Academy Breach [6]

[Sarah's Pov]

'No... this can't be happening...'

Seeing Bradley on the floor, holding his brother's body in his arms while shedding silent tears, I couldn't stop my body from trembling.

Looking at the man who was now standing on the huge stage, acting as if he didn't have a care in the world while looking at his underlings tie up and put handcuffs on the remaining four teachers, I wasn't sure what to believe anymore.

I wanted to scream, and at the same time, I wanted to cry. Because up on that stage stood the one I had at one point fantasized about leading a life together with, as well as the one I had fantasized about defeating so many times.

And yet, I did nothing at all. I was simply standing here, once again unable to do anything at all.

[James' Pov]

'What a disgusting feeling it is...'

Once again, I had to experience the feeling of taking a life, with the sensation of cutting through Brad's throat still lingering in my hands.

But I couldn't allow myself to show weakness in this kind of situation, even if the childish voice inside my head wouldn't stop crying.

This was merely the starting line of changing this world, of completely and utterly demolishing any and all semblance of the current status quo. And if I hesitated to kill someone now, someone who had completely disregarded my warnings, there was no doubt that I wouldn't succeed.

"Everything is ready, One."

Mark came up to me, giving me a report that forced me to repress the disgusting sensation in our souls. Looking out at the students, who were now obediently standing in silence while watching me, I took a breath, preparing myself to officially begin the point of no return.

Seeing all my old classmates, consisting of both freshmen and sophomores, I couldn't help but let my eyes linger a tad bit longer on the golden-haired princess, whose face looked paler than the snow that had surrounded us in the garden in Kurat.

"Then, shall we get this show on the road?"

"Roger that."

[3rd person Pov]

"-What's that?"

"-Mom, look! There's something in the sky!"

A gigantic black projection had appeared above the town square in the city center of Mensch, making people all around the city look up at the cloudy sky with all kinds of different expressions, expressions ranging from awe, wonder, confusion, fear, and finally, anger

Suddenly, the screen flickered, and instead of showing only the color black, they now got to see the image of what looked like a large stage. On it, a gray-suited man stood with a white mask covering his face, and on his side was a young man kneeling, the dried blood on his body proving the injuries that he had sustained.

The king had also already made it to the plaza, standing with his loyal guards around him, watching the man on the screen with bloody murder in his royal eyes.

"James...!"

And then, the show started.

"-Greetings, citizens of Mensch! Although it has been a while, I sincerely hope that you have not forgotten about me."

Gazing upon the man that he himself had personally cut the head off in this exact place, the king couldn't even clench the fists that he had lost.

"Your Highness! Should we shut it down?"

"No, we can't do that. But did you find the ones responsible for this?"

"Yes, sir. However, as we tried to apprehend them, they all committed suicide to make sure they wouldn't spill any information. They did, however, leave this behind."

Unfortunately for the king, he had no more time to talk to the subordinate who was holding up some kind of digital device before James continued to speak.

"-And if you do remember me, I also hope that you remember the words that I had left you with. Because I will always repay my dues."

****

[Adriana's Pov]

"Because I will always repay my dues."

The air inside the lecture hall had grown cold as everyone remembered the day when he had last spoken those words, aware of what lay behind them.

'This man...'

Seeing the man who had once been on his knees in front of us all now stand on the side of the kneeling Peter, it wasn't hard to see that he was deliberately creating a huge parallel to back then. To remind the world of what had happened to him.

"However!"

Flaring his arms out in a theatrical display, James kept talking into the camera on the opposite side of the room, the camera that we were now certain showed everything he was doing to the world.

"Despite the fact that it would be within my full right according to your rules to do whatever I please to the man beside me, I will give you a chance! With that in mind, I would like to ask the dear king of Mensch, who I am most certain is watching right at this moment, to converse with me."

Out of nowhere, a big screen appeared on the wall behind the camera, showing the man wearing a crown that symbolized absolute authority in the nation of Mensch. Behind him, we could see the scenery of the town square, making this situation even eerier.

"-What are your demands, James?"

"My demands? I don't have any. I merely told you that I would give you a chance to change the fate of this young man."

"-Don't play games with me! I want you..."

*Sching!*

"Gah!"

Fast than most of the students could see, the masked villain had instantly summoned his weapon, and with a seemingly light swing, Peter's arm had been severed from his body, falling off the stage and landing on the floor in front of us.

Ignoring Peter who had woken up from his dazed stupor due to the pain, now screaming in anguish, James just kept talking nonchalantly.

"Games? Why, my dear king, it's not up to me to change the way you perceive things, but do you really think you are in a position to question me?"

Clenching his teeth in frustration, I couldn't quite understand how the king of the nation could have acted so rashly in a situation like this. At least, after seeing the blood now flood out of Peter's body once again, he seemed to have understood the gravity of what was happening.

"-...tell me what I have to do."

*Clap!*

"Wonderful! What I want from you is very, very simple. I want you to make...!"

"Urgh...."

Due to blood loss, Peter's body fell over, unable to take any more of the physical torture that James had put him through, interrupting the show that he was putting on.

Scratching the back of his head, making the long, white hair flutter a bit, he seemed a bit confused as to what to do. At the same time, we could all see the king's face darken even more, seeing as the one he was supposed to get a chance to save was now clearly dying in front of everyone.

"Hmm... I suppose I have to skip forward a bit, seeing as this one doesn't seem like he will survive for much longer."

Switching his focus to the students standing around the hall, it didn't take long until he found the one he was looking for.

"Then, please, Sarah Lindt, would you mind coming up to the stage and heal this man? I was going to invite you up here anyway, so might as well allow you to prolong his life until we are done here."

"-No! Don't bring her into this!"

Unable to control himself, the king once again acted out of line, but this time, the villain let it go, most likely aware that this would happen. Despite her father's words, Sarah walked forward, showing herself to all the other students around her.

With her golden hair glimmering underneath the stage lights, she took to the stage with a very complicated expression, looking up at the man who had invited her up. Sorrow, hatred, anguish... all kinds of emotions had been mixed together to create the face she was wearing.

Then, she knelt down beside Peter, and it didn't take long until green winds started to caress the broken boy, and although it was nowhere enough to completely patch him up, it was at least enough to ease up the bleeding.

After a second of making sure that Peter would survive, thanks to Sarah's healing winds, the host of this morbid event turned his focus back to the king on the screen on the wall, seemingly somewhat pleased with the flow of events.

"So, my dear king of Mensch, now that we got this little unfortunate situation sorted out, I think we are ready. Therefore, George Lindt, I want you to make a choice. No matter what you choose, someone will die today, and it will be up to you to decide which of these two lovely participants will do so!"