The world was black.

He could hardly hear a thing.

It was only after an unknown period of time that Kaelion found his consciousness return.

"Huaa.!"

He took a deep breath while looking around him.

The world was dark, with only the faint scattering of the moonlight illuminating the surroundings. The trees rustled, and a gentle, yet piercing breeze wafted through.

.Such was the world Kaelion woke up to.

Rustle, rustle~

"Oh, you're awake."

A voice brought him out of his thoughts.

It came from above, and when he looked up, his eyes locked with two hazel eyes that seemed to suck him in the moment he made contact with them.

"Haa.."

Faint recollections of what had happened resurfaced in Kaelion's mind. That was when he realized what had happened.

"You, what are you planning?"

He instantly grew alert.

Given that he had yet to be killed, there was certainly something that the cadet wanted from him. It wouldn't be that he wanted important secrets about their Empire?

"Ha, if what"

"Whatever you think I want, you're wrong."

Julien cut Kaelion off.

"My request isn't anything grand. I also kept you alive because I can't exactly kill you. Not that it was anything I was ever interested in doing, to begin with. My plan is simple"

Thump!

Julien jumped off the tree, landing on the ground while inching closer to Kaelion.

Lowering his body to be at eye-level with Kaelion, Julien extended his hand and Kaelion found himself swallowing his saliva. Just what was it? What did he want?

"Make me a part of your group."

"Uh?"

***

"I am not hearing it wrong, am I?"

Professor Thornwhisper stared at the woman standing in front of him with incredulous eyes. Recalling her request, he couldn't believe what she was saying.

"..You want me to take care of one of your cadets and have them pretend to be part of my group?"

He laughed.

"What sort of nonsense is this?"

Nonsense was a light word to describe the sudden request.

Each Empire could only bring a fixed number of spots. Although they were the delegates from the Aurora Empire, they weren't the only group that was coming. There were several others.

To have one extra person

It was going to mess up the entire order.

Therefore, it was a ridiculous request. One that he found it hard to believe.

"Don't think that just be"

"Accompany him to Bremmer. I can take care of the rest. You shouldn't have any problems then."

Delilah answered in a flat tone while staring at the Professor.

Because of her lack of expressions, it was hard to tell what exactly she was thinking. It was a fact that irritated the Professor who still shook his head.

"The answer is still no. I have nothing to benefit from this."

"..You will."

Delilah answered, finally displaying some sort of expression in the form of a slight curl at the end of her lips as she passed on a small orb to the Professor.

"This is?!"

The Professor's expression hardened the moment he caught sight of the orb, and his head immediately flicked up.

"This! Are you going back on your agreement?"

There was visible anger on his face as he addressed Delilah. His face was red, and the veins at the side of his neck bulged.

Despite that, Delilah didn't seem all that bothered by his expression.

"I am not going back on the agreement."

The small orb was a recording device. In it were the recordings of the exhibition match where those of the Aurora Empire lost.

If such a video were to spread

".We agreed that we wouldn't take any recordings of the exhibition match and keep the results to ourselves. How are you not going back on your agreement?"

"Because you are the same."

Delilah replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

At that, the Professor found himself at a loss for words. It was only for a brief moment as he recovered.

"What are you talking about?"

The first thing he did was refute her accusations.

With a frown, his tone lowered.

".Are you accusing me of something? If you are, I su"

He stopped speaking halfway through.

Feeling Delilah's inky black eyes on him, he suddenly found himself unable to speak any further. It was as if his entire body was being sucked into this unknown world. He could see black hands emerging from beneath the ground, clamping onto his legs, keeping him on the spot.

Unknowingly, his breathing became rougher and the beat of his heart started to quicken.

The sensation lasted only a few seconds, but it was enough for the Professor to imprint the feeling into his mind.

'As expected of this monster'

It was a clear warning from her.

.He could not refuse her offer.

But if that wasn't enough,

"I know you also have a recording. There's no point in trying to hide it from me."

"Haha."

He found the situation to be hilarious.

For one of the strongest within the Nurs Ancifa Empire to have such a request Not only that but for her to know he had also been recording

"As expected, nothing escapes your eyes."

The cat was out of the bag and the Professor knew that he couldn't continue to pretend unless he wanted to die.

"..Fine."

He had no choice but to accept her request even if he didn't want to.

"But I will only take him to Bremmer. We will part ways halfway there. Things will be complicated if the other teams question me about him."

"That's okay."

Delilah nodded quietly.

"This is all I need."

"Okay."

