"You dare say these words!?" Albert took a step forward, talking through clenched teeth.
"You! Who had it all right from the beginning! Not only did fate bless you with wealth, but you were born with enough talent to stand tall over all your peers without even trying!"
"And you dare speak about weakness!? There is always someone stronger out there, Cyril! The moment you find out about that, I wonder what excuses you will make!"
"...Or what will you say after we beat you now! It's time to punish you for your arrogance!"
The students standing in a circle all yelled, their eyes gaining more rage. The majority raised their weapons, ready to strike at any moment.
Cyril stood there silently for a second, his face calm. He tried his best to hold back a frown and glanced at Rhamn out of the corner of his eye.
They are insane.
"Alright, repeat after me. This is good so far."
"I wonder," Cyril looked straight at Albert.
The students around suddenly felt a shiver run down their backs. Something changed in those cold blue eyes.
"Is that really your reason for being here? You want to punish me for my pride?" Even his voice appeared different, uncannily so.
"But it is Envy that brought you here, isn't it?"
Albert frowned, but before he could retort, Cyril suddenly stepped forward, raising his voice.
"Albert, son of a guard captain in district 17, the commoner in the academy of nobles." His unusually loud voice made the surroundings silent, while the leader of the rebellion himself widened his eyes.
"How does it feel when your peers are all so much ahead of you? They all received proper education before, but you struggle with even the simplest of spells here. How does it feel to be the worst?"
Albert flinched, his eyes widening.
"Today must be the best day of your life. These nobles scoffed at you before, at your struggle, but now they follow behind you. Maybe you could even stand shoulder to shoulder with them now?"
Some of the students curiously glanced at Albert, who remained silent.
A red butterfly slowly flew in the air around them. Whenever she would pass a student, they would tense up, following her red wings with their eyes.
I feel ridiculous saying all this...
"Just endure for a little longer. These people like the theatrics."
Cyril swallowed his shame and sharply glared at another student among the crowd.
"You."
A broad-shouldered boy flinched under his eyes.
"Lucas, you are a noble. However, no amount of effort can fix your atrocious talent with the sword. And yet you still cling to that toy, swinging it like a child throwing a tantrum."
"Don't worry about disappointing your father. That already happened a long time ago."
Lucas froze, his face draining of color. The sword trembled in his hand.
Before the young man could retort, Cyril moved his finger to a girl standing not too far away.
"Lira. The 'genius alchemist' who nearly blew up the lab during potion making. How many peers must you injure before finally taking a hint? Your whole class hates you by now, even your best friend is sick of your clumsiness."
"No matter how much your family spends on your tuition or what expensive tools they buy, you'll still remain you."
Lira's face quickly lost all its anger, leaving only shame and fear. Her eyes quickly wandered to the students around her. "That's not-!"
But Cyril had already moved on without waiting for an answer.
The other spectators observed with almost morbid curiosity, eager to hear what he says next.
He looked back at Albert, whose eyes lacked their usual spark.
"I could go on, but what I am trying to say is that it doesn't matter who you are, a noble or a commoner."
"Albert, the truth is you were always the same as them. You are all incapable losers with no future, you'll waste your lives achieving nothing of importance, and you all feel bitter about that."
He stepped forward, the circle instinctively moving away. "So you are angry at yourself, and you want to vent your feelings on someone who's not sharing your pathetic weakness."
Cyril raised his head, staring down at them.
"Go ahead and try. But you know what happens next. You'll fail, like you always do."
A heavy silence fell. The hilltop breeze suddenly felt colder.
Then, a whimper broke the stillness. A girl near the back clutched her chest, tears spilling down her cheeks.
"H-how did he know about my d-dad?" A young man dropped his sword with an empty expression.
Another student backed away, muttering something under her breath.
Isn't it going a bit overboard?
How did you even know these things?
"I am just trying to get a needed advantage for our fight. It's not our fault there are so many of them." Rhamn shrugged, the corners of her mouth raised.
"As for how I know... Don't forget I have a good memory! It's just gossip from the academy. I-oh, hold on."
At this moment, Albert, with clenched fists, stepped forward. "Enough! You're just trying to get out of this fight! That will-"
"You would want that, wouldn't you? I am sorry to say, but not one of you will escape this unscathed. You can only blame yourselves."
Cyril openly scoffed and stretched his hand holding the spear forward.
"Remember, you need to make it all look effortless."
He let go, and the metal weapon fell to the grass under the tense looks of everyone around. The sound made them flinch, the fire in their eyes all but gone, replaced by uncertainty.
