16, Month Fall-Quatre, Year Elizabeth 402

20:00, Elizabeth Magic Academy

 

 

Inside the rose garden, Wilson donned in black leather armor which also had an iron breastplate. The pants were from the same material with some extra padding on both of his knees. Some throwing javelins could be seen hiding along with the hidden compartment of his pants. The sword that he usually used was attached to his waist. There was also a spear equipped behind his back which would serve as a backup weapon.

His face was cold and his eyes were full of determination. The trace of the scared boy from the past days was gone.

He looked like a knight that was ready to battle!

He was still skeptical about the whole accepting himself thing but he decided to place his trust on sage Khun for now.

His explanation was, after all, the most logical one that he had heard so far. Not only that, he was the only one that had a solution for him, albeit a strange one.

No…

Wilson shook his head. He probably tried to deceive himself just now.

The truth was simple.

He was just a desperate man. He was like a drowning man that would grasp for even a straw if it was thrown in front of him.

While he knew that he could probably wait for his father’s opinion, he also knew that he didn’t actually have much time left.

Whatever this was. It would erupt soon and he couldn’t stop it.

Behind him, Alice was also dressed in her own battle gear. She wore a white color robe that had enhancement done to provide more protection. It looked light, but it could actually resist punch from a triangle-level mage or below completely.

Both of them looked straight ahead, toward the entrance.

After waiting for around 30 minutes, slowly emerged from the entrance was Elnora Tucker. She was still dressed in a blouse and a skirt as she usually wore. A kind smile still hung on her face. Her black long hair tied in a pony-tail swayed lightly at every of her step.

Elnora noted the girl standing behind Wilson in surprise but nothing showed on her face except a brief moment of amaze which disappeared instantly as it appeared.

“Is there something you two want to consult with me?” She asked Wilson as he was the one who was asking her to come.

But the one who answered first actually Alice.

“Yes.” she said expressionlessly. “It seems like Wilson wants to kill you, teacher.”

“…”

“...”

“*Cough* *Cough*” Wilson coughed unstoppably. He then sent a glare toward Alice. But the person herself was no feel responsible at all. She even sent him a gaze that seemed to say “Go on. Fight her.”

“…”

“...Is this about the killing urge that you used to feel, Wilson?” sensing the awkward atmosphere between them, Elnora decided to ask a question to ease the mood.

“Yes, teacher.” without another way around, Wilson accepted. “Recently, someone actually pointed out that my urge was actually direct toward you.”

“Your killing urge was actually direct toward me? So, you want to kill me?” asked back Elnora. Even when faced with such a shocking revelation, a gentle smile still evidenced on her face.

“Well...Yes, but actually no….” Wilson stammered. “It’s not like I want to kill you, teacher. Some part of me wants to.”

“Interesting, isn’t it? Is that also why you two are fully dressed for battle like that?” Elnora laughed lightly at his explanation.

“I...It is just for a formality... something like that.”

“Hmm…” Elnora mumbled thoughtfully. She slowly walked toward until she was directly in front of Wilson. She then asked, her voice still gentle as before. “So, who was it?”

“...Who?” Wilson was at a loss for word when faced with an unexpected question.

“Who was the one that told you that?” Elnora repeated. Her face was still kind but her eyes, now, were lacking of any emotions.

“...”

KILL HER.

“Seeing that you two are together. Should I assume that this person is also the one that helped you with your breakthrough, miss Alice?” asked the teacher toward the girl in the back but Alice didn’t cooperate. She just watched back silently, her eyes cold.

“...”

“I will take that as a yes, then.”

“Teacher…” dumbfounded, Wilson tried to talk to Elnora. She turned toward him slowly. She smiled sweetly and continued.

“An urge to kill me. Interesting...This is like that legend, isn’t it?”

KILL HER!

“What legend, teacher?”

“Well... You might not know about it. It was not that well known among humans, after all.” Elnora came closer toward Wilson, so close that he could smell her perfume. It should be fragrance and fresh yet it made him felt nauseated.

“Human… Teacher… What do you mean?” confused with where Elnora was going, Wilson’s speech was broken. He found it hard to form a word in his head and spoke it out. The boy looked at the woman in front of him. She looked as if she was a different person. He felt like he didn’t know her at all!

“The legend of the purgatory knights, those people that spend all their life hunting demons, Wilson. They were said to have a special sense to detect demons, so no concealing magic ever worked against them.” Elnora shook her head slightly when said that. There was a hint of annoyance in her voice.

KILL HER NOW!

“It seemed like my cover was doomed now. But at least killing a young unawakened purgatory knight would be counted as a big contribution enough.”

“Teacher...What are you...?”

“Wilson! Get back from her. NOW—”

The warning came too late!

Elnora’s eyes flashed. She suddenly used her right hand as a spear stabbing toward Wilson—aiming straight for his hearth. The air shook as if it was split from the force of the hand alone. The power of it was simply too powerful for a mere hand.

