The Unexpected Happened part 6: Chapter 97

***EVANGELINE'S POV***

It has been 3 days since I last saw him here in the gate. The same gate where we first met,

The last time we spoke was a very intimate moment…to a point that I still felt pretty embarrassed about every time I think about that time.

To talk about 'trust' straight at my face without even a sense of hesitation really proves his dense personality. Still, I can't hate him for that…I like him more that way.

Since that time we talked, I think that we could probably try to be better…to advance our routes as friends. So maybe…maybe I can ask him again to hunt with me.

Hunting on my own in this gate has become rather dull, if so maybe we can try advancing to a C-ranked gate.

I myself am still registered as a C-ranked hunter, so I can advance to a C-ranked gate…but if I want him to come and hunt with me, then he has to take the test on advancing his rank first.

I know he's capable of doing so, so its without a doubt that he'll pass with flying colors…and if possible, maybe I can come with him so that I can watch him take the test himself. It's only right for me to come as a friend.

…Still, its weird that a first year student is actually going to be a C-rank, but his age is just like mine so it wouldn't be too surprising…but if he does find it pretty bothersome to have his rank known to the public, we can try to take the test in private. The same way on how I usually take my rank measurements every month.

So with that settled, I can ask him to come with me to take the private test…yes, that would be totally reasonable for a friend to do.

Having decided that, I began to make my way out of the gate and back to the school dorm.

With my own personal driver to pick me up, I was already on my way to the school.

Minutes passed and I finally came to the view of the towers from afar…

"...Huh?" out in the school…smoke of a magnanimous size was in view from where the car was located.

Even though it was already 10:45 PM, the scene of both fire and smoke out in the school was visible…and it made me worry as to why it was happening.

"...Can you make this car go faster?" I tried to call out to my driver to drive faster…and so he did.

When we finally arrived at the entrance, I was shocked to find that not only was the gate ruined, but signs of battle was seen and piles of carcasses of monsters were found.

"!!" I quickly got out of the car and ran to the scene. The driver tried to call out to me to stop and stay in the car but I ignored him…after making it through the entrance, I was meet with scene of the guards who were tired and slowly patching themselves from their injuries.

From the look of the situation, it seems like the battle here just ended a minute ago.

"W-what happened?" I asked the nearest guard that there was.

"...S-skinwalkers and Demon Cultist." simply saying those two things, I was naturally caught up with the picture of the situation.

"If you are a student of the academy, please remain in this safezone." said the guard.

But just as he was talking, I caught a glimpse of somebody who I knew in the school.

"Ok." I said to the guard. As I walked pass him, I went to the person who I knew. Someone who was influential in the school matters.

"President Ethea?" I asked.

"...Miss Evangeline, your safe?"

"I just got back from the hunter's association." I said.

"I see." as she understand, she looked tired and injured.

"What happened to the school?" I asked.

"There's no time for that, I have to assemble the remaining guards of the school and make our way to the school dorm. So please, stay here and be safe." she said as she pulled out a healing potion from one of her storage rings.

She quickly pushed me aside and made their way to the direction to the dorm. As they did, I could hear explosions happening from the school dorm…and hearing it happen, it made me think of the many possible tragedies that were happening.

'I can't just wait here and stay comfortable, I have to figure out what is actually happening in the school.' I said as I ran back to my car.

Having to get in the car, I instructed the driver to take me to the back entrance of the school. I didn't want to get caught by the guards and be stopped before I could even know what was happening. So I had to deceive them by going the back entrance,

If this situation truly involves the demon cultist, the skinwalkers and the student dorm. The Demon cultist are pretty infamous for having the reputation of doing some pretty awful things, and as the sole target being the student dorm, it could only mean that they are after the students. I can't speculate anything about the skinwalkers, but all I have to focus on now is the demons cultist and their objectives.

If I can go to a high place, using my sniper, I can probably assist president Ethea on her battles. They don't have to know that I'm participating in the action since snipers usually support from the back. Once I find a location that has a clear view of the student dorm, I can assist them.

The driver tried to go against my wishes, but since he wouldn't listen, I threatened to kick him off the car…and listening to my warning, he had complied in the end.

When the car finally arrived at the back entrance, it was stopped by the guards.

"..." luckily, I predicted that the guards would not accept my entrance since it was probably dangerous, so I had the butler act as a decoy to distract the guards.

Having caught their attention, I simply jumped over the fence and made my way to the school…or more specifically, one of the school towers. Going there would give me a great advantage point.

