"Where are they, quickly?"
Alia noticed the sweat on Rain's face; she knew he was extremely tense, so she didn't ask him and just followed what he said.
"Come on, Rain. I think we need to go back the way we came quickly."
Rain took Alia's hand without thinking, and they started running together, retracing their steps.
'What's wrong with him?'
Alia stared into Rain's worried face and ran while holding his hand at full speed.
Rain was panting as he ran; they collided with some obstacles on the way, but that didn't stop them.
"There are so many traps. Who placed them here?"
Alia said, noticing that these traps weren't there when they came, and quickly Rain answered her:
"It seems someone has been following us."
They continued running until they reached a place with many students, who noticed them running together.
Some students said:
"Are they escaping?"
"Why are they running?"
"Why is a Bronze student with Alia?"
They didn't care about what they heard and continued their way until they reached the camp.
"They went from here."
They followed the path that Rafi and Randy had taken.
With every passing moment, with every step, Rain's heart raced faster, and his fear increased.
'I hope they're alright.'
They heard the sound of footsteps on the ground.
Rain raised his head to notice Rafi a short distance away.
"They're here!"
Rain shouted, feeling some relief at last.
Randy and Rafi heard Rain's voice and turned toward the sound. Rafi said:
"It's Rain!"
Rain and Alia approached them, and soon the four of them were together again.
Randy glanced at them and saw Alia sweating and exhausted; Rain's condition wasn't any better. He opened his mouth and said:
"What brought you here?"
Rain and Alia didn't know what to say at first, but Rain finally spoke:
"We just felt some danger. The important thing is that you're safe."
"And who would attack us while Professor Kaster is with us?"
Rain was shocked and his face turned pale suddenly when he heard that. Then he asked:
"But where is he now?"
They looked around but couldn't find Professor Kaster.
"Strange… he was just here a moment ago."
"Okay, let's go back quickly."
As they were about to move, they heard a voice that didn't belong to any of them.
"Where do you think you're going?"
The four froze in place; their hearts were racing, eyes capturing every movement, every shadow between the trees. The voice was sharp, frightening, as if it had been watching them for a while.
"Who's there?"
In response to Rain's question, a person appeared from between the trees, wearing a black cloak with a matching mask, hiding their facial features.
"You won't go anywhere."
Suddenly, a blazing fireball shot toward Alia at a speed that couldn't be blocked and struck her.
"What do we have here, heir of the De Valen family? This is wonderful."
Alia staggered after receiving the fireball in her leg, clutching it in pain.
Rain looked at her, feeling anger toward this stranger.
It wasn't long before Randy launched a wind blade attack aimed at the stranger's neck, which he barely dodged.
Rain also used the ash to attack him, but it was ineffective. When the stranger saw the ash, he was surprised.
"Are there still Ash users?" he muttered to himself.
"Alright, I'll deal with him."
This time, the stranger targeted Rain with fire, but it was slightly small, and Rain managed to block it with his ash.
"Where is Kaster?"
Rain asked, looking upset and grinding his teeth.
"Ah, Kaster… I don't know, he's somewhere."
Rafi also attacked him, but she didn't cause any real damage.
He glared at her suspiciously, and a smile appeared on his lips.
"It seems my target is here."
The stranger smiled coldly, then slowly raised his hand. Suddenly, a series of black sparks shot toward Rafi, who couldn't fully dodge them.
"Rafi!" Randy shouted, trying to move to protect her, but the stranger was faster.
The sparks surrounded Rafi from all sides, encasing her in a cage of darkness and fire, before everything vanished in a flash of light.
Rain screamed, his heart nearly exploding with anger and fear: "Rafi!!"
He ran toward the spot where she disappeared, but he found himself facing emptiness. There was no trace of her.
"It seems my goal is achieved. If you want to save her, you must face me."
They didn't know what to do, feeling as if a part of them had been taken away.
The stranger began walking and fleeing.
Rain shouted:
"Where are you going?"
Rain tried to follow him, but Randy and Alia stopped him.
"Rain, please, stop!"
"No, I don't care if they'll kill her, you fools!"
Rain freed himself from Alia and Randy and dashed toward the stranger's escape. He soon reached near him and turned to look at Rain and his companions who had followed.
"Alright then, you chose to chase me. Don't regret this; you'll see hell with your own eyes."