Free Web NovelChapter 12: The Confrontation
Two days passed quickly, and the seventh and final day of the admission test finally arrived.
Everyone knew what that meant. Before long, the cargo ship would descend, the teachers would arrive, and the survivors would be taken to the academy.
Silas’ situation had not changed. He kept his distance from the team, never taking part in battles and devoting every waking moment to mastering his Raven ability. Yet after what Brant tried to do earlier, Silas kept his guard high and slept with one eye open.
He devoted most of his time to training. The progress he had made over the past two days wasn’t bad. And yet he couldn’t tell if it was enough for what was coming or not.
Since sunrise, he had remained motionless atop a rocky outcrop, patiently waiting. He knew Vaelous would make his move before the test ended.
The morning passed as usual. Several monster waves arrived and were dealt with by the team. After the fourth wave was defeated, Darius approached and sat beside him.
"Do you need any cores?" he asked quietly. "It might improve your standing once we reach the academy."
Silas, like usual, declined without a word, his gaze fixed on the distant viper. Then the viper finally hissed.
The first thing Silas noticed was the way two of the youngsters turned toward Vaelous. It was Brant and Selene. After receiving a slight nod, they immediately moved, while Leon and Cassian felt a bit weird at first, then decided to follow.
Without saying a word, everyone headed toward Silas while Vaelous remained a few steps behind them, closely watching.
Darius rose to his feet the moment he sensed their intentions. Silas, however, remained seated, calmly watching as Brant and Selene stood in opposite directions, while Cassian and Leon stopped a few steps away.
Selene was the first to speak.
"We used our last Mana Crystals during the previous battle."
Her voice dripped with malice.
"We can’t handle another monster wave like this. Hand over your crystals, and we’ll finish the test without causing further trouble."
Darius was momentarily speechless, taken aback by what was going on. Before he would say anything, others spoke up.
"It’s true I only have half a crystal left," Leon sighed, "but if you didn’t give me your word to leave him alone afterwards, I won’t join."
"Me neither," Cassian nodded.
"Fine." As if Brant was reluctant to do it, he raised a hand high in the air as he pledged, "I swear I’ll leave him alone once we replenish our exhausted stock of crystals."
"I won’t cause him trouble after this." Selene calmly smiled, a smile that didn’t look like one. "Today the test will end. But before that, we need to ensure we can survive and kill the remaining monster waves."
"If so..." As if he believed these words, Leon started moving, followed by Cassian, "then we’ll help."
The two moved and stood in opposite directions. Like this, the four surrounded Silas and Darius inside, leaving no room for running away.
"How dare you?" Darius stared at them in disbelief. And when he looked at Leon and Cassian, the two evaded his gaze.
Only then did he realise they had planned everything behind his back. If they had informed him beforehand, he would have warned Silas.
As for the latter, Silas was struggling to resist the urge to laugh out loud. Their pathetic display and act were as ridiculous and funny as they could get. Unfortunately for them, Silas had no intention of running.
The thought never even crossed his mind, not even when he was surrounded like now, not when he was outnumbered.
"Darius, step aside and let us deal with our former leader," Cassian said. Behind him, the Stone Frog under his control slowly advanced, cutting off any path of retreat. "I promise you we won’t harm him."
"Is this what we’ve become?" Darius asked. "Robbers? You’re trying to steal something the academy distributed fairly."
"He is a killer!" Brant spat. "He should be buried beside Lyra instead of standing here with us. Joining the academy? I’ll make sure he never gets anywhere near its gates."
Even if his fit of rage shattered the fake show others tried to put on, Brant didn’t bother or care.
"I won’t just take his crystals. I’ll take his cores as well. When the teachers learn what he did to Lyra, they’ll throw him out anyway."
A laugh suddenly escaped Silas, as he couldn’t control himself any longer. The sound left everyone tense and silent. Slowly, he rose from the rock and rested both hands on his daggers.
Brant instinctively felt an alarm of danger, especially when Silas coldly stared at him. As for the others, they immediately raised their guard.
