"AMON!!!" Andrea snarled, and her teeth ground together as raw fury bled into her voice.
"fck bitch come out!! I will reap your soul right now!!" Xaeroth roared, his draconic aura surged outward in violent waves that rattled the chamber itself.
The stone beneath his feet cracked under his killing intent.
"Hold him!!" Yue commanded as ancient syllables spilled from her lips.
The space around the mutated body and a magic circle lit up and warped as her spell activated, invisible pressure slammed down like a crushing tide.
Andrea moved in the same instant.
Heavy, glowing chains formed from condensed energy snapped into existence around the writhing corpse, wrapping around limbs, torso, and neck with brutal precision.
The chains dug deep, embedding themselves into flesh that was already unstable and warped.
Marcus did not speak anything, but his aura flared instantly,y and not just his, but everyone who was in the room.
The full authority of the Celestial Army Headquarters awakened in the chamber as Marcus invoked a layered restricting formation, which ignited one after another.
Sigils carved into the very air locked into place, forming a complex lattice that pinned the mutated body at the center. The pressure was absolute, the kind designed to subdue the strongest of beings, not merely bind demons.
Still, the body twisted beyond anyone’s control.
The grotesque form spasmed within the chains, muscles melted and reformed as Amon’s laughter echoed through the room, distorted and mocking.
"khe khe khe!! Your fate-sealing spells won’t work, darling."
The flesh split wider as the malformed face stretched into a grin that did not belong to Dahek anymore.
"This bull is already dead, khe khe khe!!"
Andrea’s eyes burned.
"Miss Andrea," Amon continued, his voice dripped with amusement, "I was hoping that we could have some fun after what I did at your academy, but it seems you have lost the vigor of your youth with time!! khe khe khe."
The chains rattled violently as Amon’s presence surged against them.
"No worries," he went on, voice lowering with sick delight, "I have found a new source of entertainment for myself."
Andrea’s fists clenched.
"Your new student has been quite a source of entertainment for me," Amon said lazily. "You did well sending him out!! khe keh keh!!"
Before he could continue, several crystalline constructs erupted into existence around the chamber.
They shimmered with enchantments and shot forward, impaling the mutated body from multiple angles. The crystals burrowed deep, glowing brighter as they attempted to isolate and drag the demonic consciousness outward.
For the first time, Amon’s laughter faltered.
"hah!! it seems I angered you," he chuckled darkly. "Alright then. Farewell, madam!! khe khe khe!!"
Boom.
Dahek’s corpse exploded violently.
The blast should have turned the entire chamber into a gory sight, but Marcus reacted instantly.
Under his command, the restricting formations shifted, erupting into a radial barrier that swallowed the explosion whole. Mangled flesh, demonic residue, and corrupted energy slammed into the barrier and disintegrated into nothingness.
After that, silence followed.
No one spoke.
The leaders stood frozen, still processing what they had just witnessed. The air was still lingering demonic stench.
"fck!!!!" Xaeroth growled, spinning around and kicking the floor hard enough to fracture the stone.
Marcus’s eyes were cold and completely focused. "Don’t get distracted."
He turned toward Damian, who stood at the corner of the room with an expression that was grim but still controlled, unlike others.
Prepare your men,"
Then Marcus shifted his gaze to Raegor. "Send your daughter home. We are gonna have to move. We are already very late."
Raegor nodded stiffly; the gravity of the situation settled in.
Marcus glanced once more at Andrea, whose fury had not diminished in the slightest. He gave her a brief nod of acknowledgment before turning and walking toward the exit without another word.
Yue stepped closer to Andrea and placed a firm hand on her shoulder, grounding her.
"Calm down, Andrea."
Andrea’s voice came out low and heavy; each word was being weighed down by murderous intent. "I want to see his head, Yue. I want Amon’s head."
***
One day ago...
No Man’s Land
Night had swallowed the land whole.
Branches and leaves rustled softly along the edges of the forest as several hooded figures emerged from the darkness. Their cloaks were torn, stained with dirt and dried blood, evidence of the long and unforgiving journey they had endured.
