Everyone’s mouth opened wide; disbelief was shown in their faces.
Emperor Marcus slammed the armrest of his high chair, “When did he learn this spell?! And how does he have lightning mana essence?!”
“Your Imperial Majesty, maybe he already has it before? After all, we never really know what mana essences this student had because the measuring platform exploded when he tried it before.”, Dean James reasoned out.
He hesitated before adding, “And we never dared to do it again because as you can see, we only have a limited number of measuring platforms to boast.”
In his mind, he thought, `What if the measuring platform exploded again? Purchasing them from the Elden Conglomerate costs a large sum of mana cores. Moreover, creating them isn’t worthwhile either.`
`I don’t want to bet on it, trying to disprove that that brat doesn’t have an indeterminate mana core grade.`
That was why the entire Great School deans decided to let Zachariel’s grade be undetermined for an indefinite amount of time.
In that way, they could make up ridiculous reasons based on his undetermined grade, ranging from preventing him from graduating, or not letting him take part in the Prospect evaluation tests during his 2nd and/or 3rd year in the Great Schools.
However, the twitching motion in Dean James’s mouth gave way that he didn’t want to believe it either.
Lightning mana essence was too rare and as equally dangerous as the dark mana essence.
Emperor Marcus had to use his position to force the Mage Guild in giving a free pass on a lightning-based cultivation dimension so that Kane could gather them.
He also employed the help of Wille, his adviser who was a powerful mage, to regulate the destructive lightning rampaging inside Kane’s body.
If Zachariel could easily manage the lightning mana essence in his body without anyone’s help, then he was simply far more talented than Kane.
“Then what about the elemental clone spell? Are you telling me that someone taught him about that?!”, Emperor Marcus angrily retorted.
The deans and instructors couldn’t answer.
Kane learned it after being handed by a bunch of spell books that came from Elder Malcolm’s help.
So where did Zachariel have the chance to learn the said spell?
Emperor Marcus had tailed Zachariel for so long that he knew where this guy has been going in the past few weeks.
And each location wasn’t any suitable place to learn a spell, nor a black-market place to ‘purchase’ spellbooks like the elemental clone spell.
`Did he… know of it after observing my son earlier?!`
Although this thought was too ridiculous, Emperor Marcus couldn’t find any other plausible explanation about it either.
As for the Higher Elders, they were more concerned with maintaining the formation than anything else.
Supreme Elder Wyngella had her thoughts, but time was of the essence and the climax of this said trial was about to be reached.
Meanwhile, Dean William regretted his decision for not lending a hand to Zachariel when he needed it.
`He was this skillful but we neglected him instead?!`
If he had the power to turn back time, he surely would’ve done things differently. However, now wasn’t the time for regrets.
`I hope they have made it back right now. Eh? Where’s Matthias? He was just here a few moments ago?`, Dean Williams looked around, including to where the human Prospects were at but Matthias wasn’t there.
Among the Imperium Golden Guardians and the Guild Leaders who were sent to the border to guard against what was reported, a huge demon beast attack, many other people remained to witness the long-awaited event.
`He was definitely among one of the people who were excited about this match, but he’s nowhere to be found?`
It was strange. A fellow like Matthias wasn’t one to default on simple words like being interested in watching a fight.
Kane’s howling gathered his attention back to the platform.
“No! This isn’t right! That’s a fake elemental clone and lightning mana essence! There’s no way you could imitate me you damn copycat!”, he created another lightning clone.
Zachariel didn’t listen to Kane’s nonsense and charged out to attack. His lightning clone followed behind him, preparing a powerful lightning strike.
Kane’s two lightning clones merged, forming a bigger and stronger clone. It then lunged at Zachariel, launching a lightning strike.
Kane retreated farther as his clone dealt with Zachariel.
“Let’s see you deal with this, you son of a bitch!”
His words stirred an emotion hidden deep within Zachariel’s heart.
