CHAPTER 10: THE WRATHFUL

(ALBION)

The school had resumed its function once the situation cooled down a bit as Kazehara-sensei did her very best to ensure that the students will not feel responsible or at least suffer from that horrid incident.

We had been attending school right after the end of the ceremony that was held on behalf of Yuna. Right now she feels a bit distant and her old habits are now back…she no longer speaks to anyone and rarely interacts she ‘again’ is always looking gloomy and overthinking.

Kaori was attending class as usual however, that was not the case for Nassi as he is always occupied now. He, as the only heir to the house of the blazing dragon, was now almost forced into the position of head. Although there are other people on the clan he personally took the position in waiting for his grandfather’s return.

The old man was still being held captive and was refused to be released. But right now the situation is sure to change as both the kings Ardous Elior and Bistor lamina requested his immediate release from the very people that incriminated him of the acts that that devil lord had committed.

Under that heavy of a pressure it is only a matter of time.

I on the other hand found nothing interesting going on here.

It was actually a bit fun when ‘he’ was around, even if he was not who we thought him to be.

We were told by a teacher that the possessed contractors were able to fully grasp the identity of their hosts so even their own families would not differentiate between the fake and the real.

And as being lucky enough that the devil lord was not interested in laying waste to this school.

More precautions were taken now. Student were now being requested to take certain tests and give blood samples. Probably as mean to avoid what had happened before.

The class rep raised her hand to Takeda-sensei to ask a question.

“Takeda-sensei, what are the different ranks of demonic existences…I heard people say that our previous classmate was a devil lord how did they find out what class he was?”

Most students looked at her as if she had just said a taboo, but I cannot blame them.

For example if you discover that a bomb exploded somewhere and know that that same bomb was sitting next to you, you would probably feel uncomfortable right?

The professor however sighed and fixed his glasses then began to explain.

“Missaki-san those are very sensitive matters, however as you are all looking interested in this I may as well explain. Demonic existences are categorised in two main branches. Gores which every one of you know are in fact creatures or items with magical properties contaminated with the blight.

The second type are the pure demons. The only difference is that pure demons had refused to be in contact with the blight and retained their old power which comes with varying degrees of potency”

He sighed again as if not wanting to continue and said

“The pure demons have many abilities and their greatest strength comes from the fact that they are sentient, as they can understand human thought and replicate it. They are known to have their own language and even the ability to create new kinds of magic. Their origin is so far unknown but they are known to live only beyond the great barrier that is protecting the remaining civilisation from the infestation of demons. One of their abilities is the fact that they can form contract with humans and grant them power in exchange for access to the human part of the divided land. As for your last question only pure demons have a ranking system as for the gores they are all ranked the same even if the host is for example was a king class sacred beast in its normal life once it is infected it becomes a gore deprived of rank, as they lose all their knowledge and become mindless hulking beasts.”

He took another breath and continued

“Pure demons have two main categories. Demons and devils and both these classes are classed into three categories. Lesser, normal, and greater. The power difference between each classification is enormous. However even the weakest devil is hundreds of times stronger than the strongest greater demon.”

Missaki then raised her hand again to ask another question.

“But what is a devil lord you only told us about devils and demons.”

Takeda sensei then said

“I am getting to that. Devil lords however are a rare case when a devil surpasses the rank of a greater devil. They however have one thing in commune, they can freely control death magic as if it was a plaything. Death magic requires enormous amounts of energy to control and they do so without breaking a sweat.”

The room went silent as they have all knew the consequences of using that kind of magic here in Alsa.

Yuna then raised her hand. This is the first time I have seen her participate in any class. And truth to be told I was surprised.

“There is one more type of devils you did not mention isn’t it? Takeda-sensei”

The professor as if caught off guard had a very stern expression on his face.

Under the hard stares of every one in class that were demanding answer the teacher broke and began to speak.

“Yes in fact…there is one last kind of devils. They too can manipulate death magic and on a grander level. They could cause the death of thousands on a whim. But that is not all. even elemental and spiritual magic was easy to use for them. Their power transcends all that human can ever hope to achieve and their strength is almost immeasurable. They were once thought to be Everlastings but the theory was revoked when even these beings were squashed instantly by the hand of the Everlasting might. They are now taught to be extinct as the last one was recorded to have died and brought end to the Age of War. They are called Devil Overlords.”

Yuna then asked again

“Is there a possibility that one of them still lives?”

Takeda-sensei answered

“I highly doubt it. Because if they did they would have made a move on humanity a long time ago. They are the only thing that could bring down the barrier that is protecting us from the infestation outside. And in a thousand year not a single breakthrough had happened.”

