The class representative lay motionless on the floor.
I recalled the barrier that had protected the class representative when we had a sparring match.
It was a capability that could easily block attacks from low-level demons.
If he were alone, the class representative wouldnât lose to a low-level demon.
But he was dead.
His face, which had looked urgent as he ran towards me at a much faster speed than usual to save me, came to mind.
Was it because he had released the barrier for faster movement, or because he didnât have time to raise it in the critical situation?
In any case, the conclusion was one.
He died because of me.
I stood there in a daze, looking down at the class representativeâs fallen body.
The things that had flowed from his body had dyed the floor a deep red.
A similar color of emotion spread in my chest.
It was a sinister and sticky emotion, like the color.
A female student who had been standing in the center ran over and clung to the fallen class representative, wailing.
The female student, blaming herself and sobbing, cried out.
From a distance, male students were taking hits from demons to protect her as they ran towards her.
If this continued, that girl would die too.
Thinking this, I moved my body, stood in front of the girl, and emitted flames from my hands.
The crimson flames burning differently from usual seemed to resemble the emotion that filled my chest.
The flames were hot.
I could feel a burning heat from my hands, but I ignored it and stretched out both hands to grab the heads of the demons leaping at me in mid-air.
The demons caught by my burning hands burned in the air.
They screamed in pain, but I gritted my teeth and didnât release the power in my hands.
Eventually, the demons engulfed in flames turned black and burned.
I released the demons I had been gripping tightly and cut off the flames coming from my hands, which were getting hotter.
However, the crimson flames that had started burning on my arms didnât go out even when I blocked the source of the flames.
The flames spread from my hands to my arms, and from my arms to my body.
It was hot, hot, and then it hurt.
A scorching pain enveloped my entire body.
I screamed in the terrible pain that felt like my mind was about to snap.
The scream resembled the ones the demons had let out earlier.
At that moment, a voice echoed in my head.
[Letâs burn everything.]
The voice reverberated in my mind.
I donât know. It hurts, itâs hot,
[Donât you hate the things that hurt you? Arenât you angry? So, letâs make everything hurt the same way. Letâs burn everything. The things you hate. The world you hate.]
The ominous voice whispered.
Burn, burn everything.
Because it hurts, because you hate, because itâs hard to think.
[Your anger will burn the world, and as it burns, the things that hurt you will disappear.]
If everything is burned, will it stop hurting?
[Yes, burn everything. Without leaving a single thing.]
Burn.
Starting with the closest things.
[Burn.]
I turned around.
[Everything.]
The crying, the female student, the class representativeâs body.
[Burn.]
Burn... burn?
[Burn everything.]
...No.
.
..
...
When I came to my senses, I felt the gazes of Eve and the students looking at me.
I took a deep breath to clear my head and remembered that we were in the middle of training.
Next to me were the crying female student and two male students clenching their teeth.
Where is the class representative?
Looking around, I saw someone lying on a mattress spread out on the gym floor.
I rushed to the person lying there.
The class representative was breathing heavily with a haggard face and his eyes closed.
His neck seemed fine.
It seemed that what happened inside didnât affect his real body.
I took his hand, which was trembling, and he opened his eyes slightly.
Looking at me, the class representative smiled despite his pain.
âYouâre safe, I see. Thatâs a relief...â
Hearing him say that with a trembling voice, I wanted to shout at him.
Whatâs a relief?
Wasnât it because of me that you ended up like this?
Just as I was about to shout at him,
âHuuu, Iâm sorry... I couldnât hold them properly... Hic. Huuu.â
The female student, who had been crying all along, ran to the class representative and started crying loudly.
Seeing the female student crying and sobbing, the class representative, looking flustered, tried to calm her down, saying, âItâs okay, Jessi... Itâs not your fault...â but her crying didnât stop.
The members of our group, including me, sat around the class representative and watched the other groups finish their training.
When Eve called out, a group of five students stepped forward.
When Eve snapped her fingers, they disappeared, and some of the students who had disappeared with their group members reappeared alone, screaming, before the 10 minutes were up.
The student who appeared had a pale face and was clutching a part of their body, groaning, but soon realized they were unharmed and sighed in relief.
Eve laid the student, who couldnât regain their composure, on the mattress to rest, and we realized that these students had died in the hallucination magic during training.
One from Group 4.
Two from Group 5.
One from Group 6.
Every time a student who had come out earlier than the others struggled, our groupâs female student, who had stopped crying, burst into tears again, so the crying didnât stop until all the other groups finished their training.
Those who had seen their group members die during training, like us, gathered around the resting group members, looking pale.
Later, the students who had recovered from lying on the mattresses even comforted the dejected group members, telling them they were fine and to cheer up.
These were the children who had come here to become heroes and who were most saddened by the loss of others.
They were obviously good people.
I looked around the gym.
It was as wide as a soccer field.
I recalled a description from a novel.
[The gym was filled with blood.]
How many people must have died for the blood to fill this gym?
Certainly, more than half of the students here would have been included.
Thinking about this made me feel sick.
At that moment, I felt the class representative grab my hand from the side.
His worried gaze, though he didnât say anything, was asking if I was okay.
I wasnât okay.
I felt that if these children died now, I would be very sad.
I couldnât just let them die anymore.
I must have failed to manage my expression properly, so I struggled to return to a neutral face.
âEveryone, pay attention. Iâll tell you what needs to be improved in each group.â
When Eve snapped her fingers, a hologram-like screen appeared in the air.
In the screen, Yun Siwoo was cutting down a horde of demons with incredible agility.
âActually, thereâs not much to say about Group 1. Siwoo was so strong that the other students didnât even get a chance to act. If I have to point out something to Siwoo, itâs that he shouldnât try to do everything alone. He could do it this time because he was much stronger than the enemies, but there will definitely be a day when he canât handle it, right?â
Yun Siwoo laughed awkwardly at Eveâs words.
The other groupâs children looked at Yun Siwoo with astonishment.
It was a special performance by the top-tier Yun Siwoo, as I had expected.
The screen changed.
It showed the appearance of Group 2, which included Sylvia.
Under Sylviaâs command, Group 2âs handling of the demons looked quite stable.
Even when other group members made mistakes, Sylviaâs spells blocked the gaps.
There were no major flaws, so Eve only gave praise and minor points for improvement to Group 2.
When the screen showed Group 3, Eveâs eyes sharpened.
In the first battle, I was shown reacting to an unexpected demon movement.
Fortunately, the female student in the center used her telekinesis to hold the demon and safely dispose of it, but it seemed that Eve didnât like it.
âEvan, you should have been able to react to that movement. Your reaction was much slower than during sparring. If Jessi hadnât handled it, an accident could have happened. Since no one was hurt, Iâll just mention this and move on.â
The group members all sighed at the mention of no one being hurt, as they all knew what happened next.
The video showed me hesitating to kill the demon, and the demon, freed from telekinesis, lunging at me, and the demonâs teeth sinking into the class representativeâs neck as he tried to stop it.
Eve paused the video and looked at us with a dry voice.
âJessi, youâre not proficient with your ability. If you couldnât bind it perfectly, you should have at least warned your teammates and restrained it with a weapon before it broke free. If you panic and do nothing when an enemy is attacking your teammateâs back, this kind of thing will happen again.â
The criticized female student nodded with tears in her eyes.
âMay, you made a poor judgment. Even if your teammate is in danger, you should help within your ability. What would happen if you turned your back on an enemy you were fighting? You should have at least created a defensive measure with your ability. Because of that judgment, you and your teammates had a bad experience.