Two-To-One

Maxime Von Schweitzer was the Prodigy of the European School for Exorcism. It was said that he could par the Licensed Exorcists among the top 20.

A boy whispered in the brown-haired girl, making her widen her eyes and looked distress.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked the boy angrily.

"I didn't know," the boy said.

She caught a glimpse of the three and recomposed herself. She cleared her throat and fixed her hair.

"It seems like I have a– prior engagement," Margaux said. "I have to go."

The team left with one stopped and looked at Devin before heading towards the team. Above his uniform was a white bomber jacket with a hood that went over his head.

Devin could only stare at the group of retreating people before glancing at his friends. They shared the same look of confusion before laughing it off.

"That was so weird," Adonis said. He picked their guns and placed them on their holder. Their game was over anyway.

When everyone finished their games, they headed out to eat in the café they hid the day before. Their class tomorrow is with Professor Stephanie that will discuss about Stained Souls.

As Devin watched the sun setting by his room window, he closed his eyes and felt serene. He got used to not hearing the sirens before the night falls. The dusking sun exploded in colors of orange and pink.

"Pink sky. Wow," Andrei said behind him. Devin gave up in the idea of hiding from these two. They would go to the Purgatory and open his room if he locks it anyway.

"Well, we'll be off now," Andrew said and ruffled Devin's curly hair.

"See you later, Little Curls," Andrei said before waving his hands and disappeared into thin air. I'm used to them going inside my room before they go on patrol.

The morning came and the familiar scent of bacon and eggs wafted inside my room. After taking a shower and eating, I met up with my friends and we all went to class together.

"As you all know, Stained Souls are corrupted souls," Professor Stephani started. "There are two kinds of Gates, Black and White. White gates are created by the Union to go inside the Purgatory and cleanse the realm. Black gates, however, are portals created by Stained Souls themselves."

"As some of you might know, there are certain levels of Stained Souls. Does anyone have an idea?"

Kagura raised her hand and the brown-haired professor pointed her, "There are six levels of Stained Souls. Each level is called Echelon. And the level of Stained Soul corresponds to their number of hearts."

"Go Kagura Zhang-Tachibana!" a classmate yelled from the other side. Professor Stephanie shushed the student to which he looked down in shame.

Zhang? Devin asked himself and looked at Kagura.

Kagura's face was flushed that someone knew her background. Looking at the classmate, it was from Team Maxime. Their faces were etched with grins.

"Damn," Kagura cursed and glared at the group of grinning people.

"Okay," Professor Stephanie stopped the tension. "Kagura, you are correct. It would mean that an Echelon 1 would have 1 heart, Echelon 2 would have 2 hearts and so on."

A student raised her hand. She had eyeglasses on, and anyone could tell that she's the type of person who asks questions she knew the answer to.

"What if a Stained Soul reaches Echelon 6," she asked.

Professor Stephanie's face went serious instantly. "Then they would become part of the group we call 666." She wrote the numbers on the board vertically.

"6 Stained Souls, 6 hearts, 6 Laws," she said and wrote the words after the numbers she wrote.

"So, you mean they follow a set of rules?" the girl asked again.

"Yes. The 6 Laws the 666 follows are a set of secret rules that they follow. The Union found out that if one breaks the Laws, they are hunted by the other five," she said.

The girl nodded, "And the Laws are?"

"We only know 2 of the Laws," Professor Stephanie answered. "The first one was that they would serve their race with their life. The second law is the one I mentioned. When one breaks their Law, one must die."

The intense tension shook everyone. The girl wasn't bothered by it and raised her hand again. Professor Stephanie's eyes widened but shook her head.

"Why aren't the 666 defeated? For a couple of centuries-long battle, shouldn't one side won by now?" she asked.

"That's the biggest problem that was faced by the Union. When a member of the 666 dies, another replaces them instantly. It takes an Echelon 1 to kill a few Exorcists and absorb their powers to level up. And it takes the powers of an Apostle to reach Echelon 5 and it's still a puzzle how much it takes to reach Echelon 6."

The girl was about to ask again but Professor Stephanie spoke before she could. "In history, the spot of the Corrupted 6 are the only ones that stayed. There has never been a seventh member."

"What if an Echelon 5 kills 2 Apostles," another boy from the other side of the room asked. The girl with the eyeglass was taken aback. She was about to ask the question.

"There was a horrifying even that happened in the late 1780s where 4 Apostles were killed by an Echelon 5." Everyone gasped at what she said. "It was called The Tragedy of the Apostle Summit."

"A Summit?" the girl with eyeglasses asked.

Professor Stephani nodded. "Yes. While on their way, a stealth-type Echelon 5 killed and ate the Apostles. It was a big loss that humanity suffered. Good thing the Union found suitable candidates to replace the fallen ones."

"And what if that happens again?" Kagura asked this time. Devin knew she wanted to prove herself. Knowing that she wanted to be Liu Zhang's Disciple, she wanted to show off as much as she could.

Professor Stephanie wrote something on the board.

2 = 1

"This is the equivalence of an Apostle to an Echelon 6," she said with a sigh. "An Echelon 6 pars 2 Apostles."