The Arrogance of Humility 16

In the forbidden chamber, after Lucy and Lance defeated Satanachia-possessed Gina.

“Argh!” Emmeroloth got sent back with burn marks all over his body. “Damn you, Draco; Harvey,” he thought, covering his wounds with black azoth.

His black azoth was no match to Alphonse’s spiritual fire, while Vennefer would cancel and outmatch Emmeroloth in Maleficium usage.

“Light Ray of Obliteration,” Vennefer muttered as he pointed forward, projecting a level 15 sigil that fired a white and yellow energy stream towards Emmeroloth.

Emmeroloth copied the magic with mimicry and projected the same magic to hold out.

Alphonse formed several blue flame orbs and launched them at Emmeroloth’s blind spot. Emmeroloth noticed it and placed a black azoth barrier surrounding him against the flame.

“I can’t hold too long!” Emmeroloth thought as he opened a rift in front of him, directing Vennefer’s magic to Alphonse.

Vennefer stopped his magic instantly, and Alphonse moved away. Before the rift closed, Emmeroloth sneaked a black azoth serpent there to ambush Alphonse.

The snake bit and injected some black azoth into Alphonse’s right arm before Alphonse kicked the serpent away before incinerating it with his flame orbs.

“Why doesn’t he use that damned stone?!” Alphonse thought, furious as he looked at Vennefer.

“Ven!” Alphonse said aloud. “Use the stone already!”

Vennefer did what Alphonse asked, activating the cursed mark on Emmeroloth, sending pain all over his body.

“Argh!!! GAH!!!” Emmeroloth screamed in pain as he dropped on the ground, squirming in agony. He felt his body paralyzed from the head to toe.

“Now,” Alphonse said as he walked closer to Emmeroloth. “Let’s end him!”

“Wait,” Vennefer said as he took a vial with clear liquid. “You need to heal up first.”

Vennefer poured the vial on Alphone’s hand.

“It’s strange, isn’t it?” Vennefer said as he forced the tainted blood out by massaging the area around the bite.

“What?”

“I thought you know.” Vennefer took a clean handkerchief and wiped the wound. “The letter B left by Carolus is in fact ‘13’.”

“And?” Alphonse was clueless at Vennefer’s remark.

“The thirteenth element is Aluminium, correct?”

“Yes. Why are you saying that now?”

Vennefer healed the wound with magic.

“Because I just confirmed something important,” Vennefer said.

Alphonse gathered two red and blue flame orbs next to him and pointed at the crippled Emmeroloth, ready to finish him off, but before he could mutter a word, he felt his body paralyzed.

“What the—?!” he thought, surprised.

“Ven!” he said. “Help—!”

Vennefer calmly walked between him and Emmeroloth. He unsheathed his walking cane, revealing a hidden azoth blade.

“Ven?”

“Sorry. I applied paralyzing vitae on your wound earlier. I don’t know it reacted this fast—”

“What do you mean by this? Hurry up and—”

“Sigh… I still don’t want to believe it,” he said.

“What are you talking about—?”

“Alphonse, don’t play dumb on me. What are you truly planning?” he said as he enhanced his azoth blade with hellfire magic. “You worked with them all, acting innocent and oblivious.”

Alphonse got surprised, unable to mutter a single word.

“Seems like it,” Vennefer said as he walked around after seeing Alphonse's reaction.

“W-Wait!” Alphonse got worried as his lips quivered. “D-Don’t make silly accusations, Ven! W-W-Why would I w-work with them?!”

“That’s what I’m asking you. Don’t play stupid on me!” Vennefer startled Alphonse. “You taught Malus forbidden knowledge from Celzan; you disarmed Gina’s defense mechanism; you let Carolus die and yet you say you are not working with them?!”

“Those are absurd—!”

“Absurd you say? None except the four families, and he knows I own the stone, and yet, you know about it!”

“Damn it…” Alphonse thought, frustrated.

“Aluminium’s symbol is Al,” Vennefer said. “Exactly the same nickname we addressed you during our youth. The day you returned to the academy, I felt something was off from you, but I don’t want to jump into conclusions too early. Sadly, the clues confirmed it, Al. You are a trait—”

“Shut up!!!” he shouted furiously, startling Vennefer.

