Whisper Jr. hummed softly as he reached up to adjust his red mask, his fingers touching the smooth porcelain surface. "Ah..." escaped his lips—a sound of resignation, of decision made.
The sound carries profound disappointment and resignation. "Yes, I knew it. I shouldn't have come to this examination."
He canceled his necromancy instantly.
The effect was immediate and dramatic. All the resurrected monsters—the Throne Wreckers, Stoneguard Abominations, Battlekeep Slayers, and Ironwall Despoilers that had been standing as an undead army—simply collapsed. Their reanimated corpses fell to the ancient stone floor with heavy, echoing thuds that reverberated through Ironhold Fortress' throne room.
Cassius dropped down from the upper level where he'd been farming points, landing gracefully despite the forty-foot fall. He looked directly at Whisper Jr. with his characteristic calm expression. "Thank you for helping me score maximum points. That was quite generous of you."
Whisper Jr. remained completely silent. His red mask slipped from his face and fell to the ground, clattering against the stone with a sharp crack.
Cassius appeared confused, his tactical mind trying to process why the vampire would remove his mask now—
In the next heartbeat, Whisper Jr.'s blood sword materialized at Cassius's throat.
Cassius's eyes widened in genuine surprise as his Sovereign's Acceleration Field activated automatically, his speed increasing drastically. He dodged backward—but not quite fast enough. The razor-sharp blood blade cut slightly across his throat, drawing a thin line of crimson.
What?! Cassius's mind raced as he clutched his neck, golden healing light already pouring from his hand to close the wound instantly.
His face shifted from confusion to cold, stoic calculation in an instant.
Aria, who had been barely standing with her injuries just moments ago, suddenly straightened. Her body healed drastically—bones snapping back into place, flesh reconstructing, her closed left eye reopening with renewed clarity. In less than a second, she'd gone from near-death to combat-ready.
Vassal conditioning, Whisper Jr. thought with repetition in his mind like a mantra.
Both Cassius and Aria rushed forward simultaneously, their coordination perfect and wordless.
Aria's bare knuckles, still covered in Viper's Embrace gauntlets, aimed directly at Whisper Jr.'s throat with killing intent. He dodged elegantly, his vampire reflexes allowing him to flow around the strike like water. He countered with a precise strike to her neck—
She spun her face slightly mid-motion, reducing the impact from lethal to merely damaging, taking it on the side of her jaw instead of her windpipe.
Cassius's white spear—Ivory Piercer—impaled Whisper Jr.'s left shoulder from behind, the enchanted weapon punching clean through muscle and bone. Cassius pressed the advantage ruthlessly, using the embedded spear as leverage to push the vampire directly toward Aria.
Aria executed a devastating spinning kick aimed at Whisper Jr.'s neck with clear intent to snap his spine like a twig.
Whisper Jr. created a Blood Aegis—a defensive wall of solidified blood—to block the strike. The kick shattered through it anyway, but the momentary resistance gave him time to react. The spear tore completely through his shoulder as he moved, separating the limb partially—
But he delivered a brutal, bone-crushing backhanded punch to Cassius's face that sent the prince flying backward twenty feet, his body crashing into ancient stone rubble.
Aria followed up instantly with a gut punch, her fingers digging deep into Whisper Jr.'s abdomen with surgical precision. She literally ripped out his liver with her bare hand, the organ coming free in a spray of blood and viscera.
Whisper Jr. was pushed backward from the force, but he flicked his fingers calmly despite the mortal wound.
The surrounding blood—Cassius's, Aria's, his own, the monster corpses—instantly transformed into dozens of sharp projectiles that pierced Aria's neck completely, embedding themselves deep. They began burrowing deeper, attempting to tear her apart from the inside—
Cassius was already standing again, his jaw completely missing—torn off by that backhanded punch. Blood dripped steadily from the horrific wound, but he showed no pain. He hurled his spear toward Whisper Jr.'s head with enhanced strength—
The vampire dodged with minimal movement, his eyes tracking the weapon's trajectory perfectly.
Can he react to my accelerated speed? No... it's the small amount of blood particles in the air. He's reading the atmospheric shifts caused by movement.
Cassius closed the distance in an instant, now holding Aria's Serpent's Fang Whip that she'd tossed to him mid-combat.
He slashed horizontally with devastating force, the whip cutting clean through Whisper Jr.'s torso and completely bisecting him at the waist. The vampire's upper and lower body separated, falling in different directions.
Behind the separated halves, Aria appeared like a phantom, grabbing Cassius's floating spear mid-air with perfect timing. She thrust it directly toward where Whisper Jr.'s severed upper body was falling, aiming to pierce his brain—
The Stoneguard Abominations suddenly reanimated, their eyes glowing with renewed necromantic energy. Their Petrifying Gaze activated simultaneously, freezing both Aria and Cassius in place for a critical second through sheer magical paralysis.
The Ironwall Despoilers appeared on the walls above, and thick, hissing acid began showering down from their grotesque bodies.
