"Seems like," growled Tarek Mornhall, his crossbow unwavering as it remained trained on Doctor Elric's head, "the party's just getting started."
Doctor Elric smiled, a calm and horrifying smile. "Mr. Mornhall, a mercenary from the underworld. You should know better than to threaten a holy servant of the Church of Life."
He gave no visible signal. Yet the two burly Order of Calm nurses beside Velka moved in unison. They did not attack Tarek, who was armed. They charged at Velka. A cruel tactic to force Tarek to choose between his target and his ally.
Tarek cursed. He was a professional. He did not hesitate.
TWANG!
The arrow flew, not for Elric's head, but into his shoulder, causing him to scream and drop something he was holding. In the same motion, Tarek dropped his crossbow, and his remaining hand moved with lightning speed, hurling two daggers at the nurses.
Velka, fueled by adrenaline, was not just a bystander. As one of the giant nurses charged at her, she threw the silver music box in her hand at the nurse's face. The impact did not hurt him, but it was enough to startle him for a moment. Velka used that moment to draw her blade and stab at the gap beneath the nurse's armpit.
Her blade only penetrated a few inches, halted by thick muscle. But the nurse roared in pain and fury.
On the other side, Tarek's daggers merely clanged off the second nurse's robe, which was woven with hidden metal threads.
Magic alarms began to blare throughout the corridor. Doors along the hallway started to open, and more hollow-faced Order of Calm members began to emerge.
"We need to get out of here, now!" Tarek shouted, grabbing Velka's arm.
They began to run back down the corridor, with the nurses in hot pursuit. Tarek hurled several small metal balls to the floor. The balls exploded, releasing thick, choking smoke.
"This way!" Velka shouted, recalling a shortcut through the kitchens she had seen on Alaric's blueprint.
They sprinted through silent kitchens and narrow service corridors. The sound of heavy footsteps behind them grew closer.
They finally reached the main hall, the exit only a few meters ahead of them. But their path was blocked.
Doctor Elric stood there, the arrow still lodged in his shoulder, blood staining his white robe. Behind him stood a dozen Order of Calm members, forming an impenetrable human wall. His friendly smile was gone, replaced by a fanatical expression of hatred.
"You should never have come here, little girl," hissed Elric. He pulled a large syringe filled with pulsating green liquid from his pocket—the very item he had dropped earlier. "The Church of Life teaches us to value all life. But we also know how to 'correct' it when it grows astray."
"You're mad," said Velka.
"I am a visionary!" roared Elric. With a swift motion, he injected the syringe into his own neck.
The scream that erupted from him no longer sounded human. His body convulsed violently. His skin began to harden and turn a brownish-green, like tree bark. Sharp thorns erupted from his fingertips. His arms and legs elongated with the sound of cracking bones. From his back, barbed vines exploded outward, tearing through his robe.
Within seconds, the old man had vanished, replaced by a three-meter-tall humanoid plant monster, its eyes glowing with a deadly green light.
"You have seen our sin," the monster's voice boomed, a mixture of rustling leaves and creaking wood. "And now... you will become part of our garden!"
The Order of Calm advanced in unison, while the Elric monster raised its now-gada-like arms, ready to crush them. Velka and Tarek were cornered, facing the horror of inverted life magic.
In the now-battlefield corridors of the Silent Hill Sanatorium, Tarek Mornhall knew they wouldn't win. The monster before them wasn't something to be fought with daggers and crossbows.
"Fall back!" he shouted at Velka, pushing the girl behind him.
The Elric monster swung its gada-like arm. Tarek leaped aside, the swing impacting the marble floor and shattering it into fragments.
The Order of Calm attacked. Tarek fought like a cornered devil, one arm moving with lethal efficiency, but he could only hold them off temporarily.
Velka, pinned against the wall, spotted an opening. Above them hung an ancient, massive crystal chandelier. Above that, a large stained-glass window.
"Tarek! The window!" she shouted.
Tarek understood. He had no way to reach it. But he had one thing left. A last trump card he'd saved for The Silencer. A small alchemical bomb.
"Close your eyes, noble girl!" he roared.
He hurled the small metal ball not at the Elric monster, but upward, at the stained-glass window above the chandelier.
The explosion was not large, but its light was blinding and the noise deafening. The stained glass shattered. The chains holding the chandelier snapped.
The one-ton crystal chandelier crashed down onto the Elric monster and the nurses around it. Elric's non-human scream was cut short by the thunderous sound of collapsing metal and crystal.
The explosion threw Tarek and Velka against the wall. As the dust began to settle, they saw their escape route now open, though blocked by rubble. In the distance, they could hear the magical sirens of the Imperial Knights approaching.
"It's time to go," Tarek panted, his arm wounded.
They stumbled out of the now-partially-destroyed sanatorium and vanished into the surrounding forest just before the first patrols arrived. At the forest's edge, an unmarked carriage awaited. An agent of Duke Alaric.
Hours later, Velka awoke in a clean, safe room. Duke Alaric sat beside her bed.
"You succeeded," said Alaric. "You obtained the information and survived. You've proven your value, Miss Velka."
Velka recounted everything. Her mother's message. The monster that Doctor Elric had become.
Alaric's face hardened. "So the conspiracy runs deeper than just your father. The Church of Life is involved in forbidden experiments to suppress the truth about the Void. High Priestess Terra... she has a lot of explaining to do." He looked at Velka. "Rest. I will use this information. The game on the imperial chessboard is about to become much more interesting."
Back at the academy, the echoes of Nihil's victory over Lyra Vex still reverberated. His rank now #75. He had become the main topic of conversation.
He wasted no time. The victory granted him access to Silver-Rank training facilities. There, he began experimenting, trying to replicate Lyra's illusion magic with his Void Sonar, honing his mental defenses.
His new status also brought unwanted and wanted attention. Darius now regarded him as a serious threat, training with terrifying intensity. On the other hand, Princess Seraphina's study group officially invited him to join.
But the most important invitation arrived a few days later.
A formal letter with an imperial seal was delivered to his room.
"For the Outstanding Performance of First-Year Students in Examinations and Ranked Duels, the Academy Council, with the approval of the Imperial Palace, has decided to alter the format of this year's Inter-Department Tournament."
Nihil read quickly.
"A 'Solo Trial Phase' will be added. One student from each year will be selected as the 'Champion' of their cohort to face a specially designed solo challenge to test the limits of their abilities. Selection is based on achievement, strength, and potential."
At the bottom were the names of the selected champions.
Year 4: Lord Cassian val-Draconis.
Year 3: Darius val-Luminar.
Year 2: Lian.
Year 1...
Nihil's heart skipped a beat as he read his own name. Nihil.
He had been selected. Highlighted. Elevated to the grandest stage.
He gazed out the window at the distant palace. He could feel Princess Selene's invisible hand behind all of this. This was no gift. It was a trial. A way to showcase his new "weapon" before the entire empire.
On the other hand, he knew Professor Theron and his enemies on the council would gladly approve of this. It was a golden opportunity for them to design a "challenge" specifically crafted to legally kill him.
He was no longer just a participant in the tournament.
He had become its main attraction. And the stage could all too easily transform into his sacrificial altar.