In the blink of an eye, Merlin was there.
His rapier pierced through the enemy's ribs before the man even realized what had happened.
The soldier's breath hitched—his body jerking violently before he collapsed, blood spilling onto the pavement.
Dorian froze, his crimson eyes flickering toward Merlin.
Merlin didn't look at him.
He stepped past the body, his expression cold, unreadable.
"Too slow," he murmured.
Dorian's jaw clenched.
But there was no time to argue.
The third soldier adjusted his trajectory, turning his sights on Seraphina.
She was breathing heavily, her ice magic cracking under the sustained pressure of gunfire.
She had the skill, but not the instinct to kill.
His free hand flicked up, and suddenly—
The gunman's targeting system malfunctioned instantly, his perception warping completely due to Merlin's space affinity.
The man hesitated for a second.
However, that was all Merlin needed.
Keryx pierced his throat, a clean, precise strike.
The man collapsed, choking on his own blood.
Seraphina lowered her hands, her ice-blue magic fading.
Her breath was unsteady. Her fingers trembled slightly.
Dorian remained silent, his eyes locked onto the bodies at their feet. His grip on his knives was tight enough to shake.
But this was their first kill.
Merlin watched them carefully.
This was the difference.
Between someone who had killed before—and someone who was killing for the first time.
He turned away, flicking Keryx once to let the blood splatter onto the pavement.
"Get used to it," he said simply.
Merlin shook his head, but he was right.
Because this wasn't the end.
It was just the beginning.
For a long moment, nothing moved.
Seraphina stood frozen, her silver eyes locked onto the corpse at her feet. Her ice magic flickered faintly in her hands, but it was unstable, wavering like her unsteady breath.
Dorian, meanwhile, simply stared down at the man he had wounded but failed to finish. His grip on his knives was tight, his knuckles white.
Merlin could already tell.
Neither of them had fully processed it yet.
The first kill was always the hardest.
It was a line that, once crossed, could never be undone.
He had seen it before—in the real world…and in the novel as well.
Some people hesitated and got themselves killed.
Some people broke under the weight of it.
And some people… learned.
Merlin flicked the blood off Keryx with a clean motion, his expression unreadable.
If you freeze up now," Merlin said, his voice calm and measured, "you'll be dead before the next fight even starts."
Seraphina tensed, her fingers twitching slightly as the last remnants of ice magic flickered and died from her hands.
Dorian exhaled slowly, his grip on his knives still too tight, his red eyes locked onto the cooling corpses.
They were still processing it.
Merlin had no patience for hesitation—not in this world, and especially not in this moment.
"Get used to it," he said bluntly.
Seraphina's silver eyes snapped toward him, a flicker of something sharp in her gaze.
"You say that like it's easy," she murmured.
Merlin tilted his head slightly, his tone as cold as the bodies on the ground. "It's not. It's the hardest."
Seraphina's lips pressed into a thin line.
Dorian, still silent, finally spoke. "…How many times have you killed? It's obvious this isn't your first time…"
Merlin met his crimson gaze, unfazed.
He could lie. Could say this was his first time too, pretend he was just as shaken, just as new to it as they were.
But that wasn't who he was.
So he didn't hesitate.
"Let's just say, it's not a concerning amount."
Seraphina inhaled sharply. Dorian's expression didn't change, but his eyes darkened slightly.
That was the difference between them.
They were both one-star combatants, prodigies in their own right, but still students. People who had trained to fight, but never truly fought.
Merlin was a different. Not just in skill, not just in magic. But in experience.
He had already crossed the line they were only just stepping over.
A long silence settled between them.
Dorian was the first to move. He crouched down, wiping his knives against the dead man's jacket, cleaning off the blood with a steady hand. He didn't say anything—just adjusted his grip and stood up, his posture more controlled this time.
Seraphina, however, was still stiff.
Her hands flexed, like she was still trying to shake off the feeling of battle.
She was struggling with it.
Merlin watched her carefully.
If she couldn't push past this moment—if she let the weight of it slow her down—she wouldn't make it to the end.
And he wasn't going to carry dead weight.
"The first time is the hardest," he said, not unkindly, but not gently either. "But you don't get time to dwell on it."
