“You certainly drew attention with this.” Tsukihi said. School was almost over at this point, and I was getting ready for another day of remedial classes.

“Everyone wants to fight me now…” I sighed. “I got guys from thirty five to seventy eight challenging me to duels.”

“Well atleast you won’t have to go looking. I’ll see you tomorrow, Aidan Crow.” She said, walking off.

“Where are you going?” I said. “You being near me is the only thing keeping the others from trying to beat me up.”

“Kurahara clan business.” She said.

“Kurahara clan…” I said. “Kurahara!” I called out to her. “I have something to ask you about. It’s about your father.”

She stopped. It was like the room had suddenly grown cold. It felt as if I had awaken a murderous aura within her.

“Don’t ever ask me about that man.” She said, coldly, before storming out of the classroom.

“Yikes… daddy issues…” I said to myself, making a mental note not to bring it up again.

As soon as class was over, I decided to wander the school yard until remedial classes started. The Demon Corps Academy is the largest producer of Demon Hunters in the world. Located in Eden City, it’s a massive campus housing around a thousand students. The main building resembled a modern classroom building, complete with state-of-the-art technology. The dojo, located next to the main building, was a humbler and more traditional looking. It was made of fine wood said to have been harvested from the World Tree, the same material that made up Tsukihi’s practice sword.

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The final building, located towards the back of the campus, was the Demon Corps headquarters. It resembled a massive cathedral, made of gray stone spires and stained-glass panes. The path leading up to it consisted of two pools of water on either side, both with statues popping out of them. To the right, the goddess Anastrid, her six wings outstretched, great sword Sorrow cradled in her arms. To the left, Kurahara Haru, standing proudly, coat flowing behind him, katana by his side.

Towards the back of the cathedral stood a tall spire, said to represent the World Tree. It was there I am told, holds the Hall of Iron, where the Iron Council has met since the age of the Great War.

I approached the cathedral itself, observing the story that was inscrided on the panes. My history was pretty bad, but I deciphered it to the best of my ability.

The first pane had the image of light against dark, represented by stained red and blue. The second, stood a terrible demonic figure, resembling what I imagined Ozen to have been like. I touched my arm subtly. Third, a great angel, a male, not like the statue of Anastrid. Then, a great tree towering towards the sky. The demon and the angel touched its roots, a fruit spouting form it. Then, Anastrid, accompanied by the six original Demon Hunters.

“Pretty isn’t it?” A voice said, startling me. It was Alison, seated on a bench hidden partially by a hedge.

“Alison!” I said. “I…uh…didn’t notice you.”

“Most people don’t.” She said.

“Hey… about our spar…”

“Forget it. I lost. That’s done.” She said.

“Do you know the story behind this? Isn’t this war when Anastrid killed all the angels and demons?”

“That’s a very simplistic way of looking at it.” She said, looking offended. “Do you want me to tell the story?”

“Why not? We both got time to kill before remedials.” I said, taking a seat next to her. She blushed and inched away from me.

“But you have to promise something.” She said.

“What?”

“I want a rematch. Agree to that, and I’ll tell you the story.”

I shrugged. Although I wasn’t a fan of people looking down at me for fighting her, if she wanted to, I didn’t mind. It seemed as if she was trying to get stronger, and I respected that. In fact, only two weeks prior, she probably would’ve beaten me easily, if it wasn’t for the arm.

“Sure.” I said.

“Okay. It goes something like this.”