Chapter 104: Evaluation Tests II (2)

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Ivery sat at the MVP table and silently ate her breakfast. Her eyes scanned the room and she didn't see Beatrice anywhere...

She knew nothing bad couldn't have happened to her with her being under Hecate's protection. But she also knew for a fact that Xia tried something after figuring out they faked everything. But Hecate would've told her if something bad had happened to Beatrice anyway.

As Ivery was looking around the cafeteria she spotted Juliana sitting alone. Ivery guessed people didn't want to get close to her after she was demoted, to everyone it meant she was on bad terms with the MVP's and being with her would also put them on bad terms with the MVP's.

She was the first person to be removed from the class S ranking, and no one knew what the consequences of that was.

Ivery suddenly made eye contact with her when Juliana turned to look at the MVP table. When Juliana noticed Ivery was looking at her, she gave a cold and menacing glare.

Ivery gave a sly smirk that didn't go noticed by Juliana.

"I'll be back.." Ivery told Luther, getting up from her seat

"Where are you going?" Luther asked her and grabbed her hand

"To speak with someone, I won't be gone long." Ivery told him

"Alright..." Luther nodded and let go of her hand

Ivery walked down the steps that led to and from the elevated MVP table.

She walked toward the table Juliana sat at, feeling the strong and mischievous urge to provoke her..

Ivery sat across from Juliana at the table and had a smile on her face.

"What do you want from me? Trying to rub it in that you've taken my place?" Juliana narrowed her eyes

"That's exactly what I'm doing, yes." Ivery lightly laughed

"You looked down on me and many other people for quite a while just because Luther appointed you as a member of his exclusive classes, you even thought I was like his other fiances that you could just chase off." Ivery tapped her index finger on the table

"Now look at you, you can't even make a single friend." Ivery sneered

"Let me ask you, did you really think you had a chance to be with Luther?" Ivery narrowed her eyes back

"I-I could've.." Juliana looked down

"Oh? You actually thought so, so does that mean that you're from a full royal bloodline?" Ivery inquired

"I have noble and royal blood, that's more than enough!" Juliana clenched her hands into fists

"But it's not enough, with your blood, you can at least marry one of Luther's brothers, but to marry the crown prince of Fresia, you have to come from a full royal bloodline...Luther's father wouldn't have approved of your engagement, let alone your marriage." Ivery chuckled

"But his father let those other women of mixed blood be engaged to Luther, he even almost let that girl with commoner blood marry him! I shouldn't be excluded!" Juliana banged her hands on the table

"Hm....you say that but then why are all of those women you mentioned dead now?" Ivery grinned

"...." Juliana froze and thought about it

"Do you really think Luther killed all of those girls without orders and permission to do so? I doubt it, they were killed for one sole reason." Ivery said her assumption based on what Luther said

"They didn't meet the emperor of Fresia's requirements." Ivery told her

"That...can't be true, they died only because Luther couldn't tolerate insignificant things like them any longer, they weren't worthy of him." Juliana shook her head, she didn't believe Ivery's words

"Does that mean you think you're worthy of him?" Ivery asked with a smile

"Of course I am, he chose me, but his father chose you, that's the difference between us." Juliana smirked

"You still believe that our engagement was arranged by our fathers?" Ivery laughed

"Luther asked me to marry him before my father acknowledged me as the crown princess of the Lilith Empire, so doesn't that mean he chose me too?" Ivery smirked back

"I'm sure I've already told you that Luther proposed to me, but it's clear that you can't retain important information in that deluded brain of yours." Ivery sighed

"You're lying!" Juliana grit her teeth

"I'm not." Ivery said

"Why would I need to lie to you when I already possess everything you want, have, and had? I have absolutely nothing to gain." Ivery asked with a complacent smile

"Were you always vindictive like this...?" Juliana asked, feeling an unpleasant aura from Ivery, it wasn't dangerously sinister like Luther's aura...but it was enough to make you uneasy

"Maybe I always have been, I just haven't let it out yet..." Ivery said

"Someone like you shouldn't be by his side..." Juliana angrily uttered

"Since I'm not you then of course you wouldn't think I should be by his side, but it's not that you ever could be by his side no matter what you do...and that's because you're not me." Ivery calmly retorted

"Deluded you may be, you're not stupid Juliana....you already know you had no chance of gaining his affection despite having his attention, which is why you tried to get rid of any other women that were close to him

"After being with him for so many years and choosing you personally for class S, you'd think he'd come to like you eventually, but alas he didn't...." Ivery faked a pout

"While you had the potential to be a worthy subordinate, you never had a chance of being his wife." Ivery gloated with a disdainful smile

"Go away!" Juliana raised her voice, her eyes were filled to the brim with rage

"Very well, I have nothing more to say anyway." Ivery shrugged and got up.

"You left me to sit with her?"

Ivery turned her head and saw Luther standing behind her.

