A COUPLE OF INCONVENIENCES

Blade immediately shined his power in the dark elf's eyes. Everyone who knew of it closed their eyes since the attack could still not be controlled fully by the human. As the dark elf lost his sight temporarily, all kids moved out of his way when he tripped over a piece of the crashed door and tumbled downwards.

Bareth at once sprinted to Alex to check in his condition.

"He's still alive, but holding on just barely," he announced to everyone. He walked over to Jay while carrying Alex and placed him on the floor, next to Clive. "Watch them for me,"

The dark elf was already on his feet, but was having a bit of difficulty in dealing with Kira's daggers and Emily's sword as they both hammered him down before he could regain all his bearings.

The moment it seemed like he was about to gain an upper hand, both girls immediately distanced themselves from him and Arnold blasted him with a powerful wind to knock him off balance once again.

The dark elf's frown deepened when now he found himself facing four opponents, Blade joining in the battle with his guns and Bareth drawing his sword.

"This is a pain. Sorry children, I have no time to play with you," he said and used his earth ability again. A large thick wall materialized in between Bareth and Blade and the elf, blocking them from helping their friends.

The girls immediately pounced on him but this time, it seemed like he was ready for the them. He made a staff out of rock and parried both weapons thrown at him. Then, with a flick of his staff, he disarmed both girls and quickly knocked them off their feet.

Arnold was by now flying around the wall, but the dark elf was prepared for that and launched a tornado of dust that caught him dead on, throwing him into a rack that held the wooden swords.

Both Blade and Bareth were just about to do the same as Arnold, get around the wall, but the elf stomped his foot and spikes protruded from the wall, occupying both boys with a new task to defend themselves.

Jay saw that the way things were going, the elf would eventually overwhelm them so he conjured a spell that didn't use a lot of mana and sent out a signal to a teacher who was almost always never busy with school trips. Unfortunately without his knowledge, it didn't make it very far.

The girls struggled to get up, the dark elf taking his time with the rest of the guys. His face said that he was in a hurry to finish this fight quick, perhaps so that no more inconveniences can come and ruin his perfect plan.

"Now listen here, you lot. I'm not going to pull my punches just because you're kids, we are in a war after all," he said and placed both of his hands on the ground. Immediately the ground began responding to him.

Waves of rock and metal began pushing everyone back, even injuring a few to some extent due to the ferocity it was released. Jay used every ounce of his mana to make a barrier to protect them but it immediately shattered the second the wave got in contact with it.

"Guys, a little help!" he shouted, trying to reform it again. Everyone rushed to help him out and together, they each shot their powers to the wave, effectively slowing it down.

"I knew you kids would do this. That's why friends are always a weakness," the dark elf laughed gleefully as now he only had to focus on one place with a powerful attack.

"Time for you guys to know the difference of power between us!"

A large tsunami made out of rock began raising in front of them. The amount of mana put into that one ability was enough to give the kids shivers.

"We have to leave, now! He's way out of out league," Blade gulped as he watched the tsunami approach them.

"Listen, we have to go through that door. I think he still hasn't noticed that he's giving us space to escape. He may be too much in a hurry to notice that the door is just a few steps away. Let's give the tsunami a few more seconds to come at us, then we'll sprint for the door using everything we've got," Kira suggested.

Everyone nodded their heads in understanding. The elf on the other hand was too engrossed with this one attack which he had poured half of his mana into.

"This definitely should finish them off," he thought as he pushed the tsunami to where he had left the kids. A powerful shock wave filled the entire room when the tsunami collided with the ground. Pieces of debris flew in various directions but the elf conjured up a wall to protect himself.

"What a pain. Now all have to dig up those targets before I get out of here," he muttered as he scratched his neck in frustration.

He touched the ground again and the pieces of rock that that were before him parted. He's eyes raised in surprise then shock when there was nothing found where he assumed the kids would have fallen.

"Those brats... HOW DARE THEY TRICK ME!" he roared in anger as he quickly took out his communication device. Without wasting time, he tapped in a few codes and a hologram of another second year student appeared.

"Why are you contacting me? I thought we agreed we would meet up at the portal with the targets. And why do look so roughed up and pissed? No, more importantly, where is your disguise?" the boy enquired.

"They're heading your way. Both targets and even the demon princess. Use your magic to stop them from contacting anyone, especially teachers," he rushly informed his partner while heaving due to the amount of mana he had just used taking a toll on him.

The boy smacked his head in frustration and wished he could beat the snot out of this pathetic elf.

"You had one job, ONE JOB! We'll revisit this topic later. Now, if you would excuse me, I've got to clean up your mistake," he said and cut contact immediately.

"Arrogant demon. He should be thankful that his power is useful otherwise I would have made quick work of him," the elf muttered as he crushed his communication device to dust.

***

"Ugh.... You're heavy," Arnold grunted as he lifted Clive with his magic. Blade was carrying Alex as the all sprinted down the halls, looking for a way to reach the teachers.

"These damned halls are too big!" Emily complained as they kept on trying to navigate their way to the teachers meeting.

The kept on circling around the halls until they realized something was wrong.

"I think we've passed that locker around five times," Kira noticed as they stopped to catch their breath.

"Hey, there is some light up ahead. May be we can find some help there," Blade said.

"That seems too convenient. It's as if we're been led there. I'm not positive about that–"

"WHERE ARE YOU LITTLE TURDS AT?! I'll have your heads for that stunt you pulled back there ,mark my words!" a voice that didn't sound too far screamed in anger.

