ARC 1: Thunder Dragon Ryushen

Valhalla continent was said to be the continent that was directly under the rule of the Gods. It was the continent that held the gateway towards the Realm of the Ethereal. With mythical creatures roaming the land, it was a place that was never before traversed by a human. It was a place only heard of in legends.

“I answer your summons my God.”

A humanoid creature with thick blue scales covering his entire body and a head resembling a dragon knelt before the apparition in front of him. Placing a hand on his carapace cladded chest, he bowed his head in reverence as he awaited his God’s orders.

“I want you to retrieve a possession of mine.” The apparition’s voice echoed throughout the whole mountain. With a voice which was loud and threatening, the swirling vortex’s presence was enough to make anyone tremble in their knees.

Series of gargantuan lightning came surging forth from the creature, completely scorching the mountain range that surrounded the area they were in.

“Order me thy Lord.” The dragon-like creature spoke in a humble voice, completely revering the apparition in front of him. For him, his God was his everything.

“Ryushen.”

“Yes my Lord.”

“I want you to retrieve the fragments I have left behind. I am currently in the Ethereal Realm and cannot openly interfere in the world of the mortals. The council of The Gods forbids me from doing so.

Retrieve my Marifei.”

“Your humble servant hears and obeys my Lord.”

Ryushen, after hearing the specifics on where the fragments could be found, immediately carried out his God’s orders. Morphing back into his original form, the humanoid creature transformed into a colossal 200 meter thunder dragon.

The mythical creature Ryushen’s first destination,

Grimfort Academy.

****

Erika Yuan Rein.

Lately, she cannot describe the feeling she was experiencing.

Whenever she thought of that person, her stomach becomes fluffy, like butterflies were scurrying inside. Just thinking about him was enough to make her smile. Waking up in the morning, while eating her breakfast, lunch, and before sleeping at night—he was all what she could think about.

She knew what the feeling was, but was unable to accept it.

She cannot accept the fact since the other person was the so called ‘demon’.

‘This is absurd!’ she thought to herself. While thinking such thoughts, she suddenly remembered the events that took place a few days ago.

It was early in the evening when she got the letter. It was full of insults towards her and her family. She got enraged thinking that such things were unforgivable. Contrary to her usual demeanor, she actually cherished her family so much.

The letter told her to come near the woods at the west side of the free grounds. It was a request for a one-on-one match.

Being fully equipped, she brought the necessary items to protect herself in case that something went wrong. She was ready—she was at her best. At the age of 20, she had already attained the C++ rank. Only a handful of students in her year could be considered her match.

She went to the meeting venue as per what the letter stated.

Suddenly the ground beneath her began to glow a bright red color.

She had accidentally stepped inside a magic circle, and it was a magic circle of high quality. Such a thing would have taken about a couple of days to complete. It seemed the one behind it went to a great deal in order to implement the trap.

She was unable to use her spells and every other magical item she had brought with her.

She had been careless.

Her enemies came out of hiding when they’ve been sure that she had been disabled of her magic.

She refused to be bound by such a thing.

After applying all of her mana to resist the magic circle, she finally broke free.

Contrary to their expectations, the scion of the House of Rein was able to break free from their trap.

She tried to fight the five men surrounding her, but was unable to. Her body was already depleted of its mana. Her amulet that let her minimize the chant for magic was useless without the proper amount of mana to fuel it. All that she could chant was a simple magic spell.

She tried to chant the simple spell. It’s better than doing nothing at all.

She was struck by an enemy’s magic. They were not foolish enough to let her finish.

Completely exhausted from using up all her mana and from being assaulted by multiple enemies, her body began to refuse her commands. She could no longer move her body.

She knew what the men were trying to do to her helpless self.

She was mortified.

She was scared.

She wished that everything was just a dream, but the excruciating pain she was experiencing was telling her otherwise.

She closed her eyes—steeling herself for the unfortunate reality.

The dreaded assault didn’t come.

Upon opening her eyes, she saw it.

The Demon of Grimfort.

Beside the man were the assailants with their unconscious bodies bent in the wrong direction.

She was surprised, confused but at the same time thankful.

She mustered her strength to speak the words she seldom told anyone. It must have been years since she had spoken those words, but she knew that she had to. Deep in her heart, she was really thankful for what the man had done.

