The Anomaly appears

Rodrick mobilized all his Mana and activated a spell. Of course, he didn't display the spell model out in the open like Paulina did.

Instantly, almost half of the people fell flat on the ground. 

I didn't want to use this so quickly in the beginning.

His plan had never been the sedatives in the air, or the food prepared by the Mayor, but the emergency rations distributed in a few students' bags. 

He wasn't present in the group these few days, but Jeremy was. When they made the food to pack in all these bags, it was easy for him to mind control Jeremy and tamper with it.

Everything else was simply a distraction.

The spell he used now was one he had made himself, it triggered the effects of intense sleep. People who hadn't eaten anything were fine as they could resist it through sheer willpower or other means. 

Those who had consumed the backup food however found it difficult to resist the spell when the sedative in their body was cooperating with the spell with high efficiency.

Majority of these people soon succumbed to sleep no matter how much the other seniors slapped or hit their body. 

There was instant ruckus in the entire camp as people began moving about chaotically.

Rodrick narrowed his eyes and gazed at professor Melissa who was doing everything she could to salvage the situation. 

He didn't intend to give her any chance though. 

Since he could only mind control two people at once, he let go of the connection to Jeremy who was also included in the people who ate emergency rations.

Activating all the strength of his ability which he could muster, he targeted professor Melissa.

Instantly, his mind felt as if it had run into an iron plate. 

An intense buzz rang in his ears as everything around him lost its sound, his vision became dizzy for a good few seconds before restoring back to normal.

With confusion, he gazed at professor Melissa only to witness a black orb shattering in professor Melissa's hand.

Rodrick's eyes narrowed dangerously when he looked at the pieces of black orb scattered near her legs.

Mental Defense Orbs? 

As far as he knew, they were one time use items which needed to be used before the mental attack took place and needed a target to be designated, against which, or whom, it would defend.

Which meant professor Melissa had already marked him with Mental Defense Orbs, having known that he might attack her.

"How?"

He spoke out loud, while looking at professor Melissa who stopped paying attention to the students around.

Everyone else thought he was simply questioning how the situation in their group had turned for worse.

But professor Melissa who was similarly looking right back at Rodrick knew what the question meant.

Melissa was incredibly thankful for her cautious self to have bought the Mental Defense Orb in passing, thinking it would be good to have a backup despite the Anomaly in the mission not being mental oriented.

The unfortunate part was that she had only bought one.

Rodrick stabilized his mind, already having recovered from the backlash. He gritted his teeth, growling once again.

"Fucking how?"

Melissa had no plans to answer him, she simply waved her hand, conjuring several sharp spears of ice and threw them at Rodrick. 

She kept her eyes trained on Rodrick, not willing to miss even the slightest of the details. Suddenly, her eyes caught a slight but subtle movement.

Despite being mentally prepared, she still found it absolutely horrifying when a body of mass appeared in front of her, tanking all the damage.

"Anomaly of Misfortune and Fortune."

She whispered, her gaze fixed on the horrendous form looming before Rodrick.

The creature was vaguely human-shaped, its body covered in patches of wrinkled, unevenly distributed skin. 

Between these patches, a grotesque, purple mass of flesh squirmed incessantly, as if it were a living entity struggling to break free from the confines of the body.

Its head bore the crude semblance of a face, reminiscent of a child's crude sketch—distorted and unnatural. 

Completing its unsettling appearance, thin strands of silver hair stood upright, eerily waving in the air despite the absence of any breeze.

Students screamed, absolutely scared out of their wits as they gazed at the horrifying entity which had its mouth open.

Can't go back to the Academy after exposing myself like this, and judging by how professor Melissa knew about my ability and how I might attack her, there's a high chance that reinforcements are coming. 

The beep which went off to alert me of someone crossing the sensors on the perimeter might be the reinforcements.

Rodrick didn't know where he had messed up. Everything was perfect for the entire month when he planned this, until a hint of misfortune suddenly began gathering on him in the past few days.

Disregarding everything else, he tried to activate his mind control once again. 

Since he hadn't actually succeeded in controlling professor Melissa's mind, his energy of Consciousness hadn't actually been consumed in that attempt.

With frustration of having his plans foiled bubbling in his mind, he targeted professor Melissa again.

He felt the resistance this time around as well, but was quickly able to break through. 

He had finally controlled professor Melissa.

A flicker of relief entered his mind amidst the despairing situation. Controlling the professor, he tossed the Mystical Artifact at himself, while making sure to maintain the distance. 

Due to controlling the Anomaly which was at second realm all this time and now controlling professor Melissa who was also at the second realm of power, the drain on himself was massive. 

He could already feel his reserves draining, barely half a minute more and he would be sucked dry.

He controlled professor Melissa to turn around, afraid that the situation later would intensify her emotions, allowing her to break free from his control.

He then proceeded to control the Anomaly and began heading towards the students which were running all around. He wanted to kill them. 

It was the reward for his Anomaly in order to reinforce his mind control over it. 

He only had a few seconds, then he would have to escape no matter what happened.

Some students ran out of the pit, while some were still trying to wake up their friends, while some had begun stealing. Some of them were too shocked by everything, looking blankly at what was going on.

Just as the Anomaly took a step in their direction, a voice was heard from above.

"Senior Erin, you can do it now."