Back at Lunaria Academy, the aftermath of the ogre invasion lingered in the air—broken weapons, splattered blood, and heavy breathing.
The battle had finally come to a halt, thanks to the timely intervention of two third-year elites—members of the academy's legendary strongest trio.
They were second only to the vice captain, a figure revered as one of the most formidable in that generation.
The battered team had barely caught their breath, granted only a few precious moments to collect themselves and strategize how to aid Grey and his companions.
But as if fate was mocking them—or perhaps their unseen enemy had been listening all along—a raspy voice echoed from nowhere and everywhere at once.
"I can't have you all ruining my plans now, can I?" the voice sneered. "So until then… enjoy the company of my army. And it's nice to see you two are still alive and well, Viktor and Sol."
A corpse erupted from the ground, twitching and snarling, followed by a nightmarish spectacle—a hundred rotting zombies, a hundred skeletal warriors, and a hundred ogres, their eyes glowing with unnatural malice.
"Crap! This is bad," Lyra muttered, her voice tinged with dread.
"Keh!" Viktor let out a low, almost amused scoff and strode forward confidently. "Jack… you forgot who you're dealing with so soon? Just three years in the real world and you've already lost your edge?"
Silence followed his words, thick with tension. Then a low chuckle rippled from one of the zombies—the voice of their enemy using the corpse as his vessel.
"Forgot you? No, I remember perfectly how you betrayed me to the captain. Got me expelled—over necromancy.
Just because I reanimated a student during an experiment? That corpse could've helped us develop the perfect undead army… a safeguard against future threats."
"Army?" Viktor snapped, his voice rising. "Don't make me laugh. You wanted to build a legion of the dead! What kind of monster are you? And don't forget—that student was my best friend!"
The air around Viktor pulsed violently. His fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned pale, and his nails dug deep into his palms, drawing blood.
"Is that really why you betrayed me?" the zombie crooned. "We could've achieved greatness. The strong rise by crushing the weak, Viktor. His sacrifice advanced my research."
"You were lucky," Viktor growled, his voice low and trembling with rage. "Lucky I only reported you.
Every damn day since, I've cursed myself for not ending your life. I thought I'd never get the chance… but now, here you are—hand-delivered. Once I finish your minions, I'm coming for you."
"Viktor…" Lyra whispered, her tone soft, grounding him as the second years looked on, caught in the tension of a battle that hadn't yet begun.
"Good luck with that," the zombie sneered. "Meanwhile… allow me some fun with the pests over at Goltas."
"That's where Grey and his friends are!" Charlotte gasped, horror flashing in her eyes.
Right on cue, the enemy's undead army surged to life, preparing to charge.
"All of you," Sol barked, her tone stern, "staying here will only slow us down. Find a way to Goltas and help those kids."
"But… there's hundreds of undead. And only you two," Selene said, voice quivering.
"You think we'd lose?" Sol asked, tossing her hair. "We're not like you second years. One of us alone is enough. The two of us? Overkill."
"Listen to her," Viktor added. "Because I won't be holding back. You stay, and you'll get caught in the storm. Move—now."
As he spoke, the ground trembled violently, the tremor so intense it reached the academy itself, shaking its foundations for a brief moment.
"You heard them!" Dante shouted, turning to his team. "Let's move before we're dead too!"
"Goltas… that's where Vince is," Dave murmured, wiping blood off his brow.
"Oh, now you care about your brother?" Lyra said, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Care, my foot!" Dave snapped, breaking into a sprint. "I want front row seats to watch him get torn apart!"
"How are we even supposed to get there on foot?" Selene asked, anxious.
"I got it covered," Lyra said, raising a hand. The wind swirled fiercely around her, lifting her hair and cloaking her in a miniature cyclone.
In an instant, the gust took form—a massive wind dragon with translucent wings and emerald eyes.
Without hesitation, the second years leapt aboard, and with a mighty roar, the creature surged skyward toward Goltas.
With the students gone, the battlefield fell into an eerie silence.
"So…" Sol began, tracing glowing symbols in the air with her fingers, "are you going to use that?"
"I don't need it to defeat them," Viktor replied, his voice steady. His hair lifted above his shoulders as radiant white energy cracked and danced around his body.
His eyes began to glow, glowing white like stars in a stormy sky. "All I need… is this."
"You know mixing that with your magic drains your mana twice as fast," Sol warned, eyes narrowing as the undead army finally charged.
"I know," Viktor said coldly. "But I'm not here to conserve energy. I'm here to bulldoze my way through." He raised his arm. "Breakthrough!"
An explosive wave of energy erupted from him, launching forward like a divine shockwave.
Several zombies in the front ranks were decapitated instantly, their heads flying through the air like rag dolls.
"As you wish," Sol smirked. Without wasting a second, she sprinted forward, her body gliding like a blade through the wind. Mid-run, she slid across the bloodstained ground, snatched a greatsword from the hands of a fallen ogre, and sprang upward—just in time to avoid a rune trap flaring beneath her.
With a twist in the air, she drove the sword into a zombie's skull, pinning it to the ground.
Before landing, she spun, flinging the impaled body into a skeletal soldier, shattering it into fragments of brittle bone.
"Gravity Magic—Graviole!" Viktor roared, his voice shaking the earth as the next wave of undead surged toward him.
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