The Strongest Student of the Weakest Academy

"So… where the hell were you, man?" Derek crossed his arms and gave Aestrea a sideways look.

James nodded beside him. "Yeah, you vanished after all that chaos. Took your sweet time, too."

At their words, both Maria and Mia turned their heads, curious. Their grips on Aestrea's arms stayed firm, but their eyes were full of questions now.

Aestrea let out a small breath and scratched the back of his neck.

"I left a tracker on someone… a guy named Ethan."

Derek raised an eyebrow.

"Ethan? Who's that?"

"A friend from the Royal Academy," Aestrea said simply. "We're not super close or anything, but we've fought together before."

Maria and Mia listened closely, still holding onto him, though a bit more loosely now.

"The tracker I put on him flared up like crazy," Aestrea continued. "Which meant something was wrong, so I rushed over to him."

He sighed and lowered his hand from his neck. "When I got there, I saw the whole hero group down, almost crying because Ethan was poisoned."

James frowned.

"Only Ethan was poisoned?"

"Exactly," Aestrea said.

"Somehow, the dumbass of a hero, and the others idiots including Ella were fine."

That name made Mia's eyebrow twitch a little, and Maria looked away briefly, but Aestrea kept going.

"I checked Ethan's condition… and realized that he didn't have much time left. So I started removing the poison. Took a lot of mana."

Maria looked up at him.

"So… you saved him?"

Aestrea gave a small shrug.

"I did what I could."

"Damn…" James muttered.

"You could've said something earlier, man." Derek clicked his tongue.

Aestrea chuckled softly.

"And miss this dramatic entrance?"

That earned a light laugh from Mia, and even Maria gave a small smile.

"Well," Aestrea said with a playful tone, looking at the two girls by his side, "I came back in one piece… and the view right now makes it worth it."

"Hmph. You better remember who your girls are." Mia smirked and leaned her head on his shoulder.

They weren't official, and yet, she dared to say those words.

Maria blushed, but didn't move away.

James looked like he was going to say something… but then, he just sighed.

"This guy…"

Derek shook his head.

"Damn, playboy."

Aestrea didn't reply.

He just kept walking for a few more steps… then suddenly stopped.

His eyes narrowed.

"...Fuck."

Mia and Maria turned to look at him, confused.

THRRRUUUUUUUMMMM!

A huge green beam of energy suddenly shot up into the dark sky. It twisted the clouds and dyed everything in a sickly green glow.

THRUM!

THRUM!

From the spot where the beam stood, countless shockwaves began to emerge, causing the air to tremble.

"That's where the boss is… isn't it?" Derek muttered.

James nodded, feeling a bit nervous.

Maria glanced at Aestrea and then spoke her thoughts, "That kind of energy… it feels like SS-rank mana, right?"

Aestrea didn't answer right away as he stared at the beam.

"…Yeah," he finally said. "And not just SS-rank."

He looked over his shoulder at them with a serious expression.

"That's the peak of SS-rank mana. At least."

"WHAT?!" All of them shouted in unison, eyes wide.

"...This is a big problem," Aestrea added.

But the reason he stated that was not due to the beam of mana, but rather because of the panel that had suddenly appeared in front of him.

A strange light flashed in front of his eyes, something only he could see.

[...Would you like to peek into the future?]

His body froze.

The system had never said something like this to him before, and if it did, it was because the fight against Beelzebub would probably be almost impossible for him to win.

'But why... with the ability of my physique... I'm pretty sure that I can match Beelzebub's power...'

Thinking about this, he flared up a little of the power of his physique, but suddenly...

Dim...

Nothing came.

Aestrea's eyes widened in disbelief.

'This... it's on fucking cooldown? Did it turn to two months or something?!'

"Fuck... this ruins everything." Aestrea cursed.

"Aestrea? What's wrong?" Maria gently tugged his arm, clearly worried about him.

He looked at her… then slowly exhaled.

"I need to meditate."

He gently freed himself from their grip, walked a few steps ahead, and raised a small barrier of silver mana around himself.

Then, he sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes, going completely still.

"…What just happened to him?" Derek asked, looking at Aestrea.

"I don't know," Maria whispered.

"He suddenly cursed, then said he needed to meditate."

"Ah!" James exclaimed.

"Was it because of the power he saw in the sky? Does that mean that even him isn't confident enough in dealing with such a high power?!" His voice got nervous.

"If he's worried… then we might be in real trouble." Mia turned serious, lips pressed tight.

Maria looked at the barrier, her chest tight.

"Should we stay? Watch over him?"

"The others might go after the boss soon. We can't let them fight alone." Derek shook his head.

Then he pointed.

"Maria, you stay. Watch him. We'll go check things out."

