Inside the stronghold,
numerous Gulos agents patrolled back and forth.
Boom——!!!
Without warning, an attack descended from the sky, exploding amid the crowd.
“Ah!”
“What’s happening!”
“We’re under attack......”
For a moment, screams, cries of surprise, and enraged shouts echoed throughout the stronghold.
“What audacity! Daring to come alone!”
A group of Gulos B-rank Adepts stepped forward, raising their weapons at Hulim Heyerar in the air.
Hulim looked down at them, her calm eyes showing no emotion—
she merely pointed the Seven Luminaries at them......
Boom——!!!
After a blinding flash of white light, the area lay in utter ruin.
But at the same time, a man clad in black, his eyes as dark as an abyss, appeared there.
He stared silently at Hulim in the sky.
“......I never imagined there would be someone like you.”
Hum! Hum! Hum......
Hulim did not reply—she launched an attack directly.
Dozens of light beams hurtled toward Cassim in unpredictable trajectories.
Hum——!
Cassim pulled out his wand at blinding speed, raising an omnidirectional barrier to block all attacks.
As he blocked the assault, he pointed his wand at Hulim through the barrier.
Boom!!!
Countless shadow spears surged upward like an inverted rainstorm, targeting the sky.
Hulim darted away to evade,
but the shadow attacks from the ground pursued her relentlessly.
She had no choice but to fly farther and farther, gradually moving away from the camp.
“Hmph, playing such tricks~!”
Cassim sneered,
seeing through her plan in an instant.
“Very well—have it your way... if you can pull it off......”
Whoosh——!
In the next moment, Cassim’s body transformed into a shadow and soared into the sky, chasing after Hulim.
Seeing him give chase, Hulim increased her speed drastically.
The two figures vanished over the horizon, one after the other......
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Behind them, the stronghold remained in chaos from the sudden attack.
And in the confusion, several figures slipped inside......
...
“From what I observed earlier, all the students are being held in that central area......”
Alicia, disguised in a Gulos agent’s black robe, hid in a secluded corner, staring toward the center of the stronghold.
“I need to sneak over carefully.”
Since the entire stronghold was still reeling from the chaos, the usual patrols and guards were disorganized,
leaving numerous gaps.
Alicia managed to approach the student holding area without incident—
but when she saw what was inside, she frowned in frustration.
“They’re not here?”
The area was filled with students captured from the forest, but there was no sign of the teachers.
After a moment’s thought, Alicia understood why:
The students had been incapacitated after capture, so they required no special security—ordinary confinement was sufficient.
The teachers, however, were a different matter.
According to the interrogated agent’s information, the teachers had been captured after being poisoned.
But most of them were B-rank or higher High-Rank Adepts; the poison could not hold them for long.
With their strength, once they regained consciousness, ordinary confinement would be useless.
Thus, they must be imprisoned in a location with far stronger containment magic.
“Are they somewhere else......”
Alicia felt a surge of anxiety,
but she had no choice but to keep searching.
She turned and left......
Ten minutes later,
“Not here either... where could they be......”
After checking several locations, Alicia still found no trace of the imprisoned teachers.
The situation seemed increasingly dire.
Just then,
a figure walked toward her.
Alicia quickly bowed her head and began to back away slowly, hoping to avoid detection.
“You——”
To her horror, the figure called out to her directly.
Alicia’s heart skipped a beat, but she forced herself to stay calm.
She kept her head down and turned toward the person.
“You...... aren’t with Gulos, are you~?”
Alicia’s pupils constricted—not only because her disguise had been seen through, but also because
the voice was painfully familiar......
She lifted her head,
staring in shock at the figure before her.
“It’s you——?! Professor Raelingrim!”
“Hehe, I wondered who it was. So it’s you, Miss Alicia~!”
Professor Raelingrim smiled and said,
“You’re here to rescue someone?
What a coincidence—come with me. I’ll take you to them.”
“......”
Alicia stared fixedly at Raelingrim, refusing to approach him as he suggested. Instead, she took a slow step backward.
Raelingrim noticed her hesitation,
and his smile faded slightly.
“It seems you don’t trust me, Miss Alicia......”
Alicia’s gaze turned cold.
“......Why keep up the pretense? You’re the mole for Gulos, aren’t you?”
“......”
Raelingrim’s smile vanished completely.
“Oh......?”
His eyes narrowed as he spoke slowly:
“You figured it out instantly. You’re quite sharp, Miss Alicia~.”
Alicia suppressed her nervousness,
clutching her wand tightly in her sweaty palm while stalling for time:
“No—we’ve suspected you for a long time.”
“How interesting~!”
Raelingrim looked genuinely surprised.
“May I ask when your suspicions began?”
Seeing that he was not in a hurry to attack, Alicia felt a flicker of relief. She scanned the area for an escape route while continuing to talk:
“It was during the exam in Hulim’s potion garden.”
“That exam? What was wrong with it? It was a standard academy procedure, wasn’t it?”
“Indeed—the exam itself was unremarkable. The problem lay in the location... and what happened afterward......”
“......”
Raelingrim fell silent briefly.
Alicia pressed on:
“The assassination of Crawford was a trap set for Hulim and me.
But that trap had a fatal flaw!
It was a dispute within our faction—and Hulim is not actually a faction member. Which means, even if we launched an investigation, Hulim would never have been involved.
So why did she end up falling into a trap that was originally meant for her... a trap she should never have stepped into?
The answer, of course, is——
You manipulated events to force her into it!
Am I right, Professor Raelingrim? Or should I say... the remaining Gulos agent from that incident!”
“Everything—from the location you lured Hulim to (using the excuse of insufficient materials), to the timing you chose, to the ‘logical’ reason you gave for us to visit Felkorn Manor—
it was all designed to put Hulim in a position where she couldn’t abandon me, wasn’t it?”
“......”
Raelingrim fell into a long silence, seemingly recalling the mistakes he had made during that incident.
Perfect opportunity——!
Alicia seized the moment,
raising her hand to cast a spell:
“Fire Curtain!”
Boom!
A wall of flame erupted between them.
Without hesitation, Alicia turned and fled.
She knew perfectly well she stood no chance against Raelingrim; her only option was to run.
But......
Boom——!
Before she could get far,
a super-fast water column—like a cannon blast—struck her from behind.
Alicia’s body was sent flying instantly......
