Taking a punch to the face, Velka's head snapped back — she couldn't do anything against Sylvia in a skill-based battle, so she had to retreat.
'Damn it, even when I dodge her sword, she still manages to punch me right after.'
Stealthily, she summoned a new mist monster beside her — it had three eyes and the appearance of a lion with bat wings.
'I have to win this fight… for him.'
She had loved Deymon since childhood, ever since he saved her from bandits when she was young, and she had been overjoyed when she managed to enter the academy alongside him.
'I chose love instead of the admiration I feel for the princess... but I can relax — he promised she would join us.'
Her admiration for the princess was great because she too had once saved her life during a trip with Class S, so she had two debts to repay.
'He promised, so it's fine — I just have to focus on the moment.'
It was a pity that her feelings were placed on Deymon, for everything she thought about him was a lie he himself had fabricated. In truth, he had been using corruption magic to control her emotions, making her believe he had saved her in childhood by mirroring the action Elowyn had truly performed — a false memory offered by Jago.
'She's useless. Why is she taking so long to finish those two off?'
Frustration was clear on Deymon's face as he watched her struggle in that fight. He had used that magic on her because she was mentally the weakest yet magically the strongest.
'If only I could use mental corruption on more than one person — or on someone with a stronger mind — things would be easier.'
To make matters worse, he was having a hard time against Elian, who sent so many wind blades at him that dodging became difficult, leaving Deymon with several cuts.
'I can't believe I'm evenly matched with a weakling like him.'
Placing his hands on the ground, he corrupted the soil, making several dark hands burst from it at high speed toward Elian. Elian dodged while sweating from the amount of mana he had to channel into his legs to boost his speed.
'It's hard to fight this fast — my body can't keep up with the technique Enrico asked me to master.'
He was constantly focusing his mana throughout his body, making his mana heart pulse — a state that allowed Elian to read his opponent's movements through the air and increased his speed.
'My brain and body can't keep up, so I can only use half of the technique's full potential... I'll have to ask for the same training he's planning for Caelan when we get back.'
He was completely certain that Liam would manage to help Caelan, since the three had become close friends over the months since the Zombie Dungeon incident — so he left that to him, even though he still wanted to help somehow.
"So, it seems you believe he can go back to normal."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because we've confirmed that no corrupted one has ever broken free from this magic."
Feeling a bad premonition, Elian channeled wind blades into his dagger — he had to defeat Deymon quickly before anything happened to Caelan.
"Wind Blades."
"Air Corruption."
Feeling the air around him grow heavy, Elian began to breathe with difficulty, yet still charged toward Deymon.
Meanwhile, Liam and Caelan exchanged blows — one attacking rapidly, the other defending — on a street across from the houses where the others fought, having moved quite far already. Caelan created a water barrier tightly surrounding his body in a protective layer, while Liam, using his feather magic, flew around him with white wings, striking multiple times with his spectral spear.
"Caelan, it's me! You have to wake up from this state!"
His spectral spear moved rapidly, as if there were several of them striking at once. Each hit made Caelan's water barrier ripple violently, yet it didn't break under any attack. With a blank expression, Caelan moved his hands, forming spinning blades like whirlwinds.
"Don't you remember us? We've been friends for months!"
Without answering, the water barrier expanded, exploding in a torrent of blades and cutting whirlwinds.
Liam flew upward with his wings, then dove down immediately after, propelled by a current of white mana that made his feathers glow — piercing through all the attacks at maximum speed.
"If you don't understand me, then I'll have to defeat you and make you listen properly!"
The spear's tip pierced through the barrier — with a quick movement, Caelan let the spear pass by him and stab into the ground. Grabbing it, he fired a cutting water jet that split Liam's beloved spear in two.
Ducking to avoid being sliced by that same jet, Liam took a kick that slammed him into the ground with great force. Coughing blood, he spread his wings, releasing several cutting feathers that struck Caelan's second protective barrier, forcing him back.
'I can feel his mana becoming unstable — but that should be impossible, since I don't have a unique ability.'
If this continued, Caelan's body could collapse, possibly leading to his death.
'I have to save him.'
Remembering the moments they'd spent together — in class, at the festival, in joint battles — he grew sadder with each memory. He couldn't let his friend die, especially after Caelan's redemption, having changed from the troublemaker he once was.
"You know, Caelan... I thought you were a jerk — and I still think that old you was a jerk — but you really changed. So please, snap out of it. Not many people change like that."
Caelan raised his arms, and columns of water rose from the ground beneath Liam in the form of blades. Having his thighs and legs pierced, Liam screamed in pain for a moment, but immediately forced his body to move out of the magical water blades.
"Angel's Blessing."
Trying to heal his legs, he attempted to move a little, but Caelan wouldn't allow it and created a dome around him. Just one second after that dome formed, his body was pierced by jets of cutting water.
"What is this?"
It was a spell Enrico had designed specifically for Caelan, wanting his friend to have new abilities once he reached the third circle. Managing to stay on his feet, Liam used his magic to heal again, consuming half his mana but regenerating quickly.
"Please, Caelan—"
"What's going on here?"
Hearing a familiar voice, Liam felt frustration for failing to wake his friend, yet relief as well — the newcomer was Enrico, wounded and wide-eyed at the scene before him. Growing serious, Enrico looked at the situation with a sense of dread, having rushed there the moment he saw Elian's eagle explode.
"Liam, explain to me why Caelan is like this right now."