The flame orbs got bigger, almost in the size of a head.

“Why… Why didn’t he choose me…” he ranted. “Why did he choose others instead of his own son!!!”

“He—?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know, show-off oath-breaker trash! You calmly rejected the position of being the head of the academy like nothing while I had to climb the rank of Imperial Sage General but still got rejected by those pathetic cowards!”

The orbs turned blue as two more orbs appeared.

“He’s a cowardly fool entrusting such a prominent role to his useless comrades!”

He launched all the flame orbs towards Vennefer. Vennefer used black water magic and destroyed the orbs with his hellfire azoth blade, but one slipped and almost burned his face, blocked by his right arm in time. The pain was severe, but he curbed the feel and healed the wound.

Alphonse could move again and formed four orbs. Alphonse unsheathed an azoth rapier from his pocket and enhanced it with two flame orbs.

“Don’t you know what crimes you are committing, Alphonse?!” Vennefer scolded as he pointed forward, forming a level 4 magic.

“Crimes?” Alphonse said as he launched two orbs and dashed forward. “I do no crimes!”

Vennefer launched a stream of black water, but he only extinguished one. Vennefer wielded his sword and clashed with the rapier. He kicked Alphonse away and dodged another flame, but Alphonse moved forward, stabbing Vennefer’s stomach.

“I’m a hero,” Alphonse muttered.

“Agh!” Vennefer coughed blood. “W-What d-do you mean by—?!”

He pierced deeper as Vennefer tried pushing him back.

“Why bother telling a soon-to-die person?” Alphonse said with a smirk.

“Bastard…”

Vennefer activated the stone, sending a black gust enough to knock Alphonse away and extinguishing the orb.

He removed the rapier from his abdomen and healed his wound quickly before it got severe.

“I…” he panted. “I don’t want to kill you, Alphonse.”

Alphonse stood and cleaned his clothes from dirt.

“Don’t act as if you could kill me,” He formed two orbs out of the thin air. “I’m the one who will kill you.”

“Answer me first, Alphonse. What do you mean by becoming a hero?! You’re killing innocents!”

“I’m saving the academy!”

“Saving? What in the world did you just say?!”

“I’m saving this academy and the empire from the doomed, stagnant fake Gnosis! I’m saving it from such incompetent, cowardly leaders! At the same time, I’m eliminating the exiled families at once! With that, I will become the hero of this conflict! This academy… this power system and rulings… They are all mine alone!!!”

“You’re truly a delusional wretch of a man, Alphonse,” Vennefer said, disgusted and furious at Alphonse. “Thank you for giving me enough reasons to spare you not.”

Vennefer took and revealed the black stone; Belial to him. The black stone released a powerful gust of jet black wind, sending shivers down everyone’s spine.

“That is the stone,” Alphonse thought as he held the chill in his bones from witnessing the stone. “I just need to kill Vennefer, claim the stone, seize control of that strange machine, and learn the forbidden knowledge. With that, I can be the strongest man and headmaster alive.”

Alphonse formed two blue flame orbs and shaped them into swords in his hands. He moved forward, charging at Vennefer.

Emmeroloth heard and knew he was but a tool to Alphonse. He was desperately trying to move his body, crawling whilst holding the agony as he looked at the machine, but the immense pain overpowered his will, numbing him before he could move an inch.

“Curse you all…” he thought, clenching his teeth and hands in anger and pain. “Curses!!! All the things I-No… All the things we want but justice and recognition… All for the sake of our unjustly dishonored families…! ”

Vennefer looked at Alphonse one last time.

“You have changed far too much,” Vennefer thought, pitying him. “There’s no going back for you. Have the desire to be the best consumed you too much?”

“Deus: Infinitus Nox,” Vennefer muttered, and the stone projected a level 35 pitch-black sigil surrounding Alphonse.

The moment Alphonse touched the sigil, everything went dark for him; all of his senses went numb, rendering him paralyzed.

“W-What happened?!” Alphonse thought, seeing and feeling nothing. The dread swarmed his heart as he tried screaming, but his lips and tongue won’t allow him.

