[TWO HOURS AGO]
"Where the heck is Mina at? There's a fire going on!" Harold rushed through the furious flames that singed his skin. Wincing, he increased his pace. "Mina! Where are you?!" During his run, he felt the walls shake, and a loud crash happened on the top floor of the auditorium. "What's that?"
Summoning out his Artifact, he charged up a collage of Divine Light. "I'll have to clear a path to the second floor." Swinging downwards, he slammed the huge collage of Divine Light onto the ground, creating a shockwave that paved a way through the intense heat. Scrambling urgently to the second floor, he prayed that the source of the noise was Mina. "Come on, I'm not leaving till I find you, Mina!"
As he got to the top of the stairs, he saw a brutal sight. Mina was in a bloody mess with an unknown man putting his foot over her head. He had a scythe hovering over her with a stance looking to be for his next harvest. The sight of this removed all limits from Harold. The adrenaline was pumping through his veins, and there was an urgent calling for him to save Mina at all costs. He would never let a friend perish horribly, especially one who was incredibly close to him.
Stomping on the floor, he heaved his body forward with a massive dash. A glimmer of Divine Light was seen in the corner of his eye before he slashed his Artifact at the mysterious man. Slamming his blade into the man, he swung with full intensity. The impact made an enormous explosion of Divine Light that radiated throughout every crevice of the building.
In the aftermath of the explosion, Harold balanced Mina against his arm as he pointed his Artifact at the man. He watched as the man was split in half and burnt to a crisp. His body was singed against the auditorium walls. Harold relaxed momentarily till he saw the corpse twitch. Its arm balanced its upper torso against the wall, and its legs molded back together with the upper half. He rebuilt his body like a puzzle piece coming together, and it slowly began to regenerate. "Hell nah." Harold says before firing another wave of Divine Light at its regenerating body. Even after the body was reduced to chunks of itself, it still began to reform.
Harold sighed at what he's going to do next. "Welp, this'll take a while." The clash of persistence began. He continuously slammed blasts of Divine Light onto the man's body while he continued to regenerate. This process is rinse and repeat in the eyes of Harold. As minutes passed, Mina began to drool with relaxation as she was being held by Harold. She is happily snoozing against him while Harold brutalizes this poor victim.
"Would you please stop that? This is incredibly rude." The voice says. Harold paused for a moment, which was his biggest mistake. With that two-second delay, the body immediately reformed. He took the appearance of a dignified man with a styled moustache and a tidied-up suit. "You must be the wielder of the Artifact Grand Radiance; am I correct?" Harold didn't respond; instead, he only held another gathering of Divine Light in his blade.
"My name is Hoddchin, and I am part of Eiden-"
Another blast of Divine Light is slammed onto him, disfiguring his body. As a crumpled-up mush on the floor, he giggled. "No mercy, huh? Let me tell you some things about me then! I love licking the succulent and salty eyeballs of my victims, I have a fetish for women drowning in water, and most importantly..."
His presence was now right next to Harold. Leaning in to whisper in his ear, he grinned. "I love making people relive their nightmares." Taking out his scythe, he planted the side of it against Harold's head. "My Artifact is the best for this. I can take people's nightmares and bring them to reality. Isn't that great?"
There was an uncomfortable tingling sensation in his brain. Harold tried to pull away, but it was like sewing needles were pricked into his brain and keeping him constrained. "Do you want to know Mina Sylvet's nightmares? Her nightmare is to have you perish. So, my plan is to make her watch you for eternity as I torture you. I will make you regenerate every time I brutally torture you and keep you both youthful forever. Why the detailed explanation? That's because I can. That's because you cannot do anything as I extract your nightmares. Oh, and lalalalalalala. I can't hear you! Lalalalalalalala."
His eyes dilated as he inched against Harold's face. Every second, his speech turned more erratic, and his gaze turned psychotic. "I am curious about your nightmares—child chosen by the Gods."
Grinning with excitement to get his reward, he grins as he feels a catch. "There, now show yourself!" But to his horror, it was something he least expected. He has never encountered something like this with his Artifact. Normally, he's able to extract people's nightmares into orbs and conjure them into reality. That's why he collects as many nightmares as possible to expand his arsenal. In this instance, it's something way worse than anything else in the world.
A black mass extruded from Harold's head. Harold immediately recognized it. It was the darkness from the nightmare that took his left arm. Hoddchin gasped in panic. "No, it can't be! Why is it here?! Why is it back?! Why is that THING in your nightmares!?" he let out a grueling scream until the black mass pierced his chest, firing directly into his heart. As the black mass fizzled out, Hoddchin's hand hovered over his wound with a tremble. Gasping for air, he clutches onto the wound. No matter how hard he tried to regenerate, it wouldn't come back.
