The gymnasium had gone silent except for the low hum of the emergency lights and the muffled breaths of the hundreds of students pressed flat against the polished wooden floor. Armed women in cleaner uniforms stalked between the rows, rifles leveled at anyone who dared to move.

Kyouka knelt beside Selene, wrists forced behind her back, the cold barrel of a gun never too far away. Her eyes widened when she heard the name that had been spoken just moments before.

"A–Astrid…?" Kyouka whispered, her face pale.

Selene's expression hardened. She kept her gaze fixed on the ground, but her lips moved ever so slightly. "Don't say that name so loud. You know it's forbidden in front of Nina."

Kyouka flinched. "I know, but—why? Why is it forbidden? Every time someone mentioned it, Nina looked like she was about to explode. Who is she, really?"

Selene exhaled slowly, almost like she had been waiting for this question but dreading it at the same time. Her voice was low, almost a mutter. "Astrid was once our guild leader alongside Nina… and Nina's closest friend. Some said they were flower kissers...and I honestly believe they were."

Kyouka's eyes widened even more. "Guild leader? Astrid? Then… what happened to her? Why does everyone call her a traitor? And why haven't I ever heard the full story?"

Selene gave a bitter smile. "Because you weren't meant to. The higher-ups buried it, and the media was forced to comply. To the public, Astrid's name was erased. Because the ideology she brought was too dangerous."

"But why?" Kyouka pressed, her tone trembling between curiosity and disbelief.

Selene hesitated before answering, her voice dropping into a whisper so faint only Kyouka could hear. "Because Astrid, for some reason, joined the traitors. She sided with Lan Jia—the fourth matriarch of the Lan family. You know the one who was believed to have been killed by her three sisters?"

Kyouka froze. "Wait… that Lan Jia?"

Selene nodded. "Yes. Astrid followed her… and both of them were killed. That's the official story."

Kyouka's lips parted, but no words came out. She had trained under Nina, laughed with her, fought alongside her. She couldn't imagine Nina ever losing someone that important, let alone erasing them completely.

Then a shadow loomed over them. One of the armed women—her uniform still carrying faint traces of cleaning chemicals, but her rifle gleaming with lethal intent—crouched down and whispered something into the ear of the woman leading the group.

The leader's expression darkened. She straightened, heels clicking against the gym floor, and strode directly toward Principal Judith.

"Principal," she said, her voice sharp enough to cut through the silence. She raised her gun and leveled it at Judith's chest. "One of your teachers is missing. Where is she?"

Gasps rippled through the room. Judith, who had been forced to kneel with her hands behind her head, lifted her eyes slowly. Her lips pressed into a thin line.

"Missing?" Judith's voice was calm, but her thoughts were racing. The whole school is under their control. If one teacher slipped past them… does that mean this organization is even bigger than we thought? How could something like this grow so large under our noses?

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Judith muttered, her eyes steady.

The leader sneered. "Don't play games with me. Ms. Jenny is nowhere to be found. Where is she? What makes her so special?" She tilted her head, her finger tightening on the trigger. "What is her ability?"

Judith hesitated. Her gaze flickered for a moment, betraying her thoughts. Jenny…

"Speak!" the woman barked.

Judith opened her mouth, but the words tangled in her throat. She shook her head slowly. "I don't know."

The woman smiled thinly. Without hesitation, she swung her rifle sideways and pulled the trigger.

BANG!

The assistant kneeling beside Judith collapsed instantly, blood spraying across the polished floor. Screams erupted across the gym, students and staff trembling in horror as crimson pooled beneath the fallen body.

Kyouka squeezed her eyes shut, her entire body shaking in anger. Selene bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, but kept her head down.

Judith's eyes went wide. For a moment she didn't breathe, didn't move, just stared at the lifeless body beside her. Her jaw clenched, her teeth grinding audibly.

The leader's voice cut through the chaos. "This isn't a game." She pressed the rifle barrel against Judith's forehead. "Tell me the truth. Tell me now. Don't think you can hide anything, Principal. We know who you are."

Judith narrowed her eyes. "And who am I, then?"

The woman smirked. "The one they call Goddess Eye."

A collective gasp tore through the room.

Meiling, Xue, and even Kyouka stared at Judith with wide eyes, realization dawning on their faces.

"Isn't the Goddess Eye believed to be a myth? Wasn't she supposed to be an old hag?" the students began to question among themselves, but were quickly silenced.

"She… she can see abilities?" Meiling whispered, barely audible.

Her throat went dry. So that's why she's Principal. That's why she always seemed to know more than she should…

Judith remained silent, her expression tight, but her hands curled into fists behind her head.

