Power of Runes

I am going to die..

Ray thought as his body froze from the sheer powerlessness he felt in front of that single eye that suddenly appeared through the small crack.

It was a red eye glowing faintly, its shape long and sharp like a diamond. It was filled with hunger, and Ray could feel it pressing on him like a predator staring at its prey.

{Crush it Ray, you have to retreat!!!!}

B-But....I can't move my body.....it's not responding...

Even though he held the anchor given by Ash tightly in his hands, he was unable to use even the slightest strength to crush the ball.

His body felt like stone, heavy and unmoving.

The glow in that red eye became brighter, and brighter.....until suddenly a very fast beam shot out from it.

The light tore through the crack in space and came rushing towards Ray at terrifying speed.

Ray could feel the heat on his skin, the deadly power inside that strike was strong enough to vaporize him completely.

But before he could do anything, before the beam could reach him...

....The anchor Ash had given him suddenly exploded on its own, wrapping around Ray and consuming him in a surge of light, teleporting him away.

As soon as Ray vanished, the beam struck the ground with a thunderous impact.

It drilled deeper and deeper into the earth, vaporizing everything in its path, leaving only molten traces behind.

Finally, it stopped after piercing a certain depth.

The beast behind the crack slowly turned its head and gazed toward a certain direction.....

It was staring at Ash.

Ash was watching everything unfold from far away, using the telescope he had long ago taken from the dragon's treasury.

For a moment, his eyes met the gaze of the beast.

His vision blurred instantly, his head grew heavy, and blood began to flow from the corner of his eyes.

The pressure pressed down on him like a mountain. Only when he forced himself to look away did the suffocating weight vanish.

That was dangerous....

Ash thought, wiping the blood away as he looked at Ray, who was now unconscious and lying cold on the ground in front of him.

Without wasting any time, Ash teleported beside him, grabbed him, and teleported far away before supplying life mana into Ray's body to push out the poison.

It was a good thing I took measures.....

Ash had tweaked his ability to create anchors in such a way that he could destroy them whenever he wished, allowing him to summon anyone to whom he had given his anchor.

Although he had mainly designed it for Elysia, so that no matter where she was, he could always summon her back to his side, but..... turned out that the same ability was instead used to save Ray's life.

After the poison was forced out, Ray's body relaxed, and he fell into a deep sleep.

Let's retreat, I don't wanna stay here....

Ash pulled out a small button-like artifact, blue in color. Both he and Ray had been given one. Its purpose was simple—it sent a signal outside, allowing the Major to cancel the artifact that was caging them inside.

Though there was also another button that signaled the mission failure and created a small pathway for both Ray and Ash to retreat.

He waited quietly for a moment. Since he had teleported to the very edge of the mist, he could feel the surroundings shifting. The mist began to recede slowly, and the world around him returned.

As the mist fully cleared away, five figures came into view, approaching quickly.

Ash instantly recognized them. The Major and the Captains.

The moment they saw Ash holding the unconscious Ray, they exploded into action and rushed toward him.

"Take him to the infirmary fast! What about you? Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Major Draven asked in a worried tone. Captain Marven immediately took Ray from Ash and hurried to the infirmary before Ash could say anything, while the other captains moved forward, ready to escort Ash back as well.

But Ash raised his hand and signaled them to stop.

"I am fine, and Ray is fine too. He is just sleeping, nothing else. But it would be better if you could contact any of the Saints immediately, because although all the monsters behind me are dead, there is a crack in the space, and behind that crack is a semi-divine beast."

All of their faces turned pale as they looked at Ash with disbelief, dread and doubt.

Sigh.....they do not believe me at all...

Shaking his head, he said, "Just send someone with farsight or something, or you could also check with a telescope. Though, try to bring a healer with you. Maybe then you will believe me." Saying that, he walked past all of the captains and the Major.

He left them frozen there, but stopped as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait, how did you survive if you encountered a semi-divine beast?" Captain Lira asked, her voice carrying both doubt and curiosity.

To which Ash smiled faintly and replied, "Just like I survived after cursing the Saints. You just need guts."

Lira's face turned even paler as she remembered that she was talking to a madman.

