「Melas Castle’s Entrance – Morning」

Despite everything that happened with Origen, I find myself being dragged along by the Headmaster to accompany her for some reason. I’m exhausted from fighting and no longer have any bullets left to use, even if she gives me a sword I doubt I will be much use other than being her meat shield. But nonetheless, Nilrem insisted on having me coming with her to rendezvous with the demon army. Well, maybe she can find some use for me at the frontline, I still have enough stamina to make some difference. This siege is far from over, even with Origen’s death.

Even so, although I’m not having any problem with accompanying the Headmaster, her new appearance still baffles me to no end…The old woman I know from the days before has became a girl even younger than me in age and appearance, yet deep down I know the girl in the witch robe is still my elder in both spirit and authority. I’m confused, really really confused.

“You’re slowing down. Are you out of your breath already?”

Says Nilrem as we trek along the hallways toward our destination – Melas’s entrance hall.

“No, that’s not it…”

I silently reply. My training with Caelan gave me an acceptable enough stamina, so even after that battle I can still manage to keep up despite my wounds. The problem isn’t because of me, but her instead. I can’t just say out loud that her new appearance is confusing me.

Although I think I don’t need to say it out loud, her smug grin has already told me she’s aware of it.

“Are you bewitched by this vessel?”

Says the witch as she flips her silky gray hair to taunt me.

“No…what makes you think like that?”

I reply.

“Well, you’re a young man at that age, so your behavior is only natural. I’m not judging or anything. Although, despite my earlier proposal, I suddenly remember that this youthful body is barely a day old, so it’s actually illegal, you know? I suggest you go for Deborah for the time being.”

“Stop confusing me, damn it!”

Goddamn, she used to be only annoying, now she’s annoying and sexy! The perfect combo to ruin a young man’s sanity! I don’t remember Nilrem acting flirty like this before, maybe she’s using her new young body for all its worth just so she can screw with my mind, something she’s very good at.

The witch girl giggles before resuming the conversation.

“Now that’s more like something you would normally say.”

“What?”

Now I’m really confused. What’s her true intention?

“War changes people, for the better or worse. But that’s not a reason for you to lose sight of your own self. Don’t make the face of a war veteran just because of one battle, it doesn’t fit you. You’re still young, it’s okay to change, but don’t let guilt and fear weight you down, that will only change you for the worse.”

So that’s why…

“Learn from the experience, but try to keep what makes you you. You never know when you’ll become someone else, after all. Just try what you can, and don’t regret about the things that happened. If Bjarni is still here, he’ll probably say you’re ten years too early to even think you know what war is about, haha.”

She’s trying to cheer me up in her own way. I…don’t really know what to say. I always think she’s just a heartless person who only cares about her goals, whatever that maybe. But maybe…she’s not always that bad.

“Thanks…Headmaster.”

The witch just smiles.

“Though that being said, you being tense like that is what makes it so fun to tease you.”

Okay, I really want to take back what I thought about her earlier.

“Oh, we have arrived already.”

Before I have my chance to snap back at the headmaster, we find ourselves arriving at the castle entrance to the West, where our battlefield awaits…that is…if the gate separating the castle with the outside battlefield is open, but it’s not. Right now, under the gate lie a bunch of soldiers trying to seal off the entrance with everything they can get their hands on, backing them up is a small group of battle mages who are aiming their staff at the entrance without making any spells, behind all those are the remaining soldiers with weapons in hand. The total number is about a hundred, I would normally say that’s a lot, but considering the fierce siege they experienced, a hundred maybe all that’s left from the force defending Melas castle.

With Nilrem leading the way, we approach the group of mages led by the teacher from the Magic Arts Department, Walpurga. She seems to be the one in charge of all these soldiers.

“Situation report, Walpurga.”

Says Nilrem. There are no signs of the flirty persona she put on earlier, now, she’s the Headmaster in charge of Melas castle.

“It’s bad, Headmaster. Very bad…”

The woman looks grim as if she just experienced a very bad day, though the same can be said for all of us, and especially me.

“How bad it is?”

