The lights went out, and the class immediately went on high alert as they prepared to defend themselves. Kline activated every technique he learned to heighten his senses, and Gunter shielded Bea with his body to ensure she was safe.

Only the screams and shouts of surprise of the partygoers spread across the room till a girlish squeal cut across the room. A few minutes passed, as everyone was on edge till a lightning bolt struck just outside the ballroom. The light of the bolt shone through the window and lit up the outline of a person slumped over.

Only a few seconds that felt like an age passed by the time the lights came back on, and the sight that greeted everyone caused a fresh peal of terror to spread once more. After a slow moment, a noblewoman in an oversized dress immediately screamed and fainted into the arms of her escort.

Lux Lightbringer was in the middle of the ballroom with a spear impaled through his stomach. He was doing his best to hold himself up using the spear slick with his own blood. But he was already going pale.

“Mummy!!!” he cried out as his eyes searched the room.

“Please, mummy, please help me,” he pleaded as tears streaked down his face.

“Someone get a doctor!!!” Septus roared as he stepped forwards.

“No one leaves this room!!!” he added as his body began to blur, and a second later, there now stood seven of him, all identical except for the colour of their clothing. Looking at all the colours the class could see, they collectively made up the colours of a rainbow.

“Ok, Disgust and Surprise, you go alert the barracks!” the green and yellow colour wearing Septuses saluted and ran out of the room.

Sadness, find a doctor. We may still be able to save Lux,” Septus ordered to which a meek-looking Septus in blue saluted and slowly walked away.

“Now, me and the rest of me will ensure we keep everyone here and investigate who is responsible!”

“My Lord, I can provide aid,” a noble said, stepping forwards.

“Ah, Cortez…. Provide medical care.”

The noble who stepped forwards removed his mask and went up to the still whimpering Lux. Examining the man who was going even paler, Cortez patted the man.

“Don’t worry, Lord Lux, it is just a flesh wound. It just hurts a lot. If you feel sleepy, don’t worry and go to sleep. We will have you up and about in no time.”

The class baulked at this advice. Part of their education had included first aid, and a few things they were taught was never to let an injured person fall asleep—that and to leave a weapon in to keep all the blood inside.

“My Lord… the spear nicked an artery; it is impressive Lord Lux is even alive… from what I can tell, the strike seems to be intentional,” Cortez whispered to the red Septus, who was looking increasingly furious.

“You mean they did that to leave him to suffer?” Cortez just nodded as the audience, who could overhear their hushed discussion, looked at Lux, who had started to lose his grip allowing himself to fall further onto the spear.

“My Lords Lady Gabriella should have shown up by now,” a servant said, looking nervously towards the body impaled on the wall.

His words sent a fresh pang of concern through the crowd as they had been under the assumption the body was a prop, and it was all sleight of hand and misdirection. But now they could see Lux bleeding out before their very eyes; they began to have doubts.

Cortez climbed the stairs and examined the body under the sheet. A silence descended on the room as everyone waited with bated breath. The silence was such that even a feather falling would be as loud as a church bell.

“It is the real her… she has a tattoo on her… ahem… well, she has a tattoo, and it is here… I can say it likely is her body.”

“What is going on here?” A confused-looking Bernard asked as he stepped out from behind the pillar.

“High Priest? Where were you?” The Violet Septus demanded.

“I was smoking my pipe on the balcony,” Bernard replied, gesturing to the balcony outside the ballroom.

“In the rain?”

“Well, it is a rather potent plant I smoke… I didn’t want the other guests to be affected, and Gabriella doesn’t have a smoking room… so has the killer been identified?”

“Wait!!! I saw someone behind that pillar with a spear… I thought it was all part of the game… BUT HE MUST’VE DONE THIS TO LORD LUX!!!” Bernard now looked even more confused.

“Done wha-” Bernard didn’t finish the sentence as his eyes fell on Lux’s now cooling corpse

“Wait!!! I didn’t do this; I was smoking!!!” Bernard’s words were punctuated by another bolt of lightning. As if dismissing the very scenario.

“High priest, I want you to come along quietly. We will investigate this situation diligently. Hearsay is not enough for me to convict. No one can leave until we have interviewed them!” the crowd grew more frantic at these words.

“Septus, I need to go back to my estate. I have my own guards. They will keep me safe!!!” Stephano shouted as he began to look around the room in a paranoid panic.

“NO!! You are a suspect. I know Lux lost you a lot of money on bad investments!” Stephano rapidly paled under the intensifying aura that the Septuses were releasing.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“You lot!!” The Orange Septus barked at the class.

“YESSIR?!!” Kline replied as the rest of the class was still stuck looking at Lux.

“You can go.”

“Huh?!” Daisy replied, looking confused. “Didn’t he just says that-”

“We saw you lot and have kept an eye on all of you the entire evening… You had no chance to attack. You may go… please head to Lady Lust’s estate and keep yourselves safe.” The Orange Septus then leaned in next to Daisy’s ear and whispered an extra few words.

“Best to check up on your daddy, little girl… I’d hate for him to have anything bad happen to him while his little girl is out partying,” he leaned back and had a look of utter contempt on his face as Daisy’s face paled.

With what the class now suspected to be a thinly veiled threat, they rushed back to Lust’s estate through the raging storm. Using all their training and enhancement magic, they made good time and arrived at the estate before their clothes could become wholly soaked. The moment they stepped through the door, Lust was there waiting for them looking furious.

