"Dammit!" Miranda cursed, wiping sweat from her forehead as she continued casting magic, summoning more elemental spirits to continue hunting for the flag and Serulia, never once realizing that Serulia was on the opposite side of the forest environment and on offense rather than defense. "Where is it…?"

It was right in front of her.

But alas, despite the bright light of the morning Sun illuminating the proud flag that fluttered in the cool gusts of winter, she was unable to see the truth. The light skin of her face was flushed red and covered in trickling sweat from her labor in trying to find the 'hidden real flag.'

Her violet hair was disheveled and messy, and her panting exhaustion eroded her usual affluent bearing and conduct. Her purple eyes sharpened with anger and frustration as she continued scouring every inch of the forest in concentric circles around the real flag.

Had she maintained her composure, she might have been able to come to the conclusion that the flag that she thought was a fake decoy was actually the fake. Yet, she was hardly in the best state of mind. With exhaustion overtaking her, it was unlikely that she would have been able to regain the composure needed to make the connection that she needed to.

Then there was the panic, the anger, and the frustration that also kept her from adopting the line of logic that she needed to and instead made her ask all the wrong questions instead of the ones that she needed to ask.

"Damn, did she hide it in our side of the territory? But I'm pretty sure that's not allowed! Then where the hell is she?"

The notion that Serulia and the other four defenders of the flag had actually entered her base and stolen her flag without her realizing was unfathomable.

"Miranda!" Lyarna emerged from the depths of the forest, equally tired as her team leader. Her dark brown hair was more kempt than that of Miranda's, but she, too, was approaching her limits, having systematically scanned much of the forest. "I just finished scanning the final quadrant of our opponents' territory, and I was unable to find the flag!"

"Dammit…!" Miranda gritted her teeth. "Dammit all! Where is that bitch?!"

She snarled in a manner that was quite unladylike.

Lyarna flinched, turning to the 'fake flag' that stood proudly atop the mini-hill. "Maybe… that is the real—"

"Are you stupid?" Miranda glared at her with a nasty expression. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Do you think that they would just LEAVE THEIR FLAG UNGUARDED AND UNHIDDEN, OUT IN THE OPEN FOR US TO TAKE?!"

"N-No!" Lyarna squealed with a hint of fear on her face.

"THEN KEEP SEARCHING!" Miranda screamed at her with bloodshot eyes. "There is no way that Serulia's illusion magic is potent enough to hide from your direct divination magic. That can only mean one thing."

Her eyes sharpened.

"She must be moving around with the flag. She must be moving around with it to avoid our divination magic."

"But… I already tried to search the entire area with my spell."

"Then try it again! This time, use an incantation to charge your spell with magical power."

"…Alright, I'll try that." Lyarna tried mustering up some determination as she began chanting her incantation while Miranda simply folded her arms, glaring at her seriously.

If not for the fact that yelling at her would only distract her and break the eidos she was forming, she would have undoubtedly scolded her to hurry her spell up.

Eventually, the incantation was complete.

"…Purifying Eye of Light," Lyarna whispered as she cast the powerful spell across Team Cæ's territory.

A bright ball of white light emerged in front of her, spreading everywhere else in a diffused three-dimensional wave of light, spreading across the forest, before reversing and converging back to Lyarna once more.

Her eyes widened with shock. "…It can't be!"

"What?" Miranda demanded with an intense tone. "What did you see?!"

"They… they're not here," Lyarna whispered with a shocked tone. "They're gone! I don't sense any of the five members of Team Cæ who are supposed to be on defense!"

Miranda was left frozen speechless.

Not a single word escaped her.

She simply stared at Lyarna, thoroughly bewildered.

"…Gone?" The faintest of whispers escaped her. "Gone just like that?"

Lyarna nodded with a wince. "I… I don't think they were ever here, in fact. Aside from perhaps the start of the match."

"Then, where…" Miranda staggered midair above the forest as her flying magic faltered. "Where the hell is the flag…?"

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The question had already become traumatic to her. She hadn't expected that even locating the flag would prove to be such an impossible and exhausting goal. She had expected that while it would not be easy to break past a defensive team of five to get to the flag, it would not be as mind-numbingly impossible to even locate it. It shouldn't have even been possible to hide the flag from them so long, unless…

Her eyes widened with shock as her expression loosened with bewilderment.

She slowly turned to the 'fake flag.'

It was exactly where it had been the entire time, planted in full visibility of everybody atop a small hill with no trees. It drew so much attention from anyone who even remotely gazed in its direction that it wasn't even funny.

"…Could it truly be?" Her tone was numb with shock.

She slowly went to the flag, reaching out to grab it.

But alas, she had made the connection too late.

"Watch out!" A trainer on her team screamed as an onslaught of powerful, destructive magic converged on her.

WHOOSH!

Her elemental spirits just barely pulled her out of the way in time as the powerful flurry of fire, heaven, and light magic just barely missed her.

She had managed to protect herself from the attack.

But in turn, she has sacrificed the battle.

STEP

Miranda's eyes widened with shock as Serulia appeared out of thin air with a smug smirk on her face. Her light blue eyes twinkled with excitement and triumph while her straight, smooth, golden hair swayed with her motions.

