Several minutes later after the relentless exchange of gunfire and Alchemy.

The battlefield had finally fallen silent.

The explosions that had echoed through the forest gradually faded away, leaving only drifting smoke, the smell of burnt earth, and the faint crackling of broken branches still burning from the battle.

At the center of the ruined mountain path...

...

***

"Hope we aren’t la..."

Priscilla hurried through the forest before suddenly stopping in her tracks.

Her unfinished sentence remained stuck in her throat.

The sight before her stole every word she wanted to say.

Nate, Page, and Lyra emerged from the trees one after another.

The moment they stepped into the clearing...

They froze.

Silence spread among the four of them.

The battlefield no longer resembled a test ground.

Broken trees lay scattered across the area.

Chunks of rock covered the earth.

Deep craters marked where explosions had erupted, while countless weapons remained embedded in the ground after the fierce battle.

Students were lying everywhere.

Some leaned motionlessly against shattered trees.

Others were sprawled across the rocky ground.

Blood stained torn training uniforms, soaking into the soil beneath them.

Several students had broken arms or legs that hung unnaturally, while others remained unconscious with painful expressions frozen on their faces.

The most shocking sight...

Was Arelo.

His body was embedded deep into the side of the mountain as though someone had punched him there with overwhelming force.

Cracks spread around the point of impact.

His head hung forward.

Blood slowly dripped from his nose.

Several broken teeth lay scattered beneath him.

His jaw had clearly been shattered by a devastating blow.

Nate’s eyes looked unfazed.

"...Are they dead?"

His voice came out plain and calm.

Standing quietly in the middle of the devastated battlefield...

Veda slowly shook his head.

"No..."

His reply was soft.

Almost emotionless.

The quietness of his voice made the atmosphere feel even heavier.

His breathing was rough.

Large portions of his training clothes had been torn apart during the battle.

Small cuts covered his arms and shoulders, allowing thin streams of blood to slowly trickle downward.

A cut on his forehead continued dripping fresh blood past his eyebrow before falling onto the broken earth below.

Yet...

Those injuries weren’t what drew everyone’s attention.

Their eyes slowly moved toward his hands.

His right fist remained tightly clenched.

His left hand loosely held an E-V 26 MK.II shotgun.

Blood continuously dripped from both.

Not his own.

It belonged to the students lying all around him.

The blood slowly slid down his fingers before falling one drop at a time onto the ground beneath his feet.

Around many of the unconscious students...

Repeater Sword Rifles had been driven through parts of their clothing or equipment before piercing deep into the earth below them.

Like enormous nails...

The rifles pinned them firmly to the ground, preventing anyone from escaping during the battle.

No one spoke for several moments.

The quietness only made the aftermath feel even heavier.

Finally...

Priscilla forced herself to ask.

"...Where are Grace and Grant Evergrey?"

Veda remained silent.

He lowered his head slightly while taking another deep breath.

Only after calming his breathing did he slowly lift his eyes toward her.

"They escaped."

His answer remained just as quiet as before.

Yet somehow...

That calm voice felt far more frightening than if he had shouted in anger.

Veda looked toward the ruined battlefield once more.

His fingers slowly loosened.

The E-V 26 MK.II slipped from his hand.

Clank.

The shotgun struck the rocky ground before rolling to a stop nearby.

Veda slowly sat down where he stood.

His shoulders dropped.

The exhaustion that he had hidden throughout the fight finally became visible.

He rubbed his forehead with one bloodstained hand.

"...I’m pissed, guys."

His voice carried obvious frustration.

"I’m really pissed."

His jaw tightened.

"Why..."

He looked at the unconscious students surrounding him.

"...would they go this far... just to prove a point?"

His fists slowly clenched again.

The memory of everything that had happened replayed vividly inside his mind.

***

A few minutes earlier...

The instant the combined barrage of bullets and countless Alchemy attacks rushed toward him...

Veda’s eyes darkened.

His thoughts no longer focused on the battlefield.

Instead...

One sentence echoed repeatedly inside his mind.

The words Arelo had spoken.

