Racing back outside, Akko, Ivy, Sucy and Xelia went as fast as they could. Lotte had helped to try and evacuate the rest of the students.

Clutching the Shiny Rod tightly, Xelia ran ahead of the others. "So how are we supposed to get the poison into the monster's mouth?" She asked.

"Um, I know a levitating spell!" Ivy said nervously. "I-I could levitate the potion into the m-monster's mouth..."

"Great! And then once the monster's all sleepy, Xelia can use the Shiny Rod to blast the monster to the Forest of Arcturus!" Akko exclaimed.

Xelia still felt a little guilty for taking Akko's spotlight - but then again, Akko had been the one to keep it on Xelia's hands. Akko was okay with this. She just needed a little time to realize it fully...

But, unfortunately, there was not enough time for that at the moment. As they stepped outside onto the grounds where the monster was, they could see almost all of the teachers gathered there, pointed their wands at the creature and shooting spells at it.

"Provectus Exponentia!" Professor Finnelan yelled, and a huge blast of light was shot at the monster. It stumbled back a bit, seemingly hurt, before recovering quickly and roaring with vengeance.

"Professors!" Akko yelled. Professor Finnelan looked at the group of girls.

"Students! Evacuate with the others! It's not safe-"

The monster let out a sonic roar, and the shockwave sent them all tumbling to the ground.

"It's my fault! I was trying to make new spells, and I turned a tree into a monster!" Ivy yelled, waterfalls erupting from her eyes. "I deserve to be expelled!"

"No, you don't!" Akko said quickly, comforting her. "You just wanted to experiment a little bit - and thats okay! We can fix the disaster! Make up for your mistake by saving everyone!"

"Here's the poison." Sucy said, handing Ivy the bottle of green solution. "You try levitating it into the beast's mouth when it roars."

Ivy nodded, opened the cork, and got out her wand.

"Venenius Supernatetia!" Ivy said, and she flicked her wand. The poison slowly floating out of the bottle. Akko took the empty bottle from Ivy's hands and as she quickly ran towards the beast with the liquid under her spell.

"Sucy, Akko - you can help the teachers to distract the beast. Use the spell Murowa to get its attention. It's a flashy spell, and it doesn't do much damage, but it's sure to make the beast not see Ivy!" Xelia explained.

Akko nodded, got out her wand, and took Sucy's wrist. They ran over to where all the teachers were.

Xelia stared at the Shiny Rod in her hand, wondering why it had worked for her in the first place. Surely something as powerful as this wouldn't work for more than one person?

But it had... and Xelia had no clue why.

However, she had no time to ponder, as Ivy had slipped Sucy's poison down the beat's throat. It swallowed, and its eyelids grew heavy. It slowly fell backwards - about to crush Xelia.

Frozen in fear, Xelia screamed as the other three girls called out her name in fear.

Then, as if her body knew what to do, it pointed the Shiny Rod at the monster, the glow on each tiny orb clear as day. The glow pulsated quickly, matching her racing heartbeat.

"Note Orfei! Oudon! Retorei!!" Xelia recited, drawing back the arrow. "SHINY ARC!!"

As soon as Xelia released the arrow, it glowed brightly as it hit the monster's back-

Everyone covered their eyes, but still opened them when they saw a gateway to the Leyline, the monster being sucked inside. Too groggy to retaliate, it was trapped inside the Leyline, as it had closed once the monster was put in.

Xelia heaved a sigh of relief as the Shiny Rod returned from its bow form. But Xelia felt a little drained and was struggling to stand up.

"I didn't realize how much energy it takes to do that spell... I guess Akko's pretty energetic so it doesn't do much to her..." Xelia mumbled to herself. Her legs buckled and gave way, letting her fall onto the ground on her knees.

She saw Akko running over to her, and soon, she was right beside her.

"Xelia! Are you alright?!" She asked, helping her up.

"Yeah, I'm fine... I just wasn't expecting that to make me feel so exhausted..." Xelia said. "Just a few minutes to catch my breath and I'll be fine."

So Akko and Xelia walked slowly to the professors, Sucy and Ivy.

"Sucy thanks for bringing the poison... Ivy, thank you for using a spell to put the poison inside the beast..." Xelia said. "And thank you, Akko, for helping Sucy and the professors distract the monster, as well as helping me stand up."

"No problem!" Akko said with a big smile.

"My, my, that was an outstanding performance! It's only your second day here at Luna Nova, and you've taken down a mighty beast that even the teachers here had trouble with!" Headmistress Holbrooke said with a smile. "The future of witches looks bright."

Xelia and Ivy were bashful. "It's really not that big of a deal..."

"Of course it is! Ivy and Xelia did pretty much most of the work! They're very talented witches, and I'm proud to call them my friends!" Akko said proudly.

