"Ah, that was so terrifying! The academy master's aura is pressuring me!", Solordo blurted while fanning himself with his hands.
Beside him was Emi who took the initiative to talk to him, "Is that so senior brother? I don't think academy master is that scary…"
Solordo was speechless. He wouldn't dare to rebut against this small girl knowing that there was this cold-looking 'senior sister' beside Emi. As far as his experience about 'senior sisters' was concerned, Solordo's story could be summarized as devastating.
Moreover, after observing Olivia's physique, he concluded that she must be from the Norva Assili in the north. He even assumed that she was the royal princess due to her noble aura.
"That… I don't know…", he replied.
"Senior brother, you have yet to tell me your name!", Emi pointed at him.
"Ah, yes! I'm Solordo Luchador. Just call me senior Solordo, little Emi.", he patted her head.
At the mention of his name, Jinmu, Lucan, and Olivia stared at him with wide eyes.
"You-you're from the Luchador Household?", Lucan shrieked in fear.
Although there were factions like the Creed of the Morning Star with wide reach in Aludia, a few small households existed in seclusion whose powers were equal to these big factions.
The Luchador Household was one of them. Despite his prestigious background, Solordo waved his hands to dismiss their thoughts.
"What Luchador Household? I'm no longer part of that family.", he snorted in disgust, "Anyway, you should introduce yourselves as well."
"I'm Jinmu Lin.", Jinmu shortly introduced.
"I'm Lucan Hermes. Nice to meet you, everyone."
"Oh, Prince Lucan from the Morning Star Empire?", Solordo was intrigued, "Seeing how shabby your clothes looked earlier, your family must've also troubled you, didn't they?"
Lucan could only sigh and nod in approval. He wasn't that different from Solordo, well, except for the fact that his younger brother tried to kill him and even implicate an innocent bystander like Jinmu.
"Hmph, serves you right.", Olivia harrumphed on the sides.
Lucan's infamous achievements were recognized even in the Norva Assili. Various rumors about Lucan circulated such as a pervert, an arrogant young master, a despicable young master, and any other derogatory insults that could describe him.
As such, Olivia's image of Lucan was stained to oblivion. Now that she knew Lucan was her classmate, she felt nauseated just by being close to him.
Witnessing her reaction, Solordo raised his eyebrows and asked, "Hey, Lucan, what did you do to this senior sister as well? Do you have bad blood with everyone else just like the rumors have told?"
"I'm not… a senior sister!", Olivia retorted. She didn't like it when she was being called that way.
"Well, little Emi calls us senior brothers so shouldn't you be addressed as a senior sister as well?", Solordo reasoned.
"No! She's big sister Olivia!", Emi interjected.
The three boys died inside. Why was there such a difference in treatment?
Solordo then realized what Emi said just now, "Olivia? Oh, so you're the royal princess of the Norva Assili. Thought as much."
Olivia didn't like Solordo's tone, "What are you trying to say, ex-Luchador?"
Solordo feigned ignorance, "Nothing. It's just that my stomach is growling. Hey little Emi, do you know someplace we could eat here?"
"Yes, senior brother Solordo!", Emi was excited and led the way.
Lucan stared at the ceiling, pondering over something.
"Hey, what are you staring at the ceiling about?", Solordo interrupted.
"Nothing. I just wonder what my younger brother is feeling right now.", Lucan smiled.
…
Morning Star Empire, Prince Dexter's room.
Bang!
Pots and papers were thrown around, littering the glossy wooden floor.
"Trash! Incompetent! Fucking useless!", Prince Dexter cursed at the two people in front of him. He was already engrossed in the fact that Lucan's body was on its way to his private room.
To think that the people he hired to kill Lucan couldn't do their job properly.
'Those old bastards are going to laugh at me now! And it's these two, these fucking incompetent fools who are at fault!', he stared at them with reddened eyes.
Uncle Mer had a downcast expression. He didn't expect that Lucan would get away in time before the assassin could kill him. The plan was supposed to be flawless and easily executable.
