At the very moment when the skull principal was incredulously reacting, Yi-Han and his friends from the Blue Dragon were hurriedly descending the stairs.

"Mana is gathering again!"

Yi-Han could feel it. He sensed the dispersed mana of the tower quickly reshaping and reassembling. Though momentarily scattered by an unexpected shock, the spells of the Magic Academy were indeed powerful. They were prepared to recover even in such situations. And if everything were to be restored...

Our plan might get complicated, Yi-Han thought.

He did not know how many spells were cast within the tower, nor their effects. But he anticipated that their resurgence would spell trouble for him and his intruding party.

Swoosh!

"Aaaah!"

"Gainando! Gainando!!"

It seemed a spell had completed its formation amidst the gathering of mana. It activated in a flickering motion.

Gainando, unfortunately caught in the spell, was pulled back along the stairs as if an invisible hook had snagged his collar.

"Argh!"

Gainando was flung out of the White Tiger Tower's main gate, tumbling head over heels.

It was clearly a spell meant to expel intruders.

"Hurry! It'll get messy if other spells complete," Yi-Han urged.

"Got it, got it!"

The students of the Blue Dragon nodded. Though initially flustered, they had a reliable leader in Yi-Han, whose statue-like face commanded calmly, restoring their composure as they followed him.

Bang!

The lounge door swung open. Yi-Han and Ratford quickly scoured for valuableor rather, flag-like items.

"What is this madness?!"

Disturbed by the faint commotion, Dolgyu descended from his private room, blinking in confusion.

To his surprise, students from the Blue Dragon, who shouldn't have been there, had invaded the first-year lounge.

Recognizing a familiar face, Dolgyu asked in a constrained voice, "Yi-Han! What is happening...?"

"Dolgyu!"

"Huh?"

"Look behind you!"

"Huh?"

Distracted, Dolgyu turned around, only for Yi-Han to swiftly strike him on the jaw with his bead.

The poor, half-awake orc friend, trusting in Yi-Han, collapsed once again.

"Haha! Take that, you White Tiger brat! Pay for your arrogance to Wardanaz!"

A student from the Blue Dragon cheered, while Yonaire looked at Yi-Han with confused eyes, as if to say, Is this really okay?

Yi-Han shook his head, saying, "This is better for Dolgyu, too."

He hadn't told Dolgyu about the attack plan for a simple reason. Dolgyu was a student of the White Tiger, after all. It wasn't about mistrust, but rather concern that Dolgyu, already somewhat ostracized within the White Tiger, might face further isolation if involved in this plan.

Yonaire understood this, though she seemed to think Yi-Han had hit Dolgyu too hard.

"Seeing him like this, the other White Tiger students won't misunderstand. There's no need for Dolgyu to become an outcast like Nillia in the tower."

"Yeah. ...But did you have to compare him to Nillia?"

"Found it!"

True to his thief-like skills, Ratford quickly located a flag. The problem was that there wasn't just one flag.

"Here's another!"

"And another here...?!"

The White Tiger students had practiced and failed to create fake flags, which now appeared scattered around. The patterns were crudely made, but hard to distinguish in the dim light.

Yi-Han quickly made a decision.

"Take them all."

"!"

That's right!

Just take them all!

The Blue Dragon students grabbed every flag they could see.

"What, what's happening??"

A second White Tiger student appeared. It was Rowena, a black-haired elf Yi-Han recognized.

Rowena, with an expressionless face, was startled upon making eye contact with the princess, who was hurriedly stowing the flags into her bosom.

"What is really happening?!"

"Stay quiet and don't move! If you do, we won't spare the princess!"

"?!"

The princess, who had followed to help, suddenly became a hostage, her eyes flickering slightly.

Rowena, shocked, raised her arms.

"No, no! I'll stay still!"

"Good! Stay that way!"

Yi-Han bound Rowena's feet with a single command.

Ratford shouted urgently, "Checked them all! There's no more!"

"Good. Let's get out of here!"

Swoosh!

As the scattered spells regained strength, ominous signs began to show.

Two students from the Blue Dragon, like Gainando before, were flung outside.

"Those who escaped, head to the Blue Dragon! Ratford, run!"

"Yes!"

"The Blue Dragon brats invaded the lounge!!!!"

The commotion woke up the White Tiger students, who descended to the lounge only to be met with an unbelievable scene, promptly awakening their friends.

"Rowena! Why are you just standing there?!"

"They, they said if I move, they won't spare the princess..."

"What are you talking about? They are from the same tower and came together!"

"!"

"Chase them!! Don't let them get away!!"

Some forcibly, others of their own accord.

Yi-Han and his friends successfully escaped the White Tiger.

Yi-Han, escaping last, shuddered as the tower's intruder-preventing magic grazed his head.

"Uh... Ugh."

The expelled students, disoriented as if suffering severe motion sickness, stumbled and fell. Gainando couldn't even stand, floundering on the ground.

"Pick up the fallen ones and run! The White Tiger guys are coming!"

"Ok... Okay!"

Yi-Han hoisted Gainando onto his shoulder, eliciting a scream from him.

"Gently! Drive gently!"

"This isn't a carriage, Gainando! Get a hold of yourself!"

Tadadadak-

"Hey, you thieves!!!"