“And where were you children at this time?!”

“WHERE IS MY FATHER?!!!” Lust was taken aback by Daisy’s tone.

“Don’t you dare change the subject young lady? I asked you where-”

“I DON’T CARE!! WHERE IS MY FATHER?!!!”

“Err… this way in the secure wing?” Lust replied, having finally picked up on how panicked Daisy was.

“Tell me what happened?” Lust demanded as she led the way.

The class gave a hasty explanation of what had happened. Everything from their day out to the party. To the now double murder at the estate. Lust heard them out, then rested her face in her hands and let out a long, exhausted sigh.

“Just to ask this, but… Daisy, did you do this?” Daisy shot a glare that would’ve made even the elder god of the countless eyes look away.

“I did not…” she snarled, finally answering the question. After a hasty minute of rapid movement, they finally arrived at the room where Daisy’s father, Peter, was recovering. Daisy reached out for the door, only for Lust to stop her with a vice-like grip.

“Now, you kids can’t disturb him too much. He may have developed a healing power. But he is still in a very bad condition. If he is too troubled or moved roughly, he could well disturb his healing and may possibly kill him.”

“But he has a healing power!!” Daisy protested.

“Even they aren’t omnipotent, child. A blade through the heart kills whether you can heal or whether you can’t.”

Lust finally let Daisy open the door, only for it to slam open as a gust of wind blew from within the room. Looking into the room, Daisy rushed up to the now-empty bed. In the spot where her father should’ve been was a large stain of blood that linked to a streak that itself was linked to the window.

“Someone moved him?!” Lust said, sounding shocked.

“Could he have moved on his own?” Maxwell asked.

“No… not unless he wanted his guts to fall out on the floor. This looks more like he was dragged out the window.”

“SEPTUS!!!!!” Daisy roared and released such an intense bloodlust that even the class had to harden their wills to avoid fainting. To the shock of even Lust, the windows around the room had begun to crack.

“HE DID THIS!!!! I WILL KILL HIM!!! I WILL FEED HIM HIS OWN-” Daisy’s tirade was brought to an abrupt end when Lust extended her fingers into a claw and wrapped it around Daisy’s head. All at once the girl's eyes rolled into the back of her head as she collapsed to the floor.

“What did you do?!” Bea shouted as the class prepared themselves to fight. They could tell by how swift Lust had moved that they were no match against her. But that didn’t matter when you had a friend to protect.

“I knocked her out before she hurt anyone. Now take her to her room and make sure she doesn’t go off and do anything stupid.”

“But Septus… He told her about her dad… He clearly is behind this,” Maxwell protested.

“It’s her word against his. Even if he did say that he had just witnessed two suspects in her family’s attack murdered, it would only be natural to send help to keep the sole survivor safe.”

“But-” Tasha began to try to protest, but Lust cut her off.

“No… let me make this clear... You are going to take her to her room; you are going to make sure she doesn’t go off and attack Septus. That man has earnt his position as head of the guard for Hades Seat. He is not a foe you can take lightly.”

“But-”

“I have given my orders. Don’t make me repeat them.”

Begrudgingly the class picked up Daisy and carried her out of the room. Sparing only a short baleful glance at Lust, who was looking at the streak of red leading to the window with a pensive expression.

The class made their way back to the wing of Lust’s palace, where their rooms were located. Just as they reached the hallway where their rooms were, they spotted Alex with Gorm. Both men were swaying back and forth and loudly singing.

It was clear to them that they must both be drunk. They had seen the pair enjoying the refreshments at the party. But as far as they knew, their teacher couldn’t get drunk. Something he often complained about at length.

“Oh, kids?!” Alex said as he waved at them.“Daisy have a few too many like Gorm here?”

“No, Lady Lust knocked her out,” Tasha replied.

“Why?” Alex asked, arching a brow in confusion. The class explained what had happened. Watching their teacher, they half expected him to storm off towards Lust and start a fight. Only they saw him nodding approvingly.

“Ah, good. Septus is someone who is a very tough cookie. You, kids, would have a hard time if you picked a fight against him.”

“Surely not, sir?” Bea asked, thinking with her own copy technique, she could face him off and keep them occupied while the rest of the class attacked.

“He is not someone to be trifled with kids. He has a divine boon.”

“He has been gifted a power by the gods?” Maxwell asked, shocked.

“Yeah, like poor Serena, but unlike her, he can control his at will. I’m sure you noticed he could split himself into seven copies. They can each act independently though they take on a dominant emotion as their trait. Let me put it this way, kids,” Alex shifted to let a swaying Gorm stagger against the door to his room.

“Imagine fighting gorm in a purely physical fight,” the class nodded. They knew he was a projection mage, but even so, he was a terrifying physical combatant. “Now imagine fighting seven of him.”

“You mean Septus is as physically capable as Gorm is?”

“Yes, more so, even as Gorm can’t really fight well in melee and relies on pure strength. Septus is a human, so he learnt how to fight with technique. So Lust knocking out Daisy was to keep her safe. Best do as she says.”

The class all nodded in acknowledgement as they wished the pair a goodnight and went into Daisy’s room. Putting the unconscious girl onto her bed and settling in for a long night. Thankfully Bak Stah’ber arrived a little while later with extra pillows and blankets for them saying it was cute they were having a ‘slumber party’.

Regardless the class prepared themselves as the moment Daisy woke up, it would be a difficult time.