This was just another ordinary day for Avelina.
However, the sunlight did not flood the campus as usual; the sky remained shrouded in a pale gray haze, and the wind carried a hint of dampness, chilling against the skin.
On the stone-paved path, students still hurried to their classrooms as usual, discussing magical theory or complaining about the change in weather.
Occasionally, someone would glance up at the gloomy sky and grumble, “Looks like it’s going to pour.”
A dozen or so miles from Avelina, near the border marker, the sounds of roaring and the sight of crimson blood kept resounding beside the purple-haired girl.
“Ninety-ninth.”
With a casual wave of her hand, she crushed the skull of a third-tier Magus—who could definitely be called a master—with her spatial laws.
The remaining corpse slumped to its knees in the mud, undeniably dead.
“So tired…”
Perhaps the intense use of law power was wearing even her down.
Killing them was as easy as squashing ants, but they were simply too scattered.
Why couldn’t these people gather together so she could wipe them out in one go?
Instead, they insisted on coming one by one, attacking from different directions and positions.
Avelina was near the border between the Empire and the Albos Kingdom, where minor skirmishes would break out from time to time on Avelina’s side.
After all, they and the Empire were basically in cahoots.
It was only natural to help guard the border, but if it affected the students’ studies, that wouldn’t be good.
That was also why it took Lin Yue several days to travel here—from one border to another.
It really was hard on him.
…
The past few days had truly been anything but peaceful, perhaps because of the mobilization for the expedition, the enemy country also seemed to be scheming.
If not for Lia’s ability to travel a thousand miles in a day, the other high-ranking magicians of Avelina might have been driven half mad by now.
Because of this, she was so busy that she hadn’t even had a chance to exchange a few words with Lin Yue.
It irritated her.
That day, after seeing the traces left by spatial magic, she had intended to confront Lin Yue immediately and ask why he would risk so much to rob the church’s carriage.
Not far from there, there were fifth-tier priests and quite a few others Lin Yue couldn’t possibly handle…
This was not within Avelina’s borders; if he were caught, being executed on the spot wasn’t out of the question.
What exactly was going through his mind?
But he had done it to save Aira, someone precious to him… Thinking it over, she didn’t immediately blame him.
After going through a crisis, everyone needed time to breathe.
Lia understood this better than anyone.
She also didn’t want to scold Lin Yue in front of others.
She had taught him spatial magic; if he abused it, she was responsible, too.
“Professor Lia!”
A few people in Avelina’s mage robes, looking like teachers, ran over and called out to her.
Lia brushed the dust from her clothes, letting it fall to the ground.
“Leave it to us here. Please, go back and rest.”
…
“Alright.”
Lia put away her wand and looked up at the sky.
A few raindrops fell near the corner of her eye, making her squint unconsciously.
Whoosh!
A longsword pierced Lia’s body, running from her back straight through to her abdomen.
“Lia Carracus, die!”
Lia staggered a few steps, turning to look at the people whose eyes glowed with a strange light.
Her expression did not change in the slightest at the sudden attack.
“This has never happened before…”
Lia traced her forefinger lightly along the sword, discovering it could not harm her at all.
How long had it been since she was last wounded?
Since advancing to the sixth tier that rainy night, how long had it been since she tasted despair?
“You stay. The rest of you can die.”
Whoosh!
Except for the one who stabbed her, all the surrounding “Avelina teachers” were sliced in half at the waist by a single, powerful, and precise wind blade from Lia.
Her body slowly floated upward, purple magic radiating in all directions.
Her form faded away from the sword, and she pressed her hand against the impostor teacher’s head.
“Speak. To be able to disguise yourself as an Avelina teacher, you’re clearly more than just a soldier.”
A spatial force crushed the man’s knees, but he still wore a smug look, as if he felt no pain.
Lia frowned.
This scene brought back some unpleasant memories.
“…Light….”
The person in front of her had his mind scrambled by Lia’s magic, but even before she struck, his brain was no longer the original.
…
Lia’s eyes flew open, and she turned her head, discovering that Avelina in the distance was engulfed by a bizarre red light.
She immediately opened a spatial rift to contact the high-ranking magicians on campus, but something blocked her; no one responded.
A feint to the east to attack the west…
She had guessed who the mastermind was.
She hadn’t thought they would really take action…
If that’s how it was, they must be prepared.
You all know…
“I’ll kill every last one of you.
“Not a single one will be spared.”
She no longer suppressed the raging fury in her heart.
