"Liora, please—" Marlen's voice cracked, her eyes red as she squirmed on the floor, desperate to move, to stop her.
But Liora didn't seem to hear. Or maybe she did, but her will refused to break.
"So please… just take me!"
The room held its breath.
Vera looked down at the girl at her feet, expression unreadable.
Then—
Shing.
A blade of aura tore through the air toward Vera.
It vanished the moment her eyes caught it.
A heartbeat later, the student who launched it was slammed to the ground by Red Line students, pinned without ceremony.
Vera didn't blink. She then looked back toward Liora.
"If I were younger, I might have let you go."
She raised her spear, steady, cold, and aimed it at Liora.
"But i can't let her be disappointed."
The tip hovered, still as judgment.
But it never came down.
Because something had stopped it.
A sword — plain, silver, unassuming had pierced just beneath her shoulder.
