Amanda's body suddenly gave out, and she had to lean against a nearby pillar. Her vision began to spin, blurry spots dancing before her eyes.
"Damn it…"
Gritting her teeth, she forced her body to resist. In the end, she had also drunk the wine.
The drug was potent, far too strong for most people. Even so, she had not lost consciousness. Part of that came from her above average physical strength, another part from a mind trained to endure pressure.
But for how long?
Time was against her, and all she could do was avoid falling into whatever trap was being so carefully prepared.
Her gaze swept across the hall, searching for the boy who had warned her earlier.
Nothing. He was gone.
"Is he the one behind this…?"
The suspicion was natural. He had vanished at the exact moment students began collapsing. Calling that a coincidence would be naïve.
"Maybe he's the type who likes to toy with his prey…"
But Amanda dismissed the thought almost immediately. Strange as it was, something in her instincts screamed that he did not intend to hurt her.
"Cough! Kh—Amanda!"
The sound cut through her thoughts.
Staggering forward, Elijah appeared in front of her, coughing violently. His face was pale, his body unstable. When she saw him approaching, Amanda instinctively stepped back.
"Huff… huff…"
Elijah dropped to his knees, gasping.
"W… what is happening…?"
Amanda struggled to keep her composure. Every instinct screamed at her not to get closer, yet her feet moved anyway.
He was her only connection to her mother.
She needed answers.
As the seconds passed, her mind slowly began to regain some clarity. Her body was still heavy, but the numbness was no longer absolute.
Stopping a few meters away, Amanda extended her hand.
"Y—kh… you—"
Elijah raised his right hand, trying to grab hers. Before his fingers could touch her, Amanda struck hard.
Smack!
"Y—you…!"
Elijah looked up at her.
"Don't come any closer."
"What are you talking about?"
"Do you really think you can fool me… after smiling the entire time?"
Surprised, Elijah touched his own face. Then, he began to laugh.
"Ku… ku… ku…"
The laughter trembled, gradually twisting into something grotesque.
"H̸̺͐e̶̳͑H̶̜͐e̸̥͘H̴̙̍A̶̭̒Ḫ̵̌A̵̖͆H̷̝͘A̶̩͂"
"What a careless mistake on my part…" he murmured between laughs. "I simply couldn't contain my excitement."
Standing up, Elijah slapped his own face exaggeratedly.
"Ah… forgive me. Just imagining spending time alone with you… one of the three great beauties of the first year… I lost control."
Voom!
Amanda instantly summoned her bow, pulling the string taut.
"Oh?" Elijah raised his hands. "Aren't we being a little hasty?"
Woosh! Woosh! Woosh!
Three arrows sliced through the air in succession, transforming into streaks of white light.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Elijah simply stepped aside with a single lateral movement.
"Wow… impressive shots," he whistled, glancing at the arrows embedded deep in the wall.
His smile widened.
"Too bad you missed."
Amanda dropped to her knees, gasping. The drug still coursed through her body, slowly eroding her strength. Elijah walked toward her at an unhurried pace, savoring every second.
"Yes… this is exactly what I wanted. Finally… the always indifferent Amanda showing a different expression."
"What did you do to me?!"
"Don't look at me like that…" he murmured.
Kneeling before her, he gripped her chin firmly.
"We wouldn't want our dear Amanda making that face right now, would we?"
He examined every detail of her face, like a predator assessing its prey.
"If it weren't for the strict orders of the Matriarch Mother… I would have devoured you already."
"Matriarch… Mother?"
"Oops…" Elijah laughed, tapping his head lightly. "I guess I said too much."
"Just know this… you'll be thanking me soon."
"Puh!"
Amanda spat in his face.
"Go to hell."
Elijah's body trembled.
"Y—you… you…"
He touched the saliva smeared across his cheek, his eyes twisting with hatred. His hand shot toward her neck.
"How dare you… spit in my face?!"
His voice echoed through the hall as his fingers tightened.
"Unlike you, I wasn't born beautiful! I was mocked, humiliated, crushed because of my appearance!"
"In this world, everything is decided by two things… beauty and talent!"
He pulled her face closer.
"You had both! I had neither! My own parents abandoned me for my siblings… just because they were prettier!"
The grip tightened further.
"When I was about to end everything… she appeared."
His voice trembled, almost reverent.
"The Matriarch Mother saved me. She gave me power. Talent. This appearance!"
"Without her… I would be nothing!"
The pressure eased slightly.
"So no matter how much you struggle… I will complete her task."
A sigh echoed through the hall.
"Wow… what a sad little story."
A new voice entered the scene.
A pale young man with deep blue eyes calmly walked into the hall. His gaze briefly passed over Elijah before settling on Amanda.
