After searching through the room some more, the group left, continuing their travel down the dark corridor.
On the way Cyril broke a metal pipe sticking out of the wall, using it as a makeshift spear.
"Should we even continue exploring?" Rose said with a worried expression.
"I didn't think of it before, but here are obviously secrets not meant for students."
"If you are scared about us being silenced, then don't be." Myra pointed at Cyril.
"Cyril can just vouch for us, and we'll be completely fine." Her finger turned into a thumbs-up.
He blankly observed her confident expression.
"How shameless!"
"She is not wrong." He said after a second, causing Rose's face to gradually brighten.
"Then we should hurry up and explore!" Her fear was slowly replaced by excitement.
With renewed energy, the group went ahead, searching for any other rooms on their way.
Even the sight of an occasional body didn't dampen their spirits.
...
While Cyril's group was exploring, the rest of the students patiently sat inside of a storeroom.
"Why is no one coming for us? The knights should've had this under control already."
"They wouldn't just forget about us, right?"
People whispered with worried faces, the mood among them slowly going to the bottom.
"Can't believe you guys are in class I. Are you not ashamed to be protected by two people from an inferior class?"
Exclaimed a student with uneven breathing sitting by the wall, his hair reminiscent of a bird's nest.
"Hey! We are hurt, Bonzo! And why are you counting yourself among the protectors? You are sitting here with us!"
Bonzo raised a fist at them. "I used up all my mana! Do you know how useful I was?"
"I've downed two ghouls with my poisons! Even Regina and Cedric struggled more than me!"
Seeing doubt still present in the students' eyes, Bonzo grabbed his hair and scratched it furiously, making it even messier.
"Ghouls are no joke! They are fast, have durable skin, and behave unpredictably. You'll know if you ever actually face them."
Just as they were about to reply, the door to their storeroom was sharply opened, scaring them all into silence.
Through it walked in a mature woman with blond hair, her blue eyes scanning the students around.
"You've stayed here without moving?"
The students collectively nodded.
Immediately after her, Cedric carefully walked in, his face hesitant.
"Miss Elvira..." He quietly spoke.
However, Elvira Arken, completely ignoring his comment, continued looking at other students, frowning after a second.
"Where is Thorne?" She asked out loud.
The students sitting all had brightened expressions but remained silent, expecting Cedric to answer.
However, Cedric stood frozen, staring at Elvira without blinking.
Soon another man in a robe entered through the door.
"Professor Richard!" one of the students exclaimed, most immediately relaxing, falling to the floor.
"Cyril Thorne, Rose Briar, and Myra are missing." He immediately noticed.
"Don't tell me..."
"Cyril and his two followers went exploring." Regina walked in as well, with a bit of blood on her uniform.
"Gods," Richard covered his face with a palm.
Elvira frowned further.
Cedric opened his mouth, then closed it after a second, his face becoming blank.
...
With a hole in its stomach, the ghoul fell on the ground, its long tongue hanging limp from its mouth.
Cyril twirled his makeshift spear, letting the blood drop on the metal floor.
"Ghouls aren't that scary after all." Rose said as she took a few breaths.
Myra nodded before raising a finger in the air. "Still, don't underestimate them. On the battlefield there will be more, close to a legion."
"I know," Rose replied, observing her finger with a frown.
"Are you not disgusted?"
Myra froze, alternating between her and Cyril, before finally looking over her body.
The previously pristine grey uniform was now colored mostly red due to the way she fought.
"Haha, sorry." With a subtle blush on her face, she cast a spell, and after a flash of light, all of the blood was gone, dripping to the floor around her.
"I didn't notice it." She scratched her auburn hair with a sheepish smile.
As Rose was about to say something.
"Look here," Cyril called out ahead.
Looks important.
In front of him was a room with giant double doors at the end. To the side, two other corridors can be seen.
The doors themselves were heavy, with a silver mosaic in the form of a tree on their surface. They were slightly ajar, with loud noises coming from within.
Everyone immediately went quiet, sneaking closer.
Sounds of heavy footsteps, a weird crunching, and occasional distorted laughter were heard more and more.
The three students looked at each other, finding a similar curiosity in each other's eyes.
