Just after that thought, a thin, transparent film rose almost instantly from the ground in front of me. It was circular with a shimmering quality that reminded me of a thousand small mirrors. It quickly expanded into a cloud of sand, as it rapidly floated toward me. I quickly multicasted Wind Slash in the hope that the wind would brush it away. The wind swirled around the cloud of sand but didn’t stop its advance one bit. Suddenly, the sand rushed toward me, enveloping me before, I could even take a step backward. A glowing, yellow mist began to fill the cloud, causing me to cough harshly. I tried waving my hands in front of my face, but it helped little.

The Sand Devil laughed at my efforts. “I shall have your power soon, human. Just wait, and it will all be over in a moment.”

My eyes began growing heavy, and I had to fight to keep my attention on the Devil floating toward me. I knew I needed to stay awake, or it would be certain death. Dimly, I heard Eros calling me, and telling me to beat the shit out of it. Even though I knew it was just my mind playing tricks, it helped me focus. Putting my hands forward, and touching the now solid cloud, I used it as support to stand. I needed to work fast. My eyes darted around the empty room, searching for something I could use against it. Seeing none, it was obvious that I had a simple option left.

My Psionic power pulsed through me as I focused on the floor before the Sand Devil. The stone burst, showering bits of it in all directions. But I didn’t stop there. The hard-packed ground beneath the floor crumbled quickly, the hole being created expanding so rapidly that the Sand Devil couldn't help but fall into it before it even knew what I had done. It couldn't fly, but it also couldn't walk, and instead merely floated a meter or so off the ground.

With the Devils concentration broken, its spell fell apart and I collapsed upon the floor as the cloud holding me burst apart in yellow flashes of light. The yellow vapor dissipated into the room, as is laid on the ground gasping for breath. It wasn't every day that I forced Psionic energy through the channels.

The Devil of the Sands slowly floated out of the hole, its face amour being contorted in what could only be described as fury. As it glared at me, the devil quickly released her next spell. I started to rise from my spot to dodge but was suddenly slammed back to the ground. I turned my head, catching sight of a red vapor in the form of a long robe. It slithered over me like a snake, pinning me to the floor. I called to the Psionic powers again, but it didn't answer, and the long robe continued to hold me firmly to the ground. My Psionic energy was spent for the next hour, and I needed a way to get out of this place.

“Dlsieh mer ih phizil, sihv flehsh e I ri”, the devil chanted, its voice becoming weirdly distorted. “hil I visilxi e rili msih mii.”

The words I heard it beginning to murmur filled me with fear. I had read them before when studying in Metis´ personal library. The Sand Devil was performing the spell that would release my Mana-reserves! While the Sand Devil would gain the power from it, I would lose more than just mere power. I would lose my lifeforce; the very essence behind my existence. Acting as fast as possible, I unleashed a wall of fire, with the help of a couple of Fireballs, right in front of the Devil causing it stumbled backward in surprise. The drain didn't stop though. It actually increased-

“Nice try. But, not good enough.” It laughed yet again as it simply waved its hand, vanquishing the fire in its entirety. “Dlsieh mer ih sehi, Dlsieh mer ih sphele, sihv Dlsieh mer ih siss ih mes ihilshith.”

Another verse chanted, and I felt my mana-reserve halved. It wasn't permanent yet, but it would be in another verse. I needed something big, but what? Nothing I will cast on a frontal assault will… Oh. That might actually work. Been some time since I cast different spells at the same time, but here we go.

This was actually very than last time I had to feed. This one didn't even put up much resistance, and instead just glared at me, as if he was hoping I would catch on fire. While the force attack did surprise me, it didn't actually hurt me and was more a simple inconvenience. Nothing really differed when you broke a clump of sand into two. It would simply rejoin.

Feeling a mana fluctuation behind me, I focus my full attention on it. There was a chance that this would be the humans' last mana in a single attack. Wouldn't wanna get hit by that, no matter the power level.

Hm… A simple Elemental spell, huh? Wasn't even middle tier. Did the human actually believe that this would-

I briefly felt my soul leaving this plane before I instantly lost consciousness. It would likely be a century or two before I would be resummoned. No matter. I could always wait when it came to revenge.

It worked. It actually worked!

Falling over yet again, I laughed up at the stone ceiling. It was a bloody Christmas miracle! A simple overpowered Dispel had forced a sentient being to be ejected from this plane of existence!

If the Sand Devil had even detected it, the spell would have simply failed. How the hell had it been so arrogant?! It didn't really matter. I was just grateful it was.

Standing up again, I continue down the stairs. The fog had decreased a lot, allowing me to see almost a hundred meters down, which was great. No more surprise attacks for me. Just some calming and steady walking.

“Hm”, the old man hummed, a surprised tone to it. “I honestly didn't expect that. Whoever it is you brought here, Morgan, he is definitely a big risk taker.

The old man, who was the Illusionist teacher, and Morgan, the headmistress, were looking at the different screens on display in front of them. Each showed one of the students or one of the bodyguards. This helped them keep watch of their pupils, and make sure that they were safe, and didn't accidentally die. That just wouldn't do to have on record.

But, they weren't really paying attention to all the screens. Only one screen had their focus, with the screen portraying a young man walking down towards the second floor.

“Same with me, Phil”, Morgan said, her voice as surprised as he was. “If another minute had passed by without him winning, I would have been forced to go in and save him. Metis really needs to pass along some information to me about this kid.”

Phil looked over at Morgan for a moment, before simply looking back on the screen.

“Weren't you the one that collected information about him? I think that should mean that you would be the most knowledgeable about the kid”

Morgan sighed, having already heard the question before multiple times. It was always the same answer too.

“That's the problem. I found nothing about him. It's as if he simply didn't exist before a few weeks ago.”

Phil´s eyes widened. He had always known the kid was special, but this? This was something different. But what it was, he didn't knows. He only knew it would bring chaos.