In the spacious apartment hall, four people were present.
A tall, imposing man with tanned skin stood quietly by the wall while a scary yet handsome black-haired guy yawned on the couch.
In the center of the room, a blonde girl quivered in fear as an intimidating man stood before her.
He had a well-built frame and shoulder-length dark orchid hair, with burning eyes fixed on the girl.
As he massaged his eyebrows, seemingly trying to calm himself down, his patience eventually wore thin.
He willed mana into his right leg and…
Thwack—!!
A strong, mana-infused kick landed on the blonde girl's stomach, making her clench her stomach in pain.
"You had one job!" the man who kicked the girl yelled madly.
Thwack—!!
"Khuaa!"
He then kicked her again, which made her buckle down and collapse on the ground while violently coughing up before letting out a shrill cry of pain.
"Kai, you'll kill her!" Alberto voiced his concern from his spot against the wall.
"Tsk."
Kai clicked his tongue and brushed his fingers through his shoulder-length dark hair, tying it into a bun. He repeated his words, a little calmer this time.
"You just had to keep your identity hidden and report every detail to Alberto. If you had done that, he would've taken care of Class 1-A-1!"
Grace trembled on her knees as Kai raised his voice again.
Alberto watched the scene unfold, wanting to intervene but decided to keep his life instead.
In fact, now that the Mock War has ended, Alberto knew that he couldn't have changed the outcome no matter what had happened.
His defeat was set in stone the moment he decided to go against Nero.
Why?
Because Class 1-A-1's Lord Commander, Nero Dekrauf, was a devil in human skin. Alberto couldn't help but shudder when he thought back to Nero's display of power.
He remembers how he had almost dealt the final blow to Nero when he chanted something and a brilliant red sword appeared before him.
As soon as Nero gripped the sword, a massive explosion akin to a nuclear blast occurred, toppling the whole city and killing everyone there, his enemies and allies alike, in an instant.
Alberto didn't even get the chance to get his thoughts in order when he found himself out of the VR, confused until he realized he had lost.
Alberto didn't even have time to process what had happened before he found himself out of the VR, confused until he realized he had lost.
He knew that he stood no chance against Nero.
In fact, he even believed that with his gift, Nero might actually be stronger than Kai himself.
Quinn, who had been bored until now, decided to get involved.
"Not true," he interjected with a yawn. "Even if she had done her work perfectly, I doubt Alberto would've won."
Kai frowned at Quinn's words but quickly nodded in understanding.
"True," he said. "If what you all report is correct, then Nero Dekrauf… that bastard is too strong. Alberto wouldn't have stood a chance against him anyway."
Although Alberto knew this to be true, hearing Kai say it irritated him for some reason.
'Why don't you go and fight him, you fish-eyed bastard?!' is what Alberto wanted to say to him.
But instead, he put on a fake smile and spoke in a pleasing tone. "Haha! True, true. I'm not strong enough, but if it was you, sir Kai, it would've been a different story."
"Shut the fuck up," Kai rolled his eyes, uninterested in Alberto's flattery.
Alberto wanted to retort but instead forced a bigger smile and bowed his head like a dog with no self-esteem, happy to receive recognition from his master.
"Regardless," Kai continued as he turned his gaze to the girl on the ground. "You failed to do your job. If you failed to do something as simple as this, then I have no use for you."
Feeling his vexed gaze on her, Grace trembled in terror.
She didn't want this. She was scared. All she wanted to do was just run home and spend time with her younger brother.
"Hic! Hic!" tears filled her eyes to the brim as she started sobbing. The image of her father flashed in her mind.
Seeing her in this state made Kai even more annoyed. He squatted down and gripped Grace's face tightly.
'Father, please save me!' she cried out in her mind.
"Do not fucking cry!" Kai yelled. "If you so much so even shed a tear, I will kill you."
"Mnhh! Mnhh!" through cuffed cheeks, Grace nodded her head before Kai let go of her face and she gasped for air.
Actually, Kai's objective for instigating the Mock War between classes 1-A-1 and 1-C-8 was never to let 1-C-8 win to begin with.
He just wanted to examine all the talents in 1-A-1 to determine if there was someone who could pose a threat to him and his plan to ascend to the position of president.
In a way, since Nero displayed his true strength, Kai had already achieved his goal.
Then why was he so infuriated with Grace?
It's because he disliked having useless people around, and right now, after getting her identity exposed and failing to do what he had asked of her, Grace was being just that - useless.
Noticing that this was not going to end well for Grace, Quinn decided to interrupt. "Kai, I don't think you should be focusing on her right now."
At his words, Kai let out a deep sigh. "True, I should be focusing on Nero. He's a bigger threat than I had imagined."
Alberto asked, "What should we do?"
Kai stroked his chin, contemplating Alberto's question, and when he was done thinking, a distorted grin spread across his face, sending a shiver down everyone's spine.
"Spread the news. Ensure that everyone worldwide knows about Nero's Gift." he ordered.
This was a calculated move on Kai's part. If Nero's Gift became widely known, there was bound to be someone who would seek it for themselves.
Even if most people dismissed the news as mere rumors, Nero's life would remain in constant danger.
This would create an opportunity that Kai could exploit. By removing Nero as a rival for the presidency of the Global Academy, he would achieve his short-term goal.
"...N-Nero is not the one you should worry about," quaking in terror while panting heavily, Grace let out in a trembling voice. "The one you should look out for is someone else."
