She wasn't shaking. She wasn't sweating. She was bored.
"Kael," Isabella said, her voice soft but cutting through his shouting like a razor. "Do not raise your voice at me"
Kael froze. He looked at her eyes—cold, blue, and imperious. He remembered who she was.
She wasn't just a Rank-A Professor. She was Princess Isabella Thorne, the Third Daughter of the King. In her veins flowed the blood of conquerors. She didn't fear monsters, and she certainly didn't fear a rogue hunter in a hoodie.
Kael lowered his sword, bowing his head slightly. "Apologies... Your Highness. But the boy... the Valerius family will demand answers.l"
Isabella placed her glasses back on her nose. She looked down at the ground, where Julian Valerius was finally starting to move.
"The Valerius family," she scoffed, a cruel smirk touching her red lips, "should be more concerned with teaching their heir how not to urinate himself in public"
"P-Professor..."
Julian Valerius dragged himself up from the dirt. His expensive white uniform was ruined—covered in mud and the dark stain of his own shame. His face was pale, his eyes red from crying. The paralyzing fear of Lysander's aura was fading, replaced by a surge of humiliation and spoiled rage.
He looked around and saw the other students staring at him. He saw the pity in their eyes. He saw the disgust.
His ego shattered.
"Professor Thorne!" Julian screamed, his voice cracking. He pointed a shaking finger at the darkness where Lysander had vanished. "Did you see that? He... he tried to kill me! He used illegal dark magic on me!"
He scrambled to his feet, stumbling toward Isabella.
"Why did you let him go? You should have killed him! You are a Rank-A Mage! You should have crushed him!"
He grabbed the edge of Isabella's sleeve, his face twisted in ugly entitlement.
"My father is the Duke! When he hears that you let a common bandit humiliate me, he will have your badge! He will—"
SLAP.
The sound echoed through the clearing like a gunshot.
Julian stumbled back, clutching his cheek. His eyes went wide. Isabella hadn't used magic. She had backhanded him with her bare hand, but the force was enough to knock the wind out of him.
"Silence, you worm"
Isabella loomed over him. She didn't look like a teacher anymore. She looked like a Queen addressing a peasant.
"Do not speak of your father in my presence," she hissed. "And do not dare to threaten me with your family's title. Do you forget who I am?"
Julian trembled, shrinking back. "I... I..."
"You are a disgrace, Julian," Isabella said coldly, staring down her nose at him. "That man... that 'bandit'... he didn't use a spell on you. He didn't even touch you"
She leaned in, her voice dripping with venom.
"He defeated you with intent. He looked at you, and your spirit broke. You froze. You cried. You wet your pants like a toddler"
She gestured to the other students, who flinched under her gaze.
"You are all students of Star-Haven. You wear the gold crest. You carry expensive swords. But tonight? Tonight, a nameless hunter walked into your camp, laughed in your faces, and walked out untouched"
She turned back to Julian, her eyes glowing with faint purple mana.
"If I were you, Julian, I wouldn't tell your father. Because if the Duke finds out his son collapsed from a mere glare, he won't be angry at me. He will disown you for being weak"
Julian fell silent, tears of shame streaming down his face again. He curled up on the ground, defeated.
Professor Magnus stepped forward, breaking the tension. "Princess... what do we do? We can't leave a variable like that in the forest. He said... he said he would surpass us"
"Let him try," Isabella whispered.
She walked to the edge of the clearing, looking into the deep, dark woods of the Stratified Domain.
Most people would be scared of Lysander's threat. Today you are the predator, tomorrow you won't be.
But Isabella?
She smiled.
It wasn't a nice smile. It was the smile of a predator who had finally found prey that could bite back.
"For ten years," Isabella murmured to herself, "I have been surrounded by sycophants. Knights who bow too low. Nobles who kiss my hand. Students who are terrified of my shadow"
She touched her chest, where her heart was beating slightly faster than usual.
"That man...Zero'... he looked me in the eye. He didn't see a Princess. He didn't see a Rank-A Mage. He saw a target"
She turned back to Kael and Magnus, her expression composed and regal once more.