“You’ll know soon enough, Headmaster…”

I don’t like the vagueness in the teacher’s words, and I think the Headmaster has the same thought. However, when the closed gate suddenly budges as if there’s a flowing river in the other side, I know we will soon realize the true meaning behind Walpurga’s words.

BAM!

The gate violently moves, and the men holding it continue to try their best at keeping it at bay. The mages fortify their formation and create a support barrier to help the soldiers, but all of those combined efforts do naught to stop the impending doom. As if knowing things will get bad, the Headmaster walks to the front and waits behind her soldiers, preparing her staff for battle, while I can only stay in the back knowing my current strength is useless help combat whatever behind that gate.

And eventually, the gate breaks. What comes after the broken gate is a horde of…walking trees?

-RAWRRRHHH!

Dead trees that used to surround the area near Melas castle, now, they are animated by some sort of mystical force, turning them into a fearsome force of nature. Each tree is three meters tall, with roots as their legs and branches as their arms. The whole dead forest somehow has banded together to become a horde of walking trees and aid the humans in their conquest of Melas castle.

With the walking trees as their vanguard, the enemy forces break down the first line of defense like a fragile twig. The demon soldiers get crushed by their feet or have their torso pierced through by the trees. Swords and spears can do little when facing an army of walking angry trees. Those who are lucky to go unnoticed by the trees find themselves luckier to meet their end by the supporting human soldiers coming from the back.

“Soldiers! Fall back!”

Nilrem shouts her order. It’s already futile to keep a defense position right at the gate. The woman commands the few mages we have left to attack the trees with fire magic, but what damage can a few exhausted mage do to a horde of walking tree? The fighting has took a toll on the mages, the fire they create are weak and pitiful, their fire lit a few trees into walking torches, but even that barely stop them from marching to our doom. If the mages try to cast another spell, their soul energy will be exhausted, and they’ll die. But…without the help of magic, how can we get out of this mess alive?

The only one who can save us is the Headmaster, Nilrem Erramun.

With the oncoming horde of enemies, the Headmaster responses by…taking a red orb out her cloak. It’s small and just barely bigger than a baseball. Nilrem suddenly whispers words into the orb, which makes it glow like a light bulb. With all her strength, Nilrem throws the red orb toward the oncoming horde. When it lands, the orb shatters to pieces, but that’s merely the beginning. From inside the orb, fire comes out like a river, endless waves of fire engulf the whole entrance in flame, burning everything within its radius. Even the walking trees can’t make it through the fire, it burns them faster than any magic or torches. The fire is abnormal, I can feel it through its sheer heat, and for some reason, through its warm I sense a slightly familiar feeling, as if that fire…belongs to someone I know.

But either way, thanks to Nilrem’s fire, the entrance has been sealed off. No one can reach through it without burning themselves to ashes. It should be good enough to keep them at bay, unless they find another entrance inside the castle.

BAM!

…which they do.

Another part of the entrance’s wall gets crushed by a huge rock, probably shot from a trebuchet outside. And as if we don’t have enough animated objects of nature for today, the rock itself grows legs and arms and slowly stands up to bring havoc upon us all, with the human soldiers entering the breach it made from behind.

“Soldiers of the Demon Realm! To battle!”

Nilrem shouts and rushes by herself at the oncoming enemies. She holds firm her staff, but rather than casting spells, she conjures a blade made from pure soul energy at the tip of her staff and uses it as a glaive instead. For a mage to actively seek close combat is unthinkable, if there’s someone who can actually make it work, that someone would be Nilrem Erramun.

Five human soldiers approach the mage, thinking a lone mage will be an easy prey for their swords, only to find themselves quickly dispatched by Nilrem’s magic glaive. Her attacks are swift and graceful, yet no one, not even me, can see any of it coming. The moment you think you have her, you’ll find your throat has been cut by a semi-invisible blade. Her magic glaive cut through armors like they are made of butter, which reduces the stamina needed for each attacks and allows her to continuously hold off the waves of enemies. But she can’t do it alone by herself, as more and more human soldiers arrive and are actively looking for a way to surround her.