On the other side, Graham had his confidence shattered to pieces. The Sucarii were originally feared by many, but the failure of a very easy job stained their reputation. Now, they were being mocked by others and their ranking in the underground world lowered by several places.
Prince Dexter was about to lash again when a scholar entered his room. The person was dressed in long white robes with stubble on his unblemished face.
His black eyes calmly gazed at Prince Dexter as his tall body bowed in respect, "Prince Dexter. I have news for you. It's somewhat concerning and might be able to help you in your cause."
The man's soothing voice calmed the hot-tempered Prince Dexter. His anger subsided and asked, "Uncle Anthony, may I know what news have you brought to this young one today?"
Prince Dexter was respectful of Anthony who tutored him from a young age. If it wasn't for Anthony, Prince Dexter would behave similarly to Lucan.
"Cases of reanimated bodies attacking villages in the volcanic grassy plains has been reported, my Prince. A horde of them is about to reach the Morning Star Empire as we speak. I came here to inform you early because his Imperial Majesty might call upon you and ask for your opinion about this matter.", Anthony replied.
Prince Dexter was surprised, "Reanimated bodies? Are the demons making their move, Uncle Anthony?"
The latter nodded in approval. These sorts of atrocious acts of reanimating dead living beings into the undead were a punishable crime in Aludia. Only the demons dare to commit them on a large scale.
If it was a renegade wizard, the Creed of the Morning Star, the Knights of Aludia, and the League of Wizardry would dispatch a handful of elites to eliminate the threat at once.
However, when it came to demons, they were helpless. The reason was that the demons could easily retreat to the Wastes in safety and stay there until the commotion was over, while the renegade wizards have no safe place to hide so the latter was easier to deal with.
Moreover, renegade wizards associating with the demons?
The demons never make alliances with any other species no matter what compromise either party would do. They were prideful and knew that nobody could contend with their power at full force.
Of course, some special situations did exist, however.
"If that is so, then shouldn't the holy apostles from the Creed take their moves?", Prince Dexter asked, "There is no point in prolonging the attacks and making things hard in the later future."
"The Creed isn't taking a full interest in this matter, my Prince.", Anthony's answer intrigued Prince Dexter, "They have a far more concerning mission on the eastern seaboard. It's something about the Heavenly Magic Academy."
Prince Dexter then understood why those people didn't give much of a damn about the reanimation incident.
The public generally saw the Heavenly Magic Academy as just another more prestigious academy. However, hidden from their views was that it was primarily used by their ancestors to train wizards and, rumored to include knights as well, to combat the invading demon legions.
The Creed might've found a clue of its whereabouts, spreading their forces thin.
"It seems like we have to take this matter on our own hands for now.", Prince Dexter concluded, "Evacuating the people into the inner regions might seem to work, but that would cause unhappiness to those who already live there. It might even result in more chaos and panic."
Prince Dexter then looked at Anthony, "These undead are after the living, right?"
Anthony nodded. Prince Dexter concluded in his mind and dismissed the three of them.
As for his plans, he would only discuss them with his father.
…
On the border of the Morning Star Empire, a huge horde of undead loomed in the far distance.
A small outpost was stationed nearby, overlooking the situation and relaying reports back to the nearest city.
"Make preparations, men!", a commanding officer ordered.
A group of injured men suddenly barged into the room without permission, "Sir, bad news! The scouts, they have been reanimated!"
The report shocked the people inside, "What? How did that happen? They have the wind wolf imprint so those undead shouldn't have been able to catch up with them!"
"Sir, that's the problem! The undead, they seem to retain their power after dying and-!"
The wall was broken, directly killing the injured men and thrashing the outpost.
"What the-?!", the commanding officer immediately backed away in fear.
When the dust settled, his eyes saw a large undead polar bear carrying an undead man on its back. He was wielding a great axe on his hands.
"Shit! Someone go back to the headquarters and report this-!", the commanding officer then noticed that everyone else was dead except for him.
He was surrounded by a group of soldiers emanating a strong aura just like when they were still alive.
"No, this isn't possible! This is a nightmare!"
Those were his last words as the undead charged at him and tore him into pieces.
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