The Beginning After The End novel Chapter 93

CLAIRE BLADEHEART'S POV:

I held onto Curtis, clasping my hand over his mouth in desperation. My vision blurred as tears continued to well up and stream down my cheeks.

We couldn't… I couldn't do anything.

The disciplinary committee members were in charge of preserving the safety and order within Xyrus Academy. I was handpicked by Director Goodsky herself to take on this vital duty, and with the exception of Arthur, I was assigned the task of choosing the members and leading them.

I was their leader, yet I had let all of this happen… I let in a spy.

I was ignorant of the fact that all of our movements were being leaked to the enemy.

I was responsible for the state Theodore was in right now. Even if he made it out of this alive, he would never be able to walk on his own two feet again.

I was responsible for Feyrith getting captured.

I was responsible for the death of Doradrea Oreguard.

...

I should've noticed by how the radical group seemed to know of our every move and effortlessly slip past us on each occasion. I guess subconsciously, I believed that my team members would, without a doubt, be loyal.

Because of my naive assumptions, we were the first to get attacked. It had happened last night, when the soft, dim light of dawn peeked out over the horizon. We had been busy preparing for the full-scale battle that would come eventually, finalizing the emergency evacuation plan after constructing makeshift safe houses out of basements and old classrooms for students to barricade themselves in.

We had all agreed that this might be going a bit overboard, but I now realized that it wasn't even close to enough.

Restless, everyone had decided to let out some steam by training. It was Kai's idea. He suggested that we enlarge the area of the training barrier so that everyone could practice without the students, who were all on edge from the recent events, being startled by the sounds of spells and weapons colliding.

We had never enlarged the training barrier before, but nevertheless, I didn't find anything wrong with his suggestion, so I let Kai supervise the barrier while the rest of us trained inside it.

When the barrier formed, it took on a reddish sheen that normally never appeared. Thinking back, the training barrier Kai erected by using the artifact was a miniature version of the cage that was now surrounding the entire academy.

That's when we were attacked. Kai had let them in; it was as simple as that. That sly bastard was the one who gave away all of our plans to the radical group while feeding us false information.

Kai had his hands full keeping the barrier up so that no one outside could hear the sounds of battle. We were outnumbered three to one yet we were on the verge of winning. The radical group mages were strong, but my team members were stronger. We would have broken free and warned the school… but he had to show up.

As soon as he stepped into the barrier, whatever advantage we had had disappeared. I just couldn't believe he'd been a part of this—no, I'm lying. It was definitely possible for him to be a part of this. What I couldn't believe was that it was actually him.

He single-handedly turned the tides. He was a gifted mage before and if it wasn't for his twisted and conceited personality, I would've definitely wanted him to join the Disciplinary Committee. He was talented, but a lot of his breakthroughs came from the overuse of elixirs and other synthetic drugs that would result in dire consequences later. This was the rumor, anyways.

But he was on another level. The mana fluctuation around him was comparable to that of professors'—no, beyond them. It was odd though. The abundant mana surrounding him was erratic, chaotic almost; there was so much mana being forcibly generated that it overflowed. I wasn't sure if that was the cause, but even the color of his skin and hair took on a different tint.

The amount of mana was unnatural for someone barely hitting the age that most humans would begin to awaken. This reminded me of Arthur; he might even be stronger than him presently, however, I knew for certain that whatever led him to this state wasn't anything natural.

Needless to say, we weren't much of a match for him. Chantless casting, multicasting, an endless well of mana—even if he was alone, I felt like he could've held up against all of us together.

How was it possible for him to have become this strong? was the persistent thought that kept running through my mind, poking at me.

"You call yourself a student of this academy? Out of all people, I would've assumed your pride wouldn't allow you to be some dog of a crazy terrorist group, Lucas," I spat out in disdain. "I now see that I was wrong."

I could see that I had hit a nerve as his smug expression darkened, but before he got reckless like I had hoped, Kai intervened.

"Lucas, he wants this done quick and clean. Don't forget the mission," the narrow-eyed augmenter said curtly, his face tensed in concentration from trying to keep the barrier up.

Kai had ignored our repeated hateful shouts prying for the reason of his betrayal, only opening his mouth to keep Lucas in check.

At this point, it would be impossible to get out by trying to beat him; our goal was to create an opening in the barrier.

While battling, we intentionally aimed our spells at the same spot without them noticing, but the barrier was a lot stronger than we had anticipated.

After defeating three of them, Feyrith was the first to get captured and pulled away by the other radical group members, but by then, we had managed to make a crack on the surface of the barrier, a gap large enough for us to fit through. But not all of us were able to escape. Through gritted teeth, we had to leave behind Doradrea, along with Feyrith, who stalled the radical group long enough for us to escape.

It hadn't feel like we escaped, no—it felt like we were let go. I could still clearly remember the smirk etched onto Lucas' face as he stood there, looking down on me like an insect he released because he didn't want to trouble himself with the mess.

By the time we made it out, it was already too late. Our battle had taken time, and during that time, the academy was already locked in a cage and under attack by both the radical group and mana beasts.

Director Cynthia had not returned and by the time we found some of the Student Council members, they had been assaulted as well, although they seemed to be in a better shape than us. Clive seemed especially grateful that the Student Council President was still not back from her trip. The Student Council Secretary—Lilia, I believe—asked me worriedly if Arthur was okay, and was relieved to find out he wasn't inside the academy.

It was demoralizing for us as some of the students we tried so hard to fight for simply gave in and sided with the enemies.

But I couldn't blame them.

It was us that failed in our jobs to protect them.

...

"Please, Curtis… please." I continued begging, choking back a sob.

"Please, stop. You can't." I bit my lower lip.

"Please…"

Curtis' thrashing settled, but I could still feel him trembling with rage. I removed my hand from his mouth and noticed that there was blood; it was Curtis'.

He had been biting on his lips so hard, he'd bitten into them.

"I'll kill him…" I heard Curtis mutter, his voice shaking.

"Curtis, please... just wait. I can't have you charging out like Theodore. We can't lose you too." I tried to keep a firm tone as I spoke, but I didn't sound convincing even to myself.

"Wait? Are we supposed to just wait while we let him kill Theodore and Feyrith? Huh? Like how he killed Doradrea?" he spat out in a growl, his voice pitched low and quiet.

My chest contracted from the venom in Curtis' words, but before I could say anything else, a sharp sound stopped me.

Curtis held onto his left cheek, stunned.

Kathyln's eyes were red and swollen, her long lashes still wet with tears. Her expression was a knot of grief and frustration. Her usual impassive expression was nowhere to be seen. Her hand was still held up in front of her from where she had just slapped her brother.

The strike wasn't loud, nor was it that strong, but I could tell by Curtis' expression that the light slap from his sister struck deeper and harder than any bludgeon could.

"Brother. We need to think of a way save them. We need to make a plan to protect everyone here. We need to stop that monster, but we can't do any of that if you're like this… or if you're dead." Kathyln's gaze was unrelenting, her every word piercing through not just Curtis, but through me as well.

She was right, we needed to get our act together. We needed to think of a plan.