Cassius broke free from the paralysis, dodging the acid rain with his enhanced speed—
Aria wasn't fast enough. The acid melted her completely. Her dominant right arm dissolved into nothing. Her face liquefied, exposing her brain and skull beneath. But she held onto the spear with her remaining hand like it was life itself, refusing to release the weapon even as she died and regenerated simultaneously in continuous agony.
Whisper Jr.'s bisected body was already regenerating, the two halves reconnecting—when his neck was suddenly slashed by an invisible attack, cutting halfway through his spine. He looked genuinely surprised for the first time.
He remained silent for a long moment, his vampire body trying to heal the critical neck wound. Then he muttered quietly, "I forfeit. I apologize."
Cassius's jaw had finished regenerating, the bone and flesh restored to perfect condition. He fixed it with a casual motion, testing the movement. "I told you so," he said calmly, his voice carrying no triumph—just a cold statement of fact. He turned and started walking away, his white spear reforming in his hand.
Vampires are immortal... but not completely, Cassius thought analytically. To kill one, you must strike when they're actively using their mana circuits for techniques. During that moment of conversion, they're vulnerable.
He paused, glancing back thoughtfully. "But I wonder... was he truly upset about my point farming? Or was it something else?".
He glanced back at Aria. She was shaking terribly, her body in a constant cycle of melting from residual acid and healing from her vassal conditioning. Her face remained silent, but profound agony registered in every twitching muscle, every spasm. Her eyeballs were leaking out of their sockets like egg whites, only to be pulled back in by regeneration.
"Take rest," Cassius said,
"I'll handle the rest."
He touched her shoulder gently, and golden healing light flowed into her, accelerating the recovery process.
Aria collapsed onto the floor immediately, unconscious.
Cassius stood beside her prone form, humming thoughtfully. Is he upset about vassal reconditioning? The Kingdom of Light really produces idealists who can't accept reality.
He looked up toward where the professors would be watching. "Don't teleport her. She's not in actual danger—just needs time to fully recover."
Whisper Jr. stood motionless, his body fully regenerated now. "Is there any point in continuing to beat you?" Cassius asked conversationally.
The vampire nodded slowly, then reached for his fallen red mask—but instead, he simply crushed it beneath his foot, grinding the porcelain into powder.
"What you're doing is wrong," he stated simply, his voice carrying absolute conviction.
Cassius looked at him with an expression of genuine confusion, as if the vampire had just spoken nonsense. "Who decided that?"
He smiled coldly. "Losers don't get to decide right and wrong. In fact, they don't get to decide anything at all."
His fingers, tapping lightly against his own temple in a gesture of mock thought. "It's winners who shape the flow of life, who write history, who define morality itself."
He gestured grandly toward the academy above. "Take the Hero as an example. He gets to run an entire academy, doesn't he? To shape the next generation's understanding of good and evil? That's the privilege of victory."
The Monitoring Control Room was simply, utterly silent. Seniors and professors alike remained frozen, unable to process what they'd just witnessed.
Professor Whisper hands trembled where they gripped the armrests—then the wood cracked audibly beneath her fingers, splintering from unconscious pressure that exceeded human norms.
"Professor..." Professor Marcus began, then stopped. What could anyone possibly say? Her son had been humiliated, used as a point farm, then discarded.
But the fact remained that it was faculty irresponsibility that had allowed this escalation. Maybe it was because the sight of Vassal Reconditioning had triggered old memories of similar practices from decades past, creating psychological hesitation. Maybe it was a shock at Cassius's ruthless efficiency.
But the only thing that mattered now was their own failure to teleport Whisper Jr. away before the first lethal exchange. The short fight had lasted only nine seconds—yet it had been enough to cause potentially irrecoverable psychological damage.
If Whisper Jr. had taken full measures from the start, Cassius wouldn't have survived, Professor Marcus thought grimly. But neither would Whisper Jr. have survived when Cassius had opportunities for true killing blows. Both held back just enough to avoid death... but not enough to avoid brutality.
"Teleport him," Professor Whisper whispered, her voice barely audible.
"Professor?" Loren asked uncertainly.
"Teleport my son. Now." Her voice cracked on the last word, the usually emotionless woman's facade finally breaking.
The emergency teleportation activated immediately, golden light consuming Whisper Jr.'s battered form.
The scene shifted to Zone 3: The Frozen Wastes.
Ashen and Serina stood in defensive stances, Serina positioned strategically behind Ashen's massive bulk.
Raul hummed with amusement, his black mask gleaming in the pale arctic light.
"Senior Raul doesn't have any special element," Ashen muttered to Serina, his voice low and urgent. "But he has monster-level mastery in Titan Slaying Arts—techniques
His white hair was matted with sweat and blood. "Dodge like your life depends on it. Because it does."
Raul chuckled, the sound echoing across the frozen wasteland. "Shouldn't you follow your own advice?" He gestured mockingly at Ashen's bloody, split lips.
Serina gritted her teeth and fired a lightning bolt that struck Raul's face directly with a thunderous crack.
He tanked it without even flinching, the electricity dispersing across his body harmlessly through sheer physical conditioning.
Ashen rushed forward, his massive fist cocked back in what appeared to be a straightforward punch—
But it was a feint to obscure Raul's vision. The real attack came from a different angle. Ashen's other fist crashed into Raul's liver with explosive force, the impact creating a visible shockwave.
