After shutting one more mouth, Jax was walking away with Lilith in his arms. But then he saw the girls standing at the entrance.
Roxana. Astrid. Elira. Seraphina. Seris. And Zharina too, who looked just as shocked as the rest of them.
But Jax’s eyes found Elira. And a grin spread across his bloody face.
He turned back toward the VIP box. Toward the Vampire King. Toward every leader still seated inside.
"Open your ears and hear this out."
His voice carried the weight of a man who had already crossed every line and had no intention of walking back.
"I don’t give a fuck about whatever sins you commit. Whatever gas you play against anyone. But if your path crosses mine, or the ones I consider mine, then I swear I will make your existence so much of a hell that death will feel like rcy...."
He paused. "But it will be too far out of reach to even claim."
His eyes landed directly on Elira’s father.
"So keep that in mind. Today it was the Pope and the others. Next, it could be you. Who knows."
The Dragon Empire King spoke. His deep voice rumbling through the tension.
"You are making everyone your enemy. And you know what that will result in? You will be labeled a villain. A great threat to the world. With the arrogance you carry at this re age."
Jax smiled. "Villain. That’s a nice nickna."
He adjusted Lilith in his arms.
"But you know that villains only lose in your stupid stories. Not in real life."
His smile sharpened.
"And if it’s co down to this, then I’ll take that title as an honor. And I’ll personally make sure you never get to see the hero win."
Dead silence.
They watched his back as he walked off. The day had been beyond bizarre for every leader seated in that room. A boy had walked in like a lion between the powerhouses of the world.
He humbled most of them through words alone. He didn’t even try to fight. His mouth was the weapon that silenced every voice in the room.
He was threatened constantly. By kings. By academy heads. By n who could level cities with a gesture.
And instead of fear, his face showed nothing but anger and a rage so concentrated that even the leaders wanted to avoid provoking it further.
In their entire lives, none of them had witnessed anything like today. A boy walked in. Humbled them all. Took their captive from their custody without permission. And left.
Just left.
Roxana stood at the entrance as Jax approached. The other girls flanked her on both sides. She looked at his face.
He didn’t look satisfied. Not even close. That cold, unbothered expression hadn’t changed. As if everything he had just done in that room ant nothing to him.
He ignored every single one of them. Walked past them as if they didn’t exist.
Roxana stood between Jax’s retreating back and the VIP box full of world leaders. Her mind split in two directions. Should she go inside? Discuss things with her sister and the others? Try to smooth the damage?
Or go after Jax?
The answer was simple. The most important thing right now was keeping an eye on him. He wasn’t in the right mind. If soone crossed his path between here and wherever he was going, he would end their life without a second thought.
She hurried after him. The others followed. Seraphina and Elira paused just long enough to peek at their fathers’ confused and terrified faces inside the box before turning and following Jax.
He walked out of the departnt building and into the open air. At the exit, hundreds of people were gathered in the arena. More than that packed the spectator stands. The broadcast had drawn every soul on campus to one place.
Lilith looked up at Jax’s face from his arms.
"Professor, I can walk from here."
She wasn’t afraid of him now. She was afraid of what he might do next. Just for her. It was eating her from the inside. Why was he going to these lengths for a girl like her?
She didn’t owe him anything. He didn’t owe her anything. But he had torn through professors, leaders, and a holy church head as if they were obstacles in his morning routine.
But this wasn’t the ti to ask why.
Jax looked down at her. "Don’t lie. I can feel your legs shaking even in my hold."
His eyes scanned the surroundings. Lilith followed his gaze.
Because slowly, one by one, every gaze in the arena was turning toward them. Toward the man carrying the girl. Toward the demon everyone had just watched grow up through a projection.
After a few monts, every person present was aware of their presence.
Their faces were hard to read. A mix of emotions. So still carried fear. So showed pity. So held sothing else entirely. Sothing that hadn’t been there an hour ago.
But seeing Jax carrying Lilith and walking straight toward the dical departnt, they did sothing no one ordered them to do.
They cleared the path.
Without a word. Without a command. Hundreds of people stepped aside and created a clear walkway for them to pass through.
Jax didn’t acknowledge it. He just walked.
And in the middle of that path, he stopped.
Because of what one voice said.
"We are sorry, Lilith!"
Finding that person in the crowd was impossible. But it didn’t matter. Because he wasn’t the only one. Voices from every corner ca flooding in like a dam had broken.
"We are sorry, Lilith! Sorry for demanding your death! For cursing you! For everything!"
"Forgive us, Lilith!"
"We were wrong! We were wrong!"
"Azrakh was no demon! Azrakh was a hero!"
"Your father was a hero!"
"All hail the true hero, Azrakh Vorlach!"
"Azrakh! Azrakh! Azrakh!"
"Azrakh!"
"Azrakh!"
"His na shall not be forgotten!"
"We were blind! We were blind!"
"Lilith! Daughter of a hero!"
"Stand tall, Lilith! Stand tall!"
"Lilith!"
"Lilith!"
"Lilith Vorlach!"
"Lilith Vorlach!"
The chants overlapped. Collided. Each carrying a different aning. A different emotion. A different shade of guilt and admiration and realization.
So were sobbing while they spoke. So were shouting with clenched fists. So just whispered the na as if saying it louder would break them.
And none of it was fake. None of it ca from fear. Every voice was genuine.
Jax’s face twitched. Just barely. A small, satisfied smile cracked through his mask before he forced it back into place.
He looked down at Lilith’s face.
Her eyes were darting from one person to another. Scanning the crowd. Trying to trace who was saying what. Trying to match voices to faces. Trying to understand how the sa world that wanted her dead an hour ago was now chanting her father’s na like a prayer.
Tears had ford in her eyes.
Jax spoke. Quietly. Just for her.
"Looks like you’ve beco quite a celebrity. Don’t forget your lowlife professor in your new life."
That broke her.
The tears ca flooding. She grabbed fistfuls of his runic gear and pulled herself into him. Her face buried so deep in his chest that her sobs were muffled against his heartbeat.
"Thank you, Professor Jax." Her voice was shattered between the crying. "Thank you for everything. Thank you for staying by my side till the very end. I will never ever forgive you—"
Before she could finish, Jax cut in. "Oh co on. You know what I did to the people who made you cry, right? And now you’re making feel guilty for doing the sa thing."
She rubbed her cheeks against his chest. Pulled back slightly. And gave him a teary smile that carried more gratitude than any words in any language could express.
anwhile, two people at the back of the group were experiencing sothing entirely different.
Zharina felt like she was watching a stranger. This wasn’t the sa man she had considered her enemy. The scher. The manipulator. The arrogant bastard she wanted to crush. For the first ti since eting him, she felt like she had been wrong about this guy all along.
And then there was Astrid. Who was the most jealous person in this entire arena right now. And she didn’t even know why she was having that feeling.
—x—X—x—
At the sa evening of the sa chaotic day, Jax was in his carriage. The vehicle rode through the academy grounds, pulled along by his half-vampire driver.
The driver was sweating. His face bore sha and embarrassnt that he couldn’t hide no matter how hard he gripped the reins.
Because the carriage was shaking.
Continuously. Rhythmically. Despite the road being perfectly flat with no bumps or obstructions in sight.
The driver was panicking. Because he knew exactly what was happening inside.
—x—X—x—
[A/N: Thanks to tony_adams_4787, Littleboy18794 and Milk_Man_4767 for the Golden Tickets, and thank you everyone for the constant support as well!]
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