The assassins appeared outside the school gates at midnight.
No footsteps.
No warning.
One moment the courtyard was empty—
the next, two figures stood beneath the flickering lamps like shadows stitched into reality itself.
Black coats.
Expressionless faces.
And strings of tiny silver bells hanging from their wrists.
Inside Saturn Class 11, Jhonathan immediately stood up.
He felt them.
Not their mana.
Their intent.
Cold.
Professional.
Experienced.
Sophia narrowed her eyes near the window.
"…Those aren't normal assassins."
Ralph slowly grabbed his axe.
Leerooey clicked his tongue.
The students began panicking again as the atmosphere changed.
Even the lights overhead started flickering violently.
The taller assassin smiled faintly.
"We are the first ones who killed an immortal."
The second one tilted their head slightly.
"And tonight…"
"…we'll do it again."
The bells rang softly.
Clink.
Clink.
Clink.
And suddenly—
the world distorted.
The school hallway twisted unnaturally.
Walls stretched longer.
Doors appeared where there were none before.
The students screamed as whispers flooded the room from every direction.
Sound illusions.
Their abilities manipulated perception itself.
Every noise became a weapon.
Every echo carried false information.
Jhonathan stepped forward anyway.
The illusion instantly intensified around him.
He suddenly heard voices.
Old ones.
Dead ones.
Sylviana crying.
The heroes party screaming.
Aniel's final words.
The sounds clawed at his mind relentlessly.
But something was wrong.
The assassins frowned.
"…Why isn't it working properly?"
Because against Jhonathan—
their illusions could only reach a fraction of their full power.
His soul had already suffered too much.
Pain that real could not easily be replicated by fake sounds anymore.
The students of 11-Saturn gathered near the shattered windows, watching nervously.
Then one student shouted—
"GO KNIGHT GUY!"
Another joined immediately.
"BEAT THEM!"
Soon the entire classroom erupted into cheers.
Even terrified students started shouting encouragement toward Jhonathan.
The battle exploded instantly.
One assassin rushed forward with blades hidden beneath vibrating soundwaves, striking at impossible angles.
Jhonathan blocked everything barehanded.
Every strike.
Every illusion.
Every hidden attack.
Countered perfectly.
The second assassin attempted to blind him with overlapping screams and distorted echoes—
but Jhonathan grabbed the first attacker by the arm before they could retreat.
Then—
without using a weapon—
he punched them.
The sheer force launched the assassin through the air like a cannonball, crashing across multiple school walls before disappearing into the distance.
The remaining assassin froze.
For the first time—
fear appeared on their face.
Jhonathan slowly looked toward them.
The assassin immediately turned around and ran.
Not tactical retreat.
Pure survival instinct.
Silence settled over the courtyard.
The students erupted into celebration upstairs.
Leerooey leaned against the wall afterward, sighing heavily.
"…We need somewhere to stay."
Nobody disagreed.
Later that night, the group separated temporarily across nearby abandoned houses surrounding the school district.
Different rooms.
Different buildings.
Same silence.
But despite the distance—
all of them were thinking the same thing.
The same impossible question.
How do you escape…
a false reality?