“Thank you.”

She spoke in a soft and audible voice that would drive any man crazy.

“…………….”

Complete silence.

The man was no longer there.

She was puzzled.

She was puzzled by the mysterious person regarded as a demon by many. She was puzzled, but at the same time intrigued. She wanted to know him better. To speak to him…or probably more.

Immediately the next day, the five guys were expulsed from Grimfort. The incident was kept from public in order to protect the lady’s identity.

Every now and then, Erika saw the man walking alone, with the crowd of students dispersing in an instant the moment he passed through.

She wanted to thank him.

She wanted to talk to him.

She wanted to know him better.

Surprisingly, she wasn’t as scared of the man as before. Something was telling her that the man would never harm her.

After a few days of mustering her courage, she finally was able to steel her resolve.

While the man was walking at the hallway, towards his next class, she stood on his path.

With a lot of students present that time, everyone was expecting that the lady would be immediately slaughtered by the demon. But contrary to their expectations, a different scenario happened.

“Thank you. Thank you very much for what you’ve done.”

While bowing down, the lady of the House of Rein was sincerely thanking another person.

Seeing such a shocking scenario in front of them, the crowd was in an uproar. They knew of the bad reputation the lady had. And for such a person to thank someone, and that someone was none other than the demon of Grimfort—it truly was an otherworldly scene.

But what shocked the crowd the most was the expression on the face of the demon.

A smile.

A genuine bright smile.

The demon didn’t bother to reply, but his smile was more than enough. He then continued walking towards his destination.

Feeling her chest tighten, Erika looked at the figure of the man in front of her until it disappeared from her sight.

That day, a new rumor about the Demon of Grimfort and about the lady of the House of Rein was made.

The ‘precious’ jewel of the House of Rein.

The ‘probably not so evil’ demon of Grimfort.

****

The class had ended. As per usual, Yuje was the very first one to get up from his seat and then out of the room. It’s an everyday occurrence, an expected scenario.

But today was another peculiar day for him. Just like the past few days, that woman was waiting for him outside his class. Smiling from ear to ear, with her sapphire eyes showing an obvious glint of happiness, the woman carried a basket full of clubhouse sandwich. It was made by the woman herself—Erika.

Smiling gleefully, she spoke in a cheerful voice. It’s a voice enough to make everyone in the hallway to stop with their conversations and listen. Her cheerful voice was comparable to angels themselves.

“Hi Yuje~! Let’s eat lunch together?”

Everyone was agape. Such scenario had occurred a few times before, but still no matter how many times they heard that line, everyone was still dumbfounded. The scion of the House of Rein making lunch for someone else, and it’s a guy, moreover it’s the demon incarnate himself! Those stunning thoughts made the other students hang their mouths in bewilderment.

But just like the previous events same as this one, Yuje ignored the cheerful lady. He just continued walking towards the free grounds, towards his usual spot, underneath the 20 meter old tree at the west side of the Main hall.

Calmly walking towards the old tree, he then sat down underneath the cool shade created by the canopy of leaves.

There’s an hour left before the next class starts, and the demon of Grimfort prefered to spend it in solace—alone.

Even though ignored, Erika still pursued the man. Following behind by five steps, she then merrily sat next to him.

“Hey~ why do you keep ignoring me? Every day I kept making you handmade food. You should at least eat them you know...”

“……………………”

As per usual, Yuje did not bother to reply. He just sat there quietly looking at the horizon.

“You know what; I don’t really think you’re actually a demon just like what they say…”

After those last words of hers, silence took over the two of them. Only the sounds of the birds chirping and the leaves rustling were heard.

Surprisingly, the silence was not as awkward as it used to be. Contrary to other people, Yuje did not actually hate her company.

Just like that, the free period ended peacefully and the man and the woman went back to the school building.

****

It was late in the afternoon and Yuje was on his usual search for even a hint of the God’s artifact.

Moving at his usual inhuman speed, he roamed the grounds of Grimfort. This time, he did his search at the northern part of the free grounds of the academy. It was a place he hadn’t searched before.

Hoping that he would finally find a lead this time, he continued roaming the grounds until he stopped by an abandoned ruin. At that particular site, a glint of aura from the Obsidian Marifei was felt. It’s coming particularly inside a dome-shaped abandoned structure.

