Chapter 35 - Three Years
Three years later.
August 25, 1993 - England, Lancashire County, City of Lancaster.
*Boom!*
A loud explosion erupted from a school on the outskirts of Lancaster, reducing the historic education building to mere rubble, with a cloud of dust spreading in all directions.
*Beastly Roar!*
From the dust cloud emerged a huge green creature roaring towards the skies, a massive, flabby humanoid. Its enormous mouth, capable of swallowing entire buildings, dripped venom and acid onto the ground, melting it into craters, rendering the soil infertile for any life to thrive.
On the other side, emerged from the dust cloud, a figure gliding skillfully through the air.
He was a young man of about sixteen years old, standing at 174 cm tall, clad in black armor with a crown floating above his head.
The entire armor bore eerie red eyes, which seemed alive as they blinked and closed at a slow pace. The crown floating above his head mirrored the same eerie appearance of the armor.
Looking at the destroyed school, Asterion knew the government would have difficulties explaining why a perfectly intact school had disappeared completely. Fortunately, he had used a Curtain before the battle.
But it wasn't time to dwell on that, and Asterion focused on the cursed spirit of Special Grade, particularly the cursed spirit wasn't too strong for him, a special grade wizard, but the innate technique of the cursed spirit was especially annoying.
Acid and poison. With the simplistic mind of the cursed spirit, it wielded its innate technique as nothing more than a simple mist. The mist was capable of poisoning and corroding everything it touched, rendering the land around the school uninhabitable, at least for a few months.
But that was it, just irritating. It would be easier if it used spells, but considering the disaster it would be if it cast a spell, he refrained from using his own spells, especially without the wand to control the spell's accuracy.
At times, Asterion wished that casting spells was as easy as using his Innate Technique, but it wasn't the case, especially for him, who had a colossal magical energy that was mostly uncontrollable.
Floating in the air, he makes a seal with both hands, Asterion summoned a massive cloud of darkness in the dark sky within The Curtain.
From it emerged a colossal silver serpent, its colossal size seeming to cover the entire school grounds, with silver scales adorned with symbols resembling pupil-less eyes.
"Ouroboros."
Looking at his cursed spirit possessing an innate technique related to fate, Asterion glanced coldly at the humanoid cursed spirit still roaring towards him. The cursed spirit didn't attack him; it seemed it could sense the mortal danger he was feeling at the moment.
Which wasn't surprising, given that high-grade cursed spirits were capable of speaking and thinking like humans and other intelligent races.
But the fear was short-lived, as the cursed spirit opened its mouth and released a huge cloud of venom and acid, covering the entire area within the Curtain that separated the inner realm from the real world.
However, something incredible happened: the silver serpent in the sky bit its own tail! In the next moment, the entire cloud of venom and acid seemed to rewind in time. Even the cursed spirit appeared confused, but his confusion lasted only a second before he let out a furious roar. Every time he moved, he returned to the same spot he was in, as if trapped in an eternal loop.
Seeing the huge, furious spirit finally trapped, Asterion was pleased with Ouroboros' ability. The serpent was one of his trump cards to use against the bearer of the Six Eyes, and seeing the results of his creation, he was very satisfied.
"Now, let's play, as I really need to unwind," Asterion murmured to himself as he fell from the sky towards the cursed spirit. As he descended, a pair of black gauntlets appeared in his hands.
Upon landing on the cursed spirit's head, Asterion closed his fist and gathered magical energy before delivering the punch.
*Boom!*
The entire head of the cursed spirit deformed, green blood splattered onto Asterion's face. He didn't stop and continued delivering another punch, even stronger and charged with magical energy, exploding the cursed spirit's head this time, silencing the creature's roar. A large amount of putrid green blood splattered hundreds of meters around.
Not waiting for the cursed spirit to regenerate, Asterion reached out and used his Innate Technique - Creation and Manipulation of Cursed Spirits - to control it.
A huge sphere of blue magical energy appeared around the gigantic cursed spirit, slowly melting it until it transformed into a blue sphere in Asterion's hand.
"This is the fifth Special Grade cursed spirit I've exercised. With this one, I've completed the Ministry of Magic's evaluation. I'm officially the second Special Grade Wizard in England and thirty-second in the known world today."
Looking at the blue orb in his hand, Asterion curved his lips into a smile and swallowed the cursed orb without hesitation. Along with this one, Asterion had about fifteen Special Grade cursed spirits, five exorcized and ten created over three years of insane training, during which he just wanted a bit of vacation before continuing his infernal journey.
