Before the tide could even be turned by Mr. Alfonsi's hidden ability, it was already shifting, violently so. And it was not in the favor of Bell and Co.
Ernit was caught mid-dash.
For a split second, there was nothing behind him. Then space folded, and a sword appeared at his back, thrusting forward with murderous precision. The strike was aimed cleanly at his heart.
Ernit had seen Mr. Alfonsi's attention being on Kevin, which was why he dashed forward in the first place. He hadn't expected it to be a trap by Mr. Alfonsi, who had predicted his movement, and when Ernit reacted, he had moved on instinct alone.
He twisted his torso at the last possible moment. The blade missed his heart but tore through his arm instead.
Blood sprayed out like water shooting out of a hose.
"Fuck!" he screamed, his first word since the battle began.
The arm wasn't severed, but the damage was severe. Muscle shredded. Bone cracked. Whatever strength he'd had in it was gone. Without proper medical care, it wouldn't recover properly, and in a battle like this, that meant everything.
For someone who relied on both hands to fight, Ernit had just been reduced to barely a factor.
Mr. Alfonsi immediately followed it up by trying to finish the job; two swords snapped shut toward Ernit's neck from opposite sides, scissoring in for the kill.
Quinn and Kevin intercepted them simultaneously.
Steel screamed as blade met blade. Quinn's massive sword slammed one aside while Kevin's shield and spear deflected the other just enough for Ernit to stumble backward.
"Get back," Quinn said.
"Hey there, buddy," Mr. Alfonsi laughed lightly as he kicked off the wall and rolled away from the counterattack that followed, his movements fluid despite the chaos. "Looks like you might want to get that arm checked out."
"Sorry, Young Master," Ernit muttered through clenched teeth as he retreated fully to Bell's position.
From here on out, he had to play it safe.
"Drink this," Bell said as he handed him a potion. "Wrap up that arm before it falls off."
Ernit didn't hesitate to listen to orders and ripped off his sleeves, turning them into a wrap that kept his arm "intact" as well as slowing down the bleeding somewhat.
With one functioning arm, he could still fight up close, but it was a liability. Instead, he shifted to a support role, remaining near Bell, throwing daggers when he could, reclaiming them as the battlefield shifted, then throwing them again.
But Bell didn't stay back with him.
"Protect the kid," Bell said sharply as he loosed the remainder of his arrows in rapid succession, forcing Mr. Alfonsi to defend just as he was about to attack Quinn and Kevin, who had been put on the defensive a moment ago.
Then Bell dropped his bow.
The sound of it hitting the ground barely registered.
Thud.
He reached behind his back and drew two shortswords in one smooth motion.
"Got it," Ernit replied.
"Oh?" Mr. Alfonsi's smile widened as he parried an incoming strike from Bell. "Hey there, black mask man. I didn't expect you to join the fray. I thought you were just an archer. Welcome, welcome. The party's open to all."
Bell continued to surge forward, blades flashing along with the sparks created by his allies.
Admittedly, he didn't fill the exact role Ernit had, but he didn't need to. His timing was precise, his movements efficient, and his presence alone was enough to pull momentum back toward their side. If anything, although he was slower and weaker than Ernit, Mr. Alfonsi couldn't help but think that, for some reason, it was harder to defend against Bell than Ernit.
It was almost as if Bell knew his movements and attack pattern like the back of his hand. He shook his head. That was impossible. He hadn't fought like this since he entered the country, and it was impossible for Bell to have analyzed and learned his entire style so soon.
How wrong he was.
Then Mr. Alfonsi's eyes flicked toward the staircase.
"Oh," he said pleasantly. "And here we go. Three more guests. I was wondering when you'd make your entrance. You three sure took your sweet time."
The three girls had reached the basement.
Two of them froze in shock.
Diana didn't.
Mr. Alfonsi was mid-swing when a spear of ice screamed through the air toward his back. He twisted, forcing his free hand upward. A sword formed just in time but shattered on impact as the icicle exploded into frost and shards. Both vanished simultaneously.
"Is that Mr. Alfonsi?" Grace exclaimed, horror flashing across her face. "Why did you attack him?! We need to help—"
She already had a bad opinion of Bell. Now, it seemed he might be even worse than she had imagined.
Not only had he corrupted her rival, but he was openly attacking a teacher. No wonder he wore a mask, surrounded by similarly disguised allies. They were here to commit a crime. A coordinated one. She needed to free Maya from his grasp before she was too far gone to save.
"Stop." Diana thrust an arm out, blocking her path. "He's the one who created the barrier. Look over there."
She pointed.
"See that student? He was kidnapped. By him."
"…How do you know that?" Peneri asked. The more she was with Diana, the more it felt like there were secrets that her best friend was withholding from her.
"Trust me. Mason!"
