The sound of the office door clicking open echoed faintly through the hallway as Reinhart stepped in, one hand casually adjusting his glasses.

  His white suit bore no wrinkles, his composure as rigid as ever, but there was, his face carrying a simmering concern he didn’t bother hiding.

  Before he could utter a word, Layla, seated by the large, circular window overlooking the school environment turned her chair to face him.

  “I know what you’re about to say,” she sighed, her voice low

  Reinhart paused mid-step, eyes narrowing slightly. “Good,” he replied. “That saves me some time. What in the stars are Captain Zenon and Captain Emilia thinking?”

  Layla leaned forward, placing her elbows on the desk as she offered Reinhart dry smile.

  “Good to know I'm not the only one who thinks this is crazy.”

  "I asked the same question," She exhaled and leaned back, eyes drifting briefly toward the ceiling, as if searching for answers in its blankness. “But…” she continued, “apparently it’s more complicated than it appears.”

  Reinhart’s brows drew together. “Complicated how? Raika’s temperament is a known issue. And putting him—” he jabbed a finger backwards, referencing Levi without needing to name him “—in the same class with someone like that without warning? Without briefing the instructors?”

  Layla shook her head, brushing a strand of her deep-blue hair behind her ear. “Trust me, I wasn’t told everything either."

  "Tried talking to Emilia, but she gave me that look—you know the one. The ‘stay out of it unless I tell you otherwise’ look."

  "That disrespectful egotistic kid..." She clenched her fist, eyes twitching. "How we became friends, I still don't know..."

  "Friends... Right..." Reinhart averted his gaze as he adjusted his glasses.

  "And Zenon…” Layla continued. Her voice became calm again as she trailed off for a moment, “He’s always been unpredictable. But this time… it felt deliberate.”

  Reinhart raised a brow. “Deliberate?”

  “Yes,” she said slowly. “Unfortunately, I can't speak much of it.”

  "Just trust us on this one Reinhart..."

  Reinhart opened his mouth to respond but stopped.

  His eyes shifted toward the window.

  Layla noticed the change in his expression almost instantly. “What?”

  Reinhart didn’t answer. He simply stepped forward, his shoes making soft clicks as they came in contact with the marble floor. His gaze was fixed now, locked on something just beyond the glass behind Layla.

  Layla’s brows furrowed. “This… is getting weird.”

  Still silent, Reinhart moved closer, until he came to a halt a few feet from Layla's table.

  Outside, just beyond the outer hedge of the west tower garden, stood a figure motionless. Cloaked in black, the hood concealed most of his face, but the faint curve of his lips was visible.

  A smirk.

  “Principal..." Reinhart said in a low voice. “Ate we expecting any visitors today?"

  Her instincts flared instantly. She turned her chair sharply and followed his gaze.

  Layla slowly rose to her feet as she set her eyes on the figure. “Who is—?”

  Then she saw it.

  The smirk.

  Every hair on her body stood on end.

  Before she could speak again, a tremor rippled through the air like a pulse.

  Then, without warning, a transparent violet wave of energy energy surged outward from the man’s feet. It raced across the field, curving upward, arching over the high school buildings, before crashing downward like an invisible tidal wave, forming a dome around the entire facility.

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  The sky above darkened slightly, colors twisting like oil on water. The air went still.

  Layla spun toward Reinhart, eyes wide.

  But he was already gone.

  Her door slammed shut behind him.

  Reinhart sprinted down the hallway, his suit's jacket flaring behind him. A man cloaked in black. A barrier unlike anything he’d ever seen. No warning, no alert or protocol.

  If this had been a drill, at least the school's heads would’ve been informed. But the look on Layla’s face, the sheer shock, was not the expression of someone briefed beforehand. And that man and the smirk...

  No. This wasn’t a test.

  “What an ordeal,” Reinhart muttered under his breath.

  He slid to a stop, pulling his phone from his coat pocket. His frown deepened as the screen blinked. There was no Signal.

  “Of course…” he whispered. “A dampening field. This barrier cuts off outside communication.”

  He clenched his jaw. Rakuzan's security was nothing to joke about, so it was unfathomable. But Reinhart had begun to consider the possibility. In fact he had concluded. Rakuzan had been infiltrated.

  “From the looks of things,” came a voice behind him, calm and vaguely amused, “you’re just as lost as the rest of us.”

  Reinhart turned sharply, his eyes narrowing.

  Garron stood at the end of the hallway, hands tucked behind his back. Behind him were two other female figures. Miss Lian, the homeroom teacher for class 12-B, a gentle young lady with long pink hair and a childlike voice.

  And Miss Riley, the homeroom teacher for class 12-A, a tall woman with long blue hair, and figure with curves fitting for a product model.

  "Is there something afoot that has escaped my notice?" Reinhart inquired as they got closer.

  "I wish that were the case, Reinhart," Garron replied.

