Amidst the chaos, the nightmare creatures launched relentless assaults from every direction, tearing bodies apart, biting heads off, and engaging in merciless slaughter. Escape seemed futile as the path to the exit remained blocked, leaving not so many options for the trapped youth.

Not everyone succumbed to the terror; however, there were those who had received basic training from a Bellius and came prepared with Nymph stones. Using both Dhoshyl to defend and Dhormu to attack, many people could fight back. A red-headed girl, in particular, excelled at combating the creatures.

The girl stood as a shield for her companion, deftly repelling every monster that approached. The other girl, resembling the first but with longer red hair, shared a striking similarity, almost akin to twins.

"Don't you worry, Rena, your big sister's got this!" declared the girl with shorter hair, wearing a smug expression, in the midst of combat.

"Hena, there are too many of them, we must run!" Exclaimed Rena in a fearful tone.

While everyone else struggled against the hord of creatures, Kornos stood still, seemingly untargeted by the creatures. Unfazed by the chaos unfolding before him, one would assume it was a routine scenario for him.

"Dear students, I believe you should attend to the dormitories," announced Kornos in a nonchalant tone, "they are right behind me."

The two sisters, accompanied by numerous others, swiftly took off running in the direction of the dormitories. It became evident to them that the unfolding chaos resulted from a breach of the first rule: students must not wander outside after sunset. The dormitories emerged as the sole sanctuary.

Dariu remained motionless as he witnessed the creature devouring Luca's remains. The grim scene served as an eerie reminder of a haunting past, echoes from an incident three years prior. As he continued to gaze upon the gruesome spectacle unfolding before him, vivid flashes of Mika's final moments intertwined with the present. Initially, it was Luca on the ground being consumed, only to seamlessly shift to Mika, and then back to Luca once more.

Suddenly, the creature raised its head from Luca's corpse and, in a quick move, locked eyes with Dariu and emitted a violent growl. Its jaws dripped of blood and its eyes glowed red. Dariu's mind played tricks on him once more, seamlessly overlaying the current scene with a haunting glimpse from the past: the radiant red eyes of the Elder Beast, piercing the darkness of the cave, and penetrating straight into his soul. In an instant, the creature leaped toward him, catching Dariu off guard, and before he could react, it would be too late.

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"Dhormu!" A shout unleashed the kinetic push spell and repelled the creature before it could reach Dariu.

Dariu looked upon his savior—a boy of his age. The rescuer possessed jet-black, flowing hair and deep brown eyes. Notably, one of his hands was adorned with a white glove containing a singular cyan-glowing stone.

"Run!" The boy's urgent cry snapped Dariu back to awareness, and without hesitation, they sprinted together.

Bounding onto the elevated platform, the pair swiftly passed Kornos, with each of them taking a separate side. Others quickly followed suit, passing Kornos as he remained still. Slowly, he raised his arms to shoulder level and opened his chest.

"Welcome to Arcadia," Kornos declared, while numerous creatures continuously passed on his sides, completely ignoring him.

Dariu and the black-haired boy continued their sprint along the cobblestone path toward the dormitories, swiftly maneuvering around bodies scattered on the ground. The route was filled with others running in the same direction, and unfortunate souls were ambushed by creatures emerging from the dead trees on the sides.

"Help! Please, someone help me!" cried a boy several meters ahead of Dariu. He lay on the ground beneath a creature, actively using Dhoshyl against the creature's jaws, engaging in a fierce struggle to prevent its relentless assault.

"Dhoshyl!" shouted Dariu, conjuring a shield on his left hand. He then sprinted at full speed toward the creature above the boy, colliding directly with it using the shield

"Dhormu!" shouted Dariu once more, unleashing an energy blast with his right hand raised behind his back. Using the spell to augment his own power, Dariu successfully launched himself with great force into the beast, propelling it several meters away from the boy. Rolling further from the creature due to the momentum of the launch, Dariu quickly stood up while the beast remained sprawled on the ground.

The Nymph stone on Dariu's left hand shattered and instantly disintegrated, having been previously used during training with Arsel back in the village. Unbeknownst to Dariu in the midst of the chaos, he was left with only one stone on his right hand.

"Move it!" Dariu yelled at the boy, before resuming his sprint.

The blond-haired boy quickly rose to his feet and ran after Dariu, a swarm of nightmarish creatures dangerously close behind them.

"Hurry up!" Shouted the black haired boy, now at the entrance of the dormitories.

Mid-sprinting, Dariu looked back to check on the progress of the blond boy. He observed dozens of creatures hot on his tail, with the boy running as fast as he could, almost out of breath. In that fleeting moment, Dariu also noticed that the boy did not have any Nymph stones left. In a quick move, Dariu removed the stone from his glove and tossed it toward the blond-haired boy.

"Use a Dhormu!" He shouted.

The boy deftly caught the stone, swiftly plugging it into his glove. In an instant, as a creature leaped towards him, poised to bite into his head, he turned and shouted, "Dhormu!"

The spell's blast not only repelled the creature but propelled the boy with explosive force toward Dariu. In a chain reaction, Dariu was pushed into the black-haired boy, and together, all three of them tumbled down onto the dormitories floor beyond the entrance.

Exhausted and breathless, they lay flat on the floor, panting heavily. The creatures outside the entrance growled menacingly but, as if met by an invisible barrier, refrained from advancing beyond. Gradually, they receded and moved away.

Once Dariu caught his breath and lifted his head, he finally saw the hundreds of other students who were crowded in that vast hall. Many of them bore severe injuries, some even having lost limbs and appearing to be on the verge of dying.

It was only the first day in Arcadia, yet tragically, approximately a hundred students had lost their lives that night.