"Calm down Edward! Demonic rot is taking root in you!" Alec shouted while cautiously walking towards him, making sure to show no signs of hostility. He stepped over the mess that had been created previously, different potteries, and probably fake foods and fruits that spread all throughout. This cave was pretty similar to the one he had found Iris in—An ancient marketplace.

"Demonic... Rot?" Edward looked down on his body. He ripped his shirt off and saw blisters growing on his chest. He frowned. A golden hue battled sickly, rotting green inside his pupils. He started muttering under his breath.

"Demonic rot... Emotional turmoil. Focus and destroy. No emotions. Stop the rot..." He rambled on and on. His accent seemed to become a weird, archaic form of Toalqeshi. His head suddenly kicked back, his eyes rolling back into their sockets. Alec wanted to dash in to stop the rot, but unless Edward overcame his emotional turmoil, he wouldn't be able to help him. Even mind magic was out of the question. Edward wouldn't let him in. Not in this state.

Edward raised his hand. A magic circle appeared, and his hand started glowing a brilliant blue. He straightened his hand like a blade, and suddenly brought it down. It ripped through his skin with precision, eviscerating the blistering rot on his front and revealing pink, bleeding flesh.

"Don't pity the fallen..." He muttered once more. Then, his eyes rolled back into place. Alec saw no rot in there. However, he did see rage. Holy, inquisitive rage. "I am sorry, Alec. But this is the only way."

He had made up his mind.

Layer after layer of golden hues stacked on top of each other, Edward started shining like a holy figure. He was going all out. Right from the start.

'Shit! He focused on his rage to stop his inner turmoil,' Alec understood. Demonic rot could be stopped if one was perfectly in control of the emotion. And Edward was. Every bit of anger he had towards heretics was controlled perfectly. It was all gathered, pointed towards Alec like a spear.

"Feel the wrath of the Spellson family, Alec! Rest for eternity!" Edward shouted as he suddenly dashed forward. His hands caught on fire as he tightened them into fists. Alec frowned.

'Why is he rushing in like an idiot?'

Flexing his muscles, Alec lowered his stance. He dodged the flaming punches with two swift motions and slithered between them before smashing his fist into Edward's chest, a bit of gravity magic spreading the force across his body. Edward was hurtled back like a cannonball, only stopping after rolling for 15 meters and hitting a stall filled with pieces of cloth.

[Interstudent violence has been detected, dispatching a professor!]

Edward didn't stop, however. He shrugged off the pain as if it wasn't there and got up. With the assistance of his enhancement spells, more than fifteen arcane lances appeared around him. Those were second-circle spells, unlike ordinary magic missiles. They were also much more penetrative and fast compared to a variant missile.

Seeing that, Alec reeled back. He took off into a rapid dash while casting a couple of enhancement spells on himself. Edward started slinging spells at Alec with practiced proficiency. They had fought each other many times, and they instinctively knew what the other would do.

So, Alec had to use something different.

Once the arcane lances lessened in frequency, Alec stopped, faced Edward, and brought his hand forward. A magic circle appeared in his hand. Once the magic circle started spinning like crazy, Edward's movements became sluggish. His steps slowed down. Then, he was slammed onto the ground with a loud thud. He was pancaked, the entirety of his body pressed against the market floor. Alec maintained the spell while walking toward Edward, dodging the occasional arcane lance with ease. The blonde student council president managed to ever so slightly turn his head under the pressure with a growl, looking at Alec with spiteful eyes.

"I'm sorry Edward. But you will have to open your mind to me," Alec said. He took out The Author's Pen and did something very dangerous.

[Low Mental Relaxation Potion]

As the potion materialized in his hand, Alec let out a small sigh of relief. That was the first time he tried making such a potion. He was worried that it would have taken away his mana reserves in an instant, but that wasn't the case.

The hateful look in Edward's eyes was like thorns being stabbed into Alec's chest. This man had helped him with many things and had trusted him blindly for a long time. He knew taking such a risk was absurdly idiotic, but he couldn't bear a friend being in this situation.