Her powerful magical field froze the raindrops around her.
The spatial rift split open violently, and in an instant, she shot toward Avelina.
“……”
Five minutes later, a man in enemy military uniform picked up the head of one of the fallen, looked in the direction Lia had gone, and revealed a sly smile.
“Drawing the tiger from the mountain—success.”
Behind him was a dense mass of troops.
Isabella let out a deep sigh after placing the last red stone in an unnoticed corner of Avelina.
That’s right, the mysterious figure who’d been hiding her identity all along was Isabella.
It was not long ago, on the day when Lin Yue and Isabella had their misunderstanding…
…
Isabella stood on the stone bridge, her gray eyes filled with astonishment as she looked at the divine messenger before her.
Avelina had clearly stated that only at the annual expedition ceremony would people from the Church be allowed in.
Anyone here now could only mean trouble.
“You seem quite curious, acolyte Isabella.”
The divine messenger before her seemed to have lost much of his humanity, transformed into nothing but the mouthpiece of the gods.
Except for basic physical needs, all else was in service to the divine.
What Isabella hated most about the Church were those who would forgo their own personalities for power and position.
Not only did they spout nonsense, they were impossible to communicate with, and trampled on the most basic line of being human: selfhood.
For some people, selfhood was worth less than a ten-thousandth of wealth—let alone such seductive power and status.
…
They were like a cancer, corroding the spines of the weak-willed, driving them into the abyss.
Isabella hated gazing into the abyss, and had no intention of jumping in.
“Get to the point.”
Her heart had just been hurt—she didn’t want to waste time wrangling with these people.
“The Church commands you, as the Hand of God, to spread the gospel in Avelina.”
With that, he took out a red-and-black stone and handed it to Isabella.
At the sight of it, Isabella frowned.
It radiated an aura both familiar and deeply repulsive.
She couldn’t remember where she’d seen it, but her body instinctively rejected it.
With a cold expression, Isabella knocked the stone aside and said frostily to the divine messenger, “I believe in the mercy of the gods. I joined the church to help the mortal world, not to serve those who hoard divine power for their own gain.”
She wanted nothing to do with this suspicious divine envoy.
Who knew what trouble she’d be dragged into?
…
“I refuse. You may leave now.”
She turned to head back to the dorm, but the messenger suddenly called out a name that made her freeze: “Lin Yue Hawke.”
Isabella’s body went rigid.
“The eldest son of the infamous Unbeliever family, and the marriage partner of the Valiana family.”
“What is the point of this alliance between your two families?”
Recalling her family’s instructions and the benefits and drawbacks involved, Isabella sighed coldly and replied, “No comment.”
Seeing the divine envoy unwilling to let go, Isabella could only invoke Avelina to shield herself: “If you don’t leave, I’ll call a teacher. The high-level magicians at Avelina can…”
The divine messenger paused, then interrupted slowly, “But do you know that he has colluded with the Priestess and shown disrespect to the gods?”
Priestess?
What Priestess?
Could Lin Yue have come into contact with anyone hostile to the Church in such a short time?
“And as a church acolyte, you attempted to use advanced magic indiscriminately against your classmates, intending slaughter. How should such a crime be judged?”
At these words, Isabella finally panicked.
“How do you know…?”
…
Most only knew that advanced magic had appeared in the exams, but except for those involved, no one knew the details.
“The gods…are all-seeing…”
She had no time to think further; the divine messenger continued, “Not only you, but your sister, your family—all will be greatly affected if the Church chooses to target and excommunicate you.”
The Church was powerful; many families professed faith only to gain access to resources and network with top powers.
The Valiana family could never give that up.
If they wanted to threaten Isabella, any excuse would do.
Such was the helplessness of the weak, ripe for division.
Was this what true powerlessness felt like…
She recalled what Lin Yue had said, and for the first time, felt the world’s malice for herself.
“You seem confused in your heart.”
The divine messenger picked up the stone again and said to Isabella, “Why not face your heart and seek the light? The gods will grant you the answer.”
He clearly saw that Isabella was troubled over Lin Yue, and he tried to seduce her bit by bit.
She was indeed curious what Lin Yue had done to catch the Church’s eye.
She also wondered about her own loss of control during the exam, and why Allen had suddenly gone berserk.
If she played along, maybe she could catch a glimpse of the bigger picture.
Besides… regarding Lin Yue, she also wanted a chance to make things clear to herself.