Finally getting his first lead, he immediately went inside. Inside were wall paintings of a certain man. At the center of the ruined structure, a gigantic portrait of the man spanning 15 meters was painted on the wall; its color dulled with age.

The man which appeared to be over a hundred years of age was smiling. His amber eyes were half covered by his thick eyebrows. His white beard was complemented by a silver coat embossed with gold. In his right hand was a wooden material interwoven with a dark iron-like substance.

Yuje stood there staring at the portrait for quite some time until a voice suddenly spoke from behind him.

“Do you like the Grand Magus’ portrait young man?”

It was a voice that he had heard before—deep and filled with unexplainable strength. Turning around, Yuje saw a familiar face. It was the same person that he had met when he first entered the academy.

The black creature with its height of 3 meters walked towards Yuje, his black-red eyes glimmered every now and then.

“I joined this school hoping to become just like the great founder. I trained all my life in pursuit of strength that would be comparable to his. I trained and trained but it obviously wasn’t enough to reach something considered legendary.

Even now, I am still hoping that one day I could overcome the last hurdle. I’ve already reached the S++ rank around two decades ago. But until now I wasn’t able to overcome the barrier separating an S++ from a SS rank.”

The black creature then walked towards a boulder and sat on top of it. Cracks formed immediately from the weight of the creature.

“Tell me, what are you doing in this place? As far as I can remember, this place is several kilometers from the nearest school ground.” The creature scratched its pointed ears. With a sharp set of teeth showing, it blatantly yawned.

“………………….”

Yuje paused for a moment. He was deliberating on whether he should speak about the artifact in front of the man. His instinct was telling him that the man knew the whereabouts of the God’s artifact.

“Obsidian Marifei.”

The black creature’s eyes went wide for a moment. With his arms still raised in the air, he gazed at the grey eyed man in front of him. He never expected to hear that word from another person. It was an existence known only to a selected few.

“I see. So you are searching for that artifact. Is that the reason you entered this academy even though you have already attained what most considers as legendary?” The black creature asked. It then stood up and glanced at the large portrait at his left.

Yuje slightly nodded his head. It was just in his nature to be silent.

“For what purpose do you need such a thing?”

“………………….”

“Forget about it. A professor in this academy—a friend of mine found that thing inside a labyrinth in the city of Seda.

After securing the artifact and researching on its properties, its powers, he tried using it.

And….

As of now, he is…not here anymore…” The creature spoke in a low and solemn voice. His voice became muffled after those last words.

“The artifact is cursed by the God that created it. It was never meant to be used by a mere human.”

Yuje did not care about the man’s warnings. He knew better than the man for he had accessed the tome of knowledge.

Finally finding his first great lead regarding the artifact, he wanted to immediately know the whereabouts of the Marifei.

“Where is it?” Yuje walked forward until he stood directly in front of the monstrous figure.

“Forget it. Believe me; I am doing this for your sake.”

“Tell me.”

Massive bloodlust immediately surged fort from Yuje. He wanted to get the fragment from this place and immediately go to where the remaining fragments were.

Even under the inhuman bloodlust and pressure, the black creature remained calm. He just stood there, looking directly at the young man emitting the murderous intent.

“Even if you kill me, I won’t be telli--“

A large crater was suddenly formed at the place the black creature formerly sat at. Using his countless experience and his battle-hardened capabilities, the black creature was able to immediately evade the attack.

“…I see…It’s useless to reason out with the current you.”

Suddenly, a gigantic snake-like creature made out of earth magic erupted from the ground. With a length of a hundred meter and a diameter of twenty five, the earth-made creature opened its mouth completely as if trying to devour its prey. It then flung towards Yuje at a frightening speed.

Yuje, completely determined to immediately find the artifact, summoned his crimson-black sword. He then fused an inhuman amount of mana into it, creating a gargantuan crescent-shaped crimson-black slash towards the approaching snake.

The two magic collided with each other creating a massive shockwave in the surrounding areas. After some resistance, the snake-like magic was shattered by the slash.

The black creature, predicting that his attack was not enough to faze his opponent, summoned another attack. This time, he created nine of those creatures instead of a single one.