"We do not chase him tonight," Isabella commanded. "We continue the expedition. But send a message to the Academy Intelligence Division"
"What should we tell them?" Magnus asked, pulling out a notepad.
Isabella narrowed her eyes.
"Tell them there is a new player in the Stratified Domain. Tell them he is dangerous, arrogant, and wields the power of the Demon God"
She paused, looking back at the darkness one last time.
"And tell them... I want to find him first"
She spun on her heel, her cape flaring behind her.
"Now, move out! Get Julian clean clothes. If I smell urine for one more second, I will throw him into the river myself!"
Professor Magnus finished scribbling the report and hurried off to send the magical transmission. But Professor Kael lingered. The massive armored warrior sheathed his greatsword with a heavy metallic clank and walked up to Isabella.
He kept his voice low, respectful but laced with confusion.
"Your Highness," Kael grunted, crossing his massive arms. "With all due respect... 'Power of the Demon God'? Isn't that a bit dramatic?"
He gestured to the empty forest.
"He was just a rogue, Isabella. A stray dog with a stealth artifact and a scary mask. He didn't cast a single spell. He ran the moment we showed up"
Kael frowned, looking at her intently.
"You are the Gravity Queen. You've crushed Wyverns with a snap of your fingers. Did that... boy actually scare you?"
Isabella looked up at Kael. Her expression was unreadable behind her glasses.
"Scared? No," she corrected him calmly. "But I was... disturbed"
She tapped her temple.
"Kael, you judge strength by the size of the fireball or the weight of the sword. That is why you are a Rank-A Warrior, not a Commander"
She turned to face the direction Lysander had fled.
"When he released that aura... it wasn't just Killing Intent. It was ancient. It felt like looking into a deep, cold well that had no bottom"
"He calls himself 'Zero'," she mused, a shiver tracing her spine. "But that wasn't the aura of a human. A human aura fluctuates with emotion—anger, fear, pride. His aura was absolute silence. It was the presence of something that views us not as enemies, but as food"
She looked Kael in the eye.
"I didn't let him go because I was afraid of losing today, Kael. I let him go because if I forced a fight... I wasn't sure if you and Magnus would survive it"
Kael blinked, taken aback. He scoffed, trying to brush it off, but the seriousness in her eyes made him uneasy.
"He warned you," Kael muttered. "He said he would surpass us"
"Yes," Isabella whispered. "And for the first time in my life... I believe a threat"
Fifty feet away, near the supply wagons, Julian Valerius sat on a wooden crate. He had changed into a spare pair of trousers, but he still felt filthy.
He scrubbed his hands with a wet cloth, scrubbing so hard his skin turned red.
'He cheated...'
The thought looped in his mind like a broken record.
Julian stared at the ground, his eyes bloodshot and filled with a venomous, irrational hatred. He couldn't accept the reality that he had been terrified. His ego wouldn't allow it.
'He used a dark artifact,' Julian told himself, clenching his jaw until his teeth creaked.
'That's it. It was a mental attack item. A paralysis charm. That dirty commoner used a cheap trick to catch me off guard!'
He touched his cheek where Isabella had slapped him. It still stung.
'And her...'
Julian glanced at Isabella's back with pure malice.
'She stood there and watched. She let him insult me. She let him humiliate the heir of House Valerius. She slapped me in front of the commoners.'
He crushed the wet cloth in his hand.
'I am not weak. I am a Noble! I am a genius!'
The fear he had felt minutes ago was curdling into obsession. He didn't want justice; he wanted torture. He wanted to see that metal mask broken. He wanted to see "Zero" on his knees, begging him for mercy.
'You think you can hide in the forest?' Julian thought, a twisted, ugly smile forming on his face. 'I have money. I have connections. I will hire the 'Red Hand' Mercenaries. I will pay a thousand gold coins for his head'
He looked at his trembling hands and forced them to stop shaking.
'Enjoy your victory tonight, Zero. Because once I tell my father... you are a dead man walking'
"Julian!" a student called out. "We're moving out!"
"I'm coming," Julian replied.
His voice was calm, but his eyes were burning with the promise of murder. He stood up, smoothing his new uniform, and walked back to the group.