"The emperor wants to go to war against the Clayman cult in two days."
Maris was not a very aware individual when it came to news about politics, but even she understood the significance of this.
Her lord had just been involved in desolving the experimentation bases of the clayman cult.
She needed to inform her lord about this situation no matter what.
Seeing the expression change on Delta’s face, Rizwell sighed; he had the same reaction when he had heard the news.
Delta nodded. "Do you have any personal questions for the lord?"
Rizwell thought for a moment. "I just want to know what’s best for the house. Should we try to stay away from the conflict or dive into it completely? What’s best for us?"
Maris nodded. "Give me a few hours; I will contact you again." She said
Rizwell nodded and took his leave after a few greetings, while Maris used the mental hive and tried to contact William.
***
Meanwhile, in another corner of the Aris continent...
Third year students training camp. ..
"Did you hear?? Demon lord Bellial attacked the academy premises." A third-year student sat in a group in the military mess having lunch with his friends.
"Man!! Talk about timing; we just got shifted to these camps, and the demons attack a few months later." Another one spoke, shivering as if he had just dodged a calamity.
"Do you guys think the academy already knew of this attack?" someone asked with wide eyes as the detail was too huge to miss.
"Really? You think so too...."
The conversation entered Arwen’s ears, who was now sitting alone at the table to the side of the group; he looked anything but peaceful.
Dark circles covered his eyes, and his hair was unkempt and ruffled; his expression just reminded everyone of a depressed individual.
He had been getting avoided like the plague after rumors of him being under a demonic curse started, which then later became even more exaggerated for some reason.
He had heard students saying that they had seen him walking around the campus furiously, which he had no memory of doing.
Several experts and medics from the academy and even the army had come to diagnose him, but had found no sign of any curse; he had also been visited by his family, asking about his well-being.
The told him that he was being excused for his inappropriate comments about the princess, the elven court had now stated that his mental state was not stable.
As compensation, the prime minister - his father gifted several high-ranked resources and gifts to the princess, and to the surprise of the rest of the elves from different factions, the empress didn’t take a rigid action, which seemed absurd for someone like her.
Talking about right now Arwen’s eyes widened as he heard the conversations around him; he had heard the news about the attack before, but right now another possibility entered his mind.
His father had once told him about Bellial, the demon lord of illusion and trickery.
A realization settled in his mind slowly, the demon that had shapeshifted into Edward and was going after William must be connected to Bellial. After all, it must be through a strong illusion or even shapeshifting that he must have taken Edward’s form.
Arwen connected the dots, the attack on academy and a shapeshifting demon already planted inside the academy.
The mug in his hands clattered, and he shivered.
Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder, surprising him and breaking his thoughts. Arwen looked up only to see Edward the demon standing in front of him.
Edwards’ face had gone pale, and dark circles had appeared due to lack of sleep; his breathing was rough due to panic, but instead of all this looking like suffering, to Arwin it looked like demonic influence.
"Arwen, my friend," Edward spoke with a solemn expression while Arwen’s mind rang with alarms.
"W-what happened, Edward?" Arwen just played along, thinking it was a test.
Edward panickingly sat on Arwen’s side and looked into her eyes. "Did you hear about the recent attacks on the academy?"
Arwen nodded silently and gulped hard.
Edward then looked around, trying to sound as low as possible. "I don’t know how this may sound; I have kept this to myself for all this time, but now that things have come to this, I think I can trust you with this."
Edward looked at his hand wrapped around Arwen’s shoulder, trying to sound as low as possible. "Tell me, can I trust you!!" Edward looked at him seriously.
Arwen, thinking as if the demon were testing him, nodded.
Edward looked around again for the nth time and then turned to him. "I think William Kaiser is behind these recent attacks!!"
Arwen looked at Edward, surprised by why this demon was still acting this way earlier he had told him to accuse william for the insident that happened during the trials.
He nodded with a grim expression in an attempt to avoid offending the demon. "I have thought so too from the start."
"Really?" Edward asked, surprised.
Arwen gulped again awkwardly. "Yes, I even have the evidence of his collusion," he said, trying to impress the demon of his loyalty.
"What?? Really?"
Arwen felt something strange with this demon, but he figured that it was a test from his side or a hidden message, so he played along.
Arwen nodded.
Edward sulked and straightened his posture. "We have to report the authorities about that bastard’s dirty dealings with the demons."
Edward spoke with determination. Recently, he had started having nightmares about William being a demon and hunting him and his mother down.
Edward had been seeing these nightmares for a few months now, and the line between reality and dreams had blurred for him; he wholly believed that William was a demon now, and he was determined to take him down before William killed him and his mother.
"follow me," Edward gestured to Arwen to follow him. Arwen almost pissed himself; anything but being alone with this demon.
***
World academy...
Meanwhile, in the academy domain, a clash between demons and Aris natives went full-fledged, and that too in several layers.
Commanders clashed with commanders while leaders clashed with leaders.
In the skies of the domain far above where mortals fought, two auras countered each other in full force.
A colossal white dragon whose body could leave a shadow for several miles of land floated in the sky, with massive crystalline white wings, a calm expression, curved horns, and sharp claws. Andrea floated in front of demon lord Bellial.
Demon Lord Bellial stood as a tall, otherworldly figure with a smooth white body that resembled polished marble. Dark abyssal cracks spread across his torso, glowing faintly.
His face was a featureless pure white. One of his wings was radiant and white, shaped from soft, cloudy feathers, while the other was a decaying black wing that dripped like liquid shadow.
"Khekk!! You people have gotten smarter over the years. Tell me, is your seer back??" Bellial asked, his surprised voice sounding behind the plain white face.
"You don’t even have a hole on your body, I am confused as to where you even speak from, and was your mother like you?? How did she even give birth?" Andrea asked mockingly.
Unfortunately for her, Demon Lord Bellial had no facial features to express his anger or fury so she could not even see his annoyed face.