The nine gigantic snake-like creatures made of earth magic immediately dashed fort towards the enemy. Their erratic movements made their next move hard to predict. Yuje on the other hand kept making colossal strikes towards the incoming enemies.

~SLASH

~SLASH

~SLASH

~BAG

Deafening sounds from the impact followed by massive shockwaves were created by the colliding forces. It was on a scale that onlookers would be seriously injured if swept away in the fight. Luckily, the students were miles away from the school grounds.

After finally annihilating the incoming enemies, massive craters were formed everywhere. It was a scene that resembled a war zone.

“There is more to the God’s artifact than what is known young man. It’s an item that should not be used carelessly.” Kia said after the large smoke dust had finally receded.

“I…know.” Yuje replied.

The black creature looked straight into the eyes of the man. Finding no hint of any lies in it, he spoke.

“I, Kia Maudraga, have sworn to my deceased friend that I would not let anyone else get their hands on the artifact. The danger that it poses is too great to ignore. Even if you kill me here, you would never be able to find it. It’s in a place…some mere human would never find.” The black creature declared. His eyes were full of conviction.

The two of them stood there motionless; both were trying to get a feel of their opponent. After some time, the black creature walked away calmly and slowly. Yuje, on the other hand, just stood there as he watched the back of the black creature disappear into the darkness.

He knew what the man implied when he uttered those words.

It was actually the best method to choose if one wanted to conceal a dangerous object from the mortal realm forever.

Seal it in the void space—an endless space between the mortal realm and the ethereal realm. Even the God’s themselves wouldn’t be able to directly interfere at the void space for one required access at the mortal realm first in order to transcend to the void.

Feeling despair for not having the power to access such a restricted place, the grey-eyed man just stood there, his face looking towards the heavens.

****

Taki Collins was the son of a farmer and a bread maker.

Their family had been farmers since the ancient most generations—his grandfather, great grandfather, and beyond were farmers. It went without saying that his father also raised his son Taki to become one.

But Taki refused to be one.

What he had dreamt of to become was a great warrior or magician. He refused to rot in the farm like his old man.

One day, a caravan from the city stopped by their secluded village in the mountains to restock on their supplies. Among them was a famous warrior known even at the royal capital.

Excited to see someone close to his image of an ideal warrior, he immediately asked for tips on how to become one. The warrior, amused of the eager farm kid, readily agreed to teach him the basics during their two days stay at the village.

“Listen, a warrior and a magician is hardly any different from each other. The only difference is that a magician chooses to materialize the phenomenon outside his body, while a warrior choses to enclose his self with it. There are also those people with rare talent that are able to materialize it both inside and out of the body. But those are rare, probably 1 out 100,000.

Most people usually focus on just one aspect since just a single one is difficult enough. During your training, you will naturally learn which of the two you are more inclined with.”

“Theoretically speaking, everything is one. Therefore, even the air we breathe, the ground we tread on are one with us—even the mana in our bodies and those outside are one with us.

Imagine yourself as a flowing stream encompassed inside a shaped body. Imagine those moving stream moving towards your fingertips and connecting with the flowing stream of your surroundings.

Can you feel it?”

Taki did as what the warrior said but nothing happened.

“What…nothing happened…” Taki muttered in a dejected voice. He repeatedly flexed his fingers in anticipation.

“HAHAHA don’t worry kid. No one does it the first time. Some took years in order to materialize their first form of mana. Even I took 2 weeks before I was able to do it.” The famous warrior patted the head of the farm kid. Boisterously laughing, he placed both his arms on his hips as he warmly gazed upon the child.

Regaining back his confidence, Taki immediately continued practicing until he was finally able to do it. It took exactly a month after the warrior had left their secluded village before Taki had been finally able to materialize his first mana.

Years of training made him able to enter the prestigious academy through skills alone.

During the entrance ceremony for the first years, he was immediately given C rank.

He was proud for achieving a rank that was usually given to the third years.

He felt the stares full of awe from the students the moment he stepped down the pedestal.

But then that grey eyed, grey haired man’s turn came.

The looks of admiration by the female populace were obvious from a glance.

‘Appearance means nothing if you do not have the skills to back it up. In this academy, skills are what matters the most’. He was having these thoughts while he watched the man step foot towards the magic circle. He was stunned at what happened afterwards.

