***

'Oh shit.'

Then, Emily spoke again, her tone calm but carrying a firm edge that demanded an answer.

"Tell me, Ren,"

She said, her eyes narrowing slightly as she leaned forward on the desk.

"What exactly did you do?"

The room fell completely silent.

Ren froze, his usual playful smile nowhere to be seen.

The weight in Emily's voice pressed down on him, and even the air around him seemed heavier.

He swallowed hard, trying to keep his composure, but his thoughts were spinning out of control.

Her gaze didn't waver, sharp, expectant, and a little disappointed.

Everyone else in the room stayed quiet. Rihana looked down, Alicia crossed her arms, and Xiaolung's expression was unreadable as his eyes remained fixed on Ren.

Ren tried to laugh it off, but no sound came out.

His throat felt dry, his heart thumping louder than before.

He could tell, Emily already knew something.

She just wanted to hear it from him.

***

[Date Ruined - 2]

"...Stay here."

Rihana's voice was sharp and commanding, the kind that made everyone stop instinctively.

Her expression was unreadable, but the faint tremor in the air hinted that she already sensed what was coming.

An explosion echoed through the academy halls a second later, shaking the floor beneath them. Dust fell from the ceiling.

The walls trembled.

"I'll handle this,"

She said, her tone like cold steel, no hesitation, no doubt.

Before anyone could react, she was already gone, her figure vanishing through the doorway in a blur of determination and power.

Silence lingered in the room after she left.

The sound of her footsteps faded, replaced by the distant chaos outside.

Ren, Silas, Lily, Margaret, and Maya remained there, frozen, uncertain.

For a few long minutes, none of them spoke, each trying to process what just happened.

Then finally, Ren broke the silence, throwing his arms slightly in exasperation.

"So, guys,"

He said, glancing around at them,

"We're just gonna stand here like this and do nothing?"

"Haa..."

Silas sighed, leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed.

"It's not like we can do anything, Ren."

His tone was calm but laced with frustration, the kind that came from knowing he was right, and hating it.

Ren's head snapped toward him.

"What do you mean we can't do anything? There was just an explosion, Silas! For all we know, someone might be hurt right now, or worse!"

"Ren,"

Silas said, his voice rising a little.

"You think I don't know that? You think I want to sit here doing nothing?"

He gestured at the door where Rihana had gone.

"But Rihana told us to stay put. You've seen her strength, she's not the kind of person who needs backup, especially from us."

Ren frowned, clenching his fists.

"Yeah, but still! What if she needs help? What if something happens out there she can't handle alone?"

"Rihana? Can't handle something?"

Silas scoffed.

"Be realistic, Ren. You've seen what she can do. If she's the one saying stay here, then it means the situation's serious, serious enough that we'll just get in the way."

Ren took a step closer, his usual playful tone nowhere to be found.

"So you're saying we just wait? Pretend nothing's happening? That's not me, Silas. I can't just sit still while people might be dying out there!"

Lily, who had been silent the whole time, finally spoke softly,

"Ren… maybe Silas is right. Rihana's strong, and she told us to trust her. Running in blind won't help anyone."

"Haaa...."

Ren exhaled sharply, rubbing the back of his neck, pacing like a caged beast.

"Yeah, maybe you're right…"

He paused, lowering his voice.

"But something feels off. I don't like just waiting around."

Margaret, arms crossed, muttered coldly,

"Then learn to. Acting recklessly won't make you a hero."

"Guys!!"

Maya's voice cracked through the tension like glass shattering.

Everyone froze, turning toward her.

"Can we please stop arguing like this?"

She said, her tone trembling, her hands clenched tightly in front of her chest.

"This… this isn't going to get us anywhere!"

Her eyes shimmered, glistening under the dim light of the room.

She was on the verge of tears, her voice unsteady, almost breaking with every word.

Maya was always the sensitive one, the one who tried to hold everyone together, but right now, she could barely hold herself.

"I…"

She choked, swallowing hard.

"I already left Lyrium behind… I ran when he told me to go. He said he'd handle it, that he'd be fine."

Her voice faltered, softening into guilt.

"But I can't stop thinking, what if he's not? What if something happened to him because I wasn't there?"

