"Everyone alert! Seems like it has begun!" Ray heard a warning through his communication device. Apart from simply mentoring Kai and Adeline, the true reason why Saint Cross was positioned in the capital was because of news that the dark guild Night Wing may launch an assault on a key installation. Ray thought, "Drats. If only the news were false, then I wouldn't have to be awoken from my beauty sleep. Guess all I can do is to get this done and over with as soon as possible."

Ray quickly arrived at the designated form up point, where the rest of his group was already waiting. To Ray's surprise, he noticed that Nikki and her City Guard personnel were present as well. Ray asked, "P-no, Nikki, what are you doing here? This is not a joke, okay?"

Nikki cried angrily, "I'm the officer on duty today, alright? Such a major incident would definitely trigger the mobilisation of my men! Of course, I bumped into Frost who kindly gave me the location of your meeting place."

Ray glared at Frost, who could only look away sheepishly. Keith interrupted by saying, "Alright, back to business. We've already ascertained the location of our enemy, they are at Zion Academy for god knows what reason."

Nikki interjected, "Zion Academy? We're in luck, since it's a key installation, our dimension portals are linked to the interior of the Academy. Through our portals, we can avoid any traps the enemy might prepare for us at the entrance. Don't worry, our dimension portals lead to a secret location within the Academy, so no ambush should be expected."

Ray had a serious look as he commanded, "As a member of the 10 Saints, I hereby take charge of this operation. Frost, distribute the remaining communication devices to Nikki and her key personnel. Upon entering the area of operations, our priority is to protect any staff or students in the compound before eliminating the terrorists, is that understood?"

The group before him shouted in unison, "Yes sir!" Ray smiled and said, "Let's head to our dimension portal then." as the taskforce headed towards the nearest dimension portal.

Kai started sprinting towards Zion Academy after he witnessed that distress signal. He knew that he was probably too weak to be of any use, but he couldn’t ignore anybody who needed help, especially if it was his fellow students and teachers.

As he continued running down the quiet streets, Kai was surprised when he heard a voice behind him. "You're going to the Academy because of that signal? I'm coming with you, it's too dangerous for you alone." Kai halted and turned around to see Adeline dressed for combat. Despite his genuine surprise, Kai simply smiled and said, "Alright. Let's go together!"

Within minutes, they had arrived at the gates of Zion Academy. Kai couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the mangled bodies of the guards near the gate. He quickly looked away as the pair entered the school compound. The area near the entrance was a complete mess, with several craters and cracked ground.

Adeline tugged at Kai as she pointed towards a nearby tree. There, Kai could roughly make out a silhouette of a woman before she disappeared in a blur, leaving someone lying against the tree. Kai and Adeline rushed forward, only to find Professor Zane unconscious.

Adeline quickly checked him and said, "He's only unconscious. Despite the fierce fight that occurred here, looks like his opponent wasn't keen on taking his life." Kai nodded in agreement and said, "To be able to overpower Professor Zane, our enemies must be very strong. Guess this is a sign to proceed with caution. Let's go."

Kai and Adeline swiftly entered the main school building. There, he could hear the fierce exchange of spells, as Adeline and he took cover behind a nearby pillar. Looking down, Kai could make up a few individuals dressed in black hurling spells at Mdm Cassandra and a few other teachers. The men in black gave an ominous feeling as their biceps appeared overly swollen and their attack pattern was simply berserk. Mdm Cassandra seemed to be having a tough time against these guys who reminded Kai a little of the hobgoblins he had faced before.

Adeline tugged at Kai's shoulder and said, "Mdm Cassandra is our head teacher for a good reason. She and the other teachers can settle this on their own. We must have faith in them and devote our energy towards eliminating enemies who are still loitering around the school unengaged." Kai nodded and the pair made their way out, entering another part of the school compound.

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Adeline suggested, "From the looks of it, the enemy has no intention of destruction, as the interior of the school seems relatively untouched. They are most likely searching for something. We should start with the quietest of areas as that would be where our unoccupied enemies are most likely lurking."

Kai gave a thumbs up as they rushed towards the library, which was relatively quiet. Kai pushed open the doors of the library as quietly as he could, but the darned door gave a creaking sound as it opened. Adeline and Kai quickly entered the library, which was rather spacious.

Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, Kai noticed a large stream of electricity heading their way. Instinctively, he countered with his very own [Lightning Bolt], a Beginner tier spell refined by Kai using the advice that Ray had given him, making it as strong as the Intermediate tier [Lightning Surge]. The two lightning bolts cancelled each other out upon collision.

