Elena guided me through the corridors to the director's office. Once there, Sylvia entered shortly after, closing the door with the calm only someone at the pinnacle of power could afford.
"Elena, you may leave us," the Director ordered in a soft yet absolute voice. "And make sure no one overhears."
Elena hesitated. Her gray eyes flicked from her master to me, internally debating whether it was wise to leave us alone. She knew what I was capable of—but she also knew her teacher. In the end, she nodded, a mix of indecision and heaviness in her expression. She cast me one last glance, burdened with silent guilt, as if she had made a mistake by bringing two monsters into the same room.
I was left alone with the most powerful woman in the Academy.
Sylvia didn't sit immediately. She walked to the window, observing the chaos of the capital writhing below, searching for answers after last night's purge.
"Elena is a good girl, Cassian. Loyal, strong, and with a sense of justice this world tends to crush," Sylvia began without turning around. "But she is limited. She sees last night as a personal revenge fulfilled. I, on the other hand, see a problem. You."
She turned slowly, and her eyes—like eternal embers—locked onto mine. The air in the office began to heat up, a subtle manifestation of her ninth circle.
"Tell me, son of the Varkas… how does it feel to be the author of the greatest silent massacre in the history of Demor? Because last night, you didn't just erase the Lumen Cult. You made enemies of nearly every house in this empire—and let's not even mention our neighbors. You've created a vacuum that the Sect of the Damned and the Lucratis Empire won't hesitate to fill."
I remained relaxed in my seat, watching her aura try to press against mine—only to meet an indifferent abyss.
"The houses of this empire were rotten, Director," I replied calmly, enough to make her brows rise. "I only accelerated the inevitable."
Sylvia approached the desk, placing her hands upon the wood. The heat would have been suffocating for anyone but me.
"They are not 'just a few nobles,' Cassian. You've destroyed the balance that kept Demor standing," she stated. "Now then… what do you really want from my disciple? You did something that anyone in this world would deem impossible—for her. So… why?"
I leaned back in my chair, watching the ninth circle of her mana stir the air in a futile attempt to intimidate me.
"It seems you're mistaken about something, Director," I replied, letting my voice carry a calm bordering on insolence. "Elena may have had something to do with what I did, but I don't do anything I don't want to. It was a problem that would eventually interfere with me. I simply acted first."
Silence fell as Sylvia studied me, as though trying to decipher an ancient language she couldn't understand.
"Now, not only in Demor, but across the entire world, people will begin searching for the reason behind such an event," I continued, meeting her gaze. "Revolutions and theories about the 'invisible death' will arise. But the best part, Director… is that now people like you will realize there is far more beyond a mere ninth circle."
I leaned forward, invading what she considered her sanctuary of power.
"I must say, while I enjoy how mediocre this world's level is, I'm also curious to see whether it's possible for you to break the limit," I declared, crossing my arms with a calm that seemed to devour the very air. "What happens next is not my concern."
The temperature in the office dropped abruptly. It wasn't an ice spell—it was simply the presence of my soul claiming its space, extinguishing Sylvia's subtle fire like a candle beneath an ocean.
For the first time in decades, the strongest woman in the Empire felt small. Insignificant.
"Break the limit…?" Sylvia whispered, her voice trembling with a mixture of terror and a forbidden ambition beginning to ignite within her. "You're insane, Varkas. What… what are you, really?"
I stood slowly and walked toward her, her ninth circle offering no resistance whatsoever. I stopped mere inches away, looking down at the Academy's "Eternal Flame."
"You'd do well to control your family, Sylvia Sterling," I said, my voice cutting through the air like an invisible blade. "And understand that, from now on, Elena Thorne belongs to me to do as I wish."
Sylvia glared at me with impotent fury, her fists clenched on the desk as her ninth circle trembled between pride and fear.
"I don't understand…" she muttered, her expression darkening. "Do you want to do to her what you did to Elara? Turn one of my best teachers into another of your broken toys?"
I stopped at the door, turning back with an expression of absolute boredom.
"It seems you truly believe I'm a monster," I replied. "Elara meddled with something she shouldn't have; her situation is the natural consequence of her stupidity. Elena, on the other hand, simply has the misfortune of wanting something from me—and nothing in this world is free."
Cassane's image crossed my mind briefly. She owed me as well.
"You shouldn't worry about her," I added before leaving. "I don't intend to do anything she doesn't desire."
I left the office, leaving the most powerful woman in the Academy in absolute silence.