Which is why every single demon soldiers remaining in the entrance start rushing to Nilrem’s aid. They burst their way through the human soldiers, form a ring around Nilrem and shield her away from any attempts to dispatch the Headmaster from the humans. But either way, now the soldiers find themselves being surrounded by the superior numbers of the humans instead, which leads to an opening for the remaining human soldiers to slip by and attack the ones left behind the demons’ formation, like the exhausted mages and of course, myself.

From a far, I see four armed soldiers aiming at my direction with no hesitation in their blade, despite my human-like appearance. I guess unlike the ones who captured me, they have no time for doubt, only for killing.

I am unarmed, my guns don’t have any bullets left, I no longer have any explosives. I only have my own hands as my weapons, and the soldiers are still approaching.

What should I do but run away?

That question naturally crosses my mind, and I would have run away as it’s the most natural thing to do if I want to survive. But I’m no longer a stranger to this war. I have dug too deep to see myself as an outsider. Which is why I hurriedly pick up the nearest sword off the hands of a fallen demon soldier and prepare myself for a fight, despite never holding one in my whole life up until now. It’s heavy, much heavier than my gun. So this is the weight of a soldier fighting for what they believe in.

Can I carry this weight, I wonder?

I can only try, I guess.

-Die, demon scum!

The soldiers shout as they close the range between us. It’s just four, but I know I’m no warrior, I have no hope for winning a fight the straight forward way against the more experienced soldiers like them. But even so, I will not give up! I won’t die this day, not by their hands!

-Come and get me!

I shout. They are already at my blade’s reach.

Yet it is not my blade that becomes their end, but the spears from unknown wolf riders that appear out of nowhere from behind my back.

From the inner part of the castle, a small-sized army suddenly emerges from the shadows of the lifeless hallways. They are riding wolves, but not the normal kind since they are the size of horses. Now, these red cloaked wolf riders are entering our battleground and lay waste to any human soldiers in the vicinity. The unknown reinforcement are fierce, they strike with extreme precision and power that, despite their numbers, they make me feel like they alone can put an end to this siege. Now, the human soldiers find themselves trampled by the wolf riders instead. Anyone who is unlucky enough to escape their spears now has to face the teeth and claw of their ferocious wolves. This whole scene looks like it comes straight out a fantasy movie, yet it is indeed happening before my very eyes.

“We are the Red cloaks of Sanguin Academy! Taste our steel, you wretched humans!”

Some red cloak soldiers proudly announce their presence, which somehow turns into a rally to boost morale for their own Sanguin cadets and the remaining demon soldiers. Things are looking better for us, but the humans don’t seem to be giving up when the fighting is still lukewarm.

But either way, just standing by and do nothing but watch is counterproductive. The red cloak cadets may be able to handle the human soldiers, but things can be different when it comes to the horde of walking trees. We need to get to the root of the problem. Maybe Nilrem can think of something about it.

By following behind the wolf riders as they destroy their enemy, I’m soon able to approach the Headmaster Nilrem, who’s standing in front of a bunch of human corpses. She’s barely standing without the support of her staff. The woman is having trouble breathing, her face is drenched in sweat, but the rest of her robe is soaked with blood instead. Even so, she doesn’t seem to be hurt or wounded. The soldiers protecting her have done their best.

But they too have their limits as a few soldiers manage to slip by them and are now charging at Nilrem.

“Headmaster!”

I shout as I quickly rush toward the woman, but the distance between us is still too far, I won’t be able to make it in time. Nilrem herself also looks too exhausted to even resume her battle stance. The only thing she can do is stare at her oncoming assailants.

But at that moment, just before Nilrem gets cut down into several pieces, someone else interferes. That person swiftly dispatches the enemy soldiers like nobody’s business.

A male wolf rider wearing a red cloak, but his appearance is that of a middle-aged man unlike most of the cadets from Sanguin. His face spots a black stubble of a typical wifeless man, yet the greatsword in his hand makes him a rather imposing figure when combined with his huge stature that almost stands at two meters.

“Thanks for the help, Vice Principal Aitor Eberstark of Sanguin Academy.”

