Battleworld was plunged into total chaos. Most students, hunters and summoners alike, passed out one after another, resulting in an overwhelming hysteria. Those who did not lose consciousness would either be paralyzed or uncontrollably vomit. Same things happened to the teachers. Only a handful of summoners and hunters could keep their composure and try to make sense of the situation.

Principal Xixin turned to his old friend, and noticed a contended smile bloomed on Hamilton's face.

"Brilliant." said Hamilton.

"Tie!" principal Xixin shouted.

The runes under the seat of Hamilton lighted up, and light threads emerged, violently binding Hamilton's body to the seat, ensuring he could not move a muscle.

" Xixin, Xixin, this is rude, impolite. Now why would you do that, friend!" said Hamilton as he let out a laughter echoing across the stadium.

Upon hearing his laughter, all summoners who could still stand on their feet summoned their Familiars and ordered them to attack principal Xixin and the councilmen. They themselves poured all of their power into their staffs and hurled destructive spells at any hunters within their sight.

Young Hunters went hysterical from the assault. Their fear and confusion robbed them of the will to retaliate, and instead compelled them to escape from Battleworld. On the contrary, Veritas was by no means flinched by the unexpected. He just murmured " neutralize" and watched his fellow councilmen rush towards the adversaries with wind-cutting speed. He himself stood up, walked towards the principals with his swords unsheathed.

" Sir Nate, I expect from you a credible explanation for all that transpired today, or else things will get very ugly for you and for the summoners too. Now, excuse me, I must go and investigate the source of this Demex."

Done with his threat, Veritas jumped to the roof of the stadium, then leapt off Marsianos towards Swordgrave.

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Aria and Hiatus knew something had definitely gone very wrong when they saw their fellow hunters run out of Battleworld with panic-stricken expressions, screaming their lungs out while pushing each other aside. Some finally succumbed to the Demex and collapsed, being trampled on by others. Aria winced as she heard the sound of cracking bones and splashing blood The two tried to ask their friends what happened, but none even bothered noticing the two's existence. What worried Aria and Hiatus even more was the fact that not many hunters made it out of the stadium. They rushed into Battleworld.

The two could only stared in terror at what happened. Thousands of unconscious bodies lied around the stadium. The brainwashed summoners, apparently losing the sympathy even for their own kin, now executed an onslaught on just anybody present. The comatose hunters and summoners could not evade the attacks, thus having their bodies burned, cut and mutilated by the attackers. The smell of blood started to pervade the air. Body parts scattered across the floors. The moans of their immolated schoolmates haunted the area.

The Councilmen still struggled in their battles against the Familiars. There were 20 of them, all lever 4 and 5, while there was only 9 councilman. Principal Xixin did not dare to leave Hamilton unguarded , since his escape would much worsened the situation. All able young hunters had run, and so the councilmen battled alone while being outnumbered.

" Hiatus, we must neutralize all the Summoners, that would vanquished all the Familiars." said Aria as she unsheathed her sword .

Hiatus stared at the mayhem taking place right in front of his eyes. Memories flooded back. He inhaled, then let out a sigh. Speed was never his specialty, but he knew he would manage just fine.

It happened in less than a minute. Hiatus moved to the side of one Summoner, then another, then another, each he gave a punch in the stomach, a punch so strong the bodies of the Summoners were blasted against the wall, immediately knocking them unconscious. Other Hunters in the room, except for Aria, were all occupied with the Familiars they did not even know what happened to the summoners, let alone who did it to them. Only when the Familiar weakened then finally disappeared, did they notice their enemies were all defeated.

Hiatus left the stadium right after that to avoid the suspicion of the councilmen, followed by Aria. She did not question him at all, knowing he would not answer.

" It's settled now, I guess. Much quicker than I expected." said Aria.

" Where is he?" asked Hiatus.

"Who?"

" Nasty Victor."

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The closer Veritas was to Swordgrave, the denser the Demex became. He began to feel a bit unease, but persisted his pursuit.

"The demon must be really powerful, overwhelming such a number of Hunters."

Veritas looked around and noticed nothing had changed over the years. Swordgrave was still a wasteland, devoid of everything except for sand, dust, withering plants and broken pieces of weapons. It was said to have been a beautiful place once, a balance of life and death, where the cycle of life could go on. The battle with Samundo here had cause permanent damage to the land, where numerous hunters and summoners had given up on their life at this place.

