The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

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Evelyn tried her best not to roll her eyes at their farce, just in case they had other cards to reveal before it all came crashing down on their heads, but she was starting to wonder how exactly Donna planned to deal with her now.

After all, her best bet had been to have the beast kill her, and now that she already stopped its rampage, there was absolutely no justification to allow Evelyn's death.

Even if she convinced everyone of her 'guilt', a junior professor couldn't just execute a student. Even a senior professor could only expel her at most. And as long as she remained alive, didn't Donna realize that Aurora wouldn't just undo everything, but also make them suffer for trying to harm her?

'She better reveal her 'genius' plan before Aurora gets impatient…'

The female professor shook her head with a sigh. "For petty jealousy, you used such a vicious scheme that caused the death of multiple students… You… since you enjoyed using this beast as a tool to murder, you might as well show us how well you can control it!"

As soon as her words fell, walls of spirit power surrounded Evelyn as well, and with a wave of her hand, Donna made Evelyn's cage slide towards the mountain rhino's.'

Not to mention the students, even some rangers flinched when they saw the little girl being locked in the cage with the beast, with the professor clearly intending to get her killed.

Some of the students obviously knew of Evelyn's identity as Aurora's student, and felt terrified when they thought of the tyrannical way that lady dealt with anyone who offended the little girl.

If they were part of the group because of which she got executed…

"P-Professor Donna, s-she's—!"

Donna snorted as she mobilized her spirit power to forcefully shut the boy's mouth. "It doesn't matter who she is! All students are equal in my eyes."

Some of them couldn't help but look at each other in both perplexity and fear. It was one thing for it to happen accidentally while they were out to gain experience, but for a professor to do it…

Evelyn also realized from their interaction that perhaps, in this group, only Riley had been a part of Donna's plans to frame her, and the rest were unrelated. 'If she intends to dispose of them all later to erase evidence… it makes sense to lose only one pawn, and makes the whole thing look more credible if everyone in the group is unrelated to her…'

As their cages were stuck together, and only a thin wall of spirit power separated her from being gored to death, Donna stared at the girl's face closely to savor her look of despair, but found only a smile.

Emilia chuckled. "Was this your plan? Getting me killed by this beast, and then…? Will you somehow convince the others to never speak of it? Ah, if they believe that I was a treacherous and vicious villain who killed her fellow student, they really might…"

After all, everyone knew how much Aurora doted on her. The students and rangers wouldn't want their 'savior' to die for punishing the villain who brought calamity onto them, right?

And even if some of them didn't really believe in Donna and Riley's narrative, the chance of them willingly putting themselves into a conflict between a professor and a pillar was unlikely. Most would simply wish to forget that they were ever involved in such an incident, and consider themselves lucky to escape alive. 'If Amber really came, they probably planned to get her killed as well. After all, someone who is already familiar with me is much more unlikely to remain silent. No… It's not just that…!'

Donna smiled coldly. "Shouldn't you worry about yourself a little more instead of worrying about what happens after you die? How about this, as long as you can survive against this beast for ten minutes, you can be considered as someone with considerable potential, and I will let you go."

Evelyn would have to be an idiot to believe that this woman, who had been scheming to get her killed, would ever let her go when she 'finally had the chance'.

Donna had clearly wanted to see some fear or apprehension on her face, but Evelyn would never give her the pleasure. Even if her situation had been desperate and she truly was facing death, she would still not delude herself into believing this woman.

The pink haired girl smiled. "Professor Donna's expectations are really too high. A newly admitted student who hasn't lived past a decade is expected to defend against a level seventy beast for ten minutes to be allowed the chance to live, huh? Please, you clearly intend to murder me, but don't want to leave behind evidence, right? This mountain rhino is the perfect tool, and since that is so…"

Evelyn turned her twinkling pink eyes to the stunned crowd, and grinned. "I wonder, would you really leave these witnesses alive? Isn't it easier to just get them all killed the same way? Ah, a higher-level beast wiped out another expedition party, nothing too strange, right? And most importantly, it would have nothing to do with you."

The students and rangers felt alarmed at the girl's words, suddenly realizing that the woman they had been thinking of as their 'savior'… might just end up slaughtering them herself. Previously, they only thought she was ruthless, but when they considered that she might kill them all later… they couldn't help but regret returning earlier. Wouldn't it have been easier to just keep escaping and never look back?

However, now that they realized it, none of them wanted to stay here any longer. "P-Professor, we—"

Donna snorted. "No one is allowed to leave here and put the students' lives at risk! I will lead you all back myself, but before that, I have to deal with this miscreant. If anyone dares disobey, I will toss them into the cage as well, understand?"

Evelyn sighed. 'As expected… this woman sure likes toying around with her 'prey' though, she's still leaving them some hope that she'll let them go, even though it's obvious she plans to kill them.' 

It was definitely not a foolproof plan, and quite pathetic given how much time they had to plan it out, but it wasn't impossible for it to work… if Aurora wasn't already here.

Evelyn had already started using [Advanced Spatial Manipulation] the moment her cage had been slammed into the mountain rhino's. After all, even if she could take this thing down, it would be a pyrrhic victory. Not to mention that she hadn't even brought Ruru along today, so she couldn't use some of her strongest skills. 

If push came to shove, she could only rely on her perfect cloaking skill.

Donna snorted. "Unrepentant to the end, huh? Well, let us see if you will regret it once you feel what the girl you schemed against felt…"

With her words, the barrier separating the two cages disappeared, and the mountain rhino's eyes instantly locked onto the now vulnerable girl.

Evelyn couldn't help but gulp. 'D-Don't tell me she's still not here, right? Do I really have to use the cloaking skill here?'

After all, she was sure that her teacher wouldn't let any of the innocent students die, and if she showed her cloaking skill in front of them, it would no longer be a secret trump card, but was likely to become a known skill that enemies could be then wary of.

Gritting her teeth, Evelyn really couldn't bring herself to take any chances, and since the barrier had disappeared and she could die at any moment, she immediately crushed the protection bead that Aurora gave her. 'Hopefully, she'll show up before this thing runs out of energy… Or I'll really have to use it…'

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Of course, the moment Evelyn had sent the signal, Aurora had rushed to her location immediately. By the time Donna had trapped the mountain rhino in a spirit cage, she was already there. The only one she couldn't have saved was Mirah.

However, the reason she didn't reveal herself wasn't because she wanted to tease or punish her little student, but because she could feel that there was another familiar existence nearby. As she had arrived later, and her ability to hide was superior, they probably couldn't detect her existence at all.

At the same time, though, she also couldn't tell exactly where the other person was, or even who they were. That was why she had been waiting in case they made a move and revealed themselves.

Evelyn had already assured her that as long as she was given a little time to prepare, she could hide herself perfectly and be impervious to damage, making it so no matter the situation, Aurora didn't need to worry about her while handling the threat.

However, it seemed like her student didn't understand the full extent of the plot, and thought that professor Donna was the real mastermind, as was clear by her confused and distressed face.

Aurora couldn't help but feel conflicted, but soon calmed down. 'No… this kind of opportunity won't come by again if I let it go. They will be infinitely more cautious later.'

The platinum blonde nodded to herself. It was better to let Evelyn suffer a little here to pick out this hidden thorn completely. Unless the girl really couldn't endure it anymore, Aurora decided… to wait!

'Sorry… Evelyn… but you have to endure it for now.'

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~ To be continued ~

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