Wilson wanted to dodge it but the hand was fast... too fast that he couldn’t even see it properly.

When he came to noticed it, the hand was already in front of his chest!

—But that was when Alice came in. When she saw that Elnora was approaching Wilson, she already noticed that the atmosphere was not right.

Alice thought back to sage Khun’s word.

[This will be the most difficult battle you face in your life yet ...]

Did sage Khun really say that as something abstract? No! He meant it literally! He wanted to warn that a fight would break out for sure.

That was why she never trust Elnora to begin with. That was also why she already prepared a defensive spell—Ice Shield—beforehand. When she shouted that warning, she also cast the spell toward Wilson at the same time.

Peng! The metallic sound rang. It was not like the sound of a hand and ice collided at all rather it was as if it was a sound of a spear striking against a shield.

The loud sound awoke Wilson completely. He looked at the ice shield that floated in front of him, his back broke in cold sweats.

If Alice didn’t cast the spell in time...

Wilson gulped. The force of the spear hand that Elnora unleashed was simply too unimaginable. The armor of his would probably be as if a thin paper toward it.

The boy looked at the woman in front of him. He still was unsure what was actually happening but he knew one thing for sure.

She is an enemy!

He unsheathed his sword ready to battle also. But that was when the voice rang in his head once more—

UNSEAL ME.

Normally, he would let it pass away without paying any attention. But this time was different, he complied with the voice. He ripped his black bandage apart. There was no hesitation in his action at all and his black right arm became freed in no time!

KILL.

The same word rang. This time clearer than before.

This was actually the first time that he unwrapped his bandage in front of Elnora. While she was helping him before, it was only some minor bits of advice and some dispel magic. He never took his bandage off.

That was why he was so shocked that the voice he heard was very clear this time.

KILL HER.

It was then he noticed. The owner of the voice he heard, all this time, was his voice all along. Before this, because he didn’t want to believe it that was why it was unrecognizable.

After he accepted it, it was as if a dam had been broken through. The black color—the darkness in his right arm—flooded out of them, filling his entire body.

The change was actually taking place inside, in his own magic circle, not outside. The black color of his arm faded out but more and more darkness filled inside his body. Wilson could feel that the darkness slowly invaded all the part of his magic passage, painting it all black.

But black was not the only color of it.

Red.

There was also red color mixed within, but as the black was so strong, everything seemed to get blackened by it.

It was as if all of his magic got baptized by it, all mana inside his body changed instantly. It changed from the colorless mana into something else.

It was a dark flame.

The flame was darker than the darkness itself, yet it was also somehow radiate holiness much stronger than the light.

The purgatory flame.

In the ancient time where demons dominated the world and human life was worthless than livestock. They were a group of men who suddenly emerged. The origin of them was unknown but there was one thing they all had in common—the dark flame.

With the power from the dark flame, they pushed back the demon and established a human territory in the continent.

Centuries passed and the conflict between human and demon deescalated. That was why they become less and less frequent until the story behind them got forgotten entirely by the human.

Now, it became a legend only among demons. And they became the highest priority that they would kill them on sight at all cost!

The demon called them the purgatory knight.

 

---

All those changes took time to describe but it actually took less than a second. The event now was still at the time when Elnora struck against the shield.

“Hah! Cheap spell!” Elnora’s eyes turned cold as she looked at the Ice Shield in front of her, she sneered but—

“You!”

—that was when she noticed that the boy in front of her had taken a complete change, the bandage no longer warped around his right hand. And he was radiated of profound killing intent.

“KILL.” Wilson’s eyes turned red. As he was suppressed it for so long, the awakening of the purgatory flame completely took control of his body.

Black and red became intertwined and the purgatory flame erupted forth. It enveloped his body and his sword. His right arm then moved on its own and slashed toward the woman in front of him.

Caught unprepared, Elnora tried to dodge it, but the dark flame was simply too large. This was, after all, the first eruption of the boy the first time in months!

She could dodge the sword itself but not the flame.

“Argh!” Elnora screamed painfully as the flame erupted toward her. Her entire body got burned by it. Only after Elnora cast a water spell to drench her body would the flame died down.

Multiple burn wounds could still be seen around her body. They seemed light but the damage was actually deep down inside her body. As the natural enemy for the dark element, the purgatory flame was very effective against it!

A crack started to occur on the skin of Elnora’s body, showing the true color of her skin underneath—blue.

Her skin was blue.

She was never a human, to begin with.

She was a demon.

“You… human!”

There was no longer any trace of the beautiful and kind teacher trace on her anymore.

Elnora’s face twisted madly. Her eyes were now blood red as they were currently staring at the preys in front of her. The power inside her body burst out fully and the aura of a hexagon level mage exploded!

The aura filled the entire area with an oppressive feeling that made Alice’s and Wilson’s faces pale instantly!

“You two will die here today.”