"You bastard—stop chasing me!"
"Like hell I am."
That vermin had been chasing me for over an hour now.
An hour.
I admit, fine, I may have gone a little too far two days ago. Just a tiny bit. But did that justify him sprinting after me through the academy like a rabid hound with a personal vendetta? Absolutely not.
To properly understand why this lunatic was so committed to my downfall, let's rewind an hour.
—
I had been peacefully reading, sprawled comfortably, minding my own business. Well. Mostly. I was also mentally drafting a list of creative ways to make him regret crossing me while giggling quietly to myself like a perfectly sane person.
"Are you absolutely sure you want to give him that information?" Nox asked, watching me with concern.
"There's no harm in it for me," I replied lazily, eyes never leaving the page. "If he wants to kill them, it just makes my future plans easier. It's practically charity."
Nox didn't look convinced.
"Besides," I added, turning a page, "there's no way he's going to believe me."
"And how sure are you of that?"
The voice came from directly behind me.
I froze.
Slowly, very slowly, I looked up.
"…How are you standing?" I asked, surprised. "You're supposed to be paralyzed."
"Oh, that?" he said casually, as if we were discussing the weather. "I undid it. Took a while, but once I figured out the principle behind it, it was easy."
He stepped closer.
"Now," he added pleasantly, "it's your turn."
—
And that was how my peaceful afternoon turned into an academy-wide marathon.
Back in the present, my lungs were on fire, my patience in shreds.
He was unbelievably stubborn. Inhumanly so.
I could have flown away, but no, how could I? There are many witnesses. Too many people who would remember that and would pester me.
So instead, here we were.
Two idiots. Running. Becoming a public spectacle.
And it was entirely his fault.
"You're enjoying this far too much!" I snapped over my shoulder.
"Not enough," he shot back.
That was it.
"You leave me no choice," I muttered, already gathering mana.
"Don't even think about it," he warned instantly.
I would've escaped this maniac long ago if someone close to me hadn't betrayed me.
Of course.
The saying proved itself once again:
Betrayal never comes from your enemies.
It comes from the people jogging calmly beside you while pretending they're not involved.
I was going to strangle him later.
I couldn't believe it.
Nox was the one who tripped me.
Me.
Running at full speed.
Actually tripping.
The sheer impossibility of it stunned me more than the fall itself.
My foot caught on nothing, nothing and the next thing I knew, the ground rushed up to meet me with cruel enthusiasm. I hit it hard, the impact knocking the air straight out of my lungs as I skidded forward in the most undignified manner imaginable.
For a heartbeat, everything blurred.
Then I looked back.
Nox stood there, hands raised in a lazy shrug, his expression perfectly neutral far too innocent. The kind of innocence that screamed I absolutely did this.
I stared at him, betrayal burning hotter than the scrape on my palms.
"You—" I wheezed.
I shot Nox a glare and he had the audacity to look away.
Traitor.
Before I could recover even a shred of my dignity, rough hands grabbed the collar of my uniform and yanked me backwards. Fabric bit into my throat as I was dragged across the ground like an unruly sack of problems.
And to add salt to the wound—
He was laughing.
I twisted my head just enough to see that vermin grinning down at me, breathless and triumphant, sweat dripping from his temples as he dragged me.
"Finally," he said between breaths, chest rising and falling rapidly, "I got you."
I glared up at him, dirt in my hair, murder in my eyes.
"Enjoy this moment," I said sweetly. "Because it will be the last time you ever touch me without losing a limb."
He only laughed harder.
Nox, meanwhile, had the audacity to stroll over like this was all part of the plan.
"I told you running wasn't a good idea," he said mildly.
I was going to kill him.
He tightened his grip on my collar, clearly pleased with himself, like a hunter who'd finally cornered prey ignoring the crucial fact that the prey was me.
"Let go," I hissed.
"No," he said cheerfully, as if I'd asked him to pass the salt.
I planted my palm against the ground and twisted, trying to slip free, but he anticipated it and hauled me up just enough that my feet barely scraped the floor. Dignity? Gone. Reduced to ashes. Scattered to the wind.
