Chapter : 1425

  He led his team to a large round table in the back. A waitress came over.

  "Five ales," Lloyd ordered. "And a plate of the fried cheese things. The big plate."

  "I do not drink ale," Jamie sniffed. "Do you have sparkling wine?"

  The waitress looked at him like he was an alien. "We have ale. And water. And ale mixed with water."

  "Ale is fine," Jamie sighed, looking like a martyr.

  They sat down. The atmosphere was awkward. Daniel sat like he was expecting an ambush. Rubaiya was cleaning the table with a handkerchief.

  "Okay," Lloyd said, leaning forward. "Listen. The Academy walls have ears. And probably eyes. And maybe cursed wallpaper. We couldn't talk there. Here, it's loud. No one is listening to us because they are too busy trying to impress girls or win money."

  "You think the traitor is listening?" Tulip asked. Her eyes were sharp. She wasn't just a pretty face. She was reading the room.

  "I think the traitor is everywhere," Lloyd said. "So, let's drop the titles. I'm Lloyd. You are Rubaiya, Tulip, Jamie, and Daniel. We are not professors right now. We are just five people who don't want to get eaten by a shadow monster."

  "A shadow monster," Jamie scoffed. "I could defeat any monster with my blade. My technique is flawless. Princess Isabella once watched me practice for five whole minutes."

  "She was probably waiting for you to move out of the way," Lloyd muttered.

  "What was that?" Jamie asked.

  "I said she was mesmerized," Lloyd lied. "Anyway. The curse. It's not just a spell. It's a living thing. It moves. It learns. It corrupts items that have mana."

  Rubaiya put down her handkerchief. Her eyes narrowed. "If it adapts, then it follows a logic structure. Like a game. Or a virus."

  "Exactly," Lloyd said. He was impressed. She was quick. "It targets infrastructure. Why? To blind us. To make us weak."

  "To create chaos," Daniel said. "Order is strength. Chaos is weakness. If the students are scared, they make mistakes."

  "And when people make mistakes," Tulip added, swirling her drink, "they reveal their true selves. Fear is a very good spotlight."

  Lloyd looked at his team. They were weird. They were annoying. But they were smart. Rubaiya had the brain. Daniel had the discipline. Tulip had the intuition. And Jamie... well, Jamie was a distraction. Every team needed a distraction.

  "So," Lloyd said, grabbing a fried cheese ball. "Here is what we know. The curse started in the armory. Then the library. Now it's random. But it's not random. It's testing our defenses."

  "We need a pattern," Rubaiya said. She pulled out a map of the Academy from her bag. She pushed the cheese balls aside. "Show me where the incidents happened."

  Lloyd pointed. "Here. Here. And here."

  Rubaiya connected the dots with her finger. "It is a spiral. Moving inward. Towards the Mana Well."

  "The heart of the school," Daniel said grimly. "If the curse reaches the Well..."

  "Boom," Lloyd said. "Or worse. The school turns into a giant monster house."

  "We must stop it," Jamie said, standing up and drawing his sword slightly. "I will stand guard at the Well! I will slay the darkness!"

  "Sit down, Jamie," Lloyd said. "You're scaring the waitress."

  Jamie sat down, looking offended.

  "We need to be smarter than the curse," Lloyd said. "We need to predict its next move. Rubaiya, you track the pattern. Daniel, you secure the perimeter of the Well. Tulip, you watch the students. If anyone acts weird, I want to know."

  "And you?" Tulip asked. "What will you do, Lloyd?"

  "Me?" Lloyd smiled. It was a sharp smile. "I'm going to be the bait."

  The tavern was getting louder. Someone had started playing a lute badly in the corner. The fried cheese was gone. The ale was half-finished.

  "Bait?" Daniel asked, his eyebrows knitting together. "That is against protocol. The commander does not expose himself."

  "This isn't a war with lines, Daniel," Lloyd said. "It's a hunt. And to catch a predator, you need to look tasty."

  "You do look somewhat... consumable," Tulip mused, looking him up and down. "In a scruffy, underdog sort of way."

  "Thanks, I think," Lloyd said.

  "So," Jamie said, leaning back and trying to look cool. "You want the traitor to attack you? Because you think you are the biggest threat?"