"Thank you, Ms. Kagari." Headmistress Holbrooke said. "Now - shall we fetch the students for an assembly?"

"An assembly? What for?" Ivy asked. She wasn't shy around teachers, it seemed.

"To commemorate you four in taking down that monster, of course! No excuses will be made." The headmistress said reassuringly.

"Headmistress Holbrooke!"

The five of them turned to see Diana, Hannah and Barbara coming out onto the school grounds with them.

"Will classes be continuing after the assembly? Many of the students were shaken up by what happened, as there hasn't been an attack on the school for centuries." Diana explained. "But then again, we'll be behind on learning magic, and therefore the entire school will be drawn back a bit."

"Oh, Ms. Cavendish! So lovely to see you!" The headmistress said. "Yes, I'm afraid the students will be drawn back a bit, as classes will be canceled after the assembly. But we'll be installing afterschool clubs for all subjects, so that students can catch up on their learning.

However, I'm afraid that it'll only be the core subjects. The teachers will still need time of their own afterschool."

"Indeed. I assume you will explain that to the school at the assembly?" Diana asked.

"Yes, I will. I appreciate your concerns, Ms. Cavendish. Now - could you students  go round up the other students?" She said.

"Yes Headmistress Holbrooke!" The seven witches said. And then they hurried to get to the evacuated students.

"We are gathered here today to commemorate these brave witches for helping the teachers defeat a great beast!" Headmistress Holbrooke said, and the entire room cheered. Xelia, Akko, Sucy and Ivy came up on the stage.

Ivy looked a little squeamish at being watched by so many people, but said nothing. Sucy looked bored, maybe a little irritated, but didn't say anything either. Akko was standing proudly and Xelia just stood there awkwardly.

"They came up with a plan and were able to defeat the beast! I'd like to give particular applause to Ivy Glowglade - she created the monster when trying to experiment with her spells, but was able to make up for her mistake with Sucy Manbavaran's poison. A round of applause for Ms. Glowglade, a round of round of applause for them all!" Headmistress Holbrooke exclaimed, and the room was filled with cheering and clapping.

Ivy blushed with appreciation.

After the assembly, the four of them grew a lot more popular - perhaps not as popular as Diana, but quite close. The attention was a little bit too much for Sucy and Ivy, as they preferred to be alone, but Akko and Xelia were okay with it, the former being much more enthusiastic about it.

"Hey Akko! Will you tell us about how you distracted the monster?!" A girl asked excitedly with her fangirls, when they found Xelia, Akko and Lotte sitting at a table in the cafeteria. Akko sat up with a big smile.

"Of course! As I held out my wand, striking the monster with spells with the professors and Sucy, it lunged its claws towards me! Just as its claws were about to seep into me-" Akko exclaimed, but was cut short by Diana, who was walking nearby.

"Actually, what happened is that she, Sucy and the professors shot spells at a safe distance. In fact - Atsuko was actually having the most trouble trying to use the Murowa spell against the monster, until she eventually just gave up and hid behind Sucy." Diana explained.

"Well, how come you weren't trying to help, Diana?" Akko accused.

"Because I actually have faith in our teachers here at Luna Nova. I assume you didn't care about them at all, did you? Anything to be in the spotlight, it seems." Diana snapped.

The fangirls instantly flocked to Diana at those words, as she strutted away with the flip of her hair, followed by fans. Akko groaned.

"Ugh! She always gets the limelight! I have potential for greatness too! Was Diana on that stage at the assembly? No!" Akko ranted angrily.

"Akko, maybe calm down a bit?" Xelias asked.

"Hmph!" Akko said, crossing her arms. But she sat back down in her chair and ate a spoonful of potato stew.

"You know, Akko, maybe Diana's right-"

"WHAT?! You believe her, Xelia?!" Akko said, almost choking on her food.

"Just let me explain. I know you're one of the kindest people I know and everything, and you have good intentions, but you shouldn't be lying about what happened." Xelia explained.

"Oh come on! I may be exaggerating, but it's to make the story seem more dramatic! You of all people should know that - you're always writing stories - in your notebook, on your laptop - you even make your notes in class seem more poetic and story driven!" Akko pointed out.

"Yeah, but none of what you said to those girls were actually true. There's a difference to necessary-exaggeration and flat out lying." Xelia said.

Akko glared down at her food, but stayed silent.

"Anyway, I didn't say all that to make you feel bad - I just wanted to state my opinion." Xelia said.

"Um... can I sit with you guys...?"

Xelia, Akko and Lotte all turned around to see Ivy there with a shy smile, holding her tray filled with today's lunch.

"Of course! You're our friend!" Xelia said with a smile. "Your spell with Sucy's poison was great! Although we should be wondering why Sucy has poisons when they're banned in Luna Nova... but never mind. Come sit with us!"

So Ivy sat down and the four of them chatted together about upcoming classes and the different spells they'd learn.