The insults.

The mocking laughter.

The description of what had been done to a member of House Ashenlocke.

Veda no longer cared about the details.

His mind reached only one conclusion.

They hurt someone from my family.

A surge of emotion erupted inside him.

Boom!

White Cognis exploded outward from his body.

A tremendous wave of pressure spread across the battlefield like an invisible storm.

The sudden release of Adept Rank Cognis struck everyone at once.

Loose stones rolled across the ground.

Dust scattered violently into the air.

The surrounding trees bent beneath the powerful pressure.

Even the bullets already flying toward him visibly slowed for the briefest moment after entering the overwhelming field of Cognis.

The same happened to the Alchemy attacks launched by the Novice Rank students.

Although the reduction wasn’t great...

It was enough.

Veda moved.

His feet barely shifted from where he stood.

Instead of retreating...

He calmly stepped through the incoming barrage.

One bullet passed beside his face.

Another slipped beneath his raised arm.

A Black Steel arrow narrowly missed his shoulder.

A glass spike flew past his back before shattering against the mountain behind him.

Every movement flowed naturally into the next.

There wasn’t a trace of panic.

His body seemed to already know where every attack would travel before it arrived.

Then...

He raised his right hand.

More white Cognis surged along his arm like brilliant lightning.

It gathered around his palm before spreading across his fingers.

Without hesitation...

He swung his hand toward the incoming storm of bullets.

The motion looked almost casual.

The moment his Cognis touched them...

The bullets instantly lost their structure.

One after another...

They shattered into tiny fragments before falling harmlessly onto the ground.

Grace’s pupils shrank.

"...Law of Inversion?!"

Shock finally appeared on her usually composed face.

The surrounding students instinctively stepped backward.

The overwhelming pressure released by Veda’s Adept Rank Cognis had already shaken their confidence.

Watching dozens of bullets simply disintegrate before reaching him...

Only deepened that fear.

Their coordinated assault suddenly stopped.

Everyone hesitated.

"What are all of you doing?!"

Grace immediately shouted.

"Don’t stop attack..."

Before she could finish...

Veda vanished.

Then...

He appeared directly in front of Grace.

There was no warning.

No sound of footsteps.

No visible movement.

One moment he was standing dozens of meters away.

The next...

He was already within arm’s reach.

Grace’s eyes widened.

Grant froze.

The members of House Evergrey stood rooted to the ground.

Even the students who had joined their alliance stared blankly, their enhanced vision unable to follow Veda’s movement.

It wasn’t that they had seen him move too fast.

They hadn’t seen him move at all.

The sudden appearance alone sent a chill through everyone’s spine.

Veda’s right fist drew backward.

The muscles in his arm tightened as white Cognis surged around his forearm, glowing from his veins.

Then...

He threw a single punch.

The fist tore through the air with overwhelming force.

It looked less like a human punch...

And more like a heavy missile hurtling toward Grace’s face.

"I’ll need you..."

His voice was calm and cold.

"...to be quiet for now."

Grace’s instincts screamed at her.

She immediately forced herself out of her momentary shock.

With every bit of speed she could muster, she raised the slim sword in her hand, placing the thin blade between herself and Veda’s incoming fist.

She couldn’t evade.

Blocking was her only option.

Boom!

The punch landed.

The reinforced blade bent violently from the impact before the tremendous force passed straight through it.

The sword failed to stop the attack.

It merely delayed it.

Veda’s fist continued forward and crashed squarely into Grace’s face.

Bang!

The impact echoed across the battlefield.

Grace’s body was launched backward like a rag doll.

She shot through the air before smashing into the trunk of a massive tree.

Crack!

The tree split apart.

Without stopping...

Her body continued flying.

Boom!

She crashed into a second tree.

Then a third.

Then a fourth.

Broken bark and splintered wood exploded in every direction as one tree after another collapsed behind her.

Before Grant could even understand what had happened...

His sister had already disappeared dozens of meters away.

The worst part...

Was everything between.

Grace’s flying body plowed through several members of House Evergrey.