In reality, Alphonse was on the ground with his eyes open. He was unconscious, staring blankly at nothing.

“Your spirit is now trapped inside an endless void of darkness. Rest in peace, Alphonse. Rest in peace…” Vennefer thought as he saw Alphonse’s magic disappearing.

Meanwhile, on the spiralling and seemingly endless stairs, the four students were still descending. Their only light source was a fire-lit azoth dagger carried by Malus and Gina.

Gina and Lucy seemed tired, while both Lance and Malus seemed fine.

“How long will these damned stairs go?” Lucy said out of frustration.

“Be silent, Lux!” Lance scolded without turning back. “We all agreed to come here because you wanted to, so don’t complain!”

Both girls were startled by Lance’s remark. Usually, Lance would show his soft side on Lucy, but why was he so different?

“S-Sorry,” Lucy muttered with her face discouraged.

“Sigh…” Lance stopped for a moment, feeling guilty, and went to Lucy. “I’ll carry you on my back.”

“It’s fine,” Lucy replied, but Lance carried her left arm on his shoulder, helping her to walk.

While he carried Lucy, Lance still seemed distressed about something. He couldn’t stop looking around with his hands trembling.

“What’s wrong?” Lucy asked.

“N-Nothing,” he replied without thinking.

His answer didn’t calm Lucy at all.

“L-Lance? About that—”

“That’s not important,” Lance said blatantly. “Focus on what is happening first, Lux.”

Lucy remembered her conversations on the rooftops with Justus.

“I will lose someone important to me the more I walk my path,” she thought. “But whom will I lose? And what did he mean that I can’t save them all?”

She looked at them and thought about the others she cared about.

“I don’t want to lose any of them,” she thought. “I will let no harm befall them!”

Back inside the chamber, Vennefer looked around and noticed both Emmeroloth and Justus were nowhere, much to his surprise. Before he could react in time, the machine worked, activated by someone else. The heavy sounds of grinding rusty metals, buzzing wild sparks of electricity, and the rustling noises of gears filled the room, echoing to the stairs.

“What is that noise?!” Lance said as he closed his ears from the unbearable ear-shattering noises.

“I have no clue!” Lucy said as she did the same.

Everyone closed their ears and waited until the sounds stopped. After a minute, Lance felt a severe headache as he let go of Lucy.

“L-Lance?!” Lucy muttered, worried as she held his body, preventing him from falling down the stairs.

Lance fell on his knee; he felt a head-splitting pain in his head as he felt his memory and mind twisted by something sinister.

“W-What…” he thought in agony. “What is this?!”

After a while, the sounds stopped, and the headache dispersed from Lance. Lance was panting with his body sweating profusely. His legs and knees were weak, but he suffered no injury.

“Are you okay?” Lucy asked as she carried his right arm on her shoulder.

“I… I am…” he replied as he panted with a pale face. His heart was racing while his head felt like someone was trying to pry it open.

“Something’s off with me…” Lance thought.

In the chamber, Vennefer looked at the machine in confusion; it seemed to do nothing at all other than causing a loud noise. He saw Emmeroloth near the machine and was about to come over to him.

From behind Vennefer, the unconscious Alphonse rose from the ground. Vennefer immediately looked back, startled.

“How did he—?”

With a bitter face, Alphonse looked at Vennefer. Uneasy feel and pressure came from him, enough to unnerve Vennefer.

“Something’s wrong…” Vennefer thought as he became cautious.

Emmeroloth felt the pain on his body weakened; he could stand and look at Alphonse.

Vennefer put his concerns fully on Alphonse, ignoring Emmeroloth.

“Father…” Emmeroloth said as he walked, standing in front of the bewildered Vennefer. “I did what you told me, now let’s defeat—”

A green fire orb appeared in front of Emmeroloth’s chest. The green fire orb phased through him, and suddenly Emmeroloth collapsed on the ground with his body drained out. The green orb grew larger from absorbing Emmeroloth’s life force.

“W-Why?” he muttered as he coughed. His throat was dry, and his voice was raspy.

“You disappointed me. My initial plan was to be born again using the descendants’ bodies so we, the first to be exiled, could achieve immortality and sought the perfect Gnosis.”