Her breathing grew uneven, a mix of fear and guilt tightening her throat.

"And now you two are fighting when he's still out there, maybe hurt, maybe…"

She stopped herself, shaking her head violently as her tears finally fell.

"Senior Maya…"

Lily whispered, taking a small step toward her, but Maya quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve, forcing a weak smile that only made her look more fragile.

"I just… I just don't want to lose anyone again,"

She said softly, her voice trembling but resolute.

"...."

The room fell silent again, her words sinking deep into each of them, the air now heavy with something other than argument.

.

.

.

.

Then, for a few seconds, no one spoke.

The silence was suffocating, the only sound in the room was Maya's quiet breathing as she tried to calm herself.

And then…

"I'm going."

Ren's voice cut through the quiet like a blade.

Everyone turned toward him at once.

Silas's brows furrowed, Lily blinked in surprise, and Maya froze mid-wipe, her teary eyes widening.

Ren had already started walking briskly toward the door, his usual playful grin nowhere to be found.

"Wait, where are you going?"

Silas asked, pushing himself up from the wall.

Ren didn't even stop.

"To Sister Rihana's,"

He said, his tone unusually firm.

"I have to check up on her."

He reached for the door, its sliding mechanism whirring softly as it opened.

Silas frowned. "But she…"

"I know, Silas…!"

Ren interrupted sharply, his voice echoing off the walls.

His tone wasn't angry, it was desperate, filled with a strange urgency that none of them could quite place.

"But still,"

He continued, clenching his fists,

"I'm checking up on her."

Lily took a cautious step forward.

"Ren, wait, at least take someone with you. What if something happens?"

Ren glanced over his shoulder, his expression hard.

"If something happens, then I'll deal with it. You guys just stay here. Someone needs to be ready if things get worse."

"Ren…"

Maya called out softly, her voice trembling.

"Don't do something reckless. Please."

He hesitated for just a second, long enough for her plea to reach him…

'I don't even know you properly, Maya, but the way how you shows care for every one...'

"Haaa…"

But then exhaled deeply and forced a faint smile.

"I'll be fine,"

He said, his tone gentler now.

"Someone has to look after her. She's strong, yeah, but even strong people need someone to check in sometimes."

Then, without waiting for another word, he stepped out through the sliding door, the metallic sound sealing behind him as he disappeared into the dim corridor.

The room fell silent again.

Silas rubbed his temple with a sigh.

"That idiot… he never listens."

Lily folded her arms tightly, whispering,

"Yeah… but that's Ren for you."

Margaret just stared at the door and whispered.

"…Just come back safe, you idiot."

.

.

.

.

Ren was running as fast as his legs could carry him, his footsteps echoing through the empty corridor before bursting through the academy gates.

His breath came in sharp bursts, but he didn't stop, not even for a second.

The evening sky was tinted with crimson and smoke, the air thick with the metallic scent of burning mana and dust.

The once-bustling campus was eerily silent now, illuminated only by flickering streetlights and the distant sparks from collapsed mana conduits.

The Deviants Academy dorms stood tall in the distance, unshaken, silent, and untouched.

Their structures glowed faintly with a barrier's soft hue.

Ren's eyes darted toward them as he ran, gritting his teeth.

"The dorms…"

He muttered between breaths.

He knew why it was so quiet.

Every dorm inside the academy operated like a state of hibernation.

The moment students entered rest mode, their dorms were automatically sealed off from the outside world, soundproofed, mana-locked, and shielded by the academy's enchantments.

No one inside could hear anything, not explosions, not screams, not even the collapse of a nearby building.

And no one from the outside could disturb them either.

That was the entire point.

Protection.

Safety.

Isolation.

"The academy's damn hibernation protocol…"

Ren growled, his frustration boiling as he sprinted across the plaza.

"That's why no one's coming out. They don't even know what's happening."

The realization hit him harder than the exhaustion.

The destruction, the noise, the chaos, all of it was meaningless to those peacefully asleep inside those magically isolated dorms.

He clenched his fists tighter as he kept running, the soles of his shoes scraping against the cracked pavement.

"Fine,"

He muttered, eyes blazing as he looked ahead toward the smoke rising near the faculty sector.

"Then I'll handle it alone."