  Chapter : 1426

  "I am the biggest threat," Lloyd said simply. "I fixed the Golem Heart. I stopped the plague in Oakhaven. I am the wrench in their gears. The traitor knows this. They will try to take me out."

  "And when they do?" Rubaiya asked. "Do you have a contingency plan? A probability of survival?"

  "My plan is to not die," Lloyd said. "It's a solid plan. I've used it for eighty years. I mean... twenty years."

  He caught himself. He almost slipped up. Being surrounded by smart people was dangerous.

  "Eighty years?" Tulip asked, her eyes sparkling. "You have an old soul, Lloyd. Or perhaps you are just very tired."

  "Very tired," Lloyd agreed. "Look, the point is, we need to work together. No secrets. No ego. Jamie, that means you too."

  Jamie huffed. "I have no ego. I am simply aware of my magnificence."

  "Right," Lloyd said. "Rubaiya, I need you to calculate the mana consumption of the curse. If it's eating magic, it has to store it somewhere. Find the battery."

  "I can do that," Rubaiya nodded. She was already scribbling notes on a napkin. "If I assume a consumption rate of 3.5 units per incident..."

  "Daniel," Lloyd continued. "I need you to check the physical security. Not the magic wards. The doors. The windows. The sewers. If someone is sneaking in items, they are doing it the old-fashioned way."

  "I will inspect every brick," Daniel promised. "No mouse will enter without my permission."

  "Tulip," Lloyd turned to the elegance teacher. "You are the social radar. The traitor has to be someone who fits in. Someone who can move around without being noticed. Watch the faculty. Watch the staff. Watch the quiet ones."

  "I see everything," Tulip said with a smile that was suddenly very sharp. "People think I am just a flower. But flowers have roots. I hear the dirt."

  "Good," Lloyd said. "And Jamie..."

  Jamie perked up. "Yes? Do I get to duel the traitor? Do I get to save the Princess?"

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  "You get to stay visible," Lloyd said. "Be loud. Be shiny. Be... you. Draw attention. Make the traitor look at you so they don't look at us."

  Jamie looked conflicted. "You want me to be... a distraction?"

  "I want you to be the shining beacon of hope," Lloyd spun it. "The symbol of the Academy's strength. While you dazzle them, we work in the shadows."

  Jamie’s chest puffed out. "I can do that. I am very dazzling."

  "Yes, you are," Lloyd said, suppressing a laugh.

  The alliance was formed. It was a weird group. A strategist, a socialite, a brick wall, a peacock, and a sarcastic engineer. But Lloyd felt a glimmer of hope. They were competent. In their own strange ways, they were the best the Academy had.

  "Another round?" Lloyd asked.

  "I shouldn't," Daniel said. "I have a morning drill."

  "One more," Lloyd insisted. "To seal the pact. The 'Broken Wand' Alliance."

  "Terrible name," Rubaiya said. "It implies failure."

  "It implies resilience," Lloyd countered. "A broken wand can still stab someone in the eye."

  "Violent," Tulip noted. "But accurate."

  They drank. The tension had broken. They weren't friends yet, not really. But they were colleagues. They had a mission.

  As they left the tavern an hour later, the night air felt cooler. The Academy loomed in the distance, dark and silent. It looked like a castle full of secrets.

  "Remember," Lloyd said as they walked back to the gates. "Trust no one outside this circle. If a student gives you an apple, check it for curses. If a bird looks at you funny, assume it's a spy."

  "You are paranoid," Jamie said.

  "I am alive," Lloyd corrected.

  They reached the main gate. The guards nodded to them.

  "I will go to the Archives," Rubaiya said. "I need to check the mana logs."

  "I will patrol the perimeter," Daniel said.

  "I have a salon to attend," Tulip said. "Gossip waits for no one."

  "I will go practice my poses," Jamie said. "I mean, my forms."

  They split up. Lloyd stood alone in the courtyard. He watched them go.

  He felt the weight of the leadership settling on his shoulders again. He had built a team. Now he had to keep them alive.

  "Okay, Firefly or Devil or Altamirian," Lloyd whispered to the darkness. "You want to play games in my school? You want to hurt my students? Come and get me."

  Chapter : 1427

  He turned and walked toward the Old Tower. He had work to do. He had a curse to catch. And he had a feeling that things were about to get a lot worse before they got better.

