Hunter Academy: Revenge of the Weakest novel Chapter 882

Julia stepped out of the locker room, rolling her shoulders as she stretched, the faint hum of her voice echoing lightly down the hallway.

She was grinning.

Despite the fact that she had just lost in the exercise, despite the fact that Astron had slipped through her fingers, and despite the fact that she had to hear Damian and Rebecca talk her ear off about it—she was still smiling.

Why?

Because, honestly? She didn’t care.

Grades had never mattered to her. Never once in her life had she given a damn about test scores, ranking evaluations, or whatever metric the academy used to sort people into neat little categories.

She knew exactly why she wasn’t in the top ten, despite probably being stronger than half the people up there. Her theoretical scores were trash. They had always been trash, and they were going to stay trash.

One slip-up in practical rankings? Whatever. It wasn’t like she was gunning for valedictorian or anything.

So, she hummed, tapping her fingers lightly against her thigh as she walked.

But then—

Something felt off.

Julia’s blue eyes flicked sideways, noticing a distinct pressure in the air.

Right behind her, Irina was walking with a deadly aura radiating from her entire being.

Not literally, but she might as well have been.

Irina’s golden eyes burned, frustration rolling off her in waves as she stormed down the hallway.

She wasn’t stomping—Irina Emberheart did not stomp.

But her pace was quick, sharp, every step radiating barely-contained fury.

The passing cadets must have sensed it because they all instinctively moved out of her way, avoiding eye contact like their lives depended on it.

Julia, on the other hand?

She grinned.

This was funny.

"Hey," she said, casual as ever.

Irina didn’t respond.

Julia’s grin widened as she tilted her head, watching the way people actively fled from Irina’s path like she was some kind of vengeful storm goddess about to incinerate the entire academy.

"Hey," she tried again, this time stepping into Irina’s path and forcing her to acknowledge her.

Irina’s eyes snapped toward her.

Julia raised an eyebrow.

Yep. That was definitely murder in her gaze.

And considering Irina normally looked half-murderous on a good day, that meant someone was about to die.

Julia folded her arms. "Alright. Why are you glaring at everyone like they just personally insulted your ancestors?"

Irina exhaled sharply, running a hand through her hair before muttering—

"Ask it to that bastard."

Julia blinked.

Then her smirk widened.

"Ooooh," she drawled, far too entertained. "Who’s that bastard? Astron?"

Irina’s glare sharpened even further.

"No." She said the word like it was a curse. "It’s your twin."

Julia immediately straightened, interest piqued. "Hmm? What happened?"

Irina’s fingers twitched, her flames threatening to spark back to life.

And Julia had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

Oh, this was going to be good.

Irina exhaled sharply, hard, like she was actively restraining herself from setting something on fire.

"That guy," she said, her voice clipped and brimming with heat, "just ran off after getting the artifact."

Julia blinked, then tilted her head. "Huh. That sounds like Lucas."

Irina’s eye twitched. "That sounds like Lucas?" she repeated, incredulous. "That’s all you have to say?"

Julia shrugged, completely unbothered. "I mean, yeah. You’ve met him, right?"

Irina stopped walking just to glare at her harder.

Julia whistled. "Oh, wow. You’re actually about to explode."

"I’m about to do a lot worse than that," Irina snapped. "I held that damn wing alone. I burned through two teams. I did everything right. And then your damn brother comes out of nowhere, takes the artifact, smirks, and runs off like it’s a joke."

Julia tried—really, really tried—not to laugh.

Julia bit her lip, her shoulders trembling as she tried—really, really tried—not to burst into laughter.

Because this? This was hilarious.

The irony was almost too much.

What Astron had just done to her, Lucas had just done to Irina.

Both of them had been played. Both of them.