Auric couldn’t help but feel impressed. He finally understood how Ellia managed to gain the advantage in the negotiation before.

It looked like he had to think two or three moves ahead of them, thereby canceling the enemy’s plan. So, once they clashed, they were on equal footing.

If he didn’t do this much, he might end up getting swallowed by others.

And what Maya predicted happened quickly.

Simon was watching the entire thing on his phone. As expected, once the situation had gone to that extent, the students would start posting things regarding the clash between the two giants.

[Vice Dean Maya owned the Lightning Emperor.]

[The Lightning Emperor came to apologize but wasn’t sincere?]

[The Lightning Emperor was powerless against Vice Dean Maya.]

[Simon lost once again.]

People were talking about the matter between Maya and the Lightning Emperor. Thanks to the injury that the Lightning Emperor had sustained, the narrative completely shifted in Maya’s favor. Everyone believed Maya had won.

In addition, people had seen how generous Auric was when he willingly walked up to the negotiation table.

People were confused about the deal itself, but it was clear that the situation wasn’t going to change, not when the Lightning Emperor chose to leave.

Of course, the Lightning Emperor left simply because he had to discuss the matter with the principal this time.

During that time, people kept speculating until they received clarification from a neutral party like the principal.

Nevertheless, people finally saw Maya’s strength for the first time. Ever since she was demoted here, she had never used her power to fight other people.

So, people only knew about the rumors of her strength based on information about her from before she was demoted.

Now that they had seen Maya’s true power, they realized the rumors were true or didn’t even do her justice. Students and teachers couldn’t help but feel a bit scared.

Maya might have done unruly things all this time, but she definitely had the power to challenge the principal. It was weird that she didn’t even become the dean of the Element Department.

More importantly, her strength would matter a lot to Auric. Even someone as strong as her recognized Auric, so there might be something special about him, making them believe that Auric might be able to bypass those limitations.

Rumors started to spread, but that didn’t matter to Simon. Once he knew that his master had lost to Auric’s teacher, he felt like he had lost to Auric one more time.

The hatred in his heart grew even further.

Simon couldn’t help but reach a certain conclusion. If he didn’t do anything, his teacher might bow down to Maya.

By the time he returned, his teacher would never let him out again. Even if he did, he would have to wait until all the news disappeared.

Just thinking about it, there was no way the comparison would die down. Auric would continue to make noise, which would make people compare him to Simon.

So, Simon had to do everything before the Lightning Emperor returned. This was his only opportunity.

"..." Simon gritted his teeth.

...

Meanwhile, Auric politely nodded to Maya. "I will take my leave right now."

"Sure. You should leave right now while the Lightning Emperor is still here. This way, he won’t be able to ambush you on the way. I’ll pay attention to your safety, so no need to worry. However, if you think you can’t handle the problem in front of you, you should call me."

"Yes, Teacher. Thank you very much."

Auric immediately left, knowing that wasting too much time here would just increase his chances of being in danger.

At the very least, the Lightning Emperor’s matter was taken care of. With public opinion favoring him, the students would support him.

For the time being, he could only watch out for Simon. Simon would definitely do something, so this time, he should get the evidence to prove his involvement and have the justification to kill him.

The Lightning Emperor wouldn’t be able to do anything because he would then present the information William had given him.

Auric looked up, thinking, ’Well, if he wanted to attack me, it should be tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, right?’

Lindwurm nodded. "If we consider the time for the information to travel and the preparation time, he will probably attack us tomorrow, most likely when you go to the store."

’It will be the same pattern as the previous assassination attempt then. My house is protected by government agents, while the store has Mr. Krecheppooho.’

"Yes. The only way to ambush you is on the way to the store, so it’s best to be extra careful right now."

Auric thought for a moment. ’It’s going to be hard, but at least we know he’s coming. If it’s too dangerous, I will ask people to help. I wonder if I should ask right now?’

"Do it at home. Besides, who are you going to ask?"

’Let’s see... I have a few people in mind, but I guess Ellia will be the most reasonable option. This evidence can also drag Abel from the Phoenix and Dragon Society.’

"In that case, you should go home first. Besides, we will get an influx of customers soon, not from the Night and Day Store, but from the Sun Store."

’Right? We need to focus on our store tomorrow, and if possible, I want to fill up the books, but unfortunately, I have a hard time finding the light and dark elements.’

"Soon, someone will probably ask you if there is a book for a certain rating."

’I know, right?’ Auric chuckled. ’I need to come up with a lot of excuses first.’

"Yeah. So, it’s better..." Lindwurm abruptly stopped.

’What’s wrong?’ Auric asked, confused. It was unlike Lindwurm to abruptly pause mid-sentence.

"Someone is following us?" Lindwurm frowned, feeling a bit unsure. He took a look around.

’So fast? Isn’t he supposed to come tomorrow at the very least?’ Auric frowned. He definitely didn’t predict this kind of speed from Simon. He wondered if the Lightning Emperor was the one who did it. ’Can you find them?’