Cyril, making a step closer to the doors, peeked between them. The other two were going crouched, peeking slightly below.
Inside a spacious room, with its back turned towards them, sat a large, brutish humanoid.
It had an oversized head, a single bulging eye, and blackish-blue skin. A goat horn stuck out of its head, along with other smaller horns placed wildly on its back.
"A cyclops?" Myra whispered solemnly, in her voice a tinge of confusion.
"What should we do now?" tensely added Rose.
"...Let's deal with it."
Cyril replied after a second, causing the others to turn to him.
Ignoring their surprised gazes, he observed another door visible behind the cyclops. Through its shut doors, flashes of enchanting blue light could be seen.
Morpho, sitting on his shoulders, fluttered her wings for a moment, her compound eyes locked on that door.
"Something interesting is there."
"We are the top students of Ailanthus. We should be able to handle this."
Hearing this quick excuse, the others went silent.
Myra raised her head, fire in her eyes. "You are right!"
"Plus, I want to know what's inside. Don't you, Rose?"
Rose hesitantly looked back in the direction of the grand double doors before nodding slowly.
Cyril put his hand on the door.
"Morpho, stay as far away as you can. Be very careful!" Rhamn wagged her finger at the butterfly on his shoulder.
Morpho twitched her antennae with excitement and flew up in the air.
Using a bit of effort, Cyril pushed them open completely, revealing more of the room.
The cyclops was surrounded by rubble on all sides, remnants of what looked like desks, stands, and bookshelves.
Mixed within were a few bodies colored red.
The cyclops froze before slowly turning his head at the noise.
It was chewing a piece of metal in its mouth, on its face a silly look as it observed the three humans enter the room.
Making a distorted laugh, it spat out the metal from its mouth and shakily got up on its deformed legs, its belly shaking in the process.
"Heh, it sure looks stupid."
Suddenly, the cyclops began running with its hands outstretched in a hug. There was an intoxicating expression on its face somewhat resembling a human's.
It's fast!
Cyril and the others dodged in a hurry, barely evading the path of this large creature.
The cyclops hit the heavy double doors instead, closing them completely. Then it quickly bent the doors' handles together, effectively sealing this place off.
Finished, it turned around and faced the three humans with mockery distinctly written on its face.
What the…?
"It's smarter than it looks, alright!"
"This intelligence..." Myra's face showed a shocked expression. "It's an elder cyclops!?"
Who?
Before Cyril had the time to ask further, the demon rushed at them again, this time even faster.
Cyril and Myra quickly dashed out of the way, however, Rose was slower than them.
The cyclops, almost reaching her, made a swing with its hand.
At the sight, Myra gritted her teeth and cast a spell at a speed beyond anyone in class I.
Her body surrounded by faint winds, she dashed in front of Rose, appearing there almost instantaneously, her other hand casting another spell to meet the incoming attack.
The moment the demon hit her, there was an explosion, and Myra got sent flying through the resulting smoke.
She hit the wall with incredible force and slid down on the ground. Around her body was a faint glimmer that soon shattered.
The cyclops stumbled a few steps from the explosion, its path diverted.
After stabilizing its footing, it turned to look at Myra and started laughing while holding its belly.
"Its skin is magically enhanced!" Myra screamed with difficulty. "Pierce it and use fire, they are weak against it!"
Rose, her face deathly pale, cast a fireball at the creature's head, aiming for the bulging eye.
The cyclops simply blinked in time, the fireball shattering without leaving a mark.
"Just how tough is it!?" Rose's hands shook.
Its laughing interrupted, the cyclops began running at the two, waving its hands with energy.
Cyril glanced at the pipe in his hands, tsked, then hurled it with all his strength at the creature.
Flying in a perfectly straight line, the makeshift spear hit the cyclops and was immediately bounced off.
The demon laughed as it ran, the sound echoing loudly in the spacious room.
"This ugly, pathetic creature!"
His blue eyes coldly narrowing, Cyril raised his hand, creating a magic circle.
As the cyclops almost reached him, a fireball the size of an adult male in length suddenly appeared in front of it.
With a loud boom the cyclops was hit, its body obscured by smoke.
