Chương 77: Change of Plans
The following days for Arata involved attending the Class Ranking Tournament, watching the battles while simultaneously checking to see where all the bombs were, finding where the new one's were with each passing night. There were more added each night and the mornings involved them discovering more bombs installed in the Arena.
Damien also reported the continuous stream of Demon's through the portal. He had gain the full trust of the Demon's through his Energy and aid, so they allowed him to move around freely, only requiring him to be there at specific times to charge the portal. His Energy was perfect for it as he was able to charge the device even better than the other Demon's that tried. He was perfectly suited for it.
There were some Demon's that were injured by the portal, the risk that Arata had foreseen had come to pass. By going directly through the Demonic Realm with no protection, it could corrupt and affect the person going through. The Demon's had not taken this into account and were now lacking some Demon's as they ordered for more Demons to come through so they had the right amount of bombs in place.
Damien reported that they were having more people come through each night as there were more people being affected by the portal. This was both a good and a bad thing as those that were being sent in to replace the others weren't as skilled as those that were designed for the job, but on the other hand, there were now more Demon's that would need to be defeated in the upcoming battle. Even if they were injured, their power could still not be looked down on. These were all trained killers and evil individuals.
Eamon and Arata had been planning their battle strategy as they communicated secretly with their fathers and Granny Mo, getting the full picture on the resources and warriors they had on hand. They made a six tier plan that they were putting in place. The first tier was the best case scenario, ending and finishing it there. With each tier, more was added and needed, more people being relied upon, and they only wanted that to happen if it was absolutely necessary. But both Arata and Eamon were confident that they could keep the entire battle within the Institute, without needing to rely on any outside help, and that they could defeat the Demon's in the dark without anyone knowing a thing.
The first tier of the plan was quite simple. A well laid trap. After analyzing multiple bomb's, Arata came up with a theory on the Energy that was being used to connect the bomb's to the Demon's. He found that there was a constant connection that bonded the bomb and the Demon, and this connection was almost similar between each Demon, there was only a minor frequency change that separated them all.
Arata theorized that when they are all gathered, the connections would become concentrated within a single spot. If they could tap into that frequency, they could possibly manipulate and mess with the sources of the Energy that empowered the connection. Meaning the Demon's Elemental Reservoirs. But they would need a powerful device and Energy that could connect them to the Demon's frequency, and then they would need some sort a ability to manipulate and control the Elemental Reservoirs from within.
Like an ability to dictate what is real.
With Eamon's abilities, they would be able to shut down all the Demon's at once. But to do that, they would need to connect him to the frequency and connection that bonded the Demon's and the bombs. Hyosuke informed them about a Sato Clan Tech Enhancement that allowed you to hack into Energy emissions in the area. If they modified it, they would be able to tap into the connection and apply Eamon's Truth Energy.
But for this to work, they would need to find the right frequency that would be the medium between them all. The average of them all. So Arata went to work, scanning all the bomb's he could and recording the Energy fluctuations around the bombs, finding the particular frequency for that bomb. While he was doing that, with the help of Ryouma and Akari as lookouts and distractions, Eamon and Eva were developing the Tech Enhancement, making the necessary adjustments to it.
Damien and Hyosuke were busy trying to figure out where the Demon's would be set up for the attack. When they had a location confirmed, Eamon and Eva could set up the device in a nearby location so they could activate it when they needed to. They could also set up other traps and devices to help eliminate the Demon's that would be on guard.
The biggest issue they had was the higher Demon's that were still to come. Eamon and Arata wanted to know their strength and power so they could respond accordingly, but they also knew that it was better if they came at later as the portal will weaken them slightly, so the later they arrive, the less time they will have to recover, which would give the Institute more of a chance when they initiate the strike.
Arata was currently sitting in the stands with Ryouma and Akari. There were only 3 days left until the big Class vs Class battles for the Senior's. That was the day that the Demon's would begin their plan. But it was a day before Arata and Eamon were planning their strike. Arata had found all the current bombs in the Arena, he had memorized their locations and the frequency of the Energy they all emitted.
Although they had everything well thought out and planned, they were ready for any and all possible scenarios that they could think of, he still felt worried and a sense of unease. Eamon felt this as well. They both had increased their efforts immensely to their plans and strategies as they both felt like they were missing something and a sense of foreboding danger loomed over them.
Arata looked around at the cheering students and teachers, laughing and enjoying themselves as the students below competed against each other. Their biggest concerns were beating their rivals, coming out of the tournament victorious, showered in praise and glory. They were all completely unaware of the imminent danger that they were all in.
Arata inwardly sighed. Ignorance is bliss. He looked down at the students that were currently competing. It was currently the Class vs Class match and it was extremely intense. Tomorrow would be the beginning of the Senior matches, even Eamon was competing. They would go through the same rounds as the other years, ending with the Class vs Class match. Ryouma nudged Arata.
"Captain, what do you think about the Fifth Year Seniors? Do you think we could take them on?"