The Professor wanted to ask for the reasoning behind the request and why she couldn't have had him sent through a portal done by her, but he knew his place and remained quiet.

'It's only one cadet, he shouldn't cause too many problems.'

At worst, he'll personally interfere.

But there was something the Professor was curious about.

"About the cadet Are you not worried I'll do something to him? Or perhaps the other cadets?"

"Worried?"

Delilah looked at him for a few seconds before turning her head. For a moment, Professor Thornwhisper almost thought he saw pity flash across her eyes.

Pity?

'No, there's no way.'

"Just do your job. If anything happens to him"

She didn't finish her sentence but her intent was clear. Her figure blurred shortly after that, leaving the Professor standing by himself.

Staring at the area where she had been, he let out a long breath before closing his eyes.

".A pity such a strong person isn't from our Empire."

***

To Tok

The first thing Leon did after the match ended was knock on Julien's door. He didn't live that far from him. In fact, they were rather close, both living on the same floor.

"Julien?"

When the door opened, Leon blinked a couple of times before he smacked his head.

"Ah, right."

Julien's room was different from the one he had previously.

There was a specific room that was reserved for the Black Star which now belonged to Aoife. She did try to reject the room, saying that she was comfortable where she was, but rules were rules.

In the end, she ended up moving into Julien's old room.

Since it had been a while since this had happened, Leon had forgotten all about it.

".What are you doing here?"

Questioned by Aoife, Leon opened his mouth to reply when she cut him off directly.

"Let me guess, you wanted to see if Julien really is back."

"."

Was he that obvious?

Well, considering that he had actually gone to his previous room and forgotten all about it, then it did make sense.

"Don't bother checking."

"Hm?"

Surprised, Leon looked up.

That was when he saw Aoife scratching the side of her face.

"I may or may not have also tried."

"."

Feeling Leon's gaze, Aoife lowered her head in defeat and sighed.

"I just wanted to tell him that he can be the Black Star if he wanted to."

"Hm?"

"This job"

Aoife lowered her head to stare at her blazer.

"..I thought I really wanted it, but I am not so sure anymore."

No, Aoife actually knew the reason why she didn't feel like being the Black Star despite officially being one.

She didn't earn it.

Not only because Leon forfeited and gave it to her, but also because Aoife didn't get it with her own powers by defeating Julien and Leon to be the first.

It was exactly for this reason that she went ahead and tried to contact him first.

.But he wasn't there.

Or at least, there was no one in the room.

"You don't seem to be someone that would lie. I assume you have your reasons for thinking that Julien is back. He wasn't there when I went there, and I still don't think he is. How confident are you about your assumption?"

"That"

Leon lowered his head and thought for a good moment.

Then, after a few seconds, he shook his head.

"I was pretty confident, but I'm not so sure anymore."

He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I'll go check it out. If he's not there, then I'm not sure"

"Alright."

Aoife nodded while Leon turned around and left.

As he left, Aoife turned her head to look to her right where another door was. She stood like that for several seconds before finally speaking.

"And I'm supposed to be the stalker"

"Tsk."

With a click of her tongue, the door opened. Standing by the door with her back leaning against the side of the door, Kiera chewed on the licorice stick in her mouth.

"Wasn't stalking. You were just talking loud."

".Uh, sure."

Aoife gave her a meaningful look. That didn't bide well with Kiera who turned her head and glared at her.

"What? Why are you giving me that look?"

"You know it."

"Fuck I don't."

".Sure you don't."

Aoife rolled her eyes while glancing at the licorice stick in Kiera's mouth. Her change from cigarettes to licorice was quite recent, with her usually consuming three a day at best.

This information wasn't hard to know given how Kiera would always curse whenever she ate one.

'Fuck I hate this!'

'Ugh! Why am I even doing this to myself?'

'I want to go back.'

It was like this every day Almost every day. Today was different. From the moment Leon said what he said, Aoife watched as Kiera chewed on over a dozen sticks without so much as mouthing a single complaint.

"That was unusual of her."

Despite not showing it, she appeared to be quite nervous about what Leon said.

It was a little funny to Aoife who covered her mouth slightly.

"Oy, what are you laughing at?"

"Nothing."

Aoife smiled at Kiera before reaching for the knob of her door and bringing it to a close.

"Oy!"

Aoife could still hear Kiera's shout as she closed the door behind her, and once she did, the room plunged into silence.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

'Answer you bitch!'

Ignoring the muffled shouts coming from outside, Aoife took out a small stick from her drawer and placed it in her mouth.

Chewing on it, she mumbled,

".It's not that bad."

The licorice stick.

***