Ren stood up, scanning the scorched area where multiple Shadow beasts remained unharmed by Lucas's attack. Their dark forms prowled menacingly across the charred ground, eyes glinting with malevolent intent as they searched for their next victim.
Suddenly, a student lunged forward, grabbed Ren, and dove out of harm's way. The timing proved crucial as a gigantic serpent composed entirely of Shadow materialized where they had stood moments before, its massive jaws snapping at empty air with a sound like thunder.
"That was close," Ren gasped, looking up at his savior. The young man had striking black hair and wore gleaming blue armor that matched his twin daggers. His eyes shimmered with the same azure glow, while his hair floated upward as if suspended in water. His pale face bore an expression of intense concentration, every feature sharp with focus.
"My name is FaZe," the boy said, his voice steady despite the chaos surrounding them.
"Why'd you save me?" Ren asked, bewildered by the stranger's intervention when everyone else seemed focused solely on their own survival.
FaZe's jaw tightened. "I don't want any more casualties today. Quickly, get up and fight," he urged, extending a hand to help Ren to his feet.
As soon as Ren rose, he noticed Lucas charging another attack. This time, the fire glowed hot blue, swirling with dangerous energy above their heads. Unlike the others, Lucas had somehow regenerated his power at an astonishing rate. His first assault had depleted his energy, yet within ten minutes, he had fully recovered – a feat only possible in a hot area directly under the sun's rays.
Felix charged another blue fireball while floating mid-air, using jets of flame to maintain his elevation. The heat radiating from him distorted the air around his body, creating a shimmering halo of superheated atmosphere.
"Incinerate," Lucas announced coldly before hurling the massive fireball downward.
Ren's heart hammered in his chest as he searched frantically for escape. "If I get hit by that attack, I'll die," he realized with growing dread, his mouth turning dry with fear.
Within Ren's mind, Solar smiled enigmatically and opened the system shop. "Listen, I'll let you do this once and only once – I'll let you get an item for free," Solar offered.
"For free? Would it cause any effects on my body?" Ren questioned suspiciously, wary of unexpected consequences.
"I don't know the exact effects," Solar admitted, "but it's better than dying, isn't it?"
"I guess you're right," Ren conceded. "Just buy the armor quickly – we're running out of time."
Solar swiftly purchased the armor, which Ren activated immediately. The display showed the armor would last only twenty seconds with a one-hour cooldown period.
"F-rank soul armor required. You have bought soul armor, but your soul units aren't at the right purchasing regiment to buy the skill," the system announced.
"Is there a catch to this?" Ren asked mentally, anxiety creeping into his thoughts.
Solar hesitated. "I don't know," he confessed. "It doesn't seem like it could be that bad."
Their optimism vanished when they read the system message: "For buying a skill when you are not at the right soul currency level, a punishment will be imposed. For one hour, you cannot gain any soul units."
"Wait," Ren said, horrified. "So if I kill something, I won't get any value from it for an entire hour?"
This revelation shocked both Ren and Solar to their core.
"I never expected this," Solar admitted, his voice tinged with regret. "I thought it would be a minor penalty."
"I can't blame you," Ren replied. "Even you don't know everything about the system."
The blue flames descended like a comet, striking the ground and blackening the already scorched earth to ash. Shadow beasts that had survived the previous attack couldn't withstand this one, especially with wounds inflicted by the few students who had managed to harm them. The blue flames consumed them instantly, reducing their forms to ash.
Despite his soul armor, the flames bypassed Ren's protection completely. Fourth-degree burns covered his body – if the medical scale extended further, he might have suffered fifth or sixth-degree burns. Several of his internal organs were damaged, some beginning to fail as his systems shut down one by one.
The system attempted to heal Ren's injuries, managing to repair some burn damage to his organs and skin, but its efforts proved largely insufficient. Ren lay unconscious on the ground while Solar, still awake within his mind, desperately tried to rouse him. His attempts to restore Ren's consciousness proved futile – Ren teetered on the brink of death.
The entire courtyard lay in ruins, nearly every student dead. All Shadow beasts had perished in the conflagration. Leon sprawled across the ground, not as severely burned as Ren or the other students, but still badly injured. The bag that contained Eliza's body had been scorched, though Elias remained inside, his dead form untouched by the flames, protected by the bag's material.
Everyone appeared dead or dying – the only one nearly alive at this point was FaZe. Lucas had perished from excessive energy loss after his devastating attack. Only Leon, FaZe, Ren, and a handful of others still clung to life.
FaZe rose unharmed, saved by the protective blue aura surrounding him. "I need to get these survivors help immediately," he muttered, his voice tight with urgency. He gathered Ren, Leon, and a few other students, placing them inside a shimmering blue portal—his dimensional space. Only five students remained viable for rescue; three others were nearly dead. Ren balanced precariously between life and death, while Leon, though badly burned, had fared better. His internal organs remained intact.
Leon's robe had absorbed the brunt of the attack. Though it couldn't counter the full force of Lucas's power, it had provided enough protection to prevent fatal damage. The garment had shielded him from the worst effects, allowing him to survive where others had fallen.
FaZe quickly escaped the devastated courtyard. With every Shadow beast destroyed, the school lifted its lockdown when no further sounds of combat reached them. Some students had remained inside to fight the creatures that had penetrated the building. Unlike those in the courtyard, they hadn't been corrupted by Rex's influence and had emerged victorious from their battles. Those in the courtyard had faced a far grimmer fate.
Corpses littered the once-pristine grounds. Where bodies weren't visible, only ash remained, and in some places, not even dust survived the inferno.
FaZe raced into the school building, locating the medical wing in the West Wing. A few people near the courtyard had heard the tremendous roar of blue flames. When the sound ceased, along with all other noise, they assumed either the beasts or students had achieved total victory.
Their suspicions proved correct when FaZe, the lone returning student, entered the school. At the medical wing, nurses and doctors were already tending to students injured in battles throughout the building. The medical staff regarded FaZe with skepticism—not a single hair on his head showed damage. He quickly extracted everyone from his dimensional space: the three critically wounded students, Leon with his severe burns, and Ren, the most grievously injured of all. The medical team immediately began treatment.
"Leave now. We can't afford distractions while we work," a doctor commanded sharply.
FaZe complied, departing to search for more survivors who might need assistance.
In the North Wing's cellar, Rex gritted his teeth in frustration. "I thought I'd eliminated him," he seethed. "My beasts should have finished them all. That first fire attack dashed my hopes, and the second..." His thoughts raced. "If I'm fortunate, Ren was caught in the crossfire and perished. But that's not how I wanted him to end—he should have survived so I could continue his torment." Rex's eyes flashed crimson with malice. "Ren, I hope you're still alive. If you are..." His threat hung unfinished in the dank air of his hiding place.