Black Mist

by Michael Sisa

  Grasse furrowed his brows. The current situation was dangerous—too dangerous. His instinct was screaming at him that he should flee from here, but his sense of responsibility made him stand his ground. At the very least, he should buy enough time for the students to escape.

  “Why are you looking for me? What did I do to you?” said Grasse.

  The eyes of the demon shrank, and the malevolent aura that enveloped its body intensified. Grasse felt a chill crawl down his spine after that. He had lived for almost eighty years now, but he had never once encountered a creature as strong as this one.

  “You don’t know? You have no idea?! You damn insect!” snarled the demon. The sky screamed, and thunder bellowed. Veins of lightning filled the clouds above.

  The demon raised a hand to the sky. “Ashevaren’s the name—”

  Grasse’s eyes almost jumped out of its socket the moment he heard of the demon’s name. It was a name written in history books. The name of the legendary monster that had destroyed cities and nations. The demon that had once waged war against the Dragons.

  “—For the sin of taking away my possession,” said Ashevaren. “I shall annihilate everyone.”

  And orbs of lightning the size of a fist manifested themselves in sky. Tens of thousands of them.

  Chapter 33: The Legendary Demon

  Chairman Grasse squinted as he gazed upon innumerable orbs of crackling lightning. He looked down below. Most of the students were still in the coliseum, with the professors leading the evacuation. Qaval had clearly told him that it would take some time for the teleportation spell capable of accommodating thousands of students to be completed.

  Without warning, Ashevaren pointed his hand towards the coliseum, and the tens of thousands of lightning orbs conceded with it. It flew towards the ground at a frightening speed. If it hits, it would immediately kill all of those present.

  The students stopped in their tracks to momentarily stare at the approaching strike. Shouts of panic echoed, and cries of despair reverberated.

  Chairman Grasse immediately cast his magic, and he felt a large amount of mana leaving his body. A magic circle manifested itself below him, and it turned into particles of light a moment after.

  The orbs of lightning stopped in midair, before eventually vanishing into nothingness. Ashevaren’s eyes widened when he saw this.

  “Time Magic,” whispered the demon.

  Who would have thought that he would see a magician capable of time magic in such place? Ashevaren could hardly remember the last time he had fought with such magician.

  Even amongst demons, Time Magic was one of the rarest of spells. And when considering the fact that the creature before him is a mere human, the feat itself became even more astonishing.

  Ashevaren licked his lips. The students that were frozen from fear before had once again resumed their escape.

  “Amusing. To think that a mere human is capable of such large scale Time Magic,” said Ashevaren. “Let’s see it again, shall we?”

  Chairman Grasse felt chills crawl down his body when he realized that the demon was summoning the same magic from before.

  The ground below glowed, and Grasse felt relief when he saw a large magic circle encompassing an absurdly large diameter. It easily covered the entire coliseum, extending as far as the nearby forest.

  The pupils of the demon shrank after seeing this. There was no doubt. Someone was trying to cast a teleportation spell right under his nose. Impudent humans. He had no intention of letting a single one escape.

  Ashevaren was about to finish casting his magic when the Chairman suddenly appeared before him. The two of them were a breath away.

  “I can’t let you interfere with the Guardian,” said the Chairman as he placed a finger on Ashevaren’s chest. “You are no longer allowed to rampage.”

  Instantly, a black dome enveloped the two of them. Inside was nothing but an abyss, with all sounds from the outside blocked out.

  Ashevaren’s body felt heavier by many folds, and merely moving had become an arduous task.

  “As expected of a legendary monster,” said Grasse. The demon looked around, but was unable to see the Chairman. His eyes were greeted by nothing but perpetual black. “It should have been impossible to move inside this domain. But to someone like you, it seems such rule is not absolute.”

  Ashevaren glared. He did not like this feeling. “Show yourself, damn human!”

  Lightning violently crackled from Ashevaren’s body, and it flew everywhere, forming numerous veins of azure and white.

  But, nothing happened. A vein popped out of the demon’s head.

