"H-Hold on a minute," the student staggered backward. "You guys can't be serious."
Only two masks were provided, so one has to die.
It wasn't fair for them to single out the student like this, but there's a time limit before the wall collapses. And remembering the beam Professor Hera showed earlier, they all knew what would happen if they hadn't settled this until then.
Kai and Matilda turned towards the other student.
He looked at the two with fear, but then eventually settled on Kai.
"You're Kai, right?" He asked, forcing out a smile. "Please don't do this. Think about your sister and what she said. She wanted you strong, no? In that case, you should be fighting her!" He pointed at Matilda with his trembling finger. "We can take her down if we work together!"
From the battle with the spiders earlier, it was clear that Matilda was the strongest.
Neither could take her down, that's for certain.
But there was an inkling feeling inside Kai's heart as he stared at this particular student.
His legs were shaking. Eyes were wide with fear. His timidness was too perfect, especially after seeing what he's capable of earlier.
"You heard what Professor Hera said," Kai shook his head and took a step forward. "We have to earn our right to keep on living and serve mankind. She and I are in agreement that you're the one who has to go."
Seeing what he did to the blue-haired student solidified him as a dangerous person.
He looked timid and pliant on the outside, but ice-cold on the inside.
Kai and Matilda have never killed someone before, but this student took a life easily.
A snake. A monster in a sheep skin.
And once there was no path of escape, that façade breaks.
Like ice cream melting under the harsh sunlight, the timidness melted from his face. Replacing it was a chilling mask of coldness, like he was looking at something not even worth existing.
"You should've been dead. A damn Lesser Angel like you should've killed yourself in that prison to accompany that pathetic and stupidly innocent sister of yours." He said sharply and sneered. "She believed her death would cleanse your sin for good? No, it would not. Her death is the same as throwing away trash."
Kai's eyes bulged, and he clenched his fists so hard that they turned white.
He glared at the student, but that only prompted the student to disdain him more.
"Not convinced?" He cackled. "Then how come you're still branded as a Lesser Angel? How come that after she sacrificed herself, the academy didn't even raise your class to an Angel? Should I spill it out for you? Okay, I am spilling it: Because her life is worth nothing more than an amnesty for a few more days to live.
"You'll die here, Kai. I'm an Angel. I have more potential than you. I'm stronger, so I should be the one to live." He added without any shred of humanity in his voice.
Kai was at a loss for words.
It was too drastic.
How can someone say that? How can someone look at me and call me a Lesser Angel, as if it were an insult? Just not too long ago, we were both humans living on the surface. People. If someone got hurt on the road, he would certainly come to help.
But now… He's acting like this?
Kai stared at the student standing before him. And what he saw wasn't human.
This academy made people mad.
No, people had already been mad. He had seen it with others like Marcel, who viewed themselves as superior to others. And now, these low talents tasted the feeling of being superior, and that might make them worse.
I promise my sister not to hold back. And I won't. For insulting Bella, I want to kill him.
"You're right," Kai nodded and stepped forward. "Only the strong get to live."
Hearing this, the student tilted his head and smiled.
"I'm stronger by default than a Lesser Angel because I have more potent—"
"I don't give a damn if you're an Angel, and me Lesser Angel, that's not how this works!" Kai exclaimed. He stood five steps away from the other student, preparing to fight. "That's not the purpose of this rite. This rite is made to see who among us has the strength to pay for our sin. We're not Angels here…"
"You're a Supernal," He pointed at the other student, and then to himself. "I'm also a Supernal. The only way to know who's stronger is to fight. Then we'll know for sure. Then we'll know who has the right to live."
Like everything went as planned, a mischievous smile sliced the other student's face.
He warmed his body up by jumping in place, preparing to fight.
"Do you have any problem with this?" Kai asked without looking.
Matilda looked at the other student with a frown, but eventually shook her head, "No. You can fight it out. Either you live, or he lives; it doesn't matter. Either way, I'd leave with the stronger partner."
"Good," Kai nodded and stretched his arms.
Killing a person this soon is not to his taste.
He ought to kill the monsters from the Blue Void and get stronger, but he has no other choice. One of them has to die. And the student also insulted Bella, a sin that he cannot forgive.
No weapons. No armor. Only fists and flesh. It's going to get bloody.
Considering what he needed to do, he thought it was going to be harder.
But his fists were steady. His heart paced normally. And his purpose was clear as day.
It must be because of Bella.
She let loose of the shackle of reason binding him, and now, without it, how far can he rise?
