Humanity's Hero Of Despair

I don't have any words left.

I see the Keeper Principal's smirk as he raises his axes of lightning above his head, ready to obliterate my very existence. The air buzzes around him with raw static power. My goosebumps grow more intense, a last hint of being alive before I'm about to be sliced and diced.

My mind spirals into the abyss as I try to think of a way out of this, quickly grasping at any sliver of hope. I've almost depleted my mana and have no energy to use any hidden techniques. The Keeper Principal's axes start their arc of death toward me as I close my eyes, shielding myself with my scythes, trying to brace myself for impact.

This isn't the end. Is it?

In the darkness of my vision, a multi-colored flame of light appears in my mind. Before the Keeper Principal's axes of lightning connect with my scythes, this multi-colored flame erupts all over my body. I'm suddenly glowing in yellow, blue, green, white, and purple light. It's like I'm experiencing every emotion in one moment.

The Keeper Principal's axes stop mid-arc out of confusion. His eyes flicker with uncertainty. Some fights temporarily pause around us as they notice my strange aura. It's as if the entire world is just revolving around us in this single moment. My face turns into a smirk.

I don't know how long this weird power is going to last. The only time I felt it was that one time before going to sleep. What I'm not about to do is waste this opportunity. Who knows what the effect is of this power or how long it lasts? My body moves on its own. My brain acts like its own identity as my eyes glow purple and yellow.

The Keeper Principal instantly takes several steps back. His expression appears worried.

"What is this?" he demands out loud.

He reverts his axes of lightning back into his golden wand which he nervously points at me. I revert my scythes back into my wand of pure darkness.

His mysterious exterior reveals itself. I speak in a voice that doesn't seem like mine, like something ancient is guiding me.

"Eleventh affinity level magic, Origin Blast!"

Dark, light, water, fire, earth, and wind magic form at the tip of my wand, swirling together aggressively. The entire academy has their eyes on us now.

Eleventh affinity level?! That's impossible. That shouldn't exist.

The combined elemental magic quickly launches itself as a ray beam at the Keeper Principal. He gets into a defensive position. My combined elemental magic vaporizes any attempt of defensive light magic. The Keeper Principal's shoulder is burning from the fire. His right ankle seems frozen solid onto the ground. Tree roots sprout up from the ground to trap the Keeper Principal's left ankle. My shadow energy, which forms itself into a tendril, traps one of his arms.

My body, hands, and wand glow with all the colors you could think of. Every day, you learn something new about yourself; I guess. My instincts tell me even this unknown magic buff won't last forever. I never knew I was capable of this power. It's as if the world is limitless.

The Keeper Principal lifts his one free arm for one last ultimate attack.

"Tenth affinity level magic, Engulfing Light!"

A gigantic circle of light appears in front of his wand. When I mean gigantic, I mean you can't dodge it because it's so big. Upon his chant, light magic bursts out from the circle straight at me. My arm barely has time to raise itself.

Defensive circles of fire, ice, earth, and wind appear in front of me. My body makes the circles layer themselves on top of each other. If it wasn't for that, I would be very much dead right about now.

The light magic doesn't vaporize me, but it still makes me feel like I'm trying to hold back several dragons in a wrestling match. This also means it makes me feel like I'm going to die, regardless. The light dies down. My clothes are steaming.

Good news is that the Keeper Principal appears to of run out of mana. My shadow tendrils quickly trap his other arm. My combined elemental magic fully incapacitates him now. Bad news is, it won't last long as my newfound energy is decreasing fast.

It's time to end this.

My footsteps resound loudly over the battlefield as I approach the trapped leader of the Keepers. To be more accurate, the leader of the Eradicators leading the academy. A few Eradicators see me approaching their leader and try to run over to save him. They know if I take the leader out, it will create chaos within their ranks.

"Any last words?" I say coldly to the Eradicator leader in a mocking voice.

"You will never be superior to our race," he says as I place my wand to his forehead.

That's the last thing I hear from him, as I use every ounce of mana I can muster to engulf his body with all the elements. He burns and freezes at the same time. He should be grateful that I kill him in such a balanced way.

The sounds of the war seem to halt in time.

Eradicators shout messages at each other, announcing that their leader is killed. HRC members overhead this and gain motivation to fight harder. The Eradicators are losing morale by the second.

It takes a moment for me to register what I did. My mind is fully back in my hands now. The force within me that took control is gone. What's even worse is that I can't seem to produce any magic at all. I've completely depleted my mana. Luckily, a few HRC members nearby form a protective circle around me.

The ground feels rough as it grates up against my knee. My exhaustion overtakes me. Holding onto my wand feels like I am holding a brick. There's still some fighting going on all around me, even though it's less intense now.

"Brother!" my sister's voice rings across the field.

She comes running toward me. The HRC members make space for her to join me in the circle. Thank goodness she's alive and alright.

"Are the others safe as well?" I ask, fearing the worst.

"From what I know, your close friends are safe. We still suffered some losses though among our members," she whispers to me in a hoarse voice.

For a minute, we don't talk to each other. We just hug each other, my head buried in her arms. The only symbol of affection left in the landscape of violence. I want it to all end. The last of the Eradicators on the campus flee and retreat when they realize all the Elite Keepers are dead.

The atmosphere is still anything but silent. Amidst the roars of explosions and faint screams echoing in Stonelight and Mistfall's cities, we listen. The Royal Palace looks like the palace of nightmares consumed in purple flames.

We stop embracing, and she helps me get back to my feet. She puts my arm around her shoulder and walks me to one of the last remaining rooms that isn't completely obliterated. The remaining surviving members of the HRC are present. To my delight, all of my friends are alive. We all hug each other without speaking a word.

Who knows when the next time we'll speak to each other will be? What if the next dead person I see on the ground is a familiar face? The friendly landscape I imagined from my day with Ivy in Stonelight is overshadowed by all the violence.

This is the truth of the world.