Chapter 223: Fog of the thousand illusions [5]

Advent of the Three Calamities

Julien could recognize them.

He knew exactly who they were, and yet, the anger that was boiling from within him was preventing him from thinking rationally.

'How dare he…!?'

His eyes were locked onto Leon who was hunched down on the ground.

Clearly, the blow had dealt severe damage to Leon.

….And that was despite Leon being someone who specialized in the [Body] category.

"Uekh…!"

For Leon to suffer to such an extent…

Looking around, Leon barely managed to catch his breath before shouting towards the others.

"C-careful…! He's someone who specialized in the [Body] category!"

"You don't have to tell me that."

Aoife brought her hand forward, and Julien found his body stiffening.

"Kh... N-now!"

Shouting at the top of her lungs, Aoife's face twitched as she struggled to keep 'Julien' rooted on the spot. Given that the gravity surrounding them was extremely dense, she was struggling to keep herself upright.

The same was true for the others.

"T-take him out first."

....They had no choice but to deal with him first before thinking about anything else.

Regardless, in their minds, the current person standing in front of them was an enemy. There was a chance he was the one responsible for everything that was going on.

Kiera was the first one to move.

As a red magic circle floated at the top of her palm, she brought it forward and a large torrent of flames flew in Julien's direction.

Swooosh!

The surrounding temperature rose, and the flame rapidly made its way towards Julien.

Stuck under Aoife's telekinesis, Julien could only watch as the flames approached him. He could see them approaching, and yet, he could do nothing about them.

"...!"

In the end...

He was swallowed up directly by them.

Swooosh!

"Hah...! T-take that!"

Kiera rejoiced at the sight.

But she couldn't be happy for too long.

"Don't be too happy. The gravity i-s still locked onto us."

Aoife's words were like a bucket of cold water. Gradually, the flames extinguished and the figure remained standing.

His clothes were burned, and his skin was scorched, but other than that, he was still fine.

"W-what...!?"

Kiera looked at the scene with incredulous eyes.

That...

She had put quite a lot of power into that.

What sort of body was this? How could it resist her flames?

"Tsk."

It was the sudden sound of someone clicking their tongue that snapped Kiera out of her disbelief. Looking around, her gaze fell on Aoife.

"What?"

Kiera felt something boil within her chest as she looked at her.

"Why did you click your tongue? Something annoy you?"

"Huh? What are you on about?"

Aoife looked back and frowned at her.

Then, she looked at the figure that stood in the middle and nudged with her head.

"Now is not the time with your stuff. Go and finish it. I can't hold on for long."

"No, I'm not."

Kiera clenched her hand.

"....You've been pissing me off quite a lot recently. Just because I haven't been doing shit doesn't mean that I still don't think you're a bitch."

"Haa?"

Aoife's frown deepened and her hands lowered slightly.

"You think I'm not the same? I've been holding back quite a lot because of my responsibilities. Do you really think I care about you? We're not on the same level."

"Haha. I guess that's true."

"What's true? I thought you knew from the start. You're nothing to me."

"Yeah, yeah... You're right."

Kiera rolled her sleeves up before approaching Aoife who stared back at her with cold eyes.

The situation between the two of them grew extremely tense.

It was so abrupt that it took the others aback.

"Hey, guys!"

Stepping forward, Evelyn tried to hold Kiera back.

She looked at the two of them with a worried look.

"What are you doing? This is not the time or place for you two to fight!"

"Fuck off."

Kiera pushed Evelyn in the face.

"Hey, wa-ah!?"

Perhaps because she didn't expect Kiera to push her so hard, she fell to the ground.

"...."

Stunned, she blinked her eyes several times before she looked up and glared at Kiera.

"What is wrong with you?!"

"What's wrong with me what? I told you to fuck off. Stop being a busybody. This is my shit with Aoife."

"....."

Evelyn clenched her teeth and glared at Kiera who laughed at her mockingly.

"What? You going to do something about it?"

Kracka! Kracka!

Bolts of lightning started to manifest around Evelyn. They started to dangerously revolve around her as her eyes flickered coldly.

Kiera stared at the scene with a smirk.

"Are you actually going to do shit?"

"...."

Evelyn remained quiet raised her hand and opened her palm.

Kiera remained still without doing anything.

She didn't think Evelyn would do anything.

....But she was wrong.

Booom!

"Uekh...!"

To her shock, a bolt of lightning directly headed for her, landing squarely in her chest and sending her body reeling back.

Bang!

Crashing against a nearby tree, Kiera coughed heavily as she clutched onto her chest.

"Cough! Cough...!"

Her body started to gradually spasm as her heart squeezed.

"Akh...!"

The pain was hard to describe and it took several seconds for Kiera to recover from the pain as she glared at Evelyn.

"You!"

Her ruby-red eyes, bloodshot and wild, peered through the tangled strands of white hair that fell before her face. Her chest boiled with anger as she grasped the coarse soil beneath her, nails digging in, and pushed herself up.

"I'll- f-fucking kill you!"

Kiera's voice came out as a screech as she brought her hand forward and a magic circle appeared.

However, just before the magic circle could fully form, a figure appeared right behind her, blocking her attempt.

At the same time, Evelyn was also being held back by the others.

"What are you doing!?"

Kiera shouted at the top of her lungs as she glared at Leon who held her arms.

"Stop. You're not in the right state of mind. You need to—Uekh!"

Kiera headbutted Leon directly in the head, forcing him several steps back.

Drip!

