Chapter 18: Breaking the Broken

As Baran radiated pure killing intent, Arabella froze completely.

The series of events had overwhelmed her mind — the explosion of her arrow, Baran's grotesquely deformed hands, and his terrifying, unhinged laughter.

The last time she'd experienced such trauma was when she was a child — and just like today, she had been frozen stiff. Her trauma was repeating itself.

A mad, winged man, laughing while his face, arms, hands, legs, chest — his entire body — was horribly deformed, approached her. He had slaughtered everyone who tried to protect her and was now reaching for her.

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahha… @>>£#||>#£½½£>€€$½{{i{½[]… I finally found you… hahahahahahahahahahahah"

After his ghastly laugh, he placed his hand on Arabella's face and—

Her trauma was short, but vivid. And just seconds ago, she had experienced something nearly identical — and froze all over again.

Everything stopped. Her mind, her organs, her muscles, her veins — even her brain and her heart were about to shut down.

Meanwhile, Baran was approaching her, looking eerily similar to the winged man from her trauma.

He raised his bow into the air, ready to strike her face when—

Whoosh!

Boom!

An instantaneous kick sent Baran flying into the wall. Yet even then, he kept grinning. He was still under the effect of his Resonance.

The one who delivered the kick was none other than Professor Cain Mortlock, the close combat instructor.

He was one of the English who were Donuk, and also a veteran soldier who had played an important role in the 3rd Vampire Calling war 27 years ago. Thanks to the cold-blooded courage he had shown on the frontlines, he was granted the title of war hero — not quite on par with the 27 Noble Heroes, but enough to be recognized as a veteran and hold political weight equal to that of regional aristocrats.

"Hahahahahhahahahah," Baran let out another wild laugh as his killing intent spread again.

But it had no effect on Cain. After all, he had fought vampires who'd lived for centuries — there was no way he would fear a mere teenager.

Pat!

A heavy punch landed square on Baran's stomach.

"Ghhakk—!" Baran coughed up several mouthfuls of blood from the impact. Cain stepped back to let him breathe.

Plik… plik…

Baran stood up again, blood dripping from his lips, and locked eyes with Cain.

He had managed to seize control of his Resonance. After a blow like that, even a Deli would regain control of their Resonance — but that was another story entirely.

ahhhhhhh… it still hurts…

Baran activated his battle mind to suppress the pain.

It wasn't quite as effective as the English Cold Will, but it was good enough to dull his pain and suppress his emotions to a functional level.

Slowly, Baran approached Professor Cain again, still smiling despite his cold gaze. He had pushed his body to its very limits and was on the verge of collapse — yet he felt compelled to look strong.

"Hahahahahahaha… hahahaha… haha… ha…"

Baran let out one final laugh that weakened and faded into silence.

It was typical for Baran to laugh, especially when around friends in amusing situations — but this laugh carried an entirely different meaning.

And… it no longer mattered. Baran lost consciousness and collapsed into Professor Cain's arms.

Seeing this, Cain called the lesson over. He didn't think any of his students could continue after witnessing Baran's actions.

Cain carried Baran to the infirmary.

Angellica followed him all the way to the door of the infirmary.

Meanwhile, Theodore approached Arabella.

"Get up, Arabella. We have a little business to take care of," he said, activating Reflection of the Crowns as he spoke.