Then he moved away, leaving behind his last string of words, "I will be returning to the academy first, and inform someone strong about it. Stay clear of the center. Though I would suggest you activate the artifact again after you are done satisfying your curiosity."

With that, Ash's body shimmered and vanished from their sight.

While Ash saw the first demi-god in his life, the exam on the other hand had already ended, at least for Elysia's team.

After Melissia eliminated Elysia, Corin, Veyric and Gwen, only Zane, Luthan and the bird boy remained on the island. Soon, even Zane was defeated, leaving only Luthan, the bird boy, and an unconscious Melissia behind.

But when Luthan traveled back, he saw no one, only the traces of the fight. He tried to find the others, but the bird boy had already taken the unconscious Melissia and always stayed out of Luthan's radar.

In the end, it was Melissia's team that won, because two of her teammates were still present, while Elysia's team had only one left. And because of the bird boy's vision and ability, it was impossible for Luthan to catch them.

Thus, Melissia's team claimed victory.

The audience who witnessed the match, and the instructors who observed the fight, were a little shocked. Both because of Melissia's powers, and her strange behavior at the very end.

And with powers of Luthan, who came out like a Dark horse.

Since Snow was not visible to anyone but Melissia, no one else saw the little white snake.

Yet even so, it stirred the students deeply.

On the other hand, when Ash returned to the academy with the news of a semi-divine beast, it brewed another chaos among the Human Association's upper staff.

A few days passed after the exams ended for everyone. Those who were injured gradually regained consciousness. Not many were seriously wounded, but when Melissia finally woke up, she even helped others by healing them with her flames.

This caused another stir in the academy. When everyone learned that her flames could both heal and destroy, her value skyrocketed in an instant, even though it had already been high enough before.

Her ability to do such a thing also caused quite a stir among the Saints. Many of them even went to ask her father whether he had awakened the bloodline himself.

It was not a secret that the Ravencroft family was a descendant of the mythical bird Phoenix. Although it was not hidden knowledge, it was something that had gradually faded from people's minds with the passing of time.

However, if one decided to study history with even a little seriousness, the connection was not difficult to discover, for the traces were clearly written for those willing to look deep enough.

Because of this, all the Saints already knew the truth.

But very soon, it would no longer remain confined to the Saints alone. The rest of the world would come to know it as well.

By all accord, Melissia should have hidden her ability related to the Eternal Flames, especially in such a time when demons had become more active than ever. Yet Saint Lucas was not concerned about that at this moment.

Eternal Flames were the true nemesis of demons. Even if the wielder was killed, they could be reborn again and again within those flames. The word Eternal itself carried everything one needed to understand about its power.

Of course, that did not mean the Eternal Flames were without weakness. There were indeed a few, but Lucas knew very well that none of them could be found anywhere on Akumia.

One of the weaknesses was the complete destruction of the soul. If the soul was annihilated entirely, even the Eternal Flames could not grant rebirth. Another weakness was far more elusive: a rare material in the universe that could absorb the Eternal flames themselves, stripping the wielder of their strength and leaving them powerless.

And what was this metal?

No one truly knew.

Even in the legacy books of the Ravencroft family, the only mention was a vague one, speaking of a "Nameless Ore" said to be formed once in a million years somewhere in the vastness of the universe. Nothing more was ever recorded.

With weaknesses such as these, killing Melissia was practically impossible. She could perhaps be caged or suppressed by someone of much higher strength, especially if they had a domain, but at the very least she no longer needed to live under the fear of death.

But because of how powerful the bloodline was, it had always been difficult to conceive children, which was the very reason Phoenixes were rare even in the ancient times.

While this happened, the results came out swiftly...

The results of the exam were nothing surprising to most.

Although no one knew what task exactly Ray and Ash had completed, as the academy had prohibited them from speaking a single word about it, the official ranking was still announced clearly for all to see:

1. Ash Burn

2. Ray Dawson

3. Ethan Nightshade

4. Melissia Ravencroft

5. Irvin Earthrend

6. Nyra Vaylor

7. Kael Stormbringer

8. Elysia Moonglow

.

.

.

And like that, the exams were finally over.

And vacation began.

****