Kai made the first move. He punched the student in the face and felt the hardness he had never felt before. Supernals are superhuman. Their bones are as hard as steel, and Kai could feel them directly against his knuckles.
He is also a Supernal with bones of steel.
But as he fights, he couldn't help but wonder if he could even kill the student with his bare hands. The student is faster, and Kai is stronger. Every punch that landed doesn't hurt as much.
Confusion could be seen behind the student's eyes.
It seemed he was also thinking.
As Kai threw a straight punch, the student dodged and counterattacked.
Kai decided to take the blow head-on and continue attacking, but his head was forced to turn when the fist landed against his face. His eyes became unclear, but he saw his own blood crossing his vision.
A Legacy Skill. The student used something.
It made the punch fly faster and stronger with the help of air currents.
Rage numbed the pain as Kai gritted his teeth and charged.
His limbs moved on their own as he landed a punch to the liver and then a punch to the face. Kai broke the student's ribcage and almost dislocated the jaw. His attacks are much stronger now.
The student curled inward from the pain.
Kai grabbed him by the hair and thigh, muscles coiling to throw him into the wall. But a glint of steel flashed from below. Kai leaned back, a fraction too late. A bloody line sliced upward from his abdomen, across his chest, and finally scraped his chin.
A kick landed straight on Kai's abdomen and hurled him backward.
He looked up and saw that the student was holding a knife.
"Do you understand it now?" the student grinned as he played with the blade, licking it like it was candy. "Your sister's death meant nothing. The academy did not value you at all. In their eyes, you're just another walking coffin."
Everything after was a blur.
Kai roared, catching the stabbing knife with his own palm and wrenched the student's wrist. He tackled him down, pinned the other arm with his knee, and started raining punches like a madman.
The student couldn't break free as a punch shattered his teeth.
He laughed. A raw, ugly sound.
Kai kept swinging. Blood coated his knuckles. Teeth scraped the surface of his hand. Anger took over as he grabbed the student's nape and smashed his forehead into the laughing student's nose.
It broke with a wet crunch.
Feeling the knife becoming loose, he yanked it off and threw it away.
Tears filled the student's eyes as he turned his body to the side. Kai slipped his entire arm through the gap and wrapped it around the neck. His other hand stayed behind to push the student's head down, and his legs wrapped around the body like a koala.
Kai heard a high-pitched wheezing and gasping.
He kept tightening. His muscles turned into iron, until a bony crack resounded.
Kai checked the student over the shoulder and saw he was already pale and limp.
It was done. The student is now dead. No longer moving. No longer laughing.
His face was broken like a ruined mask of blood. Anyone would hardly recognize him in his condition. Kai pushed him away tiredly and lay back onto the cold stone, lungs heaving and burning.
Anger and adrenaline bled away, leaving a hollow, ringing daze.
Everything was a blur. Everything is red.
Recalling his battle and how the student had a knife, Kai started chuckling.
Of course, an Angel has an edge over a Lesser Angel. He was stupid to think that this rite was free from that disparity in status. Had he not avoided the sneak attack, he'd have had his throat sliced without a doubt.
It was fortunate that the knife came slowly enough for him to react.
Kai climbed back to his feet, struggling so after the fight.
"Do you know about this?" He lifted his gaze to look at Matilda.
"Yes," Matilda didn't feel the need to lie. She now already wore her mask, so there's no way Kai could tell what face she was making. Only her eyes gave hints. "I know he must've had something to help him survive."
"And you didn't tell me?"
"Tell you? Why? Why do I need to tell you that? We're not friends."
Kai chuckled at the answer.
Of course, he was the only one who assumed Matilda was also not on board with how the student handled the blue-haired student. In reality, he was probably the only one who found it disturbing and bad.
In Matilda's eyes, she probably saw a student she could use to do the dirty work.
Not a monster.
Matilda tossed the mask that he earned towards him, but Kai ignored it.
Instead, he crawled to the student's corpse and knelt beside it. With both hands, he reached for the corpse's head and pried the dead jaws apart. He then looked back at Matilda and gave her a sharp tilt of his head toward the gaping mouth.
Confused, Matilda edged closer hesitantly and peered inside.
There, tattooed on the inner flesh of the cheek, was a small, intricate sigil.
It was shaped like a stylized curving blade.
Her breath caught, and her eyes widened in recognition.
And that reaction proved everything Kai was thinking was correct, "He's an assassin that came for you, and I'm the one who killed him. Had I died there, you would've died too."