Axel, Karna, Alicia, Tori, A, and Amber were making their way towards the infirmary, deciding to use it for refuge.
What was once a quick five minute trip now turned into a grueling thirty, as they avoided Count ranked demons and silently dealt with the Viscount ranks.
They looked up to see Professor Ingrid ready an innumerable amount of weapons, and Runes were being written upon them rapidly.
Then....they felt it.
The Marquis rank demon flew towards the professors standing mid-air, at speeds they could barely make out, the wind around it booming as it accelerated.
There was another boom, and the Demon Marquis disappeared. The glowing Runeworked weapons descended from the skies, slamming into the horde of demons running around the Academy, piercing, slashing and crushing them.
The weapons each fell on a specific demon. The runes upon each weapon had been made specifically to counter said demon, something Axel observed as he looked at a spear sticking out of a Viscount.
'To be able to see the exact number of demons, calculate their positions, weaknesses and strength, and to make these weapons in such a small amount of time. No wonder the Academy has remained safe this long.'
The ground shook suddenly, as a blur suddenly landed before them, forming a crater.
A sudden feeling of oppression came from the crater, a feeling of fear engraved into one's instincts.
The fear of looking at one's natural predator.
The Demon Marquis looked back at them from the crater, and roared.
Suddenly, it lost all it's majesty and awe inspiring presence, as the one every student knew as the janitor, kicked it in the face.
The Marquis went flying again, helpless against the overwhelming force.
As the janitor leapt off again, Alicia asked, "Pardon me if I'm wrong, but did I just see our janitor beating up a Marquis rank demon?"
Karna nodded as if it wasn't a big deal, "Yes. Yes you did."
Axel continued, "He's also our Vice Principal, the Fist Hero of the Alliance, Anatoly."
The others turned to look at the two with synchronized head movements. Alicia, the one who was usually the one with the intel, asked Axel, "So you knew our janitor was also our Vice Principal? And one of the Three Great Heroes of the Alliance alongside the Sword Hero and Spear Hero?"
Axel nodded innocently, "Yes? It was kind of obvious anyway, and then Alastor confirmed it for us."
The mention of Alastor made the mood take a nosedive, but Alicia noted that Axel and Karna did not seem too bothered.
They suddenly heard a groan behind them. One of the many Count ranked demons, severely injured by the aerial barrage of weapons, was standing up once again.
Alicia sighed, as she began controlling the mana around her, and the rest prepared for battle as well.
................................................................................
Deep within a closed off Dungeon, lay a lake. A lake with water contaminated by demonic essence.
Within this lake, a variety of demons lived in a symbiotic relationship, a rare thing to find in the madness of the Nine Hells.
A scale covered Viscount demon carried the corpse of another dead demon it found, and shared it with with the other demons present. It received part of their hunt as well, feeling content.
It heard a blub of horror from another demon which had eight limbs, and looked where it was looking.
Near the bottom, the restricted area for every demon in the lake, one of the new demons had approached the air bubble that all others avoided.
It was new to the lake, and did not know about the being within, the horror it inspired within every creature of the lake.
The scale covered Viscount, the one who defended the lake in case of danger, rushed down at high speeds, water tearing apart in front of him. Just as the new demon was about to breach the air bubble, the Viscount slammed against it, stopping it violently.
As the Viscount was about to discipline the newcomer, it saw that the newcomer was no longer looking at it, but rather....behind it.
A familiar Aura spread out into the waters, as it seemed like death was imminent.
The Viscount, as well as every creature of the lake turned to look at the cocoon within the air bubble.
A single arm had broken out. It grabbed the rest of the cocoon and began tearing it apart. Another arm broke out and did the same. And another. And another. And another. And another.
Six arms tore the cocoon apart, as the demon within it rose to it's full stature of nearly 4 metres.
It's legs were double jointed, and it's humanoid feet had fingers tipped with claws.
On it's broad forehead, shone a Rune that none of the demons present could understand.
It's long, straight hair flowed behind it as if it wasn't in an air bubble.
The creature's red eyes surveyed them all, looking into their very beings.
A white spear with black veins rocketed into one of it's arms, and finally, the Viscount felt it's rank.
Despite the other being a Viscount as well, even the Viscount rank demon could feel the danger emanating from it. Perhaps even a Count rank demon might not survive.
The being raised one arm up, and the Rune on it's head glowed lightly.
The lakewater disappeared, turning into vapour in an instant, as the demonic essence in the water rushed into the demon.
The scaled Viscount looked at it's slaughtered kin, and tried to flop away before it was speared through the eye.
It felt itself be eaten, bit by bit, sharp teeth tearing into it as the unknown demon devoured it.
The Ohr Jinn looked at the sky while eating the parts of the Viscount that tried escaping. It left some parts behind as the corpse began dissolving into demonic essence, and jumped out of the empty lake.
With a flick of a finger, the vapour turned into water once more.
Now, instead of the once thriving ecosystem of demons, all the lake held was a greater concentration of demonic essence.
After making some arrangements only possible in the Dungeon, the demon looked for the anchor point.
He arrived at a seemingly ordinary stone monolith, and shattered it with a punch.
Space began fluctuating, as the demon's features melted like wax, reshaping into a familiar human shape.
On the side of an empty road, a hole in space opened up, as Alastor Stele returned into the human world, an eerie smile upon his face.