Dilhade

A/N: Sorry for the one month hiatus. I was super busy with school that I forgot to make a chapter. Anyway, this one's twice as long but is mainly setting up for next chapter.

I don't know if I can post on next Sunday/Monday since I have a presentation coming up this 29th but I'll try my best. No promises.

—————

-Anos PoV-

"Who exactly are you?" The voice of the woman I just saved echoed behind me.

I turned around to look at her, observing the woman who had just been on the brink of death moments ago.

Alea Triscan, one of the Six Lances of Dicathen, the only beings who have attained a white mana core stage. While not someone noteworthy for my standards, her abilities far surpassed those of regular mages in this era.

"Anos. I am Anos Voldigoad," I replied, my gaze meeting hers.

"No, I already know your name. I meant, who are you really? Healing someone on the brink of death, teleportation, and magic without a mana core. What are you?" Alea pressed, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"What I am doesn't matter. For now, follow me."

I walked through the corridor, the sound of dripping water echoing around us. Alea followed closely behind, her steps cautious yet determined.

"Its a dead end," Alea paused, her brow furrowed as I placed my hand on the stone walls.

"No, there's a hidden passage."

"There can't be. I checked for any magic on the walls when we first arrived here. There's no sign of any hidden passages or doors," Alea insisted, her tone growing more skeptical.

Oh? Quite impressive for her to still be able to perceive magic despite losing her mana core.

"There are countermeasures in place to protect against detection spell," I said, walking straight to the end of the corridor.

"Huh? Wait, Anos, what—"

I headbutted the wall, smashing right through it. The wall crumbled, creating a hole the shape of my body as I continued to pass through with brute force.

"Huuuh?!" Alea cried.

"Come on," I said.

With a bewildered expression, Alea began walking. "He just broke through the wall..."

—————

After breaking enough of the wall by walking through it, we arrived at our destination.

It was a large underground city modelled after Dilhade of the past.

Beneath the tall ceiling of the underground city was a large, spherical magic crystal. It gathered sunlight from aboveground and illuminated the city below like a pseudo sun.

The city streets were lined with shops, all of which were manned by owl familiars. At one bakery in particular, an owl picked up a small stone tablet and threw it into a magic kiln. A magic circle encircled the kiln, and a savory scent began to waft through the air. The kiln soon opened to reveal freshly baked bread, which the owl carried over to the shop counter.

The streets were designed in a circular formation, with runes inscribed on the rooftops, walls, and windows of every building. From above, one could see that this formation of buildings, roads, trees, and stones formed a vast magic circle. The magic circle served as a ward against enemy attack.

Not so long ago, I had created this city beneath the ground where Xyrus was floating as a homage to my era.

"What the..." Alea's voice trailed off as she took in the sight of the underground city.

Alea looked around in awe, her eyes wide with wonder. "This... this is incredible. Since when did this place exist?"

"Since not so long ago," I replied cryptically.

We came to a stop before the castle at the city's center, its towering spires reaching up towards the ceiling of the cavern.

"Open," I said.

At my word, the castle gate creaked open to reveal the grand hall within. Alea followed me inside, her eyes darting around as she took in the opulent surroundings.

Similar to my castle of the ancient era, the walls of the castle were lined with runes, forming the formula for the three-dimensional magic circle of this castle.

"Welcome to Dilhade," I said, gesturing around the grand hall. "As I said before, I will give you strength to enact you revenge. To achieve that, I will teach you how to use magic without a mana core."

"You said that before, but how do you even cast magic without a mana core?"

"Have you ever heard of a source?"

—————

I stirred the teacup and took a sip.

Currently, I was at my private office at Xyrus Academy. Being the commander of the disciplinary committee had given me some privileges, one of which was having my own personal office.

It has been a day since I had left Alea in Dilhade to begin her training. I simply taught her the basics and let her explore her newfound abilities on her own. She was a quick learner, and I had no doubt she would just fine.

As I sat at my desk, the space around me began to warp.

Just then, a pair of eyes came into view out of nowhere. The glowing white eyes, speckled with stars grew closer. An authoritative voice, devoid of emotion, like it speaking directly into my ear.

"At last. We finally have a bit of privacy to peacefully converse."

Oh? What an interesting spell. Does it use source magic as its basis?

"A good thing for you to finally show yourself," I said as I kept drinking my tea.

The space began warping further until only a blank white cube remained, with only myself and the source of the voice.

"Do you plan to change your form or do you want to remain like that?"

The entity in front of me was a black cat with glowing white eyes, its tail swaying hypnotically as its eyes locked onto mine.

"You do not seem fazed by my appearance," the cat said, its voice echoing within the confines of the white space.

"I've seen stranger things."

The cat began glowing with a golden-white light that spread over its entire body. The golden-white light began to change its shape and enlarge, morphing from the form of a cat to that of a human. Then, as if made of glass, the sparkling human-shaped glow shattered into fragments of light, revealing someone I didn't recognize.

"Greetings. I go by Windsom," the man sniffed deprecatingly.

The man who had transformed from a cat spoke with an elegance that matched his appearance. On top of his sculpted face was a bed of short platinum blond hair, neatly swept to the side. His deep-set eyes, which had not changed appearance from when he was a cat, almost touched his brows, which appeared to be permanently furrowed. It does not take a person with good magic eyes to see he was a warrior.

"I felt this form would be more appropriate for our conversation."

"So you don't want to show your true form, dragon?"

My question seemed to get a reaction from him, judging from the slight twitch of his eyebrow. He decided to ignore it and continued with the conversation.

