Thousands of shadow blades crashed down on the area without mercy.
The attack overran Evalyn. A dagger stabbed her back, a rock slammed into her shoulder, and a tree nearly fell on her. Luckily, she blocked the tree just in time.
She instantly dropped to the ground bitterly, unable to keep standing.
Kaze turned back and forth between the two scenes.
Crux was far too vicious, and Evalyn was at serious risk of dying. So he had to trust that the shadow cat could use the technique he gave her.
At the same time, Veronica was hurt. No one could help his regents partner but him.
Crux frowned, turning to Kaze from the sky. "I'll heal her. If I couldn't use an earth-grade technique, I'd take my own life."
Kaze narrowed his eyes at her slightly before waving his hand, opening a spatial rift.
Jake stared at him with panicked, tear-stricken eyes when he came out on the other side.
Veronica's limp body was in her arms; she had a serious fracture to her skull. Her chest rose and fell weakly, and blood stained his clothing.
"K-Kaze. Please say you can do something!" He cried.
"Why is it always head wounds." Kaze asked, closing his eyes.
It was one thing to heal a body part, but healing the mind was different. Physically healing a person wouldn't return their mental state back to normal.
Reversing time with the Spiritual Record with Paradox of Healing was an option. However, reversing time on someone's mind could permanently destroy it.
It was an intricate procedure that could result in serious problems. However, Kaze was confident he could do it, as he had done it before.
Still, that didn't mean that he wanted to.
"Kaze! Say you can help her!" Jake screamed.
"Keep quiet, you fool!" The emperor snapped violently, "Do you think I'm standing here planning my next meal? I'm trying to save her in the best way, you buffoon!"
"I-I'm sorry, Kaze. Just… please…." The regent whispered.
Kaze nodded and went through the scenario. "Heal first, reverse later if necessary."
He decided to heal her skull first, checking for brain damage. If not, he'd ask her consent to use [Paradox of Healing] to reverse time on her mind.
The emperor waved his hand, and Veronica's body lit up in golden light.
Jake watched in shock as the woman's wounds healed and the blood on her skin returned to her body.
It was the most surreal scene he had ever seen.
"Ugh." Veronica groaned, holding her head. Flashbacks of what happened flooded her mind.
The emperor waved his hand, walked forward, and disappeared, leaving his regent bewildered.
Kaze came out of the other end of the spatial rift, which put him on the battlefield. He looked down at Evalyn, who stared back at him with wide, blinking eyes.
Both stared at each other with wry smiles.
He was worried about her for nothing; she was ashamed for almost dying, and both felt the pressure of the shadow cat's murderous gaze.
"Marvelous." Crux snapped at Evalyn before turning to Kaze, "What part of I can use an earth-grade technique, didn't you understand?
Or are you admitting your weakness for this woman?"
The emperor gave her an unenthusiastic expression. "I don't want to hear a lecture from the woman who went on a murderous temper tantrum because a weak mortal's Razor Flurry nicked them."
Crux's face turned bright red with shame and embarrassment. The nick came from a sliver of glass-like ice that rebounded off another piece of ice.
It was a freak accident that would give a papercut to a human. However, it was enough to lose, and Crux didn't take kindly to that.
Evalyn's eyes widened in shock, and she turned back and forth between the two.
While she wanted to claim victory, she didn't feel that way. She wasn't playing games for prizes; she would have died a moment ago, so winning was irrelevant.
Moreover, the looked in the emperor's eyes was deathly serious.
"Look, I don't care about any of this." Kaze declared, "Evalyn, you won your prize, but you're dead. Crux won your prize, but you lost.
Now we have a serious situation, so I'm taking Evalyn."
Crux's eyes widened in surprise. He wasn't angry; he was concerned.
"Understood." She replied.
"Evalyn, we're moving." Kaze ordered, effortlessly pulling the blonde up and dragging her into a spatial rift.
"Ah!" Veronica cried in fear when Evalyn materialized out of thin air.