“What—?”

“However, your body was weaker than I expected. You gave me no choice but to reincarnate using the very body of my arch-nemesis’ descendant! As the compensation, I’ll be taking your life force.” The green flame orb returned to Alphonse's body, returning Alphonse strength.

“This is bad,” Vennefer thought. “The machine’s purpose is reincarnation… Damn it…!”

Vennefer projected a level 15 sigil, launching a white and yellow beam of pure energy to Alphonse.

“Oh?” Emmeroloth’s father said with a smirk. “Impressive magic. Looks like magic has advanced far enough, hm. I wonder if my power could stand a chance.”

A wall of shadow appeared in front of him, consuming the energy beam.

“Looks like it’s a tie—” Altus said.

“Who are you?!” Vennefer asked aloud with a bitter face.

“Oh, pardon me. I’m Altus Anathemus Celzan, or you might call me Alphonse Draco in his former body and mind.”

“Celzan…” Vennefer thought as he gritted his teeth.

“And who are you, magus?” Altus asked.

“Vennefer Harvey.”

“Harvey?” He turned back. “I see. The exiled families have no grudge against your blood. I advise you to stay here and finish that useless son of mine now because I have a more important task.”

Altus was about to leave, but Vennefer fired fire magic at him instead of finishing Emmeroloth off. In response, Altus summoned two flame orbs to shield himself from the magic.

“Don’t test me,” Altus said coldly. “Unless you want to die.”

“I can’t let you leave here alive, old one,” Vennefer said as the black stone released a sinister black aura. The aura reacted with Emmeroloth’s curse mark, causing him to fall in agony again.

Altus turned, looking at the ominous stone in Vennefer’s possession.

“Interesting. Perhaps you will teach me more about today’s magic,” Altus said as he summoned fire orbs.

They fought intensely; Altus used the combination of Amaymon’s Maleficium to produce dynamic black azoth like his son, Alphonse’s fire spirit orb, magic mimicry, and Umbra Kinesis.

“My whole life…” Emmeroloth lamented. “It’s but a lie… I sacrificed my youth… I sacrificed my adulthood… Just to be betrayed like this?”

In the middle of their intense fight, Justus sneaked and carried the drained Emmeroloth away undetected.

“Justus?” he muttered while panting. “Are you going to betray me too?”

“I’m not. In fact, you have done and favor Matthias too much. And for that, I keep my promise. Give me the stone you had and I’ll bestow you the power you desired.”

“I need no power… Just end my misery already—!”

“Do you really want to die this way? Do you want to die pathetically as a tool or live and find your own goal?”

“I… I want to live as no tool…”

Justus smirked as he opened his eyes wide.

“Then,” he said as he reached his hand to Emmeroloth. “Give me the stone.”

Emmeroloth took the clear stone containing Lucy’s power from his robe and gave it to Justus.

“But, it’s imperfect—” Emmeroloth said.

“It matters not. Matthias said nothing about this stone has to be complete either.”

He took another stone from his pocket; the stone far different from the normal.

Rather than being composed of solid mineral-like material or substance, it was completely organic, being composed of greenish flesh and hide. It has tendrils all over the surface, writhing like worms.

“Take this,” Justus said. “It’s all yours.”

Emmeroloth touched the stone without a doubt, and the writhing mass calmed down. Emmeroloth’s body and vitality gradually healed; he felt an immense surge of power rushing into his veins; he felt energized more than anything he had ever tasted. The pain on his body the curse mark caused felt numb, almost like a mere itch on his skin.

“Amazing…” he thought. “I feel… I feel like I can do everything!”

“And I want you to do me favors,” Justus said as he looked at the machine. “I want you to construct the same machine using the stone’s ability, and for the remainder of this day, don’t associate with this academy anymore.”

“But the others—?”

“They are gone. The machine resurrected the spirits of your ascendants into their respective descendants, meaning the so-called exiled families of your generations are gone; they are no longer themselves.”

Emmeroloth was devastated as he clenched his fists.

“Claudia… Dyson… Mithra… So why am I spared of my father’s?”