What truly shocked Miranda speechless was what she held in her hand.

A purple flag.

One that belonged to her team.

Serulia smirked.

"It's our victory."

That very moment in the air, Mr. Sorwel let loose another red magical explosion, drawing everybody's attention.

He brought his wand to his mouth as a magic circle emerged before him.

"Team Cæ has won this match."

The match was concluded.

Miranda simply remained frozen where she floated midair as a horrifying feeling gripped her heart, crushing it in a vice.

She gritted her teeth as a perilously dangerous glint emerged in her eyes.

"You bitch."

Her eyes sharpened.

"You'll regret this."

What happened caught everybody off guard.

With a single wave of her hand and several magic circles, she directed her elemental spirits towards Serulia with a single order.

To kill.

An immense amount of power that Miranda had painstakingly mobilized over half an hour in the match all converged upon Serulia with immense power. Serulia's pupils dilated, caught off-guard, and falling backwards as time slowed down in her eyes.

'Ah…' A horrifying realization dawned on her. '…This is it.'

BOOM!

An explosion of elemental magic erupted atop the small hill, consuming nearly a dozen meters in diameter. And yet, instead of a singular moment of excruciating pain, she found herself wrapped in a gentle, but powerful warmth.

He held her in his arms powerfully as they wrapped around her, pulling her into his body.

His odor was strangely familiar.

She had smelled it every time she had entered his room over the past few days.

It was a soapy musk.

She gazed up as her eyes bore deep into his.

His left eye's iris was a stunning light gray, almost blending into the white sclera of his eye. His face and neck were covered with scars, making his already unnerving presence even scarier.

And yet, in that moment, she found herself feeling safer than she had felt in her entire life.

He cast a powerful barrier comprised of fifteen layers.

In the blink of an eye.

And yet, what shocked her was that she didn't see any magic circles in front of him.

She didn't hear any incantations escape his mouth.

And how could he have body-cast such a complex magic spell?

It was almost as if he had cast magic without the need for any eidos crutch.

Almost as if he had cast pure magic itself.

She felt her vision fading to black as her consciousness darkened. Although Cæ's magic had protected her from the magic, the concussive shockwave that emerged from the blast had rattled her head, crossing the threshold of blunt-force trauma that she could sustain.

Cæ held her head as it slumped against his chest as the smoke cleared.

The dust began settling as everybody drew closer with a shocked expression.

Their eyes widened as they spotted Cæ holding Serulia in his arms with a soft, yet severe expression.

His gray eyes, normally stormy and intense, were uncharacteristically soft.

And then, they turned towards Miranda.

What she saw sent chills across her pale skin.

It sent shivers down her spine.

She saw a bloodlust unlike anything she had ever felt in her life.

His eyes grew ferociously sharp as they boiled with mortal peril.

His expression crumpled beyond recognition with visceral anger and hatred.

Anger and hatred that he held deep within his heart.

A single whisper escaped him.

"I will kill you."

Every instinct in Miranda's body screamed of danger as his eyes blazed with rage.

"I will kill you all."

His wand shifted towards her in the blink of an eye, faster than she could even react, all but ready to kill her on the spot.

"That's enough!"

BANG!

A disarming spell flicked the wand out of his hand, ridding him of his mana conductor.

It broke Cæ out of his bloodlust as his eyes widened.

'Shit, I was about to use pure magic.'

If not for Mr. Sorwel disarming him, he would have cast magic without an eidos crutch, announcing to the world that he was a pure mage. It would have been the end of his life as he knew it.

In fact, he had used pure magic to reach and protect Serulia because eidos crutches were too slow.

His head shot around in alarm as he studied the expressions of those gazing at him.

Their expressions were of relief, shock, and fear.

Relief that Serulia was alive.

Shock at seeing Cæ there, holding her in his arms.

And fear at the horrifying bloodlust he had displayed.

The air was tense.

The atmosphere had grown electric.

It tingled at their nerves despite the bright light of the morning Sun beaming down on them.

And yet, nothing in their reactions seemed to suggest that they were aware that he had used pure magic.

He heaved a deep sigh of relief even as he cursed inwardly.

"Cæ!" Mr. Sorwel grew anxious as he drew closer. "Are you ok?! Is she ok?!"

"…we're fine," he softly replied as his gaze shifted to her. "She's just knocked out."

"Take her to the medical ward immediately," he instructed a trainer. "Make sure that she's looked at immediately! As for you…"

He turned around towards Miranda, who stood there frozen in horror.

His anger was visible.

"How dare you attack a student with the intention to kill?!"

Before he continued on his diatribe, Cæ interjected with an urgent tone.

"Mr. Sorwel, is this forest monitored extensively by the magicademy's surveillance division?"

He turned around with a tense expression before shaking his head. "I'm afraid not. The surveillance division only extensively monitors public spaces on the campus that students use daily. They only set up human motion detectors to alert them of any unauthorized presence. But don't worry…"

His eyes sharpened.

"We have many witnesses to what she just did…"

His eyes shifted to Miranda with a hint of anger as the girl began breaking down in tears.

"I'm afraid I can't let this go as the lead trainer of this team. I will have to inform Headmistress Lenolia of everything that has happened."

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