The sharp cry of pain—Ainsworth wasn’t the only one who heard it; everyone present did as well. The cry was filled with agony—so much agony! They couldn’t even begin to imagine what the person must be going through to scream like that. "Agahhhh!!!" The voice cried out again, this time even louder. Nyx, who had been bawling her eyes out, leaped up. Even Jared, who had gone to console her, stood abruptly, looking around and trying to detect where the voice had come from. "Am I the only one hearing this?" Blake asked, a dumb expression on his face. "You’re not the only one! And that voice... that voice seems very familiar," Kali stated, a tight frown on his face. "It must be an attacker!" Commander Lutton claimed, his voice brimming with certainty. He looked around with sharp eyes, trying to detect any spatial tear in the fabric of reality. "Whoever they are, they seem to be in pain... a great deal of pain! That cry... it belongs to someone who has gone mad from experiencing agony." Time seemed to drag in that moment; confusion grew on everyone’s faces. In the distance, Ainsworth had fallen to his knees, his arms digging into the ground, his eyes bloodshot as he continued to scream like a broken tape recorder. "What is happening... what is happening... He killed him, right? Why is he screaming?! It’s not supposed to be like this! That bastard should be the one crying! Did something... go wrong?" "No!!!! What is happening to me?!" At that precise moment, everyone heard a muffled voice. It echoed far and wide, filled with unimaginable pain. Even though the voice was muffled, the special students recognized it. Especially Wendy, who had woken up the moment she heard the shriek. "That voice... it belongs to Instructor Brandon," Jared whispered, stating the obvious thoughts of everyone present. For a moment, there was just stillness. No one spoke. They were confused—deeply confused. They had never been this confused in their lives. Why... why would he attack a promising student such as Nox—the very reason they had undertaken this mission in the first place? It just didn’t make sense. What could be the reason? "Look!" Lutton shouted at the top of his voice. Everyone saw something unexpected—something terrifying, yet beautiful at the same time. Right before their eyes, the injuries on Nox’s body were closing. The slash mark on his chest vanished as if it had never been there, his head reattached, and the pool of blood slowly flowed back into his body. Even his skin, which had grown pale, regained its youthful, radiant glow once more. Nyx’s eyes widened in shock, a smile threatening to break out on her face. "Hahahaha!" Wendy had already burst into a fit of crazed laughter as she heard Nox’s pulsing heartbeat. "This... this is unexpected," Glen muttered, with no apparent emotion in her voice. "Deep down inside, I knew you wouldn’t end just like that... The kid I witnessed in Snowhelm is just too strong to die, even without knowing his attacker. It seems... I was right after all." "I knew you wouldn’t die just like that!" Zara smiled. "For a moment, I thought all hope of me freeing my people from the Scourge Alpha was lost." "That’s an ultimate skill," Commander Lutheir and Lutton gasped, staring at each other in shock. In Eos, whenever one used a skill, other Awakened—especially those of high levels—could easily determine its rank. "Just how many ultimate-tier skills does this kid even possess?" Commander Lutheir was baffled. All the skills he had seen Nox use so far were at the ultimate tier. Suddenly, his eyes flashed with a wild, crazy thought. "Could it be... all the skills in his arsenal... are ultimate tier?" "I think it’s highly possible," Lutton chimed in. Continue your saga on freewebnovel Time seemed to crawl slowly as everyone watched Nox’s body piece itself back together. While everyone else seemed relieved, Ainsworth looked as though his entire world was falling apart. Veins throbbed all over his body, and it seemed as if his eyes were about to pop out. He couldn’t believe the spectacle unfolding before him! Nox was supposed to be dead! Why... why was he healing?! It made absolutely no sense—he should stay dead! What kind of witchery was this?! "His head... it was separated... those cuts..." Ainsworth muttered, his voice trembling. "How did he come back to life all of a sudden?" He began stepping out from his hiding spot, walking towards the others. Usually, he would have stayed back, but Ainsworth’s mind was in disarray. Meanwhile, at that moment— SNAP! Nox’s eyelids opened. Those dark, dangerous eyes were cold and filled with murder. Although everyone felt relieved that he was alive, even they instinctively flinched back in fear. Nox’s eyes were... inhuman, as if they belonged to a predator, and for a moment, they instinctively gripped their weapons. But Nox merely gazed past them—as if searching for something. "Agahhhh!!!!" The agonized scream rang out once again. This one was sharper... rawer—like a beast being flayed alive. It was loud—filled with desperation and hatred. "You... damn... brat!!!" the voice spat, each word trembling with pain. "What... have you... done to me?!" "You think... this is over?! I swear... I’ll make you suffer a thousand times worse!!!" Nox continued to look around with cold, mechanical eyes, as if he were a robot, unbothered by the screams and curses. All he wanted was to detect the source. Nothing else mattered. Though he liked fighting his enemies with Phantom Cloak, he didn’t like when someone used a similar skill against him. It left him at a big disadvantage. Right now, he was no different from being naked. If only his attacker could break free from this circle of pain... they might’ve actually put up a fight against him. But Nox wasn’t worried. No matter how strong they were... they wouldn’t be able to break free from the effect of his new skill. Suddenly— The space around them trembled. Invisible cracks formed, twisting reality itself. The temperature dropped sharply, and an oppressive pressure bore down on everyone. Then— CRACK! A white rift split through the air. It widened with a screeching wail—like the world itself was being torn apart. From within the tear, the voice shrieked in unbearable torment, then— BOOM! Space shattered completely. From the rupture—a figure was violently ejected, crashing into the ground with a deafening impact. Dust and debris exploded outward, obscuring the form. A heavy silence fell. Everyone stared at the person who had been cursing and screaming for the past few minutes—unblinking. The dust slowly cleared— Revealing a bloodied, blue-haired youth in a pool of his own blood. He was barely holding himself together—yet his eyes still blazed with hatred. Nox’s lips curled into a cold, knowing smirk. When he saw Brandon— Staring at him with disbelief, hatred, and confusion— "So... it’s you?"