"Master," Senon quietly said, in the void of quietness the departing faction representatives left.

The two goblins glanced at Senon, and then stared at Ain, waiting for a response.

And they waited. And waited. This was the pinnacle of all awkward situations. The only thing missing was Senon's blush, but there was no way a pride demon would ever let color into their cheeks.

"Affhole," the Living Word quietly remarked, with its smoldering whisper. It made its nest in Def's hands, cutely rippling with its ethereal flames. Two brilliant diamonds, tiny like little specks of stardust, glimmered within. Other than those two orbs - its eyes - it had no other defining features. It was just an ethereal ball of fire. Assuming it was harmless, however, was a huge mistake.

"I am sorry about... calling you..." Ain began, trailing off twice. Surely, he mulled the words over in his head.

Senon sniffed sharply. "Forget about it."

She was still angry.

"I got a perfect score on my magic power aptitude test. You promised you would take me as your disciple if I pass the exam. Will you honor your word?"

Ain cleared his throat, thankful that the other 'conversation' was over. "Of course. You are my disciple now, Senon."

"Then right here, right now, I want to see how strong you are, Master," Senon said, her center of gravity suddenly dropping. Her stance widened.

"Right here?" Ain asked, eyes widening.

"Ho ho, Master in trouble now," Def commented.

"Troma don't get it," Troma said. "What happen? Why flat-chest fight Master?"

Senon glared at Troma; there was enough venom in her eyes to kill Troma ten times over.

"Hell hath no fury like female pride demon scorned," Def said, voice warped to sound more poetic.

"Hell only fury. How demon compare to that? Def stupid. Troma think Def say something smart for once," Troma replied.

Def sighed. "Def tell Troma over and over again, 'don't call Def stupid'. But Troma never listen. Def not deny that he not stupid, but Troma stupider."

Troma thought about the words for a moment. "Pft. Nice try, stupid. Def just now say that he admit he smart. Troma not stupid."

Def smirked. "It was nice try. Plan B. Susu, get him."

"Affhole!" the Living Word jumped out of Def's hands and landed on Troma's shoulder. Within a second, Troma was enveloped in ethereal fire.

Troma screamed bloody murder. He squealed like a pig. Whined like a horse. He burned like an old piece of wood.

Def also screamed. Tears rolled down his gnarly cheeks, as he fell to his knees. "Noooooo! Troma! Def's one and only friend! Noooooo!"

Eventually, Troma stopped screaming, still enveloped in fire and no doubt burned to cinders on his feet.

Def stood up from the ground, and spat at the goblin bone-fire. "Def find new co-conspirator now."

As Def turned to leave, Troma's voice echoed out. "Where Def going?"

Def stopped in his tracks. "Weird. Def speak to dead goblin now. Maybe Def special?"

"Who det?" Troma asked.

Def turned around. "You det? You too stupid to die, too? Move on, Troma. You spirit now. Troma go to goblin hell. Family waiting."

"Troma not det. Troma hot."

"Hot? Troma on fire! Of course Troma hot."

The Living Word jumped off of Troma and landed into Def's waiting hands. "Affhole," it spat angrily at Troma.

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The fire enveloping Troma receded. There was not a single strand of hair missing from Troma. He was completely fine. Well, hot but unharmed.

Def looked at the Living Word of Fire. "What little Susu talking about? Troma resistant to spirit fire?"

"Affhole!" a flash of fire followed the angry remark.

"Susu can't burn Troma with fire? Susu try heavy flamethrower like Troma filthy heretic?"

"Affhole!"

"Fak." Def looked disgusted. And devastated. He glared at Troma. "Def stab Troma in sleep later. Troma not resistant to good old stabbing. Def hope so, at least."

"Heh heh. Def not stab Troma. Def need Troma. Troma know other part of Master's Method."

Def's eyes widened. Then he screamed. "Def forget! Def nearly kill Troma! Phew. Good thing Troma too stupid to burn."

At this point, Ain laughed out loud. Even Senon, who was quietly watching this all happen, cracked a smirk.

"Your attendants are very poweful, Master," Senon said.

Ain nodded. "Troma has the Hell Suppressing Eternal Ice body. It is a Duke-level Root Archetype, but it can evolve into much more."

Senon nodded. "How can you tell?"

"I see it," Ain said as if it was a normal thing.

"What about Def? He can speak to spirits. That is a rare gift."

"Ah..." Ain pursed his lips and then smirked. "He is just pretending. He can't actually speak to spirits."