Her body was soaked in blood, making for a true apocalyptic scene.
The scene also shook Jake, who was still anxious, panicked, and confused.
"This is what true training looks like." Kaze declared in vexation, "As you can see, she's healed from her wounds just like you. Now stop the speculation.
Evalyn, Veronica received a major impact on her skull.
I need you to test her cognition to see if she got brain damage so we can act accordingly."
Evalyn's eyes widened in perplexion, but she immediately complied. "What's my last name, Veronica?"
"Skye. Evalyn Skye, age 19, popular woman on the tennis team and a strong student." Veronica replied sassily.
"Yet she abandoned her life and dreams for this guy who's just as talented as he is dangerous."
The corner of the blonde's mouth twitched. "Fuck it, she's healed."
"Hey, wait up!" The black-haired woman said in confusion, "I'm joking as usual, so why are you so cold?"
Evalyn's eyes widened in perplexion. She realized that her behavior, appearance, social skills, mindset, and life were different. "I…."
"Veronica, how do you feel? Your skull got cracked open; surely, that's vastly more important than Evalyn's personality, yes?" Kaze scoffed, reminding everyone about the situation.
Veronica grabbed her head in shock and looked at her t-shirt, which had dried blood on it. "I… don't know."
The emperor turned to his regent. "How hard was the attack?"
"I-I…." Jake dry-swallowed, unsure of what to say.
"Since everyone is incapable of thinking and communicating, regardless of the health of their brain, let's take another approach." Kaze scoffed, "What happened?"
"Yes… what happened was…."
—30 Minutes Before | Lockheed Mansion—
"Jake, tell us there's nothing bad happening outside these walls." Veronica requested earnestly, "I'm sure saying that is all it would take to ease everyone's minds."
Jake winced with trembling eyes, having an internal crisis about how to respond. At the moment, he had to choose between being loyal to Kaze or Veronica.
"Why is it so difficult to wait one more day?" He asked nervously, "Haven't you received enough? Haven't you benefited? Is anyone suffering?"
Most winced and turned away, but Veronica didn't waiver.
"Jake, I'm not talking about the faction." She replied sternly, "I'm talking about what's happening outside the walls.
We're not getting that information from Kaze even after we leave, right?
That's why we're asking you, the person with a pure heart."
Jake opened and closed his mouth multiple times, trying to find the words to say. Unfortunately, no words would help him.
Everything he said would escalate the situation. It wasn't just about Veronica vs. Kaze. If he didn't say something, it could lead to panic.
That was his job, first and foremost, before any other consideration.
"Look, I don't know what happened at the party because we weren't there." Jake said.
"I'm helping run the faction, and there's a no cellphone policy because we're having a three-month retreat as advertised.
Everyone here is hystericizing something that we all signed up for.
There isn't a person at Immortal Skye who wasn't stripped of their phones and blinded to prevent people from learning the location.
Now, you're in this room because we're turning you into elites. Is there any disparity between expectations and reality?"
Many people lit up from the revelations.
"Yes, there is." Veronica said coldly, "I heard Haiden and Regina talking about how Kaze pressured Sage into having sex with him. They may be callous, but they're trustworthy."
Sage's eyes trembled, and she turned away in shame, hiding her face.
Everyone gasped in shock and turned from the redhead to Veronica and then the Kaze Kills College Students faction, who were stunned.
Haiden was the new leader of the group. She had long auburn hair and blue eyes that clashed against each other. Her hair was slightly curly, and she wore it in a ponytail.
Regina was a beautiful Hispanic woman with voluminous black hair, dark brown eyes, and bright red lipstick. It was the perfect shade to pop against her light brown skin.
Until six days ago, both enjoyed popularity for their looks and social skills. Now, they were backed into a corner.
They turned to Sage, who was lightly tearing up and sobbing slightly. Her breathing was ragged, and her body language cloistered.
The two were shocked by the scene but nodded.
