Now what, though? There's still Celina left and, well, Damien, Neraxis thought as he looked around. It only took him a few seconds to spot Celina, as she seemed no longer to be trying to hide.

As for Damien, he was still lying on the ground. Upon closer inspection, he was drowning in his own blood.

What a good headmaster, Neraxis sighed and walked up to him, propping him up so he could cough out the blood.

That was all he planned to do; he wasn’t going to help him any more than that.

Once Damien finished coughing out the blood, Neraxis went over and chopped him right at the back of his neck. Normally, it wouldn’t be strong enough to knock anyone out, but due to Damien's condition, it was sufficient.

After that, he laid Damien back down, ensuring he wouldn’t choke on his blood again.

The surroundings were finally silent. There were still a few minutes left until William came back—not that he wasn’t already watching them.

But despite that, Neraxis had done what he set out to do: secure his position. Even if the situation had spiraled a bit out of his expectations—and, unsurprisingly, it had—everything seemed over now.

At least, that was what he thought until he felt a presence behind him moving fast. It was Celina.

Neraxis quickly turned around, and the moment he did, he saw her arm outstretched, with a pair of sharp daggers aiming right for his head.

Fast. He thought, attempting to sidestep, but a sudden pain assaulted his abdomen. Looking down, he saw blood dripping from a wound he hadn’t even noticed.

Before he could process it further, he was suddenly lifted into the air, then slammed down to the ground like a bullet.

It happened so fast that all he could feel was pain.

Fucking high-agility skill... he cursed in his mind as a painful groan escaped his lips.

Celina seemed far more powerful than him. Had her stats already reached F-rank? It would be rare for a student to rank up so quickly, considering most had only awakened a year ago at most—some even just a few months ago, much like him.

Well, that was the case last time. Now, he had awakened only minutes before the academy even started. It was definitely a handicap.

Still, due to the simplicity of his main skill, it wasn’t too bad—perhaps.

Though being matched up against her while most of my skills are on cooldown sure is a bust...

In the past, his Hell Scythe skill had several sub-skills that could perform feats similar to his current abilities—albeit at a much higher rank.

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Those sub-skills also had passive functions, like imbuing his attacks with the chance to set someone on fire. People had thought it was overpowered, and honestly, so did he.

Now, Neraxis prayed that when he fully awakened his main skill, Eve of Ruin, it would surpass Hell Scythe.

When one awakened their main skill, they could typically use the concept of the skill itself. His previous skill, Hell Scythe, had literally summoned a scythe from hell, imbued with the power to burn, corrode, and even damage the soul. It was an excellent skill.

But that was a concern for the future. For now, he had to focus on surviving the present.

While the stab wasn’t fatal, blood loss could kill him—unless William decided to step in and help, which, given his personality, was extremely unlikely.

Sure would be nice, but... shit. Another groan escaped his lips as the pain in his abdomen grew worse, like his adrenaline had finally run out.

Even so, he had to stand. It was just a slightly faster student, one who had merely awakened an agility-based skill. How could he give up then and there?

Gritting his teeth, Neraxis began to lift himself, enduring the agony of the hole in his abdomen. Finally, he was face-to-face with Celina, who looked amused.

“You’re a bit sturdy,” she said teasingly, twirling her daggers in a playful manner.

It didn’t seem playful to the one who’d just been stabbed, though. “Why did you do that?” Neraxis asked, tearing off a piece of his clothing and stuffing it into the wound to stop the bleeding.

Of course, he’d need to take further measures later. Even though he had superhuman abilities, he could still fall ill.

“No particular reason. I just noticed you had your back turned. You know you shouldn’t do that, right?” Celina let out a small chuckle, sending a chill down his spine. She came across as a psychopath at first glance.

A pretty psychopath, though, Neraxis mused inwardly. Alice had been similar but had turned out to be a backstabbing bitch. Maybe his taste in women was what got him killed in the first place?

But despite that, Alice was someone he trusted with his heart. It was still shocking how she betrayed him—no indication—only mockery filled her gaze as she looked down at him while he was dying.

That was why he had already decided he’d kill all those so-called heroes at the first opportunity. Even if some were different due to irregularities, their crimes remained the same.

For now, he decided to humor the girl in front of him—it beat being stabbed again. “Oh yeah? Do you usually go around stabbing people in the back?”

“Not really. I just thought your back looked attackable, that’s all.”

The second woman to stab me in the back. Not a great track record. At least this one doesn’t seem fake—that’s her actual personality.

Neraxis observed her as she let out small, self-amused laughs. It was hard to tell if she was crazy or just really fond of her own joke—or maybe both.

He left her to her giggling and turned his attention to Jay, who was slowly getting up. It wasn’t in his best interest to have another nuisance attacking him, so he went over and kicked Jay in the face, knocking him out again.

Neraxis made sure to protect his back this time, just in case Celina decided to attack on a whim.

He heard another laugh behind him—so close it startled him.

“Why are you so jumpy? It’s not like I’ll attack you again,” Celina teased, tapping him on the shoulder before walking over to Jay and kicking him in the abdomen.

What the? Neraxis raised a brow at her behavior.

“Haa... I’ve disliked him from the start. It’s nice seeing him on the ground.” She sighed and kicked him again.

And again.

Finally, Celina stopped and began walking back to her previous spot, the only elevated area within the barrier. It looked comfortable enough to sit on.

Neraxis watched as she made herself comfortable. Then, to his surprise, she patted the spot beside her and gestured for him to come over.

Uhh... Sure? He wasn’t expecting that, but he did want to sit down somewhere. Even though he’d stopped the bleeding, he had already lost a decent amount of blood.

Quietly, Neraxis walked over and sat beside her. To his surprise, she didn’t say anything further, simply fiddling with her daggers.

He didn’t interrupt her; she seemed to be having fun—even if it looked incredibly dull to him.

What a strange girl...