chapter 49: The Demon Tide: A Battlefield of Death

“So, Valentina is our biggest problem…?”

The war room. Arthur, Revan, Simon, Headmaster Inverness, and myself.

Humanity’s strongest gathered, strategizing. The crucial question: which of us would face which demon?

Headmaster Inverness’s gaze was heavy with concern.

His deep grey eyes flickered with unease.

“What’s with that look?”

I chuckled nonchalantly, crossing my arms.

He wasn’t wrong to be worried.

Valentina, the Primordial Black Star Dragon.

Stronger than the Demon King.

No, not just stronger. Different.

The Demon Kings are powerful,

but they operate within the world’s established order.

Strongest within their defined boundaries, but unable to transcend them.

Valentina is different.

She exists outside those rules.

Even before becoming the Black Star Dragon, she possessed power beyond measure, and

since the day she ‘tasted the flesh of a god,’ she surpassed the realm of mere strength.

“I’ll take Valentina.”

My voice was firm, unwavering.

Arthur stared, wide-eyed, while Revan’s gaze was a silent challenge.

“Are you certain?”

Revan’s voice was low, laced with doubt.

“Certain? What kind of assurance do you want?”

I countered.

“I know you’re different now. But that doesn’t make you a god.”

Revan’s hand rested on the hilt of his Holy Sword.

His distrust was palpable.

Arthur swallowed, watching us.

He met my eyes, but his belief in me was still fragile.

“You’re right. I’m not a god.”

I conceded.

“But I’m no longer just ‘strong.’”

I opened my hand,

the faint vibration of mana emanating from my fingertips.

But this was different, fundamentally different, from ordinary mana.

Like the primordial chaos before the universe existed.

It was ‘emptiness.’

Revan narrowed his eyes.

“A breakthrough, Teacher Raven?”

“A breakthrough? Something like that.”

I replied calmly.

“I finally understand. I’ve been fighting, burdened by too much. True strength…comes from letting go.”

I closed my hand.

Space warped.

Arthur instinctively clutched his Holy Sword. Revan frowned, assessing my aura.

Simon sighed, muttering softly,

“Good grief. You’ve transcended humanity altogether.”

I smirked at him.

“Too late. I stopped being human a long time ago.”

“You weren’t very human even when you were human.”

“Ah, that’s true.”

I laughed it off,

but the air remained thick with tension.

Gathered here were humanity’s greatest hopes.

No one indulged in empty boasts.

All were grimly focused, preparing for a true war.

I spoke again.

“I’m taking Valentina. That’s final.”

“This isn’t a decision to be made lightly.”

Headmaster Inverness interjected.

“Valentina’s power is unlike anything we’ve encountered. Now that the Primordial Black Star Dragon is active, she’s transcended the realm of mere mortals.”

His gaze held mine, unwavering.

“I understand you’ve had a breakthrough, grown stronger,

but we don’t know if that’s enough to contain Valentina.”

I listened in silence.

He wasn’t wrong.

Valentina was no ordinary opponent.

She was a force of nature, capable of unimaginable destruction.

But, precisely because of that…

“That’s why I have to fight her.”

My voice was firm.

“No one else can stop Valentina.”

“…”

Silence.

I met their gazes,

and spoke again, slowly, deliberately,

“If I don’t face her, none of you will survive.”

It wasn’t a threat.

It was a statement of fact.

In that moment, no one could argue.

I sighed,

closed my eyes, then opened them.

“Then, what about the other demons?”

I asked.

It was settled that I would face Valentina.

So, how would we deal with the remaining demons?

The tension in the room eased slightly.

Revan crossed his arms.

“Then I’ll take everyone except Sloth and Wrath.”

Arthur’s eyes widened.

“Senior?! Four demons…how can you face them all alone…?”

“Does it even matter at this point?”

Revan scoffed.

“And Arthur,”

His gaze pierced Arthur.

“Do you think your opponent is weak?”

Arthur’s face hardened.

“…No.”

His voice was resolute.

“Then it’s settled.”

Revan nodded.

“Your opponent is the Demon King of Sloth.”