Once next to him, Alec bent down on one knee. However, before he could force-feed the potion to Edward, something unexpected happened. Edward knew he couldn't hit Alec with an artillery spell no matter the proximity. He was simply too fast for that.

However, there was another method of hurting him.

Suddenly, a different magic circle appeared above Edward. The air around them heated up and immediately caught on fire. Alec felt his lungs and skin burn while grunting in pain. He pushed himself away with a rapid jump. He was outside the hot air pocket. Then, however, came the blast wave. It caused Alec's speed to be amplified, forcing him to use gravity magic to stop himself.

Disoriented, Alec barely managed to gather himself when he noticed Edward dashing out of the dust cloud the explosion had kicked up. He let out a mouthful of air and dodged out of the way. Edward's fist slammed against where Alec just was, and it exploded into a cloud of bones and blood. The splinters of his bones from the explosion spread in every direction.

Alec's eyes widened in terror.

'He detonated his arm to hurt me...'

Disregarding the pain from the splinters digging into his skin, Alec dashed forward. He had to stop this now, or Edward would kill himself in an attempt to hurt him. They were in close proximity, their faces maybe half a meter apart, Alec tilted his head to dodge a punch. He knew Edward would probably try detonating that arm again, so Alec had no choice left.

Before Edward could detonate his arm, Alec used Dispersion Point to detach his arm from his shoulder. Edward's internal mana went into turmoil because of the major disruption, stopping him from manipulating it. At least for now. With his left arm gone completely, and his right hand exploded into pieces, Edward slumped forward and fell to the ground tiredly.

The sight of his back made Alec's stomach churn. The skin had been completely burnt off, occasionally displaying bones. That explosion spell had hit him too.

Terrified, Alec kneeled down next to him. Edward's breaths were sparse, weak... But they were still there. He wasn't dead yet. And Alec had no intention of letting him die. Once this whole ordeal was over, they would find a way to reconcile. Maybe they would get him a magical prosthetic or something.

For that, he took out The Author's Pen. He wrote down a low health potion, causing his mana to dip down to 30%. It would regenerate, as he had a mana regeneration potion going.

Feeding Edward the health potion, Alec watched the student council president's severed arm turn into a pink stump. The bones on his back were being fleshed over once more. His breathing strengthened slightly.

And at that moment, he jumped.

His body propelled upward with a crude telekinetic spell, he bit down on Alec's neck, shaving off nearly ten percent of it. In a knee-jerk reaction, Alec pulsed his mana pool into Edward's messing up his magic signature, essentially making him into a magical cripple.

The burning, lava-like pain held Alec's mind captive. High-pressured blood started spurting out of his jugular like a hose.

His mind blanked out for a moment, then he wrote another low grade healing potion. Once he took it, it coupled with his already active health regeneration potion and managed to close the laceration, albeit barely. Left breathless, Alec grabbed his neck in terror, looking at Edward's unmoving body.

He got up. Walked up to Edward. This time much more careful, ready to smash his head down to the ground in case he tried something like that again.

He touched Edward's head and used a mind spell. He dove right in and ignored the wave of gushing rage that flowed toward him from the mental link. His mind was too baffled, too numbed to feel anything at the moment. Spotting the realization about his relation to the potions, Alec deleted the memories one by one. Once done, he cut off the link and lay down on the ground tiredly.

The blood spurting from his throat... The expression on Edward's face... The moment he jumped up like that...

"I want to go home..." Alec muttered under his breath, his arm covering his eyes. However, he was alerted by someone approaching. Once he stood up, he noticed Professor Miriam to be the one approaching.

"What is- Oh."

The woman looked at the unmoving Edward, then Alec. She sighed and nodded toward him.

"You can go on with the exam if you want. I will take care of him," she said. Alec watched the woman carry Edward away on her shoulder like a corpse. He then got up, his lifeless eyes scouring the leftovers of their battle.

It was time to push forward.