"Serious Injuries"

Kate's arrival made an already dire situation at Floris Hospital even worse. Sean's Truth Maze and Elvily's fury at forcibly breaking through to Tier Six had already pushed the hospital to the brink.

When Zajik heard Kate's furious voice, he was briefly dumbfounded.

He didn't understand.

Sure, he'd ambushed them, which was bound to make people hate him, but he hadn't actually hurt Elvily.

He'd only injured some young man who'd appeared out of nowhere. Was that really enough to make Elvily force her way into the next tier?

Light Servant Kate had come too, seemingly for the sake of that young man.

So... what exactly had he messed with to make two Tier Five wizards fly into a rage?

Most importantly, this wasn't something he'd wanted to get involved in at all.

Hunting down a Tier Five wizard was hard enough. The slightest misstep could let the target escape—or even turn the tables on them. In a situation this tense, why would he go out of his way to cause trouble?

Kate claimed he'd set up his brother.

But the problem was, he didn't even know who Kate's brother was. Sean had appeared out of nowhere and insisted on taking that hit for Elvily. How was that his fault?

What the hell did this have to do with him?

This was just a damn shakedown!

Zajik was so aggrieved!

He'd been on the verge of success, only for some precious little problem to pop up out of nowhere and ruin all the patience and planning he'd put into this.

He wasn't afraid of facing Elvily alone. Even with Kate joining in, he could probably manage. That wasn't because he was especially powerful; rather, wizards below Tier Seven, the rank of Archmage, had limited magic power. Numbers could make up for the gap between them to some extent.

There were hundreds of hospital attendants at Floris Hospital tonight, all brought in from the main branch. Even if they couldn't kill a Tier Five wizard combined, they could at least hold one down and keep them from focusing on anything else. Holkodo was his territory, too. The longer this dragged on, the greater their advantage. They could wear Elvily and the others down right here.

Everything had been going smoothly until this man showed up.

The fact that his puppet had wounded Sean so badly meant Sean probably wasn't very high-ranked. And yet he'd been able to cast a spell over such a vast area, trapping all of Zajik's subordinates inside.

And the spell was a damn math problem!

Zajik wanted to curse.

If these attendants were really so well-educated, would they be attendants?

Zajik was just as shaken by this Truth Maze, which defied all understanding and expectations. But more than anything, he felt cursed. He had no time to think about why a spell would take this form. He only knew that numbers had been his biggest advantage tonight—and Sean, who'd arrived at the hospital out of nowhere, had erased it all by himself.

At least he'd kept a couple of options in reserve and prepared for the worst.

While he'd arranged for people to be brought in from headquarters, he'd also had all the hospital's valuable items moved out.

Zajik had no reason to worry about what he might lose.

At that moment, he had only one thought: escape!

Keep the losses to a minimum.

But it wasn't so easy to leave once he was already there.

Iris had plenty of questions for Sean about the True Formula, Quill, and Kate... but she knew this wasn't the time. She'd once suspected Sean, too, but he'd already proved himself through his actions. Now, while Sean had the attendants under control, her job was to slaughter as many as she could and avenge her dead comrades!

"Kill!"

Iris's eyes blazed with bloodlust as her aura surged. She seemed to turn into a bolt of lightning, carving a thick arc of electricity across the ground. She pierced several attendants in an instant, freeing them from the sea of questions. They fell, their bodies crackling with electricity and their skin charred black.

Isha, who looked so frail that a single finger could knock her over, charged into the maze as well, displaying a viciousness wholly at odds with her little-girl appearance.

Her weapon was her hand. With a spell strengthening it, her skin turned a sickly white and her teeth grew sharp. She looked like a young vampire. Her entire right hand transformed into a giant bat, baring its fangs. Each bite turned an attendant into a headless corpse that remained standing.

Sean couldn't stop his eyelids from twitching as he watched.

That was brutal.

"Damn it, kill these bastards!"

The other wizards Elvily had brought along finally got a chance to catch their breath now that the enemy was trapped in the Truth Maze. They launched a counterattack one after another.

They'd already lost many of their people, with fewer than half of their original number left. They were vastly outnumbered by the attendants, but their enemies, bound by truth, had lost the ability to fight back. At least until Sean ran out of strength, they wouldn't be able to retaliate. This wasn't a brawl where both sides tore into each other. It was a one-sided slaughter.

The wizards flooded into the maze like wolves among sheep.

The tide turned completely.

Vice Dean Zajik couldn't escape, either.

A shaft of light fell on him, making him the focus of the night.

With Zajik's rank, he wouldn't be vaporized by a beam of light like those policemen had been. But that didn't matter, because the beam of light didn't just clear away weak dust. It also had an effect much like a domain.

The enemies weren't the only ones who became one with the light. Kate did, too.

Within the light, Kate was invincible.

His figure was impossible to track. He darted around inside the beam, and Zajik could only see a shadow flickering around him, constantly changing position and landing a punch every so often. Zajik was thrown into disarray. He couldn't tell where Kate was, let alone strike back.

The punches didn't do much damage. They were just incredibly humiliating.

Zajik knew Kate was doing it on purpose. The moment he showed signs of fatigue or left an opening in his rage, Kate would unleash his real killing move and finish him off in one blow.

Zajik had no intention of fighting. At last, he found an opening in Kate's relentless assault and fled beyond the light, only to run straight into Elvily—beautiful as an archangel, and every bit as deadly.

The girl's eyes blazed like fire. Flames curled around her wings, heating the air until it shimmered and warped. Yet her voice was as cold as ice, thick with murderous intent.

"No matter where you hide, Zajik, I'll find you and send you to eternal hell."

The girl raised her greatsword.

The bright flames on its blade turned blood-red.

Just as Zajik tried to flee, a giant figure of light appeared behind him and pinned his shoulder with one hand.

"Did I say you could move?" Kate said coldly.

The sword of flame came down.

Zajik screamed in despair. "No!!!"

"Boom!"

With a deafening crash, Zajik's body exploded. The blast unleashed a surging inferno, like a landslide and tsunami combined. A powerful shockwave swept over him and the main building behind him, swallowing and shattering them both, turning the night sky crimson.

The vice dean was dead.

With his death, there was no one left at the hospital who could stop them.

But Elvily had no mind to keep directing the operation.

She folded her wings and descended from the air, rushing straight to Sean.

Iris knew Elvily was worried about Sean's injuries. She'd meant to tell her that he was fine. As unbelievable as it sounded, the guy was remarkably resilient. He'd even helped them kill the attendants just moments ago.

But when she turned to look, Sean—who'd been so full of life a second earlier—was suddenly back on the ground, eyes tightly shut and brow furrowed, looking as if he were unconscious and struggling to endure some unbearable pain.

Iris: "?"

"I'll leave things here to you."

Elvily handed command over to Iris and Isha, then swept Sean into her arms and hurried out of the hospital. Her quick, urgent footsteps betrayed her anxiety. Even Kate, who'd arrived wanting to see how badly Sean was hurt, couldn't catch up with her.

He could only ask Iris, "Is it serious?"

Iris watched from a distance as Sean seemed to nuzzle into Elvily's arms. She couldn't help but pause, then broke into a knowing smile. "Who knows?"

"Maybe it's very serious."