Spreading destruction as he passed, Arin kept on moving forward, striking down a name at a time.

He looked down at his hand, “It didn’t hold me back at all.” He was referring to the remnant of Fiona’s Malum within his body. He used ruthless violence against everyone before him yet it didn’t stop him at all. This made him a little confused.

“It’s either the academy is suppressing it or it only works when I have the intent to kill.” Arin determined the only plausible outcomes. As for thinking that Malum disappeared on its own, he knew better than that. It was an extremely troublesome power that was extremely hard to get rid of.

Similar to someone’s influence, actively getting rid of it on your own would be troublesome.

The seven bodies he dragged along behind him were in an extremely terrible position, on the brink of life. He sensed something within himself surge out as it forced him to throw the seven students inside a clinic.

“Tch.” Now it was obvious that Fiona’s Malum was forcing him to save lives against his will. He could still cause grave injuries yet he couldn’t inflict fatal damage to them. “I need to get another Fragment as soon as possible. This is too irritating.”

This further pushed his mindset to complete that one Maze Trial that suppressed Malum. This was the only way that he wouldn’t be hindered in any way at all.

He finished dealing with most of the students that made trouble yesterday. Now that was over, there was nothing left for him here. He needed to head back and tackle the solo Trials back home.

It was nothing more than an errand for him. After Robert and Patrick finish up their part, he’ll have them incite chaos, burdening Fiona and setting her back. He’ll force everyone to keep fighting even more, making the difference between everyone show.

Since he was acting out while she was kept preoccupied with trying to find Perfect Clears, she shouldn’t have been able to stop his rampage at all.

As he waited on his henchmen, he placed his attention back on the future. There were far too many moving parts to this right now so he just wanted to focus on what he needed to do first.

It only took around twenty minutes for Robert to come back. From the looks of it, his pockets were lined with money while his hands were still relatively clean of blood. Before Arin could say anything he said out loud, “I did it properly. I made them learn their lesson.”

As for Patrick, due to his strength-oriented body, it took him ten minutes after Robert. His fists were dripping with bits of blood, still fresh. “I was wondering since earlier. So what was their lesson?”

“They didn’t listen,” Arin spoke as a matter of fact. “That’s the only thing the weak can do, listen to the strong.”

Robert didn’t fail to notice Arin’s viewpoint towards them but he didn’t mind as much. That was the absolute truth of the world, there was no point in fighting it. “So you’ll come after that to deal with those that fought back?”

“No.” Arin shook his head. “You both deal with it. I’ll return to the academy once the bet’s over. I still need to capitalize on those Trials.”

Hearing Arin confirm the fact that he managed to receive the Trials caused Robert’s greed to spike. “About those Trials, why don’t you let us in?”

“Yeah, we can help out. Then you know, a small cut.” Patrick listened in and wanted to get in on the action. Since they were in the same boat, they might as well.

Arin narrowed his eyes, “Hahahaha, what makes you think I’ll let you join in? That’s mine. Keep your hands to yourself unless… you don’t want them anymore.”

“You’re asking us to do more and more. There’s still a limit.” Robert wasn’t backing down without any rewards at all.

“I’ll give it to you when… oh, I guess I’m giving it to you now.” Arin saw a group of students following a particular girl. When he saw her, his blood started boiling, he wouldn’t let the humiliation from last time pass by.

“What do you want?” Arin threateningly said. “You’re not just here to say hello, right? Spit it out.”

Fiona’s viewpoint towards Arin had drastically changed from the last time. As the person who she had nearly killed and also the same person who almost killed her, she now somewhat feared him.

Adding on the fact that despite being on the death’s door with a massive chunk of his flesh missing, he was in front of her completely fine just after a single night’s rest. His pulverized arm had regrown and his mind was still steady despite being corrupted by her Malum. His vitality was far too inhuman.

“I’ve seen what you’ve done. Why do you keep going down this self-destructive path?” Fiona tried appealing to his sense of self-preservation. “We have our differences but that still doesn’t justify you acting out like this.”

“I’m just doing what I want. If I was given the choice, I’d do it again.” Arin crossed his arms and glanced at Elliot. “You decided to become her hound dog?”

Elliot was acting much more confident now as he finally managed to have some say in his position. “I’m just doing what I want to.”

“Don’t regret it.” Arin laughed it off.

“I won’t. If I ever do then it just means that I didn’t work hard enough.” Elliot had developed the mindset that worked the best for him. To pursue what he believed in, doing what he can to the best of his abilities.