The group of academy freshers moved cautiously, exhaustion etched into their posture. They had crossed restricted forests, fought beasts that should have wiped them out, relied on strangers who were kind enough to give them a lift, and lost their way more times than they could count.
The maps, artifacts in their storage rings, and sheer stubbornness had brought them this far. They did not bother change clothes or take rest, for them it was training, they all wanted to get familiar with the struggles of being a normal soldier.
And the only thing they had realized was that they all were too soft and too spoon-fed by their influential guardians.
Unknowingly, Ethan’s unnatural luck had steered them away from disasters more than once.
"Leila," Ethan asked quietly, slowing his pace as the clearing ahead came into view. "Check. Are we at the right place?"
Leila held a worn note in her hand, filled with scribbles and markings she had gathered from the quest postings on the mission board at the academy. She scanned it carefully, then lifted her eyes toward the open space ahead.
"Yes," she said after a moment. "I think we are at the right place."
The clearing opened into a rough settlement filled with inns and taverns clustered together. This was the starting point of the southern trade routes, exactly as marked on their map.
"They have different inns and taverns for different races," Desmond noted, scanning the area.
"I think we should separate," he continued. "Go to the inns of our own races and keep an eye on any strange movements we catch. We meet back here at sunrise. Share anything suspicious. If we find nothing, we move ahead."
The group agreed quickly. Goodbyes were exchanged, briefly and with all seriousness, before they split and headed toward their respective targets.
Inside the human tavern, Ethan, Maximus, and Leila stepped into a dimly lit hall that smelled faintly of stale ale and old wood. The place was almost empty.
They approached the counter.
The innkeeper looked up and froze.
His eyes widened unnaturally, and his expression twisted into something between shock and manic laughter that insisted that he had seen a ghost and had gone mad. Ethan stepped forward.
"Need two rooms," he said lightly, sliding a pouch of copper coins across the counter.
The innkeeper caught the pouch, his fingers trembling slightly. His lips stretched wider at one side as he stared at Ethan, unblinking.
Leila frowned. "What is something written on his face?" she muttered, irritation creeping into her voice.
Before anyone could respond, the kitchen door swung open.
An old man in a torn, shabby vest stepped out. His movements halted the moment his eyes landed on Ethan.
The man swallowed hard.
"Ahem!!" he cleared his throat, forcing a strained smile. "Suckmadi!! What are you doing here, my boy?"
Sweat dotted his forehead.
Ethan’s brows furrowed as he looked between the two men. "I don’t think I remember you," he said slowly. "I don’t think we have ever met. My name is not Suckmadi."
The air shifted.
Before Ethan, Leila, or Maximus could react, the innkeeper vanished from behind the counter and reappeared at the door, slamming it shut and locking it in one smooth motion.
The speed was terrifying.
SS rank.
Far beyond anything the three of them could handle.
They spun around in alarm.
"What are you both doing??" Maximus shouted, his expression hardening as he reached for his weapon.
Too late.
The old man, Budden, had already appeared behind Maximus, and a dagger flashed in his hand as he struck.
"Watch out!!"
Ethan activated Radiant Flash Step, vanishing in a burst of light and reappearing between the blade and Maximus. Azure Storm Blade appeared in his hands as he parried the dagger.
The clash rang out sharply.
All three immediately shifted into battle stances, confusion and tension flooding the space as they realized they had been ambushed without warning.
----
Author note: Hey guys, new month coming up, this month we reached 6k subs in win-win
I am gonna aim at 15k unlocks for Feb, so I will be filling a privilege tier of 20 chaps tomorrow, and the day after that, regular updates will be following because I am getting a library splash on 31st, so I want to get sorted before that.
Don’t purchase the new tier now, purchase it in February, and don’t worry, prices will be lower than before, and I am also aiming for win-win. I am gonna try to create a 5th tier in Feb as well, I’ve also given discounts on privilege Chapter unlocks for higher tiers in the feb win win, if you want to see the new month’s setting, ping me on Discord.
Thank you all for supporting me.