Chapter 188: A Noble’s Stolen Life

Sephtis moved through the academy corridors with measured steps.

Around her, students fled toward the nearest exits. Some supported injured classmates. Others stumbled through the smoke, driven by the screams and explosions echoing through the building.

A group of students rushed past her.

One of them glanced back.

"Hey! What are you doing standing there? Run!"

Sephtis lowered her head and forced a frightened expression onto her face.

"I’m looking for somewhere safe!"

The student didn’t stop. Within seconds, the group vanished around the corner.

Sephtis watched them leave, then continued down the corridor with her mana carefully concealed.

The orders from Demonia had been clear. She was not to participate in the battle or reveal her true identity.

That suited her perfectly.

She had no intention of dying for someone else’s mission.

A sharp crash came from the nearby stairwell.

Sephtis stopped.

Someone was crying.

She followed the sound and found a young woman sitting against the wall beneath a shattered window. Blood soaked the side of her academy uniform, and one hand pressed tightly against a wound along her ribs. A broken piece of stone lay a few feet away.

The girl tried to stand, only to collapse with a strangled gasp.

Sephtis recognized her immediately.

Aris Velloria.

Daughter of a count whose territory lay within the Velebright Duchy. A Class A student from a family with political connections, financial resources, and access to circles that ordinary students could never reach.

Useful.

The girl looked up when she noticed someone approaching.

"Who...?"

Sephtis softened her expression.

"Are you hurt?"

Aris gave a weak, breathless laugh that quickly turned into a pained gasp.

"What does it look like?"

"Bad enough that you shouldn’t try to move alone."

Sephtis crouched beside her.

Aris glanced toward the corridor, where distant screams continued to echo.

"Have you seen any teachers? I tried to reach the main hall, but something exploded near the stairs."

"I haven’t," Sephtis replied. "But I know another way out."

It was a lie.

She had no intention of taking the girl to safety.

Aris hesitated. Suspicion flickered across her face, but another explosion shook the building, sending dust raining from the ceiling.

Her expression crumpled.

"Please," she whispered. "I don’t want to die here."

Sephtis offered a reassuring smile.

"Then trust me. I’ll get you somewhere safe."

Aris stared at her for another moment before finally nodding.

Sephtis slipped an arm around her waist and helped her stand. Aris cried out as the movement pulled at her injured side.

"Sorry," Sephtis murmured. "Lean on me."

They moved slowly through the corridor.

Every few steps, Aris stumbled. Her breathing grew shallow, and her grip on Sephtis’s shoulder tightened.

After a while, Aris spoke again, her voice weak.

"What’s your name?"

"Mara. I’m from Class E," Sephtis replied.

After a brief pause, Sephtis glanced at her.

"You’re Aris Velloria, aren’t you?"

Aris looked at her in surprise.

"How do you know my name?"

"Your family is well known. I recognized your name when I saw you."

Aris accepted the answer without further question. Her face had grown pale, and blood continued to seep between her fingers.

They reached a narrow passage behind an unused classroom. Unlike the main corridors, this section of the academy was nearly deserted.

"Where are we going?" Aris asked.

"There’s a storage room ahead. We can wait there until the fighting moves away."

"Wouldn’t it be safer to find a teacher?"

"Perhaps," Sephtis replied. "But can you walk all the way to the main hall?"

Aris said nothing.

Sephtis guided her through the doorway of the storage room.

Inside, discarded desks and broken shelves lined the walls. Dust covered the floor. A narrow window offered a limited view of the academy’s outer grounds.

No one else was there.

Aris sank onto an overturned crate and pressed her hand against her wound.

"Thank you," she whispered. "I thought I was going to be left behind."

Sephtis closed the door.

The quiet click made Aris look up.

For the first time, she noticed that Mara no longer wore a frightened expression.

Instead, the girl beside her looked strangely calm.

Too calm.

"What’s wrong?" Aris asked.

Sephtis tilted her head slightly.

"Nothing."

She took a step closer.

"Actually, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you."

Aris’s brows drew together.

"What?"

"Do you know why I chose you?"

Confusion spread across Aris’s face.

Before she could respond, Sephtis caught her wrist.

Aris tried to pull away.

"What are you—"

Black mana flickered between Sephtis’s fingers.

Aris’s eyes widened.

"You’re not... Mara?"

"No," Sephtis replied softly. "I’m not."

Aris opened her mouth to scream.

Sephtis moved first.

She drove Aris backward against the wall and covered her mouth. A brief struggle followed. Aris clawed at her arm, desperately trying to break free, but her injuries had already drained most of her strength.

Black mana surged from Sephtis’s hand, striking the vital points near Aris’s heart and throat.

Aris’s body convulsed. Her grip loosened, and her hand slipped from Sephtis’s sleeve.

Moments later, her eyes went still.

Silence returned to the storage room.

Sephtis released the body and stepped back.

She crouched beside Aris and placed her palm against the girl’s forehead.

Her talent activated.

A faint ripple passed through the air.

Memories flooded her mind—Aris’s childhood home, her family’s faces, lessons at the academy, and conversations she had long forgotten. Every memory gave Sephtis another piece of the identity she was stealing.

Then the transformation began.

Her borrowed features shifted. Her hair changed, her face altered, and her body gradually reshaped itself to match the dead girl.

The process ended a few moments later.

Sephtis rose and examined her reflection in the narrow window.

Mara was gone.

In her place stood Aris Velloria—same face, same eyes, same small scar near her chin.

She adjusted the girl’s academy uniform and wiped the blood from her hands.

Then she studied the memories she had acquired.

Her new identity came with a family, a noble title, and connections that could open doors throughout the Empire.

Sephtis glanced once at the body on the floor.

She raised her hand. Black mana gathered at her fingertips and flowed over the corpse. Within moments, the body began to burn with a dark, soundless flame. The fire consumed everything—flesh, bone, and blood—until nothing remained but a thin layer of ash that soon scattered into the air.

When the last traces vanished, Sephtis lowered her hand.

She opened the door and stepped into the corridor.

The sounds of battle still echoed through Ambrose Academy, but the screams were growing less frequent.

The attack was nearing its conclusion.

Sephtis lowered her eyes and adopted the exhausted expression of a wounded student searching for help.

When she reached the next intersection, two academy instructors hurried past her.

One of them stopped.

"Are you injured? What’s your name?"

Sephtis looked up, allowing tears to gather in her eyes.

"My name is Aris Velloria."

She spoke the name as though it had always belonged to her.

The instructors immediately moved to help her.

Sephtis lowered her head, hiding the faint smile threatening to form.

Mara had given her a way into the academy.

Aris Velloria would give her a way into the Empire.