"Ah…uh…" Simon tried to recover his breath painfully. His back was leaning on the wall behind him and it was already tiring to stand.
"Here, take that." Lyra took a vial out of the void and uncapped it.
Simon tried to raise his hand but they fell powerlessly right after.
"You can't even do that?" Lyra sighed and raised Simon's chin and helped him drink the vial.
"Thanks…" Simon said as slowly he regained his colors back.
Lyra nodded and threw away the vial before looking around her. "You fought for a few hours and it's already the morning of the next day, Simon."
"Already?!" Simon let out dumbfounded. When fighting he didn't even see time passing.
Lyra ignored Simon's panicked expression and stared at Carlos. He was on teh ground with his arms and legs spread. His mouth was wide open in shock and with a serious injury on his stomach.
"Is he okay…?" Simon asked worriedly. Though he was angry toward Carlos for what he had done and what he was going to do, he didn't wish him to die. He wasn't someone like that.
Lyra crossed her arms. "I already gave him first aid. That's all." She clearly didn't care a bit about her previous lover anymore.
Simon looked at Lyra and he opened his mouth, trying to ask something but he hesitated.
"I loved him before." Lyra, seemingly feeling Simon's look and understanding what was in his mind, spoke. "I met him three years ago and it was the first time that I got so close to a boy before. I used to play with Thomas, Alfred and even Edward before but I had always spent more time with the girls…"
As she said that, there was a nostalgic look on Lyra's face.
Simon listened curiously since he was adopted at ten years old. He couldn't have known how Lyra, Edward or Elona were in their childhood.
"Carlos, was the first boy I became close to. Thinking back, I might have been a little too naive. My father soon discovered our relation and he became furious. He planned to get rid of Carlos in one way or another. I was afraid of what my father could do so I made a compromise with him and chose to fire Carlos from the House with a lame excuse. Even though I did that for him…he came back and tried to abduct me against my will. At that time, he didn't look like the kind boy I knew…anyway that's all in the past now."
"I see. Thanks for telling me that." Simon scratched his cheek feeling a little bad but he really wanted to know more about what happened.
Lyra smiled and took a quick step forward.
"!" Simon was left speechless when Lyra's lips pecked his left cheek. His face turned bright red in an instant.
"Thank you Simon." Lyra said shortly before walking toward the unconscious Carlos. She didn't seem perturbed but if one looked closer, her ears were red. "We should investigate what kind of substance he took."
"A-A-Ah…! Y-Yes!" Simon stuttered before following Lyra.
'I-It was an amazing feeling…'
Shaking his head, Simon took a deep breath to calm his emotions.
"Yes. He nearly beat me even though I used my awakened bloodline…" Simon muttered quite shocked by Carlos' strength. Never would he have thought that someone this strong was in Edward's class. Actually he kept his awakening secret even from Elona. Only his step-father was aware of that. He kept it as a secret weapon just in case he met Alfred or John during the exam.
"We only beat six Disaster Beasts and the others must be worried for us…we should hasten our pace." Lyra sighed. The second day had already started and Lyra was worried about their exam. Carlos…Is he going to even cooperate with them after Simon beat him up? He was an idiot but they needed his strength to quickly reach their quota of thirty Disaster-Beasts.
****
"Professor?"
["Dylan?"]
"Yes, the fight between Simon Falkrona and Carlos Dugary just ended."
["Who has won?"]
"Simon but it was amazing…I think he is even stronger than me. No serious injuries by the way."
[I see.]
****
"We should first tie his hands, just in case he tries something again." Lyra said and knelt down. "His face is sick red…what in the world did he swallow…"
"I wonder about that as well." Simon knelt down as well and proceeded to go through Carlos' pockets.
"The Falkrona's Duchy's Heir is pickpocketing?" Lyra asked in a teasing tone.
"N-No! I'm just-!" Simon didn't finish his words as all his senses screamed danger. He glanced down and saw dark pus leaking out from Carlos' body. "Lyra!" Grabbing Lyra's hand, he lifted her before jumping away. "Protect us, Sand Wall!" With the little mana he recovered, he summoned a wall behind them.
"P-Protect us!" Lyra's face turned pale, feeling the ominous energy and a bubble of water appeared around them.
-BOOOOOM!