"I suppose its time for you to tell me why you've sought me out."

Windsom adjusted his posture, his expression becoming more serious. "Anos Voldigoad, you possess an unprecedented amount of skill in magic to be able to resurrect the dead. It has caught the attention of many, including myself."

Hmm? It seems Inggal has gained quite a bit of attention. That would make sense considering that the people of this era have little knowledge of many of the spells of my era.

"While that explains why you're here, aren't introductions still in order?" I interjected, sipping my tea casually.

"Patience really isn't a strong suit of yours, is it? Very well, if I were to introduce myself in a way you could comprehend, it would sound a little something like this: I come from the land of asuras, and am what you lesser races call a 'deity.'" Windsom's eyes remain unwavering as he spoke.

"You? A god? Don't make me laugh," I chuckled, setting down my teacup. "You expect me to believe you're a god?"

Windsom's expression remained unchanged, though a hint of annoyance flickered in his eyes. "Your skepticism is understandable, but allow me to clarify. In your terms, I am akin to a god, possessing powers and knowledge far beyond those of mortals. We were the ones who blessed the three races with a set of artifacts that allowed later generations to learn what you now call 'magic.' But that was just the outcome of what happened prior—something no one on this land knows about," Windsom continued.

I stayed silent, waiting for him to continue.

"As you have recently discovered, there exists another continent in this world. The two bodies of land which make up the two ends of this world have always been protected and watched over by us. We asuras are and have been governed by a doctrine—a noblesse oblige of sorts, to put it simply—since the beginning of our existence. We are not to lay a hand on the lesser races inhabiting the land below; we must be sure to act only in times when the two continents fall out of balance or if either of them is on the brink of extinction." He sighed and turned his back toward us. "That is, until we found out this sacred rule had been broken. I can imagine the multitude of questions you must have, but the information I'm sharing with you is all you will need to know at this point. We have time, but not much of it, and telling you too much now will only distract you."

Not much time? It will only distract me? His actions are becoming more and more suspicious.

He gave a nod and continued. "Despite how some of you may refer to us—as deities—we are far from gods. That is, we're far closer to you than you think. Much of the economy in both Dicathen and Alacrya originally mimicked the systems of my land—Epheotus, the land of asuras."

Epheotus and Alacrya…

"Of course, while Epheotus isn't nearly as large as either of the surface continents, there are many similarities between them, specifically in how the society works. Epheotus, too, was once divided into three factions, each made up of multiple clans. Boiling it down quite a bit, the ruling clan of each faction had their own priorities, and the other clans followed the faction whose ideals aligned most closely with their own. Though the details may have been different, each clan of asuras still held to the paramount creed that we were not to raise a hand against the lesser races. However, after Agrona came into power as leader of the Vritra Clan, things quickly changed."

So Vritra wasn't the name of the black-horned demon, but the name of its clan?

"What was this Agrona like, and what happened to the Vritra Clan?" I leaned forward in anticipation.

Windsom paused for a moment, as if to gather his thoughts. "The Vritra Clan had always been an anomaly. It's simplest to imagine them as scientists of sorts. While their innate magic is unique and versatile, it was never as powerful as the other clans' mana arts. However, with their genius minds and insatiable curiosity, they were always one of the most influential clans.

A clan being strong and a clan becoming a leader of a faction are two different things. Again, think of the Vritra Clan as scientists, as researchers. The clan had very little interest in anything other than gaining knowledge and insight on utilizing mana. Like people living in an ivory tower, they were secluded knowledge-seekers, pursuing only what they could not yet comprehend. The previous head of the clan was even more fervent in his quest to overcome the impossible. However, Agrona, he was different. He was charismatic and intelligent, but also arrogant and power-hungry. He believed that the asuras had never been meant to watch over the lesser races, but rather to rule over them as their gods."

Windsom's face tensed as he continued speaking. "After Agrona began leading the Vritra Clan, however, their strength increased abruptly—and unnaturally. No one could figure out how Agrona had advanced the Vritra Clan's mana power in such a short time. Eventually, through their rise in power, they were able to rally more clans to share his ideals, and the Vritra Clan soon led a faction on par with either of the other two factions. It was only later that we learned that Agrona and a few other of the Vritra Clan had secretly been making trips to the continent of Alacrya. While it wasn't forbidden for us to go down to Dicathen or Alacrya, as long as we concealed ourselves, their movements and behaviors were extremely suspicious. After the other two factions found out about this, they sent out scouts to figure out what the Vritra were up to." I could see Windsom's knuckles whiten as he clenched his fists.

"Agrona and the Vritra Clan had been torturing the lesser races, experimenting on their bodies to find different ways to enhance their own abilities."

I could see why he was so visibly disturbed. Even the humans and demons of my era tried to experiment on each other. It was to the point that I had to outright forbid using and researching magic that required the sacrifice of the caster's or others' lives. Even Hero Kanon had to prohibit the use of Gavuel since it required the sacrifice of the caster's source in order to use.

"To be quite honest, while this information is disturbing, it doesn't quite explain why this has anything to do with me."

"You're right. Aside from your own abilities, there really shouldn't be a reason to tell you this. The only reason I do so is because your resurrection spell is just that valuable to us."

"So you wish to have me use the spell or perhaps learn for yourself?"

"Yes, that is plan. Anos, we will be entering into war with the Fallen Clans—the forces led by Agrona and his Vritra Clan—soon. During the last war, both sides sustained immense casualties and had no choice but to settle for a truce. Agrona agreed not to touch Dicathen, but in return, we had to give up the continent of Alacrya to him.

