In his fight with Rose, Cyril took quite a bit of damage from her spell.
His barrier was ready to break at any moment.
While Cyril wasn't afraid of fighting against many, he wasn't arrogant enough yet to do so under these circumstances.
"Let's go," he called Morpho back.
His ears were already picking up people moving through the forest.
Cyril moved in the opposite direction, biding his time until the barrier recovered enough.
"This isn't over!"
...
As he moved through the woods, Cyril gradually realized that a lot more people were going for the signal than he thought.
Whenever someone's presence could be felt in front, he changed course, but every time he would encounter someone again.
So many people...
Suddenly a dagger appeared seemingly from nowhere, going for Cyril's throat.
Barely dodging it in time by bending back, Cyril rolled away from the attacker and immediately made a shield.
A firebolt soon flew at him, but it was easily blocked.
In front of Cyril appeared Jack's sister. She had already recovered and was back in the forest.
"How do you know my brother?" The girl asked with a cold expression.
"She is no longer a nervous mess..."
Cyril observed the area but didn't discover any other ambusher.
"What is your name?" He returned her question with another.
"...Emily. Answer me! Where have you seen my brother? What is he doing now!?" She yelled, her voice shaking.
"There must be some interesting drama between them."
Cyril was a little interested as well. Unfortunately, there was little time, as the others might arrive at any second.
"I don't know; we've only met once." Cyril replied while shaking his head.
Jack gave him directions on how to find him, but since the man himself doesn't want to tell his sister, Cyril wouldn't do that either.
Emily was about to say something again, but there was no time, as Cyril immediately approached.
In a hurry, she activated a spell, and smoke erupted, obscuring everything around.
Cyril came to a halt and focused on his surroundings.
He could get rid of this smoke with a move, but he decided to quickly see what Emily's next action was.
A dagger sliced at Cyril from the smoke; however, its speed wasn't that great.
Cyril easily grabbed the hand holding the dagger and pulled on it.
Emily ended up being brought out from the smoke, right in front of him, her expression full of panic.
"Not a bad attempt," Cyril calmly said and hit her with a fist.
Emily dropped to the ground; the barrier shattered.
"You... definitely... know something." She said through gritted teeth while disappearing.
She has some spirit. Cyril nodded approvingly.
At this moment a bolt of energy flew towards Cyril, which he dodged with a tilt of his body.
I took too long...
There were a couple of people arriving at the scene.
With his barrier still badly damaged, Cyril quickly moved away.
Now began a kind of cat-and-mouse game, with Cyril being the mouse.
Previously people had been avoiding him like a plague, but now they were all eager to see him.
He encountered ambush after ambush.
No matter how many students he took down, they still came looking for more.
They were quite passionate about it too.
Luckily, during this time Cyril's barrier managed to recover enough for him to have some leeway.
...
"You... will go down today!" yelled another enthusiastic student as he disappeared.
Cyril sat down to recover his breath.
All these battles were taking a toll on him.
Despite his barrier slowly recovering, there was something Cyril was more worried about.
Heavenly Dragon's Judgement technique used very little, but still a certain amount of mana.
Not to mention all of the fireballs and shields he cast during this time as well.
Cyril was beginning to feel drained, and for him such a state was dangerous.
Even Morpho was getting tired.
I need to end this pursuit somehow... He thought warily.
He wasn't going to die over an Academy exam, so if it comes to it, he will simply give up.
"I have an idea." Rhamn attracted Cyril's attention.
"We need to make them realize that a thin camel is still bigger than a horse. Break their spirits so they don't want to pursue us anymore," she said with a mean smirk.
This seemed like an idea that could work.
How should we do that?
Cyril finished resting and crossed his arms, interested in her proposal.
"Simple, we gather a big enough crowd and fight all of them at once." Rhamn raised her index finger in the air.
That's certainly... brave.
"It's important to make them feel hopeless, so try to appear unbeatable during the fight."
Easier said than done.
Still, Cyril earnestly thought about her idea. At least it sounded interesting.
And with his barrier now capable of taking a few hits, there was plenty of room for error as well.
"What do you think? Should we fight all of them?" Cyril asked Morpho on his shoulder.
She was also a part of this team, so her input was appreciated.
Even though the butterfly was tired, she still agreed without any hesitation, flapping her wings in excitement.
It's like she was saying, 'Let them come!'
"We'll do that then," Cyril said with a slight smile on his face.
...
Through the woods was walking a crowd of people; this was a gathering of many students from different classes.
They never really interacted with each other before but are now moving together with a single goal in mind: defeating Cyril.
They weren't like this originally. Even if Cyril was weakened, few wanted to try their chances.
Everyone was worried about their score, and it would take a bit of time out of the exam if they were to lose.
They would rather search for Cedric. He was a popular target for students in this exam.
However, they all changed their minds, convinced by a student with a two-handed sword on his back.
Cyril didn't remember his name and didn't care enough to ask Rhamn about it.
He was called Albert, a son of a guard captain stationed near the edge of the city.
Albert had a bit of a complex. Even though Ailanthus was a slightly unorthodox academy, it was still one of the best institutions around.
The principal of this place was that legendary figure after all.
The vast majority of the students studying here were nobles, who all received the best education before even enrolling here.
Although practicing magic was strictly permitted only after turning 18, nobles were taught everything surrounding it from a young age.
As a result, Albert found it difficult to compete with his classmates.
This weighed heavily on his mind, and Albert's self-esteem took a plunge ever since he first entered Ailanthus.
And Albert's earlier encounter with Cyril served as a spark that ignited all of his pent-up frustrations.
He never knew he could get so angry before; this was a first time for Albert.
He wanted to vent it somewhere, and Cyril was the perfect target.
Eager to prove something to someone, he went around the forest, inciting students against this 'genius among geniuses.'
It was surprisingly easy to do. Maybe many felt the same way Albert did about Cyril.
Albert sneered at them on the inside.
To him their whining felt indulgent.
They already had enough. It was as if a rich merchant was screaming about losing a few silver coins.
He was the one who had it really bad; their troubles were just ridiculous.
"Cyril is definitely getting exhausted at this point! Just a little bit more and we will throw that arrogant guy off his high horse!" Albert yelled with passion.
The morale among his troupe took a hit each time they got news of Cyril's duels, so he had to raise their spirits a little.
"Don't worry! With this many of us here, there is simply no way for him to win!" He raised his heavy sword in the air.
Lately they've chosen to gather into a bigger group, with a few scouts going around, searching for their target.
Just then, a signal was seen streaking through the sky.
"There! This is our chance! With me, brothers and sisters, we will win today!" Albert excitedly ran towards the signal.
The crowd all followed with increased fervor. It was like they were going into real battle.
...
The professors watching this unfold in a special room all wore a helpless expression on their faces.
"What is wrong with them?" Richard deliberately voiced his confusion.
No one answered his question; the people present here all had a guess over what was happening.
Richard shot a cautious glance at a figure in the middle of the room.
Comfortably sitting in a chair was a pale, young-looking woman. She wore a large witch hat that obscured her face, revealing only thin, smiling lips.
She was gently petting a white tiger cub lying on her lap—one that observed the projection of events with almost human-like excitement.
When Richard noticed the woman's smile getting wider, he quickly averted his gaze. A few beads of sweat rolled down his head.
"How is there time for this? We should deal with the spy first..." He sighed and whispered a complaint to himself.