Students were struck before they even realized she was coming.

Some were thrown to the ground.

Others rolled across the rocky slope while crying out in pain.

Their carefully maintained formation instantly collapsed.

"Grace!!"

Grant’s face changed.

All thoughts of attacking Veda disappeared.

Without hesitation, he abandoned his position and rushed toward where Grace had landed.

His only concern became his sister’s safety.

With Grant leaving...

The battlefield changed once again.

The only remaining Binder Alchemist capable of confronting an Adept Alchemist opponent had withdrawn from the front line.

The remaining students looked toward Veda.

Fear slowly spread across their faces.

The confidence they had maintained earlier was rapidly disappearing.

Veda didn’t chase Grant.

Instead...

He calmly brought both hands together.

Clap!

The sharp sound echoed across the mountain.

Almost simultaneously...

Dozens of Black Steel bars burst out from his Space Bag.

Without wasting even a second...

He threw them high into the air.

The steel rods spun rapidly overhead.

White Cognis immediately flowed from his palms.

An enormous Alchemy Circle rapidly formed beneath his feet.

Before anyone could react...

Veda slammed both palms against the ground.

Boom!

The Alchemy Circle instantly expanded.

It spread across the battlefield beneath the feet of every nearby student.

Everything happened far too quickly.

Even with Cognis strengthening their vision...

The Novice Rank Alchemists couldn’t follow the complete sequence.

By the time they understood what was happening...

The Mass Alchemy had already been completed.

Arelo’s expression changed.

He immediately lifted the RPG-2 resting in his hands.

If he could fire first...

He might still interrupt whatever Veda had created.

But...

He was already too late.

The Alchemy Circle flashed brilliantly.

Then...

Repeater Sword Rifles erupted from the ground.

Dozens upon dozens of rifles burst upward before falling back toward the battlefield.

The long blades beneath each rifle pointed downward as they descended like a rain of steel.

The students instinctively scattered.

One of those rifles dropped near Veda.

Before it could fully stab into the earth...

Veda moved.

His right leg lashed outward.

The first kick struck the side of the falling rifle.

The impact changed its angle, forcing it into a perfectly vertical position.

Almost in the same breath...

His second kick followed.

Bang!

His foot struck the bottom of the rifle with explosive force.

The entire weapon shot forward like a massive spear.

Its speed instantly broke the sound barrier.

Arelo had only just managed to shoulder the RPG-2.

His finger hadn’t even reached the trigger.

Clank!

The blade of the flying Repeater Sword Rifle struck the loaded RPG ammunition.

The reaction happened instantly.

Boom!!

A violent explosion erupted directly in front of Arelo.

Fire swallowed his figure.

The tremendous blast hurled nearby students into the air while fragments of metal and shattered stone scattered across the battlefield.

Several members of Evergrey were caught within the explosion before they could escape.

Arelo himself couldn’t even scream.

His body was blasted backward by the explosion.

Smoke quickly filled the area.

However...

Veda had no intention of stopping there.

The instant the explosion erupted...

He vanished again.

Within the thick smoke...

A figure suddenly appeared before Arelo’s airborne body.

Veda.

His right fist slowly tightened.

Every muscle from his shoulder to his knuckles contracted as Cognis reinforced the strike.

Then...

He punched.

Bang!!

His fist buried itself into Arelo’s face.

A sharp cracking sound echoed through the smoke.

Crack!

Crack!

Crack!

His nose collapsed.

His jaw shattered.

Several teeth burst from his mouth before spinning through the air together with drops of blood.

The force behind the punch accelerated Arelo’s body even faster.

Boom!

His body slammed violently into the side of the mountain.

The entire cliff shook.

A crater shaped like his body formed upon the rock face as cracks rapidly spread across the surrounding stone.

Only after confirming Arelo was no longer a threat...

Did Veda land lightly upon the ground.

Without pausing...

He sharply turned.

His hand reached into his Space Bag again.

An E-V 26 MK.II appeared.

He smoothly raised the shotgun.

White Cognis flowed into his eyes.