Def narrowed his eyes, and glared about himself.

"But he could be able to, if his Origin Archetype evolves. Right now, he has a Saint-level Origin Archetype: Tyrannical Twilight Skyfire Sun."

Senon whistled. Not that she understood what any of this meant.

Def pondered. "Is Saint-level strong?"

"It's not bad," Ain said.

Senon blinked. "Not bad? Saint-level is the penultimate level. After Saint-level, there is only Emperor!"

Ain chuckled. "Normally, you are correct. It's just that everything that comes after Emperor hasn't been seen since..."

"The Great Realm War?" Senon asked.

Ain nodded. "Mm. It is a shame. I guess that is simply what a thousand-year long peace does. We've all become so much weaker. Saint and Emperor level techniques, methods and archetypes were so common back then. An Academy like this one would never allow anyone through the gates, who did not at least have the potential to become a heaven-defying object of worship."

Senon pondered those words and the specific wording used: object of worship.

"All right," Ain said. "I will show you something I picked up a long time ago. You wanted me to prove how much stronger I was, yes?"

Senon blinked and jumped back, sinking into her combat stance.

Ain slowly lowered his own center of gravity and turned his body so that his right shoulder was closest to Senon. "Coincidentally, this is a Heaven-level technique. I will use the first two forms of the Emptiness Sword."

When Senon heard the words 'Heaven-level' she abandoned the delicate principles of her stance. Her idea was to counterattack, but now she was entirely on the defensive.

"Link... release." The breath that Ain expelled through his nostrils spilled through the area like a tidal wave of implacable sensation. Even Def and Troma felt terror grip their hearts. It was the essence of tyranny itself.

The sky darkened.

"Circuits... connect. Gate: Open."

Senon took a step back. Her skin was crawling. She could almost glimpse something that was beyond the domain of vision. A terrible shadow looming behind Ain, as vast as the cosmos itself.

"First form: Stellar Burial."

Senon realized she was looking at Ain's afterimage when she sensed Ain standing beside her. His face was solemn, eyes devoid of any emotion.

The sword left Ain's sheath and it arced through the air, leaving glimmering stars in its wake - tiny spots of stardust that twinkled and melted like snowflakes. The sword passed over Senon's head, and were it aimed at her throat, like it was intended to, she would've been decapitated on the spot.

The stardust the sword left in its wake then coalesced into a mass that spiraled into the spot above Senon's head, plummeting inwards and into nothingness.

No one else could possibly experience the sensation Senon did in that moment. Her soul wanted to follow the stardust into the nothingness. In a way, she understood why the form was called 'Stellar Burial'. Her Soul would've been crushed in the emptiness of that sword - buried in its profound Concept.

"Second form," Ain uttered.

"Wait--"

"Night Sky Entropy Blossoms."

This time, the sword left a wake of stardust from which ethereal cherry blossoms fell. Within each cherry blossom, the infinitely vast night sky was reflected, frozen in time. The magnitude of each star within the cherry blossom waned, until the pink colored marvels became entirely black.

Even though Ain didn't aim at Senon, the shockwave of the sword passing in front of her ruined her. The heat blew off her skin, and her hair caught fire. She turned from pale white to burned bronze within an instant. The pressure of the shockwave itself crushed her organs and killed her before the heat did.

The gruesome remains of Senon fell to the ground, and the strangest thing was, it was frozen. Not crushed. Not burned. Frozen.

Ain looked at Senon's corpse and frowned.

Def, who was using Troma as a meat shield, snorted. "Great. Master kill Senon. The only demon to ever like Master."

"Maybe if Def do same," the other goblin, who was surprisingly unharmed, said. "Def not in debt right now."

"Affhole!" the Living Word spat in agreement with Troma.

"I can fix this," Ain said.

"Fix how? Ain make Senon frozen cutlet roast. Senon stiffer than steel. Can't even eat like this," Def grumbled.

"Troma hungry again," Troma murmured. "Maybe get Eternal Suffrage to reheat Senon?"

"Not bad idea. Also, Eternal Suffering. Suffrage is something Troma never have."

Ain pressed his hand over Senon's chest and took a deep breath.

"Idona."

A tremendous magical circle appeared in the darkened sky above the Courtyard, filled with extreme magical power.

___

Latela, the demon War Minister, who was flying towards the Palace stopped in mid-air and turned back towards the Academy in the vast distance. In her heart, she felt tyrannical terror.

"Source Magic. I knew it..."