  Reinhart turned to Lian and asked, "Lian, do you have any insight into this?"

  "Um... I'm also perplexed, but I witnessed something just before the barrier appeared."

  "I think I... I saw someone..."

  "Did you see anything, Riley?" Lian responded.

  "I was already engaged in teaching when the barrier manifested. I believe we can all sense it, emanating from the entrance..." Riley shared.

  "That insatiable thirst for blood can hardly be associated with benign intentions. For now, let's rendezvous with Layla and try to figure this all out," Reinhart commanded.

  As they turned back to the direction leading to Layla's office, Garron suddenly paused for a moment before, his brows furrowing as if sensing something wrong.

  Suddenly he charged toward Layla's office. Reinhart and the others swiftly grasped the situation and followed.

  Garron continued his charge, smashing the door down before coming to a halt. The others joined him seconds after.

  They all froze as they were met with the sight of a masked female figure dressed in black, standing over Layla's lifeless form in a pool of blood.

  The masked individual immediately tried to make an escape through the window behind her. Upon turning, she was met with Garron's gaze.

  Without a moment's hesitation, Garron jammed his palm against her face and drove her head to the ground sharply, rendering her unconscious.

  "Goodness, Garron, a touch of finesse wouldn't kill you, would it?" Riley remarked.

  "She's still breathing. Let's have Lian heal her." Riley suggested after taking a look at Layla's body.

  "Time isn't a luxury we have at the moment. Her injuries are too severe," Reinhart responded as he knelt by Layla's body. He drove his hand through her chest, ripping her heart out and tossing it aside.

  The onlookers watched without flinching, as they were all too aware of what she was.

  Layla belonged to a race known as eternals.

  "That's a real heart of stone, you have there, Reinhart. No remorse or hesitation when dealing with your own principal," Layla remarked as she got up slowly and returned to her desk.

  Such was the blessing and curse of eternals; they could not truly die. Upon death, their bodies commenced instant resurrection, healing every damage they secured before death.

  They called this phenomenon a 'reset.'

  "In our present circumstances, we can't afford to squander the time we have."

  "Every passing moment carries weight," Reinhart emphasized. The others nodded in agreement.

  "Yeah yeah..." Layla acknowledged the urgency. "I mean we were just together and we saw how I freaked out... So I'm well aware..."

  "What's the current state of affairs?" she inquired.

  "We currently have two casualties. The guards at the entrance, I felt their life forces fade away some minutes ago." Reinhart began.

  "All students have been directed to remain in their classrooms until further notice," Miss Riley added.

  "There are three barriers in place: one encompassing the high school building, another the middle school building, and a final one encompassing both structures," Mr. Armstrong detailed.

  "The first two barriers appear to prevent exit from the buildings, while the last seems designed to trap anyone already outside," Miss Lian deduced.

  "And in addition to all that, we find ourselves incapable of communicating with the outside world due to the barriers, limiting our options for seeking assistance," Reinhart continued.

  Each teacher shared their assessment of the situation. It truly was an ordeal as Reinhart said earlier.

  As Layla contemplated their predicament, she couldn't help but wonder who might be behind all of this.

  "Riley, could you wake our uninvited guest?" Layla requested, interrupting the silence.

  As Riley attempted to approach the person who had attempted to harm Layla, she was abruptly pushed aside by Lian, who seized the individual and threw them out of the window.

  Approximately two seconds later, the body detonated.

  "I detected a sudden surge of mana within it. It was rigged with an explosive seal. It seems they placed a capture explosion on it," Lian explained. "You fail you die..."

  They all noted Lian's usage of 'It', and could instantly tell what she meant.

  "Artificial humans..." Layla scoffed. "They're preserving their main hitters for later. I can't believe I let her kill me for nothing."

  The tension in the room was slowly escalating. Layla's brief laughter, marked with a smirk, cut through the atmosphere. "These guys are far from amateurs. We have to find a to request backup from the outside world."

  "From the looks of it, they likely avoided the university and sealed us off to diminish our strength."

  "They've eliminated the risk of facing numerous B-ranked fighters. This suggests that most of them are either C-ranked or below, with a few B-ranked individuals among them."

  "Given their knowledge of our staff based on their actions, it's reasonable to assume they have one or two A-ranked fighters as well."

  "Worst case scenario, we'll have a Special ranked to deal with." Layla assessed the situation. "I honestly hope we don't..."

  The tension in the room surged further as they comprehended the implications. Layla's analysis pointed to an unavoidable outcome: a confrontation with at least two A-ranked fighters and a mix of B, C and D-ranked adversaries.

  A drawn-out battle would likely result in a minimum of two casualties on their side, not accounting for the students.

  Incorporating the students into the equation painted a bleaker picture, where they couldn't fully unleash their abilities and were forced to protect each student in the process, thereby resulting in what they couldn't afford at the moment.

  A complete loss.