For the first time, blood trickled from Raul's lips.
Then Ashen started pummeling him—rapid, brutal strikes to face and throat, each one carrying enough force to shatter stone. The sheer speed and power of the combination was overwhelming.
Raul was actually pushed backward, his feet carving furrows in the ice. He muttered, "Definitely, definitely Aurora's younger brother. Those hits are legitimately hard."
Taking a deep breath, Raul's entire body shifted into a different combat stance—
Ashen fired his Dragonfire Breath point-blank, the concentrated flames engulfing Raul completely.
But through the fire, Raul grabbed Ashen's jaws, forcibly closing his mouth and cutting off the flame. He slammed his forehead into Ashen's face with brutal efficiency, their skulls meeting with a sickening crunch.
"Don't get grabbed, you moron!" Serina screamed desperately.
A powerful gust of wind suddenly blew Raul away from Ashen, separating them forcibly.
He landed gracefully—and immediately a lightning bolt struck his face again. This time it actually burned slightly, leaving a scorch mark as he'd blocked it with his raised hand at the last instant.
He looked directly at Serina, noticing her eyes shaking with a mixture of fear and exhilaration. "Oh! So after experiencing a Chain Strike, you're finally fired up and serious!"
Ashen appeared behind Raul to deliver another devastating punch—
Raul stomped the ground with explosive force, the ice shattering in a massive radius. The footing of everyone broke simultaneously, chunks of ice flying into the air.
Instantly recognizing the threat, Ashen screamed, "Look out!"
Serina startled, her concentration breaking. She looked up to see Raul approaching at impossible speed. Her mind went completely blank with terror—
He leaped forward, landing on top of her, grabbing her face with one massive hand and smashing it with his knee. The impact was so brutal it knocked her unconscious instantly, her body going limp.
He grabbed her by the hair, lifting her like a ragdoll, and threw her away. She tumbled across the ice, leaving a trail of blood.
Raul looked at Ashen with something like pity. "I'm sorry, but you're not even close to Aurora's level. Honestly, I never thought the difference between siblings would be this enormous."
His voice dropped, becoming crueler. "No wonder your father picked her over you as successor to House Drakonis. A wise decision, clearly."
Ashen groaned, his mind racing with fury and shame. "I'll pummel you into the ground for that."
To his threat, Raul merely chuckled. "Do you seriously think you can overpower me through brute force?"
Raul folded his arms casually, looking at Ashen with genuine disappointment. "I thought you wanted to be better than Aurora, right? To be someone more than just her shadow. But you're acting worse than a shadow—you have no substance at all. You rushed into battle without strategy, ignored your mage who was supporting you, and now you're completely cornered. It's important to be self-reliant, yes—but also to be aware of your allies. Without them, you'll be crushed."
"Quit lecturing me!" Ashen gritted out.
Raul closed the distance instantly. His punch landed clean on Ashen's jaw, a perfect strike that rattled his brain.
Ashen punched back desperately—only to have it blocked effortlessly. Raul simply pounded him with brutal efficiency, each strike precise and devastating.
Massive draconic wings erupted from Ashen's back. He flew into the air, pouring down torrents of hot flame.
Raul clapped his hands together hard, the shockwave dispersing the flames. "Come down. Don't embarrass yourself further."
Raul launched himself into the air through pure physical might, closing the impossible distance. Ashen dodged and punched—Raul blocked it.
Then Raul frowned. "Stronger? You're getting stronger mid-combat?"
He saw Ashen's body beginning to transform further, scales spreading across skin. "Alright... you're just dumb. A dumb, passionate idiot."
Ashen's body grew explosively—grew massively—into his complete True Dragon Form. His flames flickered wildly, uncontrolled and unfiltered, burning monsters and potentially nearby students indiscriminately.
Raul quickly grabbed the unconscious Serina and placed her safely under a tree far from the combat zone.
Then he launched himself back into the air, his Titan Slaying Arts: Heaven Piercer technique allowing impossible vertical movement.
Ashen's dragon body was magnificent—"white-gray scales" covering most of his form with striking yellow scales around his massive wings. He had two powerful arms, enormous wings that blotted out the sky, and thick, muscular legs. His serpentine neck ended in a fearsome draconic head.
He rushed toward Raul, jaws opening to incinerate—
Raul pierced through the flames completely unbothered, his hands glowing with concentrated technique energy. "Idiot."
His fist connected with the dragon's head with devastating force, instantly cracking Ashen's skull. The young Drakonis collapsed from the sky, transforming back to human form as he fainted.
"Sighing... to think I'll have to save the very students I'm supposed to eliminate. What a messy situation," Raul muttered. "But you know what? I like that passion of yours. Just remember—passion shouldn't come at the cost of others' safety."
His smile widened as he sensed something. He turned to see Serina standing, her eyes opened impossibly wide. Her face was blank, almost doll-like.
"Her presence was completely still. Empty. Waiting."
"An awakening?" Raul hummed, grinning with genuine excitement. "You keep surprising me, Serina!".