Kiros

I touched the cold metallic door’s handle and pushed it forward, and with a stiff rustle it opened. I pushed the door with my arm and a crisp smell of sulfur evaded my nostrils.

I stepped inside the hall, which was finely lit with many torches hung over the wall. Just as I stepped inside, the torches on the further edge lit up, illuminating the entire room.

There I saw someone sitting on a seat on the farther edge with a twisted frown over his face. I took a moment to reach where that individual was seated, as I slowed down my pace with each step while observing the hall, and exchanging a few glances between the cloaked individuals who stood around near the enormous round table on the further edge.

There were a total of three seats round the table, and only one of them was currently occupied. The individual who I had first seen when entering the hall was seated in the seat on the furthest left. He turned his head in my direction, and gave me a quick glare, followed which a slight wrinkle of his nose, but one which communicated more than the most hostile sneers.

I returned his glare with my own and followed my slow jog toward the table.

The hall was adorned with the most expensive materials as far as I could see. The black tiles which shone and reflected the enchanting blue fire projected from the troches. Giving the hall an intimidating and eerie air. The walls had many runes like symbols covering them. The ceiling was covered with a painting, which displayed a man decapitating a beast’s head which was five times his size. The beast looked like one from folk lore or mythological stories. It had three horns growing out of its head, two from its chin, two blood scarlet eyes which could instill fear into anyone’s heart, a bulky tusk growing out of its chest, with black fur arching down its snake like body. The monster looked nothing but horrendous.

I reached the round table and took the seat on the farthest side on the right. I straightened in my seat and my eyes met with the individual who alone wasn’t wearing a hood.

He had shoulder length blond hair, with a buff stature. His eyes were the same pigment as mine. Green. But the scowl over his face widened as he saw me sit down.

He was Zeroth. The demon of the Alkiz Family. He and I had always been on the same demonic ranking, but my authority had been of a rank higher than his, due to my family’s name and authority surpassing his. He and I were both green eyed demons. But after our contractees death, both our strengths weakened considerably. And now I had become weaker than Zeroth, whom I always mocked and ordered around.

“It looks like your ingenious plan really worked, Kiros.” Zeroth scoffed. His green eyes viciously glowed, as he crossed his arm and released an oppressive crushing pressure at me. A shockwave shook the air as my robes and hair swayed backward. I grounded my teeth as I felt his demonic energy sweeping through the air and bore down on me.

Demonic energy rolled out of me and with a choked cry, both our energy’s clashed. The hooded individuals jerked back from their spots as our pressure knocked the air out of their lungs. Some gripped hard on their throat, as two of the six individuals were knocked unconscious.

“You fucker,” I grumbled as my eyes met Zeroth’s sharp glare.

“Now, now...”

But from one of the wide corners, I heard a crisp voice echo in the entirety of the hall, making the hair at the back of my head stand. With a subtle clap, the air around us boomed with an explosive like sound. I was pushed back in my seat and so were all the others. I felt like I was being pressed down by a mountain. The demonic energy inside my body surged, and I opened my hard shut eyes to see what had occurred.

The individual who had released this oppressive pressure, now stood in front of the only empty seat to my right. His glossy dark brown hair which cascaded down to his waist were done into a beautiful braid, as ornaments and jewels hung over his obsidian onyx horns, which grew from the sides of his head. His sharp face displayed a beauty of one of its kind. He wore robes made from the most expensive and finest of silks, as his devilish Hazel eyes looked breath-taking.

“Don’t start fighting the moment you two see each other,” he sternly, almost nonchalantly said as he sat down on the last empty seat. He closed his eyes and leaned an inch in the seat.

The pressure lifted and all of the hooded individuals took a breath of relief, except of the two who were knocked out cold on the floor. Then the hooded individuals pushed a step and respectfully bowed their head to the demon who had just sat down.

He opened his eyes and a tangible shiver ran down my spine, as his devilish Hazel eyes bore down on all of us. Observing our every moment. I hurriedly got up from my seat. Placing my right hand over my chest—Just above my sternum—, I greeted the Elder from the High Blood Family of Noros.

I slightly bowed my head and spoke in a respectful manner. “It has been a long time, Elder.”

Zeroth did the same and bowed his head whilst greeting the Elder.

