Ren kept his hand raised and his voice steady as he led the first batch of students out through the narrow rear exit of the auditorium.
He moved like a man walking a familiar road, every step confident, every turn deliberate.
Behind him, the girls clutched their breaths like fragile glass, struggling to keep pace while stifling sobs.
Lia said nothing. Just behind him, her spear clutched tightly, her eyes flicking left and right like a hawk.
Three minutes. That was the time window. Any slower and the curses would close in before the last group had even cleared the hallway.
Ren had made a clear, calculated decision when he said they'd move in batches of five hundred—not a single girl more.
It wasn't because he was being overly cautious. It was because rushing all 1,500+ students out at once would've been suicidal.
First, the layout of the building and the connecting side paths just weren't built for a crowd that size moving in panic.