"I don't even need my spear. You are not worthy."
With this he took a few steps forward, stopping right in front of Albert.
The students around all took a step back. In their eyes, Cyril seemed much bigger all of a sudden.
Albert glared at him, his fists tightly clenched and trembling.
"…!"
But before he could even open his mouth, Cyril suddenly hit him in the stomach.
Albert buckled in and fell to the ground, not able to reply.
With this, the place was thrown into chaos.
Some students immediately attacked him, and some ran away, but it was all disorderly and full of noise.
Cyril sprang into action, dodging the few spells going his way.
In the blink of an eye he reached the closest student. In one fluid motion, he jabbed the student and dashed for the next one, trying to make it look as clean as possible.
At this moment, Morpho aimed at the students casting spells from a distance.
In this way, they began working as a team, with Cyril taking down fighters in close quarters and Morpho protecting him against ranged attacks.
During this, Cyril was grazed a few times by a lucky spell, but the barrier held on until the end.
...
A student with tears in his eyes was thrown on the ground with a kick.
He observed the backs of those running away and stopped Morpho from pursuing.
"We've done enough."
Cyril sighed and looked around at the bodies on the grass, at their despairing faces and tears.
I hope this won't affect their future...
"Don't be so pessimistic. Maybe they needed this experience! This way they will transform! After all, what doesn't kill them..." Rhamn nodded up and down, her face carrying a wide smile as her red eyes practically shone.
You really enjoyed this...
She only shrugged with an innocent expression.
Once the bodies of whining students started disappearing, Albert remained on the ground, his barrier still intact.
His face was pale, his eyes constricted as he looked at Cyril in fear.
"You are a demon!" He slowly crawled backwards.
Cyril flinched and shook his head.
You overdid it.
"You were also in the moment, weren't you?"
Cyril walked up to Albert and crouched down to look him in the eyes.
"If you don't give up until the end, you will grow stronger."
Albert's expression quickly turned confused.
But before he could process it, Cyril suddenly chopped at his head, the barrier breaking this time.
Soon Cyril was the only one left on top of the hill.
At least we are not getting pursued anymore.
He stood up and stared at the cloudy sky for a moment.
Quickly his posture changed, becoming more tired. His breathing was somewhat uneven, and his mana reserves were closer to the bottom than he would like.
Let's go find Myra or Cedric already…
He took a deep breath and walked towards a particular spot.
There, he crouched down under a tree and dug into the earth, revealing a disc-shaped crystal.
I could've lost if I fought with this thing.
A butterfly landed on his shoulder, twitching her antennae in excitement and triumph.
Just then, a dangerous crack of lightning came from behind him.
"...!"
He hastily dodged, throwing the disc-shaped crystal in the air.
Without needing any words, Morpho shot in the air and grabbed it.
Cyril, in the meantime, rolled on the grass, his hand experiencing a numbing pain, hit by the sudden attack.
The barrier around him changed its color even more, closer to breaking than ever.
Cyril recovered from the shock and quickly hid behind a tree to take a breather.
Someone was lying in wait...
"I was hoping to end in a single spell..." A familiar voice approached.
Rose.
"I didn't expect you to be like this." Cyril leaned against the tree as the corners of his mouth subtly arced.
Rose's voice came from behind, helpless and eager at the same time.
"Honestly, this was completely out of my expectations. White flame was supposed to mean you are weakened, but they just didn't care. These students have anger issues... Still, it worked in my favor."
"Wait a second! Was it her!?"
"...Rose, it was you who thought up those signals?"
"Yes. It's not a bad idea, is it?" Rose's voice carried a subtle feeling of pride.
At this moment Morpho flew close and tossed him the disc, her meaning clear.
Cyril held onto the disc, feeling his tired state, and silently nodded.
I'll recover in the meantime.
With his approval, Morpho energetically shot forward.
Prepared to cast a shield at any moment, Cyril cautiously exited his cover.
Rose stood in the open among the trees, her hands at the ready.
Morpho shot forward at her, turning into a blur.
However, a smirk appeared on Rose's face as she yelled.
"Sorry about that, Morpho!"
Just as the butterfly got close, she passed a certain point, and a circle of magic was formed in the air, a trap.
A field of raging electricity briefly formed around Rose.
Morpho was hit by lightning, her tiny barrier becoming red.
Rose quickly cast a spell, and a whip made of lightning appeared in her hand.
