In the room that Lakshman stayed in Astral Academy, a ghost haunted it. The ghost’s name was called Spectra and she was killed within that room during an investigation as part of the Phintex Rajas. At that time, she was partnered up with a Sacred Spirit called the Demon Slayer and upon her death, the sword went underground and secluded herself from the rest of the world.
Since then, Spectra had attempted countless times to attract the attention of men because, as it turned out, the next master of the Demon Slayer must be a male. She discovered this when she made an Astral Contract with the Demon Slayer when she discovered the Demon Slayer did not know of its origin.
Now, Spectra floated in mid-air while doing absolutely nothing. This was because she was unhappy with what had happened at the kidnapping of the Demon Slayer and Lakshman, conducted by the mighty Demon Dragon King, Razzel. She attempted to interfere in that kidnapping, but proved to be useless as being a spirit meant she was powerless against the power of strong opponents.
Ever since then, she had tormented herself for being such a useless spirit that is bound to that room. She was quite pleased to discover that she was able to leave the building when Lakshman was there,. However, without him, she was forcibly pulled back into the room by unknown forces. Since then, she remained silent and alone in that room.
Currently, she had half open eyes with a glazed look in them. She was not paying much attention to anything because her mind was far away from the present. With no word or news of what transpired after she got stuck in that room again, she lost all motivation to do anything constructive.
“Ah… Zemitra… Lakshman…” she muttered absentminded.
At that moment, a small ball of light materialised out of thin air in the room. It slowly started to expand and caused the wind to blow quicker. All the doors and windows were closed, making the wind circulate the room and blow really hard again the walls.
Spectra was taken by surprise when she suddenly felt herself being blown along by something hard. She was forced back to reality when the expanding ball turned into some sort of portal that connected that room to an unknown destination.
“What the heck is this?!” she exclaimed in a shocked voice.
The strong blowing wind caught her and began to swirl her around. Before she could get sick of this crazy movement, she applied her spiritual energy and steadied herself against the wind. As she turned to look at the source, her eyes widened in alarm when she noticed the portal.
“Ah! No!” she said desperately and attempted to get away from it. “I don’t want to die! I don’t want to leave the Physical Plane just yet! Please, leave me be!”
As she attempted her best at escaping from the room she was stuck in, she heard a familiar voice speaking from within the portal. It was the voice of the person that lived within this room before his abduction at the hands of the Demon Dragon King.
“Spectra! I need you to come through the portal and speak to the Demon Slayer because she’s too stupid and idiotic to listen to me, please!”
“Lakshman!” she exclaimed excitedly.
She quickly turned around and she saw that his spoken words came from within the portal. That was when she recognised the colour of the portal, which was bluish-light in colour, was a Spirit Portal.
“I see… Using Spirit Connection, he activated a Spirit Portal that connected this room and wherever he is,” she said and a smile formed on her face with happiness. “He said something about Demon Slayer, which means they are together and he needs my help!” Then, as she flew towards the portal, she shouted, “I’m coming, Lakshman! Just wait for me!”
Initially, she thought she should simply go into it, but wondered if there was the chance that it might collapse part-way. That was when she decided to do this at a charging speed and flew back before zooming at the portal with increasing speed.
Spectra entered the portal and disappeared in an instant. After which, the portal slowly shrunk and disappeared completely as the wind slowly settled down within the room.
On the other side of the portal was the Spirit Plane where Lakshman, the Demon Slayer and the rest of the girls waited. For a few seconds, the portal simply remained swirling as it made the wind blow faster. At that moment, there was a glimmering light as the portal shined brightly before Spectra burst out of the portal.
At first, the girls thought she was human, that was until they saw the ghostly tail trailing behind instead of the legs that normal people have.
“Ah! It’s a ghost!” Emilia exclaimed and she immediately clung to Ondine in fright.
Ondine did not say anything and simply stared at the ghost with a surprised expression on her face.
“A ghost?” Venezuela asked with raised eyebrows.
“So, this is the ghost called Spectra,” Erza said curiously.
Spectra flew through the air with an excited expression on her face. This expression was quickly replaced by an expression of surprise when she realised where they were.
“The Spirit Plane?” she asked curiously as she looked around at the surrounding darkness within the light that she was under.
The Demon Slayer, seeing her previous owner was in the same place as her, she cried out, “Spectra! Spectra!”
Spectra, hearing the calls of the Demon Slayer, looked down and saw her frantically waving towards her. Not caring about anything else, she dived down and instantly hugged the Demon Slayer tightly. For a moment, the two girls hugged each other while the Demon Slayer continued to cry openly.
