In Aeon's path toward the walls, the students of Arcane Academy descended and began clashing with the disciples of the Evil Path.
For the first time, even the nobles and princes who had previously fought the Evil Path had their faces turn pale from fear. The Evil Path were like demons; when clashing with the students, there was endless madness and bloodlust in their eyes, and twisted smiles on their faces that made even people like Arthur, Aria, Eleanor, Mira, and those on their level of strength feel tension when facing them despite their superiority in power.
Aeon shouted, reinforcing his voice with aura, making it cover almost the entire city.
"Arthur and the others of the same level, stop fighting the rabble and advance toward the soldiers' battle!! We must help them now!"
Aeon almost coughed blood when he saw people with strength like Arthur wasting their time on the rabble of the Evil Path disciples. The elite of the Evil Path were already in the soldiers' battle—this battle would determine the fate of the city. The Academy's goal in sending its students here was first to restrain the Evil Path until the Empire's knights arrived, and second as a trial to temper the students' will—and also… to weed out the weak.
This was not a game. Even their lives were at risk here. That was why he was furious when he saw them wasting time on mere rabble.
The others were startled by Aeon's shout, but those on Arthur's level all hesitated. They knew they should go there to make up for the shortage, yet they could only feel fear.
Even Arthur himself and his team were fighting here only to gather some resolve before heading toward the battle there.
A scream like a pig being slaughtered rang out from one of the Evil Path disciples when he was strangled by blades of wind, and then a figure with long white hair with orange tips rushed toward Aeon.
It was Eleanor. She killed her opponent quickly and then moved to support one of the fronts on the city walls. The soldiers there were already on the verge of collapse, and that was because the city's soldiers were not trying to kill the Evil Path but rather to endure against them, to avoid dying, and to buy as much time as possible until reinforcements arrived.
Arthur and the others of the academy's elite were surprised, and then another figure with silver hair quickly rushed toward another front.
It was Eliana, the second princess of the Valerian family.
She muttered under her breath in a voice no one could hear,
"Don't order me around, you fool."
Then she drew her silver bow, slightly shorter than her, adorned with designs of mythical birds like the phoenix and others… then she pulled the string, forming a silver arrow that released intense pressure. She released the string, and the arrow vanished from before her. When it appeared again, it was already in front of one of the older Evil Path disciples of the violet rank. He had been very close to killing one of the soldiers, but suddenly he sensed great danger and bent his body, barely managing to dodge before the arrow struck between his ribs beneath his right shoulder and embedded itself.
He groaned from the pain but forcefully ignored it, then blocked the soldier's attack and ordered his puppet to restrain the soldier, who took advantage of that opportunity. That soldier was already at the Core Formation rank, yet he had nearly died at the hands of someone in the violet rank.
The Evil Path disciple used the soldier's strike to retreat backward, then turned his gaze toward the one who had fired the arrow. When he saw cold black eyes looking down at him from atop the wall, with her hand extended toward him, his eyes shrank.
He saw a small silver mana circle in front of Eliana's palm and immediately understood what would happen.
He quickly moved to pull the arrow out of his ribs.
But before he could…
"Explode," Eliana whispered softly as she clenched her hand over the silver mana circle.
The arrow exploded violently.
A violet-rank disciple of the Evil Path lost half his body just like that…
There was a massive void—his shoulder, half his chest, even his right leg, and part of his head had disappeared. Then his body collapsed to the ground, followed by his puppet, which had been fighting the soldier, stopping as if life had been drained from it.
The soldier let out a deep breath, drenched in sweat, then turned toward the one who fired the arrow. When he saw the silver hair and that bow, he knelt on one knee and shouted,
"Princess! Your humble soldier salutes you!!"
The battlefield here paused slightly, the pace of the battle slowing due to the death of a violet-rank. You must know that until now, not a single person of violet rank or above had fallen; all the casualties here had been of red rank and below.
Although this was due to the element of surprise and seizing the opportunity—since that Evil Path disciple had lowered his guard while about to kill the soldier, and Eliana took advantage of that—and also due to her arrow. That arrow was not ordinary; it was a condensed arrow of her bloodline power, and she had a blood connection with it that allowed her to control it remotely.
When the soldiers heard the kneeling soldier calling out to the princess, they shouted with great enthusiasm, and their morale rose sharply. As long as someone from the royal families was here, the city would be safe.
You must know that these soldiers were all from this city. They were fighting to the death not out of bravery or willpower—on the contrary, some of them wished to flee and escape this hell as quickly as possible… but behind them lay their city and their families. If they died or fled, it meant their families would meet a miserable fate. That was why all the soldiers here gritted their teeth and fought—and would continue to fight until their last breath.
Eliana nodded toward the soldier, then raised her bow and aimed it toward the sky. Another arrow appeared, and she fired it into the sky.
That arrow split into several smaller, weaker arrows, accurately targeting the disciples of the Evil Path.
Her presence alone was enough to greatly relieve the pressure on the soldiers and raise their morale. The soldiers even began to forget their fear gradually, which increased their combat strength, and they began to push back against the Evil Path, causing the balance of the battle to tilt in their favor.
The Evil Path found themselves under pressure, especially from Eliana, who placed psychological pressure on them during the battle. At any moment, one of her arrows could strike them and deal a severe injury, forcing them to divide their attention between their puppets and her, which consumed a great deal of their mental strength. They also began sending distress signals to other fronts to support this area quickly.
