A few minutes before the exam ended.
Allen led the charge through the horde of monsters blocking their path. He used a spear to pierce through their ranks, opening the way for the other students to cut through.
"Keep pushing! The castle is in sight!"
His words echoed across the battlefield, raising the morale of every student.
As long as they could reach the outer walls of the castle, the exam would be over.
Their steps grew quicker and the force behind their swings stronger. They gave their all in this last-ditch mont to reach the castle.
Cutting down the last creature blocking their way, the path to the castle was finally clear.
Blood rushed through the veins of everyone as their hearts thumped excitedly. Still, they remained vigilant as they made the last few steps toward the goal.
Sylph also walked behind everyone, her breaths coming out in heavy pants. She was too exhausted to even fly and was forced to walk alongside the other students.
"Co on, Sylph. We’re almost there!"
Fiona appeared beside her, patting her back as she helped her keep up with the rest of the students.
"Hah...Hah, thanks." Sylph smiled gratefully, a small amount of energy returning because of Fiona’s encouragent. It gave her just enough energy to make the final push toward the castle, finally escaping the dense forest they had been running through all this ti.
Red light shone down from the sky as Sylph crossed the treeline and stepped into the open field right outside the castle.
"Hm?"
Strangely, instead of the excited cheers she had expected to hear from everyone, she was t with an unusual silence.
The person in front of her had co to a standstill as well, his gaze lingering upward.
Suddenly, she heard a gasp from beside her. Turning, she saw that Fiona’s face had turned pale as if she had seen sothing horrible.
Sylph also wanted to turn her head to see what she was looking at.
"W-Wait, Sylph! D-Don’t look!" Fiona finally said, but it was already too late.
"...."
Sylph’s eyes widened in a daze, not quite understanding what she was seeing.
"Iris?"
It was the sa blue hair and dazzling light blue wings she knew all too well. Her expression wasn’t as stern as when she usually scolded Sylph; instead, her eyes were closed in what appeared to be a deep slumber.
’...Is she sleeping?’
Sylph thought, but her expression was already turning increasingly pale the more she looked.
’Why is she tied up then?’
Her eyes grew dim seeing Iris’s hands tied above her head as her body hung from a pole atop the demon king’s castle walls. Her wings slumped loosely to the sides, unmoving as if she was used for display.
However, before she could think further on the matter, the sound of the exam ending played from everyone’s wristwatch and she was teleported out.
****
The atmosphere in the private booth was tense.
Cold sweat dripped from Alec’s back as he felt the temperature in the room alternate rapidly.
"Instructor Alec, if I may be so bold as to ask, what is the aning of this?"
A cold voice cut through the room as Elder Rain’s stern gaze landed on him and a chilling cold blanketed the room.
"Yes, I wonder just what reason would warrant one of our clansn being hung up for display?"
Elder Sumr’s voice was full of sarcasm as the temperature in the room rose again to a scorching high.
"T-This—" Alec struggled to co up with an explanation. Truth be told, this part of the event wasn’t planned by the academy, but how could he possibly tell them that?
’Damn that brat! Just what the hell is he thinking?!’
He cursed the blue-eyed bastard in his head, but he was rapidly trying to co up with an explanation when the atmosphere in the stadium shifted again.
Everyone’s attention was temporarily drawn to the shift, allowing Alec the chance to breathe; however, he dared not relax as he saw the large-scale holographic image shift again, this ti displaying a screen.
The private screens of everyone also shifted, replicating the large-scale one.
The screen revealed a large, dark chamber that stretched a few dozen ters. The cara slowly walked up the central path of the chamber, eventually coming before a black throne.
The figure of soone could barely be made out sitting on it, leaning against the armrest with his hand supporting his head in a look of boredom.
The room was too dark to make out any facial features, but the vague silhouette clearly wasn’t human.
Two horns protruded from his forehead, and he seed to be wearing sharp tallic armor.
Suddenly, the figure’s eyes snapped open, his piercing gaze staring directly into the cara. Two glowing blue orbs of fla seed to reside within them, threatening to burn the whole world down.
Several people swallowed nervously, almost as if they could feel those eyes staring directly through them. So even felt their temperature rise as if the fire was real, while others felt unbearably cold. Even the people watching the stream from ho could feel the raw power contained within those eyes.
A pressure suddenly exploded from the figure, causing the cara to shake rapidly before being disconnected, the screen footage cut short.
Everyone in the stadium stared in shock at the pressure that radiated from the figure. Despite seeing him through a screen, it almost felt like they could feel the explosion carry through the screen and directly bore down on them.
Just then, a new line of text began to form in the air.
[I await you at the top of my castle.]
The text slowly unraveled, leaving everyone in a stunned silence.
Then, the stadium erupted in noise.
"Holy shit, was that the Demon King?"
"What the hell is up with the academy this year? Where did they get the budget for all this?"
"Is that what you’re worrying about? I’m more concerned about how they managed to put a Rank Three creature into their exams! Did you see the final transformation of the goatman?"
"Not to ntion the Demon King just now—that person is at least Martial Master rank! And did you see that ssage? He’s clearly challenging the students!"
"Hahaha, this year’s festival is looking to be pretty interesting."
While everyone was still heatedly discussing what had just happened, the atmosphere inside the private booth remained unchanged.
After observing the Demon King’s ssage, the Elders returned their attention to Alec, still awaiting a response.
Luckily, during the ti the ssage played, Alec had received a briefing from the Academy about what had happened and now knew how to handle the situation.
"Ahem, regarding the Elders’ previous question. The reason Miss Iris was captured actually pertains to the contents of the exam, and she can be considered a central figure in the next part."
Elder Sumr and Elder Rain frowned in confusion, while Elder Seraphis continued to stroke his beard as he awaited the explanation.
"As you may know, the next exam is designed for the second-year students and will also serve as the continuation of the Demon King plot. One of the conditions to pass the test is to rescue one of their captured allies, who holds the key to defeating the Demon King."
"And that ally is Iris." Elder Sumr’s frown eased slightly as a sigh escaped her lips. "You humans really know how to play, don’t you?"
"Ahaha..." Alec laughed awkwardly, seeing that the Elders were sowhat satisfied with this answer.
He dared not tell them that this was all the doing of one of their students; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to guess how they’d react.
"Since that matter is settled, I suppose we can return to the previous problem," Elder Rain said with a slightly relieved tone, knowing that Iris was safe, but his expression quickly turned stern with his next words. "Where is Lake?"
The eyes of all three Elders turned sharp. They still had not forgotten the matter about Sylph and it was about ti that they settled it.
Alec smiled wryly as he offered his condolences to Lake in his mind.
’You brought this on yourself, brat.’
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