Arthur’s eyes gleamed at the name.

The Demon King of Sloth.

The demon who used cruel magic and dark arts to make humans weep tears of blood.

Arthur nodded slowly.

“You have to stop Sloth. Otherwise, our homeland will be devastated.”

Arthur gritted his teeth.

“Understood.”

And so, each of us was assigned an opponent.

The demons were powerful.

But,

this was war.

I stood up.

And said,

“There’s no more retreating.”

My voice was cold, hard.

“Each of you will defeat your assigned opponent. We must win this war.”

The tension in the room thickened.

“It begins.”

The clock of war had begun to tick.

 

***

 

The crimson sky slowly twisted and warped.

The sun, stained a bloody hue, cast long shadows across the ravaged earth.

The shadows spread like a shroud, consuming the world.

And beneath it,

an endless black tide surged forward.

The demon army.

It was as if the gates of hell had opened.

They moved as one, a single, massive entity.

Not an army, but a living, breathing organism.

Each demon was different, yet the aura they exuded was the same.

Death and destruction.

A shiver ran down my spine.

This was a battlefield.

No mercy, no retreat.

Only the victors would survive, the defeated erased from existence.

The wind died down.

The air grew heavy.

The demon army advanced, consuming the earth.

The distant rumble of footsteps, shaking the ground.

Uneven, chaotic steps.

They didn’t march in formation like a human army.

Their advance was chaos itself.

Grotesque figures crawled across the earth, wreathed in dark smoke.

Winged creatures filled the sky, raining down ominous magic.

Everything in their path decayed.

The earth blackened and burned.

Trees rotted and crumbled.

Even the air screamed, unable to withstand their presence.

I stood at the center of it all.

Atop a high cliff, overlooking everything.

They were coming for me.

I closed my eyes, then opened them.

The only thing moving,

amidst the oncoming tide,

was my quiet presence.

And then,

space tore open.

The sky ripped apart.

Rumble!!!

A resonating sound, echoing through the world.

An absolute being had arrived.

All the demons reacted simultaneously.

They felt it instinctively.

She had come.

The descent of their ruler.

The sky darkened.

Space distorted.

And then,

she appeared.

Crimson wings spanned the heavens.

Her silhouette slowly materialized.

Light and darkness swirled around her.

Her mere presence shook the world.

Her existence, a law unto itself.

The moment she arrived,

the rules of this world were rewritten.

Her path became law,

her gaze, destiny.

She slowly descended from the sky.

Each step shook the balance of the world.

She landed

right before me.

Valentina.

The Primordial Black Star Dragon.

Her eyes glowed with a yellow light.

Like the moon.

The moon had descended from the heavens,

and was looking down at a single human.

I quietly looked at her.

And she spoke.

“It’s been a while!”

Her voice was sharp,

almost a casual greeting.

But it was more than that.

It was a declaration of war.

The fact that she spoke

meant she recognized me.

And that

she considered me an enemy.

Her presence filled the battlefield.

The air twisted around her.

The demon army bowed their heads before her.

She wasn’t just a ruler.

She was a king.

The King of the Heavens.

The Tyrant of the Earth.

She commanded the battlefield.

I smiled at her.

And,

I greeted her.

“Welcome.”

I said.

And with those words, the focus of the battlefield shifted.

Until now, the demons held the spotlight.

Their advance consumed everything.

But the moment I spoke,

the tide turned.

All eyes were on me.

I looked at her.

Yellow eyes.

She glared at me.

I slowly extended my hand.

My fingertips didn’t tremble.

On the contrary,

everything was crystal clear.

I welcomed her.

But it wasn’t a greeting.

It was a prelude to a decisive battle.

A fight that would determine the end of this war.

The first signal flare had just been launched.

And,

I said,

“Valentina!!!”

The moment I uttered her name,

the earth trembled.

The demon army screamed in unison.

It wasn’t a mere cry.

It was an absolute declaration of war.

Now,

the war would begin.

“Let’s kill each other!!! Arrogance!!!”

And it was a girl’s scream that marked its beginning.