Chapter 31: Waging War

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*Author Note: I will be off for a while again. (I had an inspiration on another story I've been working on before I came back from my hiatus, and TW was kind of like a side novel I am working on, perhaps an experiment of my mind if you will. Also a lot of family issues and real life pain in the arse are getting in my writing process, so I'm unable to multi-task while following a solid release schedule. I apologize for my slow releases and the on-and-off approach; this may or may not be dropped, but if it don't, do expect random release schedules. Again, sorry! )

A deathly silence pervaded the air upon hearing Vinci’s answer.

The new headmaster? The seven elders were extremely alarmed by this point. They had never expected the new headmaster to be so young.

In fact, they hadn’t even consider such a possibility.

After all, who would believe a mere 15 years old child to be the next headmaster? If the title of a headmaster was to be passed on so easily to a mere youngster, then it would not have the status and authority it wields today.

But the strength the youth had displayed was definitely not simple either. And the elders slowly felt as if their reasons were leaving them. They had no choice but to swallow down Vinci’s statement.

“You...You really are the new headmaster?” An elder from the Golden Phoenix Clan cautiously asked. “There’s no way...no way...a little child like you…”

His face was full of disbelief and a barely noticeable trace of fear as he looked at Vinci. The youth’s previous display of power had already proven to the world that he was not a mere child...

Vinci glanced at the male elder, and without replying, he focused his piercing gaze to meet the elder’s eyes. When Vinci’s gaze met that elder’s, the Golden Phoenix Clan elder felt a sharp pain at the back of his head. He squinted as he suddenly thought of turning away. But no matter how hard he tried, the elder was horrified to find that he could not move anymore.

The pain at the back of his neck grew stronger as the elder felt his head began to throb painfully.

“Argh...Ahhhh….AHHHHHHHH!!!”

The piercing sensation became increasingly more vivid. It was as if something was simultaneously poking a thousand needles at his brain.

Before long, the elder was screaming out wretchedly. His voice was high and ghastly like a pig being slaughter. The other elders turned to look at that elder in surprise.

“Old Henry, what’s wrong?!” Darma asked worriedly.

Unfortunately, Darma never got a response --and never will. Right after Darma’s question, the elder called “Old Henry” gave a final mad scream before his head exploded outwards.

Brain matters and soft pieces of flesh spewed all over the place, slightly tainting the clothes of some of the elders, who were near, pinkish red. Old Henry’s body then fell forward lifelessly on the cold ground, bathing in his own blood.

The remaining six elders reeled back in terror, as each took several steps back from where the headless body laid motionlessly.

“Wh-what the hell is going on?!” The woman elder of the Golden Phoenix Clan screeched, her eyes were dancing with the feelings of terror.

“...Is it done by that boy? Old Henry looked directly at him be-before this happened..” One of the elders from the Crimson Dragon Clan muttered in fear.

“Impossible...then...he...really is the new headmaster…?” Even Adam, who was usually cold and aloof, could not keep from frowning as he softly murmured to himself. Even his his usual steady tone was shaky at this point. He, too, was having a hard time digesting the fact that a 15 years old devil had appeared before them.

Seeing the surprised and fear on the elders’ face, Vinci’s faint smile slowly melted away, replacing it with an emotionlessly expression. Then, he looked up and began sweeping his gaze across the empty sky.

As if he was talking to himself, Vinci began speaking out loudly in an indifferent tone:

“I have just answered that elder’s suspicion. And now, since everyone’s here, I will cut to the chase.”

A pause.

“--I want unite the Seven Major Clans. Or in other words, I want to be the ruler of the United World Continent. If you are willing to pledge your allegiance to me through a blood contract, I promise that I will not touch any of your Clan members, nor interfere with your usual business. I only want the authority over your Clans.”

Spoken up until here, Vinci gave another brief pause to let his words sink into the surrounding, before he continued:

“...But if you wish to go against me, you will leave me with only one choice -- and that is to completely exterminate all the members of your Clan...and you yourself, the so-called Clan Masters.”

Vinci raised his head and coldly stared at the empty sky as he finished his speech.

“What is that child speaking about?...And...why is looking up at the sky the entire time he was talking…d-don’t tell me...?” A Crimson Dragon Clan elder whispered to Adam as he gave Vinci a complicated look.

But Adam did not reply, and only had a face full of disbelief once again while looking at the youth before him.

“No way...he couldn’t possibly be able to sense the others…!”

