Arc 5 Epilogue.

Grisly walked cheerfully under the evening moon. He took a stroll out to the central garden today. Whistling while he walked, he soon reached the middle where the statue was.

[Grisly]: Hmm?

Something seemed odd about the statue.

Normally at night…the lights around it should be on. But for some reason, it stayed dark.

He approached the statue. Inspecting it, he found nothing out of the ordinary. Then he suddenly placed his hands on it.

At that moment, everything was revealed.

[Grisly]: W-what…this….

In front of him, the statue was already reduced to only the bottom parts. Over eighty percent the statue had disappeared and on top of it, a thick black slime was pulsating.

Grisly poked the slime and several dozen mouths full of teeth opened on the slime and tried to bite his finger.

Quickly retracting it, he stared at the slime in awe. He could sense that the slime had a very familiar aura.

[Grisly]: So that’s what the kid was doing…

Grisly looked at the nearly broken statue and a creepy smile formed on his face.

[Grisly]: My, my, brother. Looks like this time you have made an enemy far too powerful for you to escape from.

Grisly laughed maniacally as the slime continued to erode the statue.

[Grisly]: Let me speed this up a little.

Most of the time, Grisly’s aura that he showed in public was his illusion attribute. But little did everyone know, he actually had two attributes.

[Grisly]: Let’s agitate the little bugger.

He condensed a ball of yellow energy and brought it close to the slime. The slime reacted quickly and its dozens of mouth quickly bit into the yellow ball.

Suddenly, the slime expanded ten times its original size. The erosion was sped up far beyond its original speed.

Normally this change would have been noticed by Crule, but currently he was busy fighting the wolf spider queen.

The statue eroded far quicker and it looked like in the next ten minutes, it was going to disappear completely.

[Grisly]: Let’s see how that bastard of a brother will do against the kid. Ahahaha.

Hatred appeared in Grisly’s eyes as he mentioned Grimly.

______

[Grimly]: Achhooo.

[James]: Sir, are you alright? Do you require cold medication?

[Grimly]: No, no, probably just dust…

Grimly looked out of his office window. The moonlight was shining brightly on this night.

He whispered to himself.

[Grimly]: Why do I suddenly feel this chill…

Suddenly, a powerful shockwave encompassed the world

Feeling the shockwave, Grimly stared in astonishment.

[Grimly]: This…How?

[James]: Sir, was that one of the seals?

[Grimly]: Judging by its strength, it should be the fake seal we put at my brother’s place. How did he find out?

[James]: Sir, isn’t that fake seal created by the legendary red rider?

[Grimly]: Yes, we had to force him to do it, but it should be strong enough as so that those below the sixth gate would not notice its actual purpose.

[James]: We also didn’t tell your brother about the original seal that lies on his campus.

[Grimly]: Exactly. I gave him the academy fully built as a present. He shouldn’t have any say during its construction. Just how did the fake seal break then?

[James]: This…is bad.

[Grimly]: Yes it is. Originally, the Antagonist games were supposed to open with weaker beasts the players could kill quite easily. With the fake seal breaking, the lowest level of the beast would double. By the looks of it, even the easiest of beasts would now require a team of players.

[James]: Indeed.

[Grimly]: Shit…

Grimly rubbed his temples.

[Grimly]: No matter, we just have to get our people to be stronger. How goes the training of the generals?

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[James]: So far so good, they could now properly spar with Hanuman, although it’s eight against one.

[Grimly]: Hmm. With the fake seal breaking, perhaps their training speed would skyrocket. I guess this could be a good thing.

Grimly regained his composure and walked back to his desk.

[Grimly]: Let’s delay the grand opening for another month. Considering that the energy in the atmosphere has now doubled, we can assume participants would be stronger by then as well.

[James]: Yes sir.

James walked out the door to deal with the delay.

Grimly turned around after sitting in his rotating chair. He looked up at the seven moons hovering over the sky.

[Grimly]: Damn you Grisly…

______

[Grisly]: Achooo. *sniff*

[Ghestle]: Are you alright headmaster?

[Grisly]: Yes, yes, I felt like someone was talking behind my back again.

[Ghestle]: Who would dare?!

[Grisly]: Nothing nothing. So how goes the report?

[Ghestle]: After headmaster released the seal, the energy density in the atmosphere doubled. We can assume that our students, as well as every person in the world. Would now train much faster.

[Grisly]: Hmm, then we better not slack off and get left behind now.

[Ghestle]: Y-yes sir.

______

Crule and Ming returned to the camp. By the next morning, every student was greatly surprised. It seemed they all felt a bit stronger than the day before, and some even gained insights into their attributes. A few people even manage to establish their second gate.

Crule gathered up the students after breakfast. Students where gossiping at why Crule had one of his hands in his pocket the entire time.

[Crule]: There has been a change of plans. We are heading back to the academy immediately.

The students panicked.

[Lawks]: Why sir?

[Thunes]: Yes, why? Isn’t this field trip meant for training?

[Crule]: All of you quiet.

The complaining of the students stopped.

[Crule]: As all of you can feel, the energy in the atmosphere has increased greatly. Many of you probably already have gained insights into your powers. But you should realize, with the energy being so rich now, even the beasts would become more powerful. Without being able to fully understand your new found powers, the strengthened beasts would tear you guys apart.

[Ming]: This is why we are leaving.

[Lawks]: This…I understand.

The students nodded in agreement.

[Shepard]: And just when I thought we would be having fun all week…

The students were dejected but at the same time scared of the hungry growls coming from the distance deeper inside the forest.

Crule whisper to Ming.

[Crule]: After we return, I’m going to ask Grisly for a temporary leave.

[Ming]: Where are we going?

[Crule]: To see teacher of course. They probably already found Brigid.

[Ming]: Ah, she might be able to make a replacement for your missing hand.

[Crule]: Exactly. Knowing her personality, we just have to acquire some rare materials first. And I just so happen to have the perfect material.

[Ming]: You don’t mean “that”?

[Crule]: Yes, “that”.

[Ming]: God…I really don’t want to remember our struggle fighting “that”.

[Crule]: Yea…we even lost the old Shin to that monster. But we still manage to take revenge.

[Ming]: Using “that” as a replacement…Looks like you actually wanted to lose your hand.

[Crule]: *smirks* Nonsense.

[Ming]: Hmph, take care of yourself better next time! I don’t want you to go dying on me again.

[Crule]: Yes, yes, I got it.

He pet Ming’s head gently. She soon calmed down.