  He was right.

  Somewhere in the darkness of the Academy, a locket was pulsing with a sickly green light. A student was sleeping, unaware that her dreams were being rewritten by a shadow.

  The first move of the enemy was coming. And it wasn't going to be subtle.

  Lloyd checked his dagger. He checked his pockets for spare metal. He was ready. Or as ready as he could be.

  "Let's dance," he muttered.

  ________________________________________

  The day started normally. Too normally. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Lloyd was drinking coffee that didn't taste like dirt. It was suspicious.

  He was in the middle of teaching his "Logic of Magic" class. He was explaining why trying to transmute lead into gold usually resulted in lead turning into an explosion.

  "Alchemy is not free," Lloyd lectured, drawing a diagram on the board. "Equivalent exchange. You want gold? You need energy. And atoms. And patience. Mostly patience."

  Airin was taking notes in the front row. Jace was trying to balance a quill on his nose. It was a peaceful scene.

  Then, the bell tower rang. But it wasn't the bell for lunch. It was the alarm bell. A frantic, clanging sound that meant "Something is very wrong, run away."

  CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.

  "Class dismissed!" Lloyd shouted. "Proceed to the safe zones! Do not run! Do not panic! Jace, drop the quill!"

  He ushered the students out of the door. He scanned the hallway. Students were flooding out of classrooms, looking scared.

  "What is it?" Airin asked, pausing at the door. "Is it a fire?"

  "No smoke," Lloyd said, sniffing the air. "This feels... heavier."

  He felt a tremor in the floor. Not an earthquake. An impact.

  Lloyd ran to the window. He looked out into the central courtyard.

  Chaos.

  In the center of the courtyard stood a girl. She was a fourth-year student. Lloyd recognized her. Sarah. She was a quiet girl from the Healing track. She liked knitting.

  Right now, she wasn't knitting. She was glowing.

  A sickly, neon-green aura surrounded her. Her eyes were blank white orbs of light. And around her neck, a silver locket was pulsing like a second heart.

  "Sarah?" Lloyd whispered.

  Sarah raised her hand. She didn't cast a spell. She simply punched the air.

  A shockwave of pure force blasted out. It hit the nearby Communications Tower—a stone pillar filled with crystals that allowed the Academy to talk to the capital.

  CRASH.

  The base of the tower shattered. The stone exploded into dust. The tower groaned and tipped over, crashing into the courtyard with a sound like the end of the world. Dust billowed up.

  "She just... punched a tower," Lloyd said, stunned. "She's a healer. She shouldn't be able to punch a pillow."

  This wasn't normal magic. This was something else.

  Sarah turned. Her movements were jerky, unnatural. Like a puppet being pulled by invisible strings. She looked at the Warding Stone—the central anchor for the Academy's protective shield.

  She started walking toward it. Every step cracked the pavement.

  "She's targeting infrastructure," Lloyd realized. "Comms are down. Now she wants the shields. Someone is controlling her. Someone is stripping our defenses."

  He couldn't let her break the Warding Stone. If the shields fell, anything could get in. Or out.

  "Stay here," Lloyd ordered Airin. "Barricade the door."

  He jumped out the window. It was the second floor, but he reinforced his legs with [Steel Blood] and landed with a heavy thud on the grass.

  He sprinted toward the courtyard.

  Guards were already rushing in. "Halt! Student, stand down!"

  Sarah didn't stop. A guard tried to grab her arm.

  She swatted him away. Literally. She backhanded him, and the armored man flew twenty feet through the air, crashing into a fountain.

  "Okay," Lloyd muttered. "Super strength. Enhanced durability. No moral inhibition. It's a berserker curse."

  More guards attacked. They tried to subdue her. They used binding spells. Ropes of light wrapped around her.

  Sarah roared. It wasn't a human sound. It was a distorted, magical shriek. The locket on her neck flared bright green. The ropes shattered like glass.

  She grabbed a spear from a guard and snapped it in half with one hand. She kicked another guard in the chest, crumpling his breastplate.

  Chapter : 1428

  She was unstoppable. A teenage girl tearing through elite soldiers like they were made of paper.

