In the cold, damp rain mist, Flami's corpse began to burn, turning into drifting ashes. This was the Evil God's brand that the Witch Cult placed on high-ranking members. It could be triggered under certain circumstances to prevent important information from leaking, and death was clearly one of those triggers.
Lucia stood there in a daze, feeling as though a piece of her heart had suddenly gone missing. The intense fury from moments ago seemed to have dissipated along with Flami's death. Rainwater streamed down her forehead, blurring her vision. She threw away her sword and raised a hand to wipe the rain soaking her eyes, but the more she wiped, the more there seemed to be.
Then she felt the raindrops falling from above suddenly disappear.
She trembled and turned around, seeing the silver-haired, red-eyed girl who had shed her disguise standing behind her with an umbrella.
Unable to control her emotions any longer, she threw herself into Ivette's arms and burst into tears.
The silver-haired girl reached out and gently stroked her back.
Behind her, where Lucia could not see, a strand of silver hair trailed across the ground and connected to the pink-haired girl's corpse nearby, seemingly examining something.
Beast Spirit Academy lay at the edge of the Fourth District. The entire school was connected to the city only by its north gate, from which extended the broad Magical Beast Street, wide enough for six carriages to travel side by side. Rows of connected houses stood along both sides. The ground floors of these buildings were almost entirely street-facing shops with their lights extinguished, while the densely packed windows above mostly belonged to apartments rented by students, most of whom were still asleep.
Although it was a stormy night filled with thunder and lightning, the commotion within