With what was in front of me, my shivering body almost came to a halt. Its white glowing mouth had the creepiest smile, sending chills down my spine.
It was clear - I wasn't gonna live to see another day.
'If that's the case, might as well struggle as hard as I can before I go.'
Thinking so, I pushed through the shivering and stood up. My legs barely stayed still and my breath was so fast I could almost faint.
The angel's crimson eyes gleamed with perverse amusement at my defiance. In a blink, it materialized before me, its bone-chilling grip seizing my throat as it launched us hundreds of meters through the air toward clusters of struggling students. The message was clear - it sought to break me by forcing me to witness the brutalization of my peers, convinced I valued their salvation above my own survival.
A cold comfort remained - both Friena and Evelyn were temporarily beyond this monster's reach.
With predatory grace, the angel descended upon a group mid-battle. Their desperate struggle against a lesser monster became meaningless as the angel intervened at the pivotal moment - its grotesque form bursting through the eviscerated remains of their foe, simultaneously delivering them from one horror only to subject them to something far worse.
It loomed over me, its grotesque form radiating malice as it brandished my struggling body like some twisted trophy—a macabre display of its dominance. My lungs burned, each gasp for air thinner than the last, my vision flickering at the edges.
Then—cold clarity. The kind that comes too late.
There, amidst the chaos, stood yet another candidate—one of the students I could not let perish.
At a glance, she might have seemed unremarkable, easily dismissed as just another face in the crowd. But I knew better. Though she appeared as little more than a background character now, her destiny was far greater. In the second arc of the novel, she would rise, her latent powers awakening in a blaze of brilliance.
If she died here, the consequences would be catastrophic. The next arc—no, the very foundation of this world—would unravel, collapsing into irreparable ruin.
She was petite, her stature almost delicate, yet her presence carried an understated strength. Her features were those of a woman, sharp and refined, belying her youthful demeanor. The academy's uniform draped neatly over her frame, its crisp lines accentuating her poise. Twin ponytails cascaded down her back, the inky strands of her black hair swaying with every slight movement.
Her name was Seraphina Aldenwald.
And, of course, she was yet another duke's daughter.
That being said, it wasn't as if I could do much while dangling in its grip, my breath ragged, my body screaming in protest. Death loomed over me, its claws digging into my fate with cruel amusement.
But if I had to choose between two ends—dying helplessly or throwing myself between death and someone worth saving—then the answer was obvious. Even if it was futile, even if the outcome was the same, I'd rather my last act mean something.
The others had already noticed. How could they not? A monstrous, towering entity, its form warped and unnatural, clutching a student like a child's plaything—of course their first instinct was to rush in. Swords flashed, spells sparked, but their efforts were pitiful against such a thing. It moved with eerie, effortless grace, sidestepping every strike, its jagged maw twisting into something resembling a grin. Mockery. Entertainment.
And then, after minutes of this cruel game, it began drawing in the ether once more. The air itself shuddered, the vibrant green of the world leaching into sickly gray, withering like decay spreading across a corpse.
I could feel its grip tightening, the monstrous fingers pressing deeper into my flesh, my ribs screaming under the pressure. There was no escaping it—this was the end. The world blurred at the edges, time stretching thin as I braced for the final, crushing darkness.
So this is it, huh?
My quiet life in the countryside was nothing worth mourning. And my time at the academy? Brief—so brief it barely counted. Only two, maybe three days since I'd arrived.
Yet, in that short span, one memory flickered to the surface: the mornings spent in the sitting room with Evelyn. We hadn't spoken much—I hadn't let us. But even in silence, there was something… steadying about her presence. Funny, how the mind clung to such small comforts when death came knocking.
The pressure worsened, my vision tunneling. I gritted my teeth, waiting for the snap—
Then, a raw, furious scream split the air.
Evelyn's voice.
A fist, smashed into the creature's arm with enough force to make it stagger. No elegance, no skill—just sheer, desperate strength. Its grip faltered, and I dropped like a stone and slid across broken branches.
