Chapter 88: Iron Dragon (1)
"This must remain a closely guarded secret." The Academy principal looked at the administrators and judges.
Everyone was watching Lucius walk out through the main entrance. Noah was taken for medical treatment, just in case he needed it.
All the administrators and judges nodded, swallowing hard.
"If any of you say a word about what happened here, I don’t care which family you come from or which faction you represent: I will find you and make you pay. Is that clear?"
Everyone nodded quickly and replied in unison with a simple, "Yes."
It’s not as if anyone would believe them, right?
They left, and the only two remaining were Andrew and the principal.
Andrew watched Lucius’s back with a frown...
"If any of this comes to light, the imminent danger facing this star will be so great that it could drag us all down into the mud."
"A Rising Star... When that legendary Top Ranker earned that title, he was just a child, and he did such amazing things that people thought he’d be the next The EX. And then he proved he had what it took to reach that level. It’s a shame he met such an untimely end."
"However, this time, he might be even better. Right, principal?"
The principal remained silent...
It was hard to judge a Rising Star, and he never imagined he’d get to see one in his lifetime.
"I’ll leave you in charge for these next few weeks, Andrew. I’m going to the capital," the principal said suddenly.
Andrew frowned. "I’ve been out of the academic world for over 30 years..."
"You still know how to do it. You discovered a genius, didn’t you?" The principal laughed and patted him on the shoulder before leaving.
Andrew fell silent, lost in thought.
--
Huge, deserted hallways, with large windows on the right and occasional small doors and windows on the left, greeted Lucius’s solitary figure.
The gold and red decorations showed that he was among the academy’s highest-ranking departments: an A-Rank Department... No. Actually, a little higher than that.
He wasn’t in the Tool Creation Department, but rather in the Executive Department, where the famous S-Rank Classes take place.
However, the current New Asturias Academy has no students who have been able to reach that Class, so it remains empty for most of the year.
Although there are still four people registered as part of the S-Rank Classes, none of them are at the New Asturias Academy; they went to the capital.
As he walked through this extraordinary building—which featured state-of-the-art technology and numerous marvelous works of art, like a museum—Lucius considered his next moves.
THUNDER!
A powerful clap of thunder snapped him out of his thoughts; it was so loud that it made the windows and the floor shake.
’Rain right now?’ Lucius frowned and looked up.
Outside, it looked like a once-in-a-thousand-years downpour was falling. Lightning flashed constantly, and the windows rattled violently.
Everything was dark, even though it was daytime.
He was perplexed for a moment. Just this morning it had been a beautiful, sunny day—how could it suddenly start raining so hard?
CRACK!
CRACK!
Suddenly, the windows shattered into pieces, and Lucius raised his hand to shield himself from the shards of glass flying toward him.
He didn’t have time to dodge them, so he resigned himself to being struck by them.
"Hm?" Lucius watched the shards of glass float toward him and come to a stop just centimeters from his body.
Suddenly, he felt the ground crack. It was as if a massive earthquake had suddenly shaken the world.
However, he remained standing in place. He watched the ground crack, but it didn’t break.
He saw the shards of glass floating around him, but they didn’t touch him.
The windows were shattered, their frames rattling violently in the breeze. Everything around him was in shambles, but he was unharmed.
A terrifying weight was bearing down on his shoulders and head. But he still endured it.
"You have great mental strength... Or are you just crazy?" A sudden voice shook the surroundings. It sounded ancient and dangerous. Deadly and powerful.
Lucius looked back. He heard it coming from there, but immediately knew it wasn’t there. He looked up through the windows.
It was over there. He couldn’t see it, but he was sure the vibrations of the voice were coming from there.
"Given your silence, I’ll say you’re a good kind of crazy," the voice laughed.
Lucius sighed. "I don’t think I’m any crazier than you," he said.
"Oh? Do you know who I am?"
"Who wouldn’t know?"
"I don’t think anyone knows who I am."
"Really?" Lucius shrugged and turned his body slightly to the left. "I think everyone knows who you are, even if they can’t identify you." Lucius smiled with a hint of mischief. "Right, Iron Dragon?"
THUNDER!
THUNDER!
Two bolts of lightning struck right at the window Lucius was looking at. They were so powerful and sounded so loud that Lucius had to quickly turn his head away and try to cover his ears.
The effects were like an earthquake that shook the surrounding area... but it didn’t shake him.
Lucius then turned his attention back to the window... there was a man there, standing and leaning against the window frame.
He looked to be about 35 years old; physically, he seemed to be in the prime of his life. But that was just a facade.
"I never thought a little student would recognize me. You know? Not even the Global Top can do that. There are still many out there looking for me." The man nicknamed Iron Dragon laughed.
Lucius smiled slightly. "Don’t think I’m just an ordinary student, Iron Dragon."
"I don’t think so." Iron Dragon shrugged. "You’re not Lucius Asturias... but at the same time, you are Lucius Asturias. I’m intrigued, but honestly, I’m more afraid of where you came from than I am eager to find out, so I’ll keep my mouth shut."
Lucius’s eyes widened in surprise, and he suddenly burst out laughing.
"I didn’t imagine the Iron Dragon was the scaredy-cat type."
"Tsk, who says I am? But it’s natural to fear the strong." The man vanished from where he stood and reappeared right in front of Lucius. "Well then? You’ve been trying for several months to get the attention of a hidden madman, and now I can see that it’s me. So I’m very curious. Why, how, and when?"