The Demex had gotten so concentrated that Veritas could perceive them with his eyes: Pitch black tentacles pierced the air, spreading across the space. Veritas took a vial out of his pocket, broke it then applied the liquid to his blade. With his demonized arm, he swung his sword multiple times, and the air was bended by the blade, generating strong blade-shaped gales that cleared up the darkness in front of him. He could see it now, a humanoid figure among layers of Demex.

" A turn? No matter"

Seeking for a preemptive strike, Veritas charged forward. He swung his sword at the figure.

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Tetrax could feel the cold metal coming. She turned her body, and the blade missed her. She glanced at her assailant. " A turn?" She asked herself, drawing her katana. She aimed for their throat, but the assailant jumped back.

Its speed was no match for Tetrax, though. Among all the Singulus Digiti, Tetrax knew she was the fastest, maybe Pentos rivaled her, but that one died. She could end the match in under 10 seconds. Thinking that, she charged forward, piercing dense layers of Demex.

To Tetrax's surprise, her opponent's sword flared up, making her squint. She lost control of her swing for a second, and her sword was blocked by her opponent's. At close distance, she could see their face.

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Veritas could now clearly observe his target: a humanoid being clad in a robe that completely concealed all of its features. Its sword resembled a Japanese type of sword whose name he had forgotten. He realized that the Demex did not emit from its body. The density had tricked his sense.

The being lowered its sword. Veritas still held his up.

" Veritas?" the being asked.

" You know me?" He asked back, frowning.

The being stared at him, then shook its head. It directed his attention at something not far from them both, and his eyes followed its finger.

Just a few meters away, Veritas could see a peculiar contraption, the source of the Demex. It was just a black box.

"We have been had," said the being." That machine is well protected. If we combine our attack, we may be able to destroy it."

Veritas nodded. Even together with the being, he had to use two-third of his strength to slide through the machine. It exploded, and the miasma immediately vanished.

Before Veritas could ask any question, a huge explosion flared up behind him. He looked back, and could see in the direction of the institution, pillars of smoke emerged. Simultaneously, above his head, deafening rumbling sound enveloped the sky, as the fourth layer protection spell disintegrated at a frightening speed, as if it was never there.

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Xixin's institution went up in scorching flames amidst the attack of a level 6 Familiar- Victor's familiar- Muloculus. Muloculus was a humanoid familiar 20-feet high with multiple chains binding its body, limiting the mobility of its arms and legs. Aside from its shape, nothing else resembled human: its thin, pale skin barely covered its bones, its mouth was stitched, its claws were freakishly long and stiff, and eyes popped up everywhere on its body. It was like a malnourished living creature with the skin of the dead. Its hideous appearance however was well compensated by its destructive capability. They eyes on its body could detect the slightest movement and immediately shoot the target. The escapees of Marsianos, therefore, suffered even a worse fate than those left behind. At best, they were subjected to critical injuries, at worse, their lives were relinquished. The buildings on campus did not have a better fate, slowly collapsing. Muloculus blasted parts of the building away simultaneously.

Jake stopped Aria and Hiatus from existing the building, explaining to them the movement-tracking attacks of Muloculus.

" That is a Level 6 Familiar- equals to a black iron demon, and at times it may reach white steel. You're going to be fried if you're out there without a plan."

"But we cannot just stay here" said Aria." At this rate it will destroy the whole institution and we will die in a rubble."

" Yes, that's why we will work together. This time, Summoners and Hunters will not fight against each other, we will fight together. Sound good?"

Hiatus and Aria looked at Jake, then simultaneously nodded. Jake gave a happy smile.

" This is what I can do: my Terrent will cover you two from Muloculus's attack. Remember: A shield, not a distraction. There is no way to distract that multi-eyed thing. I can protect you from its beams, for a while. However, that is the best I can do, when you approach him, it's completely up to you to take Victor down. Understood? Good. Now, all I can say is: good luck."

" It seems I have to get personal with that thing then." Hiatus cracked his knuckles.

"I? You mean "we" ?" asked Aria.

" You stay here, Aria. I'm going to take Victor down. Don't you remember you trust me to defeat him? It's bad enough that I am accepting help from another person, now two will be an blatant insult to your trust." Hiatus smirked.