She shouldn't have been able to move. Not with the way she looked—battered, blood streaking her face like war paint. But she lunged anyway, catching me before I hit the ground. Her knees buckled under our combined weight, yet she still dragged me to the scant shelter of a nearby tree, propping me up with shaking hands.
I stared at her.
Two days.
Two days of near-silence, and she'd just punched a monster for me.
Amidst the chaos of the ongoing battle, the fallen angel was too focused on the movements of the students and they also were too occupied fending off the creature's attacks to intervene, leaving Evelyn just enough opening to reach me.
With labored breaths, her body trembling from exertion, she managed to speak—her voice softer than I'd ever heard it, yet laced with urgency. "Klare... are you hurt anywhere?"
"No," I answered.
The moment the word left my lips, her strength gave out. She took a few staggering steps forward, as if determined to rejoin the fight—to protect me until the very end. But her body had reached its limit. Her knees buckled, and she collapsed to the ground, unconscious. The tension in her frame melted away, her expression almost peaceful... as if saving me had been the only thing keeping her standing.
But her heroism came at a cost.
The angel—no, the abomination—was furious. The swirling mass of ether it had gathered now churned violently, its form distorting like unstable matter on the verge of detonation. The energy pulsed erratically, warping the air around it with a sickly, discordant hum.
There was no mistaking its intent.
It was going to unleash everything.
And when it did, this entire forest—and everyone in it—would be reduced to pieces of meat everywhere.
"Ah... we're done for."
The realization settled over me like a death shroud. The professors wouldn't arrive in time—not before this thing reduced everything to ruin. The others might scrape by, but me? I was as good as dead.
Then—
A sudden, unnatural stillness.
The rampaging energy froze mid-eruption, the chaotic maelstrom halting as if time itself had seized. My eyes snapped to the creature's outstretched arm—no, not just outstretched—aimed.
Straight at Evelyn.
She lay motionless just a few meters ahead, her breathing shallow, her body broken from saving me. And now, this monstrosity had marked her for death.
Something inside me shattered.
I didn't think. Didn't hesitate.
My body moved before my mind could catch up—legs pumping, heart hammering against my ribs like a frantic prisoner. I threw myself in front of her just as the creature unleashed its fury.
Blades of condensed energy ripped through the air, screaming toward us like a storm of razors.
I spread my arms wide.
If this was the end—fine.
But I wouldn't let her die here.
The aftermath hung thick in the air - smoke and dust choking the forest in an unnatural haze. My body refused to obey, limbs leaden and unresponsive, but through the ringing in my ears came one blessed certainty: Evelyn remained untouched. The attacks hadn't reached her.
Distant screams pierced through the fog of battle as students rallied against the monstrosity once more. The cacophony of combat swirled around me - the metallic swish of blades, guttural shouts, and the sickening impact of spells meeting flesh.
Through the settling dust, my vision remained obscured. Strange, I thought dimly, that the smoke lingered so... persistently. But what did it matter? Against all odds, we'd survived. Both of us. A warmth blossomed in my chest - there was nothing more I could ask for.
As the haze finally began to clear, I summoned every ounce of will to move. My body lurched violently, the world tilting as I tumbled to the ground. The forest spun, then righted itself as I came to rest on my back.
Then I saw it.
My own body - headless - knelt before Evelyn.
Cold terror flooded my veins as understanding dawned. The smoke hadn't been from battle at all - it was the last vestiges of my vision fading. The weight pressing down wasn't exhaustion, but death itself, its icy fingers closing around my consciousness.
Darkness crept inward from the edges of my sight, the world narrowing to a pinprick of light that grew fainter with each ragged, nonexistent breath.
I had just enough time for one final, desperate thought.
At least she's alive.
...
...
...
As my consciousness unraveled, a voice that was not a voice tore through the crumbling remains of my mind - words that defied language, syllables that bent reality itself:
"Existence that sho&!d not be pr!@#% in this world, !(@#@!(^!)!)"