Morione's group, having joined Abne and Erina, was now advancing along narrow pathways, trying to avoid any further conflicts. In the current chaos, it was hard to find any part of the city that wasn't in disarray, but they were using the least populated routes they could find. Morione's powers, now unrestricted, proved invaluable in navigating under the distorted sky. Perhaps no one understood the current situation as well as Morione did, for several reasons.
"So... where should we go to meet up with your brother?"
They had been running for a while when Yura suddenly asked this question.
"We should head to the Academy. Everyone, including Harold, is converging there now."
Yura looked puzzled at the unexpected destination.
"The Academy...?"
"Yes, Arsia and Aris are there now, remember? You met them before."
Yura's expression darkened, which was understandable given that her only encounter with the mother and daughter hadn't been a pleasant one.
"Ah... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you..."
Realizing this, Morione sincerely apologized.
"Ah.. no.. it's okay..."
"Really sorry... Well, continuing, Harold is also heading there with Marika."
"He's a good person, probably worried about the safety of those two, who are in a particularly vulnerable position."
Hearing this, the others quickened their pace, cutting through shortcuts even faster.
"Arsia... what is that...?"
At the end of their view loomed large shadows.
The shadows were so densely clustered that they seemed like an overwhelming mass extending its influence toward the Academy.
"Is that... pure darkness?"
An intense void, not mingled with anything else, a shapeless, abstract entity...
"It's morphing, what's happening?!"
But that sight was fleeting; soon, an astonishing transformation began to unfold. As time passed, the shapeless mass slowly took form, eventually morphing into human-like figures larger than robust adult men.
"It's high-level black magic... This couldn't happen spontaneously without someone wielding it..."
In that moment, Arsia caught something at the edge of her vision and widened her eyes.
"Aris... stay here, I'll go check it out..."
Quickly, she employed a teleportation spell, fading her presence.
"Arsia?! Suddenly...?"
"Protect the students, I'll handle this...!"
Leaving just those words behind, she vanished completely.
Soon, Arsia appeared in front of the dark creatures, blocking their advance towards the Academy.
"Tenebris! Come forth!"
She then unfurled a massive divine barrier, halting their progress and completely blocking the path.
Whoosh!
Dark magic rushed towards the barrier...
"Ugh?!!"
Overwhelmed by the unexpectedly powerful attack, Arsia grunted and then concentrated all her energy on maintaining the barrier. Barely holding off the black magic, the situation had been perilously close. If she hadn't controlled the emerging cracks and splits, the protective shield would have shattered, failing in its role.
"Stronger than I thought... Had I known the plan would go awry, I would have dealt with you when you were still under control."
From within the black legion, a dignified man emerged.
"But no matter, I had to control the order because of the rules until now... but I can act directly now..."
His presence exuded an overwhelming sense of dread and fear, an embodiment of darkness, one of the most paradoxical deities of this era.
"The time has come for the ancient being to awaken."
The god of darkness, Tenebris.
"I have come myself, to gain the boundless overflow that is never enough."
He was potentially the root of all evil at the Academy...
"So it was you... I had a hunch, but to think you were behind them all along."
With a bitter smile, Arsia readied herself for a great battle, channeling a vast light into her hands, a natural nemesis to their dark forces. "What could those blinded by their beliefs possibly do? The prince was somewhat useful, but fundamentally, if I hadn't been there, my followers would have been annihilated by you long ago."
When the heretics had exploited Arsia's weakness, how had they come across that information? Even if they resembled her... they couldn't have known Arsia and Aris's identities and weaknesses so precisely.
"It was a subtle coincidence. Without this eye, I wouldn't have known what you were up to, or even that you existed."
His left eye began to blaze with a violet flame.
A convenient eye that could steal the vision of those touched by his magic. Tenebris's ambition to dye this bright world in his colors, and this eye, a part of his body, amplified and contributed significantly to that ambition.
"Where is the ancient deity, Luceria? She must be alive since her resurrection..."
The prince knew of her revival until his demise. Tenebris, confident that the ancient deity, powerful even after a long slumber, wouldn't be defeated by novices, demanded from Arsia with a menacing voice, unaware of the subsequent events.
"She's not here, and I don't know where she is."
"Lies... If that were true, the world would have darkened long before the current crisis... She has no reason to run..."
He scrutinized Arsia with sharp eyes, trying to pierce her inner thoughts. But Arsia, having been truthful from the start, faced his gaze unflinchingly, her expression undisturbed.
"Hmm... Are you playing some trick? Or are you just a good actress?"
His suspicion briefly wavered, but he soon dismissed these doubts.
"I'll kill you and destroy the Academy, then everything will become clear."
With a chilling murderous intent, Arsia felt an instinctive realization that she was facing an adversary beyond her capacity, fear clear in her eyes.
"Ugh!!"
Recognizing the inevitability of the fight, Arsia launched a preemptive attack, radiating a blinding light in a pulsating wave. "It's useless." Despite Arsia's powerful magic, it had no effect on Tenebris. An unseen dark shield enveloped him, rendering her attacks completely ineffective. The surrounding dark creatures were swept away, but the root of all evil remained unscathed.
"If you wish to harm me, try defeating my entire army first." The shield's power was drawn from the countless shadows created by his dispersed magic.
