial formation. All of them.
"Let's wait until Aurora wakes up." Kafka chuckled, not saying more for now.
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"Why was only I sent out?!" Olivia asked Lucian, standing in his office, lit by his desk lamp only, looking up at her calmly from behind his desk.
"Because you would have killed yourself with the explosion. You not being there would not kill her."
"...!" She gritted her teeth, knowing it was a weak excuse, and she was sure they were playing favorites right before her eyes.
"You had so many options to defeat the girl." Lucian continued, not bothering with the volcano brewing to erupt before him. "Yet you immediately went for the most destructive method. In reality, that explosion would kill her and the other two. And yourself. You forgot everything and let rage guide your decisions. YOU caused your own failure, Olivia Horth."
"I quit." She said, hissing like a whining teapot above a fire, blowing steam through her nose. Lucian didn't flinch, just leaned back, watching her with calm eyes before slowly speaking up.
"Choose your next words well, girl."
"I said; I quit." She repeated once again, and when Lucian did not answer, she just turned around and stormed out of his office. After she was gone, the Headmaster slowly stood up, shaking his head and tapping on his temple, hearing a voice from far away.
"Yes, Headmaster?" It was the voice of Zorgan, the leader of the Tower of Fire.
"The Horth family is fully lost. There is no redeeming them."
"Acknowledged." He answered simply, and the connection was cut.
"You squandered not just your life, girl..." Lucian sighed, his voice expressing his immense disappointment.
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……
By dawn, Olivia was wearing regular clothes, with a big backpack on her shoulders. She was walking up on a small flying boat on the docks at the city's edge. She was accompanied by Palvina, who had a pale, white face. Her eyes were a bit duller than usual, and she was still under the shock of losing two of her precious artifacts. They were leaving the Academy unannounced, and they were off before anybody could catch a whiff of their departure. An hour later, their small ship was sailing above the clouds, above all else, feeling like they were in a different world when Olivia spoke up.
"Thanks for coming with me."
"Mhm…" Palvina nodded, leaning against her, "I only have you…."
"Not really." A third voice spoke then, making the two flinch, turning around with baffled looks as Zorgan was standing there.
"Master Zorgan?" Olivia asked, her voice unsure, and her hands were ready to cast spells. Now only Olivia had her artifact in her sleeves as they had to leave their bracelets behind. It at least gave her confidence.
"Are you really doing it?" Zorgan asked, his voice pained and his eyes looking at Olivia with sincere sadness. It made her… feel guilty.
“I am sorry Master Zorgan.” She replied softly, as he was the only teacher she felt close to in her four years at the Academy. "Even though it is my last year, I can't betray my feelings! That is my source of strength!"
"I see." Zorgan nodded, running his fingers through the blonde cornrows on his black head, and when he opened his blue eyes, they were devoid of all warmth. "By order of the Six Houses, by my right bestowed upon me by the House of Ro, herby, I sentence all descendants of the Horth family to death."
Olivia had no time to react neither did Palvina. Master Zorgan was already standing between them, his giant hand holding Olivia's top of the head, igniting her body, turning the girl into nothing but a flaming torch. Palvina only reacted when she heard the painful screams of Olivia. They quickly turned into hisses, and three seconds later, nothing remained but ash that was brought away by the strong winds up in the sky.
"By order of Headmaster Lucian, you, Palvina Martion, are hereby sentenced to an ordinary life." Zorgan continued, grabbing her head, too, and she could do nothing but scream until her throat bled. It was a painful, hollow cry as she felt fire seep into her body, destroying her energy points, one by one, meticulously stripping her from all forms of magic. From now on, she could not cast any spells and could not hope to recover her strength. She became incapable of gathering any mana. She would be nothing from now on but a regular, magicless human. She could live a normal life if she so wished but never experience the feeling of manipulating mana ever again. "I'll escort you to your home city. Live your life in peace." Zorgan said, sadness returning to his voice, knowing after dropping the now-fainted girl off, he would have to go and track down all remaining members of the Horth family… and kill them. Taking control of the small ship, he couldn't help but sigh again. "For Meriath."