The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

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Evelyn had no idea of her teacher's plans, but one thing she knew for sure was that if she gave up on her prepared cloaking skill and decided to fight with the beast first, she surely wouldn't get another chance to set it up.

To be fair, despite her earlier whining, Evelyn didn't believe that it was impossible to take down this mountain rhino if she went all out.

After all, even if she was only level 46 and this beast just broke through level seventy, its greatest attribute was its defense… which was useless against any of her searing soul techniques.

The beast didn't intend to give the girl time to consider her decision carefully, and roared as it charged towards her.

The pink haired girl gritted her teeth in rage. 'No, with this obnoxious teacher's spirit cage restricting my movements, there's a pretty good chance I'll fail to avoid this beast's enraged charge. Even if I take it down… I'll be in a sorry state, if not dead.'

That being so…

Evelyn immediately disappeared.

The enraged mountain rhino crashed into the spirit cage wall with a roar, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Many students screamed, wondering if the next sight they would see would be that of the gruesome remains of the pink haired girl.

But as the dust settled down, it only revealed a confused mountain rhino looking around, wondering where its previously trapped prey had vanished.

Not to mention Donna, the students, or the rangers… even Aurora was left gaping in shock.

Cloaking skills that allowed someone to hide their presence, be it from sight, smell, or other senses, may not be very common, but they were not unheard of.

Most people above a certain level of comprehension in their respective fields were able to utilize it to cloak themselves somehow, and once they reach a high enough level, it was possible to hide from the naked eye using spirit power alone.

That being said… it was impossible to do so perfectly.

Even at Aurora's level, she knew the flaws of her own concealment method, and knew under what conditions someone would be able to detect her. From farther away, her technique was truly 'flawless', but as she got closer and closer, higher-level people could feel the pulsing of the tremendous amount of soul power that her body absorbed from the surroundings to compensate for what the technique was consuming.

As for the higher-level enemy hiding in this area, his cloaking skill allowed even her to be unable to pinpoint who he was or where he was hiding, but she could still tell that someone was there, and she had felt the 'presence' of this person before.

That is to say, if they were from the academy, it was either one of the senior professors, pillars, or the headmaster himself.

And Evelyn's method… was flawless.

Even with the tremendous gaps in their strength, if she couldn't detect the girl when she vanished right under her eyelids… it was truly shocking.

But…

Aurora narrowed her eyes. 'She guaranteed to me that she could defend herself no matter what, but she was relying on this? Even if she hides herself and manages to avoid a few attacks, the beast might still end up killing her.'

According to her best estimates, Evelyn was still almost thirty levels lower than the mountain rhino. It was impossible for her to allow her student's life to be in such danger right now, even if it meant that the real mastermind would escape.

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"It missed? S-She disappeared?!"

Just as Donna was looking around in confusion and shock, her spirit power cage shattered like glass, and a platinum blonde little girl appeared right where Evelyn had previously been.

Immediately, the dark haired professor felt the blood drain from her face, while the students felt complicated at the arrival of this eccentric professor. On one hand, they were there watching her student get framed, and this overly doting little professor might vent on them as well. But on the other hand, now that there were two professors of opposite camps here, it was impossible for them to suffer an unjust death. At most, they would be punished a little using some excuse.

Aurora knew that the mastermind wouldn't reveal himself now that she showed up, and would definitely escape, so she could only make do taking out this smaller thorn for now.

"For you—" Just as she had started speaking, however, Aurora suddenly snapped her hand up to put it in front of her eye, and a loud 'clink' echoed through the area along with a smattering of purple sparks from her palm.

It was only a moment later that anyone realized what happened, when a thin slit of red appeared on Aurora's palm, followed by droplets of bright red blood.

At first, many couldn't believe that professor Donna had the guts to attack someone that was clearly far above her rank, but going by the dark haired woman's blank face, they soon realized that she had nothing to do with it at all.

The platinum looked a little perplexed as she stared at the cut on her hand. "Mantis? It's you?"

Even her voice was a little confused, as she wasn't sure if the attack really came from him, or if it was someone trying to impersonate him.

The loud, boisterous laughter from the woods, however, confirmed her suspicions. "Ahahaha… I'm flattered to see that little Aurora still remembers my skill."

The platinum blonde furrowed her brows as the black-cloaked man exited his cloaking skill, and appeared at the edge of the clearing with a grin. 

"Actually, I'm more surprised that your dumb little brain can even process the fact that anyone could be a threat to you. I almost thought that you would end up taking that shot to the face with your supreme overconfidence. Wouldn't it have been funny, if you died just like that? Ahahaha…"

Despite his taunts, however, Aurora could only feel uneasy about something else entirely.

The reason she had been so certain that no one would reveal themselves after she showed up was because there was only a single person hiding nearby, and there was no one in this academy who could defeat her in a one-on-one battle.

Mantis… was no exception.

But for him to come out like this only meant that either he was an overconfident fool who had forgotten who she was, was expecting significant support soon, or, most likely… his real target was never her, but Evelyn.

"Hey Donna, kill these leftover rats, will you?"

The moment his words fell, the students and rangers who had previously been staring at their confrontation in shocked silence immediately panicked. Unsurprisingly, none of them dared spare even a single thought to anything else before they all bolted.

The dark haired professor felt her blood freeze in shock, but soon snapped out of it. 'R-Right… Lord Mantis is also a pillar! What am I scared of?!'

Aurora's eyes turned darker as she saw Donna head off towards the escaping group. She knew that she couldn't abandon Evelyn and chase after that woman, and even if she tried to kill her from here, Mantis would be able to stop her attack. "Forfeiting your life, professor Donna?! And you, Mantis! How dare you…"

Lord Mantis chuckled as he swaggered closer, his eyes that were black as a void scouring the area around Aurora curiously. "Now now, little girl, don't be so shocked. A little monster like you is annoying enough, but just imagining another little monster, just like you, but also able to hide so perfectly? It gives me the chills."

The platinum blonde had guessed as much, but having it confirmed still made her blood boil. "Is it not our good fortune if a student is gifted? Do not forget that the future of our academy is still—"

Mantis scoffed. "Seriously? Do you genuinely believe that lunacy that your mother used to spout? Our academy has been safe and sound for hundreds of thousands of years, and will remain the same in the future. You're delusional if you think we actually 'need' any of these so-called bright students. They're fine as a means to pass time, but nurturing threats like that pink brat? Nah, I'd rather not."

Aurora had no time to pay attention to anything else while fighting someone like Mantis. She could only trust that now that she was no longer restricted to a limited area, her student could hide far away using her invisibility.

The platinum blonde could only sigh. "Evelyn, if you're still here… run away and hide. Wait for me to deal with him first."

As long as she killed Mantis, it would be easy enough to deal with Donna and rescue the remaining students.

The dark haired man laughed. "Ahaha… you really believe I'll waste time looking for and killing her? Oh, you foolish little child. Today, the one I'm going to kill… is you."

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