Kaigaku remained crouched in the bushes, chest rising and falling in uneven breaths.
Nathan's footsteps slowly faded… step… step… step…
And then silence.
Only then did Kaigaku dare move.
"Hah… haah…" he exhaled shakily, wiping the cold sweat that had collected along his jawline.
"That was… too damn close."
He pressed his back against a tree, breathing through clenched teeth as he replayed what had nearly happened: Nathan—rank 1 of the third-years—walking straight toward the bush he was hiding behind.
If Nathan saw him…
"It would've been over," Kaigaku whispered.
His fingers twitched from left-over tension.
He wasn't scared of fighting.
But being caught as the one who released the Frostfang Direwolf?
That meant punishment. Expulsion. Maybe imprisonment.
And Kaigaku wasn't planning to be thrown out of the academy that easily.
He peeked toward the Beast Fence again.
Screams echoed. Chaos.
The sound of bodies hitting the ground.
Flesh tearing.
Students crying for help.