As I made my way to the school, I was cautious of the fact that a probable enemy was in the vicinity, so I had to creep on by and not make as much noise as possible.

But for some reason, not a lot of enemies were in the area…

After finally arriving at the second floor, that was when I noticed that one single skinwalker was feasting on a corpse of something I could not figure out.

'..ugh.'

I could definitely kill the beast in front of me, and seeing as how I have a strong enough gun that has a modification for a silencer, I could kill the beast with my sniper without making that much noise.

AN: Actual silencers are still audible from a gun's fire, but since this was a world of great technological advancements, the silencer that Evangeline has, is actually capable of creating sound that was as comparable as that of a simple whisper from a person to another person. Meaning, it is quite likely undetectable by most beast.

One shot to the head is all it takes…one critical shot.

*Pew*

Like a silent whisper in the air, the shot was fired and the monster was killed with a hole straight through its neck.

"..Hmm, great." she said as she puts back her sniper into her storage.

As she walked to the dead skinwalker, she noticed that the monster that it was feasting on was a headless skinwalker…and the way its head was cut off was clean to a point that it made her wonder who killed such a beast.

"..." after looking at the corpse, she moved forward and continued to walk until she would find the entrance to one of the towers…

And as she did, she would find more and more corpses of headless skinwalkers found in the halls. It had the same clean cut to the head just like the others. And from the count of the dead skinwalkers, it seems like the person who did this had hunted almost all of the skinwalkers already.

Meanwhile, back a few minutes ago….

As Arthur was up and against a demon that he considered to be a S-rank, he could tell that one wrong move would ultimately lead to his death.

From the Demon's perspective on the other hand, it seems as though he could not care less for what the boy was doing. He intentionally let the Licia go while he made the Arthur stay…almost as if he was wasting time by playing with Arthur's predicament.

There were about 70 members of the demon cultist who were assigned to capture one of the marked students of the academy. Most of what they were after were capable students who had a large capacity for mana. Ranging from 3 circles of mana to 4 circles…which was pretty rare, but the academy had such talents in the school. They planned to capture students from the 2nd year to the 3rd year based on their mana capacity.

They didn't planned to capture the 4th years since it was quite a difficult process of fighting off students that had the capability to win against one of the demon cultist. As such to ensure that the fourth years would not notice, using a barrier, they blocked off the entrance and exit leading to the higher levels of the school dorm.

This was a silent job, and by making it so, they planned to kidnap as quietly as possible, but all of this quiet phase was ruined when an intruder came to take out the demon cultist.

This intruder was none other than the Golem who suddenly appeared out of nowhere and started making a mess of things. By making such a ruckus, the demon cultist decided to hasten the plan.

The one who took the golem down from the building was none other than the S-ranked Demon, and to his surprise, he found the Golem to be quite a sturdy creation that was even able to withstand his attacks.

And other than the Golem, noises were already being made from the other rooms inside the dorm, as students were slowly fighting back against the demon cultist who came to kidnap them.

Even if they did try to fight back, the students were incapable of fighting the demon cultist who were stronger than them…all they had to do until the end was to struggle until help would arrive.

****

As Arthur brought out his weapon white scale, he had to buy as much time as he could to keep the demon at sight.

The Demon was leagues above Arthur in all manner of abilities…

Even in the novel, he was not meant to fight this Demon until a few more years would pass.

But Arthur did not want to give up…he had to believe in himself…he had to hope that he had a chance at something.

So when he pointed his sword at the Demon, he could do nothing but stand his ground.

He had to bring out all the abilities he had in this moment.

From the Days when he trained at the Hero's Gate under the guidance of the Elemental Wind King, Emurteus, the presence he brought out within him to the Demon was overwhelmingly powerful.

As the mark given by Emurteus shined at his hands, the winds around him began to change. As this change happened, the demon before him remained unbothered by it.

"Hmm, you definitely have potential…hahaha, but more so than not, you cannot kill me." said the demon as he brought out sharp claws from his hands.

Before Arthur could advance, he had brought out another weapon aside from white scale.

Forming a wind into the shape of a staff, he launched a strike to the demon. As he swung, a large flow of wind came rushing to the demon, and as it collided, the held out its hand to block the attack, as it did, it gave a blind chance to attack for Arthur.

Dashing to the Demon with the White scale on his hands, he slashed down in hopes of cutting the demon.

Having done so, even when he did slice down, he did not feel the presence of any form of flesh being made contact to his blade.