"Agh...!!" Arsia's next attempt, a beam of pure light, was powerful in its singularity but still failed to penetrate the shield. The immediate shadows dissipated, but the effect was minimal.
"Didn't I tell you it's useless?" The diminished shadows quickly multiplied, reforming the legion.
"The darkness I summon from within should be dealt with all at once, or it will endlessly multiply."
Despite Tenebris revealing the method to defeat him, Arsia was left frustrated. Maintaining such a vast barrier was draining her magic rapidly, leaving her without the strength to cast a large-scale spell that could obliterate the numerous shadowy creatures in one go. Dropping the barrier would allow the horde to overrun the Academy.
"Soon, I will become infinite, but time is not on your side. I wish to avoid further waste." Tenebris’s strategic advantage over Arsia was clear, both in time and tactics.
"First, I must destroy that barrier." He began to shape a sword from the darkness at his fingertips, a pure manifestation of the darkness he had cultivated.
With a powerful shout, he simply slashed the sword, and a wave of malevolent energy spread throughout the Academy, engulfing and devouring Arsia's protective barrier.
"Aah... Ahh!!!" Arsia tried her best to resist, but the onset of the dark invasion was beyond imagination. "Aaah - !?" Arsia, unable to withstand Tenebris's immense power, collapsed miserably as the protective barrier crumbled. Struggling to rise, she found herself ensnared by the malevolent energies clinging to her, draining her magic and nullifying any attempts at spellcasting. The last line of defense was rapidly breached.
"This is the end." With the fall of the Academy's only guardian, Tenebris’s relentless army resumed its advance.
"Aah..." Despite her refusal to give in, Arsia let out a desolate groan as she faced an invisible and seemingly hopeless future.
"Search thoroughly. She might have just neutralized or sealed it. It must be somewhere." Tenebris’s immortal legion set into action upon his command.
"No..." Arsia's feeble protest was a mere whisper as she watched the approaching shadows.
"Arsia!" Suddenly, a girl resembling Arsia appeared from behind.
"Aris...?!" Shocked, Arsia's eyes widened at the sight of the daughter-like figure she had instructed to stay behind.
"It's okay, let's evacuate first...!!" The girl swiftly cast a spell, trying to buy some time.
"Ice Field!" A vast expanse of white stretched to the edges of the encroaching darkness, a stark contrast to the gloom, slowing down Tenebris and his creations.
"What difference will this make? A few more minutes of resistance doesn't solve anything." Tenebris seemed to savor the despair he was inflicting, deliberately moving slowly despite easily being able to overpower the magic.
"Amusing. Don't you have any other tricks?" he taunted.
"Shut up, you gloomy creep...!!" Despite the retort, the girl focused on supporting Arsia, seemingly resigned to retreat.
"Just running away? How dull." Tenebris’s voice dropped with boredom, suggesting that without any more entertainment, Aris's efforts were futile. "Cough... what...?!" A black blade pierced through Aris's chest.
"Cough! Cough! Blugh...!!" Aris writhed in excruciating pain, coughing and gagging as the sharp blade tore through her insides.
"Aris?! Are you okay...?!!" Arsia, now more worried than ever, struggled to stand, feeling an overwhelming need to help her.
"Aah... swallow this...." The God of Darkness, with an unsettling smile and cryptic words, enjoyed the grim scene.
"I... I'm sorry, Arsia..." Aris, feeling guilty for becoming a burden despite intending to help, was still in obvious pain.
"It's okay... I'll figure something out...!" Arsia, in no better condition herself, tried to reassure Aris as they retreated, leaning on each other for support, all while knowing deep down that there was little she could do.
"Such a loving mother and daughter, soon you'll be at peace together." The God of Darkness, embodying pure evil, showed no mercy in this tearful scene.
Crack! Growing bored of walking, he easily shattered Aris's spell and prepared to deliver a final blow to them.
"Farewell." Just as his sword was about to strike the ground...
Thud! Something massive landed amidst the legion.
"Hmm...?" Surprised by the unexpected interruption, Tenebris halted his attack and turned around.
A cloud of dust obscured the view like a thick fog, but the scene quickly cleared.
"Grrrrrr....!" There stood a black dragon, a sight unfamiliar to both Aris and Arsia.
"A dragon...? Well, given the current situation, its appearance isn't too strange." Tenebris casually remarked, more annoyed by the dragon than concerned about Arsia and Aris.
"Being similarly colored won't help you." His creatures charged at the dragon, following his swift and powerful strike.
Even for a dragon of immense size, it seemed unlikely that it could withstand the full force of the God of Darkness's attack. But...
"What?! This dragon is not just any ordinary creature..."
"My creations...? Ugh...! And why is my power...?!!!" The ultimate dragon, sustained and empowered solely by darkness, where darkness itself is the source of power.
"Kyaaaaaaa!!!" It was Mir, the dragon that devoured darkness.
"0009...!!" The army of darkness, overly abundant for its needs, turned out to be a feast for this creature that thrived on consuming darkness. By a twist of fate, it was drawn to her...
"It can't be, I was sure it had died -"
The God of Darkness, who had intended to display overwhelming power to instill despair in his enemies, now faced the consequences of his actions.