In the morning of the next day…
Sunlight streamed through the windows of the massive lecture hall, striking the stone seats with a dull golden glow, while students’ voices filled the place like an unstoppable beehive.
Eighty fourth-year students had gathered inside the wide hall…
forty males and forty females.
Theory classes were always boring for some…
But not when the professor is the genius “Ozex.”
Lucian sat beside Dastan as usual, while Genika sat with Rosaline a little away from the noise.
Everyone was waiting for Ozex to enter…
But instead, the lecture hall door was forcefully opened.
A woman with short purple hair and razor-sharp eyes entered.
The assistant “Lucy.”
Her footsteps alone made the hall fall silent.
She stood in front of the students, then adjusted her glasses slightly.
And said coldly:
“The professor Ozex has seen your statistics.”
Silence.
“And he considered you… a pile of infertile garbage.”
Some whispers rose.
But Lucy did not stop.
“Even the academy itself… I didn’t know it would sink to such a ridiculous level because of students like you.”
Her eyes directly shifted toward the trio.
Lucian…
Dastan…
Genika.
And the moment their eyes met…
Whispers spread through the hall.
“They’re the same ones…”
“Yesterday’s students…”
“The arrogant ones…”
“The intruders…”
Suddenly…
A golden aura exploded inside the hall.
Rosaline slowly raised her head, her eyes turning glowing gold.
And she said in a cold tone:
“I don’t want to hear anything anymore.”
The pressure coming from her made several students freeze in place.
But Genika sighed lightly, then placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Lin… stop, you’re scaring the students.”
Lucy raised an eyebrow.
Then smirked sarcastically.
“Student Rosaline… four points have been deducted from your score.”
She paused slightly, then continued:
“You only have six points left… on your first day.”
She looked her up and down.
“What a disgrace… is this really the golden heir?”
Rosaline’s fist trembled.
Frustration was clear in her eyes…
But she suppressed it.
Suddenly…
Lucian stood up.
The sound of the chair scraping the ground cut through the entire hall.
He said calmly:
“Professor.”
Lucy turned to him.
“What?”
He answered directly:
“I don’t care if I get expelled right now, me and my companions.”
A short silence…
Then he continued, staring at her steadily:
“But on one condition.”
All eyes gathered on him.
“The three of us… will face you.”
Some girls gasped.
Even Dastan smiled slightly.
As for Lucy…
She actually laughed.
“Face me?”
Lucian replied:
“If we win… you won’t deduct Rosaline’s points.”
The smile disappeared from Lucy’s face.
“Rejected.”
Suddenly…
The students in the hall erupted.
“Accept the challenge!”
“Make those fools regret it!”
“We should expel them!”
“Crush them!”
Rosaline stood up sharply.
Anger was visible on her face.
But before she could speak…
Genika grabbed her hand.
Looked at her directly.
And said with a calm smile:
“Trust us.”
“But she’s a professor…”
“Friendship is trust.”
Genika stepped closer.
“And trust… is an unbreakable chain between us.”
Rosaline went silent.
Slowly…
She sat back down.
And after only a few minutes…
Everything turned into complete chaos.
The entire fourth-year students rushed toward the training arena outside, and the noise they made was so intense that even the third-year dormitories, more than twenty kilometers away, received the news in less than an hour.
“A fight between new students… and Ozex’s assistant.”
That alone was enough to make curiosity consume the entire academy.
And within one hour…
The stands were full.
Second-years.
Third-years.
Even some teachers arrived.
Many of them left their classes just to witness what they believed was the obvious outcome.
The professor would win.
That’s what everyone thought.
The trio stood inside the arena.
Facing Lucy.
And behind the stands…
Ozex was sitting beside a woman whose face was completely hidden by the aura covering her.
The only visible thing…
Was the sword hanging at her waist.
Even its sheath alone emitted a terrifying aura the size of a world.
Ozex sighed.
“Punishment silence again?”
No reply.
“I’m not here to accompany you, just sit and watch.”
Silence.
Then the woman finally said:
“I think your assistant won’t be safe.”
Ozex smiled lightly.
“I agree.”
She turned slightly toward him.
“What do you mean?”
He answered while watching the arena:
“I knew they were special… since yesterday’s welcoming party.”
He narrowed his eyes.
“They are not from here.”
A brief silence.
Then he said:
“Could they be… world walkers like me?”
The woman answered calmly:
“Even I… don’t know.”
Ozex laughed lightly.
“Your sword has always been your tongue. You are bad at speaking and thinking.”
“Shut up.”
He smiled more.
