“Get out of the way!”
Su Xing shouted anxiously.
Feng Jun sensed his master’s intention and quickly rushed forward, grabbing Kaka by the back of his neck and pulling him back.
Quinn raised his voice, trying to bring Evangel back to his senses.
“Ivan! Ivan, can you hear me? Wake up!”
West Sero frowned cruelly and ordered the Shifuguai mercilessly, “Kill them.”
The Shifuguai stiffly bent down, lifted Feng Jun with one hand, and slammed him hard onto the ground.
“Ying!”
“Feng Jun!”
Seeing this, Su Xing screamed and hurried over to grab Feng Jun, trying to escape with him.
Turning her head, she saw the Shifuguai bent down stiffly again, this time lifting Kaka in one hand as if intending to kill him.
“Gale Blade!”
Su Xing hurriedly instructed Feng Jun to unleash his skill while she herself lunged forward, trying to take Kaka away.
But with the experience from before, West Sero would never let them off so easily.
The Shifuguai showed no mercy, kicking Su Xing into the wall with one foot and then grabbing Kaka with the other hand under West Sero’s control.
“Cough cough cough!”
Su Xing slammed heavily against the wall, feeling as if her internal organs were about to shatter.
Feng Jun, already injured, was forced to release his skill and collapsed beside Su Xing, barely clinging to life.
Quinn saw this and quickly pulled Xiao Lan out of Rose’s mouth.
Xiao Lan chirped and activated her skill voluntarily.
Understanding immediately, Quinn threw Xiao Lan at the Shifuguai and swiftly stuffed Feng Jun into Rose’s mouth for healing.
Once again, Xiao Lan scattered the Shifuguai, allowing Kaka to take the unconscious Xiao Lan and run back.
Though on the surface everyone was safe, all three knew this was the limit of their resistance.
Su Xing and Kaka lay battered on the ground, Quinn’s face pale but stubbornly standing guard in front of them.
Now, with two phantasmal spirits unconscious and Quinn’s Rose only able to heal, not attack, Su Xing and Kaka severely wounded and incapable of resistance, and Quinn himself weak and ill—
They couldn’t hold out against the next wave of attacks.
And yet, it had only been seven minutes; three minutes remained before Apollo returned.
There was no way they could last that long!
West Sero clearly knew this too.
Wearing Ivan’s face, he sneered cruelly at the three, making Su Xing and the others feel utterly unsettled.
“Think about it,” West Sero taunted in that infuriating tone, “if you hadn’t exposed me then, wouldn’t everything have been fine? We could have been good partners.”
“Pfft!”
Kaka spat angrily, his throat itching fiercely and triggering even worse coughing.
“I’d rather die than be your partner!”
West Sero didn’t get angry; in his eyes, this was just the stubbornness of the defeated.
“Alright then, I’ll end your lives myself.”
West Sero stepped forward.
Su Xing and Kaka were too weak to move, helplessly watching as he lifted Quinn by the neck with one hand.
He grinned savagely, clearly intent on strangling Quinn alive.
Another death like this?
Su Xing felt powerless to stop it and could only smile bitterly to herself.
Being strangled to death—surely that wouldn’t be their fate?
“Don’t kill him! Kill me first!”
Kaka weakly shouted, eyes locked fiercely on West Sero.
If looks could kill, West Sero would have died countless times by now.
“Don’t be in such a hurry. Your turn is coming soon.”
The pressure on Quinn’s neck only increased.
Quinn twisted his hands on West Sero’s grip, struggling desperately but unable to budge him.
“Ivan… Ivan…” he gasped, “please… wake up!”
Tears streamed down Rose’s cheeks, her small eyes filled with sorrow, yet she stubbornly stayed put, fulfilling her master’s order to heal Feng Jun.
Quinn’s breathing grew more labored as his lungs filled with less and less air.
His strength drained, his face turning pale and lifeless.
Still, he stubbornly stared into Ivan’s eyes, filled with unwavering determination and trust.
“I-Ivan, you only kill those who deserve it, right?”
He firmly believed that within such a dark assassin organization, Ivan would never so easily lose his principles.
Perhaps Quinn’s persistence moved fate, for inexplicably West Sero’s grip weakened, his face contorted with rage.
“How… is this… possible?”
West Sero growled, his expression growing even more twisted as if arguing with some unseen force.
Su Xing’s eyes widened.
Soon, another expression appeared on the handsome blond boy’s face—a familiar one that Su Xing and the others recognized—
It was Evangel!
…He’d been fighting to break free all along!
“Bang!”
Ivan’s grip suddenly loosened, and Quinn fell to the ground.
Ivan stepped back, holding one hand tightly with the other, as if battling West Sero for control of his own body.
Was he unwilling to harm his comrades?
