Thiriel released the breath he had been holding.
He had been a sigh away from achieving it.
A heartbeat away from piercing Vexar's neck and ending it all right there.
The lobby was plunged into chaos. Fresh blood stained the stone floor, Vexar's shattered arm continued bleeding as the old man retreated, leaning against a column, panting, his face contorted between pain and terror.
Never before had the apprentices seen him like this.
Never before had they seen him so weak.
"What… What did you just do?" whispered one of the apprentices, voice cracking.
Thiriel didn't lower the knife.
He didn't look away from Vexar.
"I have seen the basement," he said with a firm voice. "I have seen what he does with the apprentices who go to explore the world."
A murmur of disbelief ran through the hall.
"What are you talking about…?" asked another.
"Ten Apprentices," continued Thiriel. "Suspended in rituals. Slowly drained. Used to extract their vital essence and magical potential."
Faces paled.
Kael took a step back, eyes wide open.
"T-that's a lie…" someone muttered. "The master wouldn't…"
"He lies!" roared Vexar suddenly.
His voice, laden with rage and pain, resonated powerfully.
"It's all a lie!" he spat. "This bastard just wants to keep the tower. He was always ambitious! He always hated me since the orphanage!"
He pointed at Thiriel with his healthy hand, trembling.
"Look at him! He attacked his own master out of greed!"
Doubt was sown immediately.
Some apprentices looked at Thiriel with uncertainty.
Others instinctively backed away, unable to decide who to believe.
Thiriel clicked his tongue.
"If I lie," he said, "go down to the basement when all this is over. Look at the circles. Look at the cages. Look at the remains."
Vexar grit his teeth.
"Don't you dare!" he shouted. "That place is sealed for safety!"
But something had changed.
The senior apprentices had stopped moving and their bodies began to tremble.
One of them, Eiran, took a step forward. His eyes were no longer empty. There was fury and fear.
"The Master…" he said slowly. "He has been controlling us… for a long time."
Another senior apprentice clenched his fists.
"We are his puppets."
Vexar looked at them with disbelief, reinforcing the control he had over them.
'No. Not now,' Vexar thought, using the strength he had left to stop them from speaking.
"You have us controlled," shouted Eiran. "Only thanks to Thiriel's attack have we been able to stop the control a little."
Vexar's face deformed with rage.
"Damn ingrates!" he roared. "Everything you have I gave to you!"
The magic around him became chaotic.
The remaining servants moved immediately, positioning themselves in front of Vexar like a protective wall. Their dull eyes shone with an unnatural light.
"Back!" ordered Vexar. "Kill them if necessary!"
One of the senior apprentices took one more hesitant step, pointing at him.
"Apprentices, don't wait until you end up like us; if you don't take advantage of his weakness, you will only become resources for Vexar."
That was enough.
One of the servants raised its hand.
An invisible wind blade formed instantly.
"NO!" someone screamed.
Too late.
The blade cut through the air and cleanly sliced the neck of the senior apprentice who had spoken. His head rolled on the floor with a dry thud, while the body fell lifeless.
The silence was absolute.
Then… screams.
"RUN!"
"HE'S CRAZY!"
"HE'S GOING TO KILL US!"
Several apprentices panicked and began to flee toward the rear exit, pushing each other, crying, terrified.
"Stop!" shouted Thiriel with fury.
But few listened.
Vexar smiled, a twisted, bloodthirsty smile.
"Do you see?" he said. "It was always like this. Fear controls them."
Thiriel took a step forward, his voice amplified by magic.
"If we don't kill him now, he will hunt you down one by one!" he roared. "It doesn't matter where you run! He will find you and use you like the others!"
That made some stop.
The servants launched attacks at Thiriel, who dodged while looking at the stopping apprentices.
Kael, trembling, turned around.
"Is there really no other option?" he asked with tears in his eyes.
Thiriel looked directly at him.
"No."
The answer was enough.
Kael grit his teeth and returned.
Drowen hesitated.
Then he also stayed.
Only Kael, Drowen, and Lorian remained.
"Then fight!" shouted Thiriel. "Now!"
The Magic Warrior Aura exploded again around his body. Not like before, contained, but pushed to the limit. His muscles tensed, his speed increased, and he shot toward the first servant.
The knife descended.
Clean cut to the neck.
The servant fell without making a sound.
"Don't come close!" shouted Vexar. "Kill them all!"
The servants attacked.
Wind magic. Reinforced blows. Coordinated attacks.
Thiriel moved among them like a shadow. He dodged by centimeters, cut tendons, pierced magic cores. Every movement was efficient, lethal.
He wasn't fighting alone.
Kael launched support projectiles, distracting and slowing down. The apprentices who had escaped saw the fight and decided to attack as a group, clumsy but determined. They only sought to survive.
One by one, the servants began to fall.
The room filled with inert bodies and dispersed magic.
Vexar retreated slowly, leaning against the wall, focused on healing his mutilated arm. The flesh twisted, trying to regenerate unnaturally.
"Bastards!" he shouted in despair. "YOU WILL ALL DIE!"
Few servants remained.
Thiriel advanced.
Then…
He felt danger.
His instinct urging him to dodge.
He threw himself to the side just as a magic dagger grazed where his neck had been.
"WHAT…?!" he roared.
He turned.
Drowen.
The boy's face was contorted, eyes bloodshot with despair.
"Always you!" he shouted. "Always one step ahead! Always looking down on me!"
He lunged again, trying to plunge an improvised weapon into his back.
"STUPID!" Thiriel responded with fury.
He dodged the attack by centimeters and struck the ground with his foot, channeling magic into the earth.
"Earth Prison!"
The ground beneath Drowen's feet shot up. Arms of rock and mud emerged, wrapping around his legs and torso, immobilizing him completely.
"LET ME GO!" screamed Drowen. "HE PROMISED ME POWER!"
Vexar seized the opportunity and launched a instantly created flame spear toward Thiriel, catching him off guard due to Drowen's attack.
Unable to dodge it, he created a magic shield in front of his chest, crossed his arms, and jumped backward to cancel the force of the attack.
The impact of the spear sent him to the back of the lobby, feeling his organs damaged by that attack.
Thiriel looked at him with a mixture of rage and contempt.
He wasted no more time.
He approached Vexar who was alone, the puppet servants contained by the other apprentices.
Vexar was looking to escape the lobby.
Bleeding.
Healing.
Terrified.
The monster was still alive.
And Thiriel was advancing toward him.
The fight wasn't over yet.