The moment Horne coughed up blood and fell unconscious, the academy infirmary staff, who had been standing by below the arena, rushed up immediately.
Leading them was the Medical Director, a middle-aged elf woman in a white robe. She quickly checked Horne’s pupils, pulse, and breath. Her expression instantly turned incredibly solemn.
Without a moment’s delay, she knelt beside Horne. A soft emerald-green light lit up at her fingertips, which she tapped against the side of his neck, his brow, and his chest.
The moment the light sank into his skin, Director Flora’s eyebrows knitted together tightly.
“Take him to the emergency room immediately! Prepare High-Level Purification Magic and Life-Stabilizing Potion! Fast!”
She barked the orders at a rapid-fire pace. Her subordinates hurriedly brought over a stretcher, carefully placed Horne onto it, and, led by a medic, rushed toward the infirmary.
The Medical Director did not leave immediately. Her gaze fell upon the puddle of black liquid emitting an ominous aura, and her expression grew even more grim.
She crouched down and used a pair of tweezers to carefully take a small sample of the black liquid Horne had vomited, placing it into a transparent crystal vessel for observation. The liquid wriggled slightly in the container, giving off an uncomfortable, cold, and rotten scent.
“This is a mixture of waste energy and Soul Dregs produced after forcibly squeezing out one’s vitality and potential…” Her voice carried a suppressed rage as her sharp gaze swept over the eight other high-level students who had gathered around.
“He took a forbidden drug! And it is the kind with an extremely malicious nature that permanently damages one’s foundation! Do any of you know what happened?”
The eight of them looked at each other, their faces filled with confusion and terror. A male student dressed as a mage stammered, “W-we didn’t know! Senior Horne only said he wanted to take the new President down a peg and show everyone who the real elites of the academy were… He—he never mentioned anything about forbidden drugs! We swear!”
“That’s right! We really didn’t know!”
“If we had known he was using forbidden drugs, there’s no way we would have played along with his nonsense!”
The Medical Director’s face was ashen. She clearly did not believe they were entirely ignorant, but now was not the time to press the issue.
She stood up and looked toward Ophelia, Camilla, Lillian, and Emma, who had followed. Her tone softened slightly.
“Student Ophelia, thank you for subduing him in time. Otherwise, if the drug’s power had fully erupted, he might have… right there. His current situation is extremely dangerous. His vitality is severely overdrawn, his meridians are damaged in multiple places, and his soul has suffered hidden injuries. I must return immediately to oversee the treatment.”
After saying that, she also left in a hurry.
The area around the arena was already in an uproar. The wave of noise was loud enough to nearly blow the roof off the stadium.
“Forbidden drugs?! Is Senior Horne crazy?”
“That black blood… it looks sinister! No wonder he suddenly became so powerful!”
“Is he willing to throw away his life and future just to win? That’s terrifying!”
“President Ophelia is too strong. She could actually win even under those conditions…”
“Strong? If that drug hadn’t suddenly failed, the result might have been different!”
Discussions, exclamations, doubts, and lingering fears intertwined, making the scene quite chaotic for a time. The teachers and student officials maintaining order began to shout loudly, attempting to have the crowd exit in an orderly manner.
Ophelia remained deaf to the surrounding noise. Her ice-blue eyes fell upon the puddle of black liquid being carefully collected by arriving Alchemy Department teaching assistants, then she looked in the direction where Horne had been carried away.
“Let’s go. We’ll go take a look.”
Camilla nodded. The group followed the infirmary staff toward the medical wing. Lillian and Emma followed as well, their faces full of worry.
Many curious students tried to follow, but most were blocked outside the infirmary by the teachers maintaining order.
Outside the emergency room, the atmosphere was tense. The Medical Director and several high-level healers were busy inside. Through the glass window on the door, one could see the light of purification spells and the constant changing of potion bottles.
The eight high-level students from earlier stood dejectedly in the hallway, undergoing a harsh interrogation from several department professors who had rushed over upon hearing the news. They adamantly insisted they were unaware, claiming they were merely incited by Horne to come along.
The professors’ brows furrowed tighter and tighter, clearly skeptical of this explanation.
Taking forbidden drugs was an extremely serious violation of discipline, and even more so, it was a mockery of one’s own life and the academy’s reputation. If it was proven that there was collective knowledge or encouragement behind it, the punishment would be exceptionally severe.
To this end, the infirmary doctors had performed drug tests on each of them. The results showed that every single one of them had taken an excessive amount of Strengthening Potion, though no forbidden drug components were detected.
Generally speaking, before an official arena battle, the academy would conduct drug tests on both parties to prevent one side from gaining a larger advantage by consuming various strengthening potions.
“You lot… Sigh! Go back and wait for your punishment!”
The professors sighed helplessly, clearly ashamed of their students’ despicable behavior, yet relieved that they had not actually taken forbidden drugs.
However, the professor from the Warrior Department could not find any joy at all, because his student really had taken a forbidden drug.
“So, what did he use? Blood-Burning Potion or Red Dragon’s Strength?”
The two names he mentioned were well-known forbidden drugs on the Tarora Continent. In most regions, these drugs—including their raw ingredients—were prohibited items.
“Neither. It was Black Skeleton Medicine.”
A crisp, pleasant female voice drifted from the other end of the hallway.
Headmistress Korova was holding her rabbit doll. Rarely, she did not wear her usual smiling expression. Her small face was entirely serious.
Beside her was an old man in a deep blue mage robe—Professor Bernard of the Alchemy Department, Victoria’s father.
Upon seeing them, the students in the hallway immediately fell silent. Even the professors stopped their questioning.
“How is the situation?”
Korova asked the Medical Director, who had just stepped out of the emergency room.
The Medical Director removed her mask, her face still looking troubled.
“His life is saved for now, but it was a very close call. We used the highest-specification treatment plan and could only barely stabilize the situation. He will need long-term and expensive care afterward, and… the hope for recovery is slim.”
Her words left the hallway in a dead silence. The eight seniors turned pale, their bodies beginning to tremble. They had not expected the consequences to be so severe.
Professor Bernard’s cold gaze swept over the eight of them. His voice was as cold as the winds of the Northlands.
“Consuming forbidden drugs and treating the school rules as if they were nothing. You eight are equally to blame. Take them all to the Disciplinary Committee’s interrogation rooms and question them separately. I want to know every single detail!”
“Professor! We really didn’t know about the forbidden drug!” someone wailed.
“Whether you are innocent or not, we will find out after the interrogation.”
Bernard was entirely unmoved. He waved his hand for the Law Enforcement Team students who had followed to step forward. His fierce and stern appearance even gave Lillian and Emma a fright.
For a moment, they thought the person before them was actually Professor Bernard’s twin brother, until he secretly flashed a loving smile at the two of them. Only then were they certain that the man before them was indeed the professor they knew.
Korova sighed, rubbed her rabbit doll, and looked at Ophelia and Camilla.
“The two of you, come with me for a moment.”