The Author's POV

BOOOOM

As the dust cleared and Donna's and Edmund's features were revealed for everyone to see, silence prevailed over the surroundings.

The silence was short-lived as Edmund's hoarse voice echoed across the space.

"Now!"

Unfortunately, seconds after his voice resounded, nothing happened. Confusion spread amongst the guests inside of the hall.

"What's going on?"

"What happened?"

"Isn't that Miss Longbern? Who is the other guy?"

Taking a look at her surroundings, Donna's eyes were sharp. Turning her attention back to Edmund, a faint smile appeared on her lips.

"It looks like whatever you were planning did not work"

Edmund's face was expressionless. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Thibaut's panicked expression.

Instantly, he knew that something had gone wrong.

"That's Edmund Rice! Villain Rank 198!"

Recognizing Edmund, one student shouted out loud. Following this, the previous somewhat calm atmosphere tensed.

"What!?"

"What do we do?"

"Ahhh...I don't want to die!"

Several students turned pale from fright whilst others outright shook. Despite the professors' attempt at calming down their students, more and more students were starting to panic.

It had to be noted that there were far fewer professors than students.

"Calm down, everybody! Don't forget who you are!"

Noticing that the situation was getting out of control, with her eyes shining, Donna shouted. Hearing her voice, as if in a trace, everyone instantly calmed down.

That's right.

Who were they?

They were the proud students of the world's best academies. The first thing they learned from the academy was that they always had to remain cool-headed. Panic did not help anyone!

Moments after, everyone finally completely calmed down. A solemn expression appeared on everyone's faces.

"We're currently under attack! Get your weapons out and watch over your surroundings!"

Satisfied with the result, with her eyes focused on Edmund, she continued.

—Whiiing!

Without being told what to do, everyone instantly brandished their weapons and cautiously looked towards their surroundings.

"Brilliantly done"

Staring at Donna, Edmund complemented. To have calmed everyone down in a matter of seconds, Edmund was impressed.

"I suggest you give up"

With her brows knit, Donna's remained fixed on Edmund. She couldn't carelessly attack.

She was currently surrounded by students.

Given her power, the aftershocks of her and Edmund's attack could potentially lead to students getting hurt.

Fortunately, by some stroke of luck, Edmund's plans seemed to have failed. If not Donna couldn't have imagined how the situation would be.

She needed to stall for time. At least not until the other professors sorted out the students and checked the perimeter.

She was not the only <S> ranked individual present. As long as nothing unexpected happened, they would be able to quickly resolve this issue.

"I guess we'll make do with what we have..."

Seeing that things weren't going his way, Edmund put his daggers away.

Edmund smiled, subsequently his body shook. Suddenly the lights of the hall flickered, and his figure melted with the darkness.

"Guess I'll have to initiate plan B..."

"No, you don't!"

With her full attention on Edmund throughout the whole time, as soon as he moved she moved. Raising her hand, like a lightning bolt, her whip appeared on the spot he was standing.

Staring at the incoming whip, Edmund smiled. Passing through his body, the tip of the whip landed on the spot where he was standing.

—Kacha!

The loud cracking sound of the whip resounded across the hall. The wooden floor split apart. Smiling, Edmund's voice contained a trace of pity.

"It's really unfortunate that things didn't work out as I had originally envisioned..."

Noticing that her attack had failed, Donna cursed.

"Damn it!"

Even though Edmund was weaker than her, he was notorious for his ability to melt with the shadows.

For a short period of time, he could also make his body immune to physical attacks. Just like now.

This was why despite the fact that they were fighting for a good bit upstairs, she still couldn't harm him. He was the perfect counter for her.

"Slippery bastard..."

His ability to escape tight situations was the reason why he was put so high up in the rankings. If not, he might've not even made it to the rankings.

KWAAANG!

At the exact moment Donna's whip hit the ground and Edmund's body disappeared, the hall shook and the windows of the building broke.

—Crash! —Crash!

Countless black figures emanating strong energy appeared.

"Villains!"

"We're under attack!"

Sensing the erratic mana that was mixed with a hint of demonic one emanating from the bodies of the figures, everyone was instantly able to tell who they were.

They were villains!

—Thump! —Thump!

Landing on the ground, multiple figures appeared in the main hall of the mansion. If not for the hint of demonic energy lingering in their bodies, no one would've been able to tell them apart from regular people.

Stepping out, was a caucasian looking villain. Holding onto a dagger, he smiled crazily.

"Unfortunately for you lot, we've been ordered to kill you all, so..."

They were originally supposed to appear once everyone was in a panic, but because the plan failed they could only directly attack.

Even if a part of their plan was thwarted, their goals did not change. Kill the transfer students.

"...Attack!"

"Everyone, get ready to fight back!"

Stepping in front of the students, the professors brandished their weapons. Different colored hues emanated from their bodies.

"Group up together and cover each other's back!"

"They are coming!"

"Hold your ground!"

BOOOOM!

Soon explosions rang across the building, as many different colors flickered in the hall. The fight had officially started.

...

Meanwhile, in the drinking section of the hall.

