Chapter 70: First 7 Academy.

The Soul maidens instantly snapped to attention, controlling the direction of their vision. No student dared to look Julia in the eye. She was ruthless, a tyrant who would sentence you to three months of manual labor for a crooked collar.

Well, no student dared to look, except for Seraphine Peters. Seraphine, stood near the front, her spine perfectly straight, wearing a fake, sycophantic smile. She was the ultimate teacher’s pet, always kissing up to anyone with a shred of power.

Her biggest worry had been the inevitable arrival of Zyra Scorpion to the academy. Rumor had it that she had the brightest blossom, compared to any Soul maiden that existed in the past or currently. Those rumors, along with the glory of her mother Zena, were things that would have escalated Zyra to the top of the pyramid in the academy.

All the young Soul maidens had been waiting for her arrival, some daring to whisper that she would be the next Divine Soul Maiden.

Seraphine had been having sleepless nights until the news arrived that Zyra had not awakened. Her half-life beast was an ordinary snake! Only she knew how she had praised every god in existence for the miracle!

Now, nobody would steal her position. As long as she remained the favorite of the headmistress, she would be a shoo in for one of the candidates to be the next Divine Soul Maiden.

Julia stood at the edge of the platform, her cold gaze sweeping over the crowd like a vulture weighing its prey’s fear. "I will get straight to the point," she said, her voice smooth but cutting like a sharp blade. She gave a curt nod to a warden standing by the door. "Begin the roll call, warden Samantha."

Warden Samantha, a woman who was as muscular as Julia’s buffalo, cleared her throat. Her voice echoed through the silent hall, reading off name after name. As the minutes dragged on, the silence grew heavier. By the end of it, three names hung in the air with no response.

Three girls were missing!

Julia started a slow walk down the steps from the platform, her leather boots clicking rhythmically against the stone.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

She snapped her fingers.

"Three," Julia mused, her voice dangerously soft. "Three more Soul Maidens have vanished into thin air today. Without anyone’s knowledge! On an island surrounded by deadly mutated sea creatures and no way out except for approved flying beasts or a helicopter. Tell me, how does that happen?" It was truly a puzzle. "The ordinary students are not going missing, only you, our lovely Soul maidens. If anyone knows something, now is the time to speak up."

No one answered. The buffalo released a deep roar that shook the windowpanes and made the Soul maidens hearts pump.

"Guards," Julia barked suddenly. "Capture all the wardens."

Before the staff could even process the order, heavy-armored female guards stormed the floor. They grabbed the wardens in the room, kicking their knees out from under them. The wardens, who just moments ago were authority figures, were paraded to the front and forced onto their knees, whimpering and crying.

"We don’t know! Head Mistress, I swear by my ancestors’ graves, we didn’t see anything!" one old warden wailed, tears streaming down her face.

Julia made a gesture with her hand, and the guards unleashed violence on the guards, punching, slapping and kicking. Bones were broken; screams filled the air. Julia made a gesture and the guards stopped. But everyone knew it was not over.

"I am waiting," Julia walked back to the podium. "If I don’t get the answers I want, a lot of blood will be shed today."

Suddenly, Seraphine Peters took a dramatic step forward. She pointed a manicured finger directly at two of the kneeling wardens. "Head Mistress Julia! They are lying! I saw these two accepting energy stones near the beast stables last week. They helped the maidens escape, they must have given them a flying beast, if not, they smuggled them out with the trash."

The two wardens went pale. They didn’t even deny it; they just slumped in pure despair.

Seraphine wasn’t done. With a smug flourish, she pulled a crumpled piece of paper from her sleeve and handed it up to Julia. "Furthermore, I have compiled a list of names. These are Soul Maidens I personally overheard plotting to desert their sacred duties."

A collective gasp rippled through the auditorium.

"Seraphine, you snake!" a girl shouted from the back.

"She’s lying! She’s making it up!" another cried, bursts of emotional sobbing breaking out among the younger students.

"Silence," Julia commanded. The room froze. She nodded at Seraphine. "Read them."

Seraphine smiled like a cat that had caught a trapped mouse. She cleared her throat and began reading names. One by one, terrified Soul maidens were dragged out of the crowd. As Seraphine reached the end of the list, her eyes locked onto a Soul maiden she had gotten into a petty argument with over a training equipment earlier that morning.

"And... Lily Bang," Seraphine added smoothly, injecting pure venom into her smile.

Lily’s eyes went wide. "What?! No! I never said anything about escaping! Seraphine, you psycho!" Lily screamed as a guard grabbed her by the hair, throwing her down to kneel alongside the others.

Julia didn’t waste a single breath on an investigation or a trial. In a lightning-fast motion, she drew a heavy, silver gun from her coat.

BANG!

BANG!

The two corrupted wardens collapsed instantly.

The sudden, deafening noise made the entire parade of maidens jump. The girls kneeling at the front completely dissolved into terror. One of the youngest maidens lost control of her bladder entirely, a puddle forming around her knees as she shook like a leaf in a hurricane.

Julia walked down again and slowly lowered the smoking barrel, pointing it directly at the remaining kneeling maidens. "What just happened," She said, her eyes dead and unblinking, "will happen to anyone else who even thinks about escaping. It will happen to anyone who helps them. And it will happen to those who refuse the sacred calling to go beyond the Veil."

To prove she wasn’t joking, Julia tilted her wrist and fired one more time. The youngest Soul maiden on the list dropped. She was only twelve years old!

The brutality of the act choked the remaining air out of the room. It became so silent you could hear the literal chattering of teeth from the girls in the ranks. The raw, primal fear was suffocating. Soul Maidens gripped each other’s hands so tightly their knuckles turned white, holding back their sobs because a single noise might draw Julia’s gaze.