“It was my doing,” he said as he held another violet stone in his possession. “So for what I’ve done for you, do what I told you too.”

[Daemalus Ascendant 1]

Directly after the machine’s activation, inside the barrier where Dyson faced the students and the professors.

Dyson was lying on the ground with his body reaching its limit. Half of Dyson’s body got destroyed, along with his mechanical parts and enhancement.

The combined efforts of the students and professors outmatched Dyson’s abilities; he was on the verge of dying, unable to regenerate his lost wounds anymore.

All of them were exhausted; they used everything they had to defeat Dyson.

“We did it,” Glewan said, seeing his equipment destroyed or malfunctioned from being abused too much.

The wiseman professor treated some wounded students; they suffered no serious injury.

“We managed to hold on,” the wiseman thought, looking at Claudia’s barrier next to Dyson’s. “I wonder if Sheila and Headmistress Arkana are okay.”

“Emmeroloth…” Dyson thought as he crawled desperately. “I hope you succeed… I don’t mind dying as long as we won…”

A bright orb of light appeared from the academy’s main building, passing through the barrier and entering Dyson’s body.

“Who?” Dyson thought before his dying breath.

“You did a good job. This time, it’s mine,” the sound of a woman from the orb said.

A brilliant light appeared surrounding Dyson’s body, surprising the others. Dyson rose, but it wasn’t even him anymore. It was now a slim and tall woman in her mid-30s having almond-tanned skin, black eyes, and long wild hair.

“It’s complete,” the woman thought as she looked at her body.

“Who is she?” the professors thought, bewildered.

Glewan took an azoth stone the size of a thumb and threw it to the woman. The azoth turned into a sigil, projecting a level 3 sigil that launched a bolt of electricity.

Thick, bone-like hides appeared on the woman’s right arm and blocked the lightning bolt.

“Technologies sure have grown,” she said with a smirk. “I remember when the people struggled to develop instant magic.”

“Who are you?” Glewan asked, unnerved.

“Minerva,” she replied as her right arm returned to normal. “Minerva Vani Daemalus, an alchemist and a part technician. From your look and equipment, I’m positive you’re from the Arias family, no?”

“Minerva Daemalus?” Glewan thought, surprised with his hands trembling. “Impossible… She’s one of the ascendants! How could she be here? Is this a trick?!”

Minerva tried what his descendant’s body and abilities could do. She increased her muscle size, appearing to be bulky for a moment.

“She inherited her descendant’s body modification ability,” Glewan thought as he fixed his glasses. “God knows how much she could do with the combined knowledge.”

“Ah,” she muttered with disappointment. “No Reinhart family remains, hm? I guess I have to vent my anger using you all.”

She changed her body structure to be more slim and elastic as she protruded thin arms blades on each of her hands. She moved instantly fast, preparing to cut everyone’s throats and assimilate their body with hers.

Glewan immediately took an extendable baton and bashed blindly around him. The baton generated electricity, zapping and stopping Minerva before she could cut his body down.

The wiseman professor took a flask containing harmful substances and threw it at Minerva. Minerva covered her right arm with bone hide and covered her face. The substance was proven to be stronger enough to melt the bone.

She discarded the melting bone away before it could spread, lowering her defense.

“Now!” the wiseman said, and the students used multiple kinds of magic to Minerva.

Minerva jumped back, increasing her body mass, and covered her body with thick bone armor to withstand the magic.

The magic pushed her away, sending her flying until she hit the barrier. Smokes and flash from the magic blinded everyone for a second. After the smoke dispersed, Minerva was still standing, having her armor completely destroyed. She suffered burns and frostbites all over her body.

“Impressive,” she said with a smug smirk as her body returned to normal by discarding the wounded flesh and regenerating the lost parts.

Without even giving time for her to move, the alchemist students threw the same harmful substances to her.

She covered her body with the bone armor, surprising the wiseman professor.

“Her bones were ineffective, but why did she still use them?” he thought, confused.

Much to their surprise, the substances did nothing to her bone or body.

“Impossible!” Glewan uttered.

Her body returned to normal as she ambled towards them.

“Thanks for the data,” she said with a smirk.