In truth, while the Clan Masters sent their elders to attack the Headmasters, they were also keeping an eye on the whole event from the leisure of their home. After all, to be able to see everything that’s going on is the best way to keep updated and ensure no information is being misrepresented --especially for something as important as a match that’ll decide the next Headmaster.

Besides, the elders who were told beforehand about their Clan Masters’ monitoring, no one should have been able to detect them, excluding the Headmaster. They never would have thought Vinci would have been able to detect the Clan Masters who were using a Grand-tier spying magic.

But the more the elders came to realize this fact, the more they became frightened.

After all, to be able to detect hidden magics that were on the level of Clan Masters meant that the person must at least be of the same rank...or possibly even higher!

At a location far away, a castle stands lonely among a field of forests. Inside a particularly grand room, an elder in a golden robe decorated with expensive crystals was looking into a large, red crystal ball. At the same time, his two hands were elevated at either side of the ball, sending thin threads of mana into it.

The elder looks to be around his late forty, with a head full fading golden hair. He was of ordinary appearance, with a slightly crooked nose, small black eyes, and a bit wrinkled skin. While his body appears to be skinny, there was a great oppressive aura around him that made anyone who’s in his presence, feel a mighty pressure.

Behind him, in the dark shadows, only two sets of glaring eyes could be seen, with one being of brown color while the other was a deep blue. There were traces of fear, anger, and unrest in their fierce eyes as they looked in the direction of the red crystal ball.

At this time, there was a horrified look on the face of the elder who was directly in front of the crystal orb.

“Impossible...this boy…can sense us?!” The light golden haired elder whispered in disbelief.

He was the Clan Master of the Golden Phoenix Clan, Venra Fenix. Naturally, the other two seated behind him were the Clan Masters of Crimson Dragon Clan and Rossia Clan.

“Dammit, what the hell?! Who is that boy? Is he a demon?! First he kills my son and now he’s actually threatening us? Outrageous! ” An gruff, angry voice rang out from the shadow. It came from the set of blue eyes.

“Calm down, Yero. No use getting agitated. Now that he had killed our sons, he will naturally pay for it dearly.” A cold, monotous voice came from the pair of brown eyes.

“And so what if that boy could detect our magic? He may just be more sensitivity than others. And to want to take over the Seven Major Clans with just himself? Bah! Just who does he think he is! There is no need to mind his threat. No matter if he is a demon or just another monster, with us three clans combined, what can he do? Not even that Headmaster could do anything to us for several generations already, hmph!”

Venra collected his wits as he continued to stare into the crystal orb. “Darwin is correct. We cannot let anger cloud our eyes --yet. We need to find a plan to deal with this boy…”

Yero grunted as his eyes narrowed, trying to calm his raging emotions. After a few moments, his heart once again settled down as he stared at the crystal orb in front of Venra.

“So what shall we do next?” Yero said in a low voice, dripping with venom.

“We shall continue to watch, and if there’s any---” Before Venra could finish speaking, Vinci’s voice came out from the crystal orb.

The spying Grant-tier magic, [Hundred Thousand Miles Tracker], is able to oversee anything within a mile of a hundred thousands as its name stated. Even the littlest sound would not escape detection.

“I will give you ten seconds to decide whether to continue or stop. I’m sure you can hear me just fine over there. If you choose to stop, just have your men retreat and later pledge your allegiance to me. If not, let them stay --I’ll treat it as you’re willing to wage war with me.” Vinci’s cold voice rang through the hollow room.

The three Clan Masters narrowed their eyes as anger and bloodlust once again burst from their body. This brat was being too conceited, wasn’t he?!

“Hmph, a mere child daring to even speak of ‘waging war’ with my Crimson Dragon Clan...as I suspected, he’s just another one of those barbarians who only has brute strength but no brains!” Darwin said in an icy voice.

“1...2...3...4…” A slow, emotionless voice began to ring clearly from the red, crystal orb.

“This bastard…!” Yero gritted his teeth as the flame in his heart was once again ignited.

Venra frowned as he looked at the image in the crystal. His eyes never left the ball itself.

“Is this brat bluffing?...But why do I feel this uneasy feeling...as if I should say something…no, no, that’s not right...this feeling…” Venra thought in his mind, as his eyes slowly widened a bit. “...this feeling...is fear?!”

After living a carefree and relaxing life for so long, due to his incredible status, Venra had almost long forgotten the sensation of fear, of dark foreboding. Today, he finally remembered that prickling sensation...one that he would often feel when he was a younger, right before a calamity struck him!