She swung it at the butterfly, the whip sending threatening cracks as it moved.
But before the attack could connect, a shield was formed around Morpho, protecting her from all the lightning.
When Cyril saw Morpho about to be harmed, he reflexively cast the shield originally meant for himself.
Seeing this, Rose smoothly pointed at Cyril with her other hand, her smirk growing wider.
The lightning that formed the whip quickly went into Rose's body, transferring to the other arm, to the index finger aimed at him.
With a loud bang, a potent bolt of lightning shot out.
Alarm bells rang out in Cyril's head.
He desperately ducked, keeping his whole body close to the ground.
The bolt barely passed over his head, its strength still managing to damage the barrier somewhat.
The spell went into the tree behind him, utterly destroying its trunk.
With loud cracks filling the air, the tree fell in his direction.
From his crouched position, Cyril rolled as the trunk crashed where he was before.
Morpho, in a panic, retreated back to Cyril, her wings twitching a bit in the air.
Cyril leaned on the trunk, taking deep breaths as the barrier around him was now blinking, ready to break at any moment.
A certain silence now settled between them.
"That was close," Cyril's calm but somewhat out-of-breath voice was the first to break it.
"I hoped it would be a bit closer." Rose's voice carried subdued excitement and a tinge of malice.
"Didn't know she had it in her! Alright, she is not bad, I admit!" Rhamn's red eyes had a flame in them.
Indeed.
Cyril felt an unusual level of liveliness at this moment, as his heart's beat slowly became louder.
"Let's show her that our strength is enough to crush her little schemes!"
At this moment a spell was cast by Rose, and a lightning bolt flew over the trunk.
There it stopped in the air and bizarrely changed its trajectory, going straight for Cyril.
"...!"
He hastily dodged out of the way and gritted his teeth as the bolt destroyed the trunk.
Immediately the sound of another magic circle forming rang in his ear.
Rose's spellcasting is fast...!
Cyril quickly formed a shield around him, it withstanding another bolt, as he felt a drop in his mana.
His breathing turned somewhat more laborious as he clearly felt the mana shortage.
Morpho flew away, hiding among the trees.
Rose began walking in circles around him, warily glancing at where Morpho disappeared to.
"How long will that shield last? How much mana do you have now?" Rose mumbled as her hands slowly cast a spell.
Not much...
A lightning whip appeared in her hand, which she simply held onto.
Her other hand cast another spell, and a magic circle stayed in the air that soon became invisible.
It's that trap... Tell Morpho to be careful.
Cyril's vision began to darken, and a sharp pain slowly grew in the middle of his chest.
Maybe I'll let her have this one... Am I really willing to risk my life over this...?
"W-we are not risking... anything! This will be over soon...!"
Rhamn's voice gradually became weaker, but her red eyes stared ever bright.
"Your face is pale already." Rose shook her head, a victorious smile on her face.
Her blue eyes were full of anticipation and satisfaction at a job well done.
...I can go on a little more.
Cyril took a deep breath and stopped keeping the barrier.
He dashed straight at Rose.
She tensed up and swung her whip.
Just as lightning was slowly approaching him, Cyril suddenly hurled the crystal he was still holding.
It flew straight like a cannonball towards her.
The disc struck her faster than the whip landed on Cyril.
With widened eyes she stumbled, the force of the throw dropping her to the ground, her barrier still intact.
Next Cyril immediately dashed in closer as Rose attempted to cast a spell in haste.
Morpho then flew in from another angle, bypassing the trap.
The red butterfly struck Rose, and soon her body began shaking.
Rose hastily closed her eyes and touched the affected area, negating Selene's technique.
But once she opened them back, she was greeted with Cyril, his fist right in front of her face.
"...I win..." Cyril said through clenched teeth.
"Tch..." Rose relaxed, letting her head drop on the grass.
"I didn't expect you would use the thing you were supposed to protect as a weapon. That was careless of me."
"Ugh, I should have just used a shield! Mana was on my side. What a blunder…"
She mumbled as she stared at the cloudy sky.
"Good enough results, I suppose." Rose slowly pulled out a dagger.
Under Cyril's confused eyes, she struck her palm, breaking the already damaged barrier.
"I've had fun." She nodded to Cyril and subtly smiled.
Then her body slowly disappeared as well, leaving Cyril the only one around.
He immediately dropped on his knees before lying on his back, staring at the cloudy sky himself.
Me too...
Even though sharp pain assaulted his chest, on his face there was still a smile.