“There, there… You don’t need to cry so much just because I’m here, you know,” Spectra said softly with a sweet smile.
The Demon Slayer wiped the tears off her face and said, “I-I’m not crying because you’re here… I’m crying because that guy s-s-slapped me!”
Spectra widened her eyes slightly and turned to look at Lakshman. Then she curiously asked, “Lakshman, you slapped her? Why?”
Lakshman looked irritated and said, “I did it because she was being extremely stupid! Constantly attempting to commit suicide by self-destruction, which could’ve destroyed the rest of us. Then, when that failed, she attempted to kill herself and take me along several times. I beat her more than once and even went to great lengths to keep her alive while weakening myself in the process, but did she learn? No…! Unable to die in the Physical Plane, she attempted to kill us both by torturing us with Dark Thunder!”
He was breathing a little quickly by the time he finished speaking because he was furious with her. Over the course of the events that led them to being in the Spirit Plane, he had constantly tried to communicate with the Demon Slayer in his way of telling her to trust him. Instead, she rejected all of it and insistently tried to die that could have led to great number of casualties.
With a quick breath, he said, “I finally lost my patience and gave her a sensible response; a big slap to the side of her face! Seriously!”
“I-It was my choice to die! I never asked for any of your help!” the Demon Slayer said angrily.
“I don’t remember needing permission to save someone, especially someone that I need for the future!” Lakshman retorted angrily.
The Demon Slayer angrily wiped the tears off her face and glared at him angrily. Then she said, “Yes! You’ve been seeking me only for this future you constantly keep talking about! Meaning, you feel nothing for me and only see me as a tool for use!”
Lakshman’s eyes flashed angrily at her words and he said, “Really…? Is that how you interpreted my actions, so far? You saw a brutish weapon slaver when I risked my neck to save yours, especially after chaining my Phoenix Blade with a powerful lightning technique that I only hypothesised? You saw a slave dealer in me when I constantly tried to reason with you while trying my best to not hurt you by much? Is that how I was framed in your eyes, Demon Slayer?”
The Demon Slayer avoided making eye contact and simply looked away. She was purposefully avoiding making eye contact with him due to him looking at her so fiercely. The truth was that she said those things out of unrest emotions than anything else because she wanted to do anything to get her way.
Spectra looked between the two of them with a curious expression on her face. She did not quite understand what was going on and she did not care because she was thinking of something else. Even after all this mess, Lakshman was showing interest in wanting to acquire the Demon Slayer and she saw it as a chance to finally rid the final responsibility that was weighing heavily on her shoulders; find a master for the Demon Slayer.
Spectra quickly made eye contact with Tetra, the Phoenix Blade and winked once. Tetra, noticing the wink, quickly understood that she had a plan in mind. Then she noticed how Spectra gestured upward at Lakshman standing in front of them. Tetra nodded in understanding to mean that she wanted Lakshman to not be there with what she wanted to do.
Tetra stepped forward and grabbed him by the right arm affectionately. He looked at her in surprise at her sudden change in behaviour as she smiled warmly up at him.
“Master, I think it’s better if you walked away for a bit and leave this to us girls,” she told him before thinking so that he could hear her thought. “Master, Spectra has a plan of convincing the Demon Slayer.”
“Are you saying I’m a hindrance?” he thought indignantly.
“Certainly not, but your very presence is agitating the Demon Slayer and she’s not listening to reason. This requires a different kind of powers that you don’t have, master.”
Lakshman rolled his eyes and thought “The power of the girls… Damn… I can’t believe you hit me with that…!”
“Master… You need the Demon Slayer, right? Please, just walk away for a bit and calm down. You need it. Meanwhile, we girls will do what we’re best at when it comes to handling girls, okay?”
Lakshman knew she was right, but hesitated for a moment. Realising he needed a push, Tetra grabbed his arm tightly and began to escort him away from them. As she passed the other girls, she nodded at them while telepathically communicating with them with a simple eye contact. The girls were surprised by suddenly hearing her voice in their heads, but understood it was necessary.
“Stay here, master until I telepathically call for you again,” Tetra said once they reached the outer edge of the light.
“It somehow feels lonely to be left out like this,” Lakshman said
“You can’t have everything…” Tetra told him smoothly and walked back to where the girls were standing around.
Lakshman watched her go with a perplexed expression on his face. Then, he turned around and faced the darkness as he put both of his hands into the pockets of his pants.