With this mission completed, Asterion could finally return home after three months of absence. But hunting down five cursed spirits took longer than he expected, especially with these beings able to change their own negative magical energy, making their exact location difficult, camouflaging themselves with a lower grade than they truly were.
But these three months were not in vain; they brought him a tremendous increase in strength, as he created and captured so many cursed spirits, which was considered quite satisfying.
-
Closing the Curtain, the sky gradually returned to its beautiful celestial blue, but the destruction of the school building remained unchanged. But there was nothing Asterion could do; it was better for the school's destruction than the entire city, which could happen if the cursed spirit left its place of origin. It wasn't common for this to happen, but unfortunately, it wasn't an absolute rule.
In his fourth exorcism, unfortunately, this happened. He arrived late, and a significant part of a city in Gloucestershire had been destroyed. The government had told the people that the cause was a large accidental explosion, but Asterion knew that a Cursed Spirit had left its place of origin and caused more than twenty thousand casualties before being exorcised by him.
When the Veil was lifted, Asterion saw that the entire school area had been cordoned off with several yellow and red perimeter tapes. Behind the tapes, several government cars were parked, each bearing a logo of a sword and shield crossed with an acronym below.
[MI0].
It was the secret government organization responsible for bridging the wizarding world and the normal world. It had the authority to evacuate an entire city if necessary.
"I presume that since we're alive, the cursed spirit has been exorcised?"
Asterion looked at the middle-aged man in a suit and nodded, signaling that he was correct.
The man took out his cellphone and spoke, "The Special Grade cursed spirit has been successfully exorcised." After reporting, he pocketed the phone and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it as he looked at the young man with a complex expression.
He had worked for over twenty years in MI0, but he never got used to seeing children fighting these monsters. To him, these children should be in schools playing and hanging out with friends, not fighting to the death against these abominations. Unfortunately, the world didn't work as he wanted.
"Good job, Agent Black," he said, blowing a smoke ring from his mouth.
"Thank you as well for your hard work, Agent Gray," Asterion also sincerely thanked. In these three months, he had seen how hard these people worked to make the world a little better, enough for normal people to live their lives normally.
Edward Gray simply nodded and replied, "It's the least we can do while you're risking your life, Agent Black."
He continued speaking, this time with a sincere smile, "By the way, congratulations on becoming the second Special Grade wizard in England."
"Yes, but I'm not as happy as I thought I would be," Asterion said, looking at the tired man in front of him, sighing while maintaining a surprisingly cold gaze.
He was remembering the tragedy that had occurred three weeks ago. Seeing over twenty thousand bodies was truly a hellish sight that he never wanted to witness a second time.
Edward also sighed. He was on the case when the Special Grade cursed spirit had escaped from its place of origin. Even after working in this world for twenty years, he probably never forgot that infernal scene.
Flicking the cigarette ashes away, Edward spoke to Asterion with a serious look. "The occurrences of cursed spirits are increasing, almost 50% more than last year, and they're still rising."
Asterion remained silent, obviously aware of this. It wasn't just happening in England; all countries were suffering similarly, and the existence of the supernatural was on the brink of being exposed at any moment. This world was heading towards an end worthy of an apocalyptic scenario.
"I just hope God helps us," Edward showed a helpless look on his face and spoke, looking up at the sky, apparently hoping for some divine salvation. Unfortunately, God had given humans free will; he had left the fate of humanity to be decided by itself.
Asterion shook his head and bid farewell to the veteran agent, leaving with a cold and indifferent look on his face.
"God will help, whether we want it or not," he muttered to himself.
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Next Chapter: Chapter 36 - Three Years (2), Chapter 37 - Hogwarts Express (1), Chapter 38 - Hogwarts Express (2), Chapter 39 - Hogwarts Express (3) Chapter 40 - Hogwarts Express (4) Chapter 41 - Hogwarts Express (5), Chapter 42 - Hogwarts (1), Chapter 43 - Hogwarts (2), Chapter 44 - Hogwarts (3), Chapter 45 - Classroom (1), Chapter 46 - Classroom (2), Chapter 47 - Classroom (3), Chapter 48 - First Class of Defense Against Cursed Spirits (1), Chapter 49 - First Class of Defense Against Cursed Spirits (2), Chapter 50 - Request (1), Chapter 51 - Request (2).
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