"Activate Pillar Array nr. 14, 15, 16 and 20 simultaneously"
A voice comes from Akiri Yanchen who wanted to see the competition, be it a coincidence or not the entire Academy was attacked the moment she was near it.
Now, she assists the present Maw and the many Academy staff in properly activating Fengbao Array. Or more commonly known as Black Kiln.
"Message successfully relayed my lady"
A member of the Maw responds, his hand clutched a pendant in which he communicates through the rest of the Maw with.
A couple seconds later, the entire sky of the Academy was blotted in thick black smoke rich in Demonic Energy.
"Concentration of Demonic Energy cannot go pass 0.56%, we cannot risk those who are not fiend from choking to death"
As she focused on her foundation techniques, her entire form was blanketed in a gentle silver that is her Aura, forming a continuous wavy line reminiscent of ripple in a water.
"Lord of Bloom, I am delighted to have received your assistance"
A man voice then calls out to her; the speaker is a man that looks like he has no right being in this place. Hobo looking attire and disheveled hair, unkempt look and yet his face remains clean.
Of course, Akiri cannot see, the information was relayed to her by the countless flowers blooming in the Academy.
"Elder Pulao, it is a job of the Demon King retinue to ensure that his territory remains safe"
Akiri smiles, but she quickly focused back on locating the intruder. Roaming around in the courtyard of the First Semester, his presence was vague, like smoke that flows everywhere.
"Get the student to safety, make sure that they stay within 5 km radius of the Lord of Sword"
Pulao commands the staff that follows him around, he then walks towards one of the trees and taps in a specific pattern across its bark to reveal a device of sort sticking out of the tree.
"There are still those in the library, take them around the Main Building of the Law Class and circumnavigate until you reach 15th Annex building and walk straight to where the Lord of Sword was"
"Yes sir!"
The remaining staff runs at a blinding speed to the location, but even when he is alone Pulao continues to move.
"Sir of the Maw, may I impart a word?"
He speaks to the figure wearing a red demon mask, normally an Elder do not have the leisure to command the Maw's at will, hence why he is asking nicely.
"Go ahead"
The Maw nods.
"Every single Pillar Array except Array nr. 156 and 2001 is to be activated in its maximum output"
But his words were protested by Akiri, delaying the order.
"You cannot! Those who are not fiend will—"
"My version of the Fengbao has a mixture of dull xeron liquid, if it was mixed with high concentration Demonic Energy it will become an aggravated xeron hence the green you see in the Black Kiln"
Pulao reasoned, as he looked above to where the sky is blotted with black smoke and sure enough, a faint line of green can be seen pulsing in the smoke.
"My apology for my unscrupulous remark Lord of Bloom"
Pulao awkwardly retracts his words, realizing that Akiri is blind. Fortunately, Akiri just nods and gestures him to continue his explanation.
"…And as you might know, dull xeron is nonpolar and thus cannot be mixed with aggravated xeron who is polar. In an area where the Demonic Energy concentration is low, it will create a pocket where no Demonic Energy is nearby"
Akiri lit up in realization as she caresses her chin.
"I see; the reason you deliberately leave both of those Array in low output is to allow the students a safe place as well as to create an area where the intruder must go to avoid being choked by the Demonic Energy"
Akiri smiles, and she is ashamed of her shortcomings of not realizing Elder Pulao intent.
"Correct, and if the intruder purpose was to avoid conflict as much as possible, they would try their best to avoid the Lord of Sword stationed near the students and take the bait"
Pulao taps his mind, praising his own intellect. But after that quick exchange he quickly went back to work and told the Maw to pass on the order.
"Successfully relayed, but the amount of Array is too much for us, mere five Maw's to handle. It will take 15 minutes until the entire Array is activated"
The Maw expresses his concern, though out of place for mere soldiers to question an order, it is by no means stems from his worry about the students. And thus, Pulao forgives his transgression and even weighs his opinion into his plan.
He got a point, 15 minutes is way too long for an intruder this skilled. By the time all the Array has activated the intruder will be long gone.
"Not to worry, my retinue shall come for aid"
Akiri said, and the instant she said that a figure appears from within the black smoke.
Long black hair kept untied and revealing all its lustrous sheen, his face stern and cold with jaw so sharp it could cut. His eyes trained to look at Akiri and no one else.
His black robe is decorated with motif of a flower, signifying his position as someone close to Akiri.
"Kamun, fulfill Elder Pulao's order"
Akiri said in a stern voice, yet it does not undermine her soft personality. The man called Kamun then bowed and his Aura blares in bright Black.
"…A Yurong Clan"
Elder Pulao face turned surprised as his brows knitted together. A very, very unexpected encounter.
"Your words are my order"
Kamun said, and then that bright black Aura solidifies into 15 version of himself.
'Multitude of Selves'
Each version of him then moves out in a different direction, as if they already had prior knowledge of where the Array is.
"Do not ask"
Akiri said, her neutral face somehow makes it seem like she is ready to silence both with haste should they act out of line, even Pulao, who is an Elder finds that it's dangerous to defy her, so he just nods.