Glewan gave the order to the magi to fire more magic to her. The students fired more magic, but this time, it was stronger.

Minerva covered her body with elastic bones as she moved forward. The magic hitting her body got consumed as if she was absorbing them all.

“She…” Glewan muttered in fear. “She is a complete monster… Her body learns and adapts extremely well.” Glewan's fears turned into a thrill as he smirked and extended his special baton. “If only I could make my technology as good as her body’s capability, I could create indestructible technologies surpassing adamantine!”

[Sildrag Ascendant 1]

Inside the other barrier directly after the machine’s activation, where Claudia was dealing with Sheila, Cletus, and 5 magi students.

Sheila had one working automaton while Claudia still had her two flesh puppets slightly damaged. The students, including Cletus, were tired from spending too much energy while Sheila showed no obvious condition because of her full iron mask.

Claudia was still standing with minor injuries from magic and automata surprise attacks.

“This is not beautiful at all!” she thought, depressed from her unsatisfied bloodlust. “I want to see their entrails and death expressions! Especially that damned woman’s face! I want to tear that damned iron mask and see her in dread as I tore her limbs and stomach out!”

“Why don’t you remove that damn dreadful mask already?!” Claudia barked as her face turned red.

“This is bad,” Cletus thought after seeing their condition. “We are all tired, and sis lost one automaton. She would have a hard time in defending and attacking!”

A bright light passed through the barrier, surprising everyone. The bright light entered Claudia’s body as others moved back, fearing for the worst.

“What in the—?” Claudia said.

“You have served us well,” the sound of a man said.

“Wait! What—?!”

Claudia emitted a bright light, blinding them, except for Sheila thanks to her mask, for a second.

They, excluding Sheila, were surprised, seeing Claudia’s face and body gradually changed. It was a tall and slightly muscular man in his mid-30s having pale-ivory skin, red eyes, and a short red hawk haircut with a goatee.

“Ah,” he said as he looked around and felt the breeze. “What a time to be alive again.”

“What happened?!” Cletus muttered aloud, confused and afraid.

“Oh!” the man said with a smirk, seeing Cletus’ expression. “You had a wonderful reaction there.”

“W-Who are you?!” Cletus asked aloud.

“Hmm… Looks like this damned academy erased our face from this very world that we, the ascendants, were not recognizable. In that case, I’ll have to reintroduce myself again. Ahem! I’m Nero Angelo Sildrag, a technician and the inventor of Thanatech.”

He looked at the automaton in front of Sheila and recognized it.

“Arias…” he muttered in rage. “The bane of my existence!”

He moved the puppets to attack Sheila, but Cletus erected a burning vine wall surrounding her and the students to block the puppets.

“Lend me a hand!” Cletus said as he made a small opening, and the students launched fire and wind magic towards the puppet and Nero.

Nero disconnected the wires and moved back, only receiving a minor burn on his right arm while the fire and wind magic destroyed the bodies.

“Great!” Cletus thought. “Now he has nothing to protect him! Compared to the woman earlier, he is rather reckless.”

Cletus was about to tell the students to launch more, but Sheila gave him a sign to not move an inch.

“Sis?” Cletus said as he stood next to her.

Sheila observed Nero’s fingers; he reattached a single wire on his little finger the moment he jumped back.

“Tch!” Nero thought. “Looks like the bait gone to waste. Whatever.” He looked at the destroyed bodies. “I am tired of the mainstream designs anyway.”

He attached his wires to the destroyed remains and Sheila’s destroyed automaton.

“?!” Sheila was surprised but remained calm, observing what would happen next.

A level 10 sigil appeared under the remains and the broken automaton, creating and mixing the remains into a grotesque, disgusting abomination of a floating, conjoined female severed below the waist, with gears entering through their eye sockets.

The insides were exposed, showing rib cages and still pulsating organs. The machine parts turned into four gigantic sharp claws, floating and orbiting around the main body.

Others, except for Sheila, were horrified. Cletus couldn’t hold the urge and puked out of disgust. Unlike them, Nero was pleased as he smirked and admired the creature he just created.

“Perfect!” he uttered. “This is beautiful! The harmony and the symmetric design… This is art!”

