Silence. Utter silence. That was what enveloped the space within the dome as everyone stared at Skyler, who placed his scythe back into his storage ring.
Moore, who had rushed forward, was tending to Vex's injuries. Alfanzo stood behind him, his gaze fixed on Skyler as he turned and picked up the familiar snake.
Riruru settled on his shoulder. As Skyler turned, he was met by Moore's stern gaze, the man closing in with a piercing stare.
"This was meant to be a friendly spar. So why did you injure your classmate?"
Skyler blinked with feigned innocence.
"It wasn't intentional. Clearly an accident. I assumed Vex—who's been at the academy far longer than I have—could handle it. He's stronger than me, so I didn't hold back."
His gaze settled on Vex, who had barely managed to stand with the support of his minions and another female student.
"Who would've thought he would be that fragile? Certainly not me."
Vex's jaw clenched, but he held himself back from glaring at the smiling youth.
Moore wanted to lash out, furious that Skyler acted as if he bore no responsibility despite injuring another student in front of everyone present. He hadn't reacted sooner because he was captivated by his weapon and the mastery with which he wielded it.
Still, his main goal was to make him take out his scythe again for a closer look.
Professor Moore's eyes met Alfanzo's, a silent understanding passing between the duo—they needed to see the weapon more clearly. Vex's fate could wait. But before he could voice his feigned anger, a shout rang out from the dome's entrance. Immediately, all eyes turned to the man standing there.
Syllus, Alfanzo's colleague, stood there wearing an oddly cheerful expression, his smile wide as he hurried toward them.
"The rest of the students are back too! Hurry up, come with me. Why didn't you sense the fluctuations in the Evol?"
He had barely finished speaking before both Moore and Alfanzo vanished in a blur.
Forgotten was the legendary-tier scythe they had been so eager to examine.
Their minds were now consumed with the urgent need to find out who had returned.
One wanted to confirm the safety of his disciples, while Alfanzo sought to know how many kids had made it back alive.
Syllus chuckled and vanished as well.
The students in the dome stared at the empty space where their professor had stood a while ago, their faces vacant.
None of them needed to be told to know who had returned—surely more students had come back from the Battle Royal.
Yet, the ease with which Moore left them the moment he heard the news left a bitter taste in their mouths. It was clear the man cared more about his personal disciples than the rest of the students he taught.
Skyler clicked his tongue.
"Sir abandoned his post. Impressive."
Shaking his head, he hurriedly made his way over to Charles, who stood with Zack.
They were supposed to be here for training, but he figured with Max and his teammates returning, the training class would likely be canceled. After all, Moore—the one meant to instruct them—had simply vanished.
But why was he so certain it was Max and his team who had returned? After all, plenty of other students had entered the first level of Battle Royal. Simple. Max and his team were the main characters of this world.
No matter how much he interfered, they would always find a way to get back on track, guided by the ever-reliable protagonist halo.
Still, he knew that as long as he stayed one step ahead—accomplishing their destined feats before they could—he could claim every reward and opportunity for himself, even without the protagonist halo.
Just like he had this time.
Skyler tapped Charles's shoulder with a sly grin, causing the shorter man to jump, eyes narrowing suspiciously at the wicked smile playing on his lips. Charles frowned.
"What now?"
He chuckled. Damn. Was he really that intimidating? The way Charles flinched at the slightest touch amused him. Maybe he was more unnerving than he had realized.
"Come on, let's take on some missions. There's nothing worthwhile left to do here, and honestly, I'd rather avoid running into certain people—if they've really returned."
"Missions?"
"Yes—to earn Star Coins on our IDs. And remember, we still have to pay our annual fees. Have you forgotten already?"
Charles went quiet, lips pressed into a thin line. He understood that Skyler didn't want to run into his sister—or anyone associated with her—if Max and his team had returned.
