Melody's scream pierced the hall—but even her voice was drowned beneath the deafening hum of condensed power. The mana circles expanded further, their radiant symbols pulsing ominously as energy pooled into them, forming a terrifying prelude to destruction.
The three boys in front of Michael paled instantly.
"I-Impossible..."
"We're going to die!"
Randolph and Craig, standing beside Braydon, turned and fled without hesitation—dropping all pretense of nobility in a desperate scramble for survival.
Braydon remained rooted to the spot. His earlier sneer had crumbled into wide-eyed horror, his body frozen in place like a statue before a firing squad. The overwhelming presence had stripped away every ounce of his arrogance, leaving only a trembling boy in its wake.
Unfortunately for him, unlike the training dummies used in spell classes, he had no protective runes or barriers—no shield to absorb what was coming.
