Laid-back stood frozen, shock coursing through his veins. The person he was staring at—the one standing at the end of the academy hallway—should be dead. He shouldn't even exist.
The man walked forward, his breath somehow forming clouds despite the warm air. His voice sliced through the silence. "Let's talk about what happened in that purple void."
Before Laid could respond, someone grabbed the stranger's arm. One of the students said shakily, "Hey, I wouldn't hurt him if I were you. We can't hurt people here, or he'll come."
The man turned around, confusion flickering across his face. "Who are you talking about?"
Another figure appeared directly in front of him, gripping his neck. The newcomer had vibrant red hair and wore crimson armor that gleamed under the hallway lights. His fist pulled back, muscles tensing.
The stranger struggled against the iron grip. He choked out, "So I'd go with me," pointing toward Laid. "I have business to discuss with that student."
Laid stared in disbelief, his mind racing. No. How? Usually, Laid maintained an emotionless, calm demeanor, but seeing someone who was supposed to be dead standing right in front of him did something to his brain. His carefully constructed walls began to crack.
The red-haired student said firmly, "I won't let you hurt anyone here. It's my job to protect these students. If you wish to hurt someone, you'd best do it elsewhere, not in my presence." His eyes hardened as he tightened his grip. "Now, if I let you go, will you leave that guy alone?"
The man chuckled darkly, his voice strained. "We have business to discuss."
The red-haired boy—Ray—choked him harder, his patience wearing thin. "You're still stubborn, aren't you? Don't worry. I'll knock that stubbornness right off your face."
Ray swung his fist backward and delivered a devastating punch to the man's throat. The stranger's mouth opened wide, gasping desperately. He couldn't breathe. Ray finally released him, and the man crumpled to the ground, choking and gasping for air.
Solely's voice echoed within both Laid and Lila's minds. "Who is that guy?"
Laid responded mentally, though his thoughts betrayed his anxiety, "It's no one either of you should be worried about."
The man struggled to his feet, fury burning in his eyes. "You think you can just attack me and get away with it? That student and I have business to discuss. Don't make me kill you if I have to."
Ray stepped forward, his expression cold and resolute. "I've killed students before who wouldn't stop hurting others. I'm not afraid to do it again. After all, it's in the name of justice."
The man's face twisted with contempt. "Justice? You have no idea what justice is, kid. Don't start talking about something you know nothing about."
Ray's jaw clenched. "I know plenty about justice."
"Then what do you know?" the man challenged.
Ray stared at him, his silence speaking volumes.
"Exactly. Nothing to say, as expected." The man straightened his clothes, his eyes never leaving Laid. "Please don't make a scene. Just leave."
The stranger walked off but looked back at Laid one final time. His words hung in the air like a threat as he disappeared into the distance. "I'll see you again later. Believe me, we will meet, and no one will be here to save you."
Lila asked, staring at Laid with concern etched across her features, "Are you okay?"
Laid quickly pulled his emotionless mask back into place. "I'm fine," he said, though inwardly he was anything but calm. His thoughts raced frantically. How is he still alive? He should have been dead. I thought I killed him. Unless someone decided to use forbidden magic and bring him back. But how is he in the Demon world? I killed him back in my world, so how did he manage to follow me to the demon realm? This is an entirely different plane than the world I was in before. How? I don't understand.
Solely's voice interrupted his spiraling thoughts. "You came from another world?"
Laid snapped mentally, "Stop talking." He had forgotten that Solely could hear his thoughts. He ground his teeth together before finally answering her. "Yes, I came from another world—a world of magic and power. Then a monster killed me."
He wasn't lying, but he wasn't telling the full truth either. A monster did kill him, but it was a sentient monster who had willingly murdered him. Laid didn't want to lay out the full story to a disembodied voice anyway.
"I was transported to this purple void, and while I was planning to leave, a voice came. It gave me a sentence—a fate worse than death."
Solely repeated, confusion coloring her tone, "A fate worse than death? But this is just a different world than what you're used to. How is this a fate worse than death? I don't understand."
Laid admitted quietly, "Me neither." He cut off the connection with Solely and continued walking toward his next class, Lila walking silently beside him. As long as she doesn't question me about what just happened, we're fine, he thought.
"Also, Solely, don't tell anyone—not even Lila—that I came from another world."
Solely assured him before finally cutting off the connection, "I won't. Don't worry."
Laid and Lila entered their next class and sat down at their seats. Around them, students buzzed with excitement.
One student exclaimed, "Man, that was kind of cool, don't you think? Ray holding that dude by the throat—that was sick!"
Another agreed, "Yeah, honestly, it was pretty impressive. I've never seen Ray do such a thing before."
"I wonder what getting punched by Ray would feel like. Probably like getting hit by a truck."
"Or maybe five trucks. Or ten. Or maybe it's like getting blasted by a crystallized demon stone!"
The professor said firmly, though not unkindly, "Quiet down. Please, let's go on with our lesson." He spoke calmly, commanding the room's attention. "I'll be teaching you all how to form your first demon skills."
Laid perked up slightly. Creating skills might be useful.
Solely chimed in, "Don't worry. If he talks about any information that might be useful, I can store it in my library. My library can play back information to you that I've heard through your ears. You can tell me to find something, and I can replay what someone said back to you as many times as you'd like. My library has infinite storage, though it might take me a minute to find something very old since I only have moderate memory."
Laid thought, a spark of hope igniting within him, "That's very useful. Very, very useful."
The professor explained, "Now, to create a magical skill, you must condense your demon energy toward a certain part of your body—your eyes, your arms, your legs, or your hands. For a greater demon skill, you must form energy outside of your body. This is extremely hard and requires hours of meditation and work. For today's class session, you will all try to direct energy outside of your body. Don't worry if you can't do it all in one day. We'll have a few months to work on this, and when you're ready, I will teach you greater demon skills. Remember, some people have faster cultivation than others. If someone gets their demon energy outside their body before the rest of you, I will personally teach those students while most of you continue meditation. Okay?"
