"Are you out of your mind?" Dino Drakemor demanded, stepping forward as he leveled his halberd directly at William.
The sharp edge caught the light as mana flared faintly along its length, it was a clear display of hostility towards William, and it didn’t sit well in his eyes.
"The academy has explicitly prohibited infighting among participants," Dino continued, his voice rising with visible irritation.
"Are you so foolish that you cannot even comprehend something that basic?" His expression was twisted with rage, not just because of the situation, but because he felt his time had been wasted by a human daring to command attention.
Will did not react immediately. He simply regarded Dino with a calm expression, his posture turned relaxed and his arms folded into an intelligent expression.
"No," Will replied after a brief pause, his tone was strangely polite "I am not foolish. One would need a lizard’s brain to qualify for that level of incompetence."
The words landed cleanly, without heat, which somehow made them sting far more.
Dino froze for a heartbeat before his rage exploded.
"How dare you call me a lizard, you puny human!" he roared, scales along his neck bristled and his aura surged outward in an aggressive wave.
Will raised an eyebrow slightly, as if genuinely surprised.
"Oh," he said calmly, nodding once. "My mistake. You are not as foolish as I initially assumed. At least you understood the joke."
He waved his hand dismissively, already turning his back on Dino as though the dragonkin no longer mattered. His interest had clearly shifted elsewhere.
"I am not here for verbal sparring," Will continued, his voice carrying clearly across the clearing. "So I will get straight to the point."
He turned back to face the gathered participants, his expression now serious.
"I gathered all of you to inform you of a simple fact," Will said evenly. "This domain’s space has been sealed, and we are trapped here."
The murmuring that followed was immediate.
"This is not an accident," Will added, his gaze sweeping across the crowd. "It is a scheme orchestrated by the demonic cults. They are coming here, and they are coming for our heads."
He said nothing further. He did not elaborate or dramatize the statement. He simply allowed the weight of his words to sink in.
Several minutes passed.
No one immediately challenged him. Instead, hushed conversations broke out across the clearing. Some candidates exchanged uneasy glances, while others frowned deeply, trying to assess the credibility of what they had just heard.
A few remained completely silent, their expressions growing darker as the implications of his words settled.
Eventually, Dino stepped forward again, his eyes narrowed with suspicion.
"Why should we believe you?" he demanded. "You are a human. your kin are famous for their cowardice and scheming nature."
Will did not answer but merely raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
The sound was sharp.
At that exact instant, a massive blade of compressed wind tore through the air. Before anyone could react, the force struck Dino directly.
His body was cleaved cleanly in two.
One half slid several meters away from the other, blood evaporating before it could even touch the ground. The clearing fell into stunned silence as shock rippled through the assembled candidates.
The wyvern above let out a low rumble, clearly it was responding to William’s will.
Before panic could fully take hold, light flared around the corpse and Dino reappeared.
He collapsed onto the ground, clutching his chest where the wind blade had struck moments earlier.
Sweat poured down his face as he gasped for breath, his eyes were wide with lingering terror.
Will approached him slowly, with each step deliberate.
Nearby participants instinctively backed away, creating space between themselves and the scene. Dino shakily raised his halberd, pointing it weakly toward Will.
"Stay away," he warned, though his voice lacked any real force.
Will stopped directly in front of him and leaned down slightly, meeting Dino’s eyes.
"You are forgetting the most basic law of the jungle," Will said quietly. "A beast does not scheme against insects. It simply walks over them."
The message was unmistakable.
Will straightened and turned back to the crowd.
"We need to survive until reinforcements arrive from the outside," he said. "For reasons I cannot yet explain, those outside are unaware of our situation. Until that changes, we are on our own."
He gestured subtly toward Dino.
"As you just witnessed, the space is sealed. When the wyvern killed him, the domain was unable to expel him back to the arena. Instead, it resurrected him here."
His voice was devoid of any uncertainty.
At this point, no one openly questioned him. The logic was sound, and the demonstration had been impossible to ignore.
Still, a voice rose from the crowd.
"How do you know all this?" someone asked cautiously.
Will shook his head once.
"That," he replied calmly, "is my secret."
It was not a satisfying answer, but it was enough. No one present was willing to challenge him further.
Strength had spoken.
After a brief pause, Will addressed them again.
"Who among you is willing to follow my lead?" he asked. "I cannot guarantee survival, but I do have a plan that might work."
He gestured behind himself.
"Those willing to comply may stand with me. The rest are free to return to whatever they were doing. I will have no obligation to protect you."
For a moment, no one moved.
Then figures began stepping forward.
Ethan was the first.
Seraphine followed without hesitation.
Katherine moved next, her gaze never leaving Will.
Gaelion stepped forward, his expression was unreadable.
Then came Maximus Sinclair.
Will’s eyes narrowed slightly as he took in the sight of the man standing beside him, his expression was Stoic and composed.
The villain of the first arc had chosen to stand with him.
And that, more than anything else, told Will that the story ahead was about to become far more complicated.
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[A/N: Sorry for the short Chapter this is how i divided the scenes]