Advent of the Three Calamities

Chapter 263  Understanding [2]

Staring at the scene, the Vice-Chancellor didn\'t know how to react. What sort of situation was this? "What are you doing, Leon? Help us get him away from here!" "Yes." With stiff movements, Leon moved forward grabbed Julien by the back, and tried to drag him away. At the same time, Aoife let go and addressed the Vice-Chancellor. "Vice-Chancellor, I apologize for what you saw. He tends to do this often. He\'s not trying to offend anyone... He just tends not to go out often." "....I see." The Vice-Chancellor squinted his eyes. She seemed easier to talk to than the rest. He should\'ve probably addressed her first. Things wouldn\'t have gotten to this point had he done that from the start. "I can see that he didn\'t mean anything bad by his words. I am not offended." "I\'m glad that is the case." Aoife secretly sighed in relief while silently glaring at Julien from the corner of her eyes. He and Kiera... why did they always end up provoking everyone with their nonsense? "Are you really the strongest in your group?"

The sudden question threw Aoife off-guard as she stiffened on the spot. "Pardon?" "Don\'t get me wrong. I can see that you\'re strong but isn\'t the title you currently hold something that is given to the strongest?" "....Yes, that\'s the case."

Aoife pursed her lips. As expected, he could see right through the fact that she wasn\'t the strongest in the group. "Then...?" He didn\'t finish his sentence, but as his gaze wandered behind her, Aoife understood what he was trying to imply. Relaxing her brows, Aoife inwardly sighed. \'It came down to this in the end.\' Nôv(el)B\\\\jnn

Lifting her head, Aoife opened her mouth to reply when a voice suddenly cut, "A person\'s rank doesn\'t reflect their true strength." "....It\'s as I said. A person\'s rank doesn\'t reflect their true strength." Stunned, Aoife turned her head to see Julien standing at the back with Kiera and Leon by his side. The Vice-Chancellor\'s head tilted as his gaze wandered toward Julien.

"What do you mean by that?" "....It\'s as I said. A person\'s rank doesn\'t reflect their true strength." Julien turned his gaze toward Leon. "He\'s ranked higher but I beat him." Leon stood in silence without a change of expression. Julien was partially right. He had indeed beaten Leon, but there were a few things that he had left out. Such as the fact that it had happened a long time ago...

But this was something only they knew. To the Vice-Chancellor, the piece of information seemed shocking and almost unbelievable. "Is he telling the truth?" "Yes." Leon replied shortly after. \'Is this a lie...?\' Despite Leon agreeing, the Vice-Chancellor didn\'t buy it. He had keen eyes, and he could see at a glance just how powerful Leon was. In his mind, the two of them were lying to protect Aoife\'s honor. \'How cute.\'

But. His eyes turned cold. "I don\'t like it when I\'m being made fun of like this." The air suddenly grew tense. Aoife, who stood by the side shuddered at the sudden change. The same was true for everyone present. "....I\'ll give you one last chance to tell me the truth."

The Vice-Chancellor\'s cold voice echoed throughout the area, gently spreading throughout every corner as the air around them chilled considerably. "Did you really defeat him, or is this all a lie you made up to protect her honor?" "I didn\'t lie." Julien remained firm with his answer. "I defeated him." "Yes." Leon also added to his statement. \'These two...\' The Vice-Chancellor felt his brows knit together tightly as his eyes lingered over the two. He couldn\'t detect any changes in their expressions, and it almost seemed like they were telling the truth, but he believed his eyes. He didn\'t think this was true at all. They were messing with him. Even if Julien was an Emotive Mage, the Vice-Chancellor could see the huge gap in rank between the two.

Especially since Leon had undergone body reformation. ....It was simply impossible. "I have shown restraint when you did what you did to the other cadets, but what I dislike the most is when I\'m being lied to. If you—" "I\'m weaker than the two of them." A voice suddenly cut through. Immediately, all eyes fell on Aoife who had her head lowered. "Even if what they said is the truth and you might find it hard to believe them, I am indeed weaker than them. The title doesn\'t belong to me but to Julien. I only took it since he was injured. I will be giving it back to him when I have to go ahead." Aoife\'s eyes trembled as she managed to articulate her words carefully. The situation was getting out of control, and she didn\'t want things to escalate further. With that being said, she was a little happy that the others were willing to help her, but Aoife had already come to terms with her inadequacies. She knew she was weaker than them, and she also knew others could see it. There was no need to lie like that. "....."

The surroundings turned quiet after Aoife\'s words as all eyes fell on her. Aoife didn\'t look up. She didn\'t want to see those gazes. All she could do was look down. On the other hand, the Vice-Chancellor was smirking. \'I knew it was a lie.\' There was simply no way his eyes could deceive him. "It wasn\'t so hard to say this, was it?" He brushed his hair back lightly, taking a quick glance at Julien and Leon. He was a little disappointed in the two, but he hid his feelings. For now, they were all on the same side, and there was no need for him to go hard on them. The only reason he had come was due to how the situation amongst the cadets was unfolding. Had it not been for that, he would\'ve remained at the back. "Alright, since—" "....I didn\'t lie. I did beat him." Clench.

The Vice-Chancellor clenched his teeth as his gaze fell back toward Julien. \'Still not giving up?\' It had been a while since he had felt this ticked off. On the other hand, Aoife was staring at Julien with slightly open eyes. \'What are you doing?\' She had done all of this so that the situation would smooth over quickly. Why was he doing this? "I didn\'t lie, and I can\'t be bothered to lie." Julien stepped forward, his steps gently echoing throughout as he came close to the Vice-Chancellor. "If you don\'t believe me, then you can test me yourself." Suddenly, Julien closed his eyes. When he opened them again, as if the very air had been sucked out of the area, the color of his eyes changed.

From hazel to red, and from red to purple...

"...." "...." What in the world?