"Well, we've got no choice in the matter. That guy is just around the corner,"

They sped down to the open door, Arnold switching over with Kira in the shift to carry Clive. They hurriedly passed through, but we're soon disappointed to find themselves in the portal chamber.

"This might be good, actually . I heard that if you try to use one of these machines here, an alert will be sent out to the guards. It's also where there are various visual orbs to keep the room secure," Arnold tried lifting his friends hopes.

"Not a bad idea. Too bad we also though of that too," someone spoke from behind one of the machines.

A second year stepped into view, his smile just as menacingly as the elf chasing them. He didn't waste time and undid his disguise. His body seemed to grow bigger and muscular, just like the last one with the same dark armor. But instead of an elf this time, a average looking guy was before them. One horn was protruding from the middle, giving the children an idea of what they were facing.

"H-how did an demon manage to get into this school?" Blade asked in fear.

"You're asking the wrong kind of questions, boy. What you should be asking is what I'm going to do to you," the demon answered with a smile, showing his razor sharp teeth.

Emily stepped forward and tried to talk with the demon. But before she could say anything, she was suddenly hit by a rock from behind, knocking her unconscious. The demon sighed in relief when he saw the dark elf marching up to them.

"Took you long enough," he muttered.

"Hey, don't blame me for taking too long. You're the one who messed up the halls," he said, dropping his hand after his attack.

"Explain to me again why I had to knock out the princess?"

"Cause she has royal blood in her. Were she to command me, I'd have to follow her without question. Now.... " the demon turned to the shaking kids and a frown appeared.

"First of all, why does one of the targets look all mangled up like that?" he asked, veins showing on his face.

"He had a bit of resistance in him, boss. Had to be done," the dark elf answered as he lowered his head, not wanting to make eye contact with the demon.

"Uh-huh. And who are the rest of this useless bunch? Friends of yours?"

"Perish the though, sir. They're the minor inconveniences I was telling you about,"

"Oh?" he observed the children carefully before making his judgement.

"So, a young human, Furrha, werewolf, elf and two wizards were giving you that much trouble? Is... is that an half-orc too? I think I'm starting to question you capabilities as a solider,"

The dark elf's right hand closed together as he tried holding his anger back.

"Just deal with it, Luthiel, it's not worth the trouble," he thought.

"Clean up your own damned mess, elf. Or do you want me to waste my magic on a bunch of nobodies?"

Jay's mind was still reeling in shock but when he had those words, he knew that something had to be done. And quick.

He looked at the closest portal and began building up his last remaining mana for one final attack.

"Sorry, kiddos. I'll have to kill you now. Though to be honest, killing children mostly doesn't sit well with me," the dark elf sighed as he raised his arm to start an attack.

The demon eyed the particular wizard who was steadily building up his mana, but he had nothing to worry about as no amount of power from a kid could do any harm to one of them.

"Hurry up and finish this. We're behind schedule after all. And keep the damage to a minimum, I can't keep hindering the visual orbs forever while distracted, now can l?"

"Yeah, yeah. I hear you. Bye kids, see you in the after life!"

"AAAHHH!" Jay roared in pain as he released all his magic, which was a large blast of pure white energy that targeted the demon. The demon dodged the attack easily while shaking its head in disappointment.

"That all you got kid?"

"You... weren't... the.... target, demon," he huffed and crumbled to the floor, blood dripping from his nose. The demon's eyes widened in realization but it was already too late. One of the portals was destroyed in an instant by the pure energy with a loud blast.

Alarms began flaring around the school with that one attack. The dark elf withheld his attack as he turned, panicking that the guards were on their way and maybe one of the teachers. In fact, he could sense them already. And that large pull of energy moving towards them had to be 'him'.

"F*ck! This little bastard just called the calvary," the demon cursed in anger as he bent low and tried navigating the halls once again with his magic.

"Quick, get the targets before the teachers arrive! I'll try to hold them off for as long as I can. Leave the princess here. Her father would love to know where his 'precious daughter' is schoololing," he ordered.

The dark elf used his speed and bypassed the futile attempt of the children to repel him. He punched Arnold straight on the face, knocking him out immediately and at the same time kicked Kira away. Then, he grabbed both targets and hurriedly sprinted to one of the portals.

"Oh no you don't!" Blade shouted and fired two rounds at the elf. The elf created a wall to protect himself so Blade's attacks did next to nothing. Bareth tried advancing at the demon to stop him from mixing up the halls again, but the demon gave him a death stare and used his skill 'Fear'.

Bareth's wolf side was immediately suppresed and his will to fight with it. The elf was already in fort of the portal, which he quickly activated. It didn't take long for him since he had some experience in duing so.

"He boss, it's open!" the dark elf screamed.

"Then get the hell outta here! No one is going to stop you!" he roared back. The dark elf nodded and was just about to jump in when a sharp dagger plunged itself into his shoulder. Even with his armor, it still managed to penetrate it. He dropped Alex immediately as he winced in pain

He angrily turned at Kira, who had just about used every strength she had to slow down the bastard.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" he screamed in rage and pain as he struggled to hold Arnold in his other arm.

"NO YOU DOLT! THAT WAS HER PLAN! THERE'S STILL TIME! QUICKLY JUMP INTO THE–"

"I think it's a little bit to late for that, gentlemen," a calm voice said. Flintheard walked in calmly with the another teacher, both their faces scarily calm.

The 'him' they feared had just arrived.