`Son of a bitch, huh?!`
The lightning quickly flashed to Zachariel. He dove forward and rolled on the ground, slightly evading the attack.
“Your clone’s dead!”, Kane rejoiced.
The attack hit Zachariel’s clone, however, it seemed to have absorbed the lightning mana essence that tried to destroy it.
“No, impossible! Fireball!”, Kane launched an intense fiery ball with great destructive power.
Zachariel noticed and jumped forward to intercept Kane’s attack.
`Dark Shield!`
His dark mana essence easily absorbed the attack, landing on the ground in a cool manner.
Kane’s heart faltered when he saw how Zachariel managed his fireball at ease. Amidst his wavering, a loud lightning cry resonated.
In his bewildered eyes, he saw his lightning clone being slowly absorbed by a behemoth of a lightning figure that was Zachariel’s clone.
It grasped Kane’s clone, tearing its insides like a butcher.
The clone roared like a demon beast, sending out lightning flashes in the surrounding area.
Once it was finished, it looked at Kane devilishly.
Lightning mana essence gathered at its fingertips, sending out a powerful lightning strike.
“No-!”
Kane was hit directly, pushed to the edge of the platform, and collided with the barrier.
“No, my son!”, Emperor Marcus’s heart softened.
He couldn’t bear to see his son in a distraught manner.
“Nobody… calls my mother a bitch.”, Zachariel spoke softly such that only Kane could hear it.
Kane laughed with blood trickling out of his mouth.
For some reason, his mind was filled with intense hatred.
“Your mother… is a bitch! Don’t you know Zachariel?!”
“My father and I killed your family! We killed your entire household! How I wish it was done sooner that you wouldn’t have the time to be born in this world!”
“I hate you, and I hate the way how you flaunt your talent to everyone else!”
His loud words were clearly heard by everyone. They were left speechless about how brutal Kane’s thoughts were.
In Anastasia’s bedroom.
The little girl wailed in sorrow as Kane revealed the people responsible for the early demise of the Strom Household.
She was very lucky that she was in the Summer Household when the tragedy happened, yet unlucky at the same time as only Zachariel and Amelia were the only people remained who were close to her.
“They killed mother. They killed father! Brother, give me justice! Avenge mother and father! Avenge Uncle Zwein! Avenge grandpa! I beg of you, please!”
Her stifled voice, caused by the intense pain her heart suffered, reached out to the magic screen that displayed her big brother’s figure.
In the other parts of the Great Human Imperium, many people witnessed Kane’s revelation.
“How cruel! How ruthless! What sort of Royal Family are they if they dare to do such devious stuff no less different than a demon beast, to the people who willingly gave their lives to the Imperium!”, a man angrily shouted.
“I will not allow such cruelty to remain in our lands! I want to live peacefully, and I want my efforts to be well-received! Not to be damned by the bastards whom I work for with my life on the line!”, another one added.
Zachariel’s heart wanted to feel angry and sorrowful, but only indifference flowed within his heart.
He grabbed Kane’s head and smashed it at the barrier.
Bang!
“Urf!”, Kane groaned but Zachariel didn’t end it there.
“You sure are prideful of your talent. How about I extinguish that source of pride from that egoistic mouth of yours?”, his cold words terrified Kane.
“No-!”
Zachariel gathered dark mana essence, infusing it within Kane’s mana nerves.
The latter wailed. His body was scorching hot with tears falling down his eyes.
The dark mana essence tore his body inside out. The suffering was made worse as Zachariel injected some lightning mana essence too.
He wanted the arrogant prince to feel what pain was like. His expression didn’t show anger, but his actions did.
Emperor Marcus couldn’t stand it anymore.
“You brat! You better stop it right here, right now! Or else, I won’t dare promise that your dear loved ones would make it tomorrow!”
An oppressive force put Emperor Marcus in a kneeling position.
“Emperor Marcus, are you testing my patience?!”, Supreme Elder Wyngella lashed out.