Still, no matter how much he told himself that Skyler only wanted to take on normal missions within the academy since they weren't allowed to go outside, he couldn't ignore the uneasy feeling in his gut. There was something in his tone, that glint in his eyes, that grin… it all screamed trouble.
And deep down, every fiber of Charles's being was yelling the same thing.
Run. Now. Before it's too late.
Skyler caught the flicker of hesitation in Charles's eyes, but before he could object, he was quietly but firmly dragged away.
Zack watched the duo vanish into the distance and secretly followed them.
"What's Skyler scheming this time?"
A screen flickered to life before him.
#Keeper of Time: How will I know?
Zack was left speechless. With a scoff, he waved the screen away dismissively.
"Did I ask for your input? Why are you even spying on me right now? I thought you had bigger, more important things to handle."
Another screen flickered to life before him.
#Keeper of Time: I missed a crucial detail last time—you never told me exactly what really happened with the Cursed Twins. If you didn't defeat them, then who did? Is someone else meddling with the story? Is it... Skyler? Or Charles? Which one is it? You did blame Skyler, but he's far too weak. I sense no power from him... unless I'm somehow blind to it. How strange.
Zack froze, eyes narrowing as he read the message before him. The corners of his eyes crinkled upward with mirth.
The wheels in his mind spun rapidly.
From the Keeper of Time's words, he had uncovered another slip-up—a major one.
And it revealed a lot. For one, Skyler clearly wasn't ordinary if even the Keeper of Time couldn't detect the anomaly in him.
After a brief pause, his gaze locked onto the distant figures of Skyler and Charles.
His lips curled upward into a smirk.
"No, not Skyler. I only used him as a scapegoat—he was the perfect target, always doing too much on his own."
He paused for a second.
"The real culprit is someone else entirely. This time, why don't you dig a little deeper and figure it out yourself?"
His smirk widened when the Keeper of Time went silent, and Zack couldn't help but think that Skyler owed him a good thank-you—for diverting a higher being's attention from him.
He followed Skyler and Charles, only to instantly regret it when the duo accepted a herb-gathering mission that led them into a massive, Epic-tier crystal floating above the potion-making department buildings.
What was meant to be a simple herb-collecting task quickly spiraled into a desperate race for survival—because that bastard Skyler, either by sheer accident or perhaps on purpose, managed to awaken a slumbering small horde of hyenas.
And not just any hyenas, but monstrous, winged, birdlike beasts that prowled the land with ravenous, brown-gold eyes.
The irony was brutal—only Zack and Charles were sprinting for their lives!
Skyler Thorne? Gone without a trace, vanished into thin air like a ghost!
That insufferable, infuriating bastard!
Zack swiftly tore through one hyena and narrowly fended off another that lunged at him from behind. Thankfully, the monster population inside the crystal was low—the other students at the academy had cleared much of it out already—otherwise, with the deafening chaos those winged beasts were causing, he and Charles would have been overwhelmed by many other creatures.
He glanced back at the man who should have been running beside him, only to find no one—Charles had vanished too.
"What the hell is going on?!"
Zack shouted in frustration and activated one of the skills he had recently acquired.
In an instant, his figure vanished into thin air, reappearing only once he was safely beyond the reach of the dangerous, snarling hyenas.
Gasping, he wiped the sweat from his brow and quickly surveyed the terrain around him.
He stood in the middle of a forest where tall trees with blood-red leaves stretched into a dusky, overcast sky. The ground beneath him was carpeted with thick layers of rust-colored foliage, crackling softly underfoot.
Zack's gaze searched for any sign of Skyler and Charles, but the two were nowhere to be found. Suddenly, a screen appeared before him, and a vein throbbed on his temple.
#Keeper of Time: Hahaha, sometimes you really behave like a complete fool!
He clenched his fists, his face hardening.
"What's going on? Tell me clearly."
#Keeper of Time: Damn, you still don't know? Isn't it obvious? Skyler used you as bait to clear out all the monsters outside the Boss Chamber inside this Crystal.