He looked at the reactions they showed; he smirked, but upon seeing Sheila’s stoic and calm attitude, he became dissatisfied.

“Damned Arias couldn’t accept and comprehend beauty!” he thought, furious at her.

“How could we win against him?” Cletus thought as he clenched his fists.

Nero controlled the flesh construct, sending it forward to tear them down, but Cletus closed the opening.

“This will hold—”

The construct tore the burning vine like cutting a paper down. Before it could attack Sheila, a student launched big fireball magic to it.

One orbiting hand pointed forward and created a sigil that launched water magic against the fireball.

“No way…” the student muttered. “It can use magic?!”

The construct was about to slash Sheila, but she didn’t dodge, even when Cletus told her so. Before the orbiting claws could touch her, the claws stopped dead in the air.

“What the—?!” Nero thought as he moved his fingers, trying to control the claws. Amidst in his confusion, Cletus sprouted more vines from the ground to attack the construct.

Nero pulled the construct back in a hurry before Cletus could harm his masterpiece. He looked at the claws and noticed complex runes covering them. He later recognized the runes from Claudia’s memory.

“Such complex writings…” he thought. “I never expected the runes would stay even when the very parts got deconstructed and reconstructed.”

Nero pointed, and an inverted sigil appeared, burning the runes off, ceasing Sheila’s control.

“Now,” he thought with a smug smirk. “I’m the one in charge—”

Without him knowing, Sheila’s automaton sneaked behind the construct and punched Nero in the face. Before it could do further damage, the construct broke the automaton’s right arm with the controlled claws and damaged the base. Now, Sheila’s automaton was in no condition to fight.

“Disgusting mainstream technology without artistic taste!” Nero muttered as he wiped the blood on his face. “I’ll show you how advanced and beautiful my creation is!”

A maleficium sigil appeared below the construct as Nero muttered, “Agaliarept.”

Frigid cold air and shadows filled the barrier as they appeared and infused themselves into the construct. The conjoined female appeared more demonic and angelic on each side, growing horns and wings on each.

The ground where it floated formed two legs for the lower body and two arms attaching to the torso for the claws while the other claws orbited around the body. The construct grew into 7 meters in height from assimilating with the ground.

“No way…” Cletus muttered as he moved back step by step until he fell, sitting down from fear. “We… W-W-We are dead…”

The students fell into despair from seeing the hulking construct alone, thinking the same as Cletus. But Sheila still remained unshaken and calm, causing Nero to get angrier.

“Show a reaction already, you wench!” he barked, pointing at Sheila. But Sheila didn’t even bat an eye and observed the hulking construct. “That’s it… I’m going to rip your head and paint my art red with your entrails!”

The construct moved forward to tear them all with long, sharp claws, but Cletus increased the vine intensity while two students erected the ground, forming a dome.

“Simple cheap tricks won’t work against my art!” Nero said aloud as he put wind and dark enhancement magic on the arms, causing it to tear the dome and vine wall down easily, giving them no cover left. “Now, you’re all dead!”

Before the construct could do anything further, a series of explosions happened on the construct’s earth legs, surprising Nero and forcing him to retreat the construct once more. He detached the legs, but the damage spread further to the construct.

“What just happened?” a student asked.

Nero noticed Sheila’s automata parts mixed with the earth used to form the legs. Sheila activated the hidden detonation devices she hid on the automata.

“She’s packed with tricks!” Nero thought as he closed the wound on the construct.

[Ascer Ascendant 1]

After the machine’s activation, in the other dimension.

Mithra was fine and unharmed while Arkana’s body and face were full of bruises and wounds, and Claris was panting, having minimal injuries.

“For a headmistress, you’re sure weak, Arcus whore!” Mithra gloated with his eyes wide open. “You gave your student a terrible example there!”

Claris placed healing sigils on Arkana to heal her outer wounds.

“Sorry,” Claris said as she looked down. “I’m not helpful—”

“Don’t say that,” Arkana said as she pointed forward, projecting three level 4 sigils. “I’m the one being useless here.”

“Resistance is futile, wench,” Mithra said as he pointed forward, creating a level 13 sigil. “Accept your death!”

