The Million-Dollar Heart

The towering figure wrapped his arms tightly around her from behind, halting the supernatural power she was about to unleash. "Vivienne, don't hurt yourself." Vivienne Hawthorn blinked in surprise at the familiar voice before quickly grabbing the man in front of her. "Mr. Wolf, are you alright?"

Just as Percival Ellington was about to respond, a pained "Ouch!" came from behind. "Geez, kiddo, got yourself a partner and forgot your old coach, huh? I nearly got a hernia from that freaky thing, and you didn't even check on me?" Dawson was the first to dash in, and seeing the scene before him, he felt a lump in his throat, his annoyance nearly blowing the roof off. "Vivienne, how could you play favorites like this? Is our combined worth really less than his alone?" The other apprentices trailing behind saw their beloved Vivienne in a tight embrace with Percival, worrying over him intensely, and felt as if their already wounded hearts were stabbed yet again. And it was a deep stab indeed.

A stab that felt a hundred, no, a thousand times worse than any physical injury.

How had their Vivienne fallen for this man?

"Vivienne, my hand's injured. Check it out, will you?" Donald's voice broke the tension, prompting others to lose their patience.

Larry chimed in after, "Check what? You should check mine first. What's your injury compared to mine? I nearly coughed up blood, did I say anything?"

Eric added with a sigh, "Vivienne, my heart's racing. Am I about to die?"

The others: "...You win."

Jerry Perez was visibly frustrated. "Still arguing? We barely managed a simple barrier and almost got Vivienne hurt, and yet here you are, trying to take credit..."

As Vivienne turned her sharp gaze to Finnian, who seemed to find the situation amusing, it was clear she suspected him of stirring up this commotion.

Finnian chuckled, standing upright suddenly, his eyes still carrying his usual slyness towards Vivienne.

"Both sides of the hand are flesh, after all. Bringing them here to see the action is fair, isn't it? After all, we're all in this together, and it wouldn't be fair for you to hog all the glory and forget about your coach and brothers." Vivienne: "..."

Did they seriously think this was some sort of treasure hunt?

"Vivienne, don't be mad at coach. It was our idea to come. He just hinted at it, nothing

of him when it

us about such a big deal. Do you see us as outsiders?

injuries on Mr. Wolf, finally tuned into the

the absence of Leopold,

Thomas has found Dorian and the others. Thaddeus is being taken

looked up, meeting Mr. Wolf's confident

Cordelia were important to her,

laugh cut through the air, a voice enhanced with power declared, "Perfect timing. With all this supernatural energy around, I have enough to activate the Millennia Aegis." Everyone froze, turning

there, so absorbed were they in Vivienne's

crossing his eyes, "You must be

mockingly. "Old man, thinking

Old?

we're talking age, you've got me beat. With that face, you're older by a mile. In front of an ancient witch like yourself, I dare not claim to be

with a cold fury as she amed a powerful strike at Finnian, who countered with his inner energy. Despite holding his own, the confrontation was evenly matched, and Finnian, already

vulnerability, intensified her attack, determined

his top-tier

curled into an

as she controlled Percival with her power and, with a flicker of movement, appeared before Finnian, delivering a devastating blow to his chest. Those who dared

pay the

couldn't dodge in time and coughed

"Master!"

his fellow apprentices rushed over to catch

a healing potion to Finnian, channeling her