Raven rushed up where he heard the second explosion.
"Huh?"
He reached one floor higher than where he last was, but when his eyes swept through the area, there was nothing out of the ordinary.
No signs of combat. No injured people. No lingering mana.
Just an empty floor filled with silence and faint smoke from below.
'Not here.'
He instantly concluded in his head.
BZZZSH—!!!
Then without wasting even a fraction of a second, Raven kicked off the ground again and continued upward.
He already knew one thing for sure.
The remaining terrorists and the sophomores were above him.
The only problem was that he had no idea which floor they were on.
And guessing was not an option.
So every time he reached a new floor, Raven stopped for only a split second. And in that brief moment, while activating [Thought Acceleration]—
He spread his mana throughout the entire floor.
It flowed through walls, ceilings, rooms, and hallways.
Scanning. Searching.
Measuring presences in a matter of milliseconds.
If he felt nothing—
He immediately moved upward again.
After all... Each second mattered.
Each hesitation could mean lives lost in the current situation.
BZZZZSSH—!!
Raven repeated the process floor after floor.
His breathing was steady. His movements were precise.
There was no panic in his mind, only calculation and urgency.
Though, his head is starting to ache a bit more now because of his constant use of [Thought Acceleration].
Just then—
"...!"
At the 18th floor, something changed.
Raven felt something.
A presence!
And there's multiple of them gathered in a single location!
His head snapped in the direction where the sensation was strongest.
And without hesitation, Raven kicked off the ground and rushed forward!
'It's behind that door!'
The thought echoed sharply in his head as his eyes locked onto a large double metal doors ahead of him.
It was tightly shut and reinforced.
Seeing that—
Swish~
[Emmeranne] appeared out of thin air.
Raven wrapped his right hand firmly around the handle of it.
His grip tightened. His gaze sharpened.
BZZT- FWOOSH~!!
Violent lightning and raging wind erupted around the blade of his dark sword as mana surged into it.
The air around Raven trembled.
BAM-
He planted his left foot forward.
The concrete beneath it cracked from the force.
And as his lips parted—
"[Flash]"
Raven muttered that.
FZZZZSH—!!!
His figure vanished instantaneously!
All that remained was a streak of lightning tearing through the air!
In the next instant, he reappeared right in front of the metal doors!
His right arm pulled back, [Emmeranne] held horizontally!
And the moment his feet touched the ground—
ZZZZZT — !
Raven thrust his sword forward!
The blade screamed as it cut through the air, electric sparks snapping violently around it!
Then—
B O O O O O M!!!
A compact explosion erupted as the tip of his sword collided with the metal doors!
The reinforced doors didn't stand a chance.
They were blasted inward violently!
BAM-!
"GAH?!!"
Also, one of the doors flew straight into someone inside the room!
*****
A few moments earlier...
(Lillen's POV)
"Tsk...!"
I clicked my tongue in frustration as I stared at the woman standing several meters away in front of me.
She was smiling.
A mocking, mischievous smile that made my skin crawl.
And in her grasp—
Was Cooper.
He's unconscious.
(Cooper is a member of the Student Council, [Chapter 99].)
I still didn't fully understand how things spiraled this badly.
Earlier, a massive explosion shook the entire building, then the hotel got caught on fire.
Smoke filled the air.
And in that chaos, a large chunk of the ceiling collapsed and struck Cooper directly, knocking him out cold.
I rushed to him immediately to help him.
But before I could reach him—
A woman dressed as an employee grabbed him first.
Then everything escalated after that.
From the entrance, more people flooded into the area.
And they were all armed.
They pointed their guns everywhere.
(By the way, Lillen and the others are currently in the gym area of the hotel. A massive room filled with training equipment, taking up more than half of the 18th floor.)
They aimed their weapons at everyone present in the lobby.
Students.
Staff.
Employees.
And the woman holding Cooper— she suddenly ordered me to gather everyone here.
And in that moment, I knew instantly... This was a terrorist attack.
I refused to follow her order at first— But she tightened her grip on Cooper, using him as a hostage against me.
And so, against my will—
I complied.
Lana and Cenric were with me.
They helped gather everyone quickly.
And once everyone on this floor was gathered, the terrorists ordered us to kneel and place our hands behind our heads.
As if that wasn't enough, the woman demonstrated her power to threaten us.
She fired off a dark fireball just a few moments earlier, and it exploded near us!
A clear warning to not try anything.
And now, back to the present—
She was standing right in front of me again. Smirking.
"What do you want?"
I asked her, my brow s furrowed.
"Hmm, nothing really... We were just ordered by our leader to attack this place."
The woman answered, her voice was light and playful.
"You all heard the explosions below, right? It's my colleague killing off everyone."
Her grin widened as she added that with a smile.
Fear spread instantly to the students and employees behind me upon hearing her words.
Lana and Cenric exchanged tense glances.
There were about 30 of us held here, including Cooper.
The terrorists numbered around 20, along with the woman.
'Lana, Cenric, and I could try to fight them all... But it would be a disaster.'
They had guns.
We had no gear and proper equipment with us.
While guns might be weak in the long run because their strength is limited and set the moment they were created— they can still kill.
Also, the woman holding Cooper—
'I can't sense mana from her... But that energy coming from her is unnatural. She also used magic earlier without using mana.'
She's obviously dangerous and hiding something.
My frown deepened as I processed the situation around me.
"What will you do with us now?"
I asked the woman again, stalling for time.
This is the best I can do for the moment. I just hope the heroes and professors get here fast.
But contrary to my wish—
"What do you think? I'm going to kill all of you now."
The woman casually declared that.
My eyes widened.
"W-What?! Don't you want to use us as hostages for money or something?!"
"I don't really care about money."
She shrugged.
'If not for that, then why did they attack us?!'
That question appeared in my head, I was confused.
But I really don't have time to worry about that for now—
"Also, don't think that I don't know you're buying time."
The woman suddenly said that.
"!!!"
A bad feeling crawled up my spine when I heard that.
The woman then raised her right hand, and from her palm—
SWOOSH~!!!
A massive black fireball formed!
"LANA! CENRIC!"
I shouted as I stood. The two immediately moved when they saw the fireball, a desperate look on their faces.
"KILL THEM ALL!!!"
The woman exclaimed. The terrorists behind her smiled and put their fingers in the triggers of their guns.
"EVERYONE, RUN AND SEARCH FOR COVER!!!"
I instructed the students and people behind me. But they were all frozen in fear.
"AHAHAHAHA—!!! DIEEEEE!!!"
The woman laughed maniacally. I frowned even deepey.
I know things are about to go shit.
'Fuck...!'
I prepared myself for the worst.
But then—
B O O O O O M!!!
An explosion happened from the entrance.
A metal door flew in—
BAM-!
And slammed straight into the woman's back!
"GAH?!!"
Caught off guard, she was blasted back, losing her grip on Cooper.
"..."
Silence followed for a second.
Dust filled the air. And when it cleared up—
"Huff... A perfect entrance, if I say so myself."
We all saw a handsome young man stood at the entrance.
A black sword crackling with lightning and violent wind in his hand.
"Looks like I arrived on time as well."
Raven muttered that after scanning the room for a second.