Mithra fired a yellow destructive beam of pure energy, while Arkana’s fired a smaller beam of energy from each sigil. Their magic clashed, but Mithra’s was stronger.

“Now Claris!” Arkana said, and Claris projected a level 1 quicksand sigil below Mithra.

“Pitiful,” Mithra muttered as he looked at Claris’ sigil and projected an inverse sigil on it, canceling the sigil. “Weak magic like this is futile against me.”

When Mithra looked forward, two energy beams appeared, closing to him.

“What the—?” Mithra thought as he stopped his magic and created a dimensional rift behind him to escape.

“Just how much energy does he have?” Arkana thought as she stopped her magic. “It feels as if I’m against Luxianne with an infinite supply of energy. While we have information regarding their power, only his remains a mystery because Luxianne knocked him out swiftly.”

She looked at Claris’ condition; she was panting from using too much energy.

“Anything happens, she has to survive,” Arkana thought.

Arkana remembered the scroll his father gave him. She opened the scroll and looked at the contents; it was empty, much to her surprise.

“What in the—?!”

“Headmistress Arkana!” Claris said aloud as she pointed at the rift opening far from them. “There he is!”

Arkana launched a lightning bolt to the opening rift, but the rift launched a bolt of faster crimson lightning enough to rend the air and the lightning. Without even a second to react, the crimson lightning pierced Claris’ chest.

“Claris!!!” Arkana shouted in shock.

Arkana hurried and placed healing magic to heal her wounds.

“You shouldn’t have averted your eyes, headmistress~” Mithra taunted; he was directly behind her.

“How the—?” Arkana ran forward as fast as she could, but Mithra caught up with her. She noticed speed-enhancing magic on his legs; he set them after he got out from the dimensional rift.

“Got you!” Mithra said.

Mithra enhanced his right arm with sharp wind magic powerful enough to pierce through Arkana’s abdomen with a single punch.

“Argh!” Blood flowed from Arkana’s mouth.

“Any last word?” Mithra asked with a twisted grin. “You have five seconds.”

“Go to hell.”

“Hm?”

A level 20 sigil appeared below the ground, surrounding both of them. The sigil patterns were too difficult for Mithra to read. He desperately tried to pull his right arm from her abdomen, but Arkana held his hand with her’s.

“Damn it!” Mithra thought. “I can’t warp away like this—”

“Deus: Katara Aima,” she muttered, and the spilled blood from her body became dark yellowish and seeped into Mithra’s body on contact.

“Let me go you bitch!” He kicked her hard on the back with his enhanced leg, enough to make her release his arm.

He looked at the changes in his arms to his shoulder. His blood and skin darkened as if his blood rusted. He used Maleficium-dispelling magic to dispel curses but nothing happened; the damage of him was harmful Vitae-based, the field of magic he didn’t master.

“W-Wench!” he shouted at Arkana in fear as his lips quivered and his body gradually weakened. “R-Return me to normal at once!”

Arkana gave no response as she was succumbing to her wounds.

“No… No… Am I going to die here?!” Mithra thought as he cowered in fear. “I don’t want to die yet!!! No… No…!”

He moved back step by step until the similar symptoms appeared on his legs. He was shocked that he fell sitting down, looking at the changes in his limbs.

“Mother… I’m afraid,” he muttered as he closed his eyes, panicking. “Help me…”

Arkana was on the verge of death; she spent her last energy to heal Claris fully and use the Deus-Vitae on Mithra. She couldn’t stop her bleeding or restore the missing organ anymore, but she knew she defeated Mithra, the threat of the academy.

“Claris should be okay,” she thought. “And for that scum, with his blood rapidly rusting, he would either die or live without being able to cast magic.”

Arkana looked at the scroll drenched in her blood next to her and reached her hand for it.

“I’m joining you soon, father,” she thought. “Sigh… I didn’t even have a chance to meet a perfect man and get married.”

Before she closed her eyes, her flowing blood revealed a special rune on the scroll, and when her hand touched it, the rune emitted a bright, blinding flash for a moment.

“Sigh…” the sound of a man in his mid-30s said. “Looks like the scroll is finally used.”