Thanks to a brief window of peace made possible by the greatsword of the one named Aitor, Nilrem finally manages to catch a breath and regain her stamina to stand as normal. Come to think of it, his last name is Eberstark, but isn’t that…

“It’s not everyday you can make the high and mighty Nilrem Erramun owes you a favor, don’t you think.”

Says the black-haired devilman as he fends off the human soldiers dare to approach him.

“Between that and getting another vessel after this one, I would pick the later if given a choice.”

They seem to be acquainted with each other.

“Speaking of that, isn’t your current vessel look a bit too young? I actually prefer the older look of the previous one.”

“And who do you think is the reason for that decision of mine?”

Okay, this conversation is getting way too personal for me to involve in this. Despite the seriousness of the situation, these two old friends don’t seem to mind that there’s a war happening around them. I want to barge in and yell “Get back to business, damn it!”, but it doesn’t seem like a really good idea to talk that way to the head and vice head of two great academies. And so, I can only watch and hear their banter from nearby, waiting for a signal to intervene safely.

“Speaking of which, it’s rather rare for you fight up close and personal like this.”

Says the Vice Principal of Sanguin.

“Are you reserving your soul energy for something more dangerous than these small fries?”

Nilrem doesn’t reply, but I guess the man named Aitor has already known her answer.

“I guess that involves those things as well, right?”

Aitor points his greatsword toward the walking trees that manage to make it through the breach created by the golems. While I think the red cloak cadets won’t have problems fighting the human soldiers, the walking trees and the golem however are a different matter to deal with.

“Trees can’t walk on their own. There must be a source somewhere to animate them. I guess you intend to save your soul energy to secretly solve that problem on your own, just like how you always operate.”

The man is surprisingly sharp, on par with Bjarni himself back in the day. Nilrem still keeps her silence, maybe out of sheer pride, I guess?

“Well, I have your back. Me and my students will stay here to protect your precious castle. You go and deal with whatever causing us troubles before all of us get overwhelmed.”

Nilrem suddenly nods and replies.

“Don’t send your students to a meaningless death. Don’t do reckless things and get them killed. They still have a future ahead of them.”

“I know. You don’t have to nag, grandma.”

I guess that settles it, Nilrem will go and deal with whatever making the trees move and kill, Aitor will stay and defend the castle. They all have their role to play, but what is actually mine? Maybe I have already fulfilled mine with the death of Origen?

“Akuma!”

Suddenly, Nilrem shouts without looking back at my side. She’s aware I’m nearby?

“Yes, Headmaster!”

“You’ll come with me.”

To help her deal with the source of the problem? While I’m not lacking the courage to follow her, I am useless even with this iron sword in my hands…What can I do to provide help for Nilrem’s quest?

“But I can no longer fight, Headmaster Nilrem. I’m afraid I’ll be a dead weight for this mission.”

Aitor suddenly gives me a glance. He doesn’t seem very impressed from his first gaze toward me.

“He is right. If you want some bodyguard, I would gladly lend you some of my best students.”

It hurts to admit but what Aitor said is true, she’s better off with some real fighters rather than me.

“He killed Origen. That feat alone is enough.”

“He what???”

Aitor suddenly shouts out loud, enough to stop the battle for a brief second, maybe.

“This kid killed the Black Paladin!? That’s very impressive if it’s true!”

It’s impressive in theory, but there’s nothing to be proud of in killing a half dead man. Beside, I did it when I still had enough weapons to use, but thanks to that fight alone, I am now without an effective mean to fight my enemies.

“Hey kid. Do you want to join Sanguin Academy? Or better, become an Eberstark?”

“Akuma is not for sale, Aitor. He’s still my student, and he will help me with this task like I said he would.”

Even if she says it like that…

“But why me, Headmaster?”

“Just in case.”

Her answer is vague, too vague. I see no logical reason to believe her words and risk my life like that. But logic no longer hasanything to do with this. The Nilrem I know doesn’t do things without a good reason. Maybe…

“Okay…I’ll go with you.”

