44. The Grim Future (part 2)

"So, he and Zero… Merged?" Eric especially was quite shocked by this fact, because the idea of two people merging together was quite abnormal.

"That's right. But, if you consider how they both have the same faces, it's… probably safe to assume that they were both the same person to begin with." I explained my theory, and Frisena noticed an oddity about this.

"If that's the case, then why did he split and then remerged again? His goals just don't make sense." Frisena asked out loud, and we all started thinking. After a while, Lily lifted her hand and spoke out shyly.

"Maybe… because he and Zero were doing two different things?" Lily mentioned, but we're all already thinking about that.

"Well, yes. But, what could they be?"

"I mean, if the headmaster is in Ellennoire, and Zero is in the dark republic, surely those two must be aiming for two different things. But, ultimately, has the same goal?" Lily told us her theory, and she does make some sense.

"Then, what is their goal?" Frisena asked, and we were all thinking about it.

"So far, Zero has been the one who has been public about his intentions. He waged war with all of Avenor." I pointed out Zero's goals, but Eric shook his head.

"But he wasn't the president to begin with. He was just controlling the president, and then hung him once he was dead." Eric mentioned what he figured out, and we all turned surprised at that possibility. "He is definitely aiming for something else."

"He is chipping away at our strength." From the hallway on the right, Jonah arrived back with six cups of tea on top of a pallet. As Jonah gave away the cups to each of us, he explained what he thinks.

"Think about it. He used the dark republic's army to kill all the powerful individuals from our side. First, my father, the Holy knight. Then the vice headmaster, and the dark knight of Fiordall." Jonah explained with such a pain in his face, and I fully understand the same feeling.

"In the first place, he was using the dark republic to wage war... to weaken us." I pointed out the truth, and everyone seemed to agree.

"What about the headmaster? What has he been doing at the academy for the past few hundred years? Keep in mind, that guy has been leading the academy for that long." Frisena asked with such high curiosity, but we all can only make guesses in our heads.

In the end, no one can tell what the headmaster is truly planning. Zero's actions have always been transparent and public, but the headmaster is cunning. He rarely shows himself too much even in his own academy, and Miss Hilda even mentioned that she herself didn't know much about the headmaster.

Things like where he came from or what he has done since becoming the headmaster… those things are very hidden from us.

We can only… wait. Until he makes his move again, we can only play in his palms.

Damn it… is this really the best we can do?

And so, we all collectively decided to just wait. There is nothing that we can do about what the headmaster is planning, since we have no idea of what we can do. Not even Miss Hilda's notes can help us at this point. The only people who can aid us are already gone, so it's quite unfortunate that we're in this position.

However, it seems like we didn't have to wait for long.

The very next day at noon, I was busy in my room writing down things on my personal notebook. It's something similar to a diary, but I don't do the cringy things like a 'Dear Diary,' sort of opening. I just wrote down all the occurrences in my life, starting from back when I was ten years old.

It was something my stepmother suggested that I do. While it was indeed something rather time consuming, it's still somewhat important so that I can keep track of the things I experienced. Even my own thoughts on certain matters are in the notebook, so at least I have a backup in case I lost my memory or something.

And while I was writing, commotion could be heard outside.

"Everyone, come out here!" From the living room in front of our bedrooms, Frisena's shout was heard quite loudly. I got up from the chair right away and headed out, and I found Frisena by the entrance looking quite distressed.

Next to me, Lily also came out of her room quite confused. Eric and Jonah were preparing their lunch at the kitchen, and Nyssa was already sitting at the round table. We all kept our eyes at Frisena, who lifted her screen tablet up high.

"We found the headmaster. But… you're not going to like what he is planning." Frisena said to all of us, and she led us to the screen room next to the kitchen.

I caught a glance at what Jonah and Eric were cooking when Frisena barged in. I was confused when I saw lamb meat and 'Lancelot's knights soup' next to each other, because they were not a good combination. But before I could ask anything about the menu, Frisena already turned on the large screen next to the kitchen.

"It's not far from here. Right in the middle of the desert, three hundred kilometers away from our base, about seven hundred kilometers from Fiordall." Frisena showed a map first hand on the screen, and we all took note of the location. After that, she changed the screen and showed us images.

The images were showing… large buildings?

"Buildings? In the middle of the desert?" I asked with genuine confusion, because there has not been any history of a town being in the nowhere part of the desert.

The Fiore village is in the desert, but it's built surrounding a large oasis. These pictures are showing tall triangular and sharp buildings that reach far into the skies, right in the middle of nowhere within the desert. It's just far too odd of a location.

"That… wasn't there before, was it?" Lily asked while pointing at the images, and Frisena nodded.

"Have you guys… heard of the story about the war demon, Omega?" Frisena asked, and my eyes were opened wide upon remembering.

"Who is that?" Jonah asked because he never heard of it, and Frisena started showing us images of ancient looking texts.

"The War Demon Omega is the ancient emperor that once united all of Avenor. His existence means war itself, and he once ruled the whole Avenor for a hundred years before he died. He was said to own five origins, which was the five everyone here owns." Frisena explains about the general knowledge regarding the war demon.

"He… has five origins?" Jonah asked from the shock, and Frisena nodded.

"Not just that. It was also said that he had a weapon which could greatly enhance all five of his origins. Not only does he have all five origins, his strength was said to be the strongest in the world. I don't really know how strong, but I think it's safe to assume they were as strong as you guys when you're using the mastery phase." Frisena explained her theory about the war demon's strength, and Jonah turned terrified.

"How is this… related?" Eric asked from being so bored, and Frisena turned her gaze back to the screen. The screen went back to showing the images of the ancient buildings in the middle of the desert, and she pointed her hand at it.

"These buildings came from his generation. The ancient society, 'The Omega Godship'." Frisena explained while switching back and forth between the texts and the images. 

"They were from the time when Omega ruled the lands, and this tall triangular building in the middle is his castle."

Frisena pointed her finger at one of the tall triangular buildings in the image, and we all stared with widened eyes at it. For such a massive building to appear in the middle of the desert, there's only one explanation as to how it came to be.

"The headmaster is…" I mumbled from the shock, and Frisena nodded grimly.

"I think he is… in whatever way that may have been possible, trying to revive Omega and his Godship." Frisena explained with a grim tone, understanding just how horrifying that future can be.

An entity that can control five origins and even use it to the mastery phase… Forget the headmaster. That thing is easily our greatest threat.

"Let's find him. And hurry." I said right away, and Frisena lifted her screen tablet again.

"My men are still scouting the area. We guessed that Headmaster Hendrick is inside one of the buildings that is surrounding the tall triangular tower. We may be able to find him there." Frisena explained, and everyone is already walking back to their rooms. 

As we prepared ourselves for what is about to come, we realized that this battle right here would have easily been our last. If such a war demon were to be summoned, then forget us. The entirety of Avenor can easily be taken over. We cannot let the headmaster succeed, but at the same time, the question keeps ringing inside my head.

How exactly… do we defeat that headmaster that has merged with Zero…?