Set ablaze? Teacher, what happened to Ivory City that year?

Ah yes, you weren’t born yet back then… I can’t verify the authenticity of these memories, but so far, the world events lined up with what actually took place. The famous kidnapping of Duke Ambrose’s daughter. The Blue Plague. The attempted kidnapping of the princess and the subsequent attack on Prince Gael’s villa. Since all these were true, the upcoming event will be one of the most important turning points of our kingdom. So pay attention… A storm is coming.

On the royal twins’ birthday, the Ambroses have a small celebration among friends and families during the day. Many of Duke Ashton and Gilda’s old friends come to visit, bringing gifts. The Ambroses take the opportunity to introduce their adoptive daughter Eleanor, and people take that as a sign that they finally moved on from their missing daughter.

Eleanor doesn’t speak much, mainly because opening her lips can lead to a coughing fit. She smiles and nods and acts like a background decoration throughout the day. In the evening, the Ambroses arrive at the palace for the grand ball. A familiar face is waiting there to greet them.

“Duke Ashton. Sister… Miss Eleanor…”

“Gael, what are you doing here?”

The Duchess asks her brother.

“What? Am I not invited to my two cute little sisters’ birthdays?”

“Didn’t you swear to never step foot in this town as long as Zhu Zhen remains king?”

“Perhaps I changed my mind. Come, let’s go inside before your fake daughter freezes to death.”

Prince Gael smirks and leads the way in.

Eleanor enters the reception area and she sees several familiar faces—Lady Tessa Tates, Professor Dan Declan, Knight Ingrid Irving, and Admiral Samuel Sullivan. She also sees several important figures with shifty eyes that are whispering at each other.

Tessa and Declan spot Eleanor and rush to her side.

“M-master…”

“It’s been a while, my lord.”

“Skip the formalities and tell me what your cultist friends are planning.”

Dan gulps and says,

“I don’t know, lord devil, but… I heard they sent Heralds… not just one but four of them!”

“A-and there’s s-s-something else m-master… Hic! A T-Tongue! They say a Tongue is here!”

Heralds!? Do you mean someone just as powerful as Xanxus!? And there are four of them!?

And a Tongue… someone who outranked them all…

Teacher!? What the hell happened that year?

A war, child… A war is about to take place at the heart of the capital.

Y-you mean the Inferno Uprising!? This is it?

Shush now, and don’t you dare blink.

Eleanor receives the information and turns quiet. She looks at her parents who are interacting with the other guests and bites her fingernail.

“Tessa, Declan, tell me… what would happen if I use a booster for a second time?”

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“You’ll die before you can fight anyone,” Declan answers.

“…I see.”

“M-m-master, we n-need to get out of here! Out of the palace—No! Out of the city!”

“Tessa… is it ready?”

“Y-you mean…?”

“Give it to me and you can go anywhere you want.”

Tessa Tates looks around, then takes out several metallic spheres from her bag and slips them to Eleanor.

“Master, you’re not t-thinking off…”

“Get out of here, Tessa. I’ll catch you later. As for you, Dan, inform my mother about this… after I disappeared from view.”

Tessa and Declan hesitantly nod and leave Eleanor’s side.

The devil looks at her parents back and says,

“It was fun while it lasted… Mommy, Daddy.”

Amelia…

Eleanor leaves the ballroom and slips into an empty room. She breathes in and gets up from her wheelchair. She stubbles. Legs shaking. Sweat forms on her head.

“I can’t walk… why? I’m a shapeshifter. This body is fake. Nothing but a clump of cells… Cells need to be controlled by a nervous system. They’re badly damaged and they’re too complex… What to do? What to do? A clump of cells… The brain and spine… Okay… Won’t know till I try.”

Eleanor’s body becomes unstable and then melts away. Skin. Hair. Muscles. Limps. Intestines. All gone. What remains in a… oh, god, I think I’m gonna hurl… What remains is a living brain connected to a spine.

Eww! Gross!

I’m going to… I’m going to… Barf!

Eww! It’s starting to move! It slitters around like a snake!

If all this is bullshit then the Devil’s imagination is beyond fucked up to come up with something like that!

The brain moves around faster than it looks. It injects liquid mana into the metallic capsules and places it at empty locations around the palaces—the garden, the stables, and the pond, to name a few.

Lady Tate, those spheres are mana containers, aren’t they? Why is… Uh… Eleanor planting them around?

T-the early containers were easy to break. Even left alone… they would dissolve in a few minutes…

Then that means…

“BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!”

A series of explosions go off that shakes the royal palace! The people scream in panic as the knight rushes to protect the VIPs.

“What’s going on!?”

“This wasn’t in the plan!?”

“The lights! Who turned off the lights?!”

“Eleanor! Eleanor, where are you?!”

Knight captain Ingrid Irving steps up to quell the panic.

“Everybody, please remain calm. The knight order has this under control!”

Clank! Clank! Clank! Sounds of metallic objects hitting the marble floor cut through the darkness. The people look and see strange cans on the ground. Suddenly, they shoot out orange smoke! Anyone who inhales the scene feels like their eyes are burning.

“Kaff! Kaff! Kaff! Poison! Kaff!”

The mages quickly contain the mysterious smoke bombs but the damage is done. The panic intensifies as people rush to get out the door. Bodies of people are running and screaming in all directions. The cultist mixed in with the general public.

But then thunder strikes and a man in a golden robe appears at the center of the chaos.

“Who dares attack my palace?!”

King Zhu Zhen roars and his overwhelming mana stops everyone in their tracks.

“Show yourself, cowards! And this king will give you a quick death!”

The ballroom turns silent as they can feel the king’s fiery rage.

“Bravo! Bravo, beardy. Your light show was marvelous to behold.”

Suddenly, clapping sounds come from the chandelier. People look up and see a man with black hair and blood-red eyes, standing there.

That isn’t standing! Adrian literally took a stick and formed his body around it like a plant.

Damn, even clapping took everything he got.

“Die, vermin!”

The king slashes a sword wave at the devil but he turns to goo and slips into the cracks.

“Temper, temper, your majesty. Don’t want to burst a vein do you? Hehehe!”

Adrian’s voice comes from unknown directions.

“Now, let me introduce myself. My name is Adrian Acker, my friends call me Ed but my enemies call me… Devil. You may have heard of me.”

The king narrows his eyes as he tries to find Adrian’s mana resonance.

“What do you want, devil?”

“I want a great many things, your highness. But tonight… Tonight, I wish to celebrate the birth of two lovely ladies.”

“Don’t you dare speak of my wife!”

“Temper, temper… and after I went through a lot of trouble setting up a surprise present for this special occasion. Hehehe! Your majesty, everybody, I want you to look at the person closest to you. You may see a friend, a husband, a wife, a daughter, or a son… but… they may not be who they say they are. They may actually be… Well, it’s better if I demonstrate. Hahaha!”

At the end of Adrian’s sentence, one of the servants suddenly transforms into a giant hulking monster with a goat head!

“What the hell!?”

“Aiyeee! Monster!”

“Get away from it! Run!”

The monster gives out an ear-piercing scream, before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

“As you can see, appearance can be deceiving. Hehehe! At midnight, my minions will transform and wreak havoc upon this city. You should probably find them before then. So how is it, your majesty, do you like my little surprise? Tick-tock, tick-tock, the clock is ticking! Mwa hahahaha! Mwa hahahaha hahah!”