After hearing how cruel the Royal Family was, her attitude towards them changed for the worse.
Moreover, Emperor Marcus was deliberately trying to interfere with the results of the trial. Threatening the other participant to not kill the other already stepped beyond the boundary.
Emperor Marcus held on, trying to fight back Supreme Elder Wyngella’s oppressive force.
“Your… Majesty! Don’t fight back!”, the man clad in armor beside him advised. His muffled old voice reached out to Emperor Marcus but the latter rejected.
“I’m sorry… Uncle Walker! But this is the only choice I have!”
He didn’t want Kane to die and have Zachariel remain alive.
“Guards…!!! On… me!”
Supreme Elder Wyngella was amused by Emperor Marcus’s futile resistance.
The ‘audiences’ that sat on the stands synchronously stood up and ‘unmasked’ themselves, revealing a set of golden-plated armors, while the others wore polyqepril armors that were extremely durable and strong.
{Author’s Note: In case you forgot, polyqepril is dubbed to be the overall best metal in Pandragea.}
Helena cried out.
“The Exalted Golden Imperium Guards? Why are they here?!”
“The Exalted… what?”, Victoria was confused.
Jean and Scarlet walked up to them. Clearly, Jean detected the hostile and malicious intents that each of these Imperium guards held within their hearts.
“The Exalted Golden Imperium Guards. They are previous Prospect students from the Great Schools who pledged their allegiance to the one and only emperor of the Great Human Imperium!”
“They are all at least diamond-level experts!”
Scarlet worried.
“Then aren’t they powerful?”
“Yes, and it seems like their target is us, no!”, Jean was shocked as his Eyes of Veracity revealed everything in plain sight, “Everyone in this coliseum who is against Emperor Marcus’s rule!”
The Imperium guards coldly drew their swords, intimidating the other audiences who were watching on the sides.
This made Supreme Elder Wyngella even more disappointed than ever.
“Since you want to test me, I shall give you an answer.”, Supreme Elder Wyngella coldly raised her right hand and channeled gold divine essence into it.
She abruptly clenched her fists, shouting, “Mark of Authority!”
The Imperium guards, including the Exalted Golden ones all knelt in one motion without much resistance.
Despite their profound cultivation level, they were no match against a divined being’s single divine spell.
Their weapons dropped to the ground.
Thalanil scoffed at Emperor Marcus’s stupidity. He too, felt Supreme Elder Wyngella’s oppressive force coming from her Mark of Authority.
Kane’s defeat was already inevitable. All of his actions were just wasting Zachariel and everyone’s effort and time.
Furthermore, they blatantly eradicated the Strom Household under the pretense that a wave of demon beasts invaded Brion City on that same day.
`Are they working with the Templars?!`, Zachariel narrowed his eyes.
They were the people responsible for Amelia being taken away from him, and now, in his eyes, they were related to the untimely demise of the Strom Household.
`These people have been targeting me, and everyone I know of because of my so-called talent.`
At some point, Zachariel felt that it was more of a burden than a blessing to him.
“Prince Kane Cromwell, you will atone for your sins for the death of my dear brother, Hal Strom, the entire Strom Household, and how much of an evil person you are in general.”
He pointed his left hand shaped like the edge of a blade and imbued with qi essence. Zachariel was in for the kill.
“Yeah, yeah. Even if I didn’t really kill this Hal Strom, I hoped I did.”, Kane already lost all hope.
He was just blurting out pretenses, attempting to annoy Zachariel.
Even the hatred in his heart was starting to fall out. The voice inside him seemed inaudible anymore as he no longer heard its ramblings the moment Zachariel roasted his body with dark mana essence.
However, his last words unsettled Zachariel.
“You-you didn’t kill Hal?”
Kane spurted out blood on himself, looking at Zachariel’s stupefied expression. He felt elated inside.
“How I wished I did-!”
Zachariel stomped his feet on Kane’s back. The latter gruntled.
