230 Chapter 23
In a cave somewhere in the demi-human region, ‘Oillet’ whose whereabouts Fornius was looking for was sitting quietly with her eyes closed. Her body was enveloped by a black and white light circling around her. She released a terrifying pressure into her surroundings. Soon after, ‘Oillet’ opened her eyes, and the cave shook violently.
“I didn’t think that this container was an irregular one. Her body kept denying my existence after knowing I would eradicate all irregulars. Because of that, I had to waste a lot of time completely taking over this body.” ‘Oillet’ stood up and walked slowly out of the cave.
‘Oillet’ came out from inside the cave located at the foot of the mountain. She saw that the sun had just risen and then turned her gaze towards the direction the Beast Kingdom was located. ‘Oillet’ narrowed her eyes and was pensive after feeling something there.
“Hmm…a lot of irregulars gathered in that area. This makes it easier for me to get rid of them. So I don’t have to bother going around the Clorius continent just looking for them.” ‘Oillet’ swung her left hand, and the cave and the huge mountain behind her suddenly disappeared. The mountain did not disappear but was destroyed without a trace. Then ‘Oillet’ flew towards the territory of the Beast Kingdom with astonishing speed.
***
Animaria city is very lively because today is the inauguration day of the Arcuz Grand Academy. The teachers and staff at the academy seemed to be busy preparing for the event, and the security in the Monarch Palace became many times more stringent than usual. This action was taken to prevent any disturbance during the ceremony. In addition, many important guests came to the event, and their safety was the academy’s responsibility.
The students from class S were the busiest in this inauguration ceremony because they had to be the guides and supervise the guests. They must move with the guests for whom they are responsible. In contrast, students from other classes will only be spectators in the event.
The event was held in the front courtyard of the Monarch Palace, which was transformed in one night into a grand and luxurious inauguration venue with a large stage in the center.
The guests have started to fill the seats in the area that has been provided for them. The guest area is divided into two. The first was the area for guests from the demi-human region, and the other was for guests from the human region. Meanwhile, the students from class S had their seats next to the guest area.
Prince Ozkar, Princess Melkia and the other class S students were already sitting in their seats. This time, Prince Ozkar’s group got the assignment as guides for the Rubelia Kingdom. But their task was simpler because they only needed to escort the guests from that kingdom to their seats and then watch them from afar.
Ziel sat in the guest area, flanked by Clara to his right and Lilith to his left. He noticed that Azalia kept staring at him from afar, but he pretended not to know. Ziel suddenly raised his eyebrows and looked up at the sky. He saw thick clouds gathering above the Monarch Palace unnaturally. Ziel only looked at it for a while and then ignored it.
Azalia felt the same way as Ziel and looked up at the sky. She stared for a long moment and then turned her gaze towards the stage.
Not long after that, all the seats in the guest area were filled, and soon the inauguration ceremony would begin. The teachers and staff of the Arcuz Grand Academy had also taken their seats, and the only person who had not shown himself up until now was the principal. It became a conversation among the other guest.
One of the teachers got up from his seat and walked onto the stage. He stood on the podium and looked at the guests in their seats. That person was the homeroom teacher of class S, Jourelio Cronan, and Raphael chose him from the other six homeroom teachers to give a welcome speech at the inauguration ceremony. After taking a deep breath, Jourelio finally spoke.
“First of all, we would like to thank the guests who have been willing to come to the inauguration ceremony of the Arcuz Grand Academy…” Jourelio smiled and gave his welcome speech to the guests. His voice can be heard loud and clear because it uses a magic tool similar to a loudspeaker. His welcome speech was quite long and took some time to finish.
“That’s the welcome speech I need to say. We apologize if there are things that are not pleasing to your heart. I know you must be wondering about our principal because he still hasn’t shown himself until now. He came a long time ago and watched throughout this event.” Jourelio smiled broadly. Even though it was quite a distance from the guest area and the academy teachers, he could hear what they were talking about.
The guests became noisy at Jourelio’s words. They looked around but found no one who looked like the principal. Jourelio’s words stirred their curiosity about the mysterious principal of the Arcuz Grand Academy.
“I’m sorry if my words made you curious. In that case, I shall introduce you to the principal of the Arcuz Grand Academy, Mr. Raphael Custodio. We invite you to show yourself.” Jourelio smiled and looked up at the sky. The guests were also looking in the same direction as Jourelio.
The clouds gathered above the Monarch Palace suddenly dispersed and revealed a handsome, golden-haired man who looked divine. The guests were shocked after seeing Raphael’s appearance. They looked not at his face but the pair of wings on his back and the halo above his head.
The teachers from Arcuz Grand Academy were also dumbfounded because today was the first time they had seen Raphael. They usually can only hear his voice without being able to see his face. Only the leaders of the four kingdoms in the demi-human region had met him face to face or even fought him.
Princess Irene’s face became tense upon seeing Raphael’s figure. She already knew from Ziel that the principal of this academy was not a native of the Clorius continent. But she couldn’t help but be shocked when she saw it in person.
On the other hand, Lilith frowned as she felt she didn’t know what race Raphael was. She couldn’t recognize him because when the divine race came to the Clorius continent, Lilith was still very young.
The way Raphael appears is fantastic. But suddenly, a terrifying pressure overflowed from his body and suppressed everyone below, including the guests and teachers of the Arcuz Grand Academy.
“What!”
“Mr. Raphael! What are you doing!”
“What is he doing!?”
