Chapter 7

We were back in the school arena and I was watching a sight to behold, seeing Yuna playing with ice this way made me feel mesmerized yet what was the point?

“What is she doing?” I asked Kaori as I watched Yuna bending ice to various shapes and with huge amounts of it too.

“well Shiki…I believe the principal had asked Yuna to do this exercise to become more efficient at magic control…I find it to be absurd but the way the principal insisted on this exercises probably means that it is important…”

“But why the different shapes?” I asked

To be answered by Nassi who appeared from nowhere.

“It is to teach her how to maintain control over different calculations, magic formulas and degree of inputted mana at the same time. This is a great way to enhance the amount of concentration at a given time. This way she will be ready for any variable that might come and disturb her focus.”

“Huh…I still don’t get it…anyway why are you here Nassi? Your grandfather must have took over all the work shouldn’t you be studying for the upcoming exams? You didn’t get the chance to study at all while ‘he was away.”

Nassi then snorted and replied

“Like I would need to waste time for subjects that easy…”

Well only a genius can make you feel like this. I spent several weeks preparing for the upcoming exams and he shrugs them off like if they were but a nuisance.

He then added

“Anyway. Grandfather is occupied with the breach and invasion that had happened at the Alikhian borders as you all know. And today marks the day of where the full assistance of Alsa and Astora will be present. It would be but a matter of time before the invaders are pushed back.”

“True, now with the full support from both Alsa and Astora this ordeal should not take longer…However, what is stopping them from opening another path toward us? I find is strange that only one single section was brought down” I said

Then with a stern expression Nassi replied

“Well Shiki, grandfather had expressed the same thought, He believed that the organization was responsible for it, but after receiving a report from the survivors of the initial attack they said that what brought down the wall was something from within the blighted lands. It came like a black smoke that eroded the wall and destroyed the barrier.”

This is dangerous…I thought to myself then I said

“If this is true then we are in an even worse situation than we initially thought ourselves to be in…”

Kaori then said

“What do you mean?”

“Well…you all know that the barrier is of the highest levels of protection, a SSS barrier that held strong for thousands of years. Made by Alsa herself to stop the remnants of the last Great War from invading once again. However now that they have something or someone capable of breaking it at any moment, then isn’t this barrier useless…we need to stop relying on these walls and strengthen ourselves, otherwise once the day they do breakthrough, we will have only ourselves to blame for our own weakness.”

Kaori then said

“If he was still here…he would probably be able to close that breach…” the tone of her voice convoyed sadness that I didn’t fail to intercept.

“Indeed, he already closed one at the fairy forest. He would have probably been more than capable of closing this one. However what is done is done, there is no point in dwelling on things that happened in the past.”

A small yelp was heard afterward that came from an audience member who was watching Yuna’s performance with glee.

It seems that she lost concentration for a second and most of the shapes she was managing broke apart.

Now she began to reformulate all the floating shapes and forms and started all over again.

“She is working hard” said Kaori

I then responded.

“We should do so as well…”

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 ***

Back at the borders of Alikh a subjugation force was handling the invaders. The combined might of the Alsian, Alikhian and Astorian army forced the demonic existences back from the checkpoint.

The first three days were filled with stress and fear as the Alikhian soldiers would have nowhere to go if this natural fortress is brought down. However they still kept standing and they held strong for three arduous and painful days awaiting the arrival of the forces that were promising to help.

The commander of the invaders had charged through the tight pathway with few hundred of his race at a time as the pathway would only let that much in, and with the continuous stream of monsters and demons alike the courtyard in front of the fortress became full to the brim with them.

However the fortress held strong and on the wake of the third day the subjugation force managed to arrive at a crucial time.

Their arrival was well timed with the full advance that was ordered by the leader of the invaders and was more than what needed to force them back to where they came from.

Although most of the forces were above ground and behind the fortress’s walls many were still fighting head on with the monsters. Many of the soldiers were infected by the blight and miasma created by the mere contact of the gores or the influence of the demons. But still they fought to win back their territory.

However the battle as almost turned over as the leader of the invaders began to use death magic.

Unlike what they had seen before, this creature would strike with his weapon sending waves of death magic that instantly killed any that was miss fortuned enough to be on its’ way.

