CHAPTER 27: YEAR 6 BEGINS P1
~27.1~
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“Lord Adaal, upon behalf of the King of Elysium, you are hereby ordered to stand down and return your forces to Olympus. Do this now and there will be no repercussions.”
At the edge of Greater Elysium, Supreme Commander Seris Athas stood tall in front of a large army that the Governor of Olympus amassed. Behind her were several powerful elites ready to defend their domain.
The man was massive compared to everyone else. He stood at twice the height of the next person. His muscles were bulging through his clothes, and a massive sword decorated his back. “Stand aside, Lady Seris.”
Seris shook her head. “Leave now. I will remain here to bar your path as long as is necessary. So long as you intend to enter Elysium with malicious intent, I will not step aside. I will also not harm you so long as you do not attack. We will only defend. Leave now.”
Adaal gestured at the man standing next to him, a large man by his own right, but small compared to Adaal himself. The man lept forward and brought his enormous greatsword down upon Seris’s head, but quickly found himself launched backward. Seris merely sidestepped the man’s blade and landed a palm strike on his chest that placed him right in front of Adaal.
“Very well,” Adaal said. He held his right hand high for a moment before quickly bringing it down, silently commanding his forces to attack. Before they moved even half the distance between the two opposing sides, a silvery pink burst of mana dropped from the sky and hit the ground between them.
“Adaal, you will not gain that which you came for,” said a silver-attired, pink-haired woman. She wore a combat fitted kimono. “Even if you raze Elysium to the ground and let not a single soul survive, you will not get what you want.”
Adaal scoffed. The enormous man was not deterred. Instead, he raised his voice. “Forces of Olympus, continue forth. Bring me the heart.” Then he narrowed his eyes at the pink-haired woman. “And bring me the Queen of Elysium. I can think of no better way to upset the useless king.” He smirked.
Maya sighed and muttered to herself, “Of course. Why do the governors want to piss off Eli? Ugh.” Maya shook her head and snapped her fingers. Casting several spells at once, she raised a multi-layered barrier to bar Adaal’s forces. She raised her voice. “This is now a direct order from the Queen of Elysium. Leave my domain in peace. You may send an envoy to negotiate further. As of now, you are not welcome here.”
Adaal’s smirk grew as he gripped his sword. He pooled aether into it and jumped toward the barrier. With a massive crash, he shattered the barrier and led his forces forward with an unsightly battle cry and charged toward the pink-haired queen. The queen made no effort to retreat.
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“MAYA!” Kye lept from bed and instinctively reached for her sword, only to find herself in her bedroom, unarmed, and covered in sweat. She felt short of breath.
Alethea, startled from the commotion, jumped up and ran over to her lover. “Shi-chan, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”
Kye took a deep breath and leveled her nerves. “I... it was just a dream.”
“What about?”
“The past. When Adaal attacked. He broke your barrier, then charged at you. That’s when I woke up.”
“Oh. I remember that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man that large charging full boar at me since then.”
“Heh. I bet he was surprised when you kicked him. You were so much faster than him it wasn’t even a contest.”
“Hehe, yeah. I’m glad you have your memories back, love, but you’ve been dreaming about the past every night. I think we should talk about it.”
Kye shook her head. “No, it’s fine. It hasn’t even been a month. If it continues, then let’s try to figure it out.”
Alethea nodded. “Okay.”
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A few days later, the first day of school began. Kye and her group were sitting in the section for sixth-year students, while their time-magic grown children and Sanae were sitting in the first year section. Kye was using illusion magic to hide her white hair, instead coloring it blonde, though Sanae didn’t bother.
Allison gave her usual speech about not causing trouble, then called Kye to the stage. “Greetings everyone. I am Kye Akari of Nippon Sekai. Recently, the world underwent a paradigm shift. What has become known as the World Voice, announced a variety of things. And there was a problem, where for about a week, the system was disabled. It’s back now, but the world was shaken. We’ll skip some of the details, as they will be publicly available after this assembly. The conclusion is that everyone has significantly more access in the System Menu, where you can view your stats, spells, skills, and so much more. Some have compared this change as something like ‘real life has become a video game’. Let me iterate, life is not a video game. Nothing has changed in your day-to-day lives. Everything you did before to be a part of this civilization, you must continue doing. To help facilitate adaptation, the empire has issued instructions to all local lords.”
She continued, “I will also be holding a class after hours directly after school lets out, every school day until further notice, for one hour every day. Attendance is voluntary and will be held in the training grounds or arena, whichever is available at the time. Anyone is welcome to attend, not just students. Instructors, parents, locals, anyone... providing arrangements are made ahead of time for anyone not already permitted to be on academy grounds. Everyone attending is encouraged to pass on the knowledge they gain to others.”
“But, Lady Kye,” Atalante said as she approached the podium, speaking with a tone that showed she obviously wasn’t seriously doubting Kye, “why is it that you specifically are teaching this class? You are a sixth year student at this very academy. How could you possibly be capable of teaching such a class?”
Kye giggled and continued, “Indeed. It does seem strange, does it not? A mere student of twenty something becoming an instructor, and even defeating multiple S and S+ Class demon beasts solo in her first year? That does seem extraordinary, doesn’t it? By my standards, it is merely ordinary. Why do I say that? Would anyone like to hazard a guess? Go on, you may raise your hand and I will bring you to the stage with my magic if I select you.”
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Revision: 2024-9-1