"Hmm?" Kai raised an eyebrow as he looked at Grace's figure.
She was on her knees and her blonde hair was disheveled– clearly not resembling someone from a noble household. Her eyes were clouded with fear and anxiety, yet a flicker of rage was visible in them.
That rage, however, was not directed at Kai. No, it was directed toward the person she was speaking about.
"Who are you talking about?" Kai questioned, more than a bit curious. "Is it Lucas Morningstar, the guy you talked about?"
"Yes," Grace nodded while wiping blood coming from a scratch on the side of her lips. "Aside from finding out my identity, he also somehow managed to make his fingerprints from my jersey disappear. I hate to admit it, but his intelligence is a threat."
"Yes!" quickly, Alberto chipped in. "Jason, my head strategist, also mentioned something like that. That guy predicted Jason's moves before he even made them. If not for that one blunder at last, we would've lost without Nero even getting the need to interfere."
"Hmmm," Kai couldn't help but stroke his chin again.
Right.
According to the report he got, Lucas Morningstar was a threat.
Kai had met Alberto's friend, Jason. Even he had to admit that Jason was smart. For someone to outsmart him so easily is a difficult task.
But before Kai could come to any decision, Quinn spoke up.
"Lucas is a puppet," he said. "I'm pretty sure someone else is pulling his strings."
"Hmm?" turning his eyes toward the necromancer, Kai furrowed his brows. "What do you mean? Elaborate."
"I think Lucas is being controlled by someone else from the shadows," Quinn began explaining his point. "There is someone else, probably from our class like Amelia or Anastasia, who is using him as a front to cover their actions."
"You mean someone else is taking the actions while Lucas is just putting on a show?"
"Yes. Hence the puppet analogy."
"Hmm. Why do you think so?"
Quinn took in a deep breath. "Well, have you heard about Lucas' reputation? That guy is a degenerate sheltered rich boy. There's no way someone can be smart enough to pull what he pulled during the Mock War. Besides, if it truly is Lucas, do you really think he would be stupid enough not to hide his actions? He is definitely someone else's pawn. He is being used as a front to misdirect us and keep our attention away from the real puppeteer."
"Mhmm," Kai nodded again in understanding. "That's true. Someone smart enough to outsmart Jason would definitely conceal their identity by using someone else as their puppet."
"Exactly," Quinn exclaimed.
"Wait, did you get to know the identity of the person who defeated you?" Kai inquired to Quinn. "You said you were going to meet up with that person last night. So, who are they?"
"I don't know," Quinn replied instantly as if he was prepared for all these questions beforehand. "They never showed up."
"They are being cautious," Kai concluded. "Maybe it's the same person who's pulling Lucas' strings."
"Maybe, yeah."
"Or could it be that it was Lucas?" Kai theorized. "Maybe he was the one who defeated you at the Mock War, and yesterday he beat you up until you sided with him? That could be a possibility, right? Maybe you are trying to cover Lucas' name here. Maybe you have switched sides?"
"Haa," Quinn couldn't help but let out an absurd dry laugh. In truth, Kai was on point. But of course, he couldn't just admit that to him.
So instead, he started spitting lies with a straight face.
"Nah," he said. "Firstly, whoever it was who killed me in the Virtual World really didn't show up yesterday. Secondly, Lucas is too weak to defeat me."
"Hmm," Kai scratched his forehead while deep in thought. "True. His core rank is only at ‹Iron 2›, so there's no way he could defeat you."
Quinn gave Kai a long look as if trying to get a read on this guy.
The reason for this was when he talked about mana core rankings; it reminded him of something.
At the start of the academy, Kai invited Quinn out to a gathering of cadets belonging to noble and high-background households.
They formed a group named Young Elites.
During that meeting, Quinn asked Kai for his mana core rank, and he revealed it to be on ‹Bronze 2›.
However, in just a matter of weeks, Kai somehow managed to rank his mana core up to ‹Silver 3›. It was a near-impossible feat!
Not only that, but when he fought Kai, it seemed like the latter had years worth of combat experience.
Even Quinn's battle instincts weren't as honed as his. It was clear that there was something fishy about this guy.
"By the way–?!" as Quinn was about to continue the conversation, Grace started yelling.
"No, no, no!" she cried out while grabbing Kai's leg. "You guys are being fooled! This is exactly what he wants you to think! It is Lucas who's pulling everyone's strings! Believe me!"
Kai looked at Grace in shock. After the amount of beating she had received, she should be terrified to even be anywhere near Kai.
Yet, right now, she was grabbing his leg and yelling at him.
Even Quinn was surprised a little.
"The fuck?" Kai jerked his leg off Grace's grip and thrashed a punch in her face, breaking her nose.
Thwack—!!
"Heeik!"
Letting out a gasping cry, her body fell back from the force of the punch.
"Y-You don't understand," even as blood streamed down from her nose, Grace kept repeating her words. "He wants you to think this! It's him!"
Seeing her behave erratically, Kai thought maybe he had punched her too hard. He looked at Quinn, to which the latter just shrugged back.
"It seems I'll have to investigate this guy myself," Kai muttered to himself.
"But I told you, you don't need to bother–" before Quinn could convince him to not get involved with Lucas, Kai waved his hand.
"I've decided," he declared. "I'll see him for myself and then decide if he's really the one pulling the strings or if he's just another puppet."
