Chapter 21: Reaper of the Academy

Elias felt someone grab his wrist. He raised his head, looking at the hand that seemed to belong to a woman.

The hand had simply touched him, and Elias felt his body growing weaker for some reason. Was the woman using some unknown ability to weaken him? He couldn't be certain.

He raised his gaze further, observing the woman's face. She looked to be in her mid-twenties, but her presence felt extremely heavy.

She was wearing a long dress that wrapped tightly around her body. But what caught Elias' attention most was her hair. They were alive.

He wasn't someone who paid much attention to myths, but even he had heard a little about an entity called Medusa. The woman in front of him looked just like Medusa, her hair made of living venomous snakes.

Even if she didn't look physically strong, there was something dangerous and unsettling about her.

"If you don't stop now, he will die," the woman said, releasing his hand. Even though she freed him, she didn't take her eyes off him.

Her gaze carried a warning that it was truly time to stop.

"Who are you?" Elias asked, taking a deep breath. Now that he had calmed down, he could see that Rey had truly fainted.

While distracting the woman with his question, he slipped his hands into Rey's pockets, searching for something. He found the two small vials that had been taken from him.

He grabbed the vials and hid them in his fist before withdrawing his hand. Even though many people had already seen the vials, he didn't want this woman to see them.

The children might not be able to recognize the extracted elements inside, but he couldn't be certain about the woman. He didn't want to take a risk.

She was too old to be a participant in the Awakening Ceremony. Most participants were twelve or thirteen years old. That meant she was likely a member of the Dimensional Academy itself.

He subtly inserted his bloody hands into his pocket while standing up. He kept the vials there, saving them for later.

"Huh?" The moment he stood up, he felt as if his head was spinning. When he was fighting, he was so overwhelmed that he had started ignoring the condition of his body.

Only when he relaxed was he able to feel how broken his body had actually become. It wasn't just Rey who had lost blood; he had also lost a lot, his chest still bleeding.

He stumbled on his own feet, feeling as if his body didn't have even the slightest strength left. Was it adrenaline that had been keeping him moving before? He wasn't certain. All he knew was that he was about to pass out as well.

The only good thing was that he had taken the vials back. He could finally sigh in relief as he fell forward, not even having enough strength to raise his hands to protect his face.

He passed out and didn't know what happened next. He wasn't awake to see the woman reaching out and stopping him from falling.

"Sigh, why are Ashborns always so troublesome?" the woman rubbed her forehead, holding onto Elias with one arm. "I thought after 'that monster' left the academy, it was going to be calm."

She snapped her fingers, and two shadow guards appeared around her.

She handed Elias to one of them, and Rey to the other. "Take them for healing. If any of them die, it'll be a bigger headache for the Academy."

"Yes, Professor." The two shadow guards nodded. They raised the boys and prepared to leave.

"After they are healed, bring them to the Class Measurement Hall. You have half an hour," the woman said. "Oh, and keep them away from each other. Otherwise they might start fighting again."

"We will remember." The Guards agreed before disappearing with the two boys.

"As for the rest of you..." The woman shifted her focus to the other youngsters.

"Are you disappointed that none of them died?" she asked, particularly focused on the descendants of the big families that were on the same level as the Ashborn and Ester family.

"We don't understand what you are talking about." Some of the descendants innocently answered, but their eyes didn't hide their intentions. In this place, everyone was a predator.

The woman could only sigh. "Let's go."

She didn't ask them anything else. She knew there was no point. The descendants of the major families were always self-centered. Nothing she said was going to get through to them.

For some reason, this scene felt particularly familiar to her, with many schemes at play. Something similar had happened in the past, resulting in the complete annihilation of the Destroyer Class at the hands of the Eldest Ashborn Child.

She wasn't sure if the past was going to repeat itself or if something even worse was going to happen. In any case, it had nothing to do with her.

In the past, she hadn't stopped it. Even now, she wasn't planning to interfere. If these predators wanted to rule over this hunting ground, they could only rely on themselves.

She opened a portal in front of her and told the others to enter without further explanation.

The other children didn't need an explanation in the first place, as they already knew the process.

After witnessing the horrifying battle between the two descendants, many from the weaker families had gone silent. Their eyes were filled with fear. But after the portal opened, a spark of excitement returned.

"Finally, we can go for Class Measurement."

"I hope I get into the Creator Class! I don't want to be with the Ashborn Descendant! He's a monster!"

"Same here. That child will definitely be in the Destroyer Class. I don't want to be anywhere near him. I still haven't forgotten the story about the fate of the destroyer class that was completely annihilated by an Ashborn."

"Are you talking about the Reaper of the Academy? Didn't he go missing, though? I heard that Ashborns searched for him everywhere after he went missing, but they couldn't find him."

"Shh. Don't talk about that! We better avoid mentioning those powerful families."

The conversation abruptly ended as the children realized this wasn't the appropriate place to discuss such matters. They followed the others and entered the portal, vanishing from sight.

Only the Professor remained. Their conversation hadn't escaped her notice.

"Reaper of the Academy, huh..." she mumbled, stepping into the portal herself.