Students had started to slow down around us.
Some stared.
Some whispered.
Perfect. Absolutely perfect.
"Put. Me. Down," I said through my teeth, voice low and venomous.
"You ran," he replied. "That means you lose."
"That means you're insane."
"Debatable."
"Listen," I said, forcing calm into my voice. "We are in the middle of the academy. You're dragging me like a feral criminal. This is not a good look for you."
He glanced around, finally registering the small crowd forming. A few instructors in the distance had slowed, eyes narrowing.
For a fraction of a second, doubt flickered across his face.
I smiled.
That was my opening.
I slammed my heel back into his shin.
Hard.
He swore loudly, grip loosening just enough for me to twist free. I stumbled forward, spun on my heel, and jabbed a finger into his chest.
"Rule number one," I snapped. "Never grab someone who specializes in dirty tricks."
He straightened slowly, pain flashing in his eyes then amusement.
"Oh, I'm counting on it," he said. "Because now I don't have to chase you."
"…What?"
Too late.
That bastard had paralyzed me.
The realization hit a second too late, my body refusing to respond, limbs heavy, mana locked down like a sealed vault. When? My mind raced back through every second, every careless breath.
When exactly did he do that?
"An eye for an eye," he said coolly, gripping my collar again. "A tooth for a tooth."
I glared at him, fury boiling beneath the paralysis. "You'd better remember this," I said, forcing my voice to stay steady despite the chaos pounding in my chest. "Because when I win—"
"When you win," he cut in, amused, "it won't be good for me? Yeah, yeah." He scoffed. "Bark all you want."
Then he leaned closer, voice dropping just enough to make it sting.
"I already had your shadow helping me."
He laughed.
That sounded light, satisfied snapped something inside me.
I didn't realize at first that he was deliberately taking the long way. The longest way to the girls' dormitory.
My room.
Divine energy flared cold, invasive, absolute. Chains manifested around my wrists and ankles, humming softly as they tightened, pinning me in place. My door sealed shut with a final, echoing click, gold runes igniting across its surface like a silent warning.
I swallowed hard.
"Take those off," I said calmly.
Too calmly.
My heart was racing so violently it felt like it might tear itself apart, each beat echoing in my ears, drowning out every other sound. Fear crept in uninvited, sharp and unwelcome but I refused to let it show.
"No," he said lightly, already turning away. "You look good in those."
And then he left.
Just like that.
His footsteps faded down the hall, leaving me alone with the soft clink of chains and the oppressive weight of divine energy pressing into my skin. The longer I stood there, restrained and trapped in my own room, the tighter my chest felt.
The chains weren't just binding my body.
They were dragging me backwards.
Into a past I had buried so deep I pretended it no longer existed yet it waited patiently, coiled in the dark, ready to surface the moment I was restrained again. The same suffocating helplessness. The same cold certainty that I had no control.
The nightmares I never spoke of pressed in all at once.
The more I struggled, the worse it became.
Whispers bled into my ears layered voices overlapping, distorted, familiar. Accusations. Commands. Prayers spoken like verdicts. Light flared behind my eyes, blinding and cruel, searing itself into my vision until all I could see were golden runes.
Those damned runes.
They crawled across my memory just like they once had across my skin, burning, carving, sanctifying me against my will. My breath hitched. My chest tightened until each inhale felt too shallow, too hard.
Not again.
My vision blurred, black creeping in at the edges, tunnelling inward. The chains bit deeper into my wrists, and with every pulse of pain, something inside me frayed.
The further they dug in, the more I slipped.
I could feel myself unraveling thoughts scattering, rage bleeding into terror, terror dissolving into something far more dangerous. If I let go now, if I fell too deep into that memory, I wouldn't come back the same.
I clenched my teeth, tasting iron.
Breaking these chains would be troublesome.
But never impossible.
My breathing slowed.
The panic didn't disappear but it was forced down, crushed beneath something colder. Sharper. Calculated.
My eyes cleared.
"Interitus."
There was no flare. No dramatic surge.
