Elijah exhaled, rolling his shoulders as he watched Varden stagger to his feet once again.
Blood dripped from the corner of his opponent's lips, and his arms shook from sheer exhaustion, yet he still refused to stay down.
"Now it's getting tiring…" Elijah muttered under his breath, tapping his sword against his shoulder.
Varden's resilience was impressive, but there was a limit to how much punishment a body could take.
"Should I beat him up harder?" Elijah wondered. "Ah, dear me, I should have mercy."
His lips curled into a smirk as he made up his mind. "Let's end this quick."
Without another thought, he stepped forward, raising his foot before delivering a brutal kick to Varden's face.
The impact sent the green-haired fighter crashing to the ground with a grunt. A hush fell over the spectators, all eyes locked on the defeated combatant.
Elijah raised his sword, preparing to deliver the final strike and put an end to the match, but—
"Hrgh...ah…"
Elijah froze. Varden, who should have been completely unconscious, suddenly moved. His trembling fingers reached into his pocket and pulled out something small and glistening.
A black gem.
No… it wasn't just any gem.
Elijah's stomach dropped as his eyes locked onto the sinister object now resting in Varden's palm. Cold sweat dripped down his cheek.
"A Nightmare Core…"
How? Where did Varden get something like that? This wasn't some trinket one could stumble upon.
A Nightmare Core that can only be obtained by defeating an S-rank nightmare or higher. So how could an F class simply got one?
"Varden,— stop!" Elijah shouted, taking a step forward.
But it was too late.
The moment Varden clenched the core, his body convulsed violently, his head snapping back as an inhuman shriek tore from his throat.
His once bright green eyes darkened, swallowed by an abyss of black, and a blinding white light began to radiate from within him.
And then, with a voice that did not belong to him, Varden spoke.
"Mammon."
The name echoed like a curse, a harbinger of something far more terrifying than anything Elijah had prepared for.
Even though Elijah understood the severity of the situation, he couldn't stop himself from cracking a joke.
"Oi oi... Did I troll too much?"
The ground beneath him quaked as dark tendrils slithered outward from Varden's body, creeping across the battlefield like living shadows.
The murmurs of the crowd rippled through the air.
Some were afraid. Some were amused. Some were simply confused.
"Is it a mahika spell?"
"How could an F class create a unique spell-"
"H-hey should we tell professor?"
Elijah gritted his teeth, gripping his sword tightly. A hollow chuckled escaped his lips.
"Fuck... Fuck..."
He might have gotten more than he bargained for.
"Isn't that—" Victoria's words were cut off.
"A dungeon," Lucian finished. "The same kind as what we defeated before."
"How could it be?!"
"I'm not sure, but perhaps… it was from a Nightmare Core," Lucian replied. "Everyone! Get out quickly!"
The crowd erupted into chaos, fleeing in every direction.
Even the professors who had rushed to check the commotion froze in shock.
"Q-quick! Grab the seal!" one of them shouted in a panic.
Then, all of a sudden…
"Seal? Do you plan to make him suffer?" a cold female voice echoed.
A sudden gust of wind howled. From the morning sky, a figure descended, wielding a scythe.
With a graceful step, she landed in front of Elijah. Long black hair swayed, and her red sunken eyes flickered, locking onto the monstrous Verdant.
A holographic interface flickered above her head, visible only to Elijah.
[ ???? || ???? ]
With no doubt, it is Calliope Revenant.
Calliope whispered a prayer, with a sense of mourning as she stared on the pitiful student.
For others, it was a monster. For her, 'He' was crying for help.
To be understood.
To be heard.
"Poor you, allow me to eat your dreams."
Without warning, shadows erupted from beneath Verdant, twisting and writhing from the ground.
"I will save you."
Dark hands shot out, clawing at his limbs, pinning him down with unrelenting force. He struggled wildly, but the shadows held firm, refusing to release him.
Then, in one swift motion, Calliope's scythe plunged through his chest, impaling his heart. The blade sliced through flesh and bone with a sickening squelch, as if something inside him was writhing in agony.
Muscles tore apart as blood gushed wildly. The black gem within him trembled as the scythe's tip grazed it, severing the veins that had latched onto it and flinging it away.
Varden's body trembled before collapsing in a grotesque heap, blood pooled around him, staining the cobblestones beneath.
The sharp scent of iron hung thick in the air as silence swallowed the Academy grounds.
Everyone remained speechless, eyes wide with shock, breaths caught in their throats.
Among them stood Elijah, frozen behind her, completely dumbfounded.
'A monster that was considered at least S rank threat, was simply handled by a lone student'
'Is this her true strength?'
The woman straightened her posture, and her expression turned to disgust as she kept her gaze toward the frozen figures around her.
"What are you doing? Do you prefer to seal a nightmare? Move quickly and rush him to the medic."
"Unless you wanted a student to die that is."
'Calliope Revenant... you are a threat.'
****
Infirmary Room.
"Professor, how is he?"
Elijah's voice was quieter than usual as his gaze fell upon the unconscious green-haired student. Varden lay motionless, his body wrapped in layers of bandages, his breathing remained weak.
Beside the bed, Professor Sean sat with his usual slouched posture, looking more exhausted than ever. Standing next to him was another instructor—a gentle-looking woman, assumingly the head nurse.
"Don't worry," she assured him. "His vitals are stable. He lost a lot of blood, but he'll recover overtime."
Elijah's eyes remained on Varden, nobody knew about the thoughts in his mind. Yet one thing for sure...
He is bothered.
Sensing his unease, Sean patted his head. Albeit needing to tip-toe due to the difference in their height.
"Don't blame yourself," he spoke gently. "I'll handle the rest. You should get some rest too."
Elijah gave a small nod before bowing his head slightly and turning toward the door.
As he stepped out of the room, his expression soon turned cold.
'Two unknown variables were introduced.'
Tap... Tap... Tap...
His footsteps grew faster as he went inside the men's comfort room.
No matter what he does, the unease in his mind refuses to fade away.
'Something has gone wrong...'
'If this continues...'
'It will affect my plot further...'
'What is it?'
'What mistake did I made..?'
Elijah's fingers instinctively slipped into his pocket, slowly, he pulled it out—the Nightmare Core.
"Good thing this wasn't destroyed." he murmured, turning it over in his palm.
A stroke of luck, really.
When Calliope had forcefully taken it away from Varden, he had managed to kick it aside, slipping it under his foot without anyone noticing.
Maybe she had been too overconfident, assuming it was obliterated along side her skill.
Little did they know—Elijah had simply hidden it in his shoe.
Now, under the moon's pale glow, he held it up, watching it produced like a black smoke.
"I have to use what I have... to keep everything under control."
Without hesitation, he parted his lips, ready to swallow the core whole— But...
'Schwick.'
A gleaming scythe stopped mere inches from his throat.
Cold steel rested against his skin, sharp enough that there was a blood flowing from his neck.
The door behind him closed, and there was a click, assuming it was locked.
And finally, that familiar voice.
"Finally, I've found you"