  “What a waste of life force,” said Grasse. The eternal black slowly turned into a blinding white. “That black sphere is magic that accelerates time. A normal human would have become old and fragile by now. As expected, it did not have an effect to a legendary demon.”

  Ashevaren felt the restrictions that bound his body become loose. Not far from him, Grasse stood.

  The Chairman sighed, “I expected it, but it is still disappointing. Accelerating the time of a Demon Lord is useless, huh? Damn immortals.”

  By now a seemingly eternal white surrounded them from all sides. Ashevaren crunched his neck, creating loud cracking sounds.

  “For a mere insect, you seemed far too confident,” said Ashevaren. Lightning violently crackled on his body, and he disappeared into a blur.

  A split second after, the demon’s hand pierced through the Chairman’s chest—

  —Or so he thought.

  The body of the Chairman slowly faded into nothing but an afterimage. What was happening? Ashevaren was sure that he had pierced through him.

  Chairman Grasse’s figure appeared a distance away from the demon. He said, “I am too old, and casting this technique taps at my life directly.”

  Slowly, a peculiar aura oozed out of the Chairman’s body. Ashevaren stared with wide eyes as the human before him slowly turned muscular, his wrinkles fading away along with the tinges of white in his hair.

  The twig-like body was now filled with well-toned muscles, and the previously saggy skin became firm. The dark marks that used to encircle the Chairman’s eyes vanished, and a fierce gaze filled the now youthful Chairman.

  Deep inside, Ashevaren was astonished of this human. He had not expected to encounter someone that had attained such height in the field of Time Magic. To actually revert time itself, to actually remove the clasp of age. It was proof of the pinnacle.

  Without warning, Ashevaren’s face was struck with vehement ferocity. His neck bent to the left, and his entire body conceded with it, flying through the eternal white.

  Another strike hit his abdomen. Ashevaren flinched as he realized what was happening.

  It was painful. How long has it been since he had last felt this particular sensation? How long has it been since he last encountered an opponent capable of inflicting pain upon his body?

  “Kakakaka! Magnificent!” said Ashevaren. He skidded to a halt. He glanced left and right but saw no one. The seemingly bottomless white continued to surround him was all side.

  Unable to locate his opponent, Ashevaren decided to just destroy everything around him. He summoned a gargantuan amount of mana, and a dome of lightning exploded with him as the center. It was magic strong enough to reduce a small city to ashes, but it did nothing inside the Domain of Time.

  The silence ensued, and Ashevaren was once again struck repeatedly. Cuts started forming in his demonic body, and small line of blood dripped down his chin.

  The legendary demon tried to fight back, to block and evade, but he was helpless before the puny human. Chairman Grasse seemed to have been predicting his every move, immediately striking back at every chance.

  Each of Grasse’s blows was heavy, as though the weight of the entire human race rested on it. Pain continued to run throughout Ashevaren’s body as the barrage of attacks continued.

  But for some reason, it did not fill the legendary demon with
dread. What he felt was quite the opposite: Euphoria.

  It had been such a long time since he had felt pain, and this puny insect still continued to inflict such sensation to his body until now.

  Ashevaren knew that inside the Domain of Time, the Chairman’s power was absolute.

  ‘But a human can’t possibly maintain such powerful technique for so long,’ the demon thought.

  With a smug grin, Ashevaren received each and every attack with opened arms. It was impossible to evade either way. He might as well receive it was ecstatic euphoria.

  Cuts relentlessly formed on his body, and he kept flying through the eternal white, only to be struck again over and over. It was painful. No, it was excruciating, but Ashevaren did not mind it at all.

  He enjoyed it, and when the time wherein the absolute technique could no longer be maintained, Ashevaren felt dissatisfaction dwell in his heart. But as expected of a mere human. It is impossible to maintain the Domain of Time for such a long period. Just activating it was already a feat by itself.

  Slowly, the white sphere faded and vanished. The Chairman’s huffing figure started to revert into its old self. His muscular body turned twig-like, and wrinkles once again crawled back into his skin.