With Eliana here, this place was secure and would hold until the Academy's knights arrived. Then Eliana turned her gaze toward the center, where the disciples of the Evil Path were flooding like a tide.
At first, the reason she did not go to the walls immediately was that she was assessing which side to support—the center and protecting the civilians, or the walls. But this hesitation wounded her image as a princess, and some might even call her a coward behind her back… especially since Eleanor had moved before her, which only increased her annoyance toward Aeon.
However, the moment she heard his shout, she felt mentally at ease. Even though she did not like Aeon, she trusted his judgment and strength. If he had ordered the academy's elite to support the walls, then it meant he had a plan for the center and that it was in the hands of someone he trusted to protect the civilians.
She knew that Alice and Janet were there, but she could not truly imagine how they would withstand that tide. Even she would struggle to repel them, especially while protecting the civilians at the same time… perhaps if she and Arthur were there together, they could eliminate the threat.
---
Arthur and Aria went as a team and joined one of the fronts where the battle was large-scale and more intense.
Meanwhile, the academy's elite, numbering around forty, included some who rivaled Arthur in strength, while the rest were only one level below. They quickly formed teams of two or three and went to support different fronts. They found forming teams gave them psychological support, even if it slightly hurt their pride.
But when they saw Arthur and Aria—two of the strongest of the new generation—forming a team, they used it as an excuse as well.
Their arrival greatly relieved the pressure on the soldiers and brought the battles into a fragile temporary balance.
---
At the center of the city,
the crowd was surrounded by a massive, thick wooden vine that protected them from almost all sides, leaving only small openings for sunlight and air.
Alice stood tall like a spear, her black spear beside her, emitting a faint pressure that caused her purple hair to sway gently.
She radiated the aura of an experienced warrior who had fought hundreds of battles. When Janet and the crowd beneath them saw her through the openings, they held their breath, captivated by the sight. Even the girls could not feel even the slightest hint of jealousy—there was only admiration.
Alice and Janet saw a group of Evil Path disciples approaching rapidly from the north, their massive corpses following behind them. They were like rabid dogs, even drool dripping from their mouths.
"Janet, as usual, support me from the back and I'll handle the rest. I'll let some small fry slip through to you—you can train on them."
She smiled gently at Janet. Her voice was extremely calm—were it not for the killing intent leaking from her eyes and the fact that the smile did not reach them, Janet might have thought Alice was talking about a stroll… or perhaps hunting rabbits.
Janet nodded, and several circles appeared around her in different directions, rotating as they absorbed the surrounding mana, preparing to launch attacks at any moment.
As the Evil Path disciples approached, Alice adjusted her stance. She leaned slightly forward, placed her right foot back and her left foot forward, then pulled her right hand—holding the spear—back horizontally, aiming toward them.
Janet felt as if the world had fallen silent around Alice. Even the wind stopped in that area, as if avoiding her.
Then crimson flames began to engulf the black spear completely.
Alice's killing intent exploded violently as she thrust her spear forward with ferocity.
"The Crimson Dragon Scorns the Heavens!"
A massive, blazing crimson dragon surged forth—long, with five claws and no wings, radiating such intense heat that the vine beneath them began to burn.
The dragon roared as it rushed violently toward the group. They froze when they sensed something was wrong. When they felt the overwhelming killing intent enveloping them and saw the massive dragon rushing toward them, their faces turned pale with terror. They hurriedly hid behind their giant corpses and activated their strongest defenses.
They could smell death coming from that dragon.
The dragon collided with them…
And erased them—and that entire section of buildings—from existence.
Nothing remained but charred corpses and ashes of burnt wood.
Those corpses belonged to the puppets of the Evil Path disciples.
As for the disciples themselves?
Their bodies had been weak from the beginning—they had no qualifications to preserve them.
Janet stood frozen in place.
She had thought this battle would be bitter and intense, but she had not expected her close friend to erase them with a single attack.
"Where is that small fry you said I would fight, Alice?"
She found herself asking unconsciously.
Alice felt slightly embarrassed. She had always described the Evil Path as cowardly and weak, preying on the weak… but she had not expected this group to be so weak—or perhaps they had not been paying attention… or maybe she had simply been too excited to test her new flames.
She stiffened her expression, raised her chin slightly, and said arrogantly,
"Well, you may not know this, Janet, but that attack was necessary… it was to build momentum and crush the morale of the Evil Path. What do you think? Become my little sister and I'll teach you all my experience."
She said this nonsense without the slightest shame, even though it was somewhat true—but for someone as experienced as Alice, she didn't need to build momentum. She could simply swing her spear and kill her enemy.
"In your dreams," Janet replied.
And it seemed she believed every word Alice said like an imperial decree.
"Get ready. Two groups are coming from the west and the northeast."
Alice brushed aside her nonsense and instantly returned to her composed, expert demeanor. She promised herself she would control her strength this time and not get carried away… after all, this was a chance for her friend to explore her hidden potential—she would not take it from her.
---
On the opposite side, at the same time Alice launched her attack and wiped out that group, Aeon reached the walls.
This was where the southern gate of the city stood. The intensity of the battle here matched that of the front Arthur and Aria had joined, as there was also a gate on the northern side of the city.
The moment he arrived, Aeon attacked several white-rank disciples of the Evil Path and killed them quickly…
He had to eliminate these pests—
So that the one emitting that dangerous pressure would reveal himself.