The drifting smoke immediately became transparent in his vision.

Every moving silhouette.

Every heartbeat.

Every shifting figure inside the smoke became easier to distinguish.

The formation that had once fought with discipline...

Had completely fallen apart.

Confusion had replaced coordination.

Students shouted over one another.

Some searched for Grace.

Others looked for Grant.

Several simply tried to understand where Veda had disappeared again.

Veda calmly aimed.

Bang!

The E-V 26 MK.II roared.

The shotgun pellets struck a student’s shoulder and thigh.

Although Veda deliberately avoided fatal areas...

The overwhelming power of the shotgun couldn’t be ignored.

Chunks of flesh burst outward.

The injured student SCREAMED before collapsing onto the ground, clutching the wound in unbearable pain.

Bang!

Veda fired again.

Another student spun sideways after the pellets tore into his leg.

Bang!

A third blast echoed.

Another body fell.

The cries of pain quickly spread throughout the battlefield.

Some students dropped their weapons.

Others desperately crawled behind rocks or broken trees.

One by one...

The coordinated assault completely crumbled.

After nearly emptying the shotgun...

Veda didn’t stop.

The moment another student rushed toward him with a sword...

He gripped the E-V 26 MK.II by its body.

Swinging it like a heavy club...

Bang!

The solid steel frame smashed directly against the student’s head.

The young man immediately collapsed.

Before another attacker could finish his sword slash...

Veda caught the student’s wrist with one hand, stopping the blade only inches from his body.

By the time Veda caught the student’s wrist...

The thick smoke that had covered the battlefield had almost completely disappeared.

The afternoon wind swept through the ruined mountain path, carrying away the last drifting clouds of dust and revealing the aftermath of the battle.

The students who had once advanced together in perfect coordination no longer looked like a single force.

Without Grace’s commands...

Without Grant holding the front line...

Their formation had completely fallen apart.

Some students still clenched their weapons tightly.

Fear filled their eyes, yet they forced themselves to charge forward with the last bit of courage they had left.

Others...

Had already lost the will to continue.

They turned around and ran for their lives, hoping to escape before Veda reached them.

But...

Veda had no intention of letting anyone leave the battlefield while they were still capable of fighting.

His feet pushed off the ground while throwing the boy he held his wrist on the ground hard.

Boom!

His figure shot forward like a white blur.

As he ran...

His hand reached toward one of the Repeater Sword Rifles that had been embedded in the earth.

Without slowing down, he pulled it free.

The rifle spun once in his hand before he threw it with frightening precision.

Whoosh!

The heavy weapon tore through the air.

The student who had gotten the farthest away suddenly sensed danger.

He instinctively looked back.

His eyes widened.

"I..."

Thud!

The Repeater Sword Rifle struck him before he could finish speaking.

The blade pierced through part of his clothing before burying itself deep into the ground behind him.

The tremendous force pinned him firmly in place.

His body shook violently as the impact knocked the breath out of him.

Before anyone else could react...

Several Alchemy attacks rushed toward Veda from different directions.

Black Steel daggers.

Glass shards.

Compressed balls of wood.

Without stopping his advance...

Veda calmly moved between them.

He twisted his shoulders.

Shifted one step.

Turned his waist.

Every attack narrowly missed him before crashing into the already ruined battlefield.

The movements flowed naturally into one another, making it seem as though he was dancing through the attacks rather than avoiding them.

Another student suddenly appeared from his blind spot.

Holding a sword with both hands...

He swung downward with everything he had.

Veda didn’t even look toward him immediately.

He simply stepped half a pace to the side.

The sword cut through empty air.

Then...

Veda reached out.

His fingers wrapped around another nearby Repeater Sword Rifle.

In one smooth motion...

He thrust it forward.

Thud!

The blade pierced through the student’s clothing before driving deep into the earth beneath him.

The young man cried out before losing the strength to continue resisting.

The battle continued like that.

Every student who still possessed the courage to fight charged toward him.

And every one of them was defeated.

Those who attempted to flee were intercepted before they could create enough distance.