"…I do not see anything"
Pulao said while he engrossed himself in fiddling with the device that monitors the entire Academy.
.
.
.
In a courtyard that is empty of anyone, Apostle Kiln wearing black armor arrives. He is wearing a hood and the emblem that connects him to the Camelot was removed.
"Cough cough, shit"
His walk is slow, each one of his steps staggered as he tried his hardest to maintain his focus all the while he pressed a mask closer to his face to stop himself from breathing this toxic gas.
Apostle Kiln is considered a superhuman, but even this weird black smoke chokes his lungs and burns his inside the more he breathes it.
He checks on a device resembling a mirror that shows a pale red dot that symbolizes where the enemy is, given the nature of his mission he will try his hardest to get away from the crowd.
But this thick smoke, so black and green at the same time threatens to suffocate him. Demonic Sect really is a dangerous foe, if this is how they treat an intruder, who knows how they will treat an actual enemy?
Now he understands why The Almighty Lord Hasut is keen on trying to knock the Demonic Sect out, they will be a huge pain in the ass if left alone.
"Fuck, cough cough, where the hell is that ghost cough cough"
His eyes turned teary as he realized that the more he stays here, the more smoke was coming out from seemingly nowhere.
If he stays here any longer, he could really die.
But he noticed a courtyard that is clean of smoke, so he rushed there without thinking. And once he arrived, he let go of his mask that is stained black and vomited all the smoke he inhaled in a form of thick black sludge.
There is still smoke here, but at least it's breathable.
"Shit, fucking shit, I hate this"
Apostle Kiln know that this place must've been a bait, a killing zone meant to trap him, but he really had no choice. And between being suffocated to death or to face possibly thousand upon thousand of Fiends, he much rather the latter.
And sure enough, from within the black smoke that swirls around, a figure wearing a red demon mask can be seen.
His form is cloaked in mist, and the only thing visible is the red eyes and its mask. As if it is just a creature of mask.
"Intruder of the Sect…"
He spoke, voice heavily distorted in a nightmarish tone.
"…You who breach the taboo of the Crimson Birch"
Another form emerges, then another one and another one.
"…Will be treated as a belligerent of our Sect"
Until there was nothing but a set of eyes and red mask surrounding him, Apostle Kiln prepared his sword, he unsheathed the longsword to reveal its silver shines.
"I'm not getting paid enough for this…"
Apostle Kiln remembers the compensation for this mission, 300 Silvers. So, fucking ridiculously low.
Then one of the figures jumps out, his form is a heavy distortion so Apostle Kiln cannot make out anything on what he was trying to do, but he chooses to slash him before finding out.
The form crumpled way too easily, and then another figure did the same.
Apostle Kiln slashed him away all the same, blood showered from the figure and drenched Apostle Kiln black armor in red.
And not just those two that did this;
Five,
Twenty,
Fifty,
Hundred,
Two Hundred.
The longer he slashed the more fatigue he felt, and this fucking smoke clearly doesn't help in rejuvenating him.
But the fact that they die so easily has lightened his heart a bit, maybe fighting his way out of here is possible. That thought only goes for so long, for he realized that the figure he cut down were nowhere to be seen.
"Assessment complete, you are not of Hazhui…"
One of the figures said, no matter how many times he cut them down, their numbers didn't decrease a bit.
Causing Apostle Kiln to gulp a sizeable amount of saliva, now there is only one way to get out.
"From which though? Your scent, the taste of your blood and absent of Aura…"
Abandon mission and everything else…
"…Zweiluch"
And fucking run!
Apostle Kiln braced himself to ram the circling figures and tried to make a run for it. As he did, the figure crumples easily.
No, its as if the one he just ram was not real. Did he fight a clone all this time? Who fucking cares, right now the only way to get out is to run
But that attempt was short lived, the moment he took a whiff of the concentrated smoke his entire lungs collapsed.
"Blerghhh"
And every single hole in his body excretes blood, his eyeball even threatens to fall off from the sheer volume of the blood expelled from his body.
He can feel his organ liquified, his flesh melting from the acidic content of his liver breeching through, this thick black smoke threatens to drown him in his own body.
"Aghhh… invocabo… No… Nomem tuuummmm"
He managed to utter those words in between choked breath, clutching his neck and chest to try and stifle the pain.
But a second later a multitude of blades sink deep from his shoulder, puncturing whatever left of his liquified inside.
"….Zava….nael"
But the moment he invokes those words, his entire body explodes into a thousand pieces, his armor torn to shreds from the sheer force of the explosion, painting the ground with his gore and visceral remains.
"…"
The countless figures stood silently, some stomp their feet in frustration. The intruder has committed suicide, to avoid interrogation and captivity it seems.
But those countless figures eventually disperse into mist, leaving only four of them left.
"Operation failed, the shame, I will bear"
One of the figures speaks, but the other interjects.
"Nay, the shame is for us to bear…"
"From which does he hailed? To commit suicide so brazenly…"
Another figure ponders, but before the other could respond, the gore of his remains screams in high pitch ear piercing shriek.
All the figures were staggered back, clutching their ear from the sheer sound being emitted.