Nearly all the students nodded, their faces filled with determination.
The professor said, settling back in his chair and placing his hands on his desk, "Good. You are free to meditate now."
This is interesting, Laid thought. He closed his eyes and began meditation, but immediately he sensed the challenge ahead. This would be extremely difficult. He could sense the demon energy within his body—it was spread throughout instead of concentrated at a particular point like his magic used to be. Magic had been centered in his stomach, but demon energy was distributed everywhere. If he wanted to enhance one part, he would have to de-enhance others.
This is going to be very, very difficult. With my energy spread out like this, there's no chance I could win a battle if I'm de-enhancing other parts of my body just to enhance one part. But then again, with it spread out, I could always enhance all parts of my body to make myself stronger. It's a double-edged sword, Laid mused.
He continued trying his hardest to force his demon energy outside his body. In fact, he was even having trouble directing his energy to a particular part of his body, let alone enhancing it or forcing it outside. This would take months of work.
Laid thought bitterly, My cultivation speed isn't going to cut it for me if I have all these plans I need to accomplish. The academy is good because it could teach me things I need in the long run, but it's also bad because I already have plans. This academy is just going to slow me down. Why is this cultivation speed so slow? Why is my body so weak?
A student suddenly shouted, jumping out of his seat, "Yes! I got it! I can't believe I got it!" He held his hands up in the air as a strange red aura surrounded his finger.
How? He just started meditation. How is he already doing this? Laid felt frustration boiling within him.
The kid began dancing around excitedly, clearly thrilled that he had broken through so fast. "Man, I can't believe it! My cultivation speed is extremely high! This is insane!"
How is this kid doing this? It isn't fair, Laid thought darkly.
Multiple students began to murmur as they opened their eyes and saw him dancing around with the red aura flickering around his finger.
One student said, getting up angrily, "Hey, how did you cultivate faster than me? I'm supposed to be the best student at this academy!" He had black hair with purple streaks, and his eyes glowed purple. His fists began to shake with rage. "I'm supposed to be the best! How did a weak loser like you cultivate faster than me?"
The other student—with white hair and red eyes like every other demon—smirked confidently. "It's not my fault you're weird. Look at you with those purple eyes. What demon has purple eyes? Don't blame me when I cultivated faster than you. At least I'm actually normal and have red demon eyes. You have purple eyes. Let me guess—your energy is probably going to be purple as well."
The purple-eyed student said through gritted teeth, "You—I'm going to get you back for this." He sat back down in his seat and clenched his fists, his whole body trembling with humiliation and rage.
One of the students muttered, "I mean, the guy's not wrong."
The purple-eyed student whipped around, his voice shaking. "What did you say, you worthless brat?" He had never had multiple people go against him. Usually, it was just one, but now two people were mocking him.
The student said casually, "Not going to lie, the dude's not wrong. You are kind of weird. You're a freak. What demon has purple eyes?"
The purple-eyed student began to shake violently with rage, his emotions spiraling out of control. "You—how dare you! Don't you know I've been bullied my whole life because I was an outcast? Don't you know that everyone—even my own mother—treats me poorly because I have purple hair and purple eyes while everyone else has normal hair and normal eyes? It's just not fair!"
The white-haired student smiled cruelly. "Oh, you see? You're acting so high and mighty. I thought you were some type of king in this school. I didn't know you actually got bullied. Man, for a second I thought you didn't, but then again, that couldn't happen considering how you have purple eyes."
The purple-eyed student shouted, his voice cracking with emotion, "Shut up, you brat!"
One of the students said dismissively, "Hey, White, leave him alone, man. He's just an insecure freak."
White dimmed down the red energy surrounding his finger and lowered his hand. "Guess you're right. I shouldn't go too hard on the guy."
Laid just sat there, observing silently, his face betraying nothing.
Then everything changed.
The purple-eyed student's eyes turned completely black, swallowing the purple entirely. The purple streaks in his hair darkened to an abyssal black that seemed to absorb the light around him. When he spoke, his voice dropped to a dangerous whisper that made the temperature in the room plummet. "You think this is funny? You think bullying me is funny?"
A suffocating pressure filled the classroom. Students gasped, their meditation breaking as an overwhelming aura pressed down on them. Even the professor's eyes widened in alarm.
The purple-eyed student—no, the thing he was becoming—rose slowly from his seat. Black energy began crackling around his body like lightning, spreading across the floor in tendrils that hissed and burned where they touched. His skin started to pale, veins of darkness spreading beneath the surface like cracks in porcelain.
White stumbled backward, his earlier confidence evaporating. "What... what's happening to you?"
The transformed student's head tilted at an unnatural angle, a smile spreading across his face that was too wide, too wrong. When he spoke again, his voice echoed with something ancient and terrible. "I'll show you the power of a true demon, White. I'll make sure you never bully me ever again."
The black energy intensified, swirling around him in a vortex that shattered desks and sent students scrambling. The walls began to crack, spiderweb fractures spreading across the stone.
Laid's eyes narrowed. This power... it's impossible. No student should be able to—
The professor shot to his feet, his hands glowing with defensive magic. "Everyone, get back! This is—"
But before he could finish, the purple-eyed student's transformation completed. His entire body became wreathed in black flames that didn't burn but consumed. The air itself seemed to scream.
He locked eyes with White, and in that gaze was nothing human, nothing sane. "This will be your first and last time antagonizing me." His voice resonated with finality. "And I will stake my very soul on it."
The black flames exploded outward.
And then—
Darkness swallowed everything.