Chapter 33: The Ceasefire Ends

The sunlight began to shine brightly, its rays falling upon the faces of the four one by one. They had all fallen asleep from exhaustion after enduring Cikgu Aelin’s rather dangerous and difficult training.

Haruki slowly opened his eyes and got up, only to find the other three still fast asleep.

"Ugh, it’s morning already, huh?"

Haruki sat down casually. Before long, the other three slowly began to regain consciousness and wake up. For now, none of them uttered a single word. There was nothing but silence.

They all still looked sleepy. Even Philip had just yawned, his eyes barely open. Haruki then noticed a lake not too far from where they were.

He decided to walk towards it to wash his face and shake off the lingering drowsiness.

Haruki slowly dipped his hands into the lake, cupping some water before lifting it and splashing it onto his face.

Aelin also approached the lake to wash her face. She then started a conversation to break the silence.

"Haruki, aren’t you worried about your family?"

Haruki slowly turned towards Aelin before lowering his gaze to the lake.

*’What should I say?’*

Haruki remained silent for quite some time before Cikgu Aelin spoke again.

"It’s alright if you don’t want to tell me. Perhaps you’ve been going through some difficult times with your family."

Haruki turned towards Aelin once more, offering nothing but a smile and a quiet chuckle.

A moment later, Magnus appeared beside Cikgu Aelin and began washing his face.

"Where’s Philip? Isn’t he awake yet?" Aelin asked.

Magnus splashed some water onto his face before answering Aelin’s question.

"That lazy idiot? There’s no way he’d wake up early."

"Who are you calling a lazy idiot, Magnus?!"

Magnus was slightly startled. He slowly turned around, only to find Philip standing right behind him with a rather annoyed expression.

"A-ah, Philip..."

*SMACK!!!*

Philip struck Magnus before casually proceeding to wash his face in the lake.

Meanwhile, Haruki walked away from the lake and picked up his black cloak, preparing to leave.

"Cikgu Aelin, shouldn’t we head back now?"

"Ah! Right, wait for me!"

Magnus and Philip also began preparing to return to the academy. They picked up their respective black cloaks and quickly got ready to leave.

As they were about to depart, Haruki asked Cikgu Aelin why she hadn’t brought Vila along to train her healing magic as well.

Aelin slowly explained that Vila was needed to treat Cikgu Lukas, who was still severely injured.

Haruki didn’t say anything in response and simply looked ahead.

Suddenly, Cikgu Aelin stopped walking for a moment. Haruki turned towards her.

"Is something wrong, Cikgu?"

Philip and Magnus also turned around, only to see Aelin taking something out of her black cloak.

"Here it is..."

Aelin held a small, round object in her hand. The others felt as though they had seen it somewhere before.

"Eh? Wait, isn’t that..."

"Exactly, Philip."

Aelin then pressed the round object before tossing it to her side. A portal, not particularly large, suddenly appeared.

It was the very same portal Aelin had used when there was no other choice during the first invasion of the Arcane Kingdom by the Frostval army.

For the second time, the three of them felt frustrated with Cikgu Aelin for not having used that portal earlier.

"WHY DIDN’T YOU USE THIS YESTERDAY?!" Magnus asked.

"Forgot."

Aelin smiled innocently, as if she had done absolutely nothing wrong.

Haruki slowly stepped into the portal, followed by Magnus. However, Philip remained silent and didn’t enter.

"What’s wrong, Philip?"

Aelin approached Philip and gently placed a hand on his shoulder before giving him a smile.

"Cikgu knows you haven’t been satisfied with yourself because you still haven’t mastered your Rift Gate Magic, right?"

Philip slowly nodded, unable to deny what Cikgu Aelin had said.

"Well, Cikgu admits that it’s indeed difficult for you to control."

"But... you’re a talented person. So Cikgu knows you’ll be able to master it someday."

Philip raised his head once more before slowly stepping into the portal.

Once Philip had completely entered, only Aelin remained.

Aelin slowly stepped into the portal, and it gradually began to close.

A moment later, Aelin found herself standing in front of the academy. She noticed Haruki, Philip, and Magnus standing motionless at the entrance, which had been left wide open.

She slowly approached the three of them before placing a hand on Haruki’s shoulder.

"Why are you all just standing there? Come on, get insi—"

Her eyes widened.

She couldn’t process what she was seeing.

The entire academy seemed to have turned into crystal.

No... it had been completely frozen.

Then, the sound of clapping echoed from inside the academy.

From the staircase on the right, someone familiar to all of them slowly emerged.

It was none other than Vaelcryst.

The expressions of all four immediately turned serious. Haruki, Philip, and Magnus drew their weapons, preparing themselves for battle.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Philip demanded in a harsh tone.

"Weren’t we supposed to be under a ceasefire?!" Aelin questioned.

Vaelcryst suddenly burst into laughter, much to the irritation of Aelin and Philip.

After a while, Vaelcryst finally stopped laughing and looked at them with a serious expression.

"Did I ever tell you how long the ceasefire would last?"

They fell silent for a moment, unable to come up with a response after hearing Vaelcryst’s words.

Haruki then remembered the students staying in the dormitories and began to feel uneasy.

He quickly whispered something to Aelin about the students inside the dormitories.

However, Vaelcryst had already overheard their conversation.

"Ahh... about the students in this academy? That’s being taken care of by Azrath."

"If you don’t know who he is..."

"Let’s just say... he’s the one who defeated Lukas Kline!"

The anger among the four grew even stronger. They could no longer hold back their desire to attack Vaelcryst.

However, the one struggling the most to contain her anger was Aelin.

"Haruki, go to the student dormitories and check on their condition."

Haruki looked at Aelin. Her gaze was no longer the same as the one he was used to seeing.

Nevertheless, he followed her instructions.

"Take Haruki with you, Magnus."

Magnus said nothing and simply followed Haruki from behind.

Vaelcryst merely watched them leave, as though their actions wouldn’t make the slightest difference.

"Philip... go to the city and protect the civilians."

"But—"

"You’re more than enough on your own. Cikgu believes in you, Philip."

Hearing those words, Philip stepped back a few paces before sprinting towards the city as fast as he could.

Vaelcryst watched him leave and let out a quiet chuckle.

"Are you really confident about fighting me all alone?"

Aelin responded with a faint, slightly sinister smile.

"Who exactly do you think I am?"