Even among demons there is a rank hierarchy. And that hierarchy is divided into two sects. First are the Blood Demons which do not possess as pure of blood as the High Blood demons. And the High Blood Demons, are the said demons which have a purer bloodline than most demons. They are said to be the closest to their primal state than most demons, which gives them an immense boost in power. And among them the strongest High Bloods are only seven who possess the most purest of blood just below the demon king, who are all Crimson eyed demons.

And even among the High Bloods, there is a ranking hierarchy which goes from: Elder, High Elder, Lord and High Lord. With High Lord being the highest position.

But a demon can reach the High Blood ranks. And that had been my ambition since young. But after the mishap in my plan, I was pushed back to the starting point.

The Elder lifted his hand and waved us shut. We both held our bows as an individual wearing a burgundy hood left his spot and took out a bottle of wine from his dimensional storage and poured the Elder a glass full.

The glass magically floated through the air toward the Elder as he grabbed hold of it. The glass had spiralling lines of gold, with a few rubies embedded on its body. He twirled the glass a few times, as he smelled the wine twice before taking a sip.

An expression of delight momentarily harboured his stoic face, as he took another sip and placed the glass on the table.

“Now,” the Elder looked at me and I frozen on the spot. Unmovable. As if my body was being restrained by some invisible force. “What do you have to say in your defence, Kiros?”

But I kept my mouth shut. I couldn’t form any words inside my mouth, as I kept on blankly staring at the Elder, who kept on looking in my direction, awaiting my words.

“What? Cat got your tongue?” He said as he slightly leaned back in his seat. His mysterious eyes kept on intently staring in my direction.

“I-I...” I mumbled as I held the Elder’s gaze for a moment.

With a sigh, the Elder directed his gaze toward Zeroth and he straightened his back.

“Elder, I was skeptical on the prospect of Kiros’s plan, but,” he turned his head slightly toward me and continued. “Fortunately, the loses weren’t too detrimental.”

I clenched my teeth, as anger boiled up my spine. “Why don’t you just say that your side didn’t have too much damage inflicted on to them? Huh Zeroth?”

But just as Zeroth was about to rebuke my words, a chilling squeak escaped mine and Zeroth’s mouth as we both were rendered motionless.

“We are not here today to play the blame game, nor to point fingers at each other, Kiros.” Elder intently said, as the atmosphere around the hall shifted to a chilly one. But the pressure released by the Elder was only being directed at me and Zeroth. Pressing us both down toward the floor of the hall.

I flinched as I almost stumbled to my knees. The expression on Elder’s face remained stoic. Not concerned with anyone of us present here. A trail of blood dripped from my nose and on to the black marble floor. The pressure lifted and a sigh of relief escaped me, as I wiped my nose with my robes.

But my face twisted into a wide scowl, as only being subjected to that pressure alone made me almost stumble to my knees. I grounded my teeth in fury. My strength had deteriorated to the point that a single pressure made my knees to buckle.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I clenched my hand hard, as my arm’s veins popped out.

I swear Adam Griffin, I would kill you, even if that is the last thing I do. If you hadn’t stopped the detention of the bomb, then I would have already been on the threshold of breaking through to the next rank.

“Now, now, don’t make such a scary expression,” the Elder said as he waved for both of us to take a seat. “And if you are thinking of taking revenge, you shouldn’t be."

My brows jumped on Elder’s assessment over me. But why? Why should I not be focused on taking revenge?

“Right now what you should be entirely focused on, is recovering your lost strength,” Elder said as he leaned back in his seat and twirled the glass once. “Both of you should.”

He lifted his finger and pointed it at an individual wearing an ashen hood.

“You...”

The hooded individual jumped in his spot and straightened, just as Elder pointed at him.

“Y-Yes,” he answered.

“Report what happened,” Elder placidly ordered. Not sparing him a single glance.

The hooded individual pulled a few documents out of his dimensional ring, and began reading from them.

“Elder, the last of what we heard from the contractees and spies was that, they had planted the bombs successfully and were ready to initiate with the plan, but,” the individual stopped and lowered his head—until we could no longer see his face—, as he turned to look at the Elder.

“But what?” Elder asked as he sipped his wine.