"I saw that she was sitting alone, so I thought I would give her some company." Ivery told him

"Misery loves company.." Luther smiled as he looked at Juliana

"L-Luther!" Juliana stood up from her seat and nervously looked at Luther

"What?" Luther apathetically answered

"Allow me to join class S once again, I promise not to cause any problems!" Juliana bowed to Luther, desperate to regain her position

"No." Luther bluntly said

"You served your use and you're no longer wanted in class S." Luther coldly told her

Juliana's eyes teared.

Luther took Ivery's hand and led her back to the MVP table, "Don't speak with her anymore, she's not worth the time." Luther said

"Okay.." Ivery nodded

....

Ivery, Luther, and the others took their seats in the evaluation center, seated above the other students. Ivery was given a small golden pocket watch, she sensed that it was filled with magic.

[E] class students were soon called up for track field evaluations, and this time 5 students will run around the track field at the same time to reduce the time spent on evaluations.

"You have 30 seconds to complete at least 10 laps around the field, the bare minimum for Class E will be 4 laps, start!" Ivery said out to the students and, once her thumb hit the button on the pocket watch, the time was displayed in giant numbers that hovered above the track field for everyone to see.

Once the timer started the students immediately took off.

[Class E] students completed their evaluations. About 15 students made it past 8 laps and the rest were only able to complete 5 laps, 2 students were only able to complete 2 laps and another student was only able to complete 1.

When Luther looked over the information board for the students that just went, he noticed the 3 students that just failed the evaluations did poorly on the previous evaluation tests, especially the track field evaluation.

He then raised his hand, with his eyes locked on the three students.

All three students that failed suddenly dropped to their knees. Their skin started sticking to their bones and their eyes started to sink into their sockets, the skin on their bodies turned dry and pale and their irises turned completely white, and their pupils became cloudy and grey.

They fell on the ground, dead and shriveled.

The corpses began to quickly rot away.

38 students remained in [Class E], they were to prepare for the next evaluation.

[D] class track field evaluations were next, students from [Class D] got up from their seats and lined up at the track field. Names were called one by one for the track evaluation and a total of 2 students were killed by decapitation in [Class D] for not being able to complete one full lap and barely passing the last track field evaluation test, 54 students remained, the rest were to prepare for the next evaluation.

[C] class track field evaluations were next, 5 students from [Class C] lined up at the track field and the rest stood crowded on the side, nervously waiting for their turns.

Ivery was about to press the button on the watch until she felt something off...

She turned to look at Luther and based on his expression, he also felt it. The lights in the evaluation center suddenly began to flicker and a strong cold breeze circled the room, scaring the students.

The flickering white lights suddenly turned bright red, causing the whole room to be tinted in the ominous color.

When the lights stopped flickering, loud screams were heard and Ivery saw several students running. When she noticed it she was slightly shocked to see the dead bodies of the 5 students that were about to start the track field evaluations. They were all sloppily sliced in half, seemingly with a sword.

The red lights began to flicker again and then completely turned off, making the room completely dark.

"Is this supposed to happen?" Sariell asked Luther

"No.." Luther responded, waiting to see what would happen next

When the lights turned back on a girl with dark-grey black streaked hair and black colored eyes stood beside the corpses, her hair flowed sideways due to the odd breeze that came from nowhere. As her hair flowed, a black pentagram was visible on her forehead.

"Xia.." Ivery sighed

"Such a resilient bug..." Luther smirked

"Where is Inanna!?" Xia yelled out, holding a large bloody sword in her hand, she pressed her foot on the corpses and looked around angrily

Everyone pointed up.

Xia looked up and saw Ivery, Luther, and the other MVP's sitting above.

"All students evacuate the evaluation test center immediately!" Piere shouted out

Everyone instantly rushed out of the evaluation center in a hurry, leaving only Ivery, Luther and the other MVP's in the center.

"Miss me?" Xia grinned

"No." Ivery shook her head and jumped down to the track field where Xia stood

"Of course not." Luther disgustedly glared at Xia and walked down to the track field

Xia took her sword and slashed her wrists, her blood spilled from her cuts and onto the ground, confusing both Ivery and Luther.

"Mind suffering for a little?" Xia's blackened irises glowed red

"What?" Ivery raised an eyebrow

Her blood left the ground and swirled around her and mimicked a tornado.

In the middle of the blood cyclone, Eos appeared and laughed. Black mist mixed with the cyclone and It grew wider in size.

Eos snapped her fingers and the cyclone started to pull Ivery and Luther in.

Trying to teleport away was a thought but they'd just be followed again if they tried to go to one of their castles. And running away would be a coward's move...

And who knows what Xia and Eos would do to the school if they fled.

Luther waved his hand and black mist in the shape of a large ball flew toward the powerful cyclone.

Just as he expected, his magic was taken in by the cyclone and ended up strengthening it. Magic didn't work against it.

"Now come…" Eos and Xia simultaneously said as they both lifted their hands

Ivery's feet left the ground before she realized it, and she was quickly sucked into the bloody cyclone.

