Night fell.
Phoenix remained on the wall, keeping watch. The rest of the students had spread out across the strange administrative building, claiming rooms for themselves.
The place was quiet—eerily so. And completely dark.
While everyone else slept, the silence was broken by the sound of slow footsteps echoing through the dim corridor.
Step by step, a young man walked forward, dressed in a black robe, one hand on the wall, coughing now and then.
With his disheveled blond hair and pale face, the figure was unmistakable—Xevier Adams, the young mage, walked on with a single goal in mind.
"Damn you…"
Clutching the wall with one hand and his constricted chest with the other, the young mage looked like he was in genuine agony.
"I curse you…"
He continued muttering between gasps, until a sudden coughing fit overtook him—so violent it forced everything in his stomach out onto the floor, along with blood so pale it had lost all color.
"Damn you…"
With a pale face, Xevier struggled to keep walking.
"What's wrong… Xevier?"
The young mage immediately froze when he heard that familiar voice—the very one that made his blood boil.
The voice came from a figure standing at the end of the dark corridor, golden eyes glowing fiercely.
"Were you looking for me?"
"Aegon… ugh—!"
Xevier cried out the name before collapsing again, vomiting blood, unable to even form proper words.
"What's this, Xevier? I always thought you were filthy, but throwing up your guts in front of me like this? That's just revolting—heh."
The prince laughed, almost as if he had expected Xevier to show up.
The mage continued vomiting profusely, his blurry eyes barely able to focus on Aegon anymore.
The sound of his violent coughing echoed through the halls, drawing the elite students out of their rooms in a rush.
Lights turned on, revealing the sorry state of the young mage—his eyes still locked onto Aegon, struggling to speak.
"Xevier!!"
Selina was the first to reach him, followed by Emilia and the rest of the group.
"What's happening to him?! Why is he like this?!"
Selina screamed, horrified by the black veins writhing beneath Xevier's skin and the blood pouring from his mouth.
Emilia sprang into action, tearing open his clothes to reveal his chest—and what she found shocked everyone.
The skin across his chest had turned completely black, and the festering wound reeked of rotting pus.
"What is this?! I know I healed him!"
It was the bite wound he had received earlier from a mutated human.
The holy energy should've purified it completely, yet in less than a day, it had worsened to this degree.
Emilia immediately channeled her sacred power to try healing him again—but her expression darkened as she realized nothing was working.
"What's going on…?"
No matter how much sacred power she poured into him, it had no effect.
That's when Aegon spoke.
"It's useless. The demon blood from that bite already reached his heart. It's only a matter of time before he becomes like the other mutants."
"Demon blood?"
"No! There has to be a way to save him!"
Selina shouted at Aegon, her voice breaking. He just shrugged casually.
"Then I'd love to hear it from you."
She had no answer ... but Emilia, resolute, continued pouring her power into Xevier, refusing to give up.
Snow joined her, summoning Vermithor.
"My sword carries immense sacred power—it might help."
Emilia nodded, continuing her efforts as their combined light bathed the room in radiant energy.
Their strength was so overwhelming that everyone present felt a wave of relief wash over them, their minor wounds healing instantly.
Everyone… except Xevier.
Sacred power could suppress demonic energy—but not the blood itself.
The mage's eyes never left Aegon.
Bathed in Emilia's light, Xevier's thoughts drifted through his tragic past.
He had once lived a happy childhood, loved by his parents. Then he discovered his incredible magical talent, which earned him a place in the Temple.
There, he met friends who became like family. Life had been good—until Kai Luc's betrayal, and their capture by the demon prince: Aegon Valerion.
Threatening their parents, Aegon had given them all a task: to find the one who had disrupted his plans.
Selina succeeded and saved her parents.
But what about Xevier?
Aegon wasn't merciful. He didn't kill both of Xevier's parents—he was far too calculating for that.
Instead, the prince played one of his twisted games.
He decided to kill just one of them.
Xevier still remembered that day…
...
...
...
Bound and gagged in a wooden chair, he watched in terror as Aegon approached with his signature smile. Behind him, guards dragged in Xevier's beloved parents.
"Xevier, oh Xevier… you really let me down this time."
He had failed. And failure came with a price.
The young mage trembled in fear, dreading what Aegon might do to his parents.
But the prince had no intention of making it simple.
"Let's play a game, Xevier!"
That's what he called it—a game.
"I'll kill one of your parents… and let the other live."
He spoke with a cheerful tone, completely ignoring Xevier's muffled screams as he tried to leap at him—only to fall off the chair.
"How rude, Xevier… Let me finish."
