Light watched with an empty face as the system's words vanished, replaced by a notification.
All his hopes shattered in an instant. For a brief moment, he silently regretted ever laughing at life.
---
{System Notification}
{You incited Dread in the hearts of detected creatures}
{Measuring…}
A soft pulse ran through the system as numbers slowly climbed.
{Current Dread Index: 0.10% → 1.5%}
{Global Dread Index: 0.00%}
---
Light looked around, trying to understand what could have triggered such an increase.
What he saw were the contorted expressions of the hundreds of teenagers surrounding him.
Most of them were staring directly at him.
Unrestrained fear filled their eyes.
Before he could process it, the cloaked man grabbed Light's wrist in haste. The restraints around his arms and ankles shattered instantly under the sudden force.
The man was just about to lift Light and escape when a flying kick smashed directly into his chest.
The impact sent him flying several steps away.
The shockwave alone knocked the air out of Light's lungs.
The force hurled him violently toward Lyra, who was still shackled to the Data Chair.
She panicked the moment she saw Light getting hurt by the hero's attack.
Lyra struggled against the restraints, trying to free herself and reach him.
But the straps refused to budge.
She kept fighting them anyway.
Her determination only strengthened when she remembered Light's illness earlier and the burning heat she had felt from his body inside the bus.
Her frantic movements slowed slightly when she saw a lean man in a black suit suddenly step between her and the approaching Light.
For a moment she believed he had come to help.
But what happened next shattered that hope.
The lean hero grabbed Light by the head and slammed him brutally into the ground.
The floor cracked on impact.
Lyra let out an ear piercing scream that made her voice turn hoarse.
Light lay there, blood quickly pooling beneath his head.
Lyra's body had already stopped glowing, the white brilliance fading away completely.
Ignoring the pain, she continued pulling at the restraints binding her arms.
Her wrists began tearing open under the strain.
Blood dripped down her arms and mixed with the growing pool beneath Light.
Still she refused to stop.
The hero who had slammed Light into the ground ignored her completely.
Until a crack resounded.
The sharp sound echoed across the hall.
The suited hero turned back instantly.
What he saw made him freeze.
The newest S-Class awakened hero in the country had torn both her wrists apart trying to escape.
The jagged stumps where her wrists had been were bleeding heavily.
Lyra ignored the ankle restraints entirely and simply collapsed forward.
She fell face first toward Light, reaching him despite the restraints still binding her legs.
'Is she stupid or what?!'
The hero panicked immediately.
His high status within the country meant very little when dealing with Nigerian GAA branch's high-ranking heroes. They always recruited the most promising talents first, leaving the leftovers to private guilds like his.
He couldn't even imagine how they would react if they saw an S-Class hero with severed wrists.
Nigeria had only produced one so far, they were now two.
Well… not exactly.
The newly awakened villain boy counted as the third.
"Hey! What are you doing? Calm down!" he said hurriedly, reaching for her shoulders.
He tried to restrain her gently, hoping to stop the bleeding.
But Lyra snapped back at him instantly.
"Unhand me this instant, you animal!" she barked in a raspy voice, her eyes burning red as tears streamed down her cheeks.
"What could a sick, newly awakened boy possibly have done to deserve this inhumanity?!
Makes one wonder who the real villains are."
Her breathing had become ragged.
Blood loss was already taking its toll.
Her vision blurred as she struggled to stay conscious.
Without hands, she tried lifting Light's head using only her forearms.
A deep wound split open across his forehead.
The skull beneath was faintly visible.
"Someone help him… please… he's dying!"
Her voice cracked.
"Someone help him!"
But no one came.
The high-status hero who had attacked Light had already rushed into the battle.
One more villain had now emerged from the panicking crowd, making the battle three against two.
A blazing transparent dome of fire suddenly surrounded the students, shielding them from the intensity of the battle raging nearby.
The effects of Dissonant Field had already been nullified, allowing the disoriented spectators to regain their senses.
Massive fireballs formed in the mage guild leader's hands.
Each one compressed into a dense sphere the size of a fist before launching toward the first villain.
The villain moved with impossible flexibility.
Every attack that missed him evaporated anything it touched.
The fireballs traveled dozens of meters before scattering violently.
The battle dragged on.
Neither side held a clear advantage.
Pillars supporting the structure shattered one after another.
The building groaned under the growing destruction.
Even the protective fire dome flickered weakly.
Lyra's eyes slowly lost their brilliance.
Her body slumped weakly against the ground with Light's head still rested against her arm.
From the distance, Gunner Hero noticed the scene.
He had blended in with the evacuating teenagers.
He knew a battle of this scale would only get him killed.
But the way the three guild leaders had reacted earlier told him something important.
The unconscious girl was extremely valuable.
The ERROR display during her awakening still lingered in his mind.
He quickly checked her pulse and she was thankfully still alive.
Without hesitation he tore off a piece of Light's clothing and wrapped it tightly around Lyra's bleeding stumps.
Her body twitched faintly.
She needed medical attention immediately.
He removed the ankle restraints and attempted to carry her away, but she resisted.
Light's hand had become trapped between her upper arm and forearm.
Gunner Hero tried separating them several times but it was useless.
With a frustrated curse under his breath, he lifted both of them together and ran.
The building had begun collapsing.
Chunks of concrete fell from above.
The ground was covered in deep craters created by the battle.
Meanwhile, the first villain rose slowly from the rubble where he had been buried.
Dust fell from his hoodie as he looked around calmly.
It was getting difficult fighting with these irritating chairs scattered everywhere.
His eyes gleamed with intent as they focused on the heroes standing before him.
"Why don't we stop here?" he suggested casually.
"We've already lost the battle."
"We'll only stop once you surrender, you monsters," the female hero replied coldly.
She pointed an accusing finger toward him with an unrestrained sense of justice.
Beside her, the bulky male hero dusted his shoulder before speaking.
"The odds are clearly against you now.
The White-Eagle Guild Leader will finish your companion soon.
Once that happens… it'll be over for you."
He was referring to the lean guild leader currently fighting the second cloaked figure.
Judging from their exchanges, it was obvious who held the advantage.
The first villain suddenly burst into loud laughter.
"Bwahahahaha!"
"You heroes really are dumb, aren't you?.
You thought we'd infiltrate such a grand event without proper preparation?"
The bulky hero's eye twitched in irritation.
"That's a lot of talking for someone who's already losing," he replied coldly.
"Did your evil acts rot your brain?"
The villain shook his head slowly.
"Honestly… this was disappointing."
"After all the preparation we made, we still couldn't rescue such a promising villain… or assassinate his counterpart."
He sighed dramatically.
"That boy could have shifted the unfair balance between the two paths."
His voice grew colder.
"Don't celebrate too early."
"We'll come back for him… and for the girl."
"When that happens, it'll become a grand event that echoes throughout the entire country."
He raised a hand casually.
"So long, losers…"
A calm female voice suddenly echoed from the entrance of the building.
The tone sounded bored and dismissive.
Yet the moment it spoke, a chilling silence fell across the battlefield.
"Any use of space manipulation is no longer permitted here."