Curtis, Lyra, and Isolde slumped against the corpses of the dead void scorpions, their breaths ragged, their bodies motionless save for the occasional twitch.
Celestina sat with elegant composure atop one of the crystal shards protruding from the fallen shardling giant, her legs crossed as if she were lounging in a garden rather than a battlefield. Her soul armor had dissipated, leaving her in her pristine academy uniform, untouched by dirt or wear—only her face bore the smear of black blood.
The same couldn't be said for the three before her. They lacked soul armor or even the most basic protective gear they could've brought at the start of the void hunting class. Even Isolde, was no exception. Their torn academy uniforms clung to their bloodied bodies—black ichor mixed with their own red.
At least Celestina had healed them enough to prevent their injuries from becoming critical. She was thankful their uniforms hadn't been shredded to a point of indecency. That would've been... problematic.
Despite their battered state, Celestina allowed herself a small measure of satisfaction. The three of them had managed to take down the two void scorpions. Meanwhile, she'd handled the shardling giant—a tedious opponent. It hadn't been particularly dangerous, but its durability had forced her to attack relentlessly, chipping away until it finally collapsed.
Having already consumed the mana core of the giant, Celestina could feel her mana core trembling on the brink of advancement. By tomorrow, she would finally ascend to the intermediate level.
"Ahh... my legs are dead. No, seriously—I can't feel them anymore," Curtis groaned, breaking her train of thought.
Lyra gave him a look of shared misery, her lips quivering as she wiped at the tears forming in her eyes.
"I need a whole new set of arrows. A whole set! Do you know how expensive those are? I'm going to be broke for a month!"
Isolde managed a faint smile, her voice dry as she joined in,
"Hey... you don't think the prince needs our help, do you? Surely he's got this handled."
At her words, both Curtis and Lyra fell silent, their expressions darkening. Then, Curtis forced a bright smile, his voice unnaturally cheerful.
"Of course! This is the prince we're talking about! You heard what he said to that monkey, right? He's not afraid—not for a second. He knows he'll win!"
Lyra nodded quickly, eager to latch onto his optimism.
"He might be a little crazy, sure, but he's got this. I mean, what can we do, anyway? He's fighting a grade 3 demon. Even if it has a mana artifact suppressing it, that's still way out of our league. We'd only slow him down."
"...I guess you're right," Isolde muttered.
"But then why is it taking so long? It's been quiet for ten minutes, and the prince still isn't back."
Their words hung in the air, a somber weight that none of them could shake.
Celestina's gaze shifted from the group to the distant battlefield, her sharp eyes scanning the area where Azriel and the ebonclimber had vanished. The last place she'd seen them was a ruin of shattered terrain, debris scattered in every direction.
A flicker of unease crept into her mind.
The disappearance of Azriel's white flame—the buff skill he'd activated earlier—had been unsettling enough. It had vanished midway through their battles, leaving them unsure if he had deactivated it willingly or if something had happened to him. Yet, even without the flame, the ebonclimber's roars had continued, louder and more unhinged, as if the creature had been driven to a breaking point.
That was when the sounds of their battle had grown distant, until nothing could be heard at all.
'They're right... he is insane,' she thought, her lips pressing into a thin line. 'Who challenges a gorilla with mind control abilities and deliberately provokes it into using its full power?'
She shook her head slightly. Sure, she was curious about testing limits, but she wouldn't throw herself into lava just to see how long it took to burn.
'Even if the mana artifact was suppressing it, does he have to be so confident? It's a grade 3 demon. Most people would run the moment they saw something like that, not march straight into a fight.'
Her gaze lingered on the battlefield, catching sight of the mangled corpse of the nightstrider hawk. The sight was nauseating, its body torn and trampled—a victim of a fight it had no chance of surviving.
Forcing herself to look away from the mangled corpse, Celestina sighed.
There was nothing left to do but wait now.
'If something happens, Instructor Solomon would step in...'
She wasn't too worried. Besides...
Celestina tilted her head upward, her gaze settling on one of the trees, specifically on a branch.
The instructor perched there widened his eyes in surprise, caught off guard as their eyes met. Celestina's lips curved into a slight smirk.
It seemed Solomon wasn't the only one overseeing this test.
Were they evaluating the cadets' strengths more thoroughly this time, perhaps because they hadn't gathered enough data from the void dungeon?
'He needs to learn how to hide his gaze better...'
The instructor quickly composed himself, giving Celestina a curt nod before disappearing into the shadows, dashing out of sight.
Her thoughts lingered briefly on his poorly concealed observation, then shifted to the moment before the battle with the void creatures—when Azriel had used his buff skill.
Simply put, there were no words to fully describe them.
Beautiful yet terrifying.
Ethereal yet deeply unsettling.
When Celestina looked into those eyes, she felt as though she was glimpsing something deeply buried, something incomprehensible yet tangible.
It was bizarre. Unfathomable and, at the same time, elusive.
Still, she had seen something in those eyes of his—something she couldn't shake from her mind, no matter how much she tried.
She didn't know what it was, but the memory of it lingered, leaving her heart feeling... heavy.
A sudden crunch from the opposite direction tore Celestina from her thoughts.
Her teammates immediately stiffened, their fatigue momentarily forgotten as they sprang to their feet, weapons ready.
Celestina didn't move, her sharp gaze locking onto the source of the sound as a figure emerged from the shadows.
"Twenty-five points," a cold, detached voice rang out. "Did you hunt these void creatures yourself, or did you and your subjects become the hunted... princess?"
The temperature seemed to plummet, the chilling tone seeping into their bones and making the hairs on the back of their necks stand on end.
Celestina's expression hardened, her eyes turning glacial as she responded with a voice just as cold. The unfamiliar edge in her tone made her teammates shiver even more.
"It has been a while... Anastasia."