Holding onto his nose, and looking down at the ground, Leon's eyes widened. He then proceeded to look at Kiera who glared at him.

"This is the shit that happens when you hold me ba—pfftt!"

Blood splurted from Kiera's mouth, cutting her sentence short as a thin sword pierced through her chest.

Her body froze, every muscle rigid with shock and pain, as she looked at Leon with widened, disbelieving eyes.

He too was in shock as he stood frozen on the stop.

"A-ah, this..."

Turning her head, Kiera locked eyes with a familiar set of yellow pupils. Her lips twisted into a cruel smile.

"I-I fucking knew it."

Thump!

Those were the last words she managed to say before her body limped forward.

The atmosphere turned silent as Aoife blankly stared at Kiera who bled out on the ground. Gradually, her head raised and she locked eyes with Leon who stared at the scene with an incredulous look.

Aoife felt her mouth twitch.

"Why are you making that expression?"

"You..."

Leon felt his breath leave his body.

He couldn't make sense of what had happened.

She... did she really just kill her?

"Haa."

Leon reached out for his sword as he took a step back. Something.. something terrible was happening. But what? What exactly was going on?

"Aoife. You need to ca—!!!"

Leon's words were abruptly cut off by a powerful force. It came from behind him, and he hardly had any time to react before his back bent backward and he heard a snapping sound.

Snap!

"....!"

The blow was so abrupt and powerful that he had no time to react at all. He wasn't even able to scream.

Thump!

By the time he fell to the ground, he found himself unable to move his legs.

"Haa... Haa..."

Breathing heavily, he looked behind him where a blue-eyed figure stood.

His flesh was charred and blistered, and he limped painfully with every step.

Clank! Clank!

In the background, he could hear the relentless sound of metal clashing against metal. When he looked around, he saw chaos: everyone was fighting against one another in a brutal, desperate struggle.

Limbs flew in the air.

Cadets fell on the floor.

....It was a massacre.

Kacha! Kacha!

Amidst the chaos, Evelyn's lightning tore through one of the cadets, splitting them in half with a blinding flash.

"Ah, w-what is this?!"

Leon felt his entire heart grow cold.

But if that wasn't enough, he soon noticed Aoife approaching the blue-eyed man who limped slowly in her direction.

Extending her hand, the blue-eyed cadet's arm twisted unnaturally, rotating a full three hundred and sixty degrees with a sickening crack.

"....."

And yet, he made no sound.

It was almost as if he didn't feel any pain at all.

This took Aoife back as she tried something else, but before she could do that, Leon had dragged himself forward and latched onto her foot.

"Let go."

Aoife glared at him as she stomped onto his face.

Bang!

Blood splurted out of Leon's face as he held onto her foot.

"Let go."

But Leon didn't let go.

Rather, he held more tightly.

Bang!

Aoife stomped on his face again.

"Let go!"

Her voice grew louder.

But Leon didn't let go.

He held it even more tightly as his eyes turned even more bloodshot. In the distance, the blue-eyed cadet slowly made his way toward her.

Aoife looked in his direction before looking down at Leon and raising her foot.

Bang, bang, bang—

"Let go! Let go!!! Let goo!!!!"

She grew more and more panicked with each stomp.

And yet, Leon never let go. With his eyes fixed on the blue-eyed cadet, he started to laugh.

"He-uk! Hehehk..!"

Bang!

"Let gooo!!!!"

Aoife's voice was now more like a screech.

But it was of no use.

Leon didn't let go.

And...

Kracka!

Two hands grasped the sides of Aoife's head, twisting her neck cleanly as the sound of bones breaking echoed through the air.

Thump!

Aoife's body fell shortly after that.

Staring at the body, Leon remained silent for a moment before he covered his mouth.

"Ukhe... ahahah, uekh! Kuk!"

Weird sounds came out of his mouth as blood leaked from every part of his face.

But he was laughing.

He was laughing hysterically.

"Khek.. hahah!... ukah!"

'Fucking murderer! hahah! You died! Die!! You got what you deserved!'

"Ukah! ua—"

His laughter was short-lived.

Shortly after, a foot raised and stomped down.

Bang!

Leon's vision grew dark shortly after that.

"Haa... Haa..."

'Kill...! Kill.'

Bringing his foot back up, Julien stomped on Leon's head again.

Bang, bang, bang—!

He stomped and stomped, and stomped.

Pfftt!

Even as blood leaked everywhere and pieces of Leon's innards scattered, he didn't stop.

He just stomped and stomped and stomped.

"Haaa...!"

Bang!

By the time he was done, the world around him was silent.

Raising his head, Julien looked around, a chill running down his spine as his mind started to clear up.

'W-what...?'

"....."

All he could see were corpses and limbs strewn across the blood-soaked ground.

Everyone...

Was dead.

"Haa... Haaa..."

In the oppressive silence, the only sound was his ragged, panicked breathing.

Rustle~ Rustle~

But that silence shattered all too quickly.

Nearby bushes and trees rustled ominously, and white-clothed figures emerged from the shadows, surrounding him.

With hollow, lifeless eyes, their sunken faces locked onto him, unblinking and relentless.

They stood still and mumbled incoherent words at him.

Julien felt his entire body freeze as he felt the beat of his own heart. It was beating loudly, almost too loudly.

And,

"...."

Thump!

Falling to his knees, Julien found himself unable to move.

Rustle~

The figures moved, slowly approaching him.

Julien stared at them as they approached. He wanted to do something but found himself unable to.

His vision grew dark, and he soon lost consciousness.