" You... Fine, take it down. I trust you."

" Okay, now done with the sappy talk. Terrent!" said Jake as he summoned the snake."I need you to cover him."

The snake stared at Hiatus, then nodded at Jake. Its body cracked, and the rock fell off, revealing an empty space within..

" Get in, Hiatus." Jake pointed at Terrent's body.

" Excuse me?" asked Hiatus, to which Jake gave the same reply.

Hiatus glanced at Aria.

" I trust you Hiatus." Aria gave him a thumb up." Now get your head in the fight, or should I say the snake."

"This is not okay." said Hiatus as he stepped into the snake, and new rocks emerged covering his body.

" Charge at the enemy!" Jake gave his order .

Terrent rushed towards Muloculus, and its snake-like movements allowed it to evade many attacks. Jake had cast extra protection spell on its skin that would resist the beams, and he constantly created random spikes that popped up from underground to scatter the concentration of Muloculus.

Victor spammed the same wind spell that Jake used when he was fighting Aria to make sure he was unapproachable.

" Unbelievable, to think he was able to use wind magic to this extent."

" Jake, you fought me with that spell." said Aria, raising her eyebrows.

" I did? Oh my, so Maria could control her subjects to this extent, to give them magic even they did not know. This is real trouble: my Terrent can't penetrate that spell. We just have to trust Hiatus. Terrent, coil around that thing!"

Terrent followed Jake's order , coiling his rock body around Muloculus, covering up the latter's eyes, at the cost of constantly being shot with energy beam. It pushed Hiatus out of his body.

" Guys, I don't think I can penetrate that windshield!" Hiatus shouted.

" Jake, summon your other Familiar!" Aria urged.

" I can't. I am not that powerful yet. Hiatus, I am going to cast a protection spell on you. It's just an experimental spell, though. Try charging in! You may survive!" shouted Jake.

" The heck? Are you really on my side?" Hiatus shouted.

Without answering, Jake projected towards Hiatus a ray of blue light.

" Charge in, Hiatus, the spell mitigates the attack with my energy!"

"Use mine too!" said Aria.

Jake nodded at Aria, then synchronized her with the spell.

Hiatus activated his demon form, then charged towards Victor. The moment he touched the spell, all three of them experienced hell. For human, it would equal the feeling of having hundreds of saw blades cutting the body simultaneously.

Hiatus kept pushing through, and the winds engulfed his whole body.

" To hell with it."

Hiatus's body burned up in green flame, and came an explosion that diverted the winds away from his body for a while, long enough for him to give Victor a punch that knocked him out cold. Hiatus then instantly vanquished the flame before the winds disappear, like it was never there.

The three collapsed, exhausted because of the pain caused by the winds.

" I don't know Maria, but I hate her guts." said Aria.

" She's not so bad, actually" Jake replied." When she isn't busy brainwashing and killing everyone, that is."

" Guys!" Hiatus shouted." That creepy eye monster is still here being creepy."

" Oh shush! Hiatus, get out of there, Terrent will not hold out much longer."

Hiatus stood up in a devastated state, and staggered towards his friends. Behind him, Terrent began to crack under the pressure with rocks constantly falling off its body. The beams were ready to blow it away any moment.

" He is not going to make it!" said Aria." I will—"

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Tetrax flashed by the young hunter and summoner. She charged towards Hiatus, grabbed him by his collar and threw him at Marsianos. Before he was slammed against the wall, she had already caught him and put him on the ground gently. All happen in two blinks of an eye.

Ignoring the stares she got from others, she cursed herself for having left her other sword behind, now this Familiar would be troublesome.

" Desummon your familiar! Don't make it suffer any longer."

The young summoner followed her order without any question. The beast thus got free, then returned to its mindless assaults.

" Uhm, thank you for saving my friend, sir."

Deeming it too hassle to correct her gender, Tetrax nodded at the girl.

" Boy, how long will it be before that thing vanishes?"

" It depends. It may take more than 10 minutes, or only some seconds more."

" Not taking this bet. The institution must be safe."

Tetrax unsheathed her sword, but before she could commence her counterattack, a radiant light enveloped the whole school. All hunters and summoners covered their eyes. When the light disappeared, the hostile familiar had already had half his body blown away, then seconds later disappeared along with the light.

So, what do you guys think of the story thus far?