While our forces may be stronger in terms of raw power, there are too many unpredictable factors regarding the Vritra, considering the experiments they have had time to carry out during this period. The truce is faltering as the Fallen Clans continue to grow their troops. We have already found signs of Agrona's spies on this continent. While the upper echelons of Epheotus would never verbally admit it, we need help, and your future potential can play a crucial role in this. As long as you agree to be our ally, Anos Voldigoad, we ensure your and your family's safety.

Even though Windsom was asking me for a favor, the way he looked me dead in the eye made it seem like he was presenting me a role of the highest honor.

"Since this war involves the entirety of the continent, it would be of my best interest to ally myself with you. Rather, what you are asking is if I will be a pawn under your control."

"I can't disagree with your statement. You're wise for your age, Anos," Windsom smirked. "I take it by your answer that you agree—"

"You seemed to have misunderstood, Windsom. I never once said I would agree to be your pawn." I looked at the dragon with a smirk. "Honestly, I am not an avid fan of war, particularly the death, suffering, and hatred it brings. I'd like to avoid this if possible."

"What do you mean by that?" Windsom's expression turned serious, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"I mean that there isn't anything stopping me from tracking all of Alacrya's spies and eliminating them myself. I have no desire to be a pawn in anyone's game, especially not in a war where Dicathen is simply a proxy for Epheotus' interests."

"Even we do not have the ability to look for dozens of spies among millions of lessers. How do you plan on doing that?" Windsom asked, his tone skeptical.

"There are few ways." I leaned back on my chair. "Besides, the less spies there are, the better it is for you, isn't it?"

Windsom's eyes narrowed further, clearly considering my words. After a moment, he sighed. "Very well, Anos Voldigoad. If you can indeed locate and eliminate the spies without involving us directly, we will leave the situation in your hands. But we will be watching the situation closely."

I chuckled softly. "Failure isn't in my vocabulary. You'll see."

With a nod, Windsom's form began to shimmer and dissolve, fading back into the black cat I had first encountered.

As the cat disappeared completely, the white space around me began to warp and fade away, leaving me once again in my office at Xyrus Academy.

"Things are getting quite annoying."

-Windsom PoV-

I let out a strained breath as I escaped out of the child's presence. The young mage was proving to be more formidable than I had anticipated. His refusal to be a pawn in our plans was unexpected, but his offer to handle the spy situation himself was an unexpected boon.

"It felt like he could kill me with just a glance," I muttered to myself, still feeling the weight of the child's intense gaze.

His sheer presence rivaled even that of Lord Indrath. Perhaps he may be a descendant of the djinns, but even they weren't capable of resurrection spells like Anos'. I needed to report back to Lord Indrath immediately. There were developments that required his attention, and Anos' involvement could drastically alter our plans.

—————

-Few Days Later-

-Kathyln PoV-

When I found out from my brother what had happened down at the dungeon, I was shocked. I almost wanted to blame him—to blame Professor Glory, to blame someone—but I knew it wasn't anyone's fault. I'm confident he'll be okay, I thought, trying to convince myself. I'm sure of it.

"Gah!" I blurted in frustration, then quickly covered my mouth, surprised that I'd let out such a barbaric sound. After quickly looking around the alleyway where I stood—I had discovered a shortcut to the disciplinary committee room—I exhaled a sharp breath of relief: I was alone.

Maybe all this daydreaming was from the stress I felt these days as a disciplinary committee officer. I had assumed things would stay quiet after the formation of the committee—I had briefly wondered if we were even needed—but recently some unusual circumstances had been brought to our attention.

Claire Bladeheart, our vice-leader, had pulled each of us aside a few days ago. She explained several small 'accidents' that had occurred around campus and implied that the motives behind these incidents might have had something to do with Anos and Arthur.

I wanted to rebut her claims, but I decided to hear her out. Claire had been secretly gathering information with Kai, who specialized in stealth. From what they'd learned, it seemed there was a radical group dissatisfied with the direction the academy had been taking recently. The group comprised only humans, and the few faces Kai had been able to catch a glimpse of were all from high-ranking noble families.

One particular noble he had spotted was Charles Ravenpor. His father was on rather close terms with mine, but strictly for business. Father always grumbled in dissatisfaction after meetings with Mr. Ravenpor because of how ill-mannered and self-centered he was.

A large faction of the group thought Anos didn't belong in this academy because of his "humble" background. The fact that he was a professor, in addition to having the privilege of taking upper-division classes and being the commander of the disciplinary committee, further fueled the built-in hatred of some of the royal students.

We weren't allowed to confront them yet because of the lack of evidence—and the fact that they hadn't really done anything wrong yet—but it appeared that even some professors of the academy supported them. We had to be careful not to act rashly.

A few days ago, though, some of the radical group members had begun to act. Denton, one of my classmates in Ano—Professor Voldigoad's class, was the victim. He had initially been one of those who strongly opposed Professor Voldigoad teaching a class that was so important in building foundations. However, he'd warmed up to him—and he looked up to him now.

Three days ago, Denton had been found hanging from a statue behind the disciplinary committee building—not far from the alley where I stood now, in fact. He had been left there, battered and naked, hung upside down for all the passing students to see. There had been a note covering his privates instructing him to drop out of the "plebeian's class" if he didn't want this to happen again.

Claire had learned that the group had dragged Denton to one of the narrow alleys between the back buildings and beaten him up. She said they'd wanted to "teach" him how to properly use mana since they didn't really think Anos was good enough to nurture the "potential" Denton had. He'd ended up becoming a target dummy for various spells when he resisted. Director Goodsky's assistant, Tricia, and Professor Glory had rescued him, pulling him down and making sure he was okay.

