"Miller and Ryan, which professor were you the assistants of again?" Professor Howard asked with a rising voice. This wasn't a question. It was an accusation. The focuses shifted from one side of the clearing to the other. Those who knew looked at Professor Enoch. He took a step back in bafflement. His brows rose and the corners of his mouth fell.

  "We work for Professor Enoch, Sir Howard," they immediately sold him out. It wasn't like they were oblivious. They had understood what was going on. In fact, Alec spotted their shoulders to shake briefly. They feared that they would be implicated alongside the man. They wanted to weather the storm.

  'Holy shit! Good job, Evan!' Alec praised mentally. He could feel a cold wave of relaxation spread across his chest. Even if he wasn't out of the woods yet, he had a brief reprieve. If he could, he would've dashed and taken the guy into a deep hug. Still, his face didn't betray an emotion. Live first, celebrate later.

  "Professor Enoch," Hunter Howard said. A sharp glint appeared in his eyes for a moment before disappearing. Professor Enoch, on the other hand, quickly gathered his bearings. Alec felt a sudden pang of guilt, but the relief pushed it back down. After all, if Professor Enoch wasn't guilty, there probably wouldn't be enough time for them to execute someone else. And if he really was guilty, he would be executed and everything would be fine.

  "Speak," Professor Howard ordered. He raised his hand and pointed it toward the man. A horrifying amount of mana torrented forward. The mana was so thick that it seemed to liquefy. Alec felt lucky to be not on the receiving end of that mana. Once it wrapped around the man, Professor Enoch was restrained. His hands joined behind him, his legs bent backward from his knees and his back arched as he started floating mid-air. The man either didn't try or couldn't struggle.

  "This is utter nonsense, Sir Howard!" he said with a raspy voice. He probably had a lot of pressure on his throat, like Alec from before. It was horrifying. Just how strong was Professor Howard to be able to play with him like a child? And he wasn't even over a hundred level. What were those legends like then?

  "That isn't a convincing argument, Mr. Enoch!" Professor Howard bellowed. Enoch's face crumpled in terror. He tried to shrink, to become smaller. But still couldn't move.

  "Isn't it obvious!? This heretic is trying to frame me! He must have approached my students on purpose!" he struggled. Alec understood. But he still prayed for his downfall. "Believe me, Sir Howard! I am not the one to dabble in heresy. I have lived a life of righteousness. You know me better than everyone here!"

  "I can't trust you based on that," Professor Howard said. He thought for a second, then snapped his finger. The ground under him liquefied and then settled down to a semi-fluid state. He darted, riding the earth. The earth carried him away with a mind-blowing speed. A disorienting boom resounded. It was a sonic boom. He was faster than sound. But by how much, Alec couldn't understand. Just like that, he disappeared.

  In that short moment he left, the mana restraining both Alec and Enoch dissipated. While everyone was busy watching Professor Howard disappear, Alec felt something. It was as if a coiling snake was making its way up his leg. He unleashed a wave of mana in fury and stepped back. Once he turned, his eyes settled on Professor Enoch, who was pointing his hand toward Alec with a frown of desperation.

  Alec shook. He couldn't retaliate. He was confident in holding his own, but that wasn't the problem. He didn't want to attract attention to his abilities, not in the current situation. Fortunately, Alec wasn't alone in it. He had curried favors with many people throughout his stay in the academy. A terrifying pressure spread and settled on Professor Enoch. A five-meter-wide purple magic circle appeared above his head. Before he could react, he was instantly slammed against the ground, his bones creaking.

  "Professor Andrew..." Alec muttered. Looking at the telekinetic mage. Andrew Walker's hand a claw pointing downward, purple light shimmered in his eyes. He looked down at the miserable Enoch with lines creasing his forehead, disgusted.

  "You don't have the right to act before he comes back," he said. Walking up to his side, he bent down on one knee and pressed his hand on the man's back. Immediately, Professor Enoch's mana-flow was cut.

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  'He was that stronger than him?' Alec thought. He nodded toward Professor Andrew thankfully.

  The next few minutes of excruciating silence passed. Finally, Professor Howard came back, bringing with him a gale. The speed he cut through the air caused a whizzing noise to spread as if a fighter jet had stopped right in front of them.

  'Holy shit,' Alec thought when he saw the man.