"There are too many people here, so it’s hard to find them. We need to find a more secluded space to confirm it. In the worst-case scenario, get ready to use the Void Step to the rooftop to fool them."

’Alright.’ Auric’s expression turned grim. He glanced to the right, looking at the alleyway. It was small, but it didn’t have a turn, so it wouldn’t be wise to go there.

He passed two more buildings and saw a small corner ahead.

Auric swiftly turned right, entering the alley. He increased his pace so that he would reach the turn, while Lindwurm remained at the entrance to see whether people were following them.

And it turned out Lindwurm was right.

As soon as he entered the alley, several people moved simultaneously.

’Lindwurm?!’ Auric asked while circulating his power. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"It’s him! I saw Simon. There is one dangerous guy, but the rest should be opponents you can handle. There are approximately eleven people, including Simon."

’That’s fast and so many...’ Auric couldn’t imagine how Simon was able to gather so many people. He wondered if the Lightning Dojo was sending its people to help him.

He doubted it somewhat, considering how the Lightning Emperor behaved.

Lindwurm didn’t say whether they should retreat or confront them. In other words, Auric had the potential to win, but one of them sounded dangerous. He had to be extra careful if he was going to confront them.

Auric took a deep breath before saying, ’Let’s confront them, Lindwurm. Check if there are any other people lying in ambush. If things get worse, we will head to the main street immediately.’

"Got it!" Lindwurm flew up.

Auric turned around to see who was chasing him.

"There he is!" Those people reached the turn as well and pointed at him.

More and more people entered, including Simon.

"!!!" Auric looked surprised at first and then said, "Simon... To think that you would be out here... Come to kill me again?"

"I didn’t expect them to be useless, but you can’t escape anymore because I’m going to make sure that you die." Simon harrumphed. His bloodshot eyes were fixed on him, as though the only thing in his mind was to kill Auric.

"You sure you only want us to take care of this guy? He doesn’t look strong. Only a pretty face on the outside." The guy whom Lindwurm had mentioned to be dangerous was actually a person who had evolved his avatar once.

The rest seemed to be at the same level as Simon.

’From the way they were dressed and behaved, they looked like typical thugs to me...’

Lindwurm replied, "There wasn’t enough time for him to prepare. He might have run away from the Lightning Dojo and found anyone he could on the street. These guys are his only option."

Auric couldn’t deny this possibility. The only other possibility was that these people were from the Lightning Dojo.

Auric’s expression darkened. ’I guess we should end this here.’

"I’m ready to assist. What do you need?"

’Keep a lookout. I’ll try to fight them.’ Auric took a deep breath before saying, "You know the police are going to catch you if you do this, right? You should step away from this fight if you don’t want to go to jail. I will treat it as if you were never here."

"Heh. You talk too much. Get him, boys!" The leader shouted. Everyone released their respective energies.

With a wall behind him, Auric was cornered.

However, the moment they charged at him, Auric used the Wood Wall beneath his feet, launching him above the wall.

"Don’t let him get away!" Simon shouted.

The people used their energy to boost their physical bodies, allowing them to vault over the wall easily. Simon and the leader also followed right behind them.

When they got past the wall, they saw Auric turning to the left. "Don’t let him get back to the main street."

They rushed toward Auric so that he couldn’t get any help, but when they turned to the left, Auric was actually gone.

"What? Where is he? Don’t tell me... He’s already gone?!" The people at the front were bewildered and halted their steps.

"Aaahhh!" Two people suddenly screamed with blood flowing out of their mouths.

One of them had his chest pierced by a sword from the back. The other had his body pierced through by spikes.

"!!!" Everyone widened their eyes and turned around, not expecting that Auric would actually be behind them.

What actually happened was that Auric took the turn to the left, but he immediately used the Void Step to teleport himself to the right side, allowing him to suddenly appear behind them.

The leader and Simon were confused about why those people turned to the left, not knowing that Auric had gone to the left earlier.

"What are you guys doing? He’s behind you!" The leader shouted. He channeled his power and rushed to Auric. Simon also used his Lightning Discharge.

Auric jumped away, trying to continue through the main alleyway. He first used the Wood Wall to block their path.

However, a blaze erupted from the leader’s fist as he punched the wooden wall. The fire flared up and burned through the wooden wall. The burst of flame continued toward Auric.

It looked like Auric was being blasted by the full force of the fire. What they didn’t know was that Auric actually used the ice element at the last moment to block the flames.

He didn’t show it directly so that the people still didn’t know about his other elements. He didn’t intend to hide all his power in a fight like this, but he thought it would be beneficial to keep it hidden for a bit longer.

"We have to kill him!"

Several people discharged their respective powers at Auric.

Facing this overwhelming difference in battle power, Auric immediately used the Plant General to summon roots as tall as possible.

Their attacks crushed the roots, but they produced so much dust and smoke that they couldn’t see what was in front of them.

Auric continued running, using the smokescreen to put up a barrier on his back so that he wouldn’t get harmed.

The people saw him turn to the left again. "Stop him!"