—Clank! —Clank!

With fights happening all around me, I was probably the only one that was still relaxing in the corner of the hall. Perhaps it was because of the chaos, but no one noticed me.

I knew this wouldn't last for long though. I'd eventually get spotted.

"...Oh?"

Suddenly, from the corner of my eyes, I spotted Professor Thibaut trying to escape the hall. I quickly downed the drink in my hand.

"Haaa...Welp, looks like it's my turn to move"

With Professor Thibaut failing the only job he had, it was only natural that he made a run for it. The Monolith would surely send someone to take care of him due to his failure.

Despite his merits, Professor Thibaut was not someone very important. His strength was only <D-> rank, and agents/managers could be easily replaced.

Thibaut knew this, and hence why he made a run for it. Unfortunately for him, he had something I wanted.

"...and sent!"

Putting the empty wine cup on the table, I took out my phone and sent Kevin a quick message.

Guess it was about time I caught the rat.

...

—Spurt!

Extracting his sword from the body of a villain, Kevin's face was cold. He had no idea of what was happening, but he knew that at the moment, he had to do his best to relieve the pressure off of the professors.

Especially since most of the stronger professors were outside the venue fighting against the stronger villains.

"Haaa—!"

Taking a step to the side, Kevin narrowly avoided an incoming blade. With one smooth swing, Kevin traced his sword upwards and blood spilled everywhere.

—Spurt!

His cold and red eyes brilliantly complemented the blood that spilled in the air. Without wasting time, he moved towards another villain close to him.

A red hue enveloped his sword. Raising his sword, he prepared to slash down.

Shiiiing—!

Suddenly, before Kevin's sword could pierce through the back of the villain, a shadow quickly appeared. Following this, the villain Kevin was targeting collapsed.

—Thump!

Appearing on top of the corpse of the villain was a pale youth. The youth had bright blue eyes and long black hair that cascaded all the way down to his shoulders. He had an air of elegance about him. Staring at Kevin, the corner of his lips tugged upwards.

"he he, too slow"

Kevin frowned. Catching a glimpse of the youth before him, he muttered, "Aaron Rhinestone..."

"In the flesh"

Taking a glimpse of Kevin before him, and looking at the corpse on the floor, Aaron calmly observed Kevin's figure After a couple of seconds, he shook his head.

"So you're Kevin huh?...only so, so"

—Swiiiish!

Before Kevin could reply, Aaron's figure disappeared.

"As expected..."

He had heard a little bit about Aaron Rhinestone before. This was natural, in the news his name often tended to come out a lot. Oftentimes, the two were compared to each other.

Kevin never paid attention to him as he did not care about such stuff. He did recall Emma talking about him in the past.

With her father being an important figure, she had naturally met him. From what he heard from her, he was very arrogant and it seems like she dislikes him a lot.

'Two-faced bastard'

Was what she nicknamed him.

...observing him first hand, it seems like what Emma had said was true.

Shiiiing—!

Suddenly, Kevin bent down. A cold blade pierced through the air. Twisting his body, holding the sword as if it was a dagger, Kevin stabbed behind him.

—Spurt!

Blood splattered everywhere, and a body fell. Closing his eyes, Kevin wiped some of the blood that had splattered on his face and stood up.

Turning around, Kevin's attention was drawn towards the distance where he spotted two silver streaks reaping through the lives of some of the weaker villains.

"Who's that?"

Squinting his eyes, Kevin was able to see two individuals moving around each other reaping through the lives of the villains near them.

The way they moved perfectly synchronized with the other.

If not for the blood spilling in the air, someone could've easily mistaken what they were doing for a performance.

"Ah, I see, they must be the Leinfall twins..."

After getting a closer look, Kevin instantly recognized them. With their platinum-colored hair, it wasn't that hard for him to recognize them.

"Kevin!"

Suddenly someone called his name. Kevin looked towards where the voice came from.

"Emma?"

"Haa...haa...I finally found you"

At the moment, despite the fact that Emma's dress was still perfectly fine, Emma's hair was disheveled and her breathing was rugged. It seems like she had a rough time.

"What's wrong?"

Catching her breath, Emma said, "Haa...let's stick together. I don't think I can do this by myself"

"Sure"

Kevin naturally didn't refuse. With someone watching his back, he could act more freely.

—Ding!

Suddenly Kevin's watch vibrated. It was Ren.

[Second floor of the mansion, there should be a <D> ranked villain over there setting up a portal. If you don't want people to die, kill him.]

Reading the message, Kevin frowned. He quickly typed back.

[What about you?]

[I've got other things to do, I'll see you later. Ah right, make sure you bring Donna with you]

[Donna?]

[Yup, tell her Edmund is there. Alright, I really have to go now]

"Who was that?"

A sigh escaped from Kevin's lips. He then proceeded to shake his head.

"Ah, nothing...let's go"

"Where?"

Looking up, he responded.

"To the second floor"

"Why?"

"Just follow me"

Even though Kevin had many questions, given the situation, he knew that now wasn't the time.

Following Ren's instructions, he quickly moved to where Donna was.

'I hope you're right'