Scratching his head, visibly irritated, he sighed again.
"I warned you… didn't I?"
Honestly, while Ren had expected something to happen that night, he never imagined things would spiral out of control so quickly, right after he came back from the bathroom.
It felt like he had missed all the fun.
"…You?"
Letting go of Amanda, Elijah straightened and turned his attention to Ren, who had just returned.
"Huff… huff…"
Amanda clutched her own neck, struggling to breathe. Seeing her like that, Ren understood instantly.
The event had already begun.
"Rank 1750… Ren Dover."
"…Hm? Yes?"
Ren shifted his attention fully to Elijah and immediately noticed the relaxed posture. The pressure he gave off was low, far too weak, something close to Rank F.
As a Rank D Djinn, Elijah simply could not see him as a threat.
Ren noticed this. And silently thanked him for it.
Perfect.
A faint smile formed on his face as his mind began to work. Since he was being underestimated, he could take advantage of it.
After all, one of the greatest benefits of maintaining a low profile was exactly this. No one knew what you were truly capable of.
This was especially true for the Keiki Style, a sword art built around a single principle.
One strike, one kill.
All he needed was a clean opening. And the fact that he had hidden his strength until now gave him exactly that. A chance.
Even so, Ren was not confident. Even if he managed to surprise him, the odds were slim.
Very slim.
The difference between Rank F and Rank D was not something that could be easily overcome. Each rank was fundamentally different. Every advancement at least doubled one's previous strength.
Surpassing one rank was already absurd. Two? Nearly impossible.
Even while practicing an unrivaled five star martial manual, at best he could only land a hit, if he went all in.
Knowing this, Ren had prepared himself.
After nearly dying in the dungeon incident, he had learned never to enter a situation like this without a backup plan.
Before even coming to the party, he had sent a message to Thomas, asking for a favor. Since he already suspected something would happen, Ren anticipated Elijah would create some kind of dimensional space to isolate the area.
A dimensional space was a pocket dimension, separated from the outside world. Everything that happened inside it was invisible from the outside. Sounds could not escape, transmissions were cut off, and any request for help became impossible.
For someone trying to hide a crime… it was the perfect setting.
That was why Ren had been specific.
He told Thomas that if his phone suddenly lost signal within the next four hours, he should send an encrypted message directly to Edward Stern, as well as the authorities.
In the message, Ren made it clear.
A villain was attacking the location, multiple students were in danger, and Amanda was one of the targets.
It was not a foolproof plan.
But Thomas was a high ranking member of the black market. The chances of the message reaching Edward Stern and the authorities were high.
Now… all Ren needed to do was buy time.
Scanning the hall, he saw every student collapsed, unconscious. He did not know exactly what drug had been used, but it was not good.
It could be just a sedative. Or something far worse.
Either way, standing still was not an option.
Looking at his skill bar, Ren whispered the name of his newly acquired technique.
"Monarch's Indifference— hm?"
He stopped himself.
"…Was this hall already like this?"
A thin layer of mist spread beneath his feet.
Cold. Dense. Silent.
It crawled across the floor like something alive, slowly consuming the environment.
"W—what is this…?" Ren murmured. "Is this something from that guy?"
He cast a cautious glance at Elijah, expecting it to be some hidden trick of the Djinn.
But strangely… Elijah looked just as surprised as he was.
For several seconds, Amanda, Ren, and Elijah remained silent, watching the mist thicken, swallowing the bodies on the floor and reducing visibility to just a few feet.
"Huh?" Elijah clicked his tongue. "What kind of pathetic trick is this?"
There was disdain in his voice, and a hint of irritation. But before he could think further, something tore through the air. A sequence of notes.
♩… ♪ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♪♬ … ♩… ♪ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♪♬
A melancholic melody echoed through the hall.
The notes seemed to blend with the cold mist, swaying along with it. The sound was soft… distant… as if it came from another world.
A famous melody. The unmistakable sound of an ocarina.
Even so, no one there recognized the notes of Nocturne of Shadow.
♩… ♪ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♪♬ …
The atmosphere changed.
The mist felt heavier. The air, colder.
Ren and Amanda exchanged confused glances.
Elijah, on the other hand, was clearly irritated.
"Tch…"
He took a step forward, ready to charge toward the source of the music, to tear apart whatever was producing that sound.
But then…
A figure began to emerge from the mist.
The notes grew louder. Closer.
A pair of green eyes shone within the fog, cold and indifferent.
A small figure calmly blew into an ocarina.
The mist coiled around his body like a living cloak, slithering in dense waves. When he stopped, he stood only a few meters from the three of them.
His gaze locked directly onto Elijah.
And the melody ceased.
"Hello, President…"