The Novel's Professor

Rio raised his hand, pointing the silver wand at the group of cloaked figures. The air concentrated on top of the silver wand—a flurry of raging wind gathering in front of him, blowing everything away on its path.

"«Wind..Sl..»." Rio quietly mumbled a name while he moved the wand fluidly. Suddenly his hand stopped as he pointed the silver rod towards the raging wind. Rio lifted the wand up high before bringing it down in an instant.

Woo—! Ssshh—!

Before his eyes, the converging wind separated as it divided itself into groups of small sharp winds; aimed at the cloaked figures. He shoved his hand forward, blasting the sharp winds through air as it shot to the group of followers.

Woosh—!

The followers of Aza dodged. Barely. The sharp wind was fast. Those with slimmer and thinner bodies were able to narrowly dodge the wind, but only at the cost of their cloaks getting shredded into pieces.

While those with bigger and slower bodies who got hit, simply shrugged off the pain and scoffed at the futile attempt of an attack.

The wind was fast—extremely fast, but at the expense of its power. While they couldn't dodge it, it was easy to just shrug and dismiss the negligible pain it caused.

However, the biggest mistake was thinking it was an attack in the first place. It was a mere distraction for an opportunity to arise.

Without their notice, behind them, a figure enshrouded by darkness arose from their shadow. In one swift motion—a black dagger materialized mid air—and then, blood spurted out as several followers fell down to the ground with their throat pierced like soft cotton.

The only thing they managed to utter before their deaths was a painful, yet silent scream of unresigned anger. Their eyes rolled to the top of their heads as the beating of their heart stilled. They were dead in an instant.

Ciel lightly nodded as he vanished once more. From a distance, he was like a grim reaper in itself. Callous and determined.

The other followers took a step back, their eyes staring at the dark figure with hostility. They all swung their hands simultaneously—several chains flying through the air—slithering like a snake as it aimed towards Ciel.

"Die! Blasphemer of Qrqvitiq!" For once, the followers opened their mouth as they shouted all together in fanatic devotion.

Soon after, the chains shone bright red. Above its metal lines, a faint red shadow of a divine snake rose. The red snake hissed, causing a loud and revolting sound echo throughout the forest.

Hissss—!

Before he could reappear to another location, Ciel's ears bled in agony as a deafening sound echoed—his eardrums shattered from the hissing, dripping out blood from beside. His body came to a halt as he covered his ears in pain.

"Arghhhaaaaaa...!!!" Ciel let out a blood curling scream, his voice filled with agony.

From a distance, Rio shuddered as blood dripped from his ears. However, his hands still continued to move fluidly. The screams didn't affect him much; he knew it was coming due to Faust.

He felt a little sorry that he wasn't able to tell Ciel about it, but there was no chance at all. He could only hope the man would be able to overcome the pain.

The followers rejoiced, their eyes staring at the struggling dark figure in glee. However, they didn't just let their guard down yet. They pulled their chains towards their own body—returning the metal bindings to their arms. As soon as the chains returned, they immediately lifted their arms; intending to finish off Ciel.

But in that moment, behind them, a fiery temperature suddenly spread. Sweat poured down their body as the surrounding temperature increased.

The smell of a burning flame entered their nostrils. It was fire. They immediately turned their head, staring at the blonde haired sorcerer from a distance.

Rio stood still as he took advantage of their distraction, his hand shifting in their direction.

At first, only a small flickering light lit up on the tip of the wand. And then it blazed. It burned. It turned into a large fire shaped into an oval circle. Rio shove his hand forward, maneuvering the fireball to hit the followers.

Woosh—!

The fireball blasted through the air. Rio could feel the hot, fiery temperature emanating from it. He knew it would burn whoever it came in contact with, but he didn't care about that. Though, he would prefer not to cause a forest fire—circumstances allowed himself to.

Just as he was about to prepare another skill, a presence suddenly appeared behind him. The abrupt presence was the all-familiar dark figure—the black-haired agent that accompanied him, Ciel.

Ciel uncontrollably trembled, his head shaking as he tried to stand properly. His mind was in disarray, utterly confused as every single of his thoughts turned into mad rambles. His ears could still faintly hear the revolting hiss of the divine snake.

Eventually, he overcame the pain and managed to partly calm the chaotic state of his mind. Ciel bit his lip, distracting him to keep himself conscious. He spoke, "John. John..."

"What is it?" Rio asked with a frown. His eyes never leaving the cloaked figures. There were still too many of them to count of, more than ten. He couldn't afford to be distracted in the slightest, or else he would die.