Kai heard someone applauding as the sound of footsteps got closer and closer. "Interesting, to negate my [Lightning Surge] with just a [Lightning Bolt], you kids are pretty good. Just answer my question and none of you have to get hurt. Do you know where the map detailing the location of [Catastrophe] is held in this school?" Kai realised that the owner of the voice was a big burly man with a Mohawk hairstyle. He estimated that the man was about 1.5 times his height.

The man continued, "Ah, I apologise for being rude. My name is Echo, junior executive of Night Wing." Adeline was appalled. "There was a map detailing the location of that cursed weapon? And it was in this school?" she thought frantically.

Kai appeared as shocked as her, but regained his composure quickly, shouting, "What do you guys want that weapon for? We don't know such a map even exists and even if we do, we're not going to tell you!" Echo gave a puzzled expression before replying, "Well, our clients requested for that map, who they are is none of your concern. Should have expected that kids like you know nothing. You should be proud that you're going to be fodder for me!"

As Echo finished his sentence, his body started generating a huge amount of mana as sparks flew uncontrollably from his body. Kai whispered to Adeline, "Well, if Master was here, he would say that's wasting mana. Stand back, I've got this."

Echo's face contorted like a madman as he cried, "Tiers exist for a reason. The higher you go, the more powerful you are. It's simple logic really! Low tier spells would get you nowhere! Eat this, [Lightning Blast]!" Echo launched a much bigger blast of electricity at Kai and Adeline. [Lightning Blast] was an Expert tier spell after all.

Kai's face remained calm as he gathered his mana at his fingertips, releasing a [Lightning Bullet] towards the incoming spell. Ray had taught him that the reason why he couldn't pierce through Jaeger's barrier then was because he'd failed to follow through. By simply releasing your mana, one fails to maintain control over his spell.

On the other hand, by following through, i.e. pouring a little more mana to maintain connection with the spell, one can possess full control over the spell and can focus it at will.

Kai's [Lightning Bullet] split Echo's [Lightning Blast] into two streams of electricity that arced away from Kai and Adeline in an inverse V-like fashion. Consequently, the [Lightning Bullet] pierced right through Echo's shoulder, causing a miniature explosion as it collided against the wall behind him.

Echo grimaced in pain for awhile, but soon recovered his composure. He smiled and exclaimed, "Looks like you really are pretty skilful for your tender age. This would be a good fight! How about this, [Lightning Hammer]!" Echo gathered a huge amount of electricity in his hands before swinging them down towards the ground.

The result was an omnidirectional electric current that spread out from Echo through the ground. Kai and Adeline instinctively jumped to avoid the electric current.

While Adeline managed to reach the 2nd floor of the library, Kai didn't have such luck as Echo sent a [Lightning Blast] towards him while he was still mid-air. Unable to dodge given his situation, Kai could only protect his body with mana armament and a little electricity that wrapped tightly around him as he took the attack head on.

BOOM! Echo's attack successfully connected, as smoke billowed from the impact area. Kai dropped back onto the ground, where he appeared only slightly hurt.

Not letting up, Echo resumed his wave of assaults as he hurled more [Lightning Surge] spells at Kai, with the aim of denying him the chance of retaliation. Having no time to gather and focus his mana, Kai could only redirect his efforts towards dodging the spells thrown at him.

Adeline watched on in concern and just as she was about to intervene, she heard another person cackling in the shadows on the 2nd floor where she was. The stranger, who turned out to be none other than Gale, laughed, "What luck! I was getting bored with searching when I heard a huge explosion down here. Who'd expect that there would be one more enemy here not involved in the duel. Care to entertain me?"

Adeline could sense that the maniac before her was not a simple opponent. Gale continued, "You exude a similar aura to that big, muscular Sylph that I disposed of a few weeks ago. Maybe you're a Sylph too? Hahaha, how interesting!" Adeline was stunned. He couldn't be referring to Huth, right?

In her fury, Adeline deactivated her disguise, revealing her pointed ears. She seethed, "How dare you hurt one of my precious people, I'll kill you!" Gale laughed uncontrollably, "Great! Another Sylph! This time, I get to savour the fight all alone! Come on, show me what you've got, puny Sylph!"

Adeline muttered, "Impeded by none, [Phasewalker]!" as her 2 small daggers revealed their true form. Gale's laughter became more frenzied as the sounds of battle throughout the entire Academy intensified, signalling the impending climax of the battle in the Academy…