“I can’t believe the day finally came for me to step aside and leave it to the girls,” he thought as he slowly calmed down. “The Demon Slayer is necessary for the future, according to the knowledge and wisdom the Decisive Player left me with, but that isn’t the only thing that’s making me so desperately try to conquer her.
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I feel this… strange sensation in my body whenever she put herself in danger; it was the same kind of sensation that I always feel whenever Ondine, Tetra, Emilia, Vena and Cantia did reckless things that might’ve hurt them badly. It’s a very strange sensation as if a part of me was injured whenever I feel that they got hurt. It’s a really unpleasant feeling that grips my heart and makes me fear for them.
Yes… Originally, the Demon Slayer was indeed meant for something great, but I feel very attracted by her. Not only that, but she was there in my memory flash from my past-self. I now realise that person was me in the past, but that brings up so many questions that I want to avoid right now. That’s important, right now, is to obtain the Demon Slayer and safely end this conflict.”
He quietly stood there and watched the swirling darkness while standing within the radius of the light. It did not last for long because, a few minutes later, he heard the chatter of the girls from behind him, causing him to turn around in surprise. Looking closer, he was startled to see them laughing and what amazed him the most was the Demon Slayer’s smiling face. Her cuteness was that much more amplified by the simply action of her smiling happily.
“What are they talking about?” he asked out loud in a low voice.
The girls were clearly having a relaxing talk and there was no trace of the tension from earlier. It made him curious as to whether his departure from the midst was the reason. He felt a little depressed at such a reason, but it somehow felt like it.
“Hmm…” he thought wonderingly. “Maybe I’ll try hearing what they have to say. I mean, sure it’s not polite to hear what the girls have to say, but I’m burning with curiosity here as to why they are so cheerful all of a sudden.”
So, he turned around and pretended to be seeing the swirling darkness outside the light. Then, he closed his eyes and put his hands together before activating the technique that would let him hear what they are saying the technique name in his mind.
“Tempathy.”
In an instant, he began to hear the voices of the girls in his mind as if he was with them. The girls were energetically talking about anything and everything that came to their mind to talk about. However, he quickly realised they were actually talking about him while using an interesting strategy to talk to the Demon Slayer in their mission to convince her.
“I know Lakshman is a bit of an idiot and slapped you, but he’s just being an idiot and everything.”
“Lucky is a troublesome child, even though he’s sixteen years of age because he keeps thinking like a kid. We could’ve believe he sucked at naming stuff just for a random test.”
“Since a child, master has been pretty stupid and his obliviousness was super great.”
Lakshman coughed in surprise and stumbled from the shock of hearing some of what the girls were saying about him. He glanced over his shoulder with wide eyes and an expression of disbelief.
“What the heck are they doing? Are they trying to convince her or make her dislike me even more?” he thought hopelessly.
He glanced once more and was surprised to see the Demon Slayer chuckle at their words. With this confirmation, he immediately understood the girls were making his mistakes sound like a joke and that he was nice deep beneath as if he was made of hard shell. This made him feel bad, but he understood it was one of the greatest strategies in making a conversation that loosens up the opposite person to speak openly with you.
“Still, I have a nasty feeling the girls are turning me into a nasty person with a bad character. I’m a human with flaws… In fact, everyone is, but being labelled as such, especially by the girls whom I deeply care for, is an unhappy experience that is beyond words… Mmm… My list of disciplinary things that I need to do upon returning home is slowly growing…”
Lakshman sighed and glanced once more over his shoulder. Seeing the happy expression on the Demon Slayer made him feel guilty of hitting her. He believed himself to be a gentlemen and such men do not do things like slapping a girl, but he was left with no alternatives in the situation he was in. With a finality, he praised the girls for being there as his support when he failed in doing something.
“I guess, this is the drawback of being a warrior that I tend to forget about the niceties of life. Well, I desperately fought my hardest to keep a raging, out of control, destructive Demon Slayer from killing herself and everyone around her. I know that isn’t a good excuse for my conduct, but I do believe it was necessary to stay firm and strong to clearly state my force.”
At that exact moment, he felt an extremely powerful presence and he opened his eyes in shock. There was the presence of two really powerful being and they were getting closer to them.
“This feeling… Yes! As I thought! I wasn’t mistaken when I thought I had felt the presence of these two before, but Tetra could not feel them. This means they are masking their presence, but such attempts do not work in the Spirit Plane as every spiritual thing is connected and all can easily be sensed.
