When Wendy and the others exited the garden of the Magic Division, an anxious Spencer suddenly appeared out of nowhere and rushed towards his twin sister. He had searched the entire Division looking for Wendy, but he couldn’t find her.
Fortunately, when he was about to head to the other Divisions, he saw them exit the garden and immediately ran in their direction.
“What happened to the Knight Commander?” Spencer asked with a serious expression. “Are you okay, Wendy? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I’m fine, Big Brother,” Wendy replied. “Are the Demons still around?”
This was the most pressing concern for them at the moment because William was currently unconscious and unable to protect himself if the Demons decided to rampage inside the academy.
“I don’t know.” Spencer shook his head. “I left the Grand Coliseum to look for you, right after the Demons appeared.”
Wendy felt touched because her twin brother prioritized her safety and rushed towards the Magic Division to look for her. However, when Spencer volunteered to carry William, she firmly rejected his offer. Instead, she urged her brother to check the current situation, while they headed towards the Lunaris Dormitory.
Spencer agreed to his sister’s proposal and returned to the Grand Coliseum. Since Est and the others were with her, and his Knight Commander was currently out of commission, the overprotective Siscon deemed that his sister was currently safe and left with peace of mind.
The Lunaris Dormitory was the dormitory of the First Years in the Magic Division. Est proposed to take William to his room to rest, while they waited for the battle against the Demons to settle down.
They were confident that the Knights, Instructors, and the students would be able to drive the demons away. This was why they decided to prioritize William’s safety instead of going to the Grand Coliseum.
—–
A man wearing a black robe snuck inside the treasure house of the Royal Academy. He and his men used the Demon invasion as a distraction to infiltrate the place where ancient artifacts and treasures were stored within the academy.
The Black-Robed Man was one of the members of The Organization that helped the Demon Race set a warp portal in the Grand Coliseum. If the Astral Worm was there, it would recognize the man as the same person that had given it “Carter” to be used as a vessel in order to enter the academy and carry out its mission.
Due to the sudden turn of events, the defenders of the treasury were forced to split their forces and reinforce the defenders at the Coliseum. Those that remained behind were easily dealt with by the members of the organization who specialized in fighting.
“Sir, all the guards had been eliminated,” a man wearing a black mask reported.
“Good,” the Black-Robed Man replied. “Guard all entrances and make sure that no one disturbs me.”
“Yes, Sir!” The man wearing the black mask nodded his head and stood at the entrance to prevent anyone from interfering with his superior’s mission.
After walking for a few minutes, the Black-Robed-Man stopped in front of a huge black door that was covered in many ancient runes.
It was the entrance that led to the treasure house. Only the Dean of the Academy had the key to open it. Fortunately, they managed to steal the key a day ago, while the Dean was having a meeting outside the academy.
They left a perfect replica behind in order to prevent Simon, the Dean of the Academy, from finding anything suspicious.
The Black-Robed-Man took out a small silver orb from his storage ring and raised it above his head.
“Let the glory of the Hellan Academy forever burn brightly!” the man shouted and the silver orb in his hand glowed.
The door of the treasury slowly opened, revealing mountains of gold coins, jewels, weapons, armors, and other artifacts that had been stored in the academy for many years.
The lips of the Black-Robed Man curled up into a grin as he stared at the priceless treasures that were inside the treasure vault.
His leader ordered him to ransack the Academy’s treasury in order to increase their organization’s funding. They had used many resources and manpower to instigate the war between the Kingdoms and Dynasties, and also support the Demon Race’s invasion.
Their coffers had decreased by half and they needed some immediate sources of income to keep their operation going smoothly.
The Black-Robed man was about to enter the treasure vault when a hand patted his shoulder from behind.
“Good Job,” a voice filled with happiness sounded from behind the robed man. “I’ll take it from here. You can rest in peace.”
Before the Black-Robed-Man could even react, the same hand that had patted his shoulder grabbed his head and gave it a twist. The sound of bones breaking reverberated within the quiet treasure vault.
James tossed the dead body aside and entered the treasure vault with a devilish smile on his face.
“Time to loot this place,” James chuckled as he activated the storage ring in his hand.
Like a black hole, all the treasures within the vault were sucked towards James’ ring until nothing was left.
The “Old Bandit of Lont” whistled in satisfaction as he swaggered out of the treasury. If King Noah, Emrys, and Simon were there to witness James’ act of banditry, all of them would definitely summon their weapons and fight the old coot to the bitter end.
Although James cared for the Hellan Kingdom, he cared more about his family and the subordinates that were under his command. He didn’t expect much from the King, and he certainly didn’t expect him to confer upon him additional rewards for the information he had given him.
For him, The Organization was just a convenient scapegoat. He could put the blame on The Organization for everything.
‘I can just tell them that I arrived late,’ James thought as he smiled evilly.
Suddenly, Ezio appeared before him holding a short sword stained with blood.
“Everyone has been eliminated, Sir,” Ezio reported. “The battle in the Grand Coliseum is also nearing its end.”
“Perfect timing. I’ll go check on Matthew and Leah, you go and find William. Knowing that boy, he’d probably be at the center of this mess.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Ezio disappeared into a black mist and flew in the direction of the Magic Division. James watched him go before turning his head to look at this right side.
“How long are you planning to hide?” James asked. “Are you going to report me to His Majesty?” he finished sarcastically.
James’ rival, the Sword Saint of the Hellan Kingdom, Aramis Bran Caliburn, materialized out of thin air and stared at him with disdain.
“I’ve always known that keeping you around was a mistake,” Aramis said as he snorted. “You even used the Demons and that secret organization to fill up your pockets with gold coins. How devious of you.”
“Why, thank you,” James replied. “So, what are you going to do? Are you going to fight, or are you going to fight?”
Aramis didn’t bother to reply, and instead, unsheathed his sword from his scabbard before taking a fighting stance. James, on the other hand, summoned his giant axe and rested it on his shoulder. Both fighters released their aura and were about to clash against each other when they heard the tolling of a bell.
Soon, more ringing sounds resounded all over the capital and the two men’s expressions suddenly became serious.
——
Back in the Grand Coliseum…
None of the students had died during the demon invasion because The King, the Grand Archmage, and the Dean of the Academy had made preparations beforehand and linked the Grand Coliseum to Simon’s Domain.
The students that had been killed had been automatically transported to a safe location where they would be attended to by the Clerics of the Kingdom.
However before they could even celebrate their victory, the Grand Bell of Gladiolus started to ring.
King Noah, Emrys, and Simon, looked towards the East with grim expressions. The Bell of Gladiolus had been rung and it only meant one thing, and one thing only.
“The war has started,” Noah said in a voice laced with barely restrained anger. He had long heard that an unknown Organization was moving behind the scenes and fanning the flames of war from the shadows.
However, he never expected them to act this decisively and use every means at their disposal to make things difficult for the Hellan Kingdom. King Noah clenched his fist so hard that the ground beneath his feet crumbled as the aura in his body burst forth.
“To arms!” King Noah shouted. His voice boomed within the Grand Coliseum as he called out to the Warriors of his Kingdom. “Rally to me! Duty calls and the enemy awaits!”