One of the students then said

“Except the one on the fairy forest no? Wouldn’t Asura then be considered a Devil overlord?”

Saying his name brought multiple hisses and scuffs from various students.

“No!” He said and was rather angered by the assumption

“That incident was caused by another factor his presence there was certainly but a coincidence so please do not jump into conclusions. I will discuss this no longer. Class dismissed.”

Quite the bombshell there the teacher seemed pissed…

Well there is nothing to do here any long so I packed my things and to leave, as I was bored I need to get some fresh air.

I should probably go downtown I could enjoy myself a bit.

But before I got to the door someone grabbed me from the hem of my shirt. At first I taught it was Kaori but once I turned around I saw the beautiful Yuna behind me.

My first taught was that I was going to get reprimanded over our last conversation but she surprisingly said

“I am sorry for that day…I was under a lot of stress and could not think clearly. I know that you only meant well but I was too thick headed to understand what you were trying to say. Kaori explained things to me and I now understand that you acted out of concern so thank you…and sorry again”

Way to go Kaori. Note to self, buy that girl a present the next time you meet her.

I answered

“No it’s alright I should have been more explicit. So it is partially my fault. So Yun-Yumina where are you heading?”

She hesitated and said

“Eh-ehm well you can still call me Yuna if you prefer but I was going to visit the school library what about you?”

“That was my destination too. So shall we?”

What? Downtown could wait.

I found it a bit awkward walking next to her in the hall as she was very quiet. I tried to imitate a conversation so I opened my mouth only to hear an enormous explosion sound followed by the sound of metal being torn apart.

Then a warning resounded all throughout the school

“Warning! An Intruder is on school grounds! To all students please head to the auditorium room all free teachers are to head to the school front yard.

We were actually close to the front yard so I looked at Yuna and she had this spark in her eye probably intrigued and curious to know what is going on and probably thinking that this may be another attempt like last time.

We headed toward the exit ignoring the crowds of students passing us by. As we got out we had a look on the situation.

About twenty teacher were out Takeda sensei and Midorikawa-san was one of them with the addition of Sraam-sensei who by the way is almost impossible to meet, they all looked in one direction, the school gate. Although it was still visible. Or barely whatever was left from it. That sound earlier must have been what caused this.

A figure of a lone person was showing to have stopped a few meters after he had passed the broken gate.

The school barrier was still active so they would probably not be able to pass through.

It was barely visible but that person must have punched the barrier from outside. A few moments after, a shockwave of energy passed us by. One single punch was able to produce an effect even the school barrier could not fully stop.

Then it happened

It was probably when the shockwave reached the other side of the barrier when the whole thing shattered.

I am beginning to think that they are using faulty material into building this thing.

Takeda sensei who was one of the many teachers then turned and yelled at us

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE IT IS DANGEROUS!” but he was interrupted by the now clear voice of a man that was coming from the one responsible for destroying the barrier.

“WHERE IS SHE?!!” Was said loud and clear and with a voice that made me want to change my underwear. This was beyond fear, this was dreadful terror that I am feeling right now.

Like being at the mercy of a colossus but fully knowing that they would never let you live.

Takeda sensei Midorikawa san and Sraam sensei almost harmoniously said the next words.

“Oh shit!”

Then he disappeared only to appear at my right grabbing the lovely Yuna with his right hand by her throat and raising her up to his eye level.

“It was you” said the man who by the way was huge or probably only appeared so to me as he was as tall as Takeda-sensei but with a bulkier and larger physical frame. He wore an olive green leather coat over him with brown trousers and had two large swords on his back. He looked like a man in his mid-forties yet his body was exuding a frightening aura as I was barely keeping myself from fainting. And steam was going up his almost red coloured skin. His eyes were as white as milk and his short beard was glowing like lit ember.

His speed was phenomenon as he had passed every teacher without them even realising that he was already behind them. Only Sraam and Takeda sensei were fast enough to grab him. One from the waist and the other from the hand that was grabbing Yuna who was now turning blue from lack of oxygen. Midorikawa-san casted a spell that chained his other arm but proved to be utterly useless once he shook the chain making it break almost instantly.

“RELEASE HER THIS INSTANT” said a womanly voice that was belonging to our beloved principal.

She appeared from the entrance we came from.

He did not look at her and kept his focus solely on the suffocating Yuna.

But still said

“Why should I?” the man said

The principal said

“She only did that because he turned…there is nothing we could have done. he is gone…Ainz”

T-That name…He is Asura’s master…is he here for revenge?