Little by little...

The battlefield became quieter.

The sounds of gunfire gradually disappeared.

The clashes of steel became fewer.

Eventually...

The only sounds left were painful groans, heavy breathing, and the occasional cry echoing through the ruined mountain.

One after another...

The remaining students lost consciousness.

Weapons slipped from weakened hands.

Bodies collapsed onto the broken ground.

Finally...

No one remained standing.

Veda stood alone in the middle of the battlefield.

His chest rose and fell heavily.

Each breath felt hotter than the last.

Sweat mixed with blood as it slowly rolled down his face.

The intense battle had forced him to consume Cognis at a rate he hated using.

It wasn’t because he lacked enough Cognis.

Rather...

He disliked fighting this way.

Overwhelming his opponents with such a large difference in strength was never the kind of battle he enjoyed.

His breathing slowly steadied.

Veda quietly looked around him.

The students lying unconscious all across the battlefield entered his sight.

Some still wore painful expressions.

Others had already completely blacked out.

Although he had carefully avoided taking anyone’s life...

The injuries they suffered were still severe enough to require immediate treatment.

A trace of sadness appeared in his eyes.

He quietly lowered his head.

"..."

No words came out.

Only a long, tired sigh escaped his lips.

***

Back to the present...

Unlike the heavy atmosphere surrounding Veda...

Lyra’s eyes suddenly lit up.

Without the slightest hesitation...

She crouched beside one of the unconscious students and immediately began searching through his pockets.

Her movements were so natural that it almost looked like she had done it countless times before.

"Lyra..."

Priscilla placed a hand against her forehead.

She let out a helpless sigh before slowly shaking her head.

Disappointment was written all over her face.

"You really have no shame."

"What?"

Lyra looked up innocently.

"They’re unconscious."

She continued searching without slowing down.

"If we don’t take the numbered gems...Someone else will."

"It’s free loot, Priscilla."

Page nodded in complete agreement.

She immediately crouched beside another unconscious student and began checking his pockets as well.

"No point letting the opportunity go to waste."

Priscilla could only sigh again.

She had long since realized arguing with the two of them was completely pointless.

"Huh?"

Page suddenly frowned.

She searched the student once more.

Then another pocket.

Then inside the space pouch.

Nothing.

"...These Evergrey bastards don’t have any numbered gems."

She clicked her tongue in disappointment.

"What a waste."

Standing back up...

Page immediately shifted her attention toward another section of the battlefield.

Unlike the members of House Evergrey...

Several students from other families had joined their alliance only for the sake of obtaining numbered gems.

"If Evergrey doesn’t have them..."

She smiled.

"Then maybe those guys do."

She walked over to one of the unconscious girls lying nearby.

Without any hesitation...

She searched through the girl’s belongings.

A few seconds later...

Page’s eyes suddenly brightened.

"Finally."

She held up a numbered gem between her fingers.

A satisfied smile immediately spread across her face.

"Really?"

Lyra’s excitement exploded.

She abandoned the student she had been searching and hurried over.

The two girls quickly split up again.

Like experienced treasure hunters...

They moved from one unconscious student to another, collecting every numbered gem they could find before the academy’s medical team arrived to evacuate the injured participants.

Not far away...

Priscilla could only watch while rubbing her forehead again.

"...Hopeless."

She quietly muttered.

Meanwhile...

Far away from Veda’s battlefield...

The clash between Ezra and Desmond had never stopped.

The two continued exchanging blow after blow.

A punch met another punch.

A kick collided against another kick.

Forearms crashed together.

Elbows struck.

Each attack was immediately followed by another counter.

Neither side managed to gain a clear advantage.

Desmond’s overwhelming physical strength, reinforced by his powerful Cognis, forced Ezra to continuously adapt to every exchange.

Even so...

It wasn’t enough to break Ezra’s rhythm.

His movements remained steady.

His breathing stayed controlled.

No matter how fierce Desmond’s attacks became...

Ezra’s combat flow remained completely intact, allowing the battle between the two young monsters to continue without either side yielding first.