"We need to think of a p-plan," Ciel suggested, brandishing his daggers as he stood behind Rio, "O-or else our magical reserves would dry out before we could knock them all out!"

"...Alright, leave it to me." Rio said, his body jumping to the side. In that exact moment, a chain was suddenly hurled to his position. "I'l think of one, just continue to take down some of them first."

"...Alright, I'm counting on you." Ciel nodded, his body vanishing into the darkness. Before long, silent screams echoed from the side—several cloaked followers falling to the ground as a dark dagger pierced their heads and throats.

"So, Master Faust...any advice here to help me?" Rio asked, his body constantly evading. There were always chains aimed at his body, wishing to slam him to ground and cripple him; it was like a never-ending barrage of attacks.

Well, good thing he had a master remnant spirit and a useful auto sense skill to boot. Or else, he might have died, crippled on the ground as several chains would have slammed on his head and body.

'Well, yes! My disciple!' Faust said, grinning smugly, 'With the amount of skills you have...It isn't impossible. It's just going to be exhausting. Also, duck.'

"That's fine enough," Rio nodded, his head lowering as he ducked. Above him, several chains flew past his head—grazing his head as a few strands of his hair fell to the ground.

Exhaustion was no problem for him, as long as he got to live. That was all that matters.

'Let's see...I remember you telling me that you have an Elven Star Nature Skill, is that true?' Faust asked, his body floating in the air.

"Elven Star Nature Skill...?" Rio muttered, confused. Then he remembered. He had indeed used a skill that has some connection to the elvens when he was fighting the Cyclops during his travels, "Yeah...what of it?"

'It's a pretty subpar skill all-together when compared to the other arsenals of the elvens,' Faust said, 'But it still has some uses. If you have the chance to use it—just blow this place up and escape. Also, side step to the left.'

"I can't. It takes too long to charge, and even then, it would attract attention to here." Rio said, his body stepping to the left. A chain went past through his side, unable to even graze his body. "Have you forgotten there's a Rank B out of lose?"

'Tsk, why are you running away from the truth?' Faust grumbled, annoyed. He shook his head as he continued, 'Nevermind. Go ask that agent, Ciel or something, to distract them for a moment.'

"...Are there no better alternatives?" Rio asked, raising his hand as he moved the silver wand fluidly. In that instant, a flurry—dozens of sharp ice splinters materialized in the air.

He motioned his wand forward—directing the ice splinter's path to the scattered group of followers surrounding the area.

The hail of ice shot towards several followers, their cries of pain resounded as the ice instantaneously exploded on their body upon contact.

'You sure are picky,' Faust shook his head. 'As I told you, it's the best skill you can use in your situation right now. Try to believe in me a little, won't ya'?'

Rio sighed, his head nodding in compliance. His eyes darted around the surroundings, glancing at the ten, or fifteen? figures surrounding the area. Huh, he never thought that they would all dwindle down that quickly.

"...Have you thought of a plan yet?" Behind him, a voice resounded. Ciel asked as his body—enshrouded by darkness —materialized behind Rio.

"Yeah, but I need your help for it..." Rio answered, "We need to do this fast. Fast, I mean. Extremely Fast. The summary is; I need you to distract them, and when I pop out a signal, instantly run at any direction!"

Ciel nodded. The plan was as basic as it gets, they already did something similar inside the demon dimension, and this situation wasn't that different. If John was confident about this plan of his, then surely he had a trump card in store.

"...What about you?" Ciel asked hesitantly.

"Don't worry about me," Rio said, his head shaking. His gaze shifted above, noticing the faint red clouds that were scattered on the sky.

The clouds were slowly converging. The moment those red clouds combined into one mist; it will create a catalyst for the Archdevil's descent. It would be the end of this forest, or consenquently, this part of region. He was going to escape before that could happen.

"..Fine, I'l believe on you again," Ciel sighed, his head reluctantly nodding. His eyes turned to the other followers. Before he vanished, he said, "Don't die on me, alright? I still need to pay you back."

Rio stayed silent, his hand tightly grasping the silver wand in his palm. Of course, he wouldn't die—he still needed to find an answer to everything yet.

Afterall, if he dies without ever finding it, then wouldn't this second chance of life be useless?

And somehow, inside him, he sensed it; the answer to the eternal question that plagued his mind ever since was near. He could sense it faintly, as if it the answer itself was calling onto him.

He just didn't know where it was.

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