Needless to say, Elliot had done great work actually pushing the mindset forward.

Fiona frowned and placed her hand to the side, “He can’t hurt you when I’m here.”

“Growing a spine, huh?” Arin snickered. Before, Fiona would just keep asking and begging for people to change but now she was more proactive. Taking matters into her own hands to stop evil things from happening. “You’re growing up, huh?”

Elliot looked at Arin and then back at Fiona. “The situation is getting tense. Are you going to punish him?”

“That’s…” Fiona took in a deep breath. “I… can’t.”

Elliot was about to try and back her up to further confront Arin when Fiona said something very unexpected. The battle yesterday has been suppressed due to Fiona’s father’s influence so only those who witnessed those events knew what occurred.

This is why when Fiona said, “I already did.” Everyone was surprised.

“What… what do you mean?” Elliot was the first person to ask her. Being the second-in-command, he had the right to know.

“I’ll answer that. She almost killed me.” Arin placed his attention on Fiona. “Were my guts fun to rip out?”

Fiona didn’t answer him. She didn’t know what came over her when she acted out but there was one thing that didn’t happen. She didn’t regret it. As much as it conflicted with her passive ideology for peace, this was something she desperately needed to understand. She needed to take action instead of speaking nonsense.

“You cannot act that way forever. Just as I also needed to change, you will too.” Fiona finally took her stance. The power that she hadn’t been utilizing at all finally started to weigh down on everyone around her. They all knew that Fiona was too soft to do anything but now, she was taking matters into her own hands. It just might be time for the Student Body Committee to grow into a behemoth.

Arin saw this and started laughing, he didn’t expect Fiona to be this decisive so quickly. It looks like he’s in a whole lot of trouble. “It’s laughable, isn’t it? Following the words of a person you hate.”

Fiona bit her lip. Arin’s words caused her to feel immense guilt. She was exactly doing as Arin had stated, he would prevent monsters from growing into something he couldn’t handle. This went against what she believed but to get to her goal, this was a necessity.

“Robert and Patrick. There’s no need to follow behind Arin. I know how cruel he is… far too well.” His mind recalled when he forced someone to take their own life. Such a heartbreaking scene wasn’t something she could just forget. “You can have my word that he will not be able to make a move on you.”

With such a tempting offer before them, they both looked at each other. It was clear that they were both interested in the offer. Compared to listening to such a lunatic, Fiona’s side was much more alluring.

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They looked at Arin who said, “Make your own decision. Nothing changes for me.”

After a brief moment, they both said their choices out loud. Though it was odd, it was as if they responded too readily.

“I’m staying.” Patrick crossed his arms and spoke with conviction.

“I’m joining.” Robert was somewhat awkward in his posture but still gathered enough courage to make his choice.

Arin smiled, “I didn’t expect you to stay. You should’ve joined the stronger side.” Arin patted Patrick’s back.

“I did join the stronger side.” Patrick knew that Arin had been defeated by Fiona one-sidedly. He even had terrible memories associated with Arin yet for some reason he knew that this was the kind of person that would reach the top regardless of what happened.

“Are we choosing? Ooh!” Sefi was sitting on top of Barlot’s shoulder. When she spoke out, Barlot’s surprised expression showed that he didn’t even notice her there. “I choose Arin!”

She kicked Barlot’s chest and jumped over to Arin’s side. She was giggling the entire time. Apparently, she was extremely happy that this was how it turned out. Sefi turned her head in an unnatural manner and grinned at Fiona, “You’re going to lose so badly. I can already see it.”

“If that’s the case, don’t mind me choosing the other side as well.” Another unexpected voice interrupted the conversation. “Please don’t make that face, President Fiona. I just like being on the winning side. After all, winners write the history books.”

Noah grabbed Fiona’s shoulder and started walking forward. Fiona had let it happen yet she didn’t like the sudden turn of events. “I understand why Sefi did so yet… why are you doing that Noah?”

She didn’t understand why Noah would do such a thing. As far as she could tell, Noah was a person who was extremely interested in the pursuit of knowledge. She could help him research and clear up his doubts yet he still moved forward to join Arin.

“Now that’s unexpected. I knew Sefi would do something like that but I didn’t think you would join either.” Arin was at ease the entire time. Being pressured was within his expectations, even losing all his subordinates wasn’t unexpected either. But to have both Sefi and Noah following him was quite a boon. “Then tell me the truth, why are you so interested in joining me?”