“...6...7…”

Vinci continued to count, while facing the sky; the other elders did not know what to do as they stared dumbfoundedly at the youth before them. By now, they had come to fully realize that Vinci was able to sense their Clan Masters’ spy magic. Even the Headmaster had on a face full of shock when she realized this fact as well.

“...9...10.” Vinci’s eyes became colder as he stared emotionlessly at the murky sky. Lowering his head, Vinci closed his eyes as let out a soft sigh.

“Haaa, why did I even bother negotiating. This is not like me at all... Did I get soft because of the increased lag time in my synchronization this time around? To reason with these unreasonable people who came to kill...was quite unreasonable in the first place.”

With his eyes still closed and his head facing downward, Vinci lifted his right arm into the air with this palm facing the sky. Without even looking at the elders, Vinci said lightly:

“Alright, you may all die now.”

Suddenly, triple layered crest the color of blood instantly appeared on top of Vinci’s palms. The smallest crest at the bottom had a diameter of six foot while the largest crest at the top had a diameter of fifteen foot.

The strange, magic symbols on the crests shone brightly as a terrifying aura burst forth from Vinci’s body.

The bloody aura immediately engulfed the entire school ground as a heavy pressure descending upon the six elders. Only the Headmaster and students within the school building did not seem to be affected, with a warm white shield that appeared at some point, enveloping them.

“Gah…!” Darma looked on with wide eyes as his legs buckled beneath him. Unable to bear the pressure, he spurted out a mouth of blood and kneeled fully on the ground.

Slowly, the other elders followed suit as they crumpled to the ground. Even Adam, whom Headmaster Ember had placed a great importance on, fell to the dirty ground without exception.

“N-no...this density of soul force...m-my god! A monster! No, a-a demon!” The woman elder of the Golden Phoenix Clan stammered with pure terror, as blood trickled down her mouth. “Pl-please spare me….please...I was wrong...wrong…”

“What the hell is this....”

“It’s...over....”

“...Is...he even human?!”

Comments of despair fluttered through the air, as the ground began to slightly tremble. None of the elders had any inspiration in them to stop Vinci. The amount of soul force they had felt from the magical crests of Vinci’s had already stripped them of their hopes.

The triple crimsoned colored crests suddenly glowed brightly with an eerie cinnabar hue, as Vinci muttered:

“Decimate these pitiable souls, «Diabolic Domain».”

Instantly, the triple crimsoned crests expanded outward in a split second, covering the entire school ground. It only slightly missed encompassing the school.

The elders, at the same time, ceased their movements under large umbrella of the crests.

“MMMmm!!”

Noises rang out from the elders, but no one spoke a word. Veins bulged from their necks and arms, as if they were trying to push out against something with their entire might.

Their body had been restrained under the three large crests, so much that even their own voice had been taken away…

Only the headmaster, who was looking around in bewilderment, seemed still able to control her own body.

At this moment, Vinci’s emotionless voice pervaded the quiet air: “You should leave this field, Headmaster Ember...or you won’t get the chance to...ever again.”

Headmaster Ember felt a striking chill roll down her spine when she heard Vinci’s words. Although she understood the boy was not threatening her, the lack of emotion and terrifying pressure Vinci was exuding, only made his words seem ominous. She had no doubt the boy would be able to keep his words…

Without any hesitation, the Headmaster quickly leaped away from under the giant crests as she landed at a nearby area. The elders’ eyes were following the headmaster as she left. Their eyes pleaded with despair and fear, but the Headmaster could not be bothered to care for them. Even if she wanted to, this had already gone far beyond her ability to do so.

A few moments after the Headmaster left the crest, earth suddenly shook violently before a sea of lava bursts from under the once, dirt-filled ground. The crests suddenly beamed down a terrifying heat energy at the same time, roasting the melting elders.

“AHHH!! It hurts!! Ahhh!!!”

“Help me! Ph-phlease! Ah! Aggg!”

Agonized screams of death echoed from under the fiery crests. Although the elders’ voice seemed to have returned, their body was still restricted. They had no power to escape or even defend themselves,

This went on for about a full minute before the flames suddenly surged and the cries were cut off right there and then. Soon afterwards, the flames died down and the lavas receded back into the earth. The triple layered crests even dissipated slowly in the air.

The elders bodies were nowhere to be seen.

Because of the extreme heat, the area was filled with billows of smoke rolling about. But Vinci’s figure stood conspicuously among the smoky environment.

Lifting up his head, Vinci stared right at a particular area of the sky as he said in a voice, void of sentiments:

“You guys are next. Please wait patiently for me...I’ll be there soon.”