Within minutes of entering Zion Academy, Ray and his taskforce were met with several surprises. First of all, he could see several staff and students kept frozen in some form of stasis. One of the City Guard attempted to test if they could be hurt by using his knife, but it turns out that they were invulnerable. Ray heaved a sigh of relief. At least the bystanders won't get hurt despite their precarious position.

However, the next thing Ray discovered wasn't to his liking. The intruders, who were dressed in black, attacked them maniacally and even took out some of his men. Ray had to put in a little more effort than usual to silence them with his [Lightning Blade], killing 3 of them by impaling them through the heart.

Frost remarked, "These guys…they behave like the hobgoblins we encountered then!" Ray shook his head and replied, "You're probably right, damn, Jaeger's dead but his inventions are still giving us so much trouble."

Eventually, Ray decided to split his taskforce up to cover more ground. "We don't know how many madmen or strong enemies we have out there that might endanger those not affected by the stasis. City Guard, you guys are to follow Nikki and take orders from her.

Keith and Shaw, I want you guys to head to the teachers' block and rendezvous with any teachers resisting over there. I need you guys to set up a makeshift medical post where any injured comrades can go to, which is why I want Shaw there to clear any enemies in the area.

Meanwhile, Frost and I would act individually since we're strong enough to take care of ourselves. Is that clear? Any questions?"

Nikki grabbed Ray's arm tightly and asked, "You sure you'll be alright alone?" Ray smiled and replied, "Don't worry, if I really encounter an enemy strong enough to match me, at least I don't have to worry about the safety of everyone else. You take care too. Let's make it out here alive." Nikki smiled and led her City Guard down the passageway. The members of Saint Cross also dispersed, heading to their respective locations.

Kai was still busy avoiding Echo's relentless attacks, as he couldn't find a window of opportunity to counterattack. Echo taunted, "What's wrong, kid? I thought you said power wasn't everything? Maybe I should ramp this up a little." Echo took in a deep breath and released a deafening scream towards Kai. The resultant supersonic waves were strong enough to shatter through the wall behind Kai with its vibrations.

Kai thought, "What the hell is that technique? An Enigma Ability?" Echo proudly declared, "That's right. This is my [Banshee Cry], an Enigma Ability that passes through all medium. Eat this!" as he launched another scream at Kai.

Meanwhile, Adeline was not having an easy time on her hand as she exchanged ranged attacks with Gale. Whenever she launched her [Ice Barrage] at Gale, he simply countered her with his [Wind Leg] technique that smashed her icicles mid-flight.

Realising that ranged attacks don't work, Adeline attempted to close down the distance by distracting Gale with a simple [Ice Spike] spell aimed at his flank before leaping towards him. Gale easily smashed through her spell with a strong kick but barely dodged Adeline's follow-up assault.

Gale uttered in surprise, "Woah!" as Adeline's swords drew blank air. Gale leapt backwards, performing a back-flip before grabbing onto a chandelier on the ceiling of the library with both hands. He laughed, "Let's see how you fare against this! [Wind Leg - Relentless Fury]!" as he performed slicing motions with both legs rapidly, sending waves of air blades at Adeline.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

As the attacks were far too numerous to dodge, Adeline cast [Water Wall] over her head to absorb the attacks, the wall reforming each time it was struck. When the assault on her water barrier stopped, Adeline seized the opportunity to freeze the water above her head and send a couple of [Ice Lance] spells flying towards her immobile opponent. Exhausted from his technique earlier, Gale could only release his grip on the chandelier, dropping onto the 2nd floor using the momentum of his swing as he barely avoided the spears of ice.

Adeline quickly closed the distance between them and this time, Gale could not dodge her attack as she was too quick. Gale instinctively kicked a bookshelf, causing it to topple towards Adeline. Unfortunately for Gale, using the ability of [Phasewalker], Adeline simply melded through the bookshelf.

Stunned, Gale decided to launch a surprise attack on Adeline by kicking another bookshelf towards her, this time following through with his [Finger Pierce] technique. Adeline calmly phased through both the bookshelf and Gale before swiftly turning around and slashing across his body in an 'X' fashion. Gale could only stagger forward as blood spilt from his wounds.

Adeline said, "Your physical attacks won't work on me, I can simply go through them! Prepare to die!" Gale cackled, "I didn't want to use this on kids but it would be the perfect way to test my theory!"

Gale disappeared in a blur and before Adeline could react, he appeared in front of her. Adeline instinctively activated the ability of her [Phasewalker], however, the next attack caught her off guard. Gale quickly put his 2 fists in front of Adeline's chest, one on top of the other and shouted, "[Grand King Cannon]!" A huge amount of mana was released forward from his fists, distorting the air heavily.

Adeline coughed out a huge amount of blood. Why didn't [Phasewalker] work? Gale smirked and answered, "Just as I thought, you could only pass through physical attacks, but you can't avoid attacks that are largely mana-based! How do you like my strongest technique which is my only technique that crushes an opponent from the inside, hahaha!"

Before Adeline could respond, Gale sent a sweeping kick towards her head, sending her flying through several bookshelves before crashing against the wall.

Kai was momentarily distracted when he saw Adeline hurtling towards the wall. Echo shouted, "Where are you looking at, kid? Die!" as he launched another supersonic scream at Kai. This time, it caught Kai and pinned him against the wall, the wall crumbling under duress. Kai struggled in pain as the scream threatened to burst his eardrums with its high frequency and amplitude, causing his ears to bleed.

Echo thought, "Time to finish this." as he gathered a huge amount of mana to perform the Master tier spell [Lightning Cannon]. Kai, sensing that it's a now or never situation, mustered his strong emotions regarding his family and activated his Luminos, shouting, "Disappear, [Erase]!"

The supersonic waves immobilising Kai disappeared, and so did half the mana Echo was gathering. Echo was stunned as he thought, "What happened?" Before he had time to recover, Kai drew his weapon and shouted, "Extend and impale, [Cavalier]!" [Cavalier] extended so quickly that Echo couldn't dodge in time, as the spear buried through his heart. Kai retracted his weapon as fast as he extended it, causing blood to gush out of Echo's chest.

Echo muttered incoherently, "He played his Ace at the right time…" before slumping face forward onto the ground, dead. Gale was horrified. How did Echo lose to a brat like him? He disappeared in a blink and appeared behind Kai before he could react. Just as he was about to finish Kai off with his [Grand King Cannon], a figure got between him and his intended target, accepting the blow on behalf of Kai.

Kai spun around and realised it was Adeline, who had clearly activated her Luminos given the golden hue around her body. Gale was stunned as Adeline appeared unharmed from his attack. Without warning, Adeline pierced both Gale's head and chest with her blades before he could respond, leaving them there for quite a while as ice seeped out from the wounds. Once she was confident that he was dead, Adeline retracted her swords, causing Gale to slump to the ground like a ragdoll.

Blood trickled down Adeline's mouth as she wiped the blood away, remarking, "It's not that your technique didn't work. It's just that my recovery rate is so quick that the damage you caused is repaired instantly. Master Ray always told me to save my trump card for the killing blow."

Kai deactivated his Luminos as he collapsed onto the ground, exhausted. He smiled and said, "Looks like our training has shown good results, to emerge victorious against Master tier opponents like them…" Adeline returned the smile and said, "Yeah, we're lucky that we're still alive now. However, the battle took quite a toll on us both. I suggest resting up before heading to our next location." Kai nodded weakly as he closed his eyes, prioritising recovery.