The moment the abyssal fell, Meave headed straight toward Rhys.It was almost as though she had been keeping an eye on him the entire time. The instant she saw the battle end, she broke into a run.“Rhys!”Her voice carried clearly across the battlefield.Rhys turned toward her and smiled.“Sorry for making you wait.”“Wait?” Meave stared at him before shaking her head. “The only reason I finished my abyssal first is because you only had two familiars helping you. You didn’t even call out your strongest one.”“He is not the strongest!”“He is not the strongest!”Anubis and Gealion immediately protested in unison.The sudden outburst caught Meave off guard.She blinked several times as the two familiars glared at her.It was a strange sight, but not entirely unexpected. Every familiar Rhys possessed seemed obsessed with proving they were the strongest. Their pride simply wouldn’t allow another familiar to take that title.Realizing her mistake, Meave quickly corrected herself.“Fine. C

For the next two days, Rhys and Meave threw themselves into hunting as many Abyssals as they could find.The attack on the two camps had forced the military to investigate where the creatures had come from, and that search eventually led them to a hidden cave. Inside, they found countless bodies scattered throughout the tunnels, revealing the horrifying truth behind the recent attacks.The discovery left everyone shaken.According to the evidence, around fifty captured soldiers had been dragged into the cave and subjected to whatever process created the Abyssals. Almost nobody believed it at first. Out of all fifty victims, only nine had survived the transformation well enough to become actual hosts.Rhys and Meave personally killed two of those hosts.Meanwhile, Carmichael led the remaining soldiers in clearing out the surviving Abyssals. During the operation, they managed to eliminate five more hosts, leaving only two still unaccounted for.Those final two proved impossible to locat

Far away from the academy, tucked into a forgotten corner of the Virelith Kingdom, stood an old wooden hut surrounded by empty land.From the outside, it looked ordinary.Anyone passing by would assume it belonged to a lonely hunter or an aging farmer.Nothing about the small building hinted at what lay beneath it.Inside the hut, a staircase descended into a surprisingly vast underground laboratory.The basement stretched far beyond what the surface suggested.Only a handful of magical lamps illuminated the room, casting eerie green and purple light across the stone walls.Rows of glass tubes lined both sides of the laboratory.Some were large enough to hold full-sized corpses.Others contained only severed limbs or smaller biological samples.At the far end of the room stood a massive worktable buried beneath towering piles of documents. Countless research notes covered its surface, while loose pages lay scattered across the floor beside strange surgical instruments and alchemical e

“Oh my.”Grace rested her chin on one hand and smiled warmly from behind her desk.“So you’ve finally decided to accept my invitation and join the student council?”The office was unusually quiet.Aside from Grace, only Skylar was present. The other council members were nowhere to be seen, leaving the room calm enough that every word carried clearly.Rhys stood before the desk with a calm expression.Instead of answering her question, he asked one of his own.“What benefits will I receive if I join the student council?”Grace’s smile grew even brighter.“I think you’re asking the wrong question.”She leaned back comfortably.“I should be asking you instead.”“What would it take for you to join us?”Rhys met her gaze without hesitation.“What would you do if I crushed everyone in my class?”Grace blinked.For the first time since he entered the room, she looked genuinely surprised.A few months ago, she would have answered immediately.She would have stopped him.Back then, there would

Saka Port. The harbor buzzed with activity as teachers and academy staff prepared the students for departure. Varyn approached the seven instructors assigned to assist him during the event before offering them a respectful nod. “Thank you, everyone, for volunteering to help.” One of the teachers stepped forward with a reassuring smile. “Our responsibility is ensuring the students’ safety.” “So don’t worry.” “We’ll do everything we can to protect them.” Another teacher nodded in agreement. “Although, to be honest, Lesser-class Abyssals shouldn’t pose much of a threat anymore.” “As long as the students manage their condition properly, they should be fine.” “That’s true,” another instructor replied. “But this event isn’t only about fighting.” “It’s a survival exercise.” “They’ll have to build shelters.” “They’ll need food and clean water.” “They’ll have to endure changing weather.” “They’re forbidden from bringing supplies beyond their weapons and equipme