This devil lord became a threat to those that battled against him. His Might was enough to bring his foes to their knees in fright. Being unable to even scratch his skin would render any that opposed him hopeless.

Yet this devil lord was enraged, he was angry and infuriated. It was long before he had a decent fight and once he got what he wished for it was taken from him suddenly and unsatisfactorily. That fighter, that monster in human clothing is nowhere to be found. This battle is not satisfying not even in the slightest. Men drop dead without a breaking of sweat and lives quenched without a hint of regret. This hulking beast feared that he might have accidentally killed that man with his death magic but he rebuked that thought thinking that it would be too cruel of a joke for someone of that caliber to die with a spell this feeble. This was the reason Vasbokh never liked any of his brethren. They all relied on their magic and rarely used their swords. Apart from Perzahar, the other three were heavily reliant on sorceries, and none would ever try to fight him head on. They knew of their weakness and he knew of his. On long range he is nothing but a target practice for them, but on close quarters they would be nothing but a training doll to vent his frustration on.

Yet sadly fights between devil lords were forbidden by their overlord. As it was the command since they are low on numbers and cannot repopulate like humans. Their last comrade died thousands of years ago. And it was by their own hands. This one was the strongest devil lord, thought to be the one that could even inherit the seat of the Overlord. He was the only one that brought satisfaction to the mindless Vasbokh the only one that could fight on par with him and even was the one that broke his horn. However he turned greedy and wished for more power. He did not want to wait his turn to succeed the Overlord and stupidly pushed his luck into challenging him. Resulting in his untimely death. From there on it was forbidden to fight. From then on it was but dull days and years that passed by.

Until this moment, a human capable of igniting the once lost flame in Vasbokh’s heart, He needs him he wants him. He needs to kill this man at his strongest so that he could once again feel the thrill of the fight.

The forces that Vasbokh was leading were now falling to the heavy artillery and assault from the newly arrived support. However they could still push on, his objective was already secured, as he now knows that the enemies are not a serious threat and the amount of resistance that he encountered was but a nuisance to the entirety of the Overlord’s army. Right before he would send the signal for the final push to shove away the incoming force he was surprised by a single unite that was gathering enormous amounts of energy and mana.

Surprised by the existence of a human that could harness this amount of mana the thought of him being the same man that he fought three days before crossed his mind. But he instantly dismissed it thinking that a human with that much strength would have no way to harness this amount of mana and magic. Not even the devils were able to wield both magic and spiritual energy in equilibrium. Perzahar was the closest but was still not able to show the same strength of that man. So who was this person what is this entity? Vasbokh asked himself yet he was not one to wait for answers he was one to get them.

He began to cleave his way through the bodies of his enemies, rapidly approaching the person gathering that amount of mana.

Once he was close enough he saw him

A human boy, probably not even twenty years of age was the one gathering this massive amount of power. He was barely reaching above Vasbokh’s knee. With a scrawny physic and a body not worthy of a person wielding this power, yes his eye it was the same eye as their fallen comrade. He had the eye of the wise… but this should not be possible…their Overlord had mentioned that none should have a power like this and it was a privilege to but the offspring of gods and a rare gift to the strongest of demons.

If the last Ashurian had indeed died then who was this youngling? was the oracle lying? if so then to what purpose?

Yet before Vasbokh could answer these questions. He was suddenly attacked by the boy. The energy that he gathered was soon shot forward aiming directly at his chest. Under normal circumstances Vasbokh would have easily dodged but his mind was still processing the events unfolding in front of him.

“Disintegration” shouted the boy sending the hulking beast flying while at the same time decimating hundreds of demons.

The attack in itself was not lethal to the hulking Vasbokh but it was more than enough to kill the lowly demons.

Once Vasbokh was on the ground he roared and for the first time in his life he decided to use his brain for once instead of fighting his way through what just happened.

He shouted to his comrades.

“RETREAT NOW. We were sent for scouting…handling someone with the Eye of the wise was never our job.”

Yet without a single complaint soon every invader followed the command and retreated under the heavy assault.

Not only had they given up on the fortress they soon emptied the entire camp and went all the way back to the breach. Exiting without a single word and giving up on a dream that they had been seeking for thousands of years. This event left many soldiers surprised and bewildered, why would the invaders retreat in this manner?