Fourth Prince's Debauchery

A few seconds after the screams of despair faded away, I released the young man.

His body fell helplessly to the ground, his mind crushed at such a point that he was unable to form any coherent thought.

Strangely, despite the young man being in such a condition, the charm on him was not activated and no teacher came to check on him. It was due to me manipulating the formation to hide everything that happened here.

The information I got from this young man's mind was rather limited, but I managed to put the rest of the puzzle together thanks to the information I knew from before, plus the things I learned when I used [Akashic Sight].

Mm, it's much more complicated than I thought.

It looks like Alan's purpose this time is not only to get rid of me, but he also wants to make use of the situation to consolidate his ascension to the emperor.

Using hundred of lives to pave his way to the throne. Very ruthless, but effective.

Moreover, the resources he and his allies invested in this plan are incredible. They did not hesitate to move all the chess pieces they had accumulated in the academy, plus several powerful powerhouses, and a great amount of money; among other things.

Unfortunately for him, this plan was destined to fail. In fact, even if I was a normal prince, and Alan manages to kill me, his plan would fail anyway.

Since the moment someone else showed interest in this expedition, Alan was destined to suffer a setback. He probably would have survived only after experiencing an enormous loss.

But even if he is destined to fail, it's different if I am in his place.

I can play the same game too.

And I play it better than him.

Let's see… Where should I start?

With a scan of my mind, I found the answer.

Then, I took another step across space and disappeared.

…

Iris frowned when she saw the two people that appeared in front of her.

Although she did not know them, judging by their ages, they seemed like third-year or fourth-year students.

Their auras were strong and solid, clearly emanating fourth-layer mana. This point was that worried Iris.

As a fourth-layer practitioner herself, Iris was clear about the fact that she was unable to face the two of them by herself.

In fact, Iris was not very good at fighting, so she would even have trouble facing one of them, but at least that way she would have a bit of hope.

"How unlucky." Iris smiled bitterly.

But despite her clearly disadvantageous situation, Iris was not ready to give up.

Thus, she cast two fireballs and keep them in standby, ready to be launched at any moment.

But to her surprise, the two young men in front of her did not attack.

Instead one of them bowed slightly with a smile.

"Miss Iris, we are here in orders of Prince Bryan to take you to him."

Iris was startled. The next second, she furrowed her brows. "What are you speaking about?"

"Just like you heard. Prince Bryan sent us here to come for you."

Iris's first reaction was that the two young men were lying to make her lower her guard. However, she discarded that thought quickly. It was public knowledge that her relationship with her fiancée was not the best. Moreover, such a lie was hardly credible.

Then, the other option was...

"That is impossible! Communication magic tools are forbidden in this tournament. Tell me, how did you get in contact with Prince Bryan? No, in the first place, how did you manage to join hand as quickly!? It's too much of a coincidence when the expedition started just a few minutes ago."

The young man did not answer, but the smile in his face gave her an ominous premonition.

"... Unless that the expedition is rigged…"

"Miss Iris, will you come with us? This place will become dangerous soon."

Iris snorted. "To think that Bryan even dared to do such a dishonorable thing. But does he thinks he can get away with this?" Then, she activated the protective charm the academy gave her before entering this place.

Instantly, a barrier surrounded her.

Now, she only needed to wait until a teacher came and she would tell everything to him. Once the institute learns about this situation they will instantly take corrective measures.

But when she looked at the two young men in front of her, she realized they were still calm and unruffled.

'Could it be…' An absurd thought was born in her mind.

But when five minutes passed and nobody came, that thought turned into dread and despair.

"Impossible…"

"That barrier will last for another five minutes, Miss Iris. I hope you consider our proposal during that time."

Iris turned pale. With gritted teeth, she stared at the two young men threateningly.

"What is Bryan planning?"

"That is not for us to speak about." The young man replied. "If you want to know, you can ask the prince yourself when you meet him."

Iris scowled. "And if I don't want?"

"Then we will have to make things difficult for you, miss. I'm sure Prince Bryan will not mind it if you suffer one or two injuries. Oh, the barrier is about to break."

Iris's expression turned paler.

She knew that if she went with them, her ending would not be good. Maybe Bryan would not kill her, but torturing her was not out of the realm of possibility.

Running away? Who was she fooling? Even although she was a fourth-layer too, she was a mage. Her speed was way lower than a warrior.

And with her fourth-layer strength, it was impossible to learn any useful escape spell.

Thus, she could only fight and resist.

As soon as the barrier fell, she fired her two fireballs, one towards each young man.

However, the two young men evaded her attacks with fast movements!

Then, one of them attacked from the right and another from the left. Their attacks were fast and precise despite the fact they were using the blunt part of their weapons.

Iris grunted. A mana barrier formed in front of her, stopping their attacks for one second. During that time, she cast the strongest spell in her arsenal, a spell she had just mastered.

"[Fire Whirlpool]!"

"Ugh!" One of the two young men was swallowed by the whirlpool of flames, making the protective charm on his body activate and create a barrier.

But at the same time, Iris's mana barrier broke!

And having just used a strong spell, she was unable to use another one shortly.

The other young man's weapon enlarged in her sight. Iris could see the weapon coming towards her threateningly.

In a last attempt to resist, Iris tried to evade the attack, but the enemy skillfully manipulated his weapon, sending it towards her belly.

'… No…'

A sense of despair invaded Iris. She could see a future where her hope of a happy ever after vanished before her eyes.

But when she was about to give up, a familiar back appeared before her.

Then, the sword was stopped by someone's hands.

"The hero saves the damsel in distress. I always liked that kind of trope."

Iris's eyes opened wide.

"Claus!"