Chương 114: CHAPTER 112: THE MARCH OF THE TWENTY

The kinetic halberds hummed with crackling blue shockwave mana, their bladed edges aimed directly at the central steps. Behind Commander Leon, twenty-four armored Vanguard legionnaires advanced up the stone terrace in a tight, mechanical wedge. Their heavy iron boots struck the gravel in terrifying unison, forcing faculty members and senior mages to back away toward the outer colonnades.

Chancellor Thorne stood frozen in the center, his hands trembling as the imperial soldiers ignored his academic authority entirely. Shin did not move an inch. Before the advancing Vanguard could reach the third stone tier, the heavy double doors of the lower laboratory corridors swung wide open. THUD. The rhythmic, disciplined cadence of twenty pairs of footsteps echoed across the marble terrace. The twenty disciples marched out into the open courtyard.

They did not look like terrified students fleeing a military raid; their expressions were cold, focused, and steady. Having spent the entire night mastering delicate mana micro-threads and dissecting royal necrosis under Shin's instruction, their confidence was unshakable. They moved in perfect formation, parting around Shin and stepping down the terrace to form an unbroken physical wall across the central stairs.

Elia and the commoner prodigies took their positions on the left flank, while Cassian, Lady Lyra, and the noble students locked down the right. Valerius stepped right to the center, blocking the direct path to the subterranean laboratory. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Commander Leon halted his stride, his brow furrowing beneath his heavy visor.

"Step aside, children. This is an official Imperial Enforcement operation. Interference with a Vanguard decree carries an immediate sentence of treason." None of the twenty disciples stepped back. Valerius looked down at the Vanguard commander with cold arrogance.

"The only traitors here are imperial dogs who enter an academic sanctuary without proper warrants." Inside his mind, Rudra watched the united front with a quiet, appreciative smirk. Inka attitude abhi bhi arrogant hai, par focus bilkul sahi jagah hai. (Their attitude is still arrogant, but their focus is in the exact right place.) Shin remained standing quietly at the top of the stairs, observing his cohort with calm detachment. Commander Leon's patience snapped.

The veins in his neck bulged against his dark steel collar as he drew his massive, two-handed broadsword from its back sheath. SHING. The heavy steel blade gleamed under the grey morning light, coated in a thick, vibrating layer of kinetic mana capable of cleaving through stone barricades. Commander Leon raised the broadsword high above his shoulder, drawing a deep breath to bark a forceful dispersal order to his legionnaires.

"By the authority of the Imperial Regency —" Before the words could leave his mouth, a brilliant flash of light cut through the morning gloom. HUM. Valerius extended his right hand, channeling a burst of pure family mana into the heavy signet ring on his finger. The ruby crest flared with blinding crimson light, projecting the towering, flaming lion crest of the High Marshal's house into the open air above his head. Beside him, Cassian raised his fist, igniting a radiant golden wheat-and-shield crest.

Lady Lyra raised her hand, summoning the shimmering silver vault sigil of the Imperial Treasury. One by one, across the entire stone line, fifteen high-noble heirs raised their fists in unison, illuminating the glowing crest rings of fifteen premier ducal and marquis bloodlines. The combined magical sigils illuminated the entire courtyard in radiant, multi-colored light, forming an overwhelming wall of high-noble authority that hung directly over the advancing soldiers.

Commander Leon's raised broadsword froze mid-air. His armored legionnaires stopped dead in their tracks, their kinetic halberds lowering as cold dread rippled through the Vanguard ranks. Striking a single student was an academic offense; cutting down fifteen illuminated high-noble heirs in public was an immediate declaration of war against half the Imperial Senate.