Director Goodsky was still away, so Tricia, acting on her behalf, had been trying to quell the anger from the elven and dwarven parents who thought this was a case of racial discrimination, since the victim was an elf.

Needless to say, Denton was taking a break from school for the time being.

Why was this happening? What was the point? What good did dividing students like this do? Did these students have such low self-esteem that they needed to bring down anyone they thought was better than them to feel better about themselves? Why was it that the more power and privilege someone had, the greedier they became?

Was it naive of me to wish everyone would just work together for the good of all?

To top it off, a dark and gloomy atmosphere had clung to the disciplinary committee room since the accident with Arthur. Claire and my brother hadn't spoken at first, each of them blaming themselves, while everyone remained frustrated because our options were so limited. But strangely enough, our leader, Anos wasn't all that worried or concerned. Maybe he knew something that we didn't know.

Now everyone was on high alert; all the disciplinary committee upperclassmen were out for surveillance during the morning and afternoon, while Feyrith and I took watch in the evening, with one of the upperclassmen helping us out instead of going to class.

Kai tried to learn their meeting spots, but as soon as he had a lead the locations always changed. It seemed they were one step ahead of us, constantly moving on to someplace new.

The professors were useless. Most of them were all talking in front of the unhappy elven and dwarven parents, saying they'd do their best to find the culprit, but they weren't able to take direct action, since the human parents were also upset about their children being accused of racial discrimination. In the end, the professors were too involved in their little game of tug-of-war to be of much help. They tried so hard to be on both sides that they ended up being on neither.

That was the problem with a school so heavily funded by the parents of the students. The only one who had the authority to oppose them directly and openly was Director Goodsky, and she was nowhere to be seen. In a way, her disappearance had allowed this radical group to openly create a disturbance because she wasn't here to stop them.

I finally made it to the disciplinary committee room and walked up the stairs, Claire's voice getting louder the closer I got.

"Things are escalating faster than we thought. I had a feeling that this would be the case—the group is trying to create as much of an uproar as possible before Director Goodsky gets back; then they'll probably go into hiding—temporarily, at least," Claire announced, leaning forward with her arms on the table. The dark bags underneath her eyes told me she hadn't rested since getting back.

Everyone acknowledged me with a nod, too frustrated to verbally greet me as I took my seat. But now wasn't the time to brood. I turned my attention back to the group as my brother began to speak.

"I talked to multiple professors about the situation like you asked, but it seems you were right. None of them were willing to actively help in finding the crux of the problem. They're turning a blind eye to all this because of our 'lack of evidence,'" my brother reported through gritted teeth, running his fingers through his hair.

"We already know one member of the group, so why not just take that rat out and interrogate him? I doubt he has the balls to last even a couple of minutes before spilling out some secrets," grunted Doradrea as she leaned back in her chair.

"Already tried that, but Charles Ravenpor is never by himself these days; he's always surrounded by at least five lackeys. It'll be impossible to take any discreet action with them there. Besides, we need to think about our actions from the entire academy's perspective. No matter what we could get away with, it wouldn't look good if we just took a student in without a proper reason," Kai argued, shaking his head.

Theodore pounded his fist on the table, tipping over a cup of water. "What the hell is the point of having something like the disciplinary committee if we can't do anything in cases like this?"

"It can't be helped. We know too little about what this group is planning, and more importantly, we don't know what they're capable of. We have too little information on them." Claire sighed as she sat back down.

"We need to wait for Director Goodsky to come back," I said.

"Of course, that would be the best thing to do, but we have no idea when she'll be back," Claire responded. "We don't even know where she is."

"Can't the commander do something about it?" Doradrea asked, glancing at the empty seat at the end of the oval table where Anos usually sat at.

Claire shook her head. "Anos has his own hands full with other matters right now, leaving me in-charge. He trusts me to handle things here while he takes care of his business."

"So we just sit and wait? Doing nothing?" Theodore spat out.

"Umm, excuse me?"

Every one of the disciplinary committee members, including myself, whipped our heads around at the unexpected voice coming from the first floor of the room.

It was Arthur's best friend, Elijah.

"Ah, you're Arthur's friend, right?" Claire immediately softened her expression, and she motioned him upstairs.

"Yes, I'm sorry for intruding. I got to school a bit later than I expected but it's great that you guys are all here. Listen, I know you're all worried about Ar—"

His voice was cut off by a series of thunderous explosions that shook the reinforced walls of the building.

—————

At the sound of the explosions, we all bolted up from our seats and immediately headed outside. I cringed, tightening my fists in both frustration and disappointment upon seeing the disastrous scene laid out before us. Behind me, I could hear Claire muttering a string of curses under her breath.

There was a thick cloud of smoke rising from an area near the center of campus.

Half of the recently-constructed Tri-Union Hall building was in flames while the other half was crumbling down, collapsing beneath its own weight. Students were evacuating, while some capable staff members and professors nearby were rushing into the building to look for anyone who was stranded or stuck.

"I should've known they would target that building at some point." Theodore swore aloud as he stomped his foot into the ground.

We hurriedly made our way to the site.

The Tri-Union Hall served as both a museum of and a monument to the alliance between the three races. My mother had argued heavily to persuade the rest of the Council to erect this building, and although they all came around to her point of view, she had been the happiest of them by far when it had finally been built.

Equality had always been important to my mother. My mother was sensible and smart, and not in the least bit cold like her appearance sometimes implied. She cared for everyone as people, not as humans, elves, or dwarves. She disciplined my brother and me heavily for any type of discrimination, whether it was by social class or race.

