The God Of Destruction's Academy Life

Outside the forest, where the professors had gathered, all of them stood staring at the barrier before them with intense focus. Fear showed in some, nervousness in others, and a few simply refused to believe what they were seeing. Marcus, Edmund, Helen, Ronald, and every other professor present stood fixed on the barrier ahead.

Every mouth hung open. None of them could find words for what they were witnessing. Ronald glanced to his right, at Eric, who was kneeling on the ground with both knees pressed into the dirt. There was an emotion in his eyes that none of the other professors carried: terror. Ronald swallowed hard, then called out to him.

"Lord Eric."

Eric didn’t respond. His eyes stayed locked on the barrier ahead. Ronald called out again, and this time Eric came back to his senses, turning his head toward him.

"Lord Eric, what is that? I’m certain this is no ordinary barrier. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. What is it?"

Eric heard the question, but he didn’t answer right away. He turned his gaze back to the barrier for a long moment before finally rising to his feet. He wasn’t sure how to say what needed to be said. After a deep breath to steady himself, he finally gave Ronald his answer.

"You’re right, Ronald. This is no ordinary barrier. This is a Rank Ten barrier."

Hearing that, Ronald’s already-shaken expression deepened into outright shock. Rank Ten. There was a weight to that word alone, because it wasn’t an ordinary rank. Throughout the entire history of this world, only a handful of individuals had ever achieved it. It carried its own separate title: Demi-God rank. Those who reached this rank could level an entire kingdom with a single attack if they chose to. It was a rank that had carved its name into history itself, one that only a few people in the whole world could ever hope to reach. The current holders were the Demon King, the Dragon King, and, lastly, from the human race, Lady Catherine. These were figures almost impossible to imagine standing against. And now, a barrier of that exact same rank had sealed off the entire forest, with their students trapped inside it.

"Whose work could this possibly be, Lord Eric, that they were able to create a barrier like this? The Demon King and the Dragon King would never do something like attacking the academy. We’ve held a peace treaty with them for five thousand years. And if it isn’t them, then who else could possibly be Rank Ten?"

Eric listened closely, turning the question over in his own mind as he studied the barrier. After a long moment, he spoke.

"This isn’t the work of a single person. It’s most likely the work of a group. And this barrier wasn’t created by either of them. There’s no trace of demonic mana or draconic mana in it at all. This was made from corrupted mana."

The instant Ronald heard the words "corrupted mana," everything clicked into place. The shock that had gripped him only moments before ignited into something closer to rage. He turned back to the barrier with fury burning in his eyes, and through gritted teeth, he said only one word.

"Death Order."

Eric heard that furious word leave Ronald’s mouth and turned to look at him. His eyes had gone red, his teeth clenched hard enough to grind, and his fists were balled tight at his sides. But Eric wasn’t surprised by the intensity of his anger. He understood exactly why. Given the name that had just been spoken, that rage made perfect sense. After a moment, Eric turned his gaze back to the barrier and began walking toward it, then stopped and turned to face the gathered professors.

Most of them were still staring at the barrier with fear and disbelief written across their faces. Eric drew in a deep breath before addressing the group.

"Esteemed professors, assistant professors, and everyone gathered here, I know that seeing this barrier has raised a number of questions in your minds. What kind of barrier is this? Why does it have this structure? Why is it so powerful? Many such questions may be crossing your minds right now, and there is one answer to all of them. This is no ordinary barrier. This is a Rank Ten barrier."

The moment he said this, every professor present grew even more alarmed. Even Professor Marcus, who could usually keep his composure under nearly any circumstance, looked visibly shaken by the words. Everyone here understood exactly what "Rank Ten" meant, and hearing it spoken aloud made the full weight of the situation sink in.

"Many of you may feel a flicker of fear upon hearing that name. But we cannot afford to give in to it. Our children are trapped inside that barrier, and as their guardians, it is our duty to protect them. And we will. But there’s no reason for us to be afraid, because we know exactly who stands with us. With him on our side, there’s no reason to worry so much for those children."

At his words, a wave of relief passed through many of the professors present, because everyone knew exactly who had been admitted to this academy as a student: the God of Destruction. With him there, there was little cause for concern.

Just then, an assistant professor who had been monitoring a screen behind the group suddenly pointed at it urgently.

"Lord Eric, I think you need to see this. There are some strange people approaching Lord Necrotize’s group."

