The God Of Destruction's Academy Life

Every professor stationed outside the forest stood fixed on the screens before them. Eric, Ronald, Marcus, Edmund, Helen, Jennifer, all of them stared with intense focus at the two hundred students displayed on the monitors. Beyond them, other professors worked at the barrier itself, running every analysis they could to find some weakness in its structure, pouring every ounce of their ability into decoding it.

On the screens, they could see that most of the students had gathered together in a clearing deep in the forest, and many of the professors felt a measure of relief at the sight, if the students stayed together, their odds of survival rose considerably. But one fact still gripped them with dread: Necrotize had vanished from among them entirely, and whatever was coming, they would now have to face it without him.

Ronald turned to the professors analyzing the barrier, his voice tight with urgency.

"How much longer do you need to finish analyzing this barrier? We don’t have much time left. We need to break through this thing as fast as possible and get to them. We don’t know exactly what the Death Order is planning, but we can’t afford to give them much more time. Move quickly."

One of the professors working on the barrier answered him.

"We’re doing everything we can. But analyzing this barrier is going to take a considerable amount of time. None of us have ever seen a structure like this before, and our knowledge of Rank Ten barriers is extremely limited. From what we can tell so far, a full analysis will take at least twenty minutes."

Hearing this, Ronald clenched both fists. Twenty minutes was more than they could afford, every second mattered right now, and every moment of delay only raised the odds of disaster. He turned to a group of professors behind him, gathered around a large crystal orb, working at something intently.

"Have you managed to reach Lady Catherine? How soon can she get here? Without her, there’s no way we can resolve this quickly. We need a Rank Ten individual to bring this barrier down, and we need one immediately."

The professors around the crystal orb continued their work, and when Ronald’s question reached them, one turned to him with visible tension.

"Lord Ronald, we haven’t been able to reach Lady Catherine. We can’t establish any contact with her. We’re doing everything we can, but we can’t get a message through to her."

Ronald’s frustration sharpened further at this.

"Then work faster. Do you understand what’s at stake right now? We need to accomplish something, and we need it immediately." He drew a long breath. "If you can’t reach Lady Catherine, then try Nezarik or the Dragonspire Dominion instead. Tell them we need the Demon King’s or the Dragon King’s assistance. Whatever they ask for in return, we’ll provide it. Send our request for help to them. Whatever the cost, we have to save our children."

The professors turned back to the crystal orb and resumed their work. Ronald turned his gaze back to the screen and asked Eric, standing beside him.

"Lord Eric, is it possible for us to actually save them? Or are we going to have to stand here helplessly and watch them die?"

Eric heard the question but didn’t turn to face him, his eyes still locked on the screen, his fingers absently picking at his own nails.

"I can’t give you a real answer to that, Ronald." He paused for a moment. "But we won’t be able to save every single one of those children." As he said this, the hand that had been picking at his nails clenched into a tight fist, his nails digging into his palm hard enough to draw blood.

As they continued watching the screen, they noticed the students turning their eyes toward the sky, but not toward the red sky itself. They were looking at something else. The moment several of the professors focused on it, a wave of dread swept through them, and right at that instant, something came crashing down in front of the students.

A cloud of dust exploded outward from the impact, obscuring whatever had landed. But as the dust began to settle, they finally caught sight of it, and the moment they did, every eye in the room went wide.

The creature that had landed had a head split into four distinct parts, each belonging to a different animal. At the front, a goat’s skull, crowned with massive curving horns. On the left side of its head, a mantis-like growth, its mandibles clicking together in a low grinding hum. On the right, a lion’s head, its jaws swollen and gaping, lined with brutal fangs. And at the back of its skull sat the head of a turtle.

Its body was roughly humanoid, with sixteen arms extending from its torso. From its waist sprouted two enormous claws, each fitted with a blade nearly four feet long, like massive curved swords. Below the waist, its body shifted into the form of a mantis, its entire body armored in what looked like a turtle’s shell. The creature stood roughly fifteen feet tall, its gaze locked onto the students with predatory hunger.

