The God Of Destruction's Academy Life

The sky had turned entirely red, and the massive barrier still cast its strange shadow over the forest. In a wide clearing at the heart of the woods, all the gathered students stood clustered around a small group, Elizabeth and Lyra’s team. As they stood there, a strange rustling stirred in the bushes at the edge of the clearing, and the moment it caught their eyes, dread twisted through every one of them. None of them had any idea what might be about to emerge.

Elizabeth’s eyes locked onto the shaking bush, and she drew her sword from its sheath. Seeing her do this, many of the other students followed suit, taking up their own positions. The rustling grew more violent, and with it, the tension in the clearing thickened. Then something finally emerged from the bush, and this time, instead of fear, relief swept through the crowd, deeper even than when Elizabeth’s group had arrived. Because whatever had been frightening them, it seemed their reason to fear it was over.

It was Dominic and the others, stepping out of the bush. The moment they were seen, much of the fear gripping the students eased. The God of Destruction’s group had finally arrived. But as everyone looked closer, they noticed something troubling: Dominic and the others were drenched in sweat, gasping for breath, as though they’d sprinted here fleeing for their lives.

The instant Dominic, Alana, Hana, and Sarliya stepped clear of the bush, all four of them collapsed to their hands and knees, breathing hard. The students in front of them stared, unsure why they looked like this. But their attention wasn’t really on the four of them. It was fixed on the bush behind them, waiting for one more person to emerge. Necrotize. But after several moments of staring, nothing more came out of the bush. Confusion rippled through the crowd.

As everyone puzzled over it, Dominic, having caught some of his breath, forced out the words with everything he had left.

"Guys... we have to run. And fast."

Hearing this, unease spread through many of the students. They all stared at him with a mix of confusion and alarm, unable to make sense of why he’d say something like that. Then one student from the crowd spoke up.

"Dominic, where’s Lord Necrotize? Why did the four of you come alone? When will he get here?"

Dominic looked out at the crowd, unsure how to say what needed to be said. He knew exactly what fate was likely coming for all of them soon, but he steeled himself. They had to know, and they needed to be ready for what was coming. After a pause, he said it plainly.

"Lord Necrotize is gone."

Hearing this, confusion deepened across the crowd. Elizabeth and Lyra couldn’t make sense of what he meant. Gone where? But before either of them could ask, another student from the group spoke up first.

"What do you mean by ’Lord Necrotize is gone’? Is he somewhere else in the forest and just didn’t come with you, or did he leave your group on his own?"

Dominic turned toward the boy who’d asked, a short, dark-haired student. Nix.

"He is gone. He is not inside the forest right now. He disappeared right before our eyes."

A blue-haired girl among the students spoke up next.

"Disappeared? Like he teleported himself out of the forest? Do you know where he went?"

Dominic shook his head.

"He didn’t teleport himself. Someone else teleported him."

The more the students heard, the more bewildered they became. Nothing Dominic was saying made sense to them. Nix pressed further.

"What are you even saying? Someone teleported Lord Necrotize? The God of Destruction? Do you really believe someone like that exists?"

Dominic’s voice hardened as he answered.

"What I’m telling you is the truth. Lord Necrotize was teleported away, right in front of us, by someone else, to somewhere I don’t know."

Hearing this, the crowd fell silent. Tension flared through them once more, and even those who’d started to calm down felt the sweat return to their skin. Then another voice cut through the silence, this time from the right side of the group, a girl with golden hair, a sword held in her hand. Elizabeth.

"Do any of you know who teleported Lord Necrotize?"

Hearing Elizabeth’s question, Dominic turned to her. As he did, the memory of what had happened came rushing back, the three figures emerging from the bush, the exchange of words, the box drawn out from behind one of their backs, and the instant, horrifying death spreading through every tree, every blade of grass, every animal around them. And then, in the blink of an eye, Necrotize vanishing entirely. As the memory replayed in his mind, a cold dread settled over his whole body. He drew a long breath, swallowed hard, and finally spoke a single word.

"Death Order."

The moment that name left Dominic’s mouth, everyone present froze completely. No one said a word. No one even seemed to blink. They all stood locked in a stunned, hollow silence. Within moments, the full weight of their situation sank in. They were now standing at the edge of an unimaginably dangerous position. Almost immediately, cries of despair broke out among many of the girls, and even some of the boys.