The Tri-Union Hall was an extension of that. It was intended, she'd explained, to be both a symbol and a place for the three races to learn about the differences in each other's cultures.

Now that it had been made a target, my suspicions immediately went to the same radical group that had been recently fostering discord.

I strained my eyes, holding back my tears.

Claire ordered Kai to alert the rest of the professors and staff. She sent Feyrith and me to help the mages who were trying to put out the fire before it brought down the whole building, and I saw his expression turn from angry to dejected.

I almost wanted to apologize, as if it were my fault. Doradrea didn't seem to be taking the event to heart, but I could tell Feyrith wasn't as emotionally strong. I wanted him to know that not all humans thought like this, but somehow the words got caught in my throat. I was never good at expressing my thoughts like my mother… or Anos.

As we hurried to support the professors heading into the collapsing building, I spotted the student council—minus the president—making their way toward the scene as well.

Earth- and wind-attribute mages kept the building from collapsing, while the water-attribute mages were working to put out the fire. I hadn't used water-attribute spells as frequently since I had begun exploring my deviant abilities to manipulate ice-attribute mana, but I was still familiar enough with the spells to recognize them even at a distance. A few other student mages were already chanting spells in harmony by the time we got there. Without even taking the time to exchange hellos, we all got to work.

"Everyone, step aside!" Looking behind me, I saw a couple of professors rushing toward us, their wands already unsheathed.

After a few moments of mute chanting, Professor Malkinheim—who taught an upper division magic warfare class—conjured a thick cloud of mist around the whole building.

The other professor, someone I didn't recognize, used the moisture from Professor Malkinheim's mist cloud to evoke multiple water streams. Just these two spells, from two professors, were easily three times the size of the meticulously prepared spells that had been conjured by more than ten students. Within minutes, the monstrous fire was out and other professors were chanting spells to raise earthen support beams to hold up the crumbling portion of the building.

As expected of professors, they were on a different level.

This train of thought reminded me of the time Anos had completely overwhelmed Professor Geist before taking over his class. Just how strong was Anos, then? What would he do in this situation?

Shaking my head, I reprimanded myself for thinking of Anos again. Why did he pop into my mind so often? I needed to stay strong for when he came back.

He is going to come back, right?

I had begun chanting again when I spotted a group of students hastily making their way from the scene. I thought nothing of it at first—until I got a glimpse of one of the students in the group. It was Charles Ravenpoop.

Even from this distance, I could see him nervously glancing around as he made his escape. When his eyes met mine, he averted his gaze and quickened his pace.

Before I had the chance to do anything, Theodore, who had been helping an injured student, spotted him as well. Without even a word, he augmented his body and furiously dashed toward Charles.

"Someone help!" Charles shrieked, but the group surrounding him did nothing to aid him. Instead, they acted frightened and confused as Theodore grabbed him easily and picked him up by the collar, nearly choking him.

Keeping my wand at the ready, I followed behind my brother, who was also rushing toward Theodore and Charles.

"We need to ask you a couple of questions. If you would so kindly cut the crap and come with us," growled Theodore as he dragged the flailing Charles away.

I didn't usually condone Theodore's rash behavior, but this time—excuse my crude thoughts—I was hoping he would be a bit rougher with Charles. A small part of me, a very tiny part, wanted to stoop down to their level and use the same barbaric antics the radical group had used to make a statement.

However, before Theodore had the chance to do anything else, a voice interrupted us.

"What's the meaning of this?" barked Professor Malkinheim as he blocked Theodore's path.

Professor Malkinheim had a scrawny build, his main features being a balding head and a beak-like nose. You could tell the professor was self-conscious of his lack of hair by the way he combed back the hairs growing on the side of his head to try and cover up the bald spot on his crown.

He wouldn't physically be able to hold down someone Theodore's size, but he had his needle-thin wand pointed directly at the thickly-built DC officer.

"I should be asking you the same thing, Professor," Theodore snarled, as Charles, helplessly lying on the ground, looked on with a pleading expression on his face.

"I wasn't aware that the prestigious disciplinary committee officers were mere thugs who would assault students," Professor Malkinheim scolded, his wand remaining fixed on Theodore.

"Innocent? Ha! This weasel has been seen multiple times with the radical group you're having such a hard time capturing. It can hardly be anything short of guilt by association. Are you protecting a criminal right now?" I could tell Theodore was at his last nerve as the ground underneath him started crumbling from his gravity-infused mana.

"Someone save me from this brute! I'm innocent! I s-swear!" Charles, still on the ground, trapped in Theodore's grasp, whimpered as the ground underneath him started giving out as well.

"Theodore, I understand how you feel, but this isn't the right way to do things. Taking in a student without any evidence other than your suspicions will lead to repercussions from parents, and maybe even the Council. Please, we can't afford to be rash right now." The voice came from another professor who'd helped extinguish the flames; she got in between Professor Malkinheim and Theodore, trying to quell the tension.

"Professor Genert is right. Theodore, we can't get out of line right now. There is too much at stake for us to be reckless. Besides, there are more important things to do at the moment. We need to make sure no one was left inside that building," Curtis said, his face a mixture of frustration and helplessness.

Wordlessly, Theodore threw the quivering Charles Ravenpor back toward his groupies and shot Professor Malkinheim one last threatening look before walking away. The professor shook his head in disgust, then headed off in the other direction, yelling at the students who were standing around watching to disperse.

I glanced toward Charles Ravenpor, who was being carried away by his friends. His disheveled bangs covered most of his face, but there was an unmistakable smirk plastered below his nose.

