Skyler raised his hands in surrender.
"Sir, I made a mistake. I'm sorry. I lost my mind for a moment—you know I can be a little bit crazy sometimes."
Principal Wen's brows furrowed.
"Mistake? What mistake, exactly?"
Skyler responded without hesitation.
"Thinking the Battle Royal is child's play!"
Wen gave a slow nod.
"Well, at least you still have some brain."
Skyler jumped to his feet.
"I swear to repent, Sir! How about I take a lap around the entire academy?"
His eagerness made the principal very suspicious. What was this boy up to?
However, before he could even tell Skyler that he wasn't allowed to leave his sight until Prince Alistair—who had contacted him earlier—arrived, the boy had already vanished, thanks to his space-type skill.
Principal Wen's eyes widened. He couldn't feel Skyler's presence—someone stronger than him was masking the boy's aura.
Immediately, he vanished after him.
Skyler could enter the Battle Royal at any second—just by looking at his status! He had to stop him before it was too late!
But the moment Wen vanished, Skyler reappeared in the room again. With a wicked laugh, he swiped the principal's office clean of all the floating crystals.
"I told you I'd take these! Hehe."
Satisfied, he vanished once more.
Finding a hiding spot from the principal—who was now announcing his name across the entire academy—Skyler quickly took out his phone and sent a text to Charles, telling him he'd find them in the Battle Royal and that they should go on ahead without him.
Then, he turned to Riruru.
"My dear, I know I have to leave again, but this time I'll find a way to call you there. So just wait for me, okay? I'll leave you in the Queen's care. Stay safe while I'm gone."
Riruru grumbled, eyeing the chain around his wrist, where the familiar crimson gem shimmered softly—the very gem in which the red-haired ghost rested. Why was she allowed to go with him, and not Riruru?
It was completely unfair.
Skyler noticed her staring at the gem, and a guilty look crossed his face. He could bring objects with him—like the gem—because it was inanimate, even if it held a fragment of a soul within it. But Riruru was different.
She was a living being.
Sure, he could hold her, but he had already done his research: once he chose to enter the Battle Royal, only small objects on his person would be teleported with him.
No one else could come with him.
The Battle Royal had strict rules.
Perhaps it was intentional—designed to scatter the participants and prevent any chance of cooperation from the start.
He gently caressed her cool scales.
"Don't be jealous."
A knowing smile flashed in his eyes.
"I'll convince 505 to pull a few strings and find a way to get you into the Battle Royal."
Riruru instantly narrowed her eyes.
'505?'
Skyler cleared his throat.
"My system. 505's... gullible."
At the mention of 'system', she relaxed.
She had already heard that those who entered the Battle Royal were given one.
'But what's gullible?'
Skyler dodged the question and used his Voidstep skill to leave the academy with her, heading straight for the royal castle.
Just as he disappeared, Principal Wen finally reached the spot where Skyler had been hiding. A vein pulsed on his forehead—he had missed him by a single second.
He turned to the old man behind him.
"Why did you do it, Elder?"
The old individual with warm brown eyes hummed. He was the strongest person in the entire Starlight Academy and had been observing Skyler ever since the boy started fighting in the Gala—from a distance.
There was something undeniably unique about him—something that had captured his curiosity. He had to admit, watching Skyler over the past week had been fun.
"I just concealed his presence."
"But why?"
The old man gave Wen a pat on the back.
"Relax. He's not a kid—you need to let him make his own decisions. If he has chosen to enter the Battle Royal, so be it. Why are you all so eager to babysit him? Right now, we needs every strong fighter we can get."
He paused for a moment.
"At least he had the decency to tell you he was entering that dangerous place—unlike the golden-eyed one, who vanished without a single word. If I hadn't noticed traces of his movements, you'd all still be scouring the human continent looking for him."
Wen let out a groan, unable to argue with that. Perhaps the elder was right. But still, the kids were too young to be thrown into a brutal battlefield. They were barely twenty—and Skyler wasn't even that yet. Wen didn't want them to lose their youth to bloodshed before they'd had a chance to truly live.
The old man turned to leave. Thank you for reading. This was brought to you by M|V|L*EMPYR.
"Sometimes, circumstances force the young to grow up faster than they should. All we can do... is hope they survive it. Isn't that the reason academies exist? To ready them—so they have a chance to survive."
Wen followed after him, frowning.
"But we aren't even sure if something dangerous is actually coming. Skyler's words aren't backed by any solid proof."
The old man shrugged.
"Who knows. But..."
His senses suddenly picked up a familiar presence, and he vanished, leaving only a few solemn parting words for Wen.
"Alistair's here. Handle him. And don't you dare tell him I helped Skyler—or I won't help you during your next breakthrough."
The principal stared at the now-empty space before him, expression blank.
"Seriously? This was exactly why I didn't want Skyler to enter the Battle Royal. That kid might survive just fine—but how am I supposed to survive his family? The fact that he's a royal does nothing to help."
He made his way to his office, but the moment he stepped inside, he froze. The atmosphere was… wrong. Something was missing—something important.
Then it hit him. The floating crystals that normally lit the room were gone. A beat of silence passed—followed by a loud, furious shout that echoed through the academy.
"Skyler!"