“Ivan! Get West Sero out of your body! When Apollo arrives, we’ll be safe!”
Su Xing shouted with all her strength.
Ivan struggled to keep West Sero from regaining control, answering calmly, “No, this is already my limit.”
“What do we do then?”
Kaka cried out in despair.
“Apollo said if you can’t get West Sero out, he’ll have to kill both of you!”
Ivan remained cold and composed, as if already aware of this.
“Let it be. After you return, help me clean up the dorm. Thank you. And… sorry.”
Is he giving up?
“Who wants to hear your apologies!”
Kaka refused to accept this near-last will.
Pushing himself up painfully, he glared fiercely at Ivan.
“We’re all coming back alive! That was the deal from the start!”
No, absolutely not!
We promised to return together!
Su Xing suddenly felt a surge of strength flood her body.
She quickly turned to Feng Jun, who had regained consciousness.
“Feng Jun!”
Feng Jun let out a long cry: “Ying—”
Wind elements swirled closer to Su Xing, spiraling around her like a whirlwind under Feng Jun’s pull.
All the wind elements seemed to cheer, celebrating their king’s return.
Dust in the room’s corners began to spin faster and faster, signaling something uncontrollable was appearing!
The winds roared as a massive tornado formed in the center of the room, sucking in everything around it.
Su Xing controlled the tornado, focusing solely on absorbing Ivan.
She shouted, “Ivan! Don’t give up! Make West Sero get out of your body!”
Ivan spun rapidly within the tornado, stars flashing before his eyes, feeling nauseous from the dizzying speed.
Hearing Su Xing’s words, Ivan was dazed and too weak to act.
Spinning in the tornado, exerting himself was impossible.
Su Xing could tell Ivan was drifting along, his mind growing dim with no strength to fight back.
But the same must be true for West Sero now.
This was the perfect moment to expel West Sero!
“West Sero just used your face to flash that sinister smile!”
Su Xing suddenly shouted loudly.
Ivan twitched, jolted by her words even under the tornado’s assault.
He was shocked beyond belief—he couldn’t imagine how much his image had been ruined.
Quinn saw Ivan’s body convulse violently and immediately followed Su Xing’s lead.
“West Sero even used your body to try and kill us!”
Kaka, full of spirit, delivered a fatal blow: “West Sero even picked his nose with your hand!”
“Boom!”
A flash of white light burst forth.
Ivan’s body curled up suddenly, and a faint black shadow appeared behind him, seeming to separate from his body.
Su Xing immediately guessed this must be West Sero’s soul.
The next second, a white figure flashed swiftly before everyone, and the black shadow vanished.
What was going on?
Before Su Xing could react, she felt the world spin wildly.
Apollo suddenly appeared in the room, surprisingly asking, “How did you get rid of West Sero?”
What?
West Sero was gone?
Exhausted from summoning the tornado, Su Xing was weak and dizzy, only vaguely hearing Apollo’s words.
“Looks like you still have plenty of secrets. Well, see you next time!”
Who wants to see you next time!
In a furious inner outburst, Su Xing finally collapsed into unconsciousness.
The tornado vanished quickly with her collapse, and Ivan fell heavily to the ground, dizzy.
Quinn stumbled through the spinning room to drag Ivan over, curling up protectively in a corner, guarding the three and preventing them from rolling elsewhere.
The walls of the room gradually dissolved into specks of light.
Kaka felt this scene was very familiar.
Then Quinn suddenly called out excitedly, “When we left Happy Town, the surroundings dissipated into points of light like this too!”
Right, at that time, the scenery dissolved like light spots, and then came—
“We can leave now!”
“Mmm.”
Su Xing mumbled softly, awakening from the haze.
Rubbing her eyes, she sat up.
She was in a brightly lit room.
Judging by the white decor, it was likely a medical ward or similar.
Sure enough, before long, a man entered—the same one Su Xing had seen before, the man whose phantasmal spirit was Little Angel.
If she remembered correctly, he was a physician from Lingyu Academy.
So they were back at Lingyu Academy?
Seeing her awake, the doctor poured her a glass of water and handed it to her.
He then placed a hand on her forehead, withdrawing it after a moment.
“No fever. Looks like you’re fine. I’ll go get your friends.”
As the doctor was about to leave, Su Xing called after him, “Teacher… are we back at school?”
He shook his head.
“No, you’re still in the Art Capital. Since things aren’t settled yet, you can’t return. Your friends can explain everything—they didn’t pass out.”
At the door, the doctor called out once, and three heads popped in immediately, flooding into the room.
“Su Xing! You’re finally awake! You were out cold all day—we were so worried!”
“Su Xing, are you alright? No fever now, right?”
“You’re okay now, right?”
Seeing the kids so full of energy, the doctor smiled and shook his head before kindly closing the door behind them.