  His face had the deepest frown Alec had seen. His eyes blazed as little sparks of blue and red flames started forming around him. The temperature rose in the clearing by a few degrees. Alec could see those road shimmers one would see on a hot day in the distance. More so, he felt the air dry up in real-time. Hunter Howard was angry, and an angry demi-god was not something you wanted to be next to.

  "Enoch! What are these!?" he shouted. He placed a gunny sack on the ground and ripped it open. Tens of vials came out from the sack and scattered in front of him. One rolled and stopped next to Andrew Walker. He bent down and picked the vial up before smelling it.

  "It's one of the demonic potions," he said calmly, a disgusted frown on his face. He poured the potion on the ground and threw away the vial.

  "If you are innocent as you have said, why were there demonic potions inside both your special labs and your living quarters?" Professor Howard said. His nostrils flared in anger.

  "I- Those aren't mine! They must have planted it there!"

  "Lying till the end, heretic? I didn't want things to come down to this," Professor Howard said. "How can someone go into your living quarters without your knowledge? Especially these two students," he continued while pointing toward Alec and Evan, who were standing side by side now.

  "They- They must have..." Enoch muttered. His face was an ugly mess at this point. The man was barely holding back his tears. For some reason, Alec felt bad. He averted his eyes. He couldn't look at the man's face. He knew heresy was an unforgivable crime, but still...

  Finally, Professor Enoch gave up. The light in his eyes died, and tears started flowing. He stopped talking or making any sounds for that.

  "I hereby declare Enoch Wright to be a heretic, and banish him from humankind!" Professor Howard shouted while turning toward the students. Students slowly started opening their mouths, one by one.

  "Judge the heretic!"

  "Heavenly punishment!"

  Shouts started rising. When Alec turned toward Evan, he saw his chest to be rising and falling a bit faster than how it normally was. His mouth twitched. He scratched his cheek.

  'Maybe he feels bad too. He was the one to figure it all out, after all,' Alec thought before turning back toward Hunter Howard. With a flick of his hand, a structure rose from the ground. It was a guillotine, albeit without a blade. It settled into place with a rustle, causing Enoch to wince.

  "Deal out the holy judgment!"

  "Demons perish, mankind lives!"

  The crowd was becoming rowdier. Professor Andrew used telekinetic magic to lock the man into the guillotine, his head and his hands hanging out. Alec's hands were getting clammy. He rubbed it onto his white pants.

  "Mankind's flames burn!"

  "Uriel judges your heresy!"

  The atmosphere seemed to become stale for a moment. Professor Howard raised his hand and a transparent, blue blade made of pure mana appeared on the guillotine, ready to fall down at a moment's notice.

  Alec took a deep breath. His heart skipped a beat.

  The crowd's shouts died down.

  Enoch Wright raised his head one last time, to see the crowd looking at him with blazing fury. Tears and snot covered his face, however, he didn't sob. He didn't shout. He didn't make a sound.

  Finally, the blade fell.

  A clean cut separated the man's head from his neck. His eyes widened. The crowd started cheering with fervor.

  His head rolled. As if it had a mind of its own, it kept rolling until it hit Alec's shoe.

  Alec looked down with widened eyes at the severed head. Two thin lines of blood spurted out of his carotid arteries. They splattered against and soiled Alec's pants red.

  The man's widened eyes, full of swollen, red capillaries stared back at Alec. Unblinking.

  He suddenly felt sick, incredibly sick at that. Bile rose from his stomach before he forcefully swallowed it.

  A wave of memories came crashing down against his consciousness.

  He remembered their deal with Evan, he would make the potions, and Evan would sell them.

  Then he remembered how he had panicked and deleted his own memories, also sealing his mind with anti-memetic magic against these potions.

  Alec's breaths became short and rapid. His fists tightened and relaxed repeatedly as he slowly turned his head toward Evan. He wasn't in a better situation.

  "We did this? You framed him?" Alec asked with telepathic communication. Evan absent-mindedly nodded, his eyes still locked onto the head.

  "Yes."

  "The potions, how did you—"

  "I asked Rebecca Bailey. The anti-memed did come in handy. Just like you said," Evan replied. His head slowly turned. When Alec looked into Evan's eyes, he felt like he saw something different. Something died in there.

  Then maybe, they would have to kill that thing anyway, to survive in this world.

  "We live on, and that is all that matters..."