A weird burning pain seared in his chest, Regulus opened his eyes, the bright artificial light in the hall causing him to close them again for a moment.
"Old fucking bastard." He muttered, holding his head in pain.
Besides him, Regulus noticed some of the other students waking up, some had already woken up and looked rather angry, and some were still passed out unconscious in their chairs.
"Is that a common way to greet people here?" A familiar voice asked, his voice carrying annoyance.
"Not that I know of." Regulus answered, the pain in his body had subsided.
"Looks like you're awake." The same coarse, oddly annoying voice broke through the loud confusion.
"Well, most of you." It continued.
Morteas looked around the hall filled with first years, he couldn't help but smile a little at the amount of talent that was sitting in front of him.
"Now that you're all awake." He smiled, "Why don't we start with the 256th Orientation of Central Academy?"
Morteas clapped his hand loudly and a loud gust of wind moved across the hall.
"I am, as many of you may know Morteas Reynold. Your headmaster for this year, and hopefully for many more to come." Morteas started, gaining the attention of everyone in the room.
Morteas Reynold was a name known throughout the world, The Flame Emperor who won a war without an army. A living legend and someone you did NOT want to get on the bad side of.
"I won't give you a long speech about heroics and how you're supposed to be protectors of humanity." He stopped, "Let me make this clear. Most of you will die, maybe not in your academic years, but soon enough, a gate will go wrong, a war may start, and you will most likely die."
He let the words sink in, the other kids shifted uncomfortably in their chairs, but Regulus knew the man was right.
He wasn't talking about his own death, which would come in a year from now, allegedly, but, a year from now, in the final exams of the first year, almost 80% of them would end up dying.
Regulus momentarily paused as the memory spread through his head, the words slowly echoed in his mind.
The timings matched up, he almost cursed himself for not understanding it sooner.
'So that's how I die.' He thought begrudgingly.
Before he could let any more panic, or doubt settle in, his attention shifted towards the man at the centre of the stage.
"I know some of you may want to argue about it, but the truth still stands, you will die, and my job is to make sure that you die fulfilling your duties."
The first years shifted uncomfortably in their chairs for a few more moments, although some of the more prideful nobles felt like saying something, they didn't dare interrupt The Flame Emperor.
"Now, that's still a long way in the future, for now, you have time to make sure that you can survive, Central Academy has every facility you can imagine, the best instructors in the world. The environment to turn you into the strongest person alive!" His voice boomed.
"The Strongest in history have attended and started their journey in the very hall you sit in. Their names have been etched into the minds of every human alive, Their legends have passed down as a warning to the Beasts. A warning that humanity will rise above any difficulties it faces. A warning that humans are the top of this world."
Had he not heard, or read, this speech before, Regulus knew he would probably be feeling some special fire of determination building in his chest.
"You are the future of Humanity, and you have the chance to make the most of your lives in these halls. Etch your name into people's hearts and become a legend of your own. Your journey, cadets, starts now!"
Applause and cheers filled the hall, most of the first years forgot that the man hyping them up had knocked them out who knows how long ago, just for the fuck of it.
Although Regulus couldn't help but smile a little, Morteas wasn't wrong. Of the 20% in this hall that were to survive, they would almost certainly become heroes in their own right.
His mind went back to the knowledge of the massacre soon to come. 'The Central Academy Massacre.' it would be titled.
Regulus couldn't let that tragic event happen. Plot be damned!
His eyes scanned somewhere towards the top, and his eyes landed on a handsome fellow with the looks of a model.
'Chris Black.' The hero of this story.
The one he had cursed out in his previous life, moments before dying. The one who would save this world.
'Will he?' The uncomfortable thought circled in his mind.
Fatebound had mentioned at the end of the chapter that it was the final chapter of volume 10, and the next two volumes would conclude the story.
And Regulus didn't know what happened in those, what was supposed to happen.
He still had so many unanswered questions, but instead of needing them to fill his curiosity, he needed them for survival.
"I'll get strong enough to deal with it myself." Or so he hoped he would. Sure, his knowledge would help him, but, a small part of him still remained worried.
Did his brother really jump over the edge because of his death?
For all he knew, he could survive the massacre that was going to kill him, and then get stabbed like his father did the moment he returned home.
That made his body heavy, he didn't like the idea, he didn't like thinking about it, he didn't like trying to rationalise it.
Because, he knew, that it could very likely be true.
And that was the least of his worries.
The final antagonist of Demon's Descent was The Primal Beast: Varkon. A being who had defeated humanity's strongest in a one against five.
Regulus felt uncomfortable knowing that information, he knew who the strongest five humans were.
The leaders of each of the empires.
The current leader of the empire he was in, lazily named 'Central Empire.' was a man named Karlon Von Selvaris. The man was the pinnacle of human strength, he had single-handedly killed a Draconic Beast without breaking a sweat.
And all of them were equally strong, and all of them got killed by a single beast.
But that was something future Regulus had to worry about. Right now, his gaze shifted to the stage, and Chris Black was nervously giving a speech.
"So I hope all of us can get along and work for a better future." He finished and the crowd gave small polite applause.
However, most of the nobles stared at the Protagonist and Hero with disdain and glares.
It was only the second time in history that a commoner had ranked first who had reached the title of "Crown."
The position of the crown gave many things, a personal gym, the best dorm, free meals and the best equipment available. The most important thing was that he was the leader in the first years.
What he said goes, and he was the one who was supposed to keep them in check.
Although Regulus didn't care about these things, he had a lot of other stuff to worry about.