A piercing, pitiful yelp erupted loudly, deafening Cyril's ears.
As it finally became quiet, Cyril observed the smoke with a frown, when suddenly a piece of metal shot out at him from within.
Dodging it in a hurry, Cyril looked back, the cyclops was already out of the smoke and right in front of him.
The creature swung wildly at him, its massive hands hitting him head-on.
He flew to the floor, sliding for some distance before stopping, with pain all over his body and the barrier broken.
The cyclops circled its hands in the air, as if stretching them, a joyous glee on its face, with only a scorch mark on its forehead.
At this moment, a few fireballs landed on that spot in quick succession. Rose hastily casting spell after spell.
The cyclops didn't even flinch, instead running towards Cyril again.
With a few swift and lengthy steps, the cyclops closed the distance and swung both hands wildly.
Cyril tried his best to dodge but couldn't move in time.
The force knocked him back to the ground as blood came out of his mouth.
The cyclops held its belly and heartily laughed. Giving one last glance at the student under him, it turned around, casually walking towards Myra, who was trying to stand up.
Rose cast another offensive spell that was ignored, bit her lip, and then hastily ran up to Cyril.
"H-hold on," she stammered, her shaking hands constructing a healing spell.
Cyril, enduring the pain, attempted to get up when Rhamn appeared crouched in front of him, her bright red eyes and flawless face obscuring Rose entirely.
"We must punish this wretch for its moronic existence!" She growled, her teeth showing.
"Morpho, stay away! We are far from 'in danger'!" The butterfly coming closer turned around and quickly flew away again.
Rhamn turned back to Cyril, her expression more subdued now, but her red eyes still shining bright.
"Please get up, I'll give you a suitable weapon."
As he listened to her speak, Cyril felt a drain on his mana.
His body suddenly losing its heaviness, he quickly got up from the ground.
Cyril nodded and glanced at Rose to the side. "Thanks."
Rose stared at him in surprise, then back at her hands. "Was my spell so effective?" She mumbled.
Before the cyclops reached Myra, Cyril hurled a fireball at it. The creature's head bounced for a moment but remained unharmed.
Still, it turned around.
Noticing a human it hit before standing tall, its expression turned confused.
Making a few but long steps, it quickly walked up to the unmoving Cyril.
Rose quickly dashed back and prepared to cast a spell but then halted when Cyril motioned for her to stop.
Now standing close, the cyclops looked down at Cyril, its mouth soon curving into a twisted smirk.
It slowly and deliberately pulled its right arm while observing him with a single bulging eye.
Cyril stood still without flinching.
Its expression suddenly turning hateful, the cyclops's hand shot out, moving in a blur.
At this moment, Cyril dodged at the perfect moment, barely avoiding the punch with minimal distance to spare.
He dashed and started climbing upon the stretched-out arm.
Using the horns on its back as support, he positioned himself right behind the cyclops's neck.
There he raised his right arm.
The cyclops reached with its hands behind in a panic, but suddenly a lightning whip took hold of them.
It sent a glare to Rose nearby before breaking free of the spell with minimal delay.
Still, that was enough of a delay.
Cyril's raised hand changed, his nails elongating, becoming thicker, sharper, and soon turning into a harrowing claw, glimmering with faint blue light.
Using all his strength, he pierced the neck of the cyclops.
An incomparably loud screech came at this moment.
The cyclops's body shook wildly, its hands reaching out again without stopping.
With his hand still inside of its neck, Cyril cast a spell, a faint blue light peeking through the dropping blood in the opening.
After a slight pause, the elder cyclops's head exploded like a smashed watermelon, sending blackened liquid in every direction.
The body without a head stood still for a few seconds, smoke coming from its neck, before falling to the metal floor with a loud bang.
Cyril jumped off the back, landing on the ground.
He knelt for some time, breathing heavily as he felt his lack of mana, the vision around him slowly growing dark.
A red butterfly flew close, fluttering with worry.
"See? It's nothing dangerous, we won." Cyril whispered to her, his lips involuntarily spreading into a proud smile.
He then fell on his back, staring at the ceiling as two people hastily ran up to him.