Class S would not give chase.

That was one thing Irene made sure of after class B fled into the forest.

Several students had their weapons still raised, eyes fixed on the direction Ronan and the others had escaped. The silence that followed their departure was not calm.

"We should go after them," one of the students said.

Another nodded immediately. "They’re scattered. If we move now, we can finish this before they regroup."

"They took the opening and ran," another added, irritation clear in his voice. "Why are we letting them go?"

Irene did not look at any of them at first.

Her gaze remained on the statue.

Darius Vale was still trapped in its grip, body locked in place by the stone hand wrapped around his torso. Runes crawled across his arms, neck, and jaw, suppressing his mana and sealing his voice.

Despite that, his eyes remained calm and focused. It was quite the contrast.

"Hold position," Irene said. "Our objective was Darius Vale. We have him."

"And the node?" someone asked.

"Secondary, but secure it as well."

That earned a few uncomfortable looks.

Irene understood the reaction. Under normal circumstances, giving up a minor node so early would be foolish.

But Grace had been explicit.

Secure Darius.

Avoid unnecessary combat.

Do not abandon the statue unless the objective is threatened.

Do not pursue Class B if they retreat.

At the time, those instructions had sounded overly specific. Now they felt less like instructions and more like predictions.

Irene thought to the girl who had befriended her at the beginning of the school year. Grace Light.

She was an anomaly. Nothing about her made sense.

Usually Irene would be on guard when talking to someone new, especially if they came up to her on the first day and acted as if they were friends.

But Grace was different. It was hard to explain. It was like she knew Irene inside and out, and she knew exactly how to talk to her.

But despite that, Irene didn’t mind. She wasn’t sure why, but there wasn’t any ill intent behind Grace’s actions. Of that she was sure.

Still, that didn’t mean it wasn’t odd.

She turned back toward Darius.

"Where is your base?"

Irene signaled to the student who created the golem, and he nodded, easing up the runes.

The runes around his jaw dimmed slightly, allowing limited speech, but he still said nothing.

Irene waited.

It didn’t look like he was going to speak, however.

"Your class moved quickly," Irene continued. "You must have secured a location before reaching the statue. Riverbank? Elevated ground? A cave perhaps?"

Darius’s expression did not change.

"Have you made contact with other classes?"

No answer.

"You understand that refusing to answer does not help your class. We will get answers out of you whether you like it or not," one of the other students yelled impatiently.

Irene raised a hand, silencing him.

Amongst class S, she was respected quite a bit. Not only due to her family status, but also due to her sheer ability. She was ranked top 10 out of all the first years, there were not many who could match her, even amongst the S class.

Irene glanced back.

The student maintaining the construct was pale, sweat running down his temple as both hands remained pressed against the control rune carved into the statue’s rear base.

"Irene," he said through clenched teeth. "This is draining more than expected."

"Even with the assistance of the node?"

"Y-yes."

"How long?"

"Not long. The node is powering the frame, but the control burden is still on me. Suppressing him and keeping the statue active at the same time is too much."

"Endure a little longer."

His face scrunched up, but he nodded.

They had assumed the minor node would stabilize the statue completely, but that was not accurate. The node supplied power. It did not replace skill. The student maintaining it still had to shape the construct, direct the mana towards the runes, and prevent the trapped target from disrupting the rune flow using their own mana.

Irene’s thoughts shifted despite herself.

Class S at the beginning had been pathetic.

Not weak, but disorganized and ununiform.

Everyone wanted authority. Noble students refused to defer to commoners. Commoners resented noble command. Several students wanted Luca Underwood to lead because he was ranked first, but others rejected that immediately, arguing that strength alone did not qualify someone to manage a class-wide war.

Luca had tried to calm them, but he had failed, despite his best efforts.

The moment he spoke, half the class pit themselves against him.

Then Grace stepped in.

She did not raise her voice, demand silence, nor did she try to dominate the class.

She was patient.

That was what Irene remembered most clearly.

Grace waited until the loudest voices had already been exhausted arguing against Luca, until every small faction of the class had exposed what they wanted, directly or indirectly.

Then she spoke.

It should not have worked.

But it did.

That bothered Irene more than she wanted to admit.

Grace had not persuaded them like a normal leader. She had placed words exactly where they needed to go, at exactly the right moment. It was as if the argument had unfolded in front of her once before.

Crack.

Several heads turned, but Irene’s focus remained on Darius.

She opened her mouth to probe him again, but then–

A second disturbance came from the rear.

This one was worse.

A faint pulse of mana moved through the trees.

Several students turned at once.

Irene’s chest tightened.

Had someone been watching the altercation waiting to act?

"Secure Darius!" she commanded. "Do not let him escape!"

The group instantly started pivoting towards the statue.

"Irene! Behind you!"

The student who yelled her name was the one maintaining the statue.

Irene felt her neck start to heat up.

Fear gripped her heart.

But before she could turn around it was too late.

BOOM!