Marcus staggered, clutching his chest as his body trembled uncontrollably as if something inside was tearing its way out.
Kai saw it in his eyes. The same thing he'd felt when he tried Resonance.
The energy around him surged violently. Cursed energy and essence clashed inside him, battling for dominance. The glow intensified, growing brighter and brighter.
Marcus threw his head back and roared as the pressure reached its peak.
BOOM.
His body detonated in a blinding flash. A violent shockwave erupted outward like a cannon blast, ripping through the hall in an instant. Pillars cracked and buckled under the force, debris hurtling everywhere as the blast wave expanded relentlessly.
Kai, already on his feet, sprinted toward Alexandria amid the chaos. He dove over her just in time, wrapping his arms around her and shielding her with his own body as the explosion's full brunt slammed into him. The impact hurled them both backward with tremendous force, crashing through a shattered window and out of the castle entirely.
They tumbled through the air, then slammed into the steep hillside below, rolling down in a tangle of limbs and dirt. Rocks and grass tore at their clothes as they bounced and slid, finally coming to a stop at the base of the hill, battered and breathless.
"Jesus Christ, that hurt," Kai said as he slowly sat up.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the remaining portions of the castle. The walls and pillars groaned under the strain until the structure finally gave way, collapsing in a thunderous roar that sent a massive cloud of dust billowing into the sky.
Kai's body writhed in pain, the lingering effects of the failed Resonance refusing to fade.
"Is this what would have happened to me if Azreal hadn't intervened? But on a larger scale?"
These thoughts raced through Kai's mind as he reflected on his own earlier attempt at Resonance.
"Umm.....Kai" Alexandria spoke up
"…Do you think you can let me go now?"
Kai looked down and froze for half a second.
She was right there.
Her face was only inches from his. Strands of red hair framed sharp, striking features. Even covered in dust and blood, she looked… unreal. Her eyes were clear, focused, steady despite everything that had just happened.
Only then did he realize she was still pressed against him, his arms locked tightly around her.
He let go immediately.
Alexandria coughed lightly as she stepped back, straightening her armor and regaining her composure, the awkward silence lingering between them for a moment.
"Are you alright?" he asked. "That was a nasty fall."
"You took the brunt of it," she replied. "Thanks to that, I'm completely fine."
"And you?"
Kai rolled his shoulders, cracking a few joints.
"Nothing's broken. I'm good."
She glanced back at the ruined castle.
"By the way… don't you think you could've thrown Marcus out of the throne room before he exploded?"
Kai blinked.
"Because of that, we lost the throne room. We can't monitor the fight from there anymore." She added
"What?" A vein twitched at his temple.
"My priority was getting you out," he shot back. "Who knows what would've happened if I didn't"
"If you'd thrown him out," she said calmly, "the explosion would've been far enough away. I might've gotten hurt, sure. But I wasn't even planning to fight. It would've been worth it."
Kai opened his mouth.
Closed it.
She wasn't wrong. Strategically, she was absolutely right. That was the worst part.
He stared at her for a long second, weighing options, arguments, the hundred different ways he could salvage this conversation.
He chose none of them.
"You know what?" he muttered. "…fuck you."
Alexandria's eyes went wide.
Alexandria's eyes widened in genuine surprise, her mouth parting slightly as if she couldn't quite believe what she'd just heard. For a split second, she just stared at him, blinking like she'd been caught off guard in a way that rarely happened to someone like her.
Then, her expression darkened. She fixed him with a death glare that could have frozen lava. Kai felt a chill run down his spine
"I'm going to die. I'm going to die here."
But slowly, the corners of her mouth twitched. A sound escaped her. Soft at first, almost reluctant. A chuckle. Then another. And suddenly, she was laughing, actually laughing. her hand coming up to cover her mouth, shoulders shaking.
"No one" she managed between breaths, "No one has ever told me that before"
Kai raised a brow. "Seriously?"
She shook her head, still smiling. "People tend to be… careful."
He understood what she meant without her explaining it.
Careful with names like hers.
Careful with power like hers.
Careful not to offend.
He studied her for a moment.
After realizing that he might not lose his life. Decided to double down. "Well. It was overdue."
That only made her laugh harder. "Perhaps," she admitted, "I may be... occasionally... insufferable."
"Occasionally?"
Her eyes narrowed, but there was no ice in it now. "Don't push your luck."
"My bad."