----------------

With the cover of the Red cloaks and Nilrem’s lead, the two of us manage to get out of the castle by the use of a secret passageway which of course I do not know about prior to this siege. But leaving out the details, we now find ourselves on the castle walls near the bridge leading to the Westward land. The place are littered with corpses of fallen demon and human soldiers, but even such a grim sight does naught to hold back the advance of the soulless trees together with what little left of the human’s numbers. Their whole attention now lies in the hole leading inside the castle. Even at this place on the castle walls, we can still hear the sound of fierce fighting behind us.

But that place is no longer our battlefield. Now ours lies outside, beyond the wall, and up above the sky.

“What…is that thing…?”

A tree so tall its branches almost hit the cloud, almost as huge as the world tree Yggdrasil in Norse mythology. It’s humanoid in shape, almost to be mistaken for a giant, but its wooden trunk says otherwise. Slowly, it walks toward Melas castle, with speed so slow a wounded turtle can make it faster than it is. Yet, that’s not why it’s not a threat. For every footsteps it takes, the dead trees nearby suddenly pluck their roots out of the ground, taking on the same humanoid shapes and start walking toward Melas castle, joining alongside their brethren in destroying the demon castle.

So that’s the root of the problem. But…

“How can we actually deal with that…?”

I almost piss myself thinking how small I am when compared to the great tree. Even if we try our best and burn it down, the fire we can make may as well comparable to a mosquito’s bite to that huge thing.

It’s simply impossible, I can’t think of anything to defeat that thing. If I can’t, then why am I here to begin with?

“Headmaster Nilrem!”

I turn to the side of the Headmaster and shouts. Suddenly, the woman collapses, but she manages to keep a balance without falling thanks to the support of her magic staff. I don’t know why, but that’s not a good sign.

“This is getting worse…”

Says the woman.

“Yeah…How can we even destroy that thing?”

“I’m not talking about the walking giant tree.”

When I’m still confused by Nilrem’s choice of words, at that moment, the dark valley beneath the castle suddenly lights up in flame. And from the bottom, something resembling a small meteor flies upward to the sky, but it lands shortly afterward. The landing creates a shockwave from the impact, enough to make a mess of dust and fog to cover the identity of whatever emerged from the valley.

Shortly after, the dust fades, and it all become clear to me of what is behind the fog, or rather…who…

“De…Deborah…!?”

It is Deborah, but instead of the feisty girl I know, she is now…something else that I can’t simply describe with words. Her whole body is burning like a human torch, yet her tattered clothes are still unharmed despite the intense flame wrapping her whole body. Not only that, her limbs have been replaced with reptilian red scales with black claws at their end, combined with a sudden tail grown from behind and the horns on her head, all of these don’t belong to the Deborah I know…

Or rather, it might be more accurate to say I know nothing about her in the first place.

“What…is she…?”

“The very thing she was known as, a Flame Dragon, the last one.”

Flame Dragon? The moniker the students of Melas gave her? To think it has a literal meaning behind it…But like Iola said before, Flame Dragon doesn’t exist, their existence only lies in the fantasies of people, yet…Deborah is there, leering at the approaching walking trees and roars at them, behaving like how a wild flame dragon should be in spirit.

Before me isn’t Deborah, but a dragon taking a part of her form while replacing the rest with their own body parts. Her bloodlust filled eyes, her earth-rending roars, and the savage way of walking on all four, there aren’t any traces left to show me that this being is the Deborah I once know, and it sure is disturbing to see her in such a state.

I am not prepared for this…

But the walking trees don’t need the time to prepare. Once the dragon Deborah makes her appearance, the trees rush at her to attack their new target. But what are walking trees compared to a living dragon?

“ARGHHHHH!!”

Deborah roars. All the trees attack her simultaneously, but despite her new body parts, Deborah is still nimble enough to dodge thee tree branches coming at her. But she’s dodging away not for the safety of herself, she just moves to a place that allows an easier chance to destroy her enemy. The trees are now grouping together at the place Deborah used to be, a perfect chance for the flame dragon.

