A dark aura surrounded the three for only a second — just enough time for Elian to reach and attack Deymon, but he was pushed backward by that dark aura.
"Caelan."
"Aaaaahhhh!"
When the dark aura dissipated, Caelan let out a cry of pain, clutching his head with white eyes; inside his own mind he saw himself falling into a deep dream, unable to remember what was happening as if his memory were being erased.
"Where am I?"
"Caelan, what are you doing? Get up — Enrico wants to see what level you are now that you've reached the third circle."
"I reached it?"
Looking at his own hands and then at Elian in front of him, it seemed the two were seeing his level. Clenching his fists excitedly, he took a fighting stance.
"Very well, Elian — I hope you don't regret this."
He couldn't see it, but Elian was completely faceless, just standing silently; it was his mind imagining it.
'The leader is Enrico — they'll be very pleased with my level, I'll make sure of it.'
While in his mind it seemed the two were about to have a friendly fight, in the real world Caelan stared at Elian with no expression; his skin had darkened and purple veins appeared on his face and arms.
"Caelan, what happened to you?"
Receiving no answer, he glared at Deymon, who wore a sarcastic smile.
"Deymon, you bastard — explain what you did."
"I simply did my job... though I will enjoy Enrico's face when he sees you dead."
"You—"
A jet of cutting water shot toward Elian, forcing him to dodge to the side where it pierced his arm at high speed.
'Caelan evolved to the third circle?'
Putting wind magic into his body, Elian moved behind Deymon, surprising him; but unlucky for Elian, a water barrier protected Deymon and deflected the attack to the side.
"Damn it, Caelan, wake up!"
"He can't hear you, and please — if you're going to attack someone, come at me."
Velka stretched her hand forward and positioned herself between the water barrier and Elian; with mist magic flowing from her hand, Elian felt his lungs begin to fill with mist, which made him choke. Continuously applying wind magic to his lungs, he managed to make it dissipate.
"Mist Magic — Eight-Arm Beast."
Seeing her summon a creature he had faced before when fighting Silvia and Camila, he immediately ran atop a house, summoning his wind eagle.
'I have the type advantage against her, but both Deymon and controlled Caelan will interrupt at any moment—'
As if an answer from the heavens, the two mentioned people attacked him at the same time with magical strikes: a water bullet from Caelan and a corrupt sphere from Deymon.
"Gahh!"
Thrown against the wall, he quickly moved out of the way, dodging the eight-armed beast's attack. This battle was literally four against two, so he had to find a way to call someone to help.
'Damn, what do I do?...wait, that's it.'
Pointing upward, he sent a mental command to his wind eagle; propelling itself upward, the eagle flew as high as possible.
"What is he doing?"
"Doesn't matter — let's just kill him—"
Reaching a height of twenty meters, the wind eagle exploded in a shockwave. Sylvia, Camila, and Liam, who were closer, immediately ran to the location, seeing Elian forced to flee from several magical attacks.
'Shit, you can't dodge this one.'
Deymon's corrupted hand approached his face; without a doubt, now that Deymon had sent that signal, he would do everything to eliminate him quickly.
"Ash Magic — Sparks of Fire."
Several small ashes began to burn around Deymon, causing an explosion that sent him flying. Breathing a sigh of relief, he saw his comrades arrive.
"Why are you fighting Deymon? And why is Caelan in that state?"
"It's simple — Deymon betrayed the academy and is controlling Caelan somehow. We have to rescue him."
They were surprised at first but quickly accepted the situation with the single thought of freeing Caelan from that control and eliminating Deymon and Velka.
Using her vine magic, Silvia formed her sword and charged straight at Velka, making a large downward cut into the ground that left her opponent sweating.
"Mist beast, attack her."
"Sorry, but he's busy."
Turning around at Camila's voice, she saw her creation blown apart into many pieces of gaseous body by Camila's magic.
"As I thought, it's going to be hard to eliminate him, but I'll find a way."
Elian was going to try to wake Caelan but was interrupted by Deymon, who stepped in front of him with his face full of veins, frustrated that his plan wasn't going as expected today.
"If I manage to eliminate you, my plan will begin."
"What do you mean — killing me will make your plan work?"
"It's simple — you're his first friends, right? If I kill you, I'll be very satisfied."
"You bastard."
While the two prepared to fight, Liam was prevented from approaching by Caelan standing in front of him with those white eyes.
"I don't know what happened to you, Caelan, but don't worry..."
Water magic emanated from Caelan's body, spreading through the air, while white feathers like light appeared around Liam; raising his only arm forward, he pointed his spear at Caelan with determined eyes.
"I will do everything I can to save you, friend."
'He may try, but he will never be able to do it.'
On a throne made of bones, watching all the battles, Jago calmly gave orders to his Nartheis and corrupted humans.