The needle struck into Aldric's temple.
Aldric exhaled, gripping his staff as blood trickled down his temple. The battlefield was a storm of chaos—four relentless opponents, each with monstrous strength, converging on him at once.
"Haa. Dirty tricks." Aldric sighed.
Julius, hidden behind the wreckage of the overturned carriage, clenched his fists. His Appraisal had already told him the truth.
They were too strong.
Even Aldric, the level 220 Headmaster, was struggling.
Yet, even in this impossible battle, Aldric's expression remained calm. His silver eyes darted between his enemies, his mind working at lightning speed.
"Heaven State."
A strange gold cloud seemed to surround him. The mana in the air vibrated, being ruled by his will.
His eyes lit up gold, his wrinkles were lit up by paths of light.
"So he activated his state." Xero looked like he was going to cry. "The fact he allowed himself to wait this long to even do that... It's nauseating..
Then—they moved.
Izko struck first.
The lizardman lunged forward, great axe gleaming in the moonlight, his roar shaking the ground. His rage fueled his power, his muscles swelling as veins pulsed beneath his scaled skin. He stared at Aldric as if he were his greatest enemy, as if his rage had consumed him whole.
Aldric used blink to position himself behind him. His figure became a blur briefly.
One moment, he stood before the monstrous warrior—
Then he was behind him.
A golden sigil formed beneath Izko's feet.
"Rupture."
A blast of golden energy exploded outward, catching Izko mid-turn, sending him crashing through three trees.
But Aldric had no time to breathe.
Lisk was already there.
The twin-bladed swordsman moved with eerie precision, his curved swords flashing in arcs of holy and dark energy.
SLASH. SLASH. SLASH.
Aldric twisted his staff, forming light blue barriers to deflect the attacks, but Lisk's movements were too fast, too relentless—one blade burned with divine fury while the other devoured mana itself.
CRACK.
Aldric's barriers shattered.
Lisk's swords closed in.
Blink.
Aldric vanished again, reappearing mid-air, already forming another spell.
"Cascading Light."
The sky twisted, blinding golden orbs appearing in the clouds before raining down like divine meteors.
Lisk backflipped away and dodged each masterfully.
Izko, still smoldering, charged through the falling attacks, ignoring the damage, Aldric had to deliberately cancel the spell because if Izko got hit by those attacks the damage would also be dealt to him.
As he was cancelling, he felt a presence instantly apparate behind him. Xero stood there, a sad and childish frown on his face.
"Such power, such speed. Such... Everything. Why can't it be mine?"
The swordsman's violet energy crackled with pure, unfiltered envy.
"Envy's Rend."
He slashed his sword, sending a wave of twisted energy that temporarily bent space itself.
Aldric's eyes widened.
He raised a golden barrier—
But the attack tore through it like paper.
BOOM!
"I've lived the worst life yet my power still seems so fickle." Xero sighed in an overexaggerated manner.
Izko charged in, his speed amplified by his rage, causing him to be no more than a blur.
Aldric set up a barrier but it was instantly shattered by Izko's charge. Finally Izko made contact and Aldric felt like his lungs would fly out as he was hit by the unstoppable force.
Aldric was sent hurtling back, slamming into the dirt, his robes torn, blood spilling from a gash across his chest caused by Xero's Rend.
Maria clapped. "Wheee! Your magic is so nice, old man! You can blink again and again without any mishaps and you can use your brain in a fight too. That already puts you higher than these three."
She grinned wildly, her fingertips already glowing with black fire.
"Unfortunately it seems your powers aren't going to be enough."
"It didn't have to be like this." Lisk looked at Aldric with eyes of pity. His white hair curled over his left eye. "You are clearly a great man, it is a shame you choose such a misfitting end."
Aldric forced himself to stand, panting. His body ached. His blinks weren't enough.
"Ha. The youth always seem to be full of pride."
"Such confidence..." Xero mumbled, looking at his own hands.
"You're quite strong yourself." Aldric noted.
"But my power is derived off others, that is why I am the weakest of them all." Xero laughed lightly, his face going pale. He pointed his sword at Aldric. "Nevertheless, even a powerful being like yourself must die today."
He was outnumbered, cornered—
And then, he made a choice.
Aldric slowly lifted a trembling hand to his face. He cast an unsealed spell.
And unsealed his eyes.
"Only after I recieved my supreme value could I see the light... The truth of magic." Aldric coughed, his body already taking an invisible toll.
Is he about to go crazy? Julius felt his breath hitch. Perhaps the situation wasn't entirely domed.
The others were unsure of what was happening but Maria recognized his actions.
"This process... Is he a member of the Vista family? He must be unsealing his eyes. Why else would he be doing that?"
"Why are they sealed in the first place?" Izko grunted.
"Nobody knows the Vista family's secrets." Maria grinned. "Just don't try to attack him or the magic flux might kill you."
The air stilled.
Then—
A pulse of power erupted.
The moment the invisible seal shattered, Aldric's mana surged, a prismatic glow radiating from his eyes. The battlefield warped under the sheer weight of his magic. He felt light, he no longer felt like a man in a dying body.
Maria tilted her head. "Ooooh?"
Lisk's expression hardened. "So he's releasing his full power."
Izko growled, planting his feet.
"It won't be enough."