Striking a deal with a tiger wasn’t wise, but if she was careful…
And finally, this bitter errand was coming to an end.
She had also achieved one of her goals—figuring out who the so-called Priestess was.
It turned out to be Aira, who had always been at Lin Yue’s side.
She hadn’t expected that girl to be able to command magical beasts…
That was truly rare, and given her connection to Lin Yue, the scion of House Hawke, there must be some hidden story.
…
But in her heart, Isabella wanted nothing more to do with Church affairs.
Over this period, many of the stones she’d placed had been destroyed, but she’d done so deliberately.
Who knew what disaster these things would bring to Avelina?
As a pawn struggling to break free, all she could do was sabotage their plans as much as possible.
“You did well, acolyte Isabella…”
The divine messenger suddenly appeared behind her, applauding slowly as he walked toward her.
Isabella startled, turning warily to face him.
“May I leave now?”
“Of course. We will forever remember your deeds and praise your virtues before the gods.”
“Whatever….”
Just as Isabella turned away, the priest spoke slowly, “The Church never breaks its promises.”
“Breaks promises?”
Isabella didn’t quite get what this fanatical guy was talking about.
She decided that if they forced her to do anything more, she wouldn’t hesitate to risk her family being targeted and expose them all.
You can’t drive a person to utter desperation.
The only reason she’d grudgingly accepted until now was for her family—and, admittedly, a bit of ‘better them than me’ thinking.
Anyway, it was Avelina Academy taking the heat; before things blew up, she could always warn her sister and Lin Yue, and anyone else close to her, to lie low.
Avelina had sixth-tier Magus Lia, plus a host of famed magicians from the continent.
From what she knew, the academy had always had a tense relationship with the Church.
Maybe Avelina was just looking for an excuse to cause trouble for the Church.
That was not something Isabella could meddle with.
She was here to study, not to get involved in the clash of great powers.
“Why not face your heart and seek the light? The gods will grant you the answer. That’s what you said, right…”
The priest stroked his chin, as if receiving insight from someone else.
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
A sense of foreboding rose in Isabella.
She suddenly wanted to run.
“Oh, apologies.”
The priest’s gaze turned icy in an instant.
He took off his hat, revealing the white circular pupils that marked a fifth-tier believer.
“Fi—Fifth-tier Divine Messenger!”
Why…would a fifth-tier divine messenger be in Avelina?
Even during celebrations, Avelina only allowed in one fifth-tier, Bishop Mordecai.
The priest raised his face.
It was Mordecai himself.
Were they about to start a war…?
If combat power above the fourth tier was involved, it was like upgrading from infantry to the deployment of behemoths.
Let alone fifth-tier, which ranked among the world’s strongest; when a faction sent a fifth-tier, it was basically going all-in.
She hadn’t thought things would get this serious… Whoosh!
Suddenly, a pillar of red light shot into the sky behind her.
Isabella’s eyes flew open as she saw red light shooting from every spot she’d ever placed a stone, forming a red barrier around Avelina.
No…
Isabella collapsed to her knees, only now realizing what her actions meant.
“That little girl’s divine spell is quite useful.”
Mordecai’s gaze was eerie as he held a black-and-red stone.
Isabella slowly turned her head, that sensation of being torn by hallucination welling up again.
It was the Church that had orchestrated the exam to disturb the minds of elite students, making them unleash advanced magic.
The black-and-red stones would automatically ensnare magicians with weak wills in illusions, showing them their most unbearable memories.
The purpose of the exam wasn’t just to test the stones’ powers, but also to kill some of the elite academy’s students, and frame Avelina so they’d have no time to stop the Church’s schemes.
But this time, Mordecai did not intend to stop there.
Isabella gradually failed to resist the hallucinations, collapsing to the ground.
“In light of your obedience, I’ll spare your life. As a servant of the gods, mercy is a virtue…”
“Let me see how far you’ll go, following your heart’s deepest desires. For now, Isabella still has some value as a disruptor.”
Time to let the ‘stand-in’ appear.
He dusted off his hands and turned to leave.
Since Mordecai had acted in person, it was clear this was no mere move against Avelina.
He had more important tasks.
Only his afterimage remained, along with Isabella, fallen on the ground…
After a long while, Isabella slowly rose, her eyes now faintly rimmed with a ghostly white halo, murmuring softly, “Bella….”
….
Meanwhile, behind the forested hills of Avelina, Lin Yue and Charles looked toward the academy, their faces filled with shock.
“This is…the second act, ahead of schedule?”