Noah brightly smiled and bowed with his palm on his chest, “I’m interested in a lot of things. If possible a few Trials. Would you be so kind as to let me join in on the fun?”

“You’ll be seeing things even darker than you’ve ever seen before. You might not be able to stomach it.” Arin was eluding to the fact that Noah would be seeing the darkness hidden within the already evil city.

“That’s fine, the occult is something I’m very interested in.” Noah was ecstatic that Arin would be so willing to accept his proposition. He turned back to Fiona and similarly bowed, “President Fiona, I thank you for giving me this opportunity. I’ll be sure to pay it back in kind.”

Fiona didn’t understand why Noah was doing this. “I could let you have access to the Trials too. He’ll have to give it back to me in a few weeks! There’s no point in going for them right now.”

“President Fiona, you should know that it isn’t the only reason. As I’ve said, I like being on the winning side.” Noah mysteriously finished up and stood right beside Arin. “Besides, I’m confident I can procure some Essence from those Trials. The boost from that stuff before getting my own Combat Technique is just far too much to pass up.”

“Oh? Trials? Do you have the ones where we get to kill for fun? Hahahaha!” Sefi jumped right behind Arin and hugged his neck. Her crazy eyes showed just how much joy she derived from the suffering of others. “That Essence stuff was good. Let me get some too!”

Arin’s smug expression turned slightly serious, “Why should I give you access to the Trials when I could just monopolize it?”

Noah immediately replied, “Don’t you want to make it hard on Fiona? I could help with that. You can’t be in the academy the entire time so you might as well let me influence the situation here.”

“Me too! I’ll decorate the entire academy in red.” Sefi’s insane antics just never end.

“Besides, we can sabotage the bet quite easily. She’ll be really set back after that. After all… I did hear that Fiona would lose quite a lot if she failed this.” Noah shamelessly rubbed it in.

Elliot yelled out, “Noah, that’s low!”

“So? What are you going to do about it?” Noah snickered.

Elliot was taken aback, Noah’s words hit quite accurately. There wasn’t anything he could do. The task before them was already quite monumental, adding on the fact that there were now two obvious traitors, the difficulty just spiked tenfold.

“Noah, you’re smart. I’ve seen your Rating exam. You shouldn’t sell yourself short.” Fiona spoke out. She then pointed at Arin, “There’s no merit in joining him. You’ll only be a target at this rate.”

“No matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to change my mind.” Noah yawned, not caring about what Fiona said. He had his own plans for what he wanted to do. Just like back during the Trial, he saw something no one else saw.

“Unlike before, I’ve seen just how lacking I was but… not anymore. I won’t be as passive as before.” Fiona knew that she couldn’t keep being a spectator. She needed to do something if she wanted to make a change.

“I’m changing the very structure of my organization to properly reflect what I must do. Noah, please understand that Arin will only cause chaos in the academy. Countless people will be put down and disregarded for their own gain. Even you might be thrown out once you outlived your usefulness.”

“And that’s what I want. Didn’t you hear yourself, President Fiona? What you just said is why I chose this academy among others. The strong become stronger while the weak get weaker. If I was thrown out then it only means that I didn’t grow stronger. The pressure of fighting against the entire world is what I want! To reach the peak and have countless people beneath me! This is the essence of Seal Academy! The very concept that I wish to embody! Your ideas are nothing but poison to the mind. This is why I wish to follow Arin, his path is the true path.” Noah’s self-righteous speech ended as he stood right behind Arin.

“So, Arin? What do you say? Do you accept my loyalty?” Noah reached out his hand, waiting for Arin to accept it.

Arin had thought it out. Weighing both options, it did seem that agreeing with Noah and Sefi did seem quite favorable. As for Noah’s word, Arin didn’t believe a single word of it even if it was the truth. He would still place him at a distance to make sure that he wouldn’t be betrayed so easily.

As for Sefi, he could use her living sister as some kind of card to play. The only problem with that was that he didn’t know how she would react. If that didn’t work, as long as he gave her body to mutilate then she should be easily controllable.

“I’m going to make you work to the bone.” Arin accepted Noah’s loyalty and Sefi’s insanity.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Noah grinned as he took out a small notebook and wrote a few words on it. No one could tell what he was writing exactly.

Sefi answered by reaching out her hand and immediately trying to pierce Arin’s neck. Unfortunately for her, Arin had been meticulously ensuring that Sefi wouldn’t so easily injure him. He grabbed a hold of her hand and slammed her down on the ground.