“Together we will see… what this trio is hiding.”
Then he glanced at her.
“And are you sure you hid your aura? Some students might die from it.”
The woman smiled under the aura.
“How many times must I tell you?”
She placed her hand on her sword sheath.
“My sword protects… but in extreme cases… it may destroy.”
Ozex shook his head.
“You always talk about protection… what a beautiful hag you are.”
She immediately replied:
“If my husband heard you… he would drag you to the depths of hell.”
“Is there anyone who even dares oppose him?”
She smiled slightly this time.
“I don’t see him often… but my heart leans toward him.”
Her voice lowered slightly.
“I love him in a way that cannot be described.”
Ozex raised his hands in surrender.
“Stop, your birds-of-love tone is annoying me.”
The woman chuckled softly.
Then whispered:
“Because of him… I became the director of this academy.”
Below…
Mocking gazes were thrown at the trio from all directions.
But despite that…
A large number of spectators could not stop staring at them.
Dastan…
His dark skin, blue eyes, toned muscles, and messy hair falling near his eyes…
made him look like a knight from an ancient legend.
Lucian…
His pale skin, calm blue eyes, black hair styled upward, and lean athletic body that didn’t look massive until he moved…
only then did it reveal how terrifyingly balanced he was.
As for Genika…
She was something else entirely.
Her long white hair turning gradually red toward the tips…
Like strands of sunset tied to a human body.
A lean athletic frame…
Cold gray eyes…
And a presence that made even light feel like it was walking on the ground.
Their presence together…
Silenced even the perverts for a moment.
And in one of the seats…
A girl approached Rosaline from behind.
“Nove.”
The same girl Lucian saw near the stairs yesterday.
She said in a low voice:
“This is all because of you.”
Rosaline froze.
“Lucian will be expelled because of you.”
Rosaline felt pressure collapse over her.
Pain.
Dark thoughts.
And a whisper inside the library returned again:
“I will fulfill your request… and erase those who stain your beloved knight…”
Her mind began to spiral…
But suddenly—
A water bottle exploded over her head.
She froze.
Water spilled across her face.
She quickly raised her head…
To find Lucian standing inside the arena, looking directly at her.
And he said loudly:
“There is no need to think too much.”
He smiled slightly.
“Just leave it to us.”
Tears formed in Rosaline’s eyes.
She quickly wiped her face…
Then smiled despite herself.
As for Nove…
She felt such intense disgust that she bit her finger until it bled.
In the middle of the arena…
The match referee stepped forward.
Professor “Carpet.”
A strangely messy man.
Uncombed hair.
Unorganized clothes.
Even his walking style made students doubt whether he was really a professor.
He stood between both sides.
Then said calmly:
“Defeat… must be accepted.”
Silence.
“For defeat is an inseparable part of life.”
He raised his head toward the sky.
“Every time we lose… we rise stronger.”
“And every time we become stronger… we protect.”
“And when we protect… peace spreads.”
He closed his eyes.
“And only then… will we no longer see wars.”
He raised his hand.
“Three…”
The arena trembled with tension.
“Two…”
Lucy’s cold aura began spreading.
“One…”
He opened his eyes.
“Begin.”
And thus…
The trio’s battle against Lucy began.
At the same time in the second continent…
A man carrying a message was running through cold corridors inside a massive black facility, speaking in a low voice:
“Have you heard the latest rumors about the three who entered the academy without completing the year? Isn’t that strange, Zero Time?”
In a heavy silence…
A figure appeared in front of him.
His face could not be seen.
Not because of darkness…
But because his features did not exist at all.
A mask?
A helmet?
Something beyond definition itself.
His mere presence made the air heavier.
He spoke in a voice that echoed before reaching the walls…
as if it came from the empty spaces of the place itself:
“Speak respectfully… Detron.”
Detron replied with a teasing smile, tilting his head slightly:
“I am also a number… and my number is 10… I am not obliged to re—”
In a single moment…
The pressure in the place changed completely.
As if the world itself had turned off for a second.
Zero Time activated his ability.
No sound…
no movement…
only overwhelming pressure that made the heart stop before the body.
Detron froze, then quickly said:
“Sorry… great Number 2!”
Zero Time replied in his terrifying calm voice:
“Anyway… I will look into those matters myself.”
The heavy pressure disappeared suddenly…
As if nothing had happened.
Detron left quickly, then whispered to himself while walking away:
“Among all numbers… there is only one special number and one ordinary one…”
“The rest of the continents have two numbers…”
“Is this what loneliness did to him?…”
“Damn him…”