Kai found himself smiling without meaning to. His guard dropped just a little. For a moment, the chaos around them felt distant
That was his mistake.
Alexandria bent, picked up a small stone, and flicked it at his forehead.
he barely felt it but he still yelped and grabbed his head like she'd launched a boulder.
"Hey!"
She smiled slyly and crossed her arms. "That's for your vulgar words."
Not long after reinforcements arrived after the explosion, and the sight unsettled them. they saw two figures covered in dirt and blood at the base of the hill, laughing
How could they be so happy?
How could anyone laugh here?
With this much ruin.
With this many dead.
One of the Rebellion members swallowed.
"…Monsters," he muttered under his breath as he made his way down toward the queen and her guard dog
----------
The numbers hovered high above the battlefield, massive constructs of light that every soldier could see.
VANGUARD: 709
REBELLION: 613
Rebellion's frontline was falling apart.
Damian Knight tore through their ranks without slowing down. Students dropped before they could scream, before they could run, before they even understood what was happening.
He was almost singlehandedly turning the tide of the war.
He struggled with the second stage of augmentation, the one that required imbuing a weapon with essence. That part never felt natural to him.
But the first stage, body augmentation, was different.
He found it relatively easier to channel that raw power directly into his own body. It amplified every facet of his physical prowess
Then, he activated a special application of his gift.
Living Lightning : Thunderclap.
Electricity surged through his body, pushing his speed even further. In that state, he became the second fastest student in the entire school.
Second only to Isaiah Salvatore.
For that reason. Damian didn't bother bringing a weapon into this exam. He intended to finish everything with his bare hands.
But winning was not his only objective.
As he moved across the battlefield, he checked every face. Every student who fell, he searched for the one person he wanted to see.
Kai.
Nothing.
All that talk, Damian thought as he struck another opponent down without hesitation. All that confidence. And you are nowhere to be found.
The bet weighed heavily on his mind. He had no idea what Kai would demand if Rebellion won. He did not want to find out.
The simplest solution was to remove Kai from the equation.
He needed to break him.
He needed to humiliate him in front of everyone, just as he had once been humiliated.
Then the castle exploded.
Seeing the huge explosion brighten the sky, a lightbulb lit up in Damian's head
"Of course," Damian thought
"He has a lot to lose from this too, so he's prioritizing Alexandria's safety above everything else."
If his deduction was correct, Kai had to be at the castle
Or at least someplace nearby
Damian bent his knees slightly, preparing to activate Thunderclap again and close the distance in an instant.
Then he felt it.
A sudden shift in the air.
Too late.
A small sphere of compressed air struck him square in the chest at blinding speed. The impact sent him flying backward across the battlefield.
The attack did not end there.
The sphere expanded violently.
Compressed air burst outward in all directions, repelling everything within a hundred-meter radius. Students were thrown off their feet. Dust and debris were blasted into the sky.
Damian landed hard several meters away, boots digging into the earth as he forced himself to a stop. His body smoked faintly, lightning flickering across his skin as he absorbed the impact.
He straightened slowly.
Through the haze of dust and spiraling wind, a figure hovered calmly in the sky.
"You survived that?" Fex called out, "Damn. I was hoping that would finish you off. That was my best air bullet yet."
Damian did not walk away unscathed
The upper half of his armor was gone, blown apart by the impact. Bruises covered his torso, dark and spreading beneath torn fabric. His breathing was heavier now, uneven. There was no doubt he had taken internal damage.
If he had not been using augmentation, it would have been far worse.
From a single attack, it was clear.
Fex Caster was not someone to underestimate.
But none of that mattered to Damian.
Kai was somewhere near the castle. He could not afford another delay.
"I'll say this once," Damian said coldly. Lightning crawled across his body, snapping and crackling along his arms and shoulders. "Get out of my way."
Fex winced theatrically. "Okay, that was definitely scary."
He scratched the back of his head lazily. "But the boss lady told me to take care of you personally. And I kind of have a weakness for pretty women."
He spread his arms.
The air around them shifted.
Small distortions began forming in the sky. Then more. And more.
Dozens of compressed spheres appeared, humming faintly as the space around them warped. Then dozens turned to hundreds. Each one almost the same size as the bullet that had nearly crushed Damian moments ago.
He had been creating them from the very start.
Quietly. Constantly.
All for this moment.
"So…" Fex said, smiling down at him.
"If you want me to move…"
The air tightened.
"You're going to have to make me."