—————

-Elijah Knight-

"Get down!" I roared as I conjured an earthen wall between the mana beasts and the students behind me.

"Attention, renowned students of Xyrus Academy!" A high-pitched, grating voice echoed throughout the campus. "As you may all be aware, your institution is currently under attack by my little pets. No need to fear, for I am both just and merciful!" I watched as a dwarven student fell to the jaws of a discolored, black-fanged wolf—a B-class mana beast.

I conjured up a rock spear underneath the belly of the black-fanged wolf, but it still had enough time to take the student's life before collapsing. Gnashing my teeth, I turned away from the dimming gaze of the dwarf, whose pleading eyes had met mine just as he passed away. If not for my experience as an adventurer, I would've thrown up as the student's insides spilled from the fatal wound caused by the mana beast.

Instead, I calmed myself, using a brief meditation technique I had learned in class—it steadied the flow from my mana core—before scouting for any other students to save.

"Human students, as long as you raise both hands and swear your allegiance to me, the mana beasts will not attack you! Elves and dwarves, do not struggle—allow my pets to destroy your mana core and you will be free to leave!" The voice let out a deranged laugh that sent a shiver down my spine.

Although the radical group had been escalating their terroristic activity, this was on a completely different level. It had happened so suddenly that there had been no way to prepare. As far as I could tell, this stage of their plan had been meticulously executed.

The once-clear barrier formation that kept any intruders, including mana beasts, from entering the campus had turned into a translucent red cage, making the sky look like it was dipped in blood and keeping everyone and everything from leaving. There was no place to escape to and no way to call for help.

I didn't know who the voice belonged to, but his motives were clear. He was willing to take human captives but wanted all nonhuman mages either dead or incapacitated. I could see pillars of smoke rising from several academy buildings where other fights were happening. From time to time, I locked eyes with other disciplinary committee members as they fought off mana beasts. We acknowledged each other, but we'd had no time to brief each other on the situation elsewhere.

There were obviously traitors in the academy. Some of the professors were now being held off by other professors while cloaked figures, as well as the mana beasts, were brutalizing the students.

I'd seen many mana beasts while I was an adventurer, but these were strange. They had different coloration—or lack of color, to be more exact. Except for their matching red eyes, all the mana beasts that flooded Xyrus Academy looked as if their colors had been drained, leaving them different hues of gray.

I couldn't tell how long it had been since the invasion had started, but there was no sign of help arriving. It was as if we were closed off from the rest of Xyrus.

I trudged on through the campus quad, past bodies lying limply on the ground, pools of blood forming around them. This academy was supposed to be a safe haven for the future mages of Dicathen. What pissed me off more than anything was that there hadn't been proper security measures in place for this type of scenario. Had the Council not thought there would be unrest after the unification of the Three Kingdoms?

I was about to follow a cloaked figure into one of the alchemy labs when a throaty growl caught my attention. I reacted quickly enough to avoid a thorned growler's snapping jaws, but unfortunately, I couldn't avoid its pounce. It hammered me into the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of me.

The giant, furry, lizard-shaped mana beast's saliva drenched my uniform as it growled at me. Its red eyes were staring at me, as if waiting for me to do something.

"Screw off!" I grunted, conjuring a pillar from the ground and launching the six-foot long mana beast in the air. It flipped around agilely to regain its balance and landed ready to pounce again.

Before I had the chance to do anything more, a sword came sailing through the air, skewering the thorned growler's head to the ground. The mana beast squirmed helplessly for a couple of seconds before its body collapsed, lifeless.

"Thanks," I grunted, too tired for pleasant formalities. Curtis Glayder climbed down from his perch on the top of a nearby statue to retrieve his weapon, his bond, a world lion, following briskly behind him.

"No problem. You should get somewhere safe until we get reinforcements. It's too dangerous out here in the open," he said with a nod.

"I'll be fine. I'm not just going to hide; there are too many enemies for you guys to handle. I can still help." Standing up, I noticed my arm was bleeding. I checked the wound the growler had given me, then bandaged it with a torn sleeve as I turned to continue following the cloaked figure.

Suddenly, a sound like thunder boomed through campus, so loud it could only have been amplified with mana. I couldn't even hear myself scream as Curtis and I reeled in pain. The ear-numbing ring from the watchtower's bell didn't just reverberate in my chest—I felt it in my feet as the whole earth shook from it.

As the ear-splitting sound of the tower bell faded to a dull ring, the owner of the same grating voice, who I assumed was the cause of all this, cleared his throat before speaking.

"Testing… Ah, perfect!" His voice was coming from the same bell tower, near the center of campus. "Students and faculty members of Xyrus Academy—I would like to welcome you all to join us for the final ceremony. I advise every one of you to make your way toward the bell tower, as this is something you won't want to miss! Don't worry, my little pets won't bite anymore—I promise."

Curtis and I gave each other a quick glance and a nod. "Get on, quick!" From atop his world lion, Grawder, Curtis beckoned with an outstretched left arm.

Grawder let out a dissatisfied grunt, but otherwise kept to himself as I hopped onto his back behind Curtis. We immediately headed toward the bell tower. I began to circulate mana toward my deeper wounds in hopes of easing some of the injuries.

As we got closer to the bell tower, I could see flashes of spells going off in the vicinity.

"What do you think is going on?" Curtis asked anxiously. Through the ringing in my ears, the pounding of my heart, the urgency screaming inside me to help however I could, I had a single, strange thought: Who would have believed that this handsome, powerful prince would ever be asking me for support in that fearful tone?

