There was not a single person present in the expansive garden who didn't hear those words.
They sounded like the call of the reaper, as though death had come knocking, wanting to collect life.
As soon as those words sounded, words alone could not do justice to the events that followed.
None of the students, not even the third years, saw how it had happened.
It seemed like a blip, as though time had suddenly became a confusing concept.
There was no grandiose display, nor was there anything flashy.
At one instant, each of the second years had been rushing towards Atticus, each of their weapons at hand, clearly ready to attack,
In the next moment, the space between their limbs and torsos appeared to distort, causing each limb to abruptly detach from their bodies.
It went without saying that the amount of blood that fell from the sky was staggering.
An intense amount of crimson blood gushed out of each of their severed limbs, immediately painting the sky crimson.
Each of the students was far too shocked and baffled by the events that many of them completely forgot to shield themselves.
The crimson blood bathed the beautifully lush green expansive garden, drenching many of the students in the process who failed to protect themselves.
An intense bright golden light immediately illuminated the whole garden as all of the second year's artifacts lit up.
Before their severed hands could get far, the golden light quickly expanded and encompassed each of the youths' forms, and without missing a beat, they all disappeared from the expanse.
The area immediately descended into a palpable silence, with only the sound of blood hitting the garden as though regular rain were falling, sounding in the background.
What had just happened?
Those words crossed the minds of everyone in the garden. Did an instructor interfere? Just what was going on!?
Many of them just couldn't believe that this was caused by a student; it seemed so absurd they each instantly killed the thought in their heads.
But reality had always been clear; it had always been the fault of the living for not accepting it.
Seconds passed, and there was no sign of any instructor whatsoever, just the form of a white haired boy who had been in the same exact position as before and didn't appear to have moved.
"No way,"
Those words left the mouths of many of the students as they each focused on Atticus landing gently in the garden, their disbelief palpable.
They formed a circle at least 50 meters in diameter with him in the middle, no one wanting to get too close.
Had he really done it?
They kept asking themselves this question.
A first year student had done all of this.
Really?
Before they could continue their lines of thoughts, a figure suddenly fell from the skies, brutally hitting the ground beside Atticus with a resounding thud.
It was none other than Dell and his completely battered and broken form.
There was no way Atticus was ending it there; he was still yet to make his point throughout the academy.
Each of the students watched as Atticus approached Dell on the floor, and the next events that ensued were nothing short of cruel.
They all watched as Dell was punched, his form burnt, clothes stripped, his figure boiled in a bubble of water.
His body electrocuted, every single one of his bones broken, his fingers and toes pulled off.
At every passing second that each of the students watched this scene unfold, it was as though Atticus was always coming up with new, innovative ways of brutally torturing Dell.
It went without saying that Dell's screams were deafening.
The students received another shock of their lives as Atticus went on to utilize each one of his elements apart from space during the torture.
Fire, earth, water, air, ice, lightning, light, darkness.
Wasn't this too much for one person? Was life even fair?
But fortunately for them, they each still had the capacity to formulate thoughts in their heads. The receiver of all of this torture had long since lost his grip on reality.
It went without saying that the amount of pain that Dell had endured was unimaginable. He had countless times tried to kill himself, but every attempt at suicide was stopped before he could even move.
It got to a point that his piercing and deafening screams had abruptly stopped. This wasn't because he had stopped feeling pain; quite the contrary, he could still feel every single one of them, as Atticus made sure of that.
It was just that he had screamed for so long and so hard that his throat basically gave out.
But despite the silence, Atticus's actions never once paused, even as the time went by.
Many of the students couldn't stomach Atticus's brutality, and each started quietly leaving the scene.
The hours ticked by, and eventually Atticus's actions finally stopped. Dell's completely naked form burst out from a bubble of water and landed face first on the floor.
Dell supported himself with his hand, his form trembling as he sat straight.
Atticus had been graceful enough to heal his physical injuries, and although there was not a single wound on his body, the lost look in Dell's eyes would suggest otherwise.
His form was sporadically twitching and flinching as he turned his gaze around, trying to find his bearings. It was as though he had completely forgotten where he was and everything that happened a few hours back.
His mouth was open as a trail of drool streamed down from his mouth.
Dell eventually noticed the forms of two legs just beside him, and as soon as he turned his gaze upwards and met the two piercing blue eyes of Atticus, his brain seemed to short-circuit as his body jerked.
It was an instinctual reaction; his brain hadn't even recognized Atticus, but his body could. His body still remembered every single moment of torture that Atticus had inflicted on him.
Dell didn't even realize it as he lost control of his bladder, his hot, disgusting liquid drenching the earth.