"What… what the hell was that just now?"
"Are we safe?"
"O-Our crystal! Check our crystal—!"
"P-Phew… it's still here. Thank the heavens…"
"Uhm… shouldn't we get out of this area right now?"
Voices cracked and stumbled over each other, panic and disbelief tangled into a messy chorus.
Hajey's group—twenty trained martial students strong—looked less like predators and more like frightened prey.
Even though Rose had already vanished into the trees, her lingering aura clung to the air like a suffocating mist.
None of them could quite believe what had just happened.
They had known the chances of meeting one of the academy's monstrous geniuses during the competition was always there—but to run into one so randomly, without warning, without preparation…?
No plan accounted for that.
Cristo, who had been standing closest to Hajey, leaned in with a low voice, still pale. "Hajey… that girl just now… was Rose Brilliance."
"…Yeah. I know," Hajey replied stiffly, his lips dry.