'Stupid,' I thought. 'Pull yourself together, Elijah.'

"Some of the students and professors are firing spells at the bell tower," I replied. It was stating the obvious, but I didn't know what else to say.

"It looks like there's some sort of barrier surrounding it," Curtis pointed out as a translucent wall flickered when a spell hit it.

It wasn't long before we came into full view of what was happening for the 'main event.' There was a large stone platform that hadn't been there before, most likely erected by magic. The once flawless marble floor around the bell tower, which marked the center of the academy, was cracked and splintered, and crimson blood pooled thickly in places. Various species of discolored mana beasts had gathered around the platform. They waited patiently, almost robotically, ignoring the frightened students just outside the barrier.

Several of the academy's faculty members had gathered together. Each of them focused on casting their own spell as lights and auras manifested around them.

With a flash of color, four different elemental spells surged toward the barrier. I could make out a giant earthen spear and a condensed blast of fire alongside arcs of lightning and blades of wind—all converging into a single point on the shield surrounding the bell tower.

Despite the combined efforts of the four professors, the barrier only fizzed harmlessly before eating up all the spells. The leaves on the trees inside the barrier showed no sign of even the slightest rustle, proving how impenetrable this barrier was.

There was a large crowd of both students and faculty members in front of the bell tower, injured and scared. The professors continued their fruitless attempts at breaking through the protective field, but no one seemed to know what else to do.

"Stay here while I try to find the rest of the DC members," Curtis instructed, pushing me off near the front of the barrier. Before I could say anything, Grawder raced away with his master riding on his back, leaving me anxiously waiting for something to happen.

The disheveled students that made up the crowd were all anxiously exchanging stories and questions with their friends and peers about the disaster that had fallen upon them. Some were crying, while other students had already passed that phase and were waiting with hardened, red-eyed expressions. I could only wait as well. With the cage keeping us from leaving the academy grounds and the mana beasts ready to jump and devour any who disobeyed, I could see the hope in everyone's eyes flickering away. We were prisoners of this massacre, awaiting our sentence.

Although most of the students in the crowd seemed only lightly injured and battered—indicating that they'd caved in rather quickly—there were a few fighters whose injuries were more serious. Fortunately, some of the professors were adept in the field of healing. While they couldn't compare to Emitters, they were still able to save a few lives.

"Well, it seems everyone alive has made it to the grand finale of today's show! I thank you all for coming!" The high-pitched tenor had a piercing quality that made everyone turn their attention back toward the bell tower.

He appeared, as if manifesting out of the shadows: the source of the jarring voice that sounded like rusted nails scraping against a chalkboard. He wore a gaudy red robe, decorated with an unreasonable amount of jewelry, reminding me of some distant son of a king—a figure so down the line of power that his only defining aspect was his inherited wealth. On his face was a creepy mask which didn't match his attire. It was a simple white mask with two slits for his eyes and a crudely-drawn, jagged smile the color of blood. Behind his mask was a head of crimson hair that flowed past his shoulder blades.

Although he had his hands behind his back, it looked like he was holding something, but I couldn't make out what it was because of his shadow.

At the sight of the bold figure, the crowd's murmuring ceased, creating an eerie atmosphere. A deafening silence descended upon the crowd as all eyes fell on the mysterious masked man, and we waited in both curiosity and fear to see what he would do next.

Drip. Drip. Drip. The sound of small droplets splashing on the ground echoed through the entire space, further adding to the uneasy suspense.

All of a sudden an earthen spear barreled directly toward the masked man. Unfortunately, its trajectory ended abruptly as it smashed into the protective shield, shattering into pieces. The crowd stirred, some groaning in defeat, others cursing in defiance.

The man's shoulders bobbed up and down as he tried to contain his laughter. Then it broke free, and his manic howling echoed throughout the area, somehow drowning out all other voices.

I could see a mixture of emotions in the students' and professors' faces: fear, anger, desperation, confusion, frustration, and helplessness. They were all stunned into silence by the abrupt laughter.

Then the masked man tossed the object he had been holding behind his back onto the ground.

With a dull, wet thud, the spherical object rolled into view, close enough for the people in the front to see.

It was a—

It was a head—a real head.

It wasn't the sound of water I had heard—it was blood dripping from the severed head.

I stared blankly for a few seconds before my mind began to process what was going on. Then a wave of nausea hit me like a club.

I threw up, then did it again. The acidic stench of last night's dinner made me gag until I was left with only dry heaves and watery eyes.

I finally composed myself, but I could see students as well as professors either looking away, pale-faced, or clutching their stomachs as they, too, vomited on the ground.

I didn't want to look again, but my eyes were drawn back to the decapitated head. I steeled myself to look, and realized it was a dwarf's head. She looked vaguely familiar, but hair covered part of her face.

It was so white.

I was drawn to the gore. I could see the bone of her spine jutting out from the severed neck. My mind was screaming to turn away, but my eyes stayed fixed on the gruesome sight as everything else blurred out of focus.

The man's disturbing laughter continued, his whole body shaking in delight, and then a booming howl caught everyone's attention.

"No! Doradrea!" Theodore was roaring, charging furiously toward the masked man and knocking aside the students who weren't quick enough to get out the way of his one-man stampede.

"Doradrea!" Theodore screamed, his voice cracking as he hammered his fists against the translucent barrier.

There were only two sounds that could be heard: the delighted laughter coming from the masked man, and Theodore's thunderous pounding against the barrier.

BOOM!

This madman had murdered one of the disciplinary committee members.

BOOM!

He had murdered one of Arthur's friends.

BOOM!

