Chapter 9: The Devil Girl And The Fallen Angel
Lucien’s expression sharpened instantly as he launched himself toward the source of the scream using Celestial Step.
The moment he arrived, his eyes landed on a young girl trembling on the ground. A white cloak covered her academy uniform while her short white hair framed her innocent face beautifully. Her large blue eyes were filled with terror, and her body shook uncontrollably.
Lucien immediately followed her gaze, and froze slightly.
A woman with black wings stood several meters away holding a long black spear. Endless dark mana leaked from her body while the pressure around her felt suffocating.
The winged woman raised her spear toward the terrified girl, Lucien stepped forward immediately.
"Hey." His voice was cold and straightforward. "If you’re going to kill someone, at least choose someone who can fight back." he then turned to the girl and mouthed the word, ’run’ and she dashed off.
The winged woman slowly turned toward him. Lucien instantly activated the Rank Vision skill he had stolen earlier. But nothing appeared, his eyes narrowed immediately.
"What are you?" The winged woman stared at him silently while her long black hair moved gently behind her. Her hazel eyes resembled predators staring at prey before a faint smile appeared on her face.
"I hate your type."
Lucien frowned slightly. "What type?"
"The ones who possess both human rank." Dark mana spread slowly around her feet. "Those people always create the greatest destruction."
Her gaze turned colder.
"And because of you..." she glanced toward the escaping girl, "...my meal escaped."
Lucien’s expression darkened instantly. "I asked what you are," he said coldly. "Answer me before I remove your head from your body."
*WARNING.* The system’s voice exploded inside his mind. *Enemy far exceeds your current level. Species identified: Fallen Angel.*
Lucien’s eyes widened slightly. *Threat Level: Extreme. Target surpasses all ordinary human ranks.*
For the first time since entering the academy, Lucien instinctively stepped backward.
The fallen angel noticed immediately and smiled faintly. "I like you already," she said almost amused. "You carry hatred inside you. The desire to kill anyone who challenges you." Her dark aura intensified around her spear. "But like I said..." her hazel eyes glowed dangerously, "...I hate your kind the most."
BOOOOOOM!!!
She charged instantly, her speed completely surpassed Lucien’s vision as the spear shot toward his chest. But before it could touch him, a fist slammed directly into the fallen angel’s face with horrifying force.
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
The impact distorted the air itself as the fallen angel’s body flew backward across the forest like a meteor, crashing through mountains several kilometers away.
Lucien’s eyes widened slightly, someone now stood before him, a girl.
No—a beauty that almost didn’t feel human. She wore another academy uniform, but unlike everyone else, she carried herself with overwhelming elegance and dominance.
Long pink hair cascaded all the way down her waist like flowing silk while her cold blue eyes resembled frozen stars beneath moonlight.
Her skin looked flawless, her figure perfectly shaped, and despite her beauty, the aura surrounding her felt terrifying.
She slowly cracked her knuckles while staring calmly toward the destroyed mountains in the distance. Lucien immediately activated Rank Vision again, nothing appeared.
His eyes narrowed instantly. "What is she?" he asked internally.
*Species identified: Devil.*
Lucien’s eyes widened again.
*Rank among devils: Abyssal Demon, Unified Power Ranking: Early Stage Ascendant Rank the second to last strongest.*
His heart skipped slightly because they were far far far above his level, they didn’t have the same ranking as humans. *Then what about the fallen angel?*
*Target classified as Dread Sovereign, unified Power Ranking: Early Stage Monarch the third to strongest.*
Lucien froze slightly while staring between the distant destroyed mountains and the pink-haired beauty standing calmly before him.
The fallen angel was actually stronger in rank, which meant, if they fought seriously...Who would win?
Because he felt like the pink haired girl was actually stronger than the normal ones in her rank.
••••••••••••••
Outside the Beast Realm, the atmosphere inside the hall remained calm as dozens of priests and priestesses watched the students through massive magical screens floating in the air.
The white-robed priest who had welcomed the students earlier stood with his arms folded behind his back while the priestess beside him observed the participants calmly.
Some students were fighting beasts, others were hiding, and some were already collecting impressive numbers of mana cores.
"He’s talented," one priest commented while looking at Lucien’s screen while he fought the calamity beast. "His mana control is excellent for someone his age."
"And his combat instincts are unusually sharp," another added.
The priestess narrowed her eyes slightly at Lucien’s image. "There is still something strange about him."
Before the conversation could continue, the magical screens suddenly flickered violently.
The clouds inside the Beast Realm slowly turned black. The priests immediately frowned.
"What is happening?"
"That wasn’t part of the examination."
The black clouds swirled unnaturally across the sky before suddenly vanishing completely, leaving the priests confused for a brief moment.
But then dark magic began tearing through the air itself. Cracks spread across space like shattered glass before endless waves of black energy started expanding outward.
Shock filled the hall instantly. "What dark sorcery is this?!"
"That isn’t human magic!"
"Impossible..." The black energy rapidly spread until it formed a gigantic barrier around the entire Beast Realm. The magical screens instantly went dark.
Everyone froze, they couldn’t see inside anymore. The white-robed priest stepped forward immediately, his expression finally turning serious. "The connection has been severed."
A priestess clenched her fists tightly. "Devils..."
Another priest immediately shook his head. "No, this amount of dark energy feels wrong even for devils."
"What if it’s the fallen angels?" a priest with dark long hair reaching his shoulders asked.
The hall instantly became silent for a brief second."Fallen angels?"
"That’s impossible...fallen angels and devils are the same, so why are you identifying them as if they are different beings."
"Haven’t you heard about the fall of Lucifer, Lucifer is no more, so the fallen angels which you may know as the devils separated themselves, one calling themselves devils the other calling themselves fallen angels, and now the fallen angels wants to predominate the devil’s and take Lucifer throne." The black haired priest explained calmly.
"But if it truly is them, then why attack an academy examination?" the priest who doubted his thoughts then questioned.
"What are they trying to achieve?" another asked.
"Recruitment?" he paused doubting his questioning on himself, "A massacre? Or perhaps they are searching for someone inside..."
Questions immediately filled the hall as tension spread among the priests.
One older priest suddenly slammed his staff against the floor. "Enough talking. We break the barrier first."
The others immediately agreed. Within seconds, dozens of glowing portals opened across the hall as priests and priestesses vanished through them one after another.
Outside the Beast Realm, they finally saw the barrier directly with their own eyes. A gigantic dome of black magic covered the entire area, swallowing everything inside it completely. Even the surrounding air felt corrupted.
One priest stared upward in disbelief. "What kind of power creates something like this...?"
Another clenched his jaw. "Why are they doing this?"
The white-robed priest stepped forward while holy mana slowly spread around his body. "We do not stop until this barrier breaks."
The others immediately nodded. Soon, holy magic exploded everywhere as dozens of priests began attacking the dome simultaneously.
Some stood on the ground channeling massive beams of sacred energy while others floated above the barrier itself, unleashing spell after spell directly against it.
BOOOOM!!!
Golden explosions shook the entire area repeatedly, yet...nothing happened. The barrier didn’t even crack.
One priest stared in disbelief. "Our attacks are doing absolutely nothing..."
Another priest gritted his teeth. "Then whoever created this barrier is far above us."
Inside the Beast Realm, panic had already spread among many students. Some had stopped hunting beasts completely after noticing the black dome covering the sky.
They searched desperately for escape routes, but many of them were intercepted by strange winged figures with their expressions and auras looking so dark.