"Huh?! Why does she get to stay and not me?!" Mia pouted hard, hugging her arms tighter around herself.

But before she could argue more, James quickly grabbed the collar of her clothes, practically dragging her away.

"C'mon! Let's move before it's too late!"

"Ugh, fine! But I'm not happy about it!" she yelled as James pulled her along.

Derek gave Maria a nod.

"Take care of him."

"I will."

And just like that, she was alone with Aestrea.

She sat down quietly next to him, watching the calm rise and fall of his breath. The glow of his silver mana shimmered gently around him, but his face…

It was peaceful.

She leaned in a little closer, just looking at him, taking in every line of his face.

And in that still moment—

'Yes.'

Aestrea said inwardly.

Instantly, his mind slipped away.

He felt himself being pulled as if floating through time itself. It was gentle at first, like drifting down a river of light… but then everything suddenly changed.

The vision struck him like lightning.

He stood inside a large, ruined hall. Massive pillars rose up from cracked ground, broken walls lined with glowing green veins, and in the center of it all…

Beelzebub.

The demon's presence was thick. His body was monstrous, twisted by power, and his eyes burned with a sick green light.

Around the demon, the air trembled with pressure, as if the entire space could collapse at any second.

But Aestrea wasn't alone.

He saw Derek, James, Maria, Mia, and even the others from the Hero's group—Rose, Maya, Iris, Ethan, and Lucas.

But they weren't the only ones there, as Eira's group was also there, all of them standing around him, ready for battle.

And then… himself.

He was there too.

They were all fighting—fighting together.

A storm of magic, sword slashes, and shouts filled the room. Ice, fire, wind, holy light, and raw power crashed against Beelzebub from every direction.

It was intense. The demon roared with rage, swinging wildly, trying to tear them apart, but slowly, they were pushing him back.

Even Beelzebub, that twisted beast of destruction, was bleeding, chunks of his monstrous body burning or frozen or sliced open.

It looked like they had a chance.

Lucas moved forward, his body glowing gold. He raised his sword high, eyes locked onto Beelzebub's head.

『 Slaying Demons, Slaying Devils! 』

His strongest attack, blazing with divine energy, was ready to end it all.

But then…

Beelzebub grinned widely.

His voice echoed through the room.

"Domain of Gluttony."

The moment those words left his lips, the entire space shifted.

The walls, the air—everything twisted. A sick, unnatural aura spread like black smoke. And then… the mouths came.

Floating in the air, dozens—maybe hundreds—of mouths with jagged teeth, all wide open, all staring at them with wild hunger. Some whispered, some laughed, and some just trembled, drooling with desire.

"Devour."

With that one word, the mouth lunged.

Aestrea watched in horror as those mouths began ripping through the battlefield, biting through spells, crunching into mana shields, and ragging warriors across the ground.

Everything turned chaotic.

Even with all their strength—even with his own physique and high-level spells—they were being pushed back hard.

Aestrea saw himself using his full strength in action. Lucas was slashing nonstop, Rose was close to burning her life force, Iris was healing with tears in her eyes…

But it wasn't enough.

One by one, his allies fell. Not dead, but badly injured, unable to keep going. Blood, broken limbs, and cracked armor, it was a scene of heartbreak.

Until... only two remained standing.

Aestrea… and Beelzebub.

The demon's body was torn and ruined, black blood spilling from everywhere, bones exposed beneath half-shredded skin. But that wicked grin never left his face.

Aestrea was in a better condition.

He was finally about to strike.

His hand moved, mana flaring, one final attack prepared to end it all—

SPLURT!

A horrible sound tore through the vision.

He gasped.

A blade… pierced straight through his back.

It burst out through his chest, blood spraying into the air like a red fountain.

His eyes widened in shock, breath caught in his throat.

Time seemed to freeze.

His hands dropped, his spell fading. The pain didn't come right away. only confusion. He looked down at the sword sticking out of him, glowing faintly with someone else's mana.

And behind Beelzebub, the demon laughed.

Long, loud, and cruel.

Aestrea turned his head slowly, struggling to see behind him.

And then…

The vision ended.

"HAAAGH!"

Aestrea gasped awake.

Sweat rolled down his forehead as the silver barrier cracked slightly from the sudden surge of energy within him.

His heart was racing, his breath was shaky, eyes were wide.

"Aestrea? Are you okay?" Maria instantly leaned closer to him, her eyes full of worry, as she checked his body for injuries.

"Fuuu... haaa..."

He continued breathing heavily, but then, he slowly turned to Maria.

"I'm fine... let's go now..."

He shakily stood up with Maria's help.

Then, both of them started rushing towards the place where Beelzebub was.