With a swift kick, Aegon shoved him back into place.
"As I was saying… I'll kill one of your parents. But I can't decide which one."
Aegon gripped Xevier's mother and father by their collars, both trembling in his hands.
"So I thought… why not let you choose, Xevier?"
With a swift flick of his wrist, he removed the gag from the terrified mage's mouth.
"W-What…?"
That was the only word Xevier could utter in his stunned state, but Aegon burst into laughter before shouting:
"Choose, Xevier! Who lives? Who dies?!"
He spun a thin dagger in his fingers, pressing it alternately against the throat of Xevier's mother, then his father.
"CHOOSE!"
Aegon screamed maniacally as Xevier broke down in tears.
"Don't kill them! Please! Take me instead!"
The young mage begged, but the prince only shook his head in disappointment.
"That's not how games are played, Xevier. You have to choose."
Aegon grabbed Xevier by the neck, his eyes wide with lunacy.
"Choose! Choose! Choose! Choose! Choose! Choose! Choose! Choose! Choose! Choose!"
"Please… stop… why are you doing this to me? Kill me instead, please!"
"CHOOSE! CHOOSE! CHOOSE! CHOOSE! CHOOSE! CHOOSE! CHOOSE!"
Amid Aegon's screams and laughter, and Xevier's sobs and desperation…
A horrific scene was painted—one soaked in despair and innocent blood.
After several minutes of unhinged cruelty, Aegon finally grew bored.
"So you won't choose, huh?"
"Kill me…" Xevier whispered, the last word he could manage.
"Understood."
Aegon stepped back swiftly, moving behind Xevier's father. Grabbing him by the head, he yanked it back.
With a sickening smile, the prince slid his blade across the man's throat—unleashing a crimson fountain that drenched Xevier's face in blood.
His mother screamed in horror, and Xevier froze, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
At Aegon's gesture, guards entered, dragging the father's corpse away and escorting the mother out, leaving only Xevier and the prince alone.
"Remember this well, Xevier. I have no patience for failure…"
He patted the stunned mage's head, whispering coldly:
"Fail me again… and who knows what might happen to your dear mother. Understand?"
His father was dead. His mother remained in Aegon's grip.
Before the prince, Xevier felt what true despair meant.
And now, in the final moments of his life, lying powerless on the floor while the prince laughed ...having taken one parent and kept the other as a hostage ... Xevier's only emotion was regret.
'I didn't live a life worth remembering… I achieved nothing to be proud of.'
He could no longer speak. Blood and bile filled his throat.
'Through my own weakness, my father died… and my mother was left in the jaws of a monster worse than any demon.'
He had failed—utterly and completely.
'You killed my father… so I curse you.'
'You made my mother cry, left her a widow… so I curse you.'
'You ruined my life… tortured me… killed me… so I curse you!'
Ignoring everyone around him…
Xevier raised a trembling hand toward Aegon, eyes lifeless, and channeled all his remaining magic.
His pain, his hatred, his sorrow—all of it—was poured into a single spell. A curse he had forged silently all this time, just for this moment.
'I curse you!'
The final power left in his soul burst forth—a deadly curse aimed straight at the heart of the demon prince.
The magic had no color. No one noticed it.
But Aegon felt it pierce his heart. For a moment, his expression froze in shock.
This was a death curse.
A curse that could only be broken by another mage. And here, isolated from the outside world, there was no one who could help Aegon.
'At the very least… I'll take you with me…'
That was Xevier's final thought. If the prince died, then his mother and Selina would finally be free.
As he exhaled his last breath, Xevier looked at the prince one final time…
He wanted to see fear. Panic. He wanted Aegon to suffer—just for a moment.
To watch that arrogant prince, who thought the world bowed to him, finally break.
But fate was never kind to Xevier… not even in death.
Because what he saw wasn't fear.
It was the same wicked smile—the very one Aegon had worn when he killed his father.
In that moment, Xevier watched his powerful curse shatter ... fragmenting uselessly before it could reach Aegon's heart.
Stunned, the mage stared as Aegon moved his lips without making a sound.
But Xevier understood the words, because he was watching closely.
"I'll take good care of her… your mother."
Xevier's eyes flew open wide… before slowly returning to emptiness.
The light of sacred energy faded—there was no need for it anymore.
Everyone stepped back, silent, as Xevier's cold corpse remained still on the floor.
Eyes blank, still locked on the void… his face frozen in pain, as if even death brought him no peace.
And so, surrounded by the elite students…
Xevier Adams died from his wound .. marking the fall of the first soul.
Remaining students: 20.