“But the reports that we received from the few spies which were not apprehended by the Lock, reported that, the resonating mana’s fluctuations released from the bomb's core didn’t even reach half of the designated area where the next bomb was supposedly installed, despite Adam Griffin erecting a barrier around the bomb last minute.”

Elder’s brows rose a fraction of an inch as he heard the hooded man’s last sentence. His eyes blazed with a mysterious light and up to the ceiling, observing the fine art drawn over it.

“Go on,” he then replied. Observant.

“And taking the factor into account that they knew about where the portal was also, through which the formed assault team was supposed to enter the Loc—”

But the Elder held a finger up and hushed the hooded man shut.

Elder pursed his lips, as he went into deep thought. Then he exchanged a glance with me, then spoke. “It could mean that someone—an outsider—already knew about our plan, or,” he peered down at his hand in which he held the wine glass. The blood red wine was only half left. All of the hooded individuals held their breath, awaiting Elder’s next words.

“There is a traitor among us.”

My eyes shot open, as uncontained anger boiled up my spine once again. A traitor? Who dares betray me? The demon from the Rutkul Family.

But we had been planning this attack for the last six months, and in secrecy at that. Then how?

“But that is merely a hypothesis from my side,” Elder added. “It could be that someone found out about the bombs and disabled their effects to the bare minimum not to seem suspicious.”

What? But who could?

“Either way, what’s done is done. We can’t alter the past, nor determine the future, but we can make use of the present. There will come many opportunities like this, when we can strike at the humans and weaken them.”

“They are mere bugs,” Elder said with a low thin smile tucked to his stoic expressionless face.

Elder placed his elbows on the thick char-wood table and interlocked his hands. He opened his eyes and spoke.

“But, our main and end goal should be to prepare for the preeminent war that will happen in the future,” Elder gave us a fleeting glance, then continued. “And to prepare our forces until His Majesty can arrive in this dimension, so we can initiate with the final war to end the humans... along with the other races.”

“Kiros Rutkul, Zeroth Alkiz,” Elder spoke our names with such solemnness in his voice that I became alert and both of us shot up from our seat.

Both of us attentively replied in unison, as we held our breath, in the presence of the Elder.

“The reason I called you both here today was to tell you what the High lord of your respective family’s have told me to convey to you both, ” Elder exclaimed as he pulled two flasks full of some blood red liquid out of his dimensional ring—which was a ruby which rested over his middle finger.

The flasks lifted with a whistle in the air and one each made its way toward me and Zeroth.

My eyes shot open in surprise, as the flask landed over my palm. And without even having to check the contents inside the flask, I knew what it was.

“Elder but this—,” I said. Confused.

It was blood. With just a glance, I could tell that it was at least the blood of someone of a high rank—either of a demon on the High Elder or Lord rank. Because the demonic energy which I felt from the blood inside the flask was potent and thick. It was rich and extreme.

But the Elder looked at me with his stoic face and responded, cutting me off.

“The High Lord of your family’s gave this to me with a message for you both. That you should reside in the Evil Eye for the time being and recover you strengths, also, the leader of the Evil Eye will assign you tasks that you both will perform. And...”

The Elder glanced at both me and Zeroth. A sharp shiver ran down our spine, as the cold and fear instilling eyes of the Elder landed over us.

“I hope a mistake like this won’t be happening in the future.”

Both of us bowed our head as a beat of sweat ran down my temple. Soon the Elder got up from his seat, and walked a step closer to the entrance of the hall.

“Oh right, wasn’t it supposed to today...,” Elder said, without turning his head around. He spoke to himself rather than any of us present. “The conference.”

***

Samuel Owens

The loud shutters of the cameras echoed in my ears and in the entire hall, as the flashing light of the cameras kept on shinning and dying.

—ay to the parents and relatives of the students who attend Lock, Mr. Ownes?”

I directed my attention back to the reporters, and a youth stood up from his seat and asked, as he pulled the tablet in his hand an inch forward and leaning it against his forearm.

I got up from my seat and so did Adam who sat on my left, and Akbar who sat on my right.

“As you all may know after hearing the news, that Instructor Adam Griffin risked his life in order to stop the bomb from doing any serious damage, and also accumulating a few injuries along the way on himself, but,” I paused, then pulled in a quick breath and looked at the man with short brown hair who had asked the question. I held his gaze for a moment and then directed it back at the sea of reporters in front of me.

