บท 38: Against Top Tier Awakeners
Director Kai leaned forward, noticing a slight twitch in Ace's brow. He smiled, placing his hand gently on Ace's shoulder before giving a gentle squeeze.
"The answer to your question, Ace. Yes, there was a way to stop evil from prevailing. The ancient book of lore— the grimoire of the abyss was the monument keeping us safe.
But an awakening opened a portal into this world. Not just our world, other Earth's in different dimensions too, I presume."
Director Kai took a first step away from Ace, strolling luxuriously around the boy, filing him in with the tale.
"And that night, the book was taken out of our world into another dimension which has marked the beginning of a series of catastrophic events if it is not brought back to Nirvana in due time.
The unsealing of the monsters locked away by the existence of the book has begun, and these creatures, once contained, are unleashed upon the world, seeking to bring chaos and destruction to us again."
"What does that have to do with me?" Ace said, feigning ignorance.
He was already aware of the fact that the untamed energy that had rippled and fused into his soul that night Tzuyu attacked might be the cause of what was suddenly happening, but he wouldn't sell himself to Director Kai in that manner.
He wouldn't succumb to any requests that will make the academy force him to prioritize the safety of the people over his own goals.
He wasn't going to be a work tool for them or try to have an ounce of mercy to whoever was going to stand in the way. All that mattered to him was finding Anya and bringing her back from wherever she might be.
"The balance of magic and reality has been disrupted yet again, leading to opening of rifts between dimensions." One of the elders spoke, his voice reaching out to Ace despite the far stretched distance between them.
"With the absence of the book, humanity is yet again on the brink of extermination." Another spoke.
"To restore order in this world, the quest is to retrieve the book— THE CODEX OF INFINITE DIMENSIONS and restore it to where it belongs."
Ace raised his face at the elders standing defiantly and motionless on the podium, the presence of the other students frozen in time husking into a realm far from reality.
He narrowed his eyes, resisting the urge to react. "So you want me to be your hero? To save a world I barely care about?"
Kai shook his head, a knowing smile playing on his lips. "It's not about being a hero. It's about survival—yours and everyone else's."
But he wasn't ready to let anyone dictate his path. "I'll do what I want, Kai. If I decide to help, it'll be on my terms."
With his response, he could feel the presence of the elders dissipate from the podium, hurling into nothing as they disappeared from their respective positions.
Ace buckled up, preparing himself for what was coming. Suddenly, he felt one's presence behind him, hurling for a strike, but he was quick to step away, grabbing the cloak of the elder that had spawned behind him.
With his hold laced on the cloak, he felt it began to fade into dust, like it was never there.
"Because…"
"... it's you…"
They all said at once, their voices changing and contrasting into distorted voices as they swirled like invisible mists around him aimlessly.
"...you have allowed them in…"
Ace could feel his knees buckle, the siren of their voices clouding his mind as they all spoke at once, assembling and dissipating in a uniform order.
He clenched his fists harder beside him, the touch of Director Kai still saddled on his shoulder.
'They are trying to mess with my mind!' Ace grunted bitterly to himself in his thoughts.
'They are trying to take control of my mind.'
His eyes closed against the fabric of reality, flushing him straight through an endless orbit dominated by starry night that traveled through the fabric of his being.
'But guess what…' He continued, a clear, untamed aura revolting out of his body with full force, slowly blocking out the manipulative spells the elders were connoting over him.
They were strong— way stronger than he could be. He could feel their energy trap him beyond reality.
He was just a kid— a kid trying to horde his way through top tier awakeners— leaders of the academy with his imbalanced abilities, but he wouldn't back down easily, not without pushing back.
"...they better try harder next time."
Within a blink, Ace was fully coated in a blue aura, brimming fiercely and slowly retracting the spell one of the elders had summoned to alter the perception of time.
Director Kai could feel the raw untamed energy exuding out of Ace graze his core, forcing him to drag his feet backward a little.
His assumptions were right, after all, the touch was to read a part of Ace's memory and he had seen what he wanted, but he was overwhelmed by the mana surge hurling through the boy.
'What have we brought into existence?' Director Kai said to the other elders telepathically, stopping the formation they were hurling around Ace.
He pushed himself further, lowering his head a little towards Ace despite the harsh burn the aura around him was flexing.
He whispered some words into Ace's ears, forcing a glint in his eyes before he pulled away. Immediately, Ace came back to normal, the energy seeping away into nothing as he heard those words.
The life in the auditorium was restored again, and the elders had teleported back to the podium like they never left.
"By nightfall, every student must assemble for the final processing to honor the deaths of the nobles who were once amongst us." Director Kai continued, after he had given an expansive view on the brewing trouble in their world.
"...nobles?..."
"Did some dungeon adventurers die within the walls?"
The clustered murmuring of uncertainty began to fill the auditorium again, wondering what group didn't make it out until a girl raised an alarm with her thin voice.
"Come to think of it, Damien is not here."
"...does that mean he's dead?"
* * *
As the elders exited the hall in serenity, Cara, rattled towards Director Kai, taking her position two steps behind him as his personal assistant.
"Sir, what news should I send to their parents? They all have their cores severed with no beast markings we can use to make up an excuse for their deaths."
Director Kai continued further, his mind trailing back to what he had seen in Ace's memory for a brief second he had let loose of himself.
"Bury them within the walls," Kai instructed. "They were never found after the raid."
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