Torches lit up behind them as the White Tiger students' shouts rang out. They were incredulous at being attacked at night and now missing their flags.

Asan from the Blue Dragon, undaunted, retorted, "It's us who should be saying that! You cowardly tricksters, making fake flags! You're 100% scammers!"

"Stop provoking and just run, Asan!" Yi-Han, even while carrying Gainando, outran the other students. However, he halted. The White Tiger students were faster than expected.

'We'll get caught at this rate!'

Panting, Ratford asked, "Are you planning to use the prince as bait?"

"...No!" Yi-Han was momentarily flustered. It really wasn't his intention.

"Wardanaz, you scoundrel! It's one thing to threaten Rowena using the princess as a hostage, but Dolgyu trusted your honor! And you knocked him out?!" Anglago, a satyr, shouted with fury.

Seizing the opportunity, Yi-Han coldly retorted, "Dolgyu? He was just an easy pawn. It's his own stupidity for being deceived."

"Wardanaz, you bastard!!!" Anglago exploded with rage and lunged at him. However, Anglago alone was no match for Yi-Han.

Yi-Han had already been rigorously trained by Professor Boladi in magic battle and more.

He promptly conjured a water orb.

"Spring forth!"

The compressed orb of water materialized. Without a moment's rest, Yi-Han cast the next spell.

"Move!"

With dull thudding sounds, the charging Anglago was sent tumbling. The hefty water orb had enough force to rob the limbs of their strength.

Anglago, fallen, gritted his teeth and glared up at Yi-Han. With the flickering torches behind, Yi-Han's face was starkly shadowed, his already cold, statue-like visage appearing even more frigid.

Thinking of Dolgyu, collapsed in the lounge, Anglago's heart blazed with more anger and sorrow. He shouted, "Damn it...! Wardanaz, you monster who knows nothing but magic...!!"

"Anglago!!" The White Tiger students, arriving belatedly, helped up the fallen Anglago, crying out in despair. Seeing their friend downed felt like witnessing a noble knight defeated by an evil mage.

"Ha... Haha! You'll never defeat Wardanaz... Ugh."

"Stop provoking and stay quiet."

As Gainando on his shoulder tried to taunt, Yi-Han silenced him with a slap. Gainando closed his mouth again.

"This was for a class assignment, let's not hold unnecessary grudges against each other."

"You call that an excuse!"

'Admittedly, it does sound rather shameless,' Yi-Han thought.

He knew telling the already humiliated White Tiger students that 'all this is because of the skull principal who divided the tower into four and created such a competitive environment, let's not fight among ourselves' would be futile. They'd probably retort, 'We'll think about it after beating you up.'

Yi-Han sighed. It was a sigh of resignation to the inevitability of force.

To the White Tiger students, his sigh, perhaps due to the darkness, seemed like a mocking sneer.

"Don't... Don't follow me. I can cast the same magic again and again. It might be hard to dodge continuously in this darkness."

Yi-Han planned to escape before more White Tiger students arrived. He could handle half a dozen with threats, but beyond that, the reaction was unpredictable.

"I don't care! Friends, avenge Dolgyu! Avenge him for being used by Wardanaz!" Anglago cried out in anguish. Yi-Han slightly regretted not having knocked Anglago unconscious.

The White Tiger students' eyes hardened.

'Damn.'

Their eyes conveyed a firm resolve to avenge Dolgyu, regardless of the consequences.

Indeed, they were from noble knight families. In such a situation, they chose their friend's honor over their own limbs.

Gainando whispered in a horrified voice, "...Are we doomed?"

Instead of answering, Yi-Han slapped Gainando's mouth again.

'Use water orbs on the left, fend off attackers on the right with the sword... blind their sight, then turn and run...'

Despite the unexpected turn, Yi-Han quickly calculated his strategy.

However, Yi-Han's calculations became irrelevant. Gainando, perched on his shoulder, pointed behind the White Tiger students and screamed.

"...Behind!! Behind!!"

"Wardanaz, how stupid do you think we are? Do you think we'd fall for a trick by the prince?!"

"Look behind you!!!"

"We won't be fooled... Aaaaah!"

Whoosh!

A massive vine swooped down, entangling a White Tiger student and lifting him into the air.

Yi-Han, seeing the unrealistically huge vine monster emerging from the darkness, momentarily thought he had triggered the White Tiger Tower's defensive magic, summoning the creature. Fortunately, that was not the case.

-"The summon from the greenhouse has escaped! The summon from the greenhouse has escaped!"-

-"It's heading towards the freshmen! ...I want nothing to do with this! This guy should go to the punishment room!"-

-"Will you shut up and just handle this?!"-

Faint shouts of familiar content were coming from a distance. It was the kind of warm conversation only shared by the disciples of a professor who had failed an experiment.

Thump!

Professor Garcia appeared out of thin air and landed smoothly. The professor swung his staff, forcing the vine monster to retreat, then turned to Yi-Han.

"Summons escaping like this again. This week will be tough for the freshmen. Yi-Han, what are you doing here?"

"...Wait. Did you say 'again' and 'summons'?"

Summons 'escaping' again?

"Why are you here, Yi-Han?"

"Professor! That vine monster took my friend! Please save him!"

"Ah, alright. Just wait."