Seraphina swallowed, her jaw tightening.
Merlin arched a brow. "Then prove it."
She held his gaze for a long moment.
Then, slowly, her breathing steadied.
She took a step forward, kneeling beside one of the bodies. Her fingers curled around the hilt of a discarded combat knife, pulling it free with a soft clutter of metal against leather.
She turned it over in her palm, feeling the weight of it.
And then, without another word, she stood.
The hesitation in her stance was still there. But it was fading.
'Good..she's getting better.'
Because the entire thing wasn't over yet.
The ruined streets stretched ahead, filled with abandoned vehicles, collapsed buildings, and flickering street signs that barely functioned. The air was thick with smoke and dust, reducing visibility.
Merlin moved at the front, navigating through the debris with quick, measured steps.
Dorian followed behind him, his movements silent, almost unnaturally so.
Seraphina was the only one who still felt out of place, her posture too rigid, her breathing just a little too controlled—like she was trying not to think about what they had just done.
Merlin didn't say anything about it.
She would either figure it out or she wouldn't.
As they passed by a wrecked civilian checkpoint, Merlin spotted something ahead—
A group of three more hostiles, positioned near a partially destroyed patrol station.
Unlike the last group, these ones weren't advancing.
Merlin motioned for the others to stop, lowering himself behind the remains of a burned-out vehicle.
Dorian crouched next to him without question.
Seraphina hesitated before doing the same.
"Three enemies," Merlin murmured, his voice barely above a whisper. "Guarding something."
Dorian's red eyes flickered toward the patrol station. "Could be a communications hub. Tactical advantage if we take it."
Seraphina frowned. "We just killed people less than five minutes ago. Now we're going after more?"
Merlin gave her a flat look. "If we don't take them out, they'll call for reinforcements. Which do you prefer?"
Seraphina didn't answer immediately.
Dorian glanced at her, then back at Merlin. "What's the plan?"
Merlin exhaled. "I'll take the one on the left. You take the one on the right. Seraphina, you lock down the center with ice magic so he doesn't escape."
Seraphina hesitated. "And if he does?"
"Then you kill him," Merlin said simply.
Seraphina tensed slightly, but she gave a short nod.
Merlin turned his gaze back to the targets, his mind already calculating.
Then, without another word—
Merlin vanished in a blur of movement.
His acceleration doubled.
The leftmost soldier barely had time to register his presence before Keryx pierced through his throat, clean and precise.
Dorian struck from the behind, his knives flashing as they buried themselves into the right soldier's spine.
Before the third enemy could react—
Seraphina raised her hands.
Ice erupted from the ground, encasing the last soldier's legs and arms instantly, locking him in place.
The man struggled violently, trying to break free.
Seraphina's silver eyes flickered with hesitation.
The man opened his mouth to shout for backup—
Keryx flashed, and the soldier collapsed.
Seraphina inhaled sharply, her hands falling back to her sides.
Merlin turned to her, his expression unreadable.
Seraphina looked away.
Dorian, wiping the blood from his knives, glanced at her. "Hesitation could get us killed in the future…even if this is just a simulation we must take it seriously.."
Merlin didn't push further.
She would either understand, or she wouldn't.
Instead, he walked past them and entered the patrol station, searching for what the enemies had been guarding.
A moment later, he found it.
A communication terminal, still active.
The screen displayed a map of Eldoria, covered in red markers.
Merlin's gaze darkened.
Because those markers weren't just enemy positions.
They were planned attack points.
And one of them was directly over their academy.
Seraphina and Dorian entered behind him, both noticing the screen.
"What the hell is this?" Seraphina murmured.
Dorian frowned. "They were preparing to hit the academy?"
Merlin didn't answer immediately.
Because he wasn't looking at the academy's marker.
He was looking at the one farther out, near the city's outskirts.
And right next to it—
The name Nathaniel Varen.
Merlin's grip on the terminal tightened slightly.
"Change of plans," Merlin said, his voice calm but sharp. "We're going there."
Seraphina's brow furrowed. "Why? The academy is—"
"The academy will hold, and nothing will actually happen to it. We should aim to help the other students…" Merlin interrupted. "Nathan's squad is walking into a trap."