Before the blood of Apostle Kiln rises back up, turning black and converges into one spot. An orb was created, and it expels such an insane thick black Aura that it forced all the figures to retreat.
"W-what in tarnation?"
What they see is a phenomenon beyond this world, every bit of Apostle Kiln. His armor, body parts, blood and whatever was left of him all converge on an orb that shakes violently while a faint scream could be heard coming from it.
"Retreat"
"-!"
From within the figures, a man in long black hair wearing a black robe with flower motif emerge, they instantly knew who he was based on his clothing, but it doesn't mean they will comply to his order.
"We answer only to the Heavenly Demon"
The figure speaks, yet the man didn't press on and forced them to retreat once more.
"Suit yourself then"
The man then produced a sword that flows as if it was a liquid.
"Stay resolute if you wish to stay, what lies before you…"
The man points towards the black orb that soon remolded itself into a humanoid blank of any feature, instead a countless eyes emerge from its black form and peer endlessly into both the four figures and the man.
"…Is a horror beyond comprehension"
-UNDE FLUMEN
It speaks, before its countless eyes reshape itself into a sharp piercing object akin to a bone.
Its words bend the very space, and soon all four of the figures contort in pain. Writhing their own form as they can feel their body being twisted by an unknown force.
-SEPULCRUM EX NOBIS
They tried their best to avoid being torn apart, using every spell, every technique, everything they know and yet the maddening speech continues to contort each and every part of their body.
-MENDACIUM
Now they can't see anything, their world drenched in black for their eyeballs explode inside its socket.
Their bodies twisted, their bones crushed and their veins ruptured before the crushed bone inside further maimed their organs and flesh.
-DECORIS CATENAE
The black humanoid then contorts into a form akin to a chain, only then did the man moved. Seemingly undisturbed even when his entire body was twisted.
"Your filthy presence disturbed Lady Akiri, please expire quietly for her sake"
The man spoke, his voice still clear even when his throat was visibly detached from his body.
-ALBO
"Utter obliteration"
the man speaks, he lightly swings his sword, yet the slash extends outwards cutting the chain-shaped things, the smoke and even the skies above.
"ALBO!"
Now the thing has formed a mouth from which it speaks. Even when it was severed cleanly in half it continues to bend and twist everything around it, distorting the space and everyone caught between it.
"Severed cleanly, Rend in between!"
The man now swings his sword in incredible speed; the speed of his cut was so extreme that it cuts the distorted space around him.
He then utters the full name of his technique as his form clouded in bright black, cut the thing in dark black, it screams one last time.
'Falseslash: True slayer'
.
.
.
"…"
Akiri senses an incredible Aura from where the intruder is presumably at, she lightly glances towards the direction.
"W-what the hell…"
The Maw spoke, in a word normally couldn't be heard coming from him.
"The skies itself,"
Pulao too, were astonished. His eyes lock its gaze towards a cleanly cut vertical line where not even a cloud lingers. As if the Blade of Which Challenge Heaven was reborn, a cut that rend even space itself apart.
Akiri, however, remained motionless. Her gaze, even when blinded, see towards something no one else can see. A being of incredible duty carrying an intense malice towards the mortal.
"…Zavanael"
Akiri now fully understands who the culprit behind the incident is, however, this information cannot be divulged normally. So, she stood up and walked calmly towards the Maw who seemed to silently weep.
Perhaps he can feel his comrade dying somewhere.
"Escort me to the Heavenly Demon, I need to meet the Demon King"
She said in a stern voice, the Maw ceased his weeping and nods. With a bow he held Akiri hand, and their form was engulfed by the mist.
"Once again, I am thankful for your assistance Lord of Bloom"
Pulao didn't ask why she chose to leave. He knows enough not to stick his head to other business.
Akiri simply nods and offers a warm smile before she disappears alongside the Maw.
Not even a second later, Kamun returned. His blank red eyes lock its intense gaze to where Lady Akiri is just a moment ago, finding her not there he inquires about her location to Pulao.
"Where is my lady…"
His voice is deep and unsettling, like a snake coiling before it strikes.
"…She went ahead towards the Heavenly Demon, maybe in the Crimson Palace with a member of the Maw"
Pulao said, choosing to divulge himself in monitoring the Array through the device.
"…"
Kamun silence stretches long, drenching the atmosphere of the area with intense malice. Pulao hums a melody to try and distract himself from the gloom.
"Did the Maw held her hand?"
"…"
Pulao didn't need to investigate Kamun eyes to know just what kind of emotion he was making, this type of man is dangerous.
The question is, should he light the fuse so that the explosion remains localized, or keep the fuse but risk bottling his pressure even more.
"Yes"
BRAK
Not even a beat late, and the anger has taken a hold on Kamun.
"Fucking piece of shit, you are just a mere soldier!"
"…"
"And yet you dare held her hand!! Know your place you fucking vermin!"
Pulao must be content with hearing Kamun venom laced insult as he launched his fist repeatedly into whatever solid mass it ended up in.
Silently wishing that he could just dissolves into the air to escape his tantrum