The leader leaned closer, her smile cruel. "Yes. You can see the abilities of anyone you look at. Nothing is hidden from you."

Judith's jaw tightened. Her voice was low, almost a growl. "…Jenny's power is supposed to be High Velocity. She can accelerate objects, send them flying faster and straighter than physics should allow."

She paused. Her eyes darkened, shadows crossing her face. "…But she's the only academic in this entire academy whom I couldn't examine with my own eyes. Jenny always avoided me."

The leader tilted her head. "Interesting." She raised her walkie-talkie and pressed the button. "Squad, sweep every wing. Find Jenny. Now."

Static crackled through the device, followed by bursts of frantic gunfire.

Rat-tat-tat-tat!

The sound blared through the gymnasium, making everyone flinch. The leader's smile faded.

"Report!" she barked.

But only silence followed.

The woman who had whispered to her earlier—her second-in-command—reached for her own device. "Unit Three, respond!"

Nothing.

The leader's jaw clenched. Her eyes flicked toward the nearest door. "Keep a tight eye on every exit! No one leaves this place alive without my permission!" she shouted, her voice echoing off the walls.

The gymnasium fell into a tense silence once more, broken only by the sobs of students and the faint static from the abandoned walkie-talkie.

Judith kept her head lowered, but her thoughts were sharp and unyielding. Jenny… what are you hiding?

***

Ren and Daichi pressed themselves against the wall just outside the gymnasium, the echoes of gunfire still ringing faintly in their ears.

"Shit," Daichi muttered under his breath, his fists clenched tightly. "Who the hell brings guns into a school…?"

Ren stayed calm, eyes darting around. "Doesn't matter who. What matters is—we're trapped in this with them."

Daichi swallowed, his face pale. "So what do we do? Run? Hide?"

Ren shook his head. "No. If we just hide, we'll get caught eventually. We need to figure out what's going on inside and contact someone stronger."

Daichi gave him a sideways glance. "You sound way too calm for someone who just heard gunshots."

Ren shrugged. "Panicking won't help. Beside aren't you used to this? Aren't you form a big clan with lot of gangsters?"

"Yeah but anyone rarely use guns." A tense silence stretched between them before Daichi whispered, "Alright… then what's the plan?"

Ren tapped his finger against the wall, thinking. "We need to contact someone outside. The police, teachers, anyone. There should be phones in the staff room. That's our best bet or at least find Ms.Jenny or principal."

Daichi blinked. "Phones are in the staff room? That's on the second floor."

"Yeah. Which means we'll need to sneak past whoever's roaming the halls." Ren glanced toward the entrance, where faint shadows shifted under the gymnasium doors. "And considering this world, I'm willing to bet every single one of them is a woman."

Daichi let out a bitter laugh. "Exactly why it's bad. I wish they were men."

"Ah yeah! I forgot what kind of a world this is." Ren nudged him forward. "We move carefully. Stay low, stay quiet."

They slipped along the hallway, their footsteps muffled against the polished floor. The academy that usually bustled with noise now felt suffocatingly silent, the air heavy with tension.

At the first corner, they stopped. Two armed women in cleaner uniforms were pacing the hall, rifles slung casually across their shoulders.

Ren pulled Daichi back, whispering, "We'll wait until they pass."

Daichi's jaw tightened. "If they see us—"

"They won't. Unless you start breathing like a dying bull," Ren cut him off sharply.

Daichi scowled but forced himself to breathe slower. After a long minute, the two women moved further down the corridor.

"Now," Ren whispered, leading the way.

They darted across, slipping into a side hallway. The path toward the stairwell was clear, but as they reached it, another problem arose.

A barricade of desks and chairs had been set up near the staircase, with two women standing guard.

"Damn it," Daichi cursed under his breath. "They've locked down the second floor."

Ren's eyes narrowed. "No… not fully. Look." He pointed toward the far side where a cleaning cart had been left unattended, half-shielding a service door. "If we use that door, we can bypass the main staircase."

Daichi raised an eyebrow. "You sure that doesn't lead us straight into trouble?"

Ren smirked faintly. "Trouble's everywhere. This way just has a slightly lower chance of getting us shot."

Daichi sighed. "Fine. Lead the way, genius."

As they crept toward the cart, Ren's mind stayed sharp. Every creak of the floorboard, every faint shuffle of footsteps could mean discovery. He knew this was only the beginning.

And somewhere inside, Principal Judith—or someone—had to still be free.

They just had to survive long enough to find that someone.