"Ivery!" Luther shouted

The ground under Luther cracked and a large chunk suddenly ripped from the concrete and elevated him up, the chunk he stood on was pulled toward the cyclone..

As much as he wanted to avoid this cyclone, Ivery was already pulled into it….so he just let it take him too..

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She cracked her eyes open and sat up…

She looked around and was in a wide purple sheeted canopy bed that was centered in a large unfamiliar room.

Based on the wall decor and the design of the two large doors of the room, this was definitely a room in the Lilith castle…but it wasn't her room…

She got up out of bed and walked to the nearest mirror. When she looked in the mirror, she saw no changes to herself, she had the same beautiful face, same ruby red eyes, and the same straight light blonde hair.

She closed her eyes and focused on her prowess core. She didn't notice any changes within her magic or its flow, she could strongly feel her infinite energy flowing through her body.

The room doors opened.

Ivery turned her head and saw two maids carrying clothing.

"We're here to prepare you for the grand ball princess Inanna." The maid bowed and told her

"Isn't it crown princess Inanna?" Ivery was always referred to as crown princess when being formally addressed, and it was mandatory for servants to address her as such

"Crown princess…?" The maids looked at each other with confused looks

"I apologize for my rudeness princess, but you are not the crown princess of the empire…you are the 14th princess of the Lilith empire, the crown princess of the Lilith Empire is crown princess Katerina Nadia Lestria Argient Castiell." The maid told her

"Who??" Ivery couldn't believe her ears

"How…" Ivery didn't understand this situation

"What do you know about crown prince Luther Vandell?" Ivery asked them

"Crown prince Luther Vandell?" The maids looked confused

"From Fresia?" Ivery raised an eyebrow

"That is not the crown prince of Fresia's name, the crown prince of Fresia is Darius Lyon Lucretia DelCrest Vandell." The maid told Ivery

"Darius?" Ivery recalled that name, it belonged to the former crown prince of Fresia…who Luther killed several years ago

The doors to the room burst open, alarming the maids and Ivery.

A tall man dressed elegantly in black attire walked into the room, he had an extraordinarily beautiful countenance that could even rival the gods, his long silky black hair flowed behind him as he walked with incredible poise, and his enchanting purple eyes looked as if they were casting a spell on whoever looked at them..

He suddenly walked up to Ivery and pulled her in for a tight hug.

"I'm glad you're safe…" Luther held her tightly

She wrapped her arms around him.

"Luther…there's something wrong with this world…" Ivery told him

"I know, I found out when I learned Darius is alive in this world and when I was told the crown princess of the Lilith Empire is someone named Katerina." He said with a disdainful expression

"The only things that have seemed to change are our statuses and past, I still have access to my magic and my prowess core is unchanged, how about you?" He pulled away to look down at her

"My prowess core and infinite energy is the same." Ivery answered

"So somehow Darius is alive and is still the crown prince of Fresia and someone else is the crown princess of your empire…" Luther sighed

"This was clearly a product of what Eos and Xia did…" Ivery said and sat down on the bed

Luther looked at the two maids and waved his hand as a signal of dismissal.

The maids snapped out of their enchantment after being completely mesmerized by his beautiful face, they put Ivery's clothes down and bowed before they left the room.

"It is, I just can't assume what their reason for doing this is..." Luther sat down beside her

"Loki?" Ivery called out

"...." Loki appeared from a small golden mist cloud and sat on Ivery's lap

"What's all this?" Loki looked around and didn't recognize the room she was in and sensed that they weren't in the real world

"We don't know, do you?" Ivery asked him

"This is a fabricated dimension, it's not the real world but it consists of people who exist and used to exist in the real world, and you both were pulled into it." Loki explained

"How do we get out?" Luther asked

"The person who pulled you into the plane can take you out, or you can break the plane yourself but it will cause internal damage in order to force yourselves out, Luther would be fine but Ivery, on the other hand, would be heavily injured." Loki answered Luther

Ivery and Luther frowned.

"I know it sounds undesirable but it's honestly your only hope of getting out of here." Loki scratched his head with his foot

"Are you sure there's no other way for her to come out unharmed?" Luther inquired

"Hm...oh right." Loki thought about it

"What?" Ivery was confused

"You consumed the golden apple, but your magical energy is still incomplete, you haven't finished making its power your own, the power of the golden apple is just flowing through your energy vessels and not into your prowess core. If you can make it flow towards your prowess core instead of having it lingering in your body then you'll be able to break out of this plane with little to no injuries to your body." Loki told Ivery

"How long would that take?" Ivery questioned

"It depends on you." Loki shrugged

"It could take a few days to several months depending on how you do it." He explained further

"....." Ivery sighed

"What do we do now?" Ivery asked Luther

"Until you gain full control of the golden apple's magic, we're going to have to stay here for a bit..." Luther answered

"So us getting out of here, depends heavily on you.." Luther looked at her with complete seriousness

Ivery sighed again and wondered when her misfortune would end...

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