Chapter 788: Beyond the Game
Adam arched a brow, watching Haldris wave his hand. Without warning, the soft soil of the plain and the verdant blades of grass that had swayed against his pants vanished, replaced by hard stone. Wind ruffled his sky-blue hair, bringing with it the chill of morning, the sweet scent of the garden, and a deep sense of shock when he locked onto a massive stone table.
The clouds were closer. So was the sun. Around him, several dozen students gasped as they, too, found themselves on the hovering platform, teleported without even feeling it. An icy shudder ran down his spine.
Impossible.
Even if Haldris could conceal his mana, he should have felt space bend. And yet, not a single petal trembled in the harmonious garden underneath. Was the rector a spatial expert on par with the late void emperor, or did he use another element?
He didn’t know. What he knew, however, was that Haldris could kill him before he understood how. For a moment that seemed to stretch, his vision darkened at the edges, air tasting like venom. His perception of the rector warped—no longer a man in simple clothes, but a titan whose features were shrouded in impregnable darkness that only left his single golden eye shining through.
"Enough questions." Haldris’ voice cut through his dread like a scalpel swung with the brutish fury of a hammer. "Let me show you the technique."
Adam’s vision cleared, and he saw Haldris as he was. But the dread remained rooted in his marrow even as the man reached for a square pouch at his belt. And when he saw what the rector took out, his eyes widened. Not fear—just pure shock. He knew the technique, rather everyone did where he came from.
Haldris was holding a stack of parchments. The one at the top depicted a humanoid creature that howled under a red moon. The keratin of its twisted horns extended around its eyes like a helmet, while spikes protruded from trunk-sized arms. Its skin was a pale shade of grey, its eyes an unholy green flickering with ancient malice that made Adam forget to breathe.
"First time I see a demon. Gives me the chills," Desmond murmured beside him, his face pale.
But as impressively threatening as the demon was, Adam’s gaze didn’t linger on it. It was on the parchment itself. "A talisman!" he blurted out aloud.
"Great answer." Haldris locked eye with him, chuckling. "I wonder where you’ve learned about it. A hundred points for you."
As Adam’s emblem brightened, Haldris glanced at the other students, who shared Desmond’s reaction, except for those who had begun the courses in demonology and forbidden rituals.
"These are not mere drawings, but soul-sealing talismans." He turned over the parchments, revealing more demons, horrifying ghosts, and colossal magical beasts. "They’re real, dead and repurposed into weapons we can summon. That’s how the first exorcists fought. That’s what I’ll teach you."
While students whispered around Adam, his eyes narrowed and his mind churned like a typhoon from which a memory emerged. The scent of old ink yanked him back to the library of the Academy of Summoning, where Shepard grinned across the book-laden desk. "I’ve read that once, Battle Monster was more than a game."
The isolated comment he hadn’t considered for longer than a minute had been true all along. And now, Haldris was already showing how.
"Sealing the soul of a powerful foe after defeating it is the simple part." His golden eye shone as he tucked a talisman between his fingers.
A magical circle burst into existence around it, thousands of intricate symbols spiralling like veins of lightning at its edges. The demon’s inked form writhed as dense mist crawled out of the paper before it condensed into a humanoid silhouette.
Adam’s mythical bones trembled in recognition, and his fists tightened at the surreal sight. Pale skin formed, veins of molten green tracing muscles so shredded he could count the fibers. The demon towered five heads taller than him, eyes ablaze with unspoken promises of violence, jagged fangs glistening. Its nostrils flared as it turned toward the students and let out a soul-chilling roar.
Most stepped back, trembling like leaves battered by a storm, while a few dropped to their knees, gasping for air that refused to enter their lungs.
Adam tensed, eyes searching for Quintella, mana rumbling in his circuits. The demon would attack!
SNAP
Before it could, a brilliant light and a sharp snap forced his attention back on the creature. Already? No. A chain, firmly held by Haldris, was now coiled around its neck. It clawed at the mana links, muscles bulging, green flames bursting from its sharp, dark nails.
Then, Haldris yanked his hand down. The movement appeared almost slow to Adam rather than overwhelming. Yet, the demon’s legs buckled under the humming links, the pressure heavy enough to crush a mountain. It collapsed to the platform, the green fire flickering in and out of existence briefly before fading.
One student bent over, vomiting as the demon thrashed around in one last vain attempt to free itself, but no one even noticed. They were all focused on Haldris’ voice. It echoed with the certainty of a prophecy he would carry himself: death.
"Submit."
A simple word, yet so heavy.
The demon glared at him, eyes ablaze with defiance, fangs snapping open to let out a voice like grinding sounds. "I’ll feast upon your flesh and drink from your hollowed skull. Legions shall swarm your lands, your cities shall crumble, and all you love will lie sundered in the ruins—forgotten, rotting in shadow, whispering your name in betrayal until the last dawn fades."
Its words lingered like a curse that choked everyone.
Not Haldris.
His lips curved as if he had heard an old joke. Without bothering to answer, he dragged the demon back into the magic circle with casual ease. The towering body burst into mist, then vanished.
"You know about the dangers now." He simply continued his class, making Adam realise the demon’s rebellion wasn’t a failure, but an example. "The creatures you seal will try to kill, curse, or possess you. Some are straightforward, like this demon; others are cunning and patient. I’ve seen them act like friends until they backstabbed their summoners at the first sign of weakness. Always remember they aren’t your friends, nor servants. They were enemies you had once killed yourself. They’ll resent you at all times, so never trust them."