"I didn't plan to disclose someone's trauma, but that was the reason that we didn't trust Kaze." Haiden said coldly, looking Jake in the eyes.
"Same. Do you think we were turning down so many opportunities on speculation?" Regina asked.
The other seven members of the Kaze Kills College Students faction assented, throwing in their two cents.
Jake's eyes trembled in confusion. However, it wasn't due to the accusation—he hard-rejected the possibility.
The regent trusted Kaze's integrity; the man stood behind his words, no matter how gruesome.
He believed the emperor genuinely planned to kill the person who drew the dick on his face—that's why it was easy for him to deny the slander.
The question was how he was supposed to deal with the situation.
"Sage, is it true?" Jake asked dryly, "I trust Kaze definitively in this area.
So unless I hear the words come from your mouth, I won't listen to anything these women say. By association, that also means you, Veronica.
It's hearsay, so let's hear what Sage says."
Haiden's face turned red, and she opened her mouth to snap at him. "You're asking a woman to disclose—"
"Shut the hell up, Haiden!" Jake yelled. Everyone was stunned by his uncharacteristic anger.
"You disclosed this issue. So if it's true, you disrespected Sage; if it's false, you could destroy a man's life for your petty grudge. So shut your damn mouth!"
"Hey, fuck boy. We're not lying! Just look at…."
Regina's eyes trembled in fear when she looked back at the redhead.
Sage was giving her a smug smile. "Yeah, you're trash. You sound like you stand for women's rights, but what you just did hurts all women. You're disgusting."
The Kaze Kills College Students faction trembled in shock, panning the vicious, unforgiving gazes of the shocked students.
"T-That's not true! We support women unconditionally, so we saw Sage's false face and immediately jumped to her defense. It's you that's mocking—"
Veronica touched her thumb to an old-fashioned tape recorder.
-
"Our situation is grim, and we need everyone to believe the obvious." Haiden said on the tape, "I think we should accuse him of assault.
It's open and shut since women stay quiet, and then then the others won't fall victim to his sketchy sex techniques. They'll thank us later."
"Yeah, that will work. But… who?" Regina asked, "If someone we name adamantly supports him after, that defeats the purpose and would damage our reputation."
"Yeah, that's tricky." Haiden commented, "So we'll have to choose carefully."
-
"Yuuuuuuu~p." Veronica smacked, "You two are trash. Everyone else in your group just let this happen. So everyone else is trash too—just [less] trash, as if that makes a difference."
Jake's face was pained. She tested his loyalty to Kaze and followed the emperor's plan instead of trusting him with the information.
He wondered if no one trusted him with information. It was depressing.
Veronica looked at him with a complicated expression. "Look, Jake—"
BOOM!
Haiden's mind snapped, and she rushed Veronica using her super strength, which she hadn't tested or practiced. As a result, both flew backward at high speed.
Veronica tripped and crashed headfirst into the reinforced concrete wall meant to keep the Lockheed students in.
Jake's face fell blank in disbelief. However, when he saw Haiden raise her hand to hit Veronica's unconscious body, his mind filled with rage.
THUD! Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud…."
In a landslide of force, he instinctively released his cultivation base, and everyone dropped to the floor like falling dominos, unable to breathe.
Jake walked to Haiden, picked the choking woman up by the scruff of her neck—
Boom! CRaaaaaACK!
—and threw her out of the way. She crashed along the floor until she hit a couch, breaking the furniture in half.
"You'd dare to hit an unconscious woman as she bleeds out from your attack?" Jake asked with murder in his voice.
"Veronica has a fractured skull and she's dying. If you don't get murder chargers, you'll get attempted murder charges. Either way, prepare for prison."
Haiden's eyes trembled in shock as she choked.
Jake picked up Veronica and walked to the door, and then stopped. "Regina, I hope your hysterical doomsday predictions are true, so the you suffer when you get expelled."
He walked out of the room, allowing everyone to gasp for breath. Only once they could breathe did they understand the horrifying implication behind his statement.
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