  Lloyd stopped at the edge of the fight. He needed to analyze. He couldn't just jump in and punch a student. He needed to know how to stop her without killing her.

  "Activate," he whispered. "[All-Seeing Eye]."

  The world shifted into wireframes and energy flows. Lloyd looked at Sarah.

  Her body was being overclocked. Her muscles were tearing and healing instantly, fueled by the dark energy from the locket. Her mana veins were burning black.

  But the most terrifying part was her head.

  There were threads. Thin, purple threads of magic extending from the locket, drilling into the base of her skull. They were wrapped around her brain stem.

  "Puppeteer," Lloyd hissed. "It's hijacking her motor functions. She's not doing this. She's a passenger in her own body."

  He looked at the locket. It was the source. A dense knot of Abyssal energy was coiled inside it, pumping power into her.

  "I have to break the locket," Lloyd decided. "Surgically. If I miss, I might take her head off."

  Just then, a flash of red and gold appeared.

  Princess Isabella arrived. She was leading a squad of her Royal Lions.

  "Surround her!" Isabella commanded. Her sword was drawn. She looked magnificent and angry. "Contain the threat!"

  The Lions formed a shield wall. Sarah didn't care. She charged the wall.

  BOOM.

  She slammed into the shields. The impact sent three soldiers sliding backward, digging furrows in the dirt. But the wall held.

  "Push!" Isabella yelled.

  Sarah shrieked again. She raised both fists and hammered on the shields. Sparks flew.

  Lloyd saw the locket pulse faster. It was building up energy. A big discharge.

  "Isabella!" Lloyd shouted. "Get back! She's going to explode!"

  Isabella looked at him. She heard the warning. But she was stubborn.

  "Hold the line!" she ordered.

  Sarah released the energy. A wave of green force erupted from her body.

  The shockwave hit the Royal Guard like a tidal wave hitting a sandcastle. The shield wall disintegrated. Soldiers were thrown into the air, landing in heaps across the courtyard. Even Isabella was knocked off her feet, sliding across the stones.

  Sarah stood in the center of the crater she had created. She was panting. Her skin was starting to crack, glowing with green light from the inside. Her body couldn't handle the power much longer. She was going to burn out.

  "She's a bomb," Lloyd realized. "A living, breathing bomb."

  He had to act. Now.

  He ran forward. He couldn't use his spirits—too many witnesses. He had to use his Void powers, but subtly.

  Isabella was getting up. She looked furious. She raised her sword, ready to strike a killing blow. She thought she was fighting a monster.

  "Don't kill her!" Lloyd shouted, sliding between Isabella and Sarah.

  "Move, Ferrum!" Isabella yelled. "She is dangerous!"

  "She is a student!" Lloyd yelled back. "Look at her eyes! She's not in control!"

  Sarah charged. She moved faster than a blinking eye. She aimed a punch at Lloyd's head.

  Lloyd didn't block. He couldn't block that much force. He dodged. He used a micro-burst of [Void Steps], shifting his body three inches to the left. The fist passed his ear with a sound like a cracking whip.

  He grabbed her arm. It felt like grabbing a hot iron bar. He used his [Steel Blood] to reinforce his grip, his fingers becoming like vices.

  "Sorry about this, Sarah," Lloyd grunted.

  He used her momentum to swing her around, slamming her into the ground. But she didn't stay down. She kicked out, catching him in the ribs.

  Crack.

  Lloyd felt a rib snap. Pain exploded in his side. He gritted his teeth. "Okay. That hurt."

  Sarah scrambled up. She grabbed a chunk of stone from the ruined tower—a block weighing at least three hundred pounds—and lifted it over her head.

  "This is getting ridiculous," Lloyd said.

  Isabella lunged, her sword glowing with fire. She aimed for Sarah's heart.

  "No!" Lloyd shouted.

  He manifested a steel chain from his left hand. He whipped it out, not at Sarah, but at Isabella's sword. The chain wrapped around the blade and yanked it sideways. Isabella stumbled, her strike missing Sarah by inches.

  "What are you doing?!" Isabella screamed.

  "Saving you from murdering a child!" Lloyd roared.

  He turned back to Sarah. She threw the rock.

  Lloyd didn't dodge. He stood his ground. He focused his Void power into his right fist. He opened the First Demon Gate.

  Bang.