***new POV***

A loud alarming noise resounds throughout DaiKar.

[Attention all instructors, administrative staff, and Professors of DaiKar academy. The Subjugation Royal event has been compromised, alongside the safety of the participating trainees. It has been ascertained that the mysterious barriers will fall only under the assault of a third stage [enlightened], or above. This is your command: Make your way to one of the waypoints marked on your watch and wait for the dean, the vice-dean, or Professor Silverthorn to assist you.]

As soon as the alarm rang, I rushed to this place, the last known location of my students before we lost all visuals. When I arrived, I struck the dome with all my might, multiple times, but to no avail. Despite my relentlessness, it has shown no sign of succumbing, and as if to mock me, that damn message plays again and again, never stopping. Just how long until I can go inside and rescue them?

[Attention [...]]

I’ve been standing in front of this translucent dome for the past half an hour. The clock is still ticking, yet there is no third stage in sight.

‘If I had just a bit more time I’d be in the third stage as well! I’d be able to help...!!’

Disgruntled, I slam my fist against the barrier, knowing full well it won’t cause a dent. Upon contact, my knuckles ache from the strength of my own blow.

“When are these lazy good-for-nothings getting here!!” I yell, my voice creating ripples in the air.

The other instructor beside me, who’s name I always fail to remember, flinches at my outburst. “Y-you realize you’re talking about the dean…right?” He stammers

I glare at him, seething. “I don’t care! He’s the laziest of them all, he never does anything! I’m sure even now, Lisa and Thalia are doing all of the heavy lifting!!”

He seems shocked, unable to find the words to reply, but his surprise only fans my irritation. What’s there to be shocked about? It’s the truth, after all, and we all know it. For all the years I’ve known him, if there’s one thing I’ve learned about the dean, is that he likes to delegate, maybe a little too much.

You’d think that means he has more free time, but you’d be wrong. While it’s definitely not my place to comment on other’s family dynamics, all of his children who have come through here have the same thing in common, they desperately crave his attention.

“AARGHH DAMMIT!!” I shout, finding no outlet for my bubbling anger. “WHY IS OUR DEAN SO DAMN USELESS!!!!”

Rather than shock, the other instructor now seems in disbelief…almost frightened. He stumbles as he takes a step backward, his mouth agape and his hands trembling. Looking at him, I can’t help but raise an eyebrow, and let out a small, bitter laugh. “How much of a scaredy-cat are you, really?”

He does not answer me, however. With much effort, he swallows hard, steadying his expression, and bows lightly. “I-I… greet the dean…”

I freeze for a second, but only for a second. As naturally as possible, I turn around, and offer the most polite bow I can offer. “I greet the esteemed dean of DaiKair academy!”

In front of me, a tall, broad-shouldered man with silver hair and alabaster skin lets out an exasperated sigh. He rubs his hand over his face when his stormy, familiar eyes land on me, “That nasty personality of yours is still the same I see…”

I straighten up, meeting his eyes without flinching. “I’ll have you know that I think I’m quite lovely, actually.”

Ignoring my comment, he walks past me, his stride unhurried. With a measured step, he soon reaches the edge of the barrier. “...Right…In any case, I’ll bring this barrier down and move on. There are still one or two that haven’t fallen yet, and every second counts.”

He places his hand on the surface of this mysterious wall, and seems to channel energy toward it. I’m not sure about the details, but whatever he’s doing seems to be working. Upon his touch, the barrier shudders, and cracks begin to form under his palm.

He then increases his output, channeling more energy toward the task. The more power he channels, the bigger the crack becomes, and the weaker the barrier seems to get. The tension is excruciating as the fissures weave themselves throughout the barrier. Every second feels like an eternity, and a sense of unease gnaws at my mind as I think about what might lie beyond.

CRACK

At last, the barrier finally breaks, and without wasting a moment, I charge. “Thanks!” I say, before disappearing through the dense trees.

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As I rush forward, a chilling scent begins to fill my nostrils, thick and metallic. My stomach tightens.

‘The smell of blood…!!’

I double the pace, and in an instant, I find myself in the middle of a frozen lake, or at least that’s what it must have been. The surface is dyed red in most areas and a panoply of bodies cover it. [echoed] and humans alike. I feel my blood boiling as I recognize some of the faces.

Before I can assess their state, a voice resonates beside me. “You must be Maestro Lauren Flake, I’ve heard much about you.” It says, softly.

Startled, I jump away, immediately drawing my instrument. As I stabilize my footing, my gaze locks onto the potential attacker, analyzing her figure. She seems to be a rather young woman, but…

‘Her strength is nothing to scoff at…!’

I cannot see her face, just the back of her figure turned away. However, just the sharp aura emanating from her sets every instinct within me on high alert.

Just as I’m about to question her, the bushes rustle, and the instructor who had been with me before re-appears. “Maestro Lauren! You can’t just rush off like that! What if there was danger!!” He shouts, heavy pants in between every word.

I interrupt without glancing away from the mysterious woman. “Draw your instrument!” I snap.

He blinks, surprised, but he is quick to listen. His expression turns serious and he draws the warchord which had been resting on his back. When his gaze lands on the enemy, however, he goes pale, and immediately drops it.

