The crowd stood frozen.
No one could breathe.
No one could blink.
Every single person who had just witnessed it was too horrified to even make a sound.
What they had seen went beyond comprehension—beyond anything they had ever thought possible.
For years, the academy had seen its share of quarrels: upper-rank students bullying the weaker ones, petty fights between divisions, even the occasional harassment that was quietly dealt with behind closed doors.
But never, never had anything like this happened so openly.
Rules here were strict. Discipline was absolute.
And yet, before their eyes, someone had just been killed. Not merely struck down, but brutally—a gaping hole torn straight through his chest for everyone to see.
No one moved. No one even breathed.
Then, a boy in the front row whispered, trembling.
"He's dead…"
At first, no one responded. But then he repeated it louder—his voice cracking.
"He's dead! He's dead!"