Complete darkness.

At first he was mortified of the phenomenon. But soon, the blindly dark light was gone.

The chairman then uttered some words he found hard to believe.

SSS rank and gold rank.

‘But he’s just a first year like me!’ Those were the thoughts he had as he watched the man at the center of the pedestal, beside him was the agape-faced chairman.

Then…

As if being mocked by fate, that guy became his classmate.

Aside from him, all the students in the class wanted to become friends with the guy.

‘Suckers’ was what he thought as he watched the scene unfolding before his eyes.

But then a shocking scenario happened.

The beautiful lady that was beside the man was sent flying.

Everyone went pale.

After a few moments, the monster professor went inside the room.

He told all students to flee from the vicinity.

From a safe distance, they watched the fight unfold.

It was surreal. The two were monsters.

But eventually, the demon won. The difference was strength was clearly evident.

Everyone was dumbfounded and mortified.

The next day, everyone began calling the guy a demon.

Taki on the other hand saw it differently.

He felt something from the demon that was hard to explain. It was the same kind of feeling he had when he was in that secluded village of his. It was the feeling of knowing nothing outside those of what one grew up with.

The Demon of Grimfort was complete but at the same time lacking. That was the conclusion he was able to come up with after observing the feared classmate from afar.

A week after the incident happened, Taki Collins, regarded as a genius by many, sat next to the demon Yuje.

With their seat next to each other, the two watched the scenery outside the window in complete silence.

Murmurs were heard regarding the action Taki did, but he did not mind.

He felt right seating next to the guy.

He felt that he would not regret it if he was to become his friend.

The demon on the other hand did not seem to mind the guy that sat next to him and just continued staring at the scenery outside.

After a few more days, the daily occurrence of the demon, with his two henchmen—Erika and Taki behind him walking towards the old tree became a common sight.

****

Yuje have decided to leave the academy and proceed to the Kingdom of Jafuan which was west of the Kingdom of Ametris, the place where the Lukan tribe resides.

It was the conclusion he came to when he found out that the fragment in Grimfort was sealed in the Void. Taking an item back from that endless abyss was next to impossible. Three requirements were needed to be met. First was a contract with a God from the Ethereal Realm. This enabled the caster to use a spell that will open a gate between worlds, a spell exclusive only to the Gods. Second was a body residing in the mortal realm that would be able to handle the pressure brought forth from opening the gate. Third was to find the exact medium used by the caster. The medium will become the point of origin of the transfer.

Although the second requirement was impossible, he still continued to find the remaining pieces. He had no choice, it was his life’s purpose after all. Sealing an item at the void was thousand times easier than recovering an item from it. An exponentially harsher portal was needed to be opened if one wanted to retrieve an item from the abyss.

“Hey~ that’s not yours! Don’t eat that! Stupid farm kid!”

Erika slapped the hand of the guy beside her that was trying to loot a piece of food from the basket.

“Unfair. Why is it that only Yuje gets to eat those foods of yours? Besides, I’ve never seen the guy take even a bite from those.” Taki retorted at the glaring Erika. Wearing the same red uniform, his night black hair that was neatly tied at the back complemented his brown skin.

The two of them had already adjusted well towards the still silent Yuje. Erika, as usual, was irritated at the guy that always tagged along the two of them. Taki Collins on the other hand, was actually enjoying the everyday scenario.

All throughout such everyday occurrence, Yuje was always just silently sitting under the shade of the massive tree.

Unexpectedly, his mind was actually at peace whenever those two were with him. He felt neither malice nor hidden negative emotions on the two, rather he felt the opposite. He never told them, but he actually enjoyed the company.

The two were what he could regard as the closest thing to a friend that he currently had.

But he had to continue his journey.

To him, it was his life’s purpose, the air he breathes.

Tomorrow at dawn, he would leave Grimfort Academy.

He stood up and walked towards the school grounds with the two immediately tagging along when suddenly…

~RUUUMMMBBBLLEEEEE RUUUUMMBBBLLEEEE

The entire ground shook violently. It was like standing near the epicenter of an earthquake.

~ROOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR GROOAAAAAAAAAAARRRGGHHH

A monstrous cry was heard coming from the eastern side of the academy. From their position, they were able to see the

Great Barrier materialize itself as it created a dome shaped structure that enclosed the whole of Grimfort.

