Unlasting World

"... Right. So where the hell were you?"

"Did you really think the demons were attacking only the academy, Rize?"

His question actually answers mine. Because when I think about it, it does feel kind of odd.

It was a terrible plan to randomly attack such an important place like this. Plus, the fact that their kingdom is larger than any human kingdom, it is weird how they only sent a few hundred soldiers to obtain one of the most powerful items in the world, the rock of energy. 

They could have sent out a whole kingdom military squadron to get the item if they really wanted it, not some spies that spent so many days preparing only to fail at the very end in my hands.

That… is when a guess came across my mind.

"... There's more than one… wasn't there?"

"As usual, you are quick to guess. And no, there's not more than just 'one'. There are tens, possibly hundreds… and some are even more dangerous than others. 

Sealed Relics… ancient weapons and tools from the time before our kingdoms.

One of them is a really dangerous weapon. One that can... wipe out an entire kingdom easily..."

The headmaster then took out his book and held it with his left hand. He opened it using his fingers and read it out aloud.

"This is my notebook where I wrote down all the things that were sealed by the god of war, Kal Dreacon. 

A long time ago, he gathered all the dangerous weapons from this continent and sealed it away. Those items disappeared from the face of this world for a very long time… until recently.

Every single one of his seals has the same expiration date, possibly due to a certain reason. And, that expiration date is--"

"Yesterday."

Arfius suddenly cuts off the headmaster's explanation.

The powerful wave yesterday... It was the seal expiring… or rather, collapsing. I thought it shouldn't be possible for a single source to have that powerful wave… because there are in fact lots of other sources.

"Yes, and there are only twenty known sealed items so far. There are definitely a lot more, but we are still looking. The seal was lifted yesterday, which means all those items have resurfaced, including the rock of energy which was sealed right here on the academy."

"So you knew about the rock of energy… And the demons, they came to the academy to retrieve the rock."

The headmaster nodded at me and he continued.

"Yes… And according to my sources, the rock of energy is no longer there when the seal got lifted. Which means the demons somehow managed to lift the seal even before the seal got lifted, and now they are away with the most powerful rock in the world."

Ah... Should I tell him?

"Actually... That was me."

The headmaster suddenly turned his confused face at me, and I grinned.

"I'm the one who… forcefully plucked the rock from the seal..."

"What? How did you even do that?"

"It was an extremely painful process, because I continuously casted King tier healing magic on my hand as I pulled the rock from the wall. The seal's defences kept on tearing my skin, but thanks to my healing magic, my hand is okay. I was able to pull away the rock by force."

I turned my gaze to the hand that pulled the rock, and was immediately reminded of the pain. My face turned stern immediately as I quickly tried to re-forget it from my memory again.

Hearing my answer made both Arfius and the headmaster shocked.

"Y-You can use healing magic? And King tier at that?"

Arfius suddenly asked from my left, and I nodded.

"This is... surprising. King tier healing magic can cost you quite a lot of energy. How are you even walking right now?"

"It did take me quite a lot, but it got regenerated in the morning."

Hearing my answer made the headmaster freeze. He then somehow formed a rather wide grin, but then he quickly hid his grin by placing his hand on his face.

"I'm sorry... This is too... Rize, you are saying you can forcefully take the item from the seal?

"Yes... I can."

"What was the seal like?"

"Well, I don't know how it looks exactly, but when I touched it, a black lightning quickly zapped my hand."

"... So, it was true. A black lightning is a God tier lightning magic, which was most likely casted by the God of Destruction Magic. You, Rize... managed to break through the seal using brute force..."

"... I didn't say it wasn't painful."

The headmaster looked to be quite shocked by this new information, and he chuckled thanks to this.

"Then? What happened to the rock?"

"Well, I tried using it, but it apparently doesn't work on me. So, I gave it back to its creator."

"T-The creator? You mean… the God of Creation, Altin?"

Headmaster Veneo quickly guessed, and I'm surprised that he even know who the creator was.

"Correct. He visited me just a week before the seals collapsed."

"I... I see… so he was working with you… Then I guess now we can breathe fine knowing that the rock is in safe hands. 

At least… that's some good news... Thank goodness..."

The headmaster looks to be quite tired from all of these, so I went ahead and asked him.

"So? How did you lose an arm?"

The headmaster turned his blank expression at me, and he immediately chuckled. He knows I'm smart, so he shouldn't hide it any longer.

He unveils the right side of his body using his left hand, showing us what was left of his right arm.

"Y-Your arm...!?"

Arfius pointed while looking very shocked.

I knew it… after all, he was never left-handed. Neither is he an ambidextrous.

What's left is only the shoulder. He lost his entire arm, and judging from the shape, it doesn't look like it was destroyed.

It was a clean cut.

Arfius looks quite shocked, but the headmaster isn't the slightest disappointed by it.

"I can always cast an Emperor tier healing magic on it, but I will need to find a healer with that tier. And in this age, I don't think there's even any. Even myself is only an Intermediate tier."

"... There will be."

I said with confidence, and the two turned their gazes. Right now, I am still at the King tier, but it won't take very long until I get the Emperor tier. Or at least, it shouldn't be impossible.

Hearing the confidence in my answer, Veneo laughed.

"Right. Rize, then I am counting on you. Oh, and can you also heal Arfius' father later after you obtained the Emperor tier? Julius lost his right eye during the battle."

"M-My father... Lost his eye?"

"Yeah. He also got battered even worse than me, but yeah. He lost an eye."

"... Just what kind of monster are you guys fighting?"

For a person like the arch-mage and the headmaster to lose so much in just a battle, they are certainly fighting someone… abnormal.

Possibly… a worse abnormality than me.

The headmaster froze a little bit as he recalled what happened on the fallen crypt, and then he took out a shard that looked to be a small piece of metal.

"This... belongs to the armour of the demon king. I caused this crack myself."

"Y-You were fighting... The demon king?"

The headmaster nodded very slowly, and Arfius leaned his back to his seat as he laughed crazily.

"Haha... You two are insane... Like stupid insane..."

"To be fair, we never expected him to come himself, but we had expected that some strong people would come."

"… Why? Just what did you guys try to protect, that the demon king himself had to come?"

Hearing my question, the headmaster slowly glared at me with a grim expression. Even without him saying anything, I already know that it's a very serious problem.

"... The most powerful weapon of all. The sword of the God of War."