Even with the staff of wind acting as a diversion, the attack could not connect as the demon simply stood at the side, simply dodging his slow attacks with a smug look on his face.

The wind howled around the battlefield as Arthur stood defiantly. Even though he knows his weaknesses, his eyes glowed with an otherworldly power. Possessing the ability to command the very air itself, a force that swirled around him, turned to focus on his hands in an attempt to attack again.

Across from him, the formidable demon loomed, its towering figure wreathed in its black sking and long tail. It exuded an air of arrogance, a smug confidence in its own unmatched fighting prowess. Its eyes gleamed with a malevolent glint, hungry for the taste of a passionate battle in hopes to quench his boredom.

Arthur tightened his grip on the winds, feeling their raw power surge through his veins. He unleashed a whirlwind, sending a torrent of gusts towards the demon. But the demon merely sneered, effortlessly deflecting the assault with a flick of its clawed hand.

With a single motion, the demon lunged forward, striking with a speed and precision that left Arthur breathless. Its claws sliced through the air that protected Arthur, each swipe a deadly testament to its superior fighting power as it could be seen that the walls in the student dorm were simply torn apart by its prowess. Arthur struggled to evade the onslaught, desperately summoning gusts to shield himself from the demon's onslaught.

But despite his valiant efforts, the boy's powers began to wane. Fatigue settled deep within his bones, his breaths growing ragged. The demon, sensing victory within its grasp, unleashed a final, devastating blow. Its fist and claws devoured by its fierce flames crashed into Arthur's defenses, shattering them like fragile glass.

Arthur tumbled backward, his body battered and broken. Pain coursed through every fiber of his being as he lay defeated on the ground, his power flickering like a dying flame. The demon loomed over him, its arrogant grin widening as it relished in its triumph.

Though Arthur had fought with all his might, the difference in power proved insurmountable. It was a bitter realization, a harsh truth that humbled him in the face of an adversary beyond his reach.

As the demon gloated above him, Arthur's spirit remained unbroken. He vowed to rise again, to train harder and push his limits until the day he could match his formidable foe. For in the face of defeat, the true strength of a hero lies not in victory, but in the unwavering determination to rise again, stronger than ever.

As the Demon stood with a grin on his face, Arthur began to gather another effort to attack the Demon…with his winds gathered, he forged it along with his sword white scale…

Combining the two weapons he had, he swung it to the demon. Knowing that the boy would attack again, the Demon readied himself to counter his attack and as such, when the boy swung the combination of both the wind and his holy weapon, it was able to reach the demon…but to no avail, the demon was able to catch the attack by his hands.

The result of Arthur's attack only left the demon with a scratch on his hand.

"...Hmm, not enough boy." he said as began to reach out to Arthur.

"!!" Having gripped Arthur's neck, the demon smiled even more wickedly and said.

"You will surely be quite a prize for us demons." he said as he jumped off the building and down to the ground with Arthur by his hand.

Having landed there, he looked at the area and saw that about 30 demon cultist were already ready to go back to their base with 30 student in their hands. The others were still on their way from capturing the rest of the students.

The students ranged from the second years to the third years as it was known that students of these years were ripe enough to handle. With their range of mana from 3 circles to 4, it was quite a wise choice to pick students of this ripeness. If they had chosen to kidnap 4th year students, it would likely be more harder since it was some of them were already quite experienced in battle.

"Hmm, where's the golem?" he asked as last time he knew, the golem fell down to this place just a minute ago.

"When we arrived here sir, the golem was nowhere to be found." said one of the demon cultist.

"Hmm nevermind. looks like were ready." said the demon as he pulls out a certain artifact from his hands.

A type of artifact used as a way of travelling from one place to another…an artificial gate on that matter.

But before he could even activate the artifact, he felt something was approaching them…a matter of danger that he had to be alert of.

"Hmm?" when he turned his head up to the moon, he was meet with soaring weapon that was coming their way.

A weapon that was clad in lightning and darkness at the same time.

*BOOM!*

When the attack struck down, it created an explosion that destroyed the very front site of the student dorm.

That explosion was strong enough that it could be heard through out the whole academy.

"Tsk!" The demon clicked his tongue in annoyance…to point that he was strangling Arthur.

"...Who are you!" he said as he could feel the presence of someone who was hastily approaching them from the sky.

*Thud*

When that person landed down, the demon was meet with a person who was clad in all black with a bow in his hands.

"...looks like I was late." said the person as he looked to the demon with an angered expression.

"Hmph!" the demon smiled as he came to see that the person who intruded was nothing more than a child in black.