A crater began to form underneath Theodore, the marble floor around him crumbling and caving under the pressure of his sustained gravitational magic. He continued smashing against the barrier, blood streaming down his arms as he broke his own bones with the force of his blows. Despite that, the fury never left Theodore's eyes, and his icy gaze never left the masked man.

"Come out here and fight me, you coward!" Theodore howled, a deranged look shrouding his eyes.

Suddenly, the masked man stopped laughing. He removed his mask, revealing a face that was narrow and sharp, with skin that glowed in a hue of gray. In spite of his sharply attractive features, it was hard to miss the crazy, almost psychotic expression that seemed to have been permanently ingrained into his being. His face was wrinkled in a scowl and he tilted his head to the side, as if he were confused by Theodore's last statement.

"Coward? Me?" The masked figure began walking toward Theodore with the easy arrogance of someone who knew that everything in the world existed for his taking. Each of his steps seemed to drive a nail into the minds of everyone present.

"Yes, you! Stop hiding behind this barrier and fight me!" Theodore growled back, blood dripping from his broken hands.

"Coward? Me? The mighty and reborn Draneeve… hiding?" Draneeve, as he named himself, blinked out of view and reappeared in front of Theodore. His speed was so great that Theodore didn't even have time to react as Draneeve pulled him through the barrier and threw him easily onto the erected platform.

Caught off guard, Theodore landed heavily on his back. He squirmed to his knees, having trouble putting weight on his crippled hands.

Again, Draneeve moved with a sudden flash of speed and squatted down to face Theodore. "Why don't you fight me now?" A sinister smirk was carved across the red-haired man's face.

With a desperate yell, Theodore jumped up, bringing his leg down to execute a heel kick toward Draneeve's shoulder.

The blow connected with an earthshaking crash. The platform splintered and a cloud of dust formed—it was obvious that Theodore had imbued enough mana into his leg to crumble a building.

There were a few cheers from the students as we all waited for the dust to clear. I, too, hoped that the attack was enough to warrant the cheering, but I suspected it wouldn't be that easy.

A howl of pain coming from the cloud of debris made the crowd fall mute, and we waited with bated breath. None of us were prepared for what we saw when the dust cleared.

It was no secret to anyone here that Theodore was a deviant, capable of using mana to manipulate gravity. The stone platform had shattered like glass, so we knew Theodore hadn't held back during his attack. What we had not expected was to see Theodore's leg still positioned atop Draneeve's shoulder where it had landed. Draneeve was unruffled, holding Theodore upright by the scruff of his shirt. Theodore's leg, however, was unnaturally bent, and the bone had torn through the skin of his calf.

We all stood there with our mouths agape. Even the professors were baffled by the clear difference in strength between the two. Theodore's strength was such that even the professors would have done everything they could to dodge an attack from him, yet this mysterious man had taken it head-on and come out unscathed despite the damage done to the arena floor below them.

"Come on! The great Draneeve isn't hiding. Let's fight!" The smirk never left his face as he slammed Theodore to the ground like a rag doll.

"I'm fighting you like you wanted, right? You even got blood on my favorite robe!" Draneeve spat as he continued to beat Theodore into a stupor. Theodore was no longer even recognizable—Draneeve was pummeling him into a bloody, broken mess. The rest of us could do nothing but watch as our fellow schoolmate was tortured right in front of our eyes.

"…cker," Theodore managed to croak before vomiting out blood.

"Hmm? What was that?" Draneeve landed another solid kick to Theodore's side, the loud crack of a broken bone accompanying it.

Lifting his battered head, Theodore looked straight up into his assailant's eyes with a gaze of pure hatred and disdain. Then he spat a mouthful of blood at Draneeve's foot.

I could see veins popping out on Draneeve's forehead, but he simply took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his red hair, peering down in disdain at the bloody mess that was Theodore as if he were a squashed insect.

"I see you still have a bit of fight left in you. It is too bad, though—you seem to be on the verge of dying from blood loss. Let me help you with that."

A horrific, gurgling scream was all I could hear as Theodore combusted into crimson flames at the snap of Draneeve's fingers.

That was all he did… snap his fingers.

He snapped them again, extinguishing the flames to reveal a charred and smoking carcass.

I realized that my fingers were slippery with blood from my nails digging into the flesh of my palms. I was useless at this point. Even if I succeeded in breaking through the barrier, wouldn't I just end up like Theodore?

"See? I helped him. He's not bleeding anymore, right?" Draneeve's cackling laugh echoed through the area as he began clapping for himself in amusement.

Looking around at the stunned faces, he just shook his head. "Oh poo. You're no fun at all. Relax, I left him alive for now."

I peeled my eyes away from Theodore's ruined body to see Curtis being held back by the other members of the disciplinary committee. Claire, a trail of tears streaming down her anguished face, was trying to cover his mouth with her hand. The princess Kathyln was holding onto her brother's arm; her head was down and I couldn't see her expression. I didn't see the elf, Feyrith, or the other member, the mysterious one with the narrow eyes.

"Now! I apologize to you all for the delay. Without further ado, we will now commence with our main event." He shifted and called, "Bring them out!"

Draneeve waved his arm like a conductor, and the frozen mana beasts stirred and sat up as a line of figures, hooded and robed, came out of the bell tower, each dragging a student with them.

My mind jerked to a stop when I saw her.

I felt like I was suddenly swimming in thick syrup and my hand pressed hard against the barrier. I fell to my knees and just stared out in front of me, in a daze.

Being dragged by her hair—her face battered and bruised, her clothes torn and messy—was Tessia.

—————

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