Chapter 85 - The Mysterious Man [2]
As Vael, Zion, and Lilia are fighting the Mysterious Man inside the dungeon—
"We’ve got them, Ulfar. It’s time to capture the traitors."
Headmaster Sebastian stood near his heavy desk, placing a stack of sealed administrative documents into the inner pocket of his coat.
He and Professor Ulfar had spent the past days cross-referencing clearance signatures, spatial mana footprints, and internal access logs across every department in the academy.
They had finished identifying most of the traitors operating within the faculty walls. The only remaining figure left completely in the dark was their primary leader—the mastermind controlling the entire shadow network from above.
However, Sebastian knew they couldn’t afford to wait any longer. By capturing the lackeys and accomplices right now, they could secure hard physical evidence, and force immediate confessions through direct magic interrogation.
"Let’s not waste any more time."
Professor Ulfar responded to the headmaster, nodding his head firmly as he adjusted the broadsword sheathed across his back.
"The longer we leave those rats in their positions, the more chance they have to notice the shift in security."
After identifying the traitors, the headmaster had set up a clever trap. He called them into a fake emergency meeting, framing it as an urgent briefing regarding end-of-term practical budgets, resource distribution, and updated security protocols for the upcoming evaluation exams.
Of course, it wasn’t just the suspects invited to the room. If Sebastian had only summoned the traitors, they might have grown suspicious that they had been found out after all and attempted to flee or cause massive chaos across the campus grounds.
To ensure total control of the situation, the headmaster had also summoned several veteran professors and senior staff members whom he trusted implicitly. He informed them of the situation beforehand, giving them strict instructions to surround the suspects the moment the signal was given and handle the traitors as well.
And so, with all the preparations completely done...
TAP—
Professor Ulfar and Headmaster Sebastian stepped outside the office at the same time.
They walked down the quiet, carpeted administrative hallway, their long coats swaying with every step as they headed straight toward the high council chamber where the fake meeting was set to take place.
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*****
Back in the dungeon with Vael, Zion, and Lilia—
The air inside the wide cavern chamber vibrated with violent pressure as dust, shattered rock fragments, and dark purple mana filled the space.
BAM!
The mysterious masked man launched himself forward, dark purple mana crackling like jagged lightning across the edges of his dual axes.
He moved with terrifying speed, far stronger than any individual opponent the three freshmen had ever fought before.
SWOOOSH! WHIIIISH—!!! BOOM!
He hacked and slashed with his dual axes in a continuous, deadly rhythm. His movements were fluid, every swing carrying enough raw physical power to shatter solid stone stalagmites, while his defensive reactions were practically effortless.
FWISH~ CLANG!
Whenever an attack flew toward him, he tilted his body just an inch or swatted the incoming blades away without losing his footing.
Yet despite the obvious gap in strength... Vael, Zion, and Lilia managed to fight against him by working together.
"HAAAAA!"
SWIIISH!
Zion rushed in aggressively, swinging [Excalibur] in a sharp, precise horizontal arc. There was zero hesitation in his stance, his golden mana flaring brightly with every heavy strike as he pressed the attacker head-on.
"Shut up, kid."
FWIP- TIIIING!
The mysterious man shifted his posture—before deflecting Zion’s sword with his left axe!
WHOOSH!
Then he immediately swung his right axe toward Zion’s exposed ribs in a fast counter-attack!
SWISH! TIIINK!
Before the axe could connect, Lilia’s white spear thrust out from a fair distance!
The pink-tinted spear tip struck the flat side of the traitor’s axe with a sharp rang, knocking the weapon off course just enough for Zion to step back safely.
"My turn!" - Lilia
"Got it!" - Zion
Then quickly, Zion and Lilia changed roles.
Zion pulled back into a defensive guard while Lilia took the offensive, delivering a rapid flurry of long-range spear thrusts aimed directly at the traitor’s face and upper chest.
CLANG! TANG! TUNK!
"It’s futile."
The mysterious man parried her thrusts effortlessly.
Tap-
But the moment he attempted to step forward and close the distance on her—
"HUP...!"
SLASH!
Zion lunged back in with a heavy downward slash, forcing the traitor to split his focus once again!
"..."
BOOM!
The Mysterious Man stepped back and let Zion’s sword miss him. It slammed into the ground with a loud sound.
Then, from our of nowhere—TAP.
"[Ice Wall!]"
Vael stomped his boot onto the cavern floor, erecting sharp ice barriers behind and beside the mysterious man to limit his movement paths!
Cold energy followed too, rippling across the stone, trying to freeze the enemy’s boots and slow his limbs.
"Tch..."
However, the mysterious man was far too fast to catch easily.
SWOOSH—CRASH!
He broke through the ice walls by slamming his axes covered with dark energy as hard as he can against them.
BOOM!
The Mysterious Man managed to jump to the side, whick allowed him to avoid Lilia’s heavy spear thrust.
It only hit the boulder behind him, shattering it completely like an egg slammed by a rock.
"YOU’RE NOT GETTING AWAY!"
Zion followed up immediately and closed the distance with the enemy, but before he could even swing his sword this time—THUD!
"KEUK?!"
The Mysterious Man launched a straight kick onto his stomach, keeping the distance.
But because of this, Vael found a split-second gap while the traitor was wary of Zion’s sword.
SZZZZSHH~!
Vael glided through the ice path, directly bringing himself behind the Mysterious Man.