“T-twice in the same day…haha…” He mumbles.

“What are you doing!? Do you want to die??!” I hiss, perplexed by his sudden surrender.

It doesn’t seem like he cares for my warnings, though. His voice is hollow, dry with fear. “Can’t you see who this is?” He says, before re-enacting the bow he performed for the dean. “I…greet the Matriarch of the FullCastle family…”

‘Matriarch…? Wait! This is…’

I take a step back in shock. “...Virtuoso Selena FullCastle…?”

My mind races at the revelation. ‘Is she the one responsible for this? If so…we won’t be leaving here alive…!!’

My eyes narrow, and I do not lower my guard. “What… are you doing here…?”

Despite my inquiry, Selena refuses to face me; the only answer I receive being the soft breeze that swims through her long hair. When I look closer, I notice that she seems to be standing over something, or someone. The more my gaze lingers, the more familiar the person lying at her feet seems. The uniform he wears is unequivocally DaiKar’s, and while I cannot see his face, his frame rings a bell.

‘This is definitely one of my students!’

Frustration wells within me, as Selena refuses to break her silence. I tighten my grip around the bow of my personal instrument, Violarm, and slowly, I place it atop the strings attached to my forearm, ready to play at a moment’s notice. That other instructor may have decided to blindly trust her status and lower his guard, but I am not that foolish… something’s wrong here, very wrong.

This time with less courtesy in my voice, I speak to her once more. “I won’t ask again… What are you doing here?”

Selena, finally noticing my hostility, turns around, her deep blue eyes piercing right through me. Her expression is unreadable, which only makes me more weary.

‘What is she planning…? Isn’t she going to say anything?’

She holds her silence, and for a moment, her gaze seems to fill with a semblance of emotion. In the next instant, she moves at such a speed that my eyes struggle to follow. Still, I manage to react, and jump out of the way, ready to reply with a counter-attack. My hands, and my mind are ready, but my strike never comes.

I watch in stupor as she leans down, and caresses the face of a blonde-haired girl whose body is lying lifelessly against the trunk of a tree.

“You fought well, my daughter….” She whispers, before injecting something into her.

Then, she picks up the girl, Sylvia FullCaslte, my star student. With one arm, she places her over her shoulder and with the other, she unsheathes one of her instruments, a sharpsong as blue as the sky. She waves it slowly through the air, and a portal opens, leading directly to what seems to be the pristine lobby of a palace of pure white. On the other side of the portal, stands a man, tall but slender, wearing a black suit, bowing respectfully before Selena.

Then, still completely ignoring me, she speaks to him and points to the boy she had been standing over. “Tobias. Retrieve that man.”

“As you wish, Matriarch.” He says, his black hair and the distasteful mustache above his lips fluttering in the wind as he steps through the portal.

He advances slowly, and I grit my teeth, irritated beyond belief. Quickly, I jump in front of the man in a suit before he can take another step toward the boy, who I now recognize to be Alden Thorne, another of my star students.

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that.” I spit through my clenched jaw.

The atmosphere around the man changes, and the gaze behind his rounded glasses darkens. “...I advise you to move, lest I be forced to act ungentlemanly…” He pauses, briefly pushing his glasses upward with his index finger. “Reaching that point would be most displeasing, especially faced with such a charming lady such as yourself.”

A grin creeps up my lips, and I caress the strings on my forearm with my bow. “Sorry, but even without that terrible mustache, you still wouldn't be my type.”

As the note resonates through the air, I combine both my first and second ability, conjuring the image of a blazing comet plummeting toward him.

He places his hand above his top lip, and mumbles. “Surely it’s not that bad, is it…?”

Then, his gaze shifts to the sky, glancing upon his imminent doom, and a few words escape his mouth. “The famed Dreadcaster… I’m aware this is an illusion, and yet…” He removes the glove on his left hand. “I find myself sweating from the heat… I wonder what would happen if I was hit…”

“A shame that’ll never happen.” He declares, before his body dissolves into a mist-like substance.

In the next instant, he’s behind me, his hand piercing straight through my throat. At least, what should have been my throat. Around his hand, the figure he had impaled disappears, and the real me reappears behind him, my violin bow threatening to decapitate him.

I notice a small movement of his sleeves, and he steps backward, sending something flying through the sky in my direction. I attempt to block it, but it carries such strength that I can only deflect it, allowing the mysterious object to draw blood from my cheek.

I can’t help but sneer as blood trickles from the wound. “Oh… I’ll have fun with you…!”

He fixes his glasses. “And I was under the impression I wasn’t your type.”

The air thunders in the wake of our subsequent charge. However, right as we’re on the verge of clashing, a tall, broad-shouldered man appears out of thin air and inserts himself between us.

“Enough.” he says, before sending us both flying backward with his bare hands.

I flip mid-air and regain my footing, while Tobias, the man wearing the suit, dissolves into mist and re-appears next to Selena.

This seems to finally be enough to garner her attention. “Orion Thunderblade.” She says, her blue eyes shifting to him.

The dean’s gaze lands on her. “Selena… has it been since the academy that we last crossed paths?”