"My heart! It won't come back! This isn't the end!" Turning into a massive blob, Hoddchin scattered in an instant, scrambling away with the last of his dignity left behind. As soon as he left, Harold knelt in exhaustion, grasping Mina. "Ugh, that guy was horrifying..." Beginning to stand up again, he attempted to pull Mina off to carry her on his back. The issue is that Mina held onto him with an iron grip. "H-Huh? M-Mina?" He tugged a bit harder, but Mina still held on in her unconscious state. "Oi, Mina... let go. It'll be difficult to carry you like this..." He tried pulling as hard as he could, but Mina still latched on with all her might. "How are you this strong while sleeping!?"
Snapping back to the present, it's now Mina showcasing her reacquired skills from the past. She was heavily bandaged but moving gleefully. "This is the first form!" Mina says as she uses both of her daggers to slash downwards against the air. A powerful shockwave made the entire room tremble as a crescent made of Moonlight Essence formed. Harold clapped in amazement as he watched Mina's swift movements. "Whoa, that is super cool! Mina, you gotta teach me that too!" Harold excitedly says, still clapping. Seeing Harold's joy, Mina nodded. "Okay! I'll teach you right away then!"
Minutes later, Linia entered the medical ward. She was in her student council attire and held a stern expression. "Mind if I ask a few questions?" She asked both of them, interrupting Mina's little lesson.
Mina swung her dagger slowly in the air with goofy movements. "Then you swing it like this, and it goes wooooosh!" She then spun around with her arms raised. "And then it goes bwahhhhh!" Harold focused intently as if he were carefully analyzing every movement Mina showcased.
"What are you two doing..." Linia says. Immediately, they stopped what they were doing upon listening to the familiar voice. "Is that you, Miss Student Council President?" questioned Harold as their focus shifted to her. Coming from behind Linia was a familiar face to Mina, Esmeralda. "Indeed, I'm here as well." Esmeralda says with a menacing glare at Mina. Like an instinct, Mina clung to Harold and shivered as Esmeralda gave her a deathly stare.
Petting Mina's head to comfort her, he continued to talk to the two. "So what business do you two have with me?"
Linia spoke of unfortunate news. "We heard what happened with you two, so we'll be shutting down the opening festival for this year. It's too dangerous to run it."
"And from now on, we'll be tasked with protecting you both." Esmeralda added.
Mina crawled under Harold's covers, and Harold continued to pet her gently. "Protecting us both? Was it because we were attacked recently?"
Linia nodded. "Yup, and also because Harlibue Kingston told us to guard you both. He told me that you both are high-priority targets in the eyes of Eiden." Harold glanced down at Mina, who was drooling in bliss under Harold's tender hand brushing against her hair. Her lazy, bubbly expression stood out with the concerning news. "High-priority? Why? Look at this little munchkin! Do you think this adorable face would be wanted!?"
Ticked off, Esmeralda smacked her lips. "Tsk, you're both wanted for very confidential reasons. Mina is a divine demon, while you're the owner of Grand Radiance." The term "divine demon" made Harold bat an eye. "The hell is a divine demon?" he asked, looking at Mina, who was now happily resting her face on Harold's palm. "A divine demon is the offspring of an angel and a demon, something completely forbidden and unheard of in the laws of the world."
He looked at Esmeralda to see if she was joking, but her face was grave. "An angel and a demon? But demons are the most terrible existences out there! They're absolute beasts who enjoy the suffering of any living creature! Do you think Mina would ever do that?" The group all stares at Mina, who is now happily drooling over Harold's hand as she sleeps.
"That's why I said divine demon. They're incredibly rare, and they're shown to have the attributes of both angels and demons. Angels acquire naturally gifted appearances, a gentle soul, and an angel's blessing. Meanwhile, demons contain intense, erratic desires, immense potential, and the ability of demonic rage."
"Mina isn't like that!—" Harold paused and gave it a good thought. "Hmmm, well, maybe she is kinda like that..."
"Meanwhile, you own one of the most legendary Artifacts that saved the world from devastation at many points. Both Mina's race and your Artifact have been forgotten in history, but Eiden knows about them." Linia stated.
"Who even told you all this info about us?"
"Harlibue Kingston broke down everything to us, so now we're here. From now on, the student council will protect you." Esmeralda says, taking a firm stand beside them.