The man dropped Yuna who began to cough and gasp for air and then he shouted

“IT WAS NOT HIS TIME YET!! HE SUFFERED ENOUGH! HE STRUGGLED ENOUGH! HE DESERVED BETTER! I SENT HIM HERE FOR YOU TO TEACH HIM OTHER WAYS OF LIFE BUT YOU ENDED UP KILLING HIM!!!”

Every single word he said echoed into my body as if a drum was being beaten next to me. I feared that his words would shake the earth and conjure storms.

Takeda and Sraam released the man but still they kept quiet.

Fear was permeating the air.

The principal got closer to the enraged man and said.

“There was nothing we could do…he was a contractor and he was possessed it was the only way.”

He shouted into her face

“HE. WAS NOT. POSSESSED!!”

Then huffed a bit and grabbed a small pendant from his pocket that had a green stone embedded into a golden socket and threw it over to the principal.

She looked at it and asked with a face full of fright and disbelief

“His?”

The man nodded. “It became like this today”

Then the principal fell to the floor placing her hand over her mouth as if stopping herself from hurling.

Takeda sensei then placed his hand over his face and as if regretting said

“What have we done?”

Sraam sensei kept quiet.

The man named Ainz said

“Where is Osfor?”

Midorikawa-san answered “he is held captive as one of the responsible over that incident. He is not currently here”

The man ignored her and shouted

“OSFORRRRRRRR!!!!”

Nothing was happening at first until a great shadow passed us by then a small red bird flew and stood above Sraam-sensei’s head.

I was barely able to hear Sraam say the words “Why me?”

Ainz turned to face Sraam and with a deafening voice he said “GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE, THIS INSTANT”

He was shouting at the bird the man was freaking shouting at the bird is he crazy?

The bird blew fire from its small beak and the flame shaped itself into a person.

The man then said

“Where are you now?”

The flame persona responded (yeah fire is speaking crazy huh?)

“I am in a teleport blocked area in Quietus probably near the Seldia sector.”

The man answered

“I am on my way. and when I get there you better have a very reasonable justification on why you were not with Asura that day.”

The persona then said

“Just get here. There are some messed up things going on…I don’t have more time hurry!”

The man turned and began to walk away and then stopped and said

“Death is too sweet a deal for you, child. You should live fully knowing what you had done”

Then he disappeared. Were his words directed at Yuna? What does he mean by that?

I went to her and lifted her up. Burn marks were on her neck that shaped like that man’s fingers she was still shaken and probably traumatized. His focus was not on me and I felt the need to crawl under a hole and never go out again I don’t even want to know how she is feeling right now. I turned to Takeda sensei and asked

“Takeda-sensei…what is the deal with that man…”

He answered almost mechanically

“He has every right to hate us…we have done him wrong.”

I looked over at where Takeda-sensei was looking and noticed that his gaze was focused on the item that that man gave to the principal.

She was holding it near her chest and droplets of tears began to bud near her eyes.

I asked “what is that in the principal’s hands?”

Sraam-sensei who was mute almost the entire time and by the way still had that familiar looking bird on top of his head said

“It is a Zephra stone…it was developed to track the sanity level of a contractor. Red mean possessed and bright green means…well not.”

So I asked “but that colour is dark green…”

Sraam then said “in the case of the contractor’s death before the contract’s period has ended their bodies will no longer be accessible to the demon thus the colour dark green…in other words…Asura died a human. And if what Ainz said to be true…Asura died today”

The shaken Yuna froze for a moment as if trying to grasp what had just been told. Frankly speaking so was I. if what they are saying is the truth…it means that we had done something very bad and very stupid.

I felt that Yuna’s body went limp and looking at her I think that she had fainted. Too much informations to grasp at once and too many question to be asked.

Epilogue

(Somewhere in the blighted lands)

Way outside the realm of man laid a dark palace fit for a dark king. The name of the ruler of these lands was unknown to many but he was still feared by all that inhabited it. His word was a decree and his will was to be followed. Under him worked hundreds of thousands of demons and devil alike only to spread wild his name and claim back what was once promised to him.

“My lord” Said his most trusted servant. “The oracle had given news”

The crownless king spoke slowly and sordidly.

“Which would they be?”

“Today the prophecy was void. The last Ashurian has left this world.” Said the trusted servant.

“Is this news to be truth?”

“Yes my lord. The irregularity that was sent to possess him had lost its light.”

“These are indeed some good news…what about the protectors?” asked the king

“The prophecy claimed that without his aid they are for naught, none can stop you now my great Overlord.”

To be continued.