At a faraway distance they saw a dot-like structure colliding with the barrier. The whole grounds of the academy shook with every collision from the dot-like thing. Trickles of sweat began to run along the backs of everyone that saw it.

“ALL STUDENTS LISTEN!

GET INSIDE THE BUILDING IMMEDIATELY!

JUST FOLLOW YOUR PROFESSORS INSTRUCTIONS AND PROCEED TO THE UNDERGROUND PASSAGE THAT IS LOCATED

BENEATH THE MAIN HALL!

I HAVE ERECTED A BARRIER UNDERGROUND. YOU WILL BE SAFE THERE.”

It was professor Rouma. His eyes showed obvious signs of apprehension. Along with the other professors, he ushered the students to get back inside the building and towards the underground.

The students did as what the professor instructed. They all had a panicked look on their faces. The violent shaking of the ground and the barrier acting that way was obviously not a normal scenario.

“Yuje..”

Erika had a worried look in her eyes. Taki on the other hand had a calm demeanor.

For the first time ever since the three of them had been together, Yuje spoke. It was a voice that was cold but at the same time carried a calming presence.

“Get inside, the two of you.”

The two, surprised by Yuje’s sudden statement, immediately nodded and went their way towards the underground along with the other students. But then…

~CCRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAACCCCKKKKKK

~CRRRAAAAAASSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH

A massive force made everyone fall down to their knees. The ground shook violently as if about to disintegrate from the world itself.

For the first time in the history of the continent,

The Great Barrier broke.

Along with it was the appearance of the Thunder Dragon, Ryushen.

****

Lilian Gradua was unable to believe the scene before her eyes.

The Great Barrier created by the Grand Magus himself which protected the academy for half a millennia was broken in less than a day.

Moreover, the one who broke it was a creature that appeared only in legends. A mythical creature that was capable of destroying several countries by itself.

As the chairman of the school, it was her duty to protect the students no matter what happens—no matter what the cost.

With great determination in her eyes, she immediately went underground, towards the gigantic Auromicum ore that was responsible for maintaining the Great Barrier. The Grand Magus Arthur Poleshka III created a contingency plan if ever the barrier which was regarded as absolute by everyone eventually broke. It was a secret passed down only to those who received the position of chairman.

The academy itself doesn’t matter, what matters the most are the life of the students residing in it. Oh great founder, may you forgive this failure of a chairman in the afterlife.

Without hesitation, Lilian Gradua converted her entire being into pure raw mana. That mana was then absorbed by the colossal Auromicum ore.

~WHIIIIZZZZZZZ SHHHWWWIIIIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKK

The Aurumicum ore, after a chant of activation from the chairman of Grimfort herself, began to shatter into hundreds of thousands tiny fragments. The fragments then formed into a magic circle of the highest quality.

After transforming her entire self into pure raw mana,

Lilian Gradua died.

****

~ROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

The 200 meter mythical creature landed with an earth shattering force that shook the entire ground. The colossal creature covered with blue-black scales, with its majestic snout pointing towards the ground, looked into the direction of a black creature. From the black creature, he felt the remnants of the presence of his God’s fragment.

[Where is the Marifei? Answer me mortal.]

Using dragon’s magic, the creature spoke in a loud and imposing voice.

“What need do you have of that artifact?” Kia replied. His voice was not a bit daunted by the monstrosity in front of him.

The thunder dragon Ryushen eyed the black creature for a while. It deliberated whether the mortal was worth to converse with. After a while the dragon decided to reveal its objective.

[My God, Auborn, had ordered me to retrieve the fragments he had left behind. I am here to carry out that order.]

Kia was dumbstruck from the unusual revelation. It was unheard of before—a God interfering in the mortal realm. It just went to show that the fragments held such importance. After all, it was an artifact capable of manipulating time itself.

He knew what would happen if he told the mythical creature of the current whereabouts of the fragment.

Dragons were said to be creatures of absolute loyalty. They will carry out their orders without fail. And if this dragon in front of him were to find out that it was seal in the endless void, havoc will surely spread in the area.

