“Ha… Ha…”Raya struggled to catch her breath.Her face had turned deathly pale.She had long since exhausted her Mana, and the damage inside her body was far worse than anything visible on the outside.Before activating the teleportation, she had made one final decision.Among all the survivors, only two groups were deliberately sent together.The first was Ivory and Wyndia.Ivory had completely broken down after Jay’s death. There was no way she could survive alone in that condition, so Raya entrusted her to Wyndia.The second group…Was herself and Nayla.She could have teleported everyone to the same destination.She didn’t.The attackers would undoubtedly hunt down the one responsible for ruining their plans.As the person who opened the escape route, Raya knew she would become their primary target.That was why she refused to drag Ivory and Wyndia into the same danger.If anyone was going to remain beside her…It would only be the friend who had stayed with her since childhood.“

“What?”Nayla stared at Raya in disbelief.“We’re using your teleportation again?”Her eyebrows drew together.“Have you forgotten what condition you’re in?”“I haven’t.”Raya answered without hesitation.“But we still don’t know what those people are doing.”Her voice was calm, though noticeably weak.“They’re too mysterious.”“I can’t predict their next move.”“I don’t even know whether the other students managed to reach safety.”She took a slow breath before continuing.“So it’s safer if I take us home.”She looked down at her trembling hands.“You stabilized my Mana.”“That should be enough for one last journey.”“If I can get back home…”“I’ll be able to repair my Mana veins myself, even without a healer.”She summoned Ilya.The silver-haired Familiar appeared immediately.“Ilya.”“I’m sorry for asking this while you’re exhausted.”“Can you teleport us as close to home as possible?”“I’ll handle the rest.”Ilya looked genuinely startled.She knew better than anyone how close Ray

Rhys quietly closed his eyes.At last…Everything made sense.He finally understood why each of them had turned out the way they had.Ivory wasn’t avoiding serious relationships because she disliked love.She was terrified of loving someone again.The moment she lost Jay, the happiest part of her life became the deepest wound she carried.While she struggled to survive that pain, she never realized she was slowly destroying herself.Yet she couldn’t bring herself to end her own life either.After hearing everything about Jay, Rhys knew exactly why.A man like Jay would never have wanted her to follow him in death.Even after he was gone, the memory of him continued holding her back.Unable to die.Unable to move on.She had chosen the only path she could find.She let her life fall apart one piece at a time.Then there was Wyndia.Principal Dent had pulled her back from the brink.She survived.She rebuilt herself.Eventually, she became the vice principal of Valaris Academy.Another

The next morning…Rhys let out a long yawn as he made his way toward the lake.He had only managed to sleep for a few hours after listening to Raya and Nayla’s story, and his body was beginning to complain.When he arrived, Raya was already there.She stood quietly beside the lake, as though she had been waiting for him for quite some time.The moment she noticed him, she asked, “Didn’t get enough sleep?”Rhys rubbed the back of his neck.“Yeah.”“But I’ll survive.”“It’s not like there’s anything more important for me to do right now.”He smiled.“Besides, I’m curious about this improvement you mentioned.”Raya frowned.“Curious?”She gave him a puzzled look.“You created the technique yourself.”“Shouldn’t you feel proud instead?”Rhys chuckled.The first person who came to mind was Maeve.Compared to her terrifying talent, he had never considered himself a genius.The only reason he could come up with ideas like Dragon Fist and Discharge was because of the countless novels he had r

“What’s wrong?” The moment Rhys saw the tears running down Maeve’s face, panic set in. “Are you hurt?” “Are you sick?” “Did someone attack you?” He quickly looked her over, searching for any visible injuries. Maeve simply tightened her grip around him. After a long silence, she whispered, “…I’m sorry.” Rhys frowned. His first thought was the mission. “Did he get away?” Maeve slowly shook her head. “No.” “I killed him.” Her voice was barely audible. “It’s just…” She buried her face against Rhys’s chest. When she spoke again, every word trembled. “I never imagined…” “It would be this difficult to kill someone from my own family.” She clenched his clothes. “I had already decided to cut all ties with him.” “I knew what I had to do.” “But…” “It was still so hard.” She closed her eyes. “I don’t know how many times I hesitated.” “Even before we fought…” “The thought of killing him terrified me.” “It made me feel sick.” A bitter lau