Deborah takes her breath. Fire gathers to the form of a ball just in front of her head until it becomes half her size. When she releases the fireball, it comes toward the walking trees with the speed of a bullet and the size of a cannonball. The fireball burns away all the trees in one sitting, but it doesn’t stop there, it now comes charging at Melas castle, and in particular, its castle wall and the place we’re standing on.

“Watch out!”

I duck together with Nilrem as Deborah’s fireball flies past us and goes straight into the castle before exploding and takes out a small chunk of stone. It’s like having a cannon shooting at us.

“She doesn’t know we’re here!?”

“It’s better that she does not.”

Nilrem’s answer sends a chill down my spine from all the implication behind her words.

Deborah turns her head toward the remaining walking trees, and what is standing behind them, the giant tree blocking the sky. Like a mad dog, Deborah rushes toward the biggest target in range of her sight. The smaller trees simply can’t let her do as she pleases, they form a defense line using their trunk as barriers, but their efforts are futile and easily crushed by Deborah’s fists and claws. The place has became a massacre site with trees as victims from the terror brought by Deborah. They get punched, crushed, torn to bits, or burned. Deborah does not hesitate to use every means of destruction available in her disposal. I used to fear the threat the walking trees posed to destroy the demonkind, now I fear for their feeble lives when they are facing a dragon of destruction called Deborah.

And finally, the dragon and the giant tree meet face to face, although Deborah’s size barely counts as an ant when compared even to the tree’s feet, but despite the size difference, this simply won’t be a battle between David and Goliath. David defeated the giant Goliath by the use of his brain, but David was no fire breathing dragon like Deborah is. The giant tree is the underdog in this situation, and it probably can’t even realize it.

-URGOOOOOHHHH!

The giant tree roars, which shakes the ground through sheer volume, unleashing a minor earthquake in the area around them. As if not wanting to lose, Deborah roars back at the giant tree like two dogs barking at each other, but her roar is pitiful in comparison, like a pup to a hound. The dragon lost the battle of intimidation, which allows her opponent to take the first move. The giant tree attacks by moving up its giant foot made of roots with the intent of trampling the dragon to a pulp. Yet despite having the initiative, the tree’s foot moves so slow it makes a wounded turtle look like a rabbit in its prime. But even so, Deborah neither runs away nor makes any attempts to defend herself from the foot the size of a skyscraper descending upon her. She actually wants to challenge it head on!

-ARGHHHH!

The tree steps on Deborah, but the earth doesn’t rumble from the tremor made by the sheer weight of a world tree. No, because its foot hasn’t even make contact with the ground, not if Deborah can help it. Now, she’s carrying the whole weight of the tree on her back, just like the titan Atlas carrying the world. But a tree isn’t a world with living people on it, so naturally, Deborah does not care if the tree she’s carrying is burning from the flame she’s emitting from herself and how will it fare if she lets go of her hold. Although I’m afraid in this state of hers, Deborah doesn’t even care if she is to throw away a living world held on her shoulders. With all her strength, Deborah pushes away the giant foot off her shoulder, almost enough to make the tree falls to the ground if it doesn’t luckily get a foothold afterward, but Deborah doesn’t look like she would enjoy an easy enemy like that.

With a burning feet, the tree steps away. Part of its foot has became a living torch as of now, but it still thinks it has a chance of winning. The tree throws a punch at Deborah with its arm made from tree branches. Like before, Deborah can always make enough time to dodge the oncoming attack, and still have the time to laugh at the tree’s pitiful attempt to hit something the size of a fly compared to it. But unlike before, this time, Deborah doesn’t simply wait and block the attack. Now, she waits for the tree’s fist to come at her, and with a jump, Deborah makes her way on its arm as the tree’s fist destroy a huge chunk of the ground where Deborah’s supposed to be.

Now, Deborah is sprinting in full speed toward the tree’s head like a spider crawling on a human’s arm. But the threat a dragon poses is way more dangerous than a spider’s bite. Her burning body is making a trail of fire on her way toward the tree’s head. The tree is not without a defend mechanism to counter an attempt to climb its body just like what Deborah’s doing. Through its arm, it conjures a bunch of vines from its branches with the intent to hold Deborah back, and strangle her to death if they can. It may work with anyone else, but not with a fire dragon who’s constantly emitting fire through her body. The vines get burned to crisp before they even touch Deborah, let alone hold her down and strangle her to her death. Deborah practically runs uncontested, and soon, she makes her way to the head of the giant tree. The leaves covering its head quickly burn away as Deborah makes her presence, but that’s hardly the end of the giant tree’s nightmare.