The guests screamed in panic after feeling the pressure from Raphael. They become difficult to breathe and cannot move an inch from where they are sitting. The leaders of the kingdoms in the demi-human region were shocked by what Raphael had done. They didn’t understand what it meant to release such pressure.
Ziel and Lilith did nothing because such pressure meant nothing to them. Whereas Clara, Kalya, Princess Freya, and Princess Aishia had an artifact from Ziel to protect them, they were also unaffected. Princess Iris and Princess Cordelia had a master-servant servant contract and a slave seal from Ziel. Therefore they also endured that pressure.
“Ugh!”
“Argh!”
Clara suddenly averted her eyes after hearing a pained groan in a voice that sounded familiar to her. She saw Princess Irene clutching her chest due to shortness of breath. Even though Princess Irene had put up a barrier around her, she still couldn’t withstand Raphael’s pressure because the difference in strength was too great. Princess Irene was also under pressure because Ziel had removed the slave seal from her. Apart from Princess Irene, Clara also saw Kyouka and Megumi experiencing the same thing.
“Ken, can you help Irene, Kyouka and Megumi? They look in a lot of pain!” Clara tugged at Ziel’s sleeve and said with a worried face.
“Okay.” Ziel answered curtly. He had expected that Clara would ask him to help those girls.
Ziel secretly shot balls of light at Princess Irene, Kyouka and Megumi. He did it in secret because he didn’t want Raphael to notice. After the ball of light entered their bodies, a thin layer of gray light appeared around them and resisted the pressure from Raphael.
“Eh? I no longer have trouble breathing. This gray light?” Princess Irene quickly knew the origin of the gray light because she had seen Ziel fight and released the same color aura and mana that enveloped her right now.
Princess Irene turned to Ziel and saw Clara smiling at her. She knew that this was Clara’s request, and she felt a little disappointed for some reason. Kyouka felt the same way after knowing that Ziel had helped her for Clara. The two girls could only sigh.
Meanwhile, Raphael watched the guests below him in the sky. He calmly observed their reactions.
“I didn’t think any guest from the human region would be able to withstand my pressure. It’s unexpected. I thought the natives of this continent were just weaklings.” Raphael smiled and was intrigued after seeing that several kings of the kingdoms in the human region remained calm in the face of pressure from him.
Raphael took another look at the guests below. When he saw Ziel and Lilith, he didn’t notice that both were unaffected by the pressure because Ziel used illusion magic to make him and Lilith look in pain. The same thing happened when Raphael saw people related to Ziel.
“Hmm…” Raphael’s gaze suddenly stopped in one direction. It was the place where Azalia was sitting.
“This girl…isn’t she the one who wanted to sneak into my office? The atmosphere around her was familiar. Wait a minute, isn’t this the atmosphere released by the people of the Divine Race in the Divine Realm?” Raphael narrowed his eyes at Azalia but then smiled broadly.
“Interesting! I didn’t expect that people from the divine race would become students in this place. She must have had an ulterior motive in registering for this academy. I’ll find out soon enough.” Raphael turned his gaze elsewhere. After examining the guests below him, he pulled back his pressure and descended onto the stage right next to Jourelio.
“Mr. Raphael! What exactly are you doing!?” King Regulus stood up and shouted at Raphael on the stage. He was the one who recommended Raphael to be the principal and took responsibility for everything he did. The other three kingdom leaders complained to him when Raphael released his pressure.
“I want to see the strength of the guests here and have no ill will. If my actions offended you, then I apologize.” Raphael said calmly. His tone sounded indifferent and unconcerned with the guests’ reactions, including King Regulus.
King regulus frowned upon hearing Raphael’s words, but he didn’t say anything and sat back in his chair when the other kingdom leaders were unhappy to hear Raphael’s tone.
Raphael smiled and ignored King Regulus. He looked at Azalia, then looked at the other guests. Azalia felt Raphael’s gaze on her. Not only now but also when Raphael was still in the sky releasing his pressure.
(Does he recognize me?)
Azalia’s face sank after noticing Raphael’s gaze on her. Raphael looked at her twice because he knew that Azalia was the one who wanted to sneak into his office that night. While Azalia was deep in thought, Rapahel suddenly spoke.
“I thank you for being present at the academy’s inauguration ceremony. As you know, the Clorius continent has been infiltrated by races from outside. They caused trouble in several areas of this continent, and the number of casualties due to their actions was not small. That’s why we must actively attack that race from now. Don’t always wait for them to attack us first.” Raphael said in a dignified voice.
Raphael’s words made the guests noisy because his proposal was no small matter. The guests could not immediately agree with the person they had just seen, let alone they did not know him.
On the other hand, Azalia’s face darkened, and she clenched her fists tightly after hearing Raphael’s proposal. His words indicated that Raphael wanted to expel or perhaps exterminate his race from the Clorius continent.
“I know many of you have doubts about what I said. That’s why we started by creating an academy. Didn’t the people of the human race start it first? Don’t we have the same goal? You guys want to expel that race from this continent, right?” Raphael had expected the guests to react like that, but he didn’t care. He looked at the guest area where the people from the human academy were located.
Merlick was silent and didn’t want to answer Raphael’s words. He understood Raphael’s purpose in asking such a question because he wanted to use the people from the human academy to convince the other guests. Raphael kept a smile on his face after seeing no response from Merlick.
“Of course, you won’t be able to fight that race now. However, I’m curious how strong the students from the human academy that was founded earlier will be. I heard that students from Piqmentia Grand Academy challenged students from Arcuz Grand Academy, is that true?” Raphael said coldly and glared at the people from the human academy.