Sera lowered her sword, her breathing heavy as she looked at the clean, frictionless cuts on the body. There were no scorch marks. No signs of a struggle. Lucian had decapitated an elite Shadow-affinity instructor without even waking them up.
"They are escalating," Elira noted, her deadpan eyes examining the severed hand on the desk. "If they are willing to use faculty, staying in this room is no longer a viable defensive strategy."
"I agree," Lucian said.
He walked over to the headless corpse. He grabbed the back of Vance's cloak and hoisted the heavy body off the ground. He didn't care about the blood soaking into his uniform.
"Open the window," Lucian ordered.
Sera hesitated for a second, then walked over and pushed the heavy glass window open. The cold night air rushed into the room. Three stories below, the academy's central courtyard was dimly lit by a few magical torches. A heavily armed patrol of Vanguard enforcers was marching past the central fountain.