  “Damn it,” the Chairman breathed. “Even with Time Magic, this is the limit, huh?”

  He stared at the demon before him. Ashevaren was filled with cut and bruises, and blood dripped down his demonic body. Still, the demon was alive, and Grasse could still feel the colossal lump of mana inside its body.

  “Human, is that your limit?” said Ashevaren as he titled his head to the side. Slowly, his wounds started to close on their own. “Such a pity. I wanted to experience more of it.”

  Below, Grasse noticed that a large portion of the students had been evacuated to the underground passage. He had told the professors to erect a barrier in the shelter below it, just in case the passage way towards the Floating Garden collapsed.

  Ashevaren crunched his neck. He stared at the forest. Particularly, at a large building made of pure concrete.

  “Ryushen! Come and greet your master!” snarled Ashevaren. His entire voice echoed throughout the Academy.

  Flocks of birds flew, and a loud rumbling sound was heard. It was the sound of a building collapsing and of stones falling to the ground.

  A creature flew past by, and a large shadow covered the coliseum. Those that saw it almost dropped their jaws. It was a drake. A very large one at that.

  “This humble servant greets Master,” said the Elder Drake. One if its limbs were still rotting, with its injuries yet to heal.

  Ashevaren stared at the Drake, particularly at its tattered wings, then to Grasse.

  “So, that Elder Drake…,” said Grasse, his voice trailing off.

  “—is my pet. Correct,” said Ashevaren. He glared at the Elder Drake, and the winged colossus bowed its head in submission. “Ryushen, why did you not greet me sooner? Why did you think I went to the trouble of coming here from the Demon Continent?!”

  The Elder Drake choked the words out. “I-I’m sorry, Master! It’s just that…”

  “—Just what!?” snarled Ashevaren. The air itself trembled. Most of the cuts in the demon’s body had healed by now.

  “A-Are you going to kill all the humans in this place?” said the Elder Drake. Its voice trembling and submissive, something one would not expect from such colossal beast.

  Ashevaren covered his face using a hand as he laughed. “Kukuku! Don’t tell me.”—he stared straight into the Drake’s eyes—“Ryushen, are you feeling pity for these pathetic humans, no?”

  “I-I… wouldn’t dare! Master!” said the Elder Drake, its wings flapping agitatedly, creating a large gust of wind.

  Chairman Grasse listened to their conversation, his mind in turmoil. If he had known that the Elder Drake was the possession of a legendary monster, he would have not fought it back in the Ruins.

  He was sure that in order to reach this place, Ashevaren had no choice but to pass through the City of Ilian. Then, surely there were casualties.

  “How many people… how many died because of me?” he mumbled. He was heralded as the Emperor of Time, but he could never bring back the dead.

  A spear of lightning flew and struck Grasse’s shoulder. He screamed in pain, and the demon before him chuckled, “Kukuku! Old coot! Surely, you don’t have time to think of other things right now? No?”

  Grassed gnashed his teeth, and the wound on his shoulder closed on its own after casting his magic.

  Ashevaren broadly grinned upon seeing it. He opened both his arms wide. “Magnificent! Truly someone that has reached the pinnacle of time magic!”

  Over a hundred of lightning spears manifested themselves before the demon. Grasse instinctively glanced at the coliseum below. There was still over a hundred students left.

  He would have dodged to conserve mana, but doing so would risk the lives of the children. Grasse steeled himself as he prepared to block the incoming attack.

  One after another, the spears flew at the Chairman, their speed on par with sound. Grasse felt a sense of lightheadedness as large amounts of mana left his body with his each cast of Time Magic.

  The spears would stop in mid-air, just before piercing through him, before vanishing.

  “Kyakakaka! Keep blocking! That’s it! Keep blocking my attacks!” said Ashevaren.

  Lightning spears kept manifesting themselves in mid-air, before cruising towards the Chairman of the Academy. Gusts of wind blew everywhere as crackling lightning enveloped the sky.

  The onslaught of lightning did not stop. Grasse was close to losing his consciousness. It was probably the longest minutes of his life.

