Silent tension reigned in the air as Hugo exchanged gaze with the party before him.
"Lilith dear?" the red-eyed man, Vadus Light, finally broke the silence.
"Yes, Master?" Lilith replied.
"Please take care of our friend there. He's only one of two successes of my past venture after all."
"…Yes," Lilith then turned towards Frank with hidden scorn in her eyes. "Tch."
'Well some things never change,' Frank remained unaffected by Lilith's attitude.
"Now, now, children. No fighting, okay?" Vadus stared back at them as Lilith simply replied with a "Yes" while Frank only nodded.
"Do forgive their attitude, Master Magus," Vadus then addressed himself to Hugo. "They simply can't seem to get along even if I tell them try."
"Master!" Lilith raised her voice while Frank had his own thoughts on what Vadus had said.
'As if, you bastard. I'm just an expendable pawn to him,' Frank thought as his gaze went to the enflamed ruins of the academy that surrounded them. 'Guess it was a boon that Emi didn't end up in his hands.'
"…" Hugo remained silent, though even that attracted Vadus's attention.
"I suppose that confirms it," Vadus simply smiled at the silence. "You truly are a formidable opponent."
Hugo remained on guard as the silence gave way to Lilith's voice who rebuked Frank.
"You truly are useless, boy. To think this is the best you could manage. What an utter disappointment you are."
"Well, can you blame?" Frank retorted with hands in his pockets, though his disheveled and grazed form reflected his clear exhaustion. "It took me putting everything into increasing my physical abilities just to be able to hit him."
"Just a load of excuses…"
"Calm down, Lilith," Vadus interrupted their squabble.
"Apologies, Master."
'A real obedient little servant,' Frank thought as Vadus then called out to him.
"Frank, my boy. Retreat for now. You still have your usefulness after all, do you not?" Vadus smiled back at Frank unsettlingly, his red gaze striking fear into the young man's heart.
"…Y-yes," Frank then set out out-of-sight.
"For you Lilith, stand down and don't interfere."
"As you wish," Lilith simply offered a bow as if she was a noble lady from the middle age.
"Now then. We have much to discuss, don't we… Master Magus?" Vadus snapped his fingers as a table and two chairs placed on either side of it appeared from thin air.
"Please. Take a seat," he then gestured towards it, inviting Hugo to sit down which he did.
After Hugo was seated, Vadus also sat down as he interlocked his fingers and rested his chin upon them, his elbows resting on the table.
"You are far more trusting than I thought you would be," Vadus started the conversation, his gaze intently focused on Hugo.
"More than trust it would be more appropriate to say that it's assurance," Hugo replied as he leaned into the chair and rested his clasped hands onto the table.
"Could it be assurance that you can escape? Or that you can eliminate me whenever you so desire?"
"…" Hugo remained silent as Vadus simply smiled.
"I see. I shall take your silence as a response I suppose."
"What is it that you wish to talk about?" Hugo inquired, his eyes carrying no consideration whatsoever.
Vadus simply continued to smile while behind him, Lilith started boiling with rage at how casual Hugo seemed.
"You truly are quite the shrewd man, Master Magus. A very interesting one indeed."
"Is that so? I'm honored that one such as you would consider me as such."
Vadus snickered at the response.
"You should give yourself more credit. It's not every day that I find one as irritating as you. One who is constantly interfering with my plans."
"But even then, as much an irregularity as I am—as is this whole world in fact—it adds a bit spice into my existence when I am faced with such adversity.
In fact, I am also quite grateful to the humans for allowing my birth into this world. If it wasn't for you humans, this fractured reality of ours would have never came to be. Hence, why I intend to push this world towards the path it still fails to commit to."
"…Do you intend to cause another Cataclysm?" Hugo glared at the red-eyed man who simply smiled eerily at him.
"Why would I settle for just a Cataclysm? I wonder Master Magus. Just how much of the world's, of Akasha's truths have you been allowed to peer into.
It matters not really. Today, I simply came to eliminate you. One should crush the nip in the bud before it blooms, and that is my only intention."
Though he smiled, Vadus's entire being exuded bloodlust.
'He is neither more powerful than I, nor more proficient than I am. And yet I—' Hugo's thoughts were interrupted as he finally noticed the jaws and fangs that encapsulated him.
"Hehehe…." Vadus's eyes were full of gleeful malice. "Dear Master Magus…"
He rose up from his seat and slowly approached the other end of the table where Hugo sat.
"You've gotten quite old, haven't you?"
'This beast…! It couldn't be…! When!?' Hugo wondered as he remained completely immobile, realizing what creature was behind him.
Obsidian-black scales, jagged and heavy as basalt armor coated the creature's towering frame, swallowing the light around it. Beneath its dark carapace, its belly and throat glowed with a terrifying crimson luminescence, and spikes of deep blood-red run down its spine like a ridge of hardened magma, culminating in a heavy, lethal tail.
Its open, massive, leathery wings revealed dark red membranes veined with gold, casting a shadow-like crimson dusk and its eyes were slitted, burning coals, radiating an ancient, predatory intelligence that turns every living thing nearby into immediate prey.
There was only one way to call this creature… a living Calamity of devastation… a dragon.
"From your expression, you must be wondering when did I summon this creature," Vadus snapped his fingers once more, his chair and the table disappearing into thin air as he now stood before Hugo.
At that moment, a devious smirk spread on Vadus's face.
"Quite gullible, are we not, Master Magus?"
In an instant, before Hugo could fully spring into action, a thrust traversed his body as he then felt his strength fading at incredible rate.
'I've been fooled…' Hugo coughed out blood.
"Do not blame yourself, Master Magus. It is still a fact that my vessel is only human. There is a limit to the extent of my powers. Not only that, but you are a much more frightening opponent than I could ever imagine. As cowardly as it is, you are not an opponent we could defeat without resorting to trickery."
Vadus then pulled out his arm from Hugo's chest, the latter falling to his knees as blood dripped to the ground from the gaping hole in his chest.
"The only difference was but this. My understanding of Interference Power far exceeds that of you humans."
Vadus then held out his blood-covered arm, conjuring an orb of pure black flames.
"Lilith. We're moving out," he said as he closed his hands into a fist, the orb of black flames spiraling into an infernal tempest that spread to the entirety of the academy, engulfing it in a blazing sea.
'Fare thee well, Master Magus.'