FWISH!
Then he thrust [Frost] straight toward the traitor’s back!
CLANG!
"...?!!"
But without even turning his head, the mysterious man spun his left axe behind his spine, stopping Vael’s rapier dead in its tracks!
FWOOSH!
The mysterious man then quickly countered, spinning his whole body around and swinging his right axe in a broad horizontal loop aimed straight for Vael’s head!
"Shit..."
Vael’s broken ribs flared with sharp pain as he tried to jump backward, he couldn’t dodge in time!
The axe blade rushed closer, filling his vision—
Though fortunately—TWACK!
"GUH...?!"
Lilia had darted across the stone floor like a pink flash, driving the heavy dull end of her spear shaft directly into the Vael’s chest!
The blunt impact pushed Vael away from the axe’s path as the blade whistled harmlessly through empty air!
Vael tumbled onto the stone floor, rolling once before catching his balance on his knees.
He wiped a streak of blood from his lip, his left hand pressing firmly against his aching ribs as he looked up.
"You alright?!"
Zion yelled, stepping between Vael and the traitor while keeping [Excalibur] raised high.
"I’m fine."
Vael gritted out, forcing himself back up onto his feet.
"Thanks, Lilia."
Lilia didn’t turn her head, maintaining her spear guard as her pink eyes stayed locked on the masked man.
"Focus."
Lilia said calmly.
"He’s getting impatient."
"You little pests..."
The traitor growled, his eyes burning with intense anger from behind the dark eyeholes.
"I’ve had enough of this childish tag game."
TAP! FWAAAAAAH~!!!
He planted both boots onto the stone floor, raising his dual axes above his head as the dark purple mana around him doubled in size, swirling into a violent, chaotic vortex that shook the cavern ceiling above them.
CRACK! CRACK!
Loose stalagmites fell from the cavern ceiling, shattering onto the ground as the traitor channeled his dark energy.
TAP-SHHHHHHHKKK!!!
The Mysterious Man stomped his right foot.
And it created a shockwave of dark mana that rippled through the floor, sending jagged purple spikes shooting up toward the three students!
"Watch out!"
SLASH!
Zion roared, leaping into the air and slicing through the nearest purple spike with a golden wave from [Excalibur].
"Ugh...!"
PHUSCK!
Lilia leapt onto a nearby rock formation, using her white spear to deflect two dark mana shards that flew toward her face.
STAB!
FSSSHHHK!
Vael slammed his silver dagger into the ground, erecting a thick, curved wall of blue ice in front of himself and Zion to absorb the impact of the rising dark spikes.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The purple spikes slammed into Vael’s ice wall, causing deep cracks to spiderweb across the surface, but the defense held long enough for the shockwave to pass.
But before they could even do something else—
BAM!
The traitor emerged from behind the shattered ice wall, appearing directly above Vael with his right axe raised for a crushing overhead strike!
"DIEEE!"
The hoarse voice screamed.
"Not today!"
Vael barked, then he swung his silver dagger upward to block it.
C L A N G!
"URGH...!"
Sparks flew as their weapons collided. Vael’s broken ribs ached from the force.
But swallowing his pain once more—
"Zion, Lilia! Combine your strikes now!"
Vael shouted that as his knees were about to give up.
"On it!"
Zion yelled, springing forward from the left.
"Point Piercer: Double Arc!"
Lilia followed, lunging from the right.
WHOOSH! F W O O O S H—!
Zion brought [Excalibur] down in a full-power golden vertical cleave, while Lilia thrust her white spear forward like a pink streak of light, both attacks aiming at the traitor’s torso simultaneously while he was in mid-air!
"GRRRT..."
The masked man gritted his teeth, forced to burn a massive chunk of his dark mana core to survive.
BZRRRT—!
Then a dome of volatile purple mana exploded around his body, acting as a raw energy shield!
CLANG—! THUD—!
Zion’s golden sword and Lilia’s pink spear slammed hard into the dark energy dome. The raw force of the impact created a loud pressure pop that blew loose rocks, dust, and wind across the entire cavern.
CRACK-
The traitor’s dark shield cracked under their combined assault, but it gave him enough time to get on the ground and regain his footing.
SWIIIIIIISH!
He swung both of his axes outward in a violent 360-degree whirlwind motion.
BAM!
Forcing Zion and Lilia to jump back to avoid getting shredded.
All four combatants created distance once again, landing heavily on opposite sides of the wide chamber.
"Fuhhhhh..."
Breathing heavily, Zion held [Excalibur] with both hands, his golden aura flickering slightly from the constant high-output strikes.
Lilia stood beside him, her face calm as ever, though faint drops of sweat were visible along her temple.
Vael stood between them, holding [Frost] in his right hand and his silver dagger in his left.
Pain throbbed along his right side from his cracked ribs, but his gaze remained sharp and fixed on the masked man.
FSSSST~
Across the room, the traitor’s black robe was completely ragged, and small wisps of dark smoke rose from his arms where Zion’s mana and Lilia’s spear strikes had grazed him.
They were able to hurt him...
"You brats..."
The traitor rasped, his voice filled with fury as he raised his axes once more.
"I’ll carve every single one of you into pieces!"
"Try it."
Vael said softly, his cold blue mana flaring around his blades as the three of them raised their weapons, ready for the next brutal exchange.
"Uhh, maybe don’t provoke him even more..." - Zion