Mason was in the middle of casting a buff when he looked up toward the staircase. He'd been so focused on maintaining support that he hadn't even noticed the three girls arrive, though recognition of who they were hit him instantly once he did.
'What are they doing here?!' he wondered. And how did Diana know her name?
The answer is that she heard when she was on the first floor.
"Were you kidnapped by Mr. Alfonsi?" Diana called out.
"Yes!" Mason screamed, his voice hoarse and cracking. He could see that they looked confused about the situation. He needed to clarify the situation as soon as possible. "Help us! He's a bad person!"
"Told you," Diana said and dashed forward.
'Fast!' Mr. Alfonsi thought as he narrowly avoided three attacks converging at once. Diana stomped her foot, ice surging outward in a freezing wave as blades and arrows pressed in alongside it.
He hadn't expected her to be that fast.
"Diana," Mr. Alfonsi greeted as if she was passing him in the hallways, dodging again, "it's good to see you. I honestly didn't think you'd return to school after what happened. Tell me, did it feel good when—"
"Shut your mouth."
Diana extended her left arm, index and middle fingers pressed together, and pointed straight at him. Her other hand clawed at the air, pulling back again and again as ice arrows formed and fired in rapid succession.
"Ah," Mr. Alfonsi chuckled. "Right. You wanted that kept quiet. My apologies."
Peneri frowned. She didn't know what they were talking about, but against her better judgment, even though she knew that her best friend didn't want it to be revealed, she wished he'd keep talking. It was a very selfish desire, and she was immediately disgusted with herself.
For better or for worse, Mr. Alfonsi did not continue.
Bell noticed something else entirely.
As he fought, arrows occasionally skimmed just past him, close enough to feel the wind, before redirecting toward Mr. Alfonsi. It was surely nothing more than just a "coincidence". Right. Just a coincidence.
'I expected Grace,' he thought as he twisted midair to avoid a flying sword, landing on one knee before launching forward again. 'But Diana and Peneri too? Why are they here?'
Peneri had already made her choice.
She didn't fully understand what was happening, but she trusted Diana. And also, Mason's words had erased any lingering doubt. But, more than his words, it was her trust in Diana that led her to attack a teacher of Trinity Academy.
Pulling her sunglasses down, she released slow-moving bubbles into the battlefield. They were easy enough to dodge on their own, but amid the chaos, they became dangerous distractions.
They were like heat-seeking missiles, and they followed around the target that she aimed them at.
Mr. Alfonsi knew exactly what they were. He knew his students, and even students who didn't have his class. She was similar to Mason except unlike him, who buffed his allies, she debuffed and poisoned her foes. Those bubbles had different effects, such as the purple one that would poison him.
He avoided them with extreme care.
That moment of caution was all Maya needed.
She appeared behind him and drove a dagger into his thigh.
He reacted instantly, catching her wrist and kicking her square in the stomach, sending her flying back into the wall.
He would've done more, such as cut off her neck, but he didn't have enough time as he had to immediately block more attacks that came his way.
"Damn," he said with a grin. "This party's getting lively."
Grace was the last to move.
She hesitated.
It wasn't that she distrusted Diana or even Mason's testimony. It was simply difficult to accept that a teacher from their academy could be like this. That this wasn't all some terrible misunderstanding.
And as a noble, ganging up on a single opponent, especially while masked — well, that looked awful. If she hadn't known who was behind one of those masks, she might have assumed they were criminals.
What kind of noble dressed and acted so thuggishly?
Bell Agnus, of course.
Of course. Of course, of course.
Her heart resisted the truth.
Her mind, on the other hand, didn't. It knew what the correct decision to make was.
She hadn't brought her weapon, so she grabbed two of the daggers Ernit had thrown earlier.
The moment she activated her star ability, Mr. Alfonsi felt it.
His body suddenly felt like it weighed a thousand kilograms.
His movements slowed drastically. Not to the point that he was unable to move, but just enough for an opening to be made in that moment of sudden change of weight.
Quinn didn't miss the opening.
Steel flashed, and one of Mr. Alfonsi's fingers hit the ground. Even while he was slowed down, he had still managed to avoid most of the damage with a block, albeit not all of it.
An ice shard had also pierced his side a heartbeat later.
"If I'd known Grace Hartley was upstairs," Mr. Alfonsi laughed through the pain, "I would've run."
"Thanks for the compliment," Grace replied with her chest pointed out pridefully.
Mr. Alfonsi exhaled.
"I don't want to kill you kids," he said as his weight returned to normal. The ability of Grace didn't last long, mere seconds only. He blocked another perfectly timed barrage of strikes. "But don't blame me if you lose an arm or two. I want to live."
Then he activated his ability.
Cracks tore through the air around them, similar to when they were pulled into the pocket dimension.
They spread rapidly, spiderwebbing outward, until space itself shattered.
Four portals yawned open.
And from each one stepped another Mr. Alfonsi.
"Let's dance," one of them said.