Just obliteration.
The divine chains shattered instantly, gold runes fracturing like fragile glass. They rang once as they hit the floor then dissolved into nothingness, erased so completely it was as if they had never existed.
I stood there amid the fading remnants, pulse steady now, expression empty.
Ruthless.
Cold.
I rolled my wrists slowly, ignoring the lingering ache. I needed an outlet. Now. But killing him this early would draw attention to questions I couldn't afford. Eyes I didn't want on me yet.
No.
Not yet.
Still.
My jaw tightened.
That bet.
That bastard.
He'd better start praying I don't kill him the next time I see him.
But not yet.
Right now, the pressure inside my chest was unbearable, too tight, too loud, too alive. I needed to kill.
Something.
Someone.
I needed blood.
The thought clung to me like a pulse, repeating over and over, drilling itself into my skull until it was the only thing that made sense. If I didn't let it out. If I didn't end something soon, I knew exactly what would happen.
I'd lose myself.
"Need… something," I muttered, my fingers curling at my sides.
"Lia."
Nox's voice reached me, soft. Careful. Like one wrong word might shatter me.
I ignored him.
Why should I listen to him?
Traitor.
"Lia," he called again, even gentler this time, stepping closer.
"I'm not in the mood to listen to whatever you have to say," I snapped, my voice sharp enough to cut.
He didn't retreat.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "But it wasn't me who tripped you."
I stiffened.
He stood directly in front of me now, blocking my path. I refused to look at him, staring past his shoulder instead, jaw clenched tight.
"I know it's hard for you to believe," he continued, steady and calm, "especially since I was right next to you when it happened. But it wasn't me."
Silence stretched between us.
"And that brat is lying to you," Nox added. "I never helped him. Not once."
My hands trembled faintly. I hated that part of me that wanted to believe him.
"You know," he said softly, lowering his voice, "I could never hurt you. Not intentionally. Not ever."
The bloodlust receded, inch by inch, like a tide being dragged back against its will. My breathing slowed. I nodded once, stiffly.
"You don't have to worry," Nox went on, a faint edge of satisfaction slipping into his tone. "I already taught that brat a lesson."
I finally looked at him. "What did you do?" I asked, rubbing my wrist where the chains had bitten into my skin.
"Oh, nothing much," he said casually. "Just an inferno."
I stared.
Then I laughed short, sharp, disbelieving. "You didn't."
His grin widened just enough to be unsettling.
"Oh," he said lightly, "I absolutely did."
"That brat crossed the line today," Nox muttered, carefully wrapping fresh bandages around my wrist. His movements were precise, practiced. "He should be grateful I went easy on him."
I watched his hands, jaw tight.
Even if Nox had gone easy on him, I hadn't.
And I wouldn't.
I was going to make him pay tenfold at the very least for the stunt he'd pulled. I was halfway through deciding how when the door flew open without warning.
"Lia!"
Vivian burst into my room, eyes blazing with curiosity and concern. I stiffened instinctively.
I didn't tell her everything.
Just the safer version.
The bet. The chase. Nothing about chains or memories or the way my hands still shook when I thought about it.
"I can't believe it," she said, dropping onto the edge of my bed. "The alchemy students were whispering like mad. They said Asier chased you all over the academy."
I scoffed lightly. "Well, you know how some dogs are. Once they latch on, nothing fixes them."
After all, he was a temple dog.
Vivian studied me for a moment longer than necessary, eyes sharp in that way of hers. Then her expression softened.
"Lia," she said gently, "how about we go for a little walk?"
I blinked. "A walk?"
She nodded, already standing. "I think you'll like it. And… I want to show you something."
That alone made me suspicious. Vivian never suggested things without a reason especially not lately. I knew she'd been secretly training her class magic, pushing herself far harder than she let on.
Still, I agreed.
We slipped out of the dormitory and into the forest behind it, where the trees grew tall and dense, their leaves whispering secrets overhead. The evening wind brushed against my skin, cool and sharp, carrying the unmistakable scent of change.
Autumn was coming.