It’s hard to see from the castle wall, but thanks to the burned tree leaves, I manage to catch some glimpse of Deborah’s action. She puts both her hands down onto the tree’s head. And soon…the terror begins.

Deborah channels her fire through her hands and down to the tree’s head, and through the head to its whole body. The dragon fire make their way through every nook and cranny they can find in the wooden trunk. At first, the whole giant tree lightens up like burning charcoal, but it soon becomes a giant pyre when Deborah’s fire takes total domination of its body. The tree is moving its arms and legs, slowly, enough to resemble a dance, but a dance of death with a pair of red-hot iron shoes instead. It roars from the pain of feeding its whole wooden body to sustain the dragon flame, but the roar soon weakens, and finally stops for good when the tree becomes a giant husk of cinder, still standing, but unmoving, and never will.

The giant tree is dead.

“Incredible…”

With the destruction of the source, the force animating the smaller trees naturally goes away. All the trees nearby drop down to the ground, resuming their immobile form before the apperance of the giant tree. Cheers can be heard from inside Melas castle, pushing away the laments of failure and despair of the remaining human soldiers stuck inside. This marks the end of Melas’s siege with the victory to the demons of the Demon Realm. But despite the end of the fight, the Headmaster Nilrem still looks so unnaturally tense…

…as if the true nightmare has yet to begin.

And I soon find out why when I match my gaze to Nilrem’s, toward Deborah who’s still standing at the top of the world through the husk of the giant tree.

The burning dragon gazes at the world around her, at the rising sun atop of the gray clouds, at the snow-filled lands ravaged by ages old wars, at the battlefield from afar and the unwilling pawns of conflict. A vast world that makes even an existence like a dragon looks insignificant. And maybe that’s part of the reason the reason why that dragon thinks it’s the perfect time to set everything ablaze, to return the world into its origin of nothing, of ashes and flames, of dusts and bones.

Deborah turns her head upward. She opens her mouth, and breaths out a stream of dragon fire. Strangely, the fire doesn’t go away, but curls backward in midair and forms a gigantic sphere made of pure fire. By the time the sphere of fire becomes thrice her size, Deborah shoots it upward toward the sky.

And it explodes, into smaller meteors descending toward all directions across the area on the Western part of the Demon Realm.

A rain of fire.

Every place the meteors hit, destruction quickly follows and soon engulfs it in flame. Only god knows how many meteors are there in the skies that are still falling down to the lands. The sky soon turns red from the sheer heat radiated from the meteors, almost making it look like the apocalypse is coming. I have never read the bible before, but this maybe is what it’ll look like if the Revelation arrives.

One meteor hit Melas castle, destroying a part of it with fire. The others hit the valley beneath the castle and lights it up like a pit of hell. I’m too absorbed from the terror brought by the destruction to even notice a huge meteor is coming my way as well.

I would die again if not for Nilrem’s timely intervention. She conjures a barrier to protect the two of us. If she doesn’t, we would have been burned to ashes from the fire engulfing Nilrem’s spherical barrier. A normal barrier wouldn’t make it, the fire would still find its way, not to mention the heat that can melt steel and stone itself. Nilrem’s barrier protects us from it, and I’m grateful for her assistance.

But that will not stop me from piercing the truth behind everything, and behind every actions this woman made.

“Now I understand, Headmaster Nilrem…”

I clench my fists as I state out my thoughts.

“The castle’s barrier wasn’t made to protect the castle from outside threat. It was made to keep Deborah inside…To make sure she never makes contact with the outside world…”

The woman doesn’t reply, as if she knows she doesn’t have to fix the obvious truth.

“Why, Nilrem!? Why!? I want answers!”

The woman sighs.

“It will be a long story. Do you care for a walk, Mr.Akuma?”