Only half of the students were able to escape towards the barrier underground. And I doubt that the barrier will be enough against this creature, but it’s better than nothing. I should first try to buy time until all of the students are able to get inside the erected barrier.

Rouma was looking towards Kia’s direction during the entire conversation. He seemed to have an idea of what was going on in the guy’s mind. An eye contact was all that was required for the two of them to understand each other.

The students’ safety was top priority.

That was the sole conclusion the two of them came up with. Belonging to the three strongest professors in the entire academy, the two of them stepped forward—towards the mythical creature. Both were prepared to face the worst in order to buy the students as much time as possible

[Tell me mortal.]

The thunder dragon Ryushen was becoming impatient of the silence of the creature in front of him. Series of lightning were sent flying from the dragon’s body. It was truly a terrifying scene that would make one think that the Nerie Forest’s Ogres were cute cuddly creatures.

[MORTAL!]

A loud deafening roar then came from the dragon. Everyone went to cover their ears from the sudden loud noise that was accompanied by a nauseating pressure.

“It is no longer here. I have sealed it.” Kia stepped forward.

[Sealed it. Such a puny thing is child’s play to this divine creature in front of you.]

“…in the endless Void.”

The dragon’s eye went wide after Kia finished his statement.

It was enraged at the fact that a mere mortal had sealed the item which he was supposed to retrieve in the endless void.

It was a space that was hard to reach even for the Gods themselves. A body from the mortal realm was needed as a catalyst in order to openly access that realm.

[YOU DARE!]

Series of lightning began to spread all throughout the dragons’ body. It spread opened its massive wings and then flew upwards.

While in the heavens, it gathered an astronomical amount of energy in front of it. The energy was so massive that it began to create a vortex around it—sucking all nearby trees and everything else in the vicinity. The sucked objects were immediately disintegrated into nothingness after reaching near the gathered energy.

Dragon’s Breath.

It was the legendary attack of dragons that were often told about it stories.

The strength of a single attack was enough to reduce an entire kingdom to smithereens.

After gathering enough energy, the dragon stopped for a while and then spoke using dragon magic.

[For the sin of tainting my God with your foolish actions...]

It released the orb of gathered energy towards the ground. Everything was sucked towards the black hole-like orb.

“The students!” Kia summoned his earth serpents and made them form a gigantic wall. Rouma unleashed his silver armor and bound it at the earthen wall of Kia.

The two were ready to pour every bit of mana they had into the created wall in order to protect the students even by just a second more.

Suddenly a tremendous force came from their rear. It was a force that did not pale in comparison with the orb released by the dragon.

Immediately, the force was released and came clashing towards the orb, creating a shockwave so strong that it created its own pseudo gravity—sucking everything towards it. The trajectory of the breath was diverted upwards because of the opposing force. After some resistance, the two forces exploded, creating an astronomical shockwave that seemed to rip the heavens itself. All of the surrounding clouds dispersed in an instant, creating a clear sky above the academy.

Rouma and Kia had no choice but watch the scene before their eyes. The two of them realized that they would not make a difference in the fight of the two godly beings.

“Young man. The chairman told me that a portal will be soon created in this very area. It will probably take around 5 minutes more until its completion.”

Kia told Yuje, the one responsible for the clash earlier, about the classified information the chairman had told him. He knew that the chairman will be creating the portal—the highest form of teleportation magic, by converting her entire being into pure mana. It was a feat possible only because of the large Auromicum ore and because of the massive mana pool of Grimfort’s chairman.

Yuje nodded in affirmation. He then created another colossal slash towards the hovering dragon.

~SLASH

The gargantuan strike that cruised towards the dragon at a frightening speed was received at full force. The thunder dragon Ryushen roared in response to it. The strike that contained a massive amount of mana made nothing but a scratch at the mythical creature’s carapace. Yuje pooled his mana for another attack. There was no time to waste against such an opponent.

By the rules of the blood pact, he cannot let anything harm Erika or Sel. Right now, the two of them were probably inside the barrier underground. And the barrier will surely be broken in an instant if the opponent was on such a caliber as this one.

[Who are you?]

With great interest, the thunder dragon Ryushen spoke.

[I have lived for thousands of years, and this is the first time that a mere human was able to live after my Dragon’s Breath. Moreover, not only were you able to block it, you even had gone as far as to divert its trajectory. Such a feat is possible only if one has power on par with the energy I have released.]