Xero clenched his fists, his jealousy burning hotter.
"So even his bloodline grants him power... If we lose today, my envy will kill me."
Aldric blinked.
No—he flickered.
One moment, he was nowhere.
The next—he was everywhere.
His spells changed.
With the seal broken, he could use forbidden magic.
Lisk raised his swords, preparing to intercept—
But Aldric pointed a single finger at him.
"Petrification."
Lisk's body froze instantly, his skin turning to stone.
Before he could break free, Aldric snapped his fingers—
"Death Realm."
A swirling portal of shadows yawned open beneath Lisk's feet.
The petrified swordsman was dragged inside.
"So much forbidden magic..." Maria muttered. "I suppose that's what the seal is for."
Aldric turned.
Izko roared, leaping at him—
"Magic Spear."
Aldric fired a blinding blue lance of magic, piercing straight through Izko's shoulder, sending him crashing down.
Maria was next.
She giggled, stepping forward, clapping her hands.
"Ohhh, I like this game."
Then—she burned herself.
Her flesh blackened, her veins turning pitch black, her mana erupting into a flaming inferno.
Aldric's eyes widened. She was sacrificing herself.
"Demonbrand Secret Art—Infernal Cataclysm!"
The black sun formed above her.
It ignored his barriers.
It was pure destruction.
Aldric blinked away—
But Xero was waiting.
The envious swordsman swung his blade, his Envy Rend already charged.
Aldric barely raised his staff in time to form a barrier strong enough to defend against it.
CRACK!
It shattered instantly again.
The force of the attack sent him spinning through the air, crashing into the broken road.
His golden magic flickered.
His mana weeped.
Even with his eyes unsealed, he was losing.
"Devourer" He yelled, casting a spell that unleashed a huge black magical vortex into the field. Izko jumped right in, as his flesh was carved up so was Aldric's.
"Curses..." Aldric muttered, his form now bloodied and distraught.
Izko laughed greedily.
"See, I can be smart!" He looked at Maria.
"This is like the simplest way to use your power..." She sighed. "If that's smart I'd hate to see what dumb is for you."
Julius suddenly appeared as the invisiblity spell seemed to falter now that Aldric had become so weak.
Julius stared in horror, his body now visible for all.
"Uhh-. You guys can't see me right?"
"Oh there you are." Maria laughed. "What are you waiting for? Come over."
"Maybe if you ask a little nicer-." Julius' words were obscured as a portal emerged in the middle of the battlefield.
Finally, Lisk emerged from the death realm, his body shivering like a dog in rain.
"How many months has it been?"
"It's only been around a minute." Xero stated. "But I assume time was different in that realm. If only I was there to see what happened."
"Trust me." Lisk spat out some blood. "You wouldn't want to be there."
He couldn't walk straight, he limped like an old man and his sword hand trembled.
Maria and Izko laughed at him.
Maria: "Ugh, you look like my grandpa trying to get out of bed."
Lisk (glaring) "I just fought nightmares beyond comprehension."
Izko: "So… like Maria before coffee?"
Xero merely stood at Aldric's fallen corpse and felt something was wrong.
Aldric, bleeding, tried to stand up. His vision blurred. "I really don't get paid enough for this shit."
Then—.
"Will I have to use that?"
He looked at the four of them gravely.
"If this keeps on going, I will use it... Even if it destroys this place and everything around it..."
Is he going to drop a nuke? Julius began worrying for his own life.
He was ready to destroy everything if it meant protecting Julius.
He looked at the sky. The four of them closed in on him and Julius.
"Destro-." Just as he was about to destroy everything-.
Just as Julius was about to lose all hope, he felt it. Infact everyone felt it.
A presence descended.
A cold, suffocating force.
"Can't resist... Longer... Had to follow... The scent."
A girl stood at the edge of the battlefield, her glowing violet hair lit up the darkness, eyes glowing with an ancient, merciless hunger.
Viella.
She stepped forward, her voice soft. Almost bored.
"It's been too long, I need to consume him..."
She extended a single hand—
And aimed for Julius.
The boy froze, paralyzed by sheer terror.
Aldric reacted instantly.
"NO!"
But before she could reach him—
Izko moved.
The lizardman, bloodied and battered, threw himself between Julius and Viella.
Her hand pierced into his shoulder, her fangs sinking into his flesh.
Izko snarled, grabbing her wrist.
His rage boiled over.
"Hands-. Off-. The kid. We have orders to take him with us. So he must survive."
Viella's eyes flashed.
And she smiled.
Her voice was a whisper. "Thank you for the meal. I haven't eaten good flesh in a while."
Then—she bit down.
A dark storm of energy surged from her body. Her once pale skin darkened, her aura expanding like an unholy storm.
Izko grunted as he wheezed in pain.
"This bitch! She's a ghoul, someone do something."
Aldric's breath hitched.
She had just gotten stronger.
"Her goal is to kill Julius." He looked at the four of them.
"So what now?"
Xero spoke with dark intentions. "Just never forget, as long as that boy is alive, we will be searching for him. We will find him and take him away. For as long as he lives."
Julius gulped.
"That seems a bit far... I'm not even overpowered yet."
Vielli growled, her body spazzing out, ready to pounce on someone.
In just the blink of an eye-. She struck.