Dark clouds released many monsters through the sky, but not a single monster could scratch the anti-mana shield. All the monsters tried to destroy the mana shield, but they didn't know how to break it. Some intelligent monsters watched them from outside the shield.
Their eyes were waiting for something that was going to happen, but everyone stood in a circle around the staff, watching Aeren's dead body at the center and sighing with relief that he had really died.
Lira looked at the monsters with cold eyes, showing no fear.
The planning had started four months ago. They had expected this to happen and had set Lira's match first. Aeren was still their problem, and they didn't know how to solve it, so they left it to Lira. She didn't know how she would get the chance to pierce her sword into him, but when Aeren came to the stage on his own, every problem solved itself. Now he was on the ground while she was still standing.
"Idiot," she muttered.
Her sword was still in his chest, and Aeren wasn't moving at all.
Roan was on the stage, and now he wasn't sure how they should react—they didn't have the power to do anything.
The crowd looked at the monsters and started to panic, wanting to run away. They didn't know where to run and were about to rage in any direction when they heard a loud voice from the Special VIP room.
"Everyone calm down! This was all planned by us to protect you all from those monsters and this evil Aeren. So you don't need to worry about anything."
Queen Hazel looked at the crowd with confidence, and everyone's eyes went to her. They were mesmerized and silently sat back in their seats.
"You demon, come out. I know you're hiding in the crowd."
Queen Hazel stared at the man with cold eyes, and he could tell she had already found him. The man looked at Aeren's body on the ground, then at the crowd around him. He could tell they had all become her puppets. Even if he killed them, nothing would happen, and she might become even stronger.
The man stared at Aeren's body and thought, I thought too much of him. He's the most useless subordinate I've ever had. He somehow survived my attack, and I overestimated him. Sigh...
The man looked at Roan but didn't signal anything. He stood up from his seat and faced Queen Hazel.
They stared at each other, and the man said, "What do you want?"
Queen Hazel and all the kings didn't understand everything around them, but they weren't doing anything and were waiting for the right time to ask about the situation. All four kings were on guard.
"Call all your subordinates," Queen Hazel glared at the man, waiting for his reply. But there was no response—just staring.
The man jumped from his seat and went directly toward Queen Hazel, but King Kendrick blocked him. "Did you ask my permission?"
The man signaled to King Balient. Edward saw his signal and attacked Queen Hazel, but this time Edward was blocked by Arthur Thorne.
"You have quite the guts to attack when I'm still here looking at you. Queen Hazel already told us about your betrayal."
Balient turned his head toward Hamilton, but Hamilton didn't know anything and looked around, not knowing which side to help. But after seeing the situation, he could guess what was going on. He went to Queen Hazel's side, going against the betrayers.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM
Artifacts started exploding on the stage as the fight broke out. On the stage, Roan saw his chance and attacked all the students around him, already having killed a few students from the academies.
Roan looked at the stage and shouted, "Attack! This is our chance! Kill anyone who comes in your way! Kill all the students—don't leave anyone alive!"
Every subordinate heard him, and 1,000 of them emerged from all the gates. Some wore academy uniforms and killed their supposed friends beside them, shocking those who saw them.
Lira saw Roan as the leader and went directly toward him. Roan saw Lira and remembered his past, where she had protected him from Alice. Now she was coming for him.
Roan exhaled and looked at Lira. He ran toward her and clashed his fist against her sword, looking at her. His determination didn't lessen even a bit as he continued fighting, though he was being pushed back by her strength.
"Who are you?" Lira looked at Roan with confusion. She couldn't understand him. He had the chance to attack people around him, but he came to attack students instead.
"It's not your concern."
Lira sliced with her sword and cut his hand instantly, but he didn't even take time to regenerate. "What a pain."
Lira started swinging her sword faster and faster, harder and harder.
Meanwhile, in the staff area:
Renn saw the fight break out. Some had already attacked him, but he had killed them all and looked at Arin. "Man, they were all students from our academy and different academies."
Arin was still fighting with students around him. Renn noticed there were a few genuine students with them who had died. Arin finished all the threats around him, looked at Renn, and said, "Let's go to the stage."
Arin saw the entire stage and thought, Hmm, Mother didn't know much about this. Did something change so that Mother could see the clear future? Because of my regression?
I need to find brother Jacob, or he'll die in this incident. But where should I find him? Many students died even though Mother did all this and protected so many people. If I had told Mother, would she have changed a few decisions? Let's think about that later—I need to protect as many people as possible.
Arin ran toward the stage, killing all the intruders around the hall. Renn followed Arin to the stage.
When Renn stepped onto the stadium, Adelind's and Bernice's heads rolled toward Arin and Renn.
A few minutes earlier:
Aeren opened his eyes and looked around him, seeing the fight breaking out all over the place. Seeing this, he noticed the sword in his chest but didn't do anything about it. Somehow, Adelind and Bernice were fighting close to Aeren.
Aeren sat up and watched everything around him when a black-hooded figure was about to land near him. When Aeren saw this, he pulled the sword from his chest and cut the attacker in half.
"Find another place," Aeren's cold voice reached Adelind and Bernice. Their eyes went wide as they looked at each other and nodded.
"Let's do it," both of them said firmly as they ran toward Aeren. But it was too late—their heads had already flown away, landing close to Renn and Arin.
Now Renn and Arin didn't even notice Aeren—their eyes were on Adelind and Bernice's severed heads.
Aeren glared at the shield and saw the fight among the kings. He ignored them and whispered, "I'll come later."
Aeren slashed his sword, and the shield shattered.