Everything happened so fast, some of them barely had time to process it.
As their feet landed on a barren land, utterly devoid of life, the reactions varied among the elite class students who had just been mercilessly thrown into an unknown territory.
Among them was Frey, kneeling on one knee, running his bare hand through the rough sand with a deep frown on his face.
"What just happened?"
It was Seris Moonlight who voiced the question haunting them all.
They were supposed to arrive in the Nightmare Lands, as they'd been told.
But the strange deviation during teleportation suggested otherwise—something had gone wrong.
Of course, they had no way of knowing that this deviation had actually saved them, caused by Frey's intervention through the system.
Had he not acted, they would've ended up walking straight into the ambush the Ultras had prepared for them.
The elite students weren't fools—or at least, not all of them were.
After scanning their surrounding .. the barren plains stretching far into a distant mountain range, the desolate, grim aura hanging in the air—
"…Ultras Continent."
Ghost murmured those words. His voice, usually too quiet for anyone to notice, was for some reason heard clearly by everyone in that moment.
Truth be told, they had all been thinking the same thing, but none of them had the courage to say it out loud and face the reality.
"You're wrong!"
Unlike Ghost's calmness, a panicked cry rang out from the youngest daughter of Lord Sunlight—Scarite.
It seemed she hadn't intended to yell, judging by the way she flinched once all eyes landed on her. Her next words came much softer.
"You don't know that…"
In other words, he couldn't be sure this was the Ultras Continent.
"T-That's right… it's probably just part of the test."
"Yeah!"
Both Adriana Heijeforn and Emilia Atarax hurried to agree with Scar, trying their best to hold themselves together and stay positive.
Ghost showed no change in expression, even with the weight of their situation pressing down on them. He simply responded in the same calm tone.
"That's true. I don't actually know if we're on the Ultras Continent."
"Exactly, you can't—"
"But…"
Ghost continued, undeterred by their interruption.
"None of you can deny it either."
"Deny what…?"
He didn't bother explaining further—but Snow Lionheart was kind enough to step in.
"Just like we can't confirm this is the Ultras Continent, we also can't rule it out. And even if this were just a temple test, it's hard to believe."
The teleportation gate they'd used was the same one other second-year students went through. But for some reason, only they were here.
Snow had considered the possibility of everything around them being an illusion—but quickly dismissed the idea. Several of them, himself included, had abilities that could detect such deceptions.
No matter how much he thought about it, he kept arriving at the same conclusion.
"We're really in the Ultras Continent…"
He declared grimly in the middle of the barren desert.
"You're telling me we're trapped in enemy territory, where every single person wants us dead?"
Danzo scowled, fully grasping the gravity of the situation. Forget returning to the Empire—would they even survive in a land full of enemies on the brink of war?
And again ... they weren't seasoned warriors. Most of them were just teenagers, some not even eighteen.
The sight of Emilia and Adriana collapsing to their knees in shock served as a grim reminder of that truth.
"No…"
"What are we going to do now?!"
Tears welled up, and panic spread like wildfire. Their minds simply couldn't handle the reality they were now facing.
Unlike Frey and a few others who had been through life-and-death situations before and could stay composed, the rest weren't as fortunate.
Emilia Atarax's sobs, the despair and dread taking hold of them all—
It all came to a halt when the sharp clash of swords rang out.
Through a sudden swirl of dust caused by the impact, every eye turned to the two figures whose blades had met.
None of the elite students had noticed when—or how—Frey Starlight had drawn his sword. Nor how he had suddenly struck out at Prince Aegon Valerion, who blocked the attack using a wave of black lightning aura from his own blade.
Frey's cold eyes stabbed with a mixture of hatred and contempt toward that filthy prince.
"So you blocked it, huh?" Frey spoke with icy calm, while the prince responded with a trembling blade and a forced smile.
"Barely…"
With a swift slash of his sword, Frey knocked Aegon back. The prince braced his feet to stay grounded, barely holding on.
Despite using Black Lightning, he could only just parry Frey's blow—and still got pushed back several meters.
"That smile of yours... You're actually enjoying this, you damn rat."
Unlike Aegon, who struggled to stay steady, Frey walked toward him with a composed, unhurried pace, holding Balerion like a reaper's scythe.
"Frey, what are you doing?!"
After everything they'd just been through, no one expected Frey Starlight to launch a sudden attack on Aegon Valerion. The sheer shock of it sent panic rippling through the group.
A few students moved to intervene, but Frey let his aura loose deliberately—unleashing crushing pressure. For most of them, this was their first glimpse of what a Victoriad Champion was truly capable of.
"This isn't very polite… Frey Starlight, attacking me like this,"
Aegon swung his sword, his hand still trembling from the last clash, yet the smile never left his face.
Frey simply raised his blade again, pointing it at the prince.
"You knew it. From the start."
"That's a God-damn lie."
Aegon denied it instantly, but Frey didn't let up.
He showed no mercy to the foul prince, surging forward with Balerion charged by a wave of dark aura.
This time too, his strike was blocked—but not by Aegon.
Vermithor gleamed brightly as Snow intercepted Frey, steel clashing against steel.
"That's enough… Frey."
"Snow…" Frey muttered his counterpart's name, still pressing forward. "Step aside."
"Look around you!"
Snow's voice boomed as his light-based aura clashed violently with Frey's darkness.
His words snapped Frey back to his senses, making him finally aware of the situation around him.
Without realizing it, most of the elite class had already started to shift toward Aegon's side.
Only a handful remained near Frey—and even among them, most stood in hesitant silence.
"Stop it, Frey. This isn't the time or place for this," said Sansa, stepping beside him, trying to pull him back from the brink.
"Yes! Listen to them, Frey."
From the other side, Aegon chuckled.
"You're accusing me of causing this catastrophe? I mean, what would I gain by throwing myself into enemy territory alongside the Empire's top talents? Does that even make sense?"
Aegon Valerion answered with what he did best—words.
And gods, was he good at them.
"From where I'm standing, Lord Starlight… you're the one acting like a traitor."
As Aegon spoke, gazes full of suspicion and judgment turned toward Frey.
In that moment, Frey finally realized the mistake he had made.
The prince had spent years building his reputation and status within the Empire, turning most people into mere pawns who trusted him implicitly.
Even those who hated him—like the witch Selena—had to obey, because he held their parents hostage.
As for Frey, there weren't many willing to stand with him against Aegon.
Yet even with the odds stacked against him, Frey didn't lose his composure—not for a second.