Watching this on the screen, most of the professors present had no idea what they were looking at. But one among them was in far worse shape than the rest, because the instant he saw it, he recognized exactly what it was. That man was Professor Marcus. When Eric realized Marcus had recognized the creature, he turned to him immediately.

"Marcus, what is that abomination? Do you know what it is?"

Marcus didn’t answer. He simply stared at the screen, transfixed, and a moment later his legs gave out beneath him, and he sank to his knees.

"...This can’t be. This can’t be happening... How did this get here? It shouldn’t even still exist."

Marcus’s behavior grew increasingly erratic as he stared at the creature, muttering half-formed words, unable to tell whether what he was seeing was real or some kind of nightmare. And if it was a nightmare, it would be the worst one of his entire life. But unfortunately, this was reality. It was no dream. He was looking directly at this abomination, right in front of him.

"Get a hold of yourself. This is not the time for that kind of reaction. Tell me what it is."

Hearing Eric’s words, Marcus came back to himself. He knew he couldn’t afford to let fear take hold of him in a moment like this. He pushed himself back up to his feet, though his eyes remained locked on the screen. He steadied himself, and finally, to everyone watching him anxiously for an answer, he spoke.

"What we’re looking at right now is the harbinger of chaos. The abomination that was hated by humans, demons, dragons, elves, dwarves, and every other intelligent species on this planet, even by the gods, nearly thirty thousand years ago. In that era, every intelligent species banded together to form an alliance to kill it. The gods themselves sent two thousand angels to aid in that battle. But even that wasn’t enough, a combined army of over a hundred million fell at its hands, along with every single angel the gods had sent. In the end, the gods themselves had to descend and finish it off. It died at the hands of Goddess Luna. Many of you have probably already guessed who I’m talking about. The name of this abomination is Xath’rael, Beast of the Crimson Void."

The instant Professor Marcus’s words registered, every professor present felt as though the sky itself had collapsed on top of them. They turned their heads back to the screens, staring at the monstrous abomination now standing before the students, its gaze fixed on them with cruel curiosity. The moment he saw this, Eric issued an order to every professor present.

"Everyone, drop whatever you were doing. We’re going to hit this barrier with everything we’ve got, all at once. There’s no time left to analyze it, we won’t be able to break it that way. Every one of you, wherever you are, throw your full strength against this barrier. And since the Demon King and Dragon King have already been notified, all that’s left is to wait for them. Everyone, attack now."

***

Necrotize floated in that vast emptiness, staring at the single point of light glimmering in the infinite distance before him. After a moment, he turned his focus inward, toward his own power. Looking closely, he saw that layer after layer of some dark, liquid-like substance had wrapped itself around his sealed strength, a total of one trillion layers. He studied the seal for a long moment, then thought to himself.

To think this seal is able to hold me for exactly ten minutes. Quite a fascinating seal he used on me, to think he managed to strengthen it by this much. It’s genuinely impressive. But judging by how long it’s meant to hold me, I can pretty much guess something deeply troubling is happening in that forest right now.

The moment that thought crossed his mind, the calm composure he’d held until then shifted entirely.

"So you only wanted to hold me for a little over ten minutes, just long enough that I couldn’t get there in time to help." He let out a smile after saying this.

"But I think you’ve underestimated me by quite a large margin. Did you really think I couldn’t reach them within ten minutes? I am Necrotize, the embodiment of destruction. I won’t be held back by a trinket as insignificant as this. And I need to get there quickly, because there are people who matter to me over there. And I refuse to let any harm come to them."

He paused for a moment.

"To think I have to use that, the thing I swore I would never use again in my life. To think I have to break my own promise. But I have no other choice."

The instant he finished speaking, Necrotize closed his eyes, turning his focus inward, toward something buried deep within himself. The moment he did, a massive black aura began pouring out from his body, so vast that it swallowed even the emptiness of the void around him, staining it black.

He opened his eyes and looked back toward the distant point of light before him. But something about him had changed. His eyes, once a brilliant violet, were now entirely black, a black so absolute it seemed capable of swallowing his very existence whole. And with those black eyes, he stared out toward the point of light in the distance.