“Then who was it?! Who killed him?!”
“Ah, Zachariel. I wish to know too, hehehe…”
He cackled, coughing out more blood in the process. Kane’s temperament implied that if someone was to do the big stuff, it would have to be himself.
There was no way he would use his ‘servants’ to do any job which he redeemed as extraordinary. An arrogant person like him wanted to take most, if not all, the credit due when accomplishing something significant.
Moreover, the results have to be exemplary and reach their relevant audiences as far and fast as possible.
And Zachariel understood this fact after deliberate thinking on his part over the last few months, which were then supplemented by his recent interactions with Kane and Emperor Marcus.
If Kane wanted to kill Hal, why would he risk invading the dormitories when he could abduct him and commit the deed somewhere safe?
Then after being satisfied, he would gift his ‘work of art’ to Zachariel any time he wished and relay whatever message he wanted to send.
There was no way an educated man like him fail in the basic way of messing with their enemies.
Kane would obviously not let the public know it was his doing. He wasn’t that insane of a person since it was a crime worthy of death penalty.
If anything, only Zachariel had to be informed of such atrocity.
The moment he would report it to authorities, nevertheless, no subsequent investigations would be made due to the lack of evidence.
That could be made possible because of the combined effort of Kane and his father in making things hard for Zachariel.
Zachariel’s imagination ran wild but it was cut off when the formation suddenly trembled.
[ Warning: Imminent danger to host detected ] [ Assessing further parameters… ]`Imminent danger?!`, Zachariel worried.
These weird panels in his eyes would only show themselves in critical moments like this one. Zachariel wanted to investigate it but he didn’t have the time, nor the knowledge or relevant information to continue.
He looked up instead and noticed the serious expression Supreme Elder Wyngella had.
She looked at Elder Malcolm and sternly asked him.
“What in the world are you doing, Elder Malcolm Cromwell?!”
Elder Malcolm was sweating profusely. Clearly, the task of maintaining the formation wasn’t easy.
“I won’t let mine, my son, and my grandson’s legacy end here, Supreme Elder. As foolish as I am, this is the only way…”
“No, don’t!”
Supreme Elder Wyngella wanted to stop him but it was too late.
Elder Malcolm gathered divine essence in his body, trying all of his might to remove himself as part of the formation’s core entity.
Although he would be punished for it, it was worthwhile since Supreme Elder Wyngella and the rest would be implicated too.
This would remove the pressure from his son, Emperor Marcus, allowing him to mobilize the Imperium guards and save Kane, then deal with Zachariel once everything else was over.
“Marcus! Everything else is up to you! Do not put my sacrifice in vain!”, Elder Malcolm called out.
“Father…”, Emperor Marcus teared up. To think that his father went to great lengths just to lend them assistance in these dire hours of the Royal Family.
At that moment, the formation flickered and became unstable. With this, the tremors increased in intensity.
Above the Imperium Capital City, dark clouds gathered, swirling with the public training area at its center.
Thunder rumbled and lightning would flash here and there.
The animals ran wild with others running as fast as they can to escape the city, afraid to be implicated by the impending destruction.
The essence of death permeated throughout the entire city. All of its residents trembled in fear, with many prophesizing that they have invoked the wrath of something powerful and now it was striking to adhere punishment towards them.
“All of you, come to me!”, Elder Gorfo gathered the five elden Prospects then went over the other elden students and put a large barrier to protect them.
He knew something big was about to happen.
“Tarron, head over to those human Prospects and gather the rest! Protect them!”, Thalanil was flustered.
He didn’t expect Elder Malcolm to sabotage the formation. Before he could ready himself up, the deathly hum resounded again.
Death’s door seemed to have opened in front of everyone’s eyes.
A creepy voice entered their ears, carrying with it a tone of anger as if it was betrayed.
“Dassor… Sarvalhine… Kal… Vhi… Ron… Vhi-cantus!”