The instant he heard this, Eric spun around toward the screen, and nearly every professor present did the same, all turning to watch the feed displaying Necrotize’s group. On the screen, three black-robed figures could be seen approaching them, exchanging words with Necrotize, though from where they stood, none of it could be heard. As the exchange continued, the figure standing at the front drew a box out from behind his back. The instant he did, something began happening to the surroundings. Every tree, every animal, every blade of grass began withering and dying. And in that same instant, Necrotize vanished from view.

The moment they saw this, the relief the professors had felt only seconds ago drained away entirely, replaced by an anxiety far sharper than before. Unable to bear the uncertainty any longer, they turned to Eric.

"Lord Eric, what just happened? Where did Lord Necrotize go? None of us understand what we’re looking at."

Eric stared at the screen with the exact same confusion, because he had no answer for what he was seeing. How could the God of Destruction simply vanish into thin air? He had no explanation for it, and no idea what had actually happened. The only thing he knew for certain was that every child inside that forest was now in danger, and it was his responsibility to save them.

Eric kept his eyes locked on the screen, his expression taut with tension, watching the three robed figures standing before Dominic’s group. He had no way of knowing what would happen to them, and no way to protect them either. Just as he braced himself for the three to strike them down, something unexpected happened instead.

They left without laying a hand on any of them.

Watching this, Eric couldn’t make sense of it at all. Members of the Death Order never walked away from people standing right in front of them without killing them. Their departure brought him no relief. If anything, it left him even more on edge. And as he turned these thoughts over in his mind, he suddenly became aware of a strange shift in the air around him.

Everything nearby had gone completely still, as though the world itself had frozen in fear of something. The wind died. The leaves stopped falling from the trees. Even the clouds overhead seemed to halt in place. A deep unease gripped Eric’s chest. Whatever was happening here, his instincts screamed that it was nothing good.

Then he looked up at the sky, and the moment he did, his eyes went wide. The entire sky was slowly changing color. The warm orange of evening had vanished, replaced by a deepening shade of blood red. Within moments, the whole sky had turned entirely crimson.

Eric and everyone around him stared upward, unable to say a word, their bodies frozen in place. A blood-red sky was an omen of chaos, something none of them wanted to face.

Meanwhile, deep in the forest, the massive circular star blazed with an eerie red light. Around it lay sixty-one bodies, arranged in the unmistakable shape of a red spider lily. Then, from within the star, a massive hand burst forth, its clawed fingers digging into the earth the moment it emerged. The hand was a mottled, blackened color, dripping with a strange dark fluid.

A second hand followed, identical to the first, tearing free and clawing into the ground beside it. Both hands pressed down hard, straining to drag the rest of the body out from within the star. One by one, more hands began emerging, each one clawing into the earth for leverage, until sixteen hands in total had broken free of the star, every one of them straining with all its might to haul the rest of the creature out.

The sixteen hands drove down against the ground with all their combined strength, and at last, a head broke through the surface of the star. The head was split into four distinct parts. The front was shaped like a goat’s skull, crowned with long curving horns. The left side resembled the head of a praying mantis, its mandibles clicking and whispering. The right side was a lion’s head, jaws wide, baring every tooth in a deep, rolling roar. And the back of the head belonged to a turtle, its eyes fixed in a hollow, unblinking stare.

Once the head had fully emerged, the rest of the body began pulling itself free, and within moments, the entire creature had clawed its way out. What stood revealed was a grotesque abomination. Its four-part head, goat, mantis, lion, and turtle, sat atop a body shaped roughly like a human’s, with sixteen arms extending from its torso. From its waist sprouted two massive claws, though "claws" barely described them. Each one ended in a blade nearly four feet long, like a curved sword fused to flesh. Below its waist, its body shifted into the form of a mantis, entirely black, its lower half armored in a shell like a turtle’s.

Once fully free of the star, it rose to its feet and let out a thunderous roar. The moment it did, a massive shockwave rippled outward from its body in every direction, and the sky above it began deepening into red, until within moments the entire sky had turned the color of blood.

Then it turned its head toward the forest. The first thing it laid eyes on was a girl standing far in the distance, a sword held in one hand, her face tilted up toward the sky. Golden hair cascaded down her back like a shimmering waterfall.

That girl was Elizabeth Ashendra.