Rodrics looked at his body and realized he would die at any moment. He looked at the kids who had defeated him, and a smile emerged on his lips.
"HAHAHAHA! You kids have some real strength to make me like this."
Arin and Lena stared at him.
"Hmm, we know," Lena said flatly.
The smile remained on Rodrics' face as he suddenly stood up from the floor. In an instant, he reached Arin and Lena and punched Lena in the stomach.
BOOM!
Lena flew away. Arin saw this and took a fighting stance, but Rodrics hit him in the face. Although Arin blocked the attack, he still took damage from Rodrics' punch.
Rodrics looked at Selevara and spat a mouthful of blood.
"If I'm going to die, I'm taking someone with me! HAHAHA!"
He attacked Selevara with his punch. Her mana shield blocked the attack, but it shattered instantly, and his fist hit her face, knocking her unconscious immediately.
Arin moved behind Rodrics and attacked the stab wound with full strength.
BOOM!
"AHHHAHAHAHHAHAHHA! You sneaky bastard!" Rodrics looked back at Arin.
Despite Arin's full-strength attack on his injury, Rodrics was still standing. Arin quickly picked up Selevara's unconscious body and carried her to safety, then turned back to face Rodrics with an angry expression. Blood dripped from Arin's face as he glared at his opponent.
"You will die by my hand."
"HAHAHAHAHAH! Let's fight to the death!" Rodrics said with a grin.
Both of them disappeared and began attacking each other relentlessly.
Rodrics was losing consciousness, but his wish was not yet complete. He refused to give up his life without taking someone with him. His strength was draining again while Arin's attacks grew faster and stronger. Rodrics was hit by a powerful kick.
BOOM!
He landed against the wall, vomiting blood from his mouth. Through blurred vision, he saw Arin approaching him step by step. A thought emerged in Rodrics' mind as he looked at Arin—he saw his past dreams, but it didn't matter anymore.
Swoosh!
Rodrics launched his final strike at Arin—an attack that couldn't be sensed or seen by others. It cut into Arin, and a smile emerged on Rodrics' face as he finally closed his eyes.
Aeren had been watching everything from the throne. Arin had managed to protect his vital points and was unconscious but still alive. Aeren stood up from the throne and walked toward Rodrics, noticing the smile still on his face.
Aeren took Rodrics' body and disappeared into the darkness, unseen by anyone.
Royal Head Guard Tanmya arrived at the same place where Aeren had vanished.
"Where is Rodrics' body?" Tanmya was shocked by the unexpected situation. He had followed Prince Arin here for protection.
Tanmya had watched the fight from beginning to end and was about to make a move against Rodrics when the academy student defeated him. Now Rodrics' body was gone. He thought to himself, How is that possible? I saw it here just a few seconds ago, and now there's nothing.
Tanmya sighed, lost interest in the missing corpse, and looked at the injured students. He gave them healing potions one by one, and everyone gradually regained consciousness.
"Mr. Tanmya, what are you doing here?" Arin asked curiously.
Tanmya looked at Prince Arin, smiled, and said,
"I'm here on the Principal's orders to watch over all of you."
Arin and the others looked at him and nodded.
Ciya thought to herself, Am I forgetting something?
"Ah, yes! Where is Aeren?" Ciya looked around and asked loudly.
Tanmya looked confused and asked Ciya,
"Aeren was here?"
Ciya looked at Tanmya with her head lowered.
"The three of us came for this mission—me, Aeren, and Denvar. Denvar died in battle, but Aeren just sat on the throne watching our fight."
Tanmya looked at her again and said,
"I found Denvar's body but couldn't find Aeren or Rodrics. The throne was empty from beginning to end. Are you sure you came with Aeren?"
Ciya glared at Tanmya.
"I joined him for a quest given by the academy. You can ask the academy if you don't trust me."
Everyone glanced at Ciya but said nothing. Then Lena said,
"Maybe Lord Aeren left for Zone City."
All eyes turned from Ciya to Lena.
Lena glanced at everyone awkwardly, not understanding why she had said something so suspicious.
Seeing the awkward situation, Tanmya said,
"Let's leave this place and search for Aeren. If he's still alive, he'll return to the academy anyway."
They all nodded and started to leave.
*A few hours later...*
They managed to reach the outskirts of the "Forest of Zone" and entered Zone City. It took them an hour to reach the city and find an inn.
They all entered the inn, and the employee happily accommodated them. They stayed for rest and food for two to three days.
Ciya left the inn and went to the guild to report their mission completion to the guild master. The guild master nodded and said,
"Wait here for one week. We need to confirm it."
Ciya glared at the guild master.
"Are you doubting us?"
The guild master looked at Ciya and said,
"No, I'm not doubting you. This is just a formality we have to go through."
Ciya nodded and asked,
"Can you do me a favor?"
The guild master raised his eyebrows.
"What is it?"
Ciya sighed.
"I lost one companion, and one is missing. Can you help us find the missing person?"
The guild master saw her sad expression and said,
"We can try, but I won't guarantee anything."
"That's fine," Ciya said and left.
The guild investigated Rodrics' location and found nothing special, then sent a message to Ciya about their mission completion.
Ciya returned and received the stamp from the guild. The stamp was scanned by the system, and their points were credited to their system accounts.
After spending one week in Zone City trying to find Aeren without success, they left the city and returned to the academy.