A dozen meters away…
"W-What the hell is that?!" Dylan came out of his hide. He looked mouth agape at the dark substance engulfing the figures of Lyra and Simon. He couldn't see them anymore.
"W-Wind! Clear that!" He swung his sword trying to clear away the dark substance but it was useless. "D-Dammit!!"
He quickly raised his shivering hand and touched his earpiece.
"P-Professor!"
["..."]
No answer.
"Professor Walter!" Dylan shouted again.
["Dylan, what's happening there?"] Professor Walter finally answered.
"I-I don't know! Something black oozed out of Carlos' body a-and! It's weird! I lost sight of Simon Falkrona and Lyra Kertalir! Please send help here! We are in the 42th floor-"
Before Dylan could finish, something flew out of the black smoke and it was coming straight toward him.
"S-Shit!" Dylan coated his sword with a huge amount of mana and swung his sword.
-Bam!
"K-Kah!" Dylan's sword split in half and he was sent flying at bullet speed in a boulder. Most of his ribs broke at the impact. "C-Cough!" With his blurry eyes, Dylan tried to make out a figure. "W-What…"
The figure was different but it was definitely him.
It was Carlos Dugary.
Carlos was looking at him with a twisted expression. His hair and eyes were pitch black.
"Pro-Professor-"
["Code Red, Carlos Dugary. Heed to my order and kill all the students."]
"H-Hah…?" Dylan blurted out confused. He shook his head, thinking it was a hallucination.
His Professor would never ask that and what does that even mean?
"Professor W-Walter…?" Dylan let out a hollow laugh with teary eyes.
"A-At c-command." Carlos twisted his arm in a weird way and a blackish spike formed in his hand.
Dylan's life flashed in his eyes as the spike reached his eyes. There were only a few figures. His mother, father
He wished to see his parents one last time to tell them how grateful he was.
…and his closest friends.
He wanted to see Theo, he could never tell that he considered him as his best friend.
Lea…he wished she could end up with the stupid junior Tyler.
And eventually…Miranda. She was his childhood friend like Edward but the later had always been close to Edward. He had always been jealous of the latter. And just when he thought he could try it as Miranda seemed turning the page on Edward...
'Maybe I should have confessed earlier…'
He closed his teary eyes.
-BOOOOM!
****
"L-Lyra! Are you okay!" Simon patted Lyra's back worriedly.
"I-I'm alright…" Lyra raised her gaze and sighed in relief. Her bubble was still there but one by one the layers of water were disappearing. The blue bubble was now entirely dark.
"Simon…something is not right…when I checked Carlos' pulse….and there was no pulse. He…he was dead."
Simon's face turned instantly pale at Lyra's words. "T-Then did I kill him-"
"No. It's not you. After you defeated him, he was still alive." Lyra shook her head. "He literally died in front of us…o-of course I might be wrong…maybe I didn't check correctly…" Lyra tried to convince herself of that.
-PLOP!
""...!""
They couldn't even recover their breath when all the layers of water exploded one after another.
"Something is coming!" Lyra shouted.
"Catch him!" Simon stretched out his hands and dozens of giant sand hands shot out but slowly the browny sand started to become dark. The blackish substance was devouring the Sand hands.
Lyra raised her wand high and gathered a tremendous amount of mana. "Aqua Jet!" A jet of pressurized water fell down from above crushing both the sand and the dark substance revealing the dark figure.
"C-Carlos?!" Simon tried to take a step forward but Lyra grabbed his hand.
"W-We should run!"
They both turned around and sprinted away at full speed but Carlos' shadow vanished and appeared right in front of them in a second.
"Bloodline Awakening!" Simon roared and a giant of sand appeared behind him. The previous light brown sand was now dark brown and seemed considerably sturdier and stronger than before.
"S-Simon?!" From the Giant Sand's foot, a thick hand protruded out coiling around Lyra's waist in a protective manner.
Simon ignored Lyra and concentrated on the dark Carlos before. It was the second time in a row that he was using his bloodline awakening. His face was deathly pale as well.
Carlos' expression didn't even twitch as he twisted his arm. A long spike appeared replacing his right arm.
'I…am going to die.'
Simon's throat dried out seeing that.
'I'm sorry Lyra, father, Elona…'
His life flashed before his eyes.
He knew he was going to die in the hands of that monster.
'I leave you the rest…Edward…Brother.'
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