“Our first priority has always been to create an environment in which the youths of the younger generation can be nurtured in, and protecting them from anything which may endangers their lives. Even this time round, if it hadn’t been for Instructor Griffin’s courageous act of putting his life on the line in order to protect the civilians and children, then many lives would have been lost by now.”

I lowered my head, just enough to show the sincerity in my next words.

“But please, all I ask of you all is to trust us. We also want the best for the youth of the younger generation just like all of you. Because they are the future pillars which would support the world. So please, I hope you all can trust us and ensure your child’s safety in our hands. We will protect them even at the cost of our own lives.”

Adam and Akbar slightly bowed their head. The constant noise of the camera shutter echoed inside the big hall. As flash of lights kept on shinning and dying.

Afterwards, all three of us straightened our back, and I opened my mouth to speak.

“All of you, thank you for you precious time.”

With a turn of my heel, I walked to my right and exited through the door with Adam and Akbar.

We walked for a bit and soon entered a lounge. Walking up to the sofa in the middle of the lounge, I took a seat and rested my leg over the other.

Adam sat on the sofa to my right and Akbar to my left.

“Finally its over,” Akbar signed in relief as he pulled his necktie loose and put it inside the pocket of his coat.

I leaned my head back, then spoke. “Yeah.”

Akbar turned his head toward me and spoke with a fleeting tired sigh. “Seriously, talking was never my strong point, but I am glad that Ex-Leader was the one who did all the talking, for the most part.”

A thin chuckle escaped me as I looked over to my left, down through my nose. “Even after being appointed the position of the Vice-Leader of the World Union, your stage fright is still the same.”

Akbar crossed his arms and answered in a fatigued voice. “I was happy with just being the fourth ranked, amongst the top ten, but...,” he leaned in his seat and sighed again. “Leader had to appoint me to the Vice-Leader position.”

He said with a tired defeated tone. “I haven’t been able to take a single break since.”

Akbar Bukhari, was someone whom had been a part of the top ten, when I was the Leader of the World Union. He was ranked seventh in the hunters ranking then, and the current Leader of the World Union was the Vice-Leader back then.

His appearance had changed along the years, as his short black hair—as I had remembered—had now grown long enough to be done into a ponytail. His turquoise eyes now displayed a much more mature vibe, as his stature had become more refined and well-built. And he had now grown a full beard which covered his entire chin, to his lower cheeks.

“Well, Edward appointed you as his right hand man for a reason. You were always the right person for the job,” I added.

“But still—”

But just as Akbar was about to speak, the watch over his wrist vibrated and he pulled his arm forward. He tapped over the watch and read through the message he had received. His face twisted into a frown as his eyes lost their spark for a moment. He looked like someone who had been drained off life.

With a quick sigh, he pulled a hair band out of his pocket and tied his long hair into a low ponytail.

“I should get going now. The leader called.”

He got up from his seat and exchanged a glance with me and Adam.

“Then see you both later.”

Soon he exited the lounge with the door shut behind him.

I turned to look at Adam and asked with a moment of silence.

“How was Seo Jiwoo?”

Adam crossed his legs and slightly leaned in his seat as he answered. “His injuries were severe, but he pulled ahead and is recovering.”

I drew in a quick breath and mumbled to myself. “Then that’s fine.”

But Adam’s brows knit together as he questioned. “But isn’t it suspicious?”

I slightly inclined my head and question. “What is?”

“That his mana control is such leagues and bounds above his age group and year. His mana control might even be better than the third years.”

Adam’s thinking was correct. Even I had suspected him at first, but in the back of my head, I kind of had this unfamiliar feeling that I could trust Jiwoo. But the weirdest thing was that, that Laurena had vouched for him, for some unknown reason.

I don’t know if she had seen something in that boy, or her ability had allowed her too. But if Laurena favoured that boy, it must mean he was different. I had never once doubted Laurena and her intuition. And if she trusted the boy, then I had no reason to suspect him. Because Laurena had always been an enigmatic character in my eyes. She could see the secrets of the world, but revealing them was a different matter.

“Either way, now that the conference is over, we should return back to the Lock.”

Adam nodded his head once and I closed my eyes to relax in the soft couch.