"We’re all... finished. There’s no saving... any of us. There’s no way... we can survive this."

A girl collapsed to the ground, weeping openly. She wasn’t the only one. One by one, others began to unravel the same way. Some cried. Some clutched their heads. Some simply stared into nothing, hollow-eyed. Elizabeth tightened her grip on her sword. Lyra, who had only just begun to prove herself, now watched everything she’d built crumble apart before her eyes. She clenched her fists, palms sweating, with no idea what to do next.

Elizabeth glanced over at Lyra and took in her state, then looked around at everyone else. All of them were breaking down, directionless, adrift. Seeing this, she forced herself to steady up. If she broke down too, there’d be no one left to guide the rest of them, and they’d all die for nothing. She looked back at Lyra once more, and a strange warmth stirred inside her. She had to protect her. Though she’d never said it aloud, Elizabeth thought of Lyra as a friend, her very first friend. The first person who had ever looked at her as an ordinary person, not as a title or a status. She refused to let any harm come to her, not while she was standing right there.

And then another image rose in her mind: a man with his hands in his pockets, watching them all with a warm, steady gaze, always there to solve whatever problem stood in their way. She believed, wherever he was, that he would find his way back to protect them. And as a princess of this empire, as his attendant, it was her duty to keep everyone here alive until he returned. No matter what it took.

Elizabeth stepped forward, ahead of the group, and turned to face everyone, raising her voice.

"Everyone, listen to me carefully."

The moment she called out, everyone turned their attention toward her, however broken they’d been a moment before.

"We’re in a dire situation right now. And in a moment like this, we cannot afford to fall apart. We have to be strong. If we break now, we will never make it out of this alive. Every one of us has someone waiting for us, someone we love. Whoever that person is, we owe it to them to make it back. Alive. So we cannot let ourselves crumble here. We fight, for ourselves, for the people we love, and for every dream we still have left to chase. We don’t know what’s coming for us. But we outnumber whatever it is. Whether it’s the Death Order or anything else, we will stand and fight." Elizabeth raised her sword high above her head.

"And I say we fight. We are children of the Ashendra Empire. We have never bowed our heads to danger, and we never will. No matter what comes for us, we will fight it to our very last breath. Because we were never taught to surrender. And we never will."

Hearing Elizabeth’s words, something ignited in those who had crumbled just moments before. Slowly, the fear in their eyes began to burn away, and where tears had been welling only a second ago, a fierce spark now flickered instead. Every student raised their fists into the air and let out a roaring cry. The fighting spirit had returned to them, and with it, a refusal to give up.

Lyra, who had been on the verge of collapse moments earlier, gripped her hand tightly at Elizabeth’s words, thinking to herself:

I can’t let myself give up like this. If I fall apart now, how could I ever face him again? I could never call myself his student, or his friend. I have to fight.

Courage slowly rose within Lyra. Seeing that spirit return, not just in Lyra but in everyone around her, Elizabeth felt a quiet relief settle over her. Their resolve had returned. Now all she had to do was keep everyone alive until Necrotize came back. And she would do that, no matter what it took.

But just as she was turning these thoughts over in her mind, she caught a distant buzzing sound in the air, as though something were closing in on them.

She wasn’t the only one who heard it, the rest of the students caught it too, though none of them could make sense of what it meant. But one person’s eyes went wide, because she wasn’t just hearing the sound, she could faintly sense its shape as well. The instant she realized it, her hands began to tremble, and she turned her head toward the sky behind them. Seeing Lyra react this way, Elizabeth turned to look as well, and spotted a small point in the distant sky, hurtling toward them. The closer it came, the louder the buzzing grew, and the larger that point became. Once it drew close enough, its shape became clear, and the moment it did, Elizabeth’s eyes went wide with shock. She felt the strength drain from both arms at the sight of it.

The rest of the students stared at it too, still unable to make out what it was. But before any of them could figure it out, the thing came crashing down into the ground behind them. The instant it landed, the entire area shook violently. Everyone lost their footing at once, and several students were knocked to the ground.

And by the time any of them managed to properly look up and take in its shape, it was already far too late.