"Haha, fuck you."
Dignitas thought, and thought. He thought about how he could escape from this predicament. He laid down his cards again, as they were the only ones that could help him survive.
Firstly, Dainsleif. This was out of the question, as Varnier held said sword in his other hand.
The second, The Log Of The Academy's Regressor. What use was a book when Dignitas was about to die?
The third, Death's Vision. Also out of the question. Only Dignitas was the one close to death here, not Varnier.
Unless…
"I'm not saying anything, demon. Don't ever show your pathetic self here again. The human world might crush your quivering pebble ass with their feet."
It was but a fleeting thought at first, but then Dignitas realized.
He might as well do it, he thought.
"That's it. You have breathed your last, human!" Varnier raised Dainsleif, and in one quick motion, stabbed the entire blade right through Dignitas' chest.
"Urgak!" Blood instantly spurted out from his mouth.
"I may look benevolent, human, but I too have a limit to my anger. This is the last time you have insulted me!"
"That's okay. This is the last time you'll stab me, too."
'Now to think of Professor Shib as my enemy!'
Dignitas focused hard. He imagined a certain professor standing outside and focused his killing intent while thinking of him.
'It worked!'
Dignitas could see the next few attacks on the dome.
*boom*
A part of the earth dome was blown away from the outside. Dust filled the room, shrouding the entire dome in darkness.
Eventually, the dome began to crumble as more explosions assaulted the exterior.
Dignitas was lucky to have been dropped by Varnier in the chaos. He quickly grabbed Dainsleif, which had fallen off as well, and made his way for the exit.
Luckily, he was greeted by the lights of the infirmary. He also spotted Professor Shib at the edge of the room and hurriedly ran to him.
"Thanks for the help, Professor. You sure took your time."
"I'm glad you're still alive, *cough*. Your voice sounds different, too."
To Professor Shib, Dignitas seemed like a different person. There was this air about him that made him look… dignified, as similar as that sounded to his name.
"That wound on your chest…" Professor Shib pointed at the wound in his chest.
Part of the Professor was confused. He was both relieved and worried. Relieved because despite having taken such an injury, Dignitas was still moving.
And the other part was worried mostly due to the fact that the boy in front of him had experienced not one, but two deadly wounds in the span of a single day.
"Don't talk about it. I feel like the moment I lower my guard, I'll lose consciousness."
"I see. I'll make sure to patch you up as soon as we're finished."
"Where's Teacher?"
"I… don't know."
Dignitas didn't find it hard to believe that the attack from earlier took out Sayuri. It was quick, efficient, and most of all done in an area devoid of light.
And worst of all, demons were known for being able to contend with humans who were a sub-rank above them.
It was simply due to how innately powerful each demon was.
"I see. Then we will have to find a way to get the demon away from us, at least until backup arrives."
Dignitas knew that Varnier's abnormal power level wouldn't go unnoticed. As long as they could hold him here for a bit, then they were guaranteed to survive.
"Stay behind me, Dignitas. I'll try to overwhelm him with my attacks."
"Alright. I'm not sure how a D rank like me can help, but I'll try not to hold you back."
***
What Dignitas didn't know was that Sayuri wasn't hit by the bullets.
Instead, she had been pulled away from the location via the portal. She had no clue as to who did it, but she had traveled at least a few kilometers away from the Academy.
"This place… a desert." Sayuri opened her eyes.
It took her quite a bit before she could adjust to the sudden change in scenery, but she eventually recovered.
Sand. That was all Sayuri could see. Grains of sand continued as far as the eye could see. Dozens of dead trees and shrubs lined some parts of the desert, making the entire place look deathly.
There was no sign of life anywhere. Not a single animal radiated even a drop of mana.
"But this mana level… Could it be?" She gasped in surprise.
"That's right."
Sayuri turned in the direction of the voice.
"I believe you humans called it the Beast Continent? Anyway, this is where you currently are."
"Now that Cendria Macador is out of the picture, I'm free to finally get rid of the last S rank in the Academy."
"After this, I can finally accomplish my mission!"
Sayuri took a deep breath. If Kano really was right, then Cendria Macador was really dead, or at the very least, critically injured.
And from the looks of it, Kano didn't seem to be all that injured from the fight. Was he able to overwhelm Cendria with pure Spatial energy?
To think that an S rank demon would be able to escape unscathed from Cendria…
"He must be strong."
"But that's it." Sayuri reached for the katana on her side.
Gripping the handle, she placed her hand on the blade's sheath.
"A strong person is just a strong person. Without elegance, one can not be truly strong."
"Tell me, demon."
"Are you elegant enough to survive the strength of the Sakura blossoms?"
***
Not giving Varnier time to recover, Professor Shib immediately got to work and drew dozens of clones.
Alongside those, he created another copy of his Magic Pen, and handed it to his pet owl, who also began drawing.
"This is the plan. We will overpower him with our sheer numbers. I want you to use that foresight of yours and narrate his next moves."
"Alright, but I'm warning you that my predictions aren't always spot on. It's only when my enemy is closer to death that they truly go as it is supposed to."
"That's fine with me. We'll focus on creating a hole in that armor of his."
And with that, the clones were off. Each of them carried a weapon and charged into the dome.
The sound of metal clashing against metal could be heard from inside.
"Do it now." Professor Shib ordered.
"Alright. Death's Vision."
Instantly, Dignitas was able to see Varnier's figure even through the darkness. He was currently fighting against multiple clones and looked like he was quite busy.
"He's fending off the clones, Professor. I have a feeling that he'll kill them all in the next half minute."
"That's okay. I'll just have to make more!" Professor Shib immediately began drawing again, and dozens of clones were spawned.
The clones charged in again, weapons in hand.
Dignitas expected there to be more sound of metal clashing, but there was nothing. Even after a whole minute, there was no sound.
"Dignitas? Give me a status update." Professor Shib had stopped drawing upon realizing that he had gone silent.
"He's… standing still? I can see him getting hit by multiple attacks, but all he's doing is standing still and occasionally slapping one down."
"What? What do you mean standing sti–"
*BOOM!*
An explosion shook the entire infirmary, and it was once again covered in smoke.
"Dignitas! Are you–*cough* alright!?"
Dignitas could not respond. His mouth had been forcefully shut, and his neck was now in the grasp of a furious Varnier.
He drew Dainsleif from its sheath and began stabbing into Varnier's tough skin.
However, it seemed to do nothing but make the demon even angrier.
"You made a mistake, human. And mistakes have consequences. I will show you."
Varnier raised his hand in the direction of Professor Shib's voice, and fired an entire barrage of earth bullets.
'N–no!' Dignitas screamed inwardly, stabbing his sword deeper into Varnier's skin.
"Your struggle is useless. You can not hope to even pierce my skin with your lacking skill."
"Just give up."