Before Arthur could swing his sword, a vine suddenly sprouted from the ground and wrapped around his arm.
'What?' Arthur thought in shock. He hadn't expected the [Academy Committee] to use such a dirty trick against him.
"Cowardly bastards," Arthur muttered angrily, his cold gaze fixed on Lily in the distance.
One of Nana's clones immediately punched Arthur in the stomach, forcing him to take a few steps back.
'This little runt is a physical specialist?!' Arthur thought in disbelief. His current physical strength was equivalent to that of an adult, yet the punch from Nana's clone made him stagger backward, and he still felt the pain in his abdomen.
'These vines are such a nuisance,' Arthur thought, then channeled all his strength until veins bulged all over his arms.
*CLACK
*CLACK
With all his might, the vine wrapped around his arm began to slowly snap apart.
However, Nana didn't give Arthur the chance to break free. Ten of her clones rushed in to attack him.
Arthur tilted his head just in time to dodge a punch aimed at his face. Then, he raised his right leg and managed to block a kick coming at him.
As Arthur prepared to dodge the next wave of attacks, he suddenly felt the gravity around him increase again.
Caught off guard by the sudden change, Arthur couldn't avoid the other incoming attacks from Nana's clones.
Punches and kicks rained down on Arthur's body—his face, stomach, arms, back, and even his groin.
'Damn it!' Arthur cursed in his mind.
The vines gradually grew and wrapped around Arthur's entire body, rendering him unable to move.
Even though Arthur was completely restrained and powerless to fight back, his hand still gripped his sword tightly.
Seeing that Arthur was no longer able to resist, nine of Nana's clones merged back into her main body.
However, Lily and Victor remained on alert. They kept their abilities active in case Arthur suddenly lashed out.
"So, you've finally submitted, naughty boy," Nana said with a mocking smile.
"Peh." Arthur spat at her in anger, hitting her face with saliva.
Lily, Victor, and the Academy students widened their eyes in shock at Arthur's action.
Nana was momentarily stunned. She touched her face, and her expression instantly shifted from mocking to furious.
"You bastard! I'll kill you!" Nana screamed in rage.
A hundred pink lights emerged from Nana's body, forming a hundred clones.
Blinded by anger, the hundred Nana clones charged at Arthur without regard for her status as a member of the [Academy Committee].
Seeing this, Lily immediately summoned hundreds of vines to restrain the clones.
Lily's efforts managed to hold back most of them, but some clones slipped through the net of vines.
Even though Victor tried to help by intensifying the gravity around Arthur, his gravitational field had little effect on Nana, a physical combat specialist.
Several of Nana's clones that got through began attacking Arthur with punches and kicks.
Arthur, seeing the incoming attacks, prepared to throw his sword if necessary.
As one of the clones' fists came within inches of his face, the audience began to close their eyes. Arthur, too, was ready to throw his sword if he was hit.
*WHOOSH
Just millimeters before the clone's punch could land on Arthur's face, another fist suddenly smashed into the clone's head.
That punch instantly shattered the clone into glowing pink particles.
"That's Van Black."
"How did he get there so fast?"
"So quick! So strong!"
"Master," Arthur said in shock, wondering how Van had suddenly appeared.
Van ignored Arthur and the other students. Instead, he looked at the remaining clones and activated [Void Eye].
Van's crimson eyes glowed with a purplish hue, and all the Nana clones instantly vanished, as if some invisible force had erased them completely.
Seeing her clones wiped out so effortlessly, Nana finally came to her senses, froze, and regained her sanity.
The remaining clones caught in the vines dissolved into pink light and merged back into Nana's main body.
Lily and Victor sighed in relief upon seeing Nana calm down, but they now shifted their vigilance toward Van.
Van activated [World Treasure] and summoned an ordinary sword, then coated it with [Mana].
He swung the sword, effortlessly cutting through the vines binding Arthur.
Lily's eyes were filled with shock as she witnessed Van slice through her vines so easily.
She knew the toughness and elasticity of her vines—elite soldiers would struggle to free themselves from their grasp. Yet Van cut through them as if slicing tofu.
"What now, Master?" Arthur asked while gripping his sword tightly.
"What do you think, Lucas White?" Van asked coldly in a specific direction.
Everyone's gaze—Arthur, Nana, Lily, Victor, Silvie, and the Academy students—followed Van's.
They saw the head of the [Academy Committee], Lucas White, standing with the other five committee members in a far-off corner, as if they had merely been spectators rather than authority figures.
Only now did everyone realize that the six [Academy Committee] members had been present from the beginning, silently observing the entire battle.
Noticing all the eyes on him, Lucas finally stepped forward.
"I didn't expect you to notice me, even though I suppressed my presence with magic," Lucas said with a faint smile.
"I don't care about that. What are you going to do now, white-haired brat?" Van asked coldly, pointing his sword at Lucas.
Even though Van was only 1.4 meters tall—much shorter than the 1.8-meter-tall Lucas—to the onlookers, Van appeared far more dominant.
Hearing Van call him a "brat," Lucas grew irritated, veins bulging on his forehead.
"Arrogant kid. I'm six years older than you," Lucas said in frustration.
Van didn't respond with words. Instead, he stared at Lucas with his glowing crimson-purple eyes.
Under Van's gaze, Lucas suddenly felt an emptiness inside him, as if all the [Mana] in his body had vanished.
'What? Why can't I feel my [Mana]?!' Lucas panicked.
"Well, Lucas?" Van asked, and the shadow beneath his feet began to ripple, ready to summon [Shadows] at any moment.
Seeing Van activate [101 Shadows], Lucas panicked even more.
In the end, Lucas sighed and said, "Let's just forget this. The next class is about to begin. You don't want to get punished on your first day, do you?"
"Fine," Van replied, then stored his sword back into [World Treasure]. His rippling shadow calmed, and the purple glow in his crimson eyes faded.
As the glow disappeared, Lucas finally regained control of his [Mana], making him feel relieved.
"Let's go," Lucas said to the other committee members, turning and walking away.
Although the other [Academy Committee] members didn't know what had just happened or why Lucas let Van go, they said nothing and silently followed him.