Laughter still echoed through the long marble corridor, Janero jokingly mimicking Kealen's ridiculous expression when he strained his eye trying to release his aura. But in a single instant, that cheerfulness was cut short—like a silk thread sliced by a sharp blade.
A distant scream pierced the calm.
It wasn't the scream of physical pain, but the scream of a soul being torn away from its place.
"Our daughter is dead! Our daughter is gone!"
Kealen froze, a cold chill spreading through his limbs. Leora's face changed completely; her bag slipped from her hand as she whispered faintly, "That voice… I know it. That's impossible…"
The three of them ran toward the academy courtyard. The closer they got, the clearer the sobbing became.
By the grand fountain, the scene was nightmarish.
A simply dressed man had collapsed onto the ground. His wife was screaming while clutching the shirt of the Gravity Instructor, who stood like a statue, silent tears sliding down his beard.
On the ground lay a small body covered with an academy scarf.
The world seemed to vanish beneath Leora's feet. She dropped to her knees, sobbing bitterly.
"No… Elthra… That's Elthra's family!"
Janero and Kealen rushed beside her, shock freezing their bodies.
The mother screamed at the instructor, "A young man brought her home yesterday! He said she was just tired from the exam… I covered her myself… and when morning came… she was cold! My daughter died in her sleep!"
The father clutched his collapsing wife and shouted, "Where is the safety in this place? We brought our daughter here to grow stronger—and you returned her to us as a corpse! Who's responsible?!"
Throughout all of this, the instructor didn't say a word.
He stared at the family with empty eyes… then slowly his gaze drifted past them. He wasn't looking at Kealen or Leora.
He was staring at the space behind them.
As if he saw a monster no one else could see.
The instructor rose slowly. A dark violet aura began to rise from beneath his feet, lifting pebbles into the air as gravity distorted around him.
Suddenly—
An enormous explosion erupted on the other side of the courtyard, filling the area with dust and debris.
"Kealen! Janero!" the instructor shouted, his voice terrifying. "Take Elthra's family and get out of here—now!"
Kealen moved instinctively, dragging the parents away. Janero lifted the unconscious Leora, who had fainted from shock, and they ran toward the inner corridors for safety.
As the thick smoke slowly settled, a figure appeared standing calmly within it.
Walking forward with slow, steady steps.
One hand in his pocket.
Noctis.
But his face held no human expression. His eyes were cold—cold like death.
He looked at the instructor and spoke in a quiet, chilling tone.
"So you came. Yes… I came to take her right. You're the reason. Your silence… your rules… they killed her."
The instructor clenched his fist, his violet aura intensifying.
"I know you're in pain, but you're reckless. I can crush you here and now. Step back, Noctis."
Noctis stopped a few meters away and let out a broken laugh.
"I know you're stronger than me… but not today."
Slowly, he pulled a dark red pill from his pocket, glowing with an unnatural light.
The instructor's eyes widened in horror.
"Don't! Have you lost your mind?! Those magical stimulants will explode your veins! I warned you yesterday!"
"These poisons are the only thing that will give me enough time to kill you," Noctis said calmly as he swallowed the pill.
"You forgot one thing, teacher… My unique ability is called Absolute Luck. The closer I am to certain death—when my chances are zero—my luck rises to overturn fate itself."
At that moment—
A brilliant white aura erupted from Noctis's body and slammed into the instructor's violet aura with such force that the academy walls began to crack.
Then Noctis moved.
Not like a human.
But like lightning.
The ground shattered beneath his feet as he shot forward toward the instructor—
who finally realized his student had sold his life for a single moment of revenge.