"Don’t be afraid of a Buffer," Vaelous said with a contemptuous smile. "The most he can do is make his daggers fly a little faster."
Those words restored their confidence. Cassian acted first, ordering his Stone Frog forward and forcing Darius to focus on the incoming threat. Even if he was putting a show, he still didn’t put his heart into targeting Silas.
Then Brant moved. The hunter rushed ahead, preparing to unleash a barrage of bone spikes. Unlike Cassian and Leon, Brant was aiming for a kill, not a steal. In his mind, he could already see Silas lying dead on the ground.
He never realised he had moved too soon. He never realised he was racing to his grave.
Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!
Instead of retreating, Silas stepped forward and attacked. He didn’t use all of his strength right from the start. Even if his Raven ability allowed him to control three daggers, he just threw one.
"Nice try! I’ve not been idly sitting and watching like you in the past days."
The moment the dagger left Silas’ hand, Brant instantly ducked and evaded it. Vaelous’ warning earlier helped in this, yet Brant didn’t notice what others did.
The dagger flew at a speed that couldn’t be reasoned by adding a wind element to accelerate it. Seeing how the dagger fast-travelled even made Vaelous narrow his eyes.
Just before anyone would say anything to warn the oblivious Brant, Silas attacked again. His hands blurred as three daggers shot through the air with such speed that none of them could properly follow their trajectory.
This time, the daggers hit their marks perfectly, and Brant’s body jerked violently. One dagger pierced his shoulder, another buried itself in his abdomen, while the third struck his thigh.
"AGH! I’ll kill you, bastard!"
Brant roared through the pain and prepared to retaliate. Even if he was wounded, even if he was shocked by seeing the daggers he traded before with Silas hurt him, he still could fight. And then, his expression froze.
Everyone actually did, as with a single thought, Silas recalled the daggers. The blades tore themselves free from Brant’s flesh and flew back into their master’s hands, inflicting a second wave of agony that nearly brought the hunter to his knees.
Even the dagger Brant had evaded earlier flew back, hurting the hunter by cutting its shoulder on its return. Then they flew again, and again, and again.
The daggers became a relentless storm. They struck Brant’s body, returned to Silas, and launched once more in perfect synchronisation. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
The shocking development petrified everyone, even Darius, even Vaelous. By the time the barrage ended, Brant collapsed onto the ground, his body riddled with holes.
Silas glanced at the corpse as if he wasn’t the one to kill the arrogant bastard. Then he moved his eyes coldly around the others.
"Now that’s settled."
A storm of emotions briefly stirred within him. Over the past few days, he had not only trained his ability, but he had also trained his mind. He tried to prepare for this specific moment.
In the end, reality proved simpler than imagination. Brant had tried to kill him, and then Brant died at his hands. Yet the expected guilt never came.
When his own life was on the line, hesitation became meaningless, and killing became a reflex. Silas raised his gaze coldly toward the others, while savouring the new change that came with this kill.
Even if the guilt never came, he felt something clicked in him, something subtly changed.
"As you can see, I’m not so weak that I need to rely on pathetic schemes to kill any of you."
He stepped forward and planted a foot on Brant’s corpse, further cementing his words into everyone’s minds.
"This was one of the strongest members of our team, and I killed him with ease."
His voice grew colder and louder.
"I didn’t kill Lyra. She was struck by something I neither possess nor have any reason to use. But if you’re looking for someone suspicious..." freёweɓnovel.com
Silas pointed directly at Vaelous.
"...then look at him."
The atmosphere immediately changed.
"He was the closest person to Lyra when she died. He moved from the rear of the formation to the front, passing right by her. He’s a C-Rank Enhancer with two abilities, yet he has only shown us one."
Silas narrowed his eyes.
"If anyone here deserves your suspicion and hatred, it’s him."
For a moment, silence reigned. Then Vaelous laughed. The pleasant mask he had worn for days finally cracked, shattered under Silas’ direct accusation and firm logic.
His face twisted into something ugly and cruel, revealing the true monster hiding beneath.