“…Gashka.”

The dragon grinned. Its complete set of pearls screamed of the word very sharp.

[I see. You are of the Gashka. That explains it.

But still, a human is just a human.]

Without waiting for the dragon to attack, Yuje immediately pooled his entire mana and created a large crimson magic circle that spanned 300 meters in diameter. On its center was the thunder dragon Ryushen.

Blood End.

It’s one of the three strongest techniques in the art of Hiryu. By depleting the caster of all of its mana, one was able to create a concentrated pressure in a fix diameter. The force generated by the technique was many times greater than that of the usual strikes from the blood sword, and such a force was concentrated in a very small area.

Yuje was not the type to hold back against such an opponent. He deemed that it would be better to finish such a fight in a single instance using the strongest attack possible.

Without waiting for the dragon to have a chance of getting away from the almost instantly created magic circle, Yuje began to pour all of his remaining mana into his magic.

~PHSRKKK

The dragon, by instinct, sensed that staying in that area was dangerous even for a mythical being such as itself.

It immediately moved away from that area but was a tad bit late. A third of its body was unable to move away from the magic circle and was hit by the ultimate magic. A crimson ray of light rained down from the heavens and scorched the ground. In an instant, the part hit by the magic was reduced into nothingness, creating a 300 meter in diameter circular fissure with an infinite depth.

~GRRRROOOOOOOAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

An excruciating pain ran throughout the body of the mythical beast. In all of its life, it was the first time it had experienced such pain. Moreover, the one who did it was a mere mortal, and a human at that.

[YOU!!!]

Its tail, lower torso, and half of its left wing was gone. The dragon immediately fell to the ground. With its pride wounded, it gathered mana to generate another attack. It would not go down so easily.

~ROOOAAARRRRRRRR

A dragon’s breath was released from the severely wounded creature. It was not as strong as before, but was still an attack strong enough to destroy a city or two.

Yuje could hardly move his body which was depleted of its entire mana. He had no choice but to seek temporary asylum under the barrier created by Kia and Rouma.

The dragon’s breath hit the earth barrier of Kia which was fortified by Rouma’s magic. For quite a while, the resistance continued. The barrier was able to resist the severely lacking dragon’s breath.

After that attack, Kia and Rouma was almost depleted of their entire mana.

The dragon, angered that the puny humans were able to resist its attack, generated another one.

It was the weakest breath generated so far by the dragon. But still, a dragon’s breath is a dragon’s breath.

“Oh Gods.”

Kia and Rouma were agape. They knew that they could no longer block that attack with the amount of mana left of their body. But still, they readied their selves to erect another barrier. They would not go down without a fight.

But then, Yuje walked forward—in front of them.

Dragging his staggering body, he then summoned his crimson-black sword. He seemed to be intending to block the next attack with brute force alone.

~RROOOAAAAAAARRRRRGGHHHHHH

The orb-like dragon’s breath was released by the wounded dragon. It then collided with the crimson-black sword held by the grey-eyed man.

It was gradual, but the man was being pushed back by the attack. Slowly but surely, the breath began to deteriorate a part of the left hand of the man. After a few more moments, the arm was then reduced into nothingness. With only the right arm holding the crimson-black sword, it was only a matter of time before the breath consumed his entire body.

Right then, a barrier of earth glimmering in a silver aura was erected in front of the man. The barrier helped resist the breath even if just a little.

“It’s better than nothing.”

“Yeah.”

It was Kia and Rouma. The two of them were smiling; their eyes exuded a hint of excitement. They knew that they would all probably die today. But for them, such a way to die was not so bad. It was an honor to fight and die against a mythical creature seen only in legends.

Suddenly…

~SHHWWWWWWWWWHHHIIIIIZZZZZZZZZ

A magic circle enclosed in pure white light enveloped the entire main hall and the grounds surrounding it.

It was the portal magic created by the chairman by sacrificing herself.

In an instant, all the students within the portal vanished.

The dragon’s breath, not having anything to resist it, then hit the main building—creating a gargantuan explosion that scorched the grounds for several kilometers.

On that day,

Grimfort Academy was destroyed.

All of its students were missing and presumed to be dead.