  “Qaval, hurry!” snarled Grasse. “I’m at my limit! The students… take the students to a safe location!”

  No one answered, but Grasse was sure that Qaval heard him. Despite his partly scorched skin, Grasse stood his ground, blocking each and every strike from the legendary demon. His every breath formed steams in its wake, and blood mercilessly dripped down his mouth.

  Ashevaren raised a finger to the sky, and the heavens cried and wailed. Thunder bellowed, and a large serpentine lightning slithered through the clouds.

  “This is the end. Regret your foolishness in the afterlife, mortal,” declared Ashevaren.

  He pointed his finger towards the Chairman, and the gargantuan serpent made of pure lightning flew at him. It made a loud screeching sound. The call of death. The cries of the underworld.

  For one last time, Grasse gazed at the arena below. His only option was to block the attack. He gathered all of his remaining mana, creating a large spinning vortex before him. The air itself trembled as the vortex spun more violently as each moment passed by.

  The colossal serpentine lightning clashed with the vortex, and a shockwave blew. It immediately uprooted numerous trees from the forest, and it reduced a portion of the coliseum into ash. As Grasse had expected, the professors in the coliseum immediately cast a barrier to protect the students. Otherwise, the entire coliseum, along with a small portion of the adjacent forest, would have been reduced to nil.

  Grasse’s figure vanished then reappeared next to the legendary demon. With a small vortex in his hand, Grasse touched the demon’s chest, and a violent burst due to the collision of mana pierced through the sky, creating a large gaping hole in the clouds.

  Ashevaren momentarily flinched from it, but the small scratches and cuts on his chest from that single instance immediately closed on its own.

  “You monster,” breathed Grasse.

  The Chairman of the Sky Academy felt excruciating pain run through his entire body. Upon looking to his left, he silently screamed in pure agony. His left arm was missing.

  “Fragile. As expected of mortals,” said Ashevaren as he tossed away the torn arm. Blood gushed out of the wound of the Chairman, and it immediately brought a broad smile to Ashevaren’s face. “Can’t regenerate a torn limb, eh? Kukukuku!”

&n
bsp; Ashevaren opened both his arms wide, as though savoring the euphoria. He said, “If only you’re not so stupid, human. If only you’re not so intent of protecting another. If only you have the resolve to sacrifice the lives of your students.”—he flicked the Chairman’s chest, and a gaping hole formed on it. Blood spurted out everywhere—“You’re strong. Stronger than all of the insects gathered here. But you are stupid.”

  Grasse’s eyes widened in fear when he saw Ashevaren staring at the coliseum below. There were less than a hundred students left, and Grasse sincerely hoped that the Guardian would have teleported all of them before he dies by the demon’s hands.

  “Qaval! What are you doing! Hurry!” snarled Grasse. He coughed then vomited large blotches of blood.

  “Do you know how I felt when I heard that my pet was missing?” said Ashevaren. It gestured for the Elder Drake to hover closer, and it did. He touched its bowing head. “What’s mine is mine. My possessions are my possessions. You damn, human. Just killing you won’t justify the hatred and pain I felt that time.”

  Ashevaren opened his palms, and a lightning spear manifested itself. He grabbed it then grinned at Grasse, before shooting it towards the coliseum below.

  “No!” said Grasse. He would have immediately flew and blocked the attack, but just staying conscious took his everything.

  The lightning spear shot towards the clustered students unimpeded. Vines sprouted from the ground and tried to block it, but the spear broke through it like shredded paper.

  —And an unexpected scenario occurred.

  A student, a first year at that, leapt from his spot and clashed with the lightning spear head-on. He unsheathed his twin blades and created a colossal slash, eventually shattering away the legendary demon’s magic.

  Ashevaren’s pupils shrank. He could not believe his eyes. A student, a child blocked his attack?

  Chapter 34: His Priorities

  Dan’s heart violently pounded from his chest. After he had seen the absurd strength of the demon, he silently told himself not to confront it, no matter what. It was something he could never hope to touch at his current state.