The path crunched softly beneath our steps, and for a while neither of us spoke. The silence wasn't uncomfortable, just thoughtful.
"You know," Vivian said eventually, gazing ahead, "we'll be third-years soon."
I groaned. "That means more work. More expectations. And those insufferable mandatory noble classes."
"I knew you'd complain," she laughed quietly, the sound light and familiar. "Honestly, it's a relief I don't have to attend those classes."
"Don't be too relieved yet," I said, a slow smirk tugging at my lips. "I can still make you attend as my second-in-command."
Her eyes widened. "You wouldn't."
"Why wouldn't I?" I replied calmly, enjoying her reaction far too much. Then I glanced around, taking in the trees and the dimming sky. "Also, how much farther are we walking?"
She slowed, turning in a slow circle as she surveyed our surroundings. The forest opened slightly here, the trees spaced just enough for moonlight to spill through the canopy.
"This place looks good," she said at last. There was a strange mix of pride and nerves in her voice. "I've actually been training in secret. And… I made something."
That alone set off alarms in my head.
She looked at me with both excitement and anxiety, as if bracing herself for my reaction. Just what did you make, Vivian?
"Here," she said, pulling two objects from her item box.
Light bloomed instantly.
A gradient glow flared between her hands, bright enough that I had to shield my eyes for a moment. When the light settled, I froze.
I stared at the items.
Then at her.
Then back to the items.
"You—" my voice rose despite myself. "You made these?"
The guns were flawless.
Elegant, balanced, deadly.
Blue runes traced their sides, glowing with a quiet, restrained brilliance that spoke of immense power rather than flashy excess. The craftsmanship alone was impressive and the mana flow?
Perfectly stabilized.
I could tell just by the weight, by the way the mana hummed under my senses. These weren't simple weapons. They were adaptive artifacts ones that charged themselves based on the user's mana output.
In the wrong hands, they'd be lethal.
In the right hands… catastrophic.
I'd seen only two or three artifacts in my life shine with this level of refinement.
And she'd made two.
"What do you think?" she asked cautiously, fingers tightening just slightly around them.
What do I think? I smiled, "I think they're perfect."
Her shoulders visibly relaxed.
"They're good," I added honestly, examining them more closely. "Exceptional, even. They could still be honed a little but that comes with experience, not talent."
Her smile grew. "I'm glad you like them," she said softly. Then, after a brief hesitation, "I… I made them for you."
The warmth in my chest was immediate and painful.
"Vivi," I said gently, meeting her eyes, "I appreciate the thought. Truly. But I can't use them."
Her smile faltered. "They… don't suit you?"
"They don't fit my style," I explained carefully. "That doesn't mean they aren't incredible."
Her gaze dropped, disappointment written plainly across her face. The pride from moments ago dimmed, replaced by quiet regret.
"I didn't think about that," she murmured.
"But that doesn't mean I won't take them," I added lightly. "If I can't use them, I'll display them in my room."
The change was immediate.
Vivian's disappointment vanished as if it had never existed, replaced by a bright, almost blinding joy. Her eyes sparkled, her shoulders straightened, and she looked unbearably pleased with herself.
"I played you right into my hands," she declared smugly. "You've become gullible."
I stared at her for a second.
"She got you," Nox said, far too amused. "She got you good."
I inhaled slowly.
"Vivian," I said sweetly dangerously sweet. "You really shouldn't do things like this without considering the consequences."
Her grin faltered. Just slightly.
"…Why are you smiling like that?" she asked.
"Like what?" I tilted my head innocently.
"Like a demon."
I gasped, placing a hand over my chest. "How rude. To compare me to a demon, when I'm standing right in front of you."
Nox snorted. Loudly. He did not help his case.
Vivian took a cautious step back. "L-Lia…?"
Too late.
That night, the forest bore witness to a truly tragic event.
Poor Vivian's screams echoed between the trees, brief, dramatic, and entirely deserved. What exactly transpired remains a mystery to this day.
The only things known for certain were these:
Vivian did not pull tricks on me again.
And the guns looked very nice on display in my room.
To be continued...