Arata observed the students that were fighting. The Royal Institute students would study here for 6 years before either graduating and leaving, or moving on to the Inner Court for more training. The Fifth Year students were all powerful students having studied and trained here at the Royal Institute for that long. Arata also noticed that as the each Year was introduced, there always seemed to be less people within each year. He surmised that they must kick out the weaker students each year, leaving only the top students.
He shook his head.
"In terms of cultivation, experience and teamwork, they have us beat. I think we could take on the Second and Third Year students, possibly the Fourth Year students in a small team match, but not in a full Class vs Class match. They would overwhelm us easily. So the Fifth Year students are out of reach for us right now."
Ryouma nodded his head.
"And the Final Year Seniors would completely destroy us. I feel like Mas....Senior Eamon alone could wipe out our entire Year by himself."
Arata chuckled.
"The Second Years as well."
They both nodded in agreement. In between all the preparation for the upcoming battle, Eamon made time to train with Arata and Ryouma. Every night they would get completely pummeled by Eamon, healed completely by Eva, and then pummeled again. And even in the midst of their harsh battles, they hadn't been able to land even a scratch on Eamon. He was on an entirely different level.
"I think you could beat him in time."
Arata and Ryouma jumped as they turned around. Sitting behind them was a gentle looking young girl with long white hair. Arata and Ryouma were stunned as they didn't know when Eva had arrived behind them they hadn't sensed her presence at all. Eva looked at Arata with a slight smile. Arata felt something within him ache as he saw her smile, he didn't understand it. Eva then looked up nodded politely. Arata and Ryouma turned to see Akari had returned with some snacks. Akari looked at Eva with a curious look.
"Senior Eva, correct? Your brother is Senior Eamon, the one who Arata and Ryouma under his wing."
Eva nodded. As their eyes locked, something seemed to pass through the eyes of the two young girls. Eva smiled warmly as she pulled out a note, handing it to Arata.
"A message from Brother."
As Arata took the note, Eva stood up, bowed and went to walk away. But as she took a step, she seemed to vanish before their eyes. Arata, Akari and Ryouma were stunned as she had disappeared without a trace. Arata grinned and turned back around to watch the tournament, while Akari and Ryouma glanced at each other in awe before joining him. He pulled out and read what was on the note, activatong his Shadow Awareness to read it.
Akari looked at the note with a look of confusion.
"A page from a textbook? It doesn't seem like a message."
She then looked up to see that Arata's eyes were black, she then understood it was a hidden message. Arata's face went serious as he read what was on it before looking at Ryouma, his eyes turning back to normal.
"Looks we have a lot to do later. Be ready to not sleep tonight."
After the tournament was over for the day, Arata and Ryouma headed over to Eamon's room in the Central Dorm, the guards were now used to seeing them come and go. The door opened as they arrived and Eamon made a gesture for them to hurry inside. Once he closed the door, they felt Eva's Energy pass through them, her barrier being put in place. Eamon spoke straight away.
"We have a problem. Some of the higher ups are arriving early to ensure that they are at full strength. They are arriving tonight with some of the low level Demon's and the rest coming at the same planned time. This means that we have decision to make. We can either act tonight and capture those from the inner circle today, but miss out on capturing the others that are coming later. We will also need to find the exact location of each and every Demon that is connected to a bomb and take them out immediately. Or we stick to the plan and act when the others arrive, but we would then have to deal with those from the inner circle at full strength, which may be a struggle for us if we are planning to sweep them all at once."
Arata frowned. This was a definite hiccup in their plan. There was also another risk that was a constant as time went on. Damien. When the higher ups arrive, it will be harder to convince them that he is there because of a decision made by someone from the inner circle, since they are Demon's from the inner circle. Eamon seemed to read Arata's mind as he continued speaking.
"Attacking tonight will be safer for Damien as well. At least they could convince them that someone else from the inner circle sent him. But the longer he is there with someone from the inner circle, the more likely it is for him to get caught. Especially if one of the higher ups has a strong Visual or Sensory ability and can see or sense Hyosuke. He is powerful enough to hide himself around the Demon's that have arrived so far, but we don't know how strong the Demon's from the inner circle are."
Arata thought for a moment. Damien was in a dangerous position currently because of him, he couldn't let anything happen to him. He was his responsibility. Arata couldn't take the risk. He looked at Eamon with a look of resolution, Eamon grinned as he seemed to know what Arata was thinking.
"Very well, Arata. We will do things your way."
Eamon turned to Eva.
"Contact Lady Moriah and have her assemble the teachers and those from the Inner Court."
Eva nodded as she pulled out a scroll. She channelled Energy into it before throwing it at the window. The scroll unfurled and took the form of a large bird as it flew out the window. Eamon walked over to the table, where small devices lay. He picked up two of them and threw them at Arata and Ryouma, who each caught one.
"These are Enhancement Techs I have been preparing in case something like this happened. We have recorded the frequency of all the Energy from the bomb's that you gave us. These receive the pulses from those frequencies and show the relative location to you. A scanner set for the Demon's locations."
Eamon grabbed one for himself, putting it on his wrist.
"We will begin the operation once the sun has set. Once it's dark, we will go Demon hunting."
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