Even so, how did they enter the Spirit Dome that I erected with the activation of Spirit Connection and Spirit Transition? The ladies got in because they were within the radius of the initial activation of the spell, unless… these people are really strong to come in here! Which means, these people are above the Sage rank!”
With the conclusion made, he straightened up and pulled his hands out of his pant pockets and clenched them into fists. He briefly wondered if they were allies, but quickly ruled that out. Currently, all the Phoenix Clan members, including Felix and Sevedant, were transported back to Floria Kingdom to deal with the army of the Mardana Kingdom.
“If they are not allies, then they must be enemies! There could be the possibility of someone accidentally entering this plane, but I believe they would want to stay clear of something as powerful as the Spirit Done! I must assume these two are enemies because chances can run the risk of walking straight into danger!”
With that thought, he kicked off the ground and soared back while appearing to be horizontal. As he sailed through the air, he saw the darkness shift slight as if someone had cleared a pathway to walk towards the light. A moment later, Lakshman landed on the ground next to Emilia, startling the girls in the process.
“Lakshman! Where did you come from?” Emilia asked him reflexively.
He shrugged his shoulders and without looking at them, he said, “I jumped here from over there. Anyway, be on guard ladies because we have company.”
The girls looked surprised by his words and before they could expression their surprise, they heard voices coming from outside the range of the light they were bathed under. One voice was cheerful, but strong while the other only responded with one word and that word only.
“Ah… Would you look at all this darkness? I think this might’ve turned into a maze if we weren’t careful.”
“Yeah.”
“Mmm… I can see a faint glimmer of light ahead. Can you see it too?”
“Yeah.”
“I wonder what they are doing, don’t you?”
“Yeah.”
The cheerful voice suddenly coughed and said, “Ah! Damn this dark stuff! Are you okay there, bro?”
His brother, in a monotone voice, replied by simply saying, “Yeah.”
“That’s good. Well, I see the light and the way out is in front of us!”
The next instance, the shadowy figures of two people appeared out of the swirling darkness from beyond the light. For a few seconds, they were hidden by the darkness until they finally stepped into the light.
“Wha…?”
“Huh…?”
“Eh…?”
Ondine, Tetra, Venezuela, Emilia, Erza, Cantia, Spectra and the Demon Slayer were all stunned when the light brought the full picture of the men to life. Both men were as tall as Lakshman with strongly built bodies and keen features, but that was not the most surprising part. Their skin were made up of hard scales that seem to protect their bodies and their colours were different; the person on the left had red scales while the person on the right had green scales. However, both of them had golden eyes that seemed to shine in the light.
It was safe to say the men were handsome and impressive looking due to how amazing their appearances were. Looking at them closely, Lakshman realised their skin was made up of dragon scales, deeming them to be from the Dragon Clan. He also noted that the left person was looking quite cheerful while the right person looked as if he was bored. Both of these men were radiating powerful energies that made Lakshman put his hands in his pockets to hide his clenched fists.
“Damn… They’re strong…!” he thought quietly to himself.
The left person smiled at them and said “Greetings to the Phoenix Titan and the lovely ladies that surround you. How are you doing today in this wonderful place?”
Lakshman was surprised by how friendly the man spoke to him, but he responded while being cautious of both of the men.
“I’m doing fine, but would you mine introducing yourself telling us why you came at such an important time?”
The man looked surprised and said, “Ah. My apologies. I am called Fizard, also known as the Fire Dragon King.” He gestured at his companion and said, “This person is called Gurret, also known as the Earth Dragon King.”
“Yeah,” Gurret, the Earth Dragon King, said with a nod of his head at them in greeting.
“Two of the five Dragon Kings of the Dragon Clan?” Emilia asked in amazement.
The other girls showed similar expression, all except Erza. She was eying the two men curiously and did not recognise their names and she certainly did not understand the impact of their titles. Erza was from a world called Alzard and would definitely not know most of the things of this world.
Lakshman looked calmly at the two men and asked, “So then… What brings the two of the five Dragon Kings to the Spirit Plane? Do you have business with me or something?”
Fizard shook his head and smiled before he said, “I’m sorry, but it’s not you that we have business with. Rather, it is the Demon Slayer that we have real business with.”
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Author's Note
A little bit of a shorter chapter compared to the previous four. Expect the next chapter to be longer.
Oops, my mistake. This chapter isn't short at all! I forgot that another chapter, I think chapter 227, will be shorter than the rest.