“Done?” Arin looked down as he stepped on her back, exerting more and more pressure.

“Kekekeke, good!” Sefi eerily laughed out loud as she was let go. She quietly stood right behind him and eyed the opposition down.

“We’re still not done, Arin. You have to pay the price for injuring those students!” Fiona recalled just how bloody everything was. It was far beyond the conflict from before.

“Let’s go. She won’t do anything.” Arin ignored her words as he started walking away. Noah seemed a little worried but nevertheless followed right behind him. Sefi, on the other hand, was completely careless and followed him. Patrick was completely outclassed here yet still quietly followed right behind Arin.

“Stop right there!” Fiona roared out. She wanted to order them to get them but when she saw their current battle prowess it was far too weak to overwhelm them.

Although Elliot and Alclair were there, they wouldn’t be enough to help out. Robert just joined them so she couldn’t just force him like that. The twins weren’t obliged to help out as they were just spectating. Barlot could possibly pin Sefi down but that was about it. She already knew how terrifying Arin was, if she didn’t use her Combat Technique then she would only have a slight advantage. As for Noah, she completely had no idea just how strong he was.

“If I didn’t fail the condition then…” Fiona was regretting her actions. She currently couldn’t use her Combat Technique due to one of the conditions being unfulfilled. She needed to take care of that first before she could use it.

“Fiona, just let it go.” Elliot offered his input. He was turning out to be more of an advisor at this point. “There’s no point in fighting them right now. There’s still so much left to do.”

“You’re right. We have a lot of things to do. As much as I hate how Arin treats everyone… I have to admit, he made me realize what I needed to do.” Fiona looked at Arin’s back, leaving without glancing back.

A pair of twins looked from the side. Liana wanted to change affiliations and go with Arin’s group. From her perspective, no matter how terrifying Fiona was, her mindset just didn’t sit right with her.

“Liam, let’s go.” She started dragging him yet he lightly grabbed ahold of her skirt and dragged her back.

“Let’s just not get involved…” Liam looked at both Arin and Fiona. He felt that there was no need to risk anything. “They’re both scary. Especially Fiona.”

“That’s… ugh. Fine.” Liana sighed and went away, not bothering to interact with the conflict that was about to occur. “How strong are they?”

Liam looked over at both groups and dragged his sister away. After walking a while, they were now all alone in the hallways. Liam leaned over to whisper to his sister.

“I don’t know. I can’t see it.” Liam shook his head. “One looks like an immortal corpse while the other looks like a judgemental angel. Liana, they’re both scary.”

“Is that it? Aren’t you supposed to see more?” Liana couldn’t believe that people that her brother couldn’t see through could actually exist, and even be this young.

“I mean… I could but…” Liam looked behind him. “The angel’s stopping me from seeing any further, it’s as if she’s being protected by some divine light. As for the immortal corpse… it’s even scarier. It wants me to look deeper but I’m afraid of what I might see…”

“Seal Academy nurtures the strongest Solvers after all. It only makes sense for unreasonable prodigies to join. I don’t know which one I would be more afraid of. Every single genius here becoming a Solver or a single person standing out amongst the rest.” Liana sighed, after seeing what she was up against, she still held onto her pride yet the future where she was superior to everyone else was drifting away from her.

She looked at her brother, “Liam, isn’t it time to stand out now? You could best all of them if you wanted to.”

“That’s…” Liam fearfully looked at the distance. “I think I can beat everyone except…”

“It only makes sense for you to not beat Fiona, I understand. But at the very least, you should be able to match Arin, right?” Liana had full confidence in how terrifying Liam’s strength was.

“For now… but after we get our Combat Techniques, it’s hard to say…” Liam rubbed his arms. He could see better than most but the sensation of staring death in the face wasn’t to his liking. “His strongest point isn’t his body or personality… it’s something else…”

“What is it then?” Liana asked Liam yet the latter just looked away, not wanting to answer her question. Seeing that Liam was like this now, she gave up pushing him even further. He couldn’t force him to tell her even if she tried.

Liam looked into the distance. His mind was gradually getting filled with thoughts.

He’s inflicted with Fiona’s Malum but he could still keep his ego. What a monster. No matter what happens, I’ll be seeing him beyond The Boundary as a vanguard. Maybe I should’ve joined him… No! Nothing good will ever come with getting acquainted with a person like that.