Return of the Runebound Professor

Yoru turned toward the hatch leading back into the Transport Cannon, already starting to move. There were a great many things in life that she didn’t know — but there was one thing she knew for certain.

She had no plans of allowing the demons in the tower to be killed by the pathetic, arrogant fools that dared to attack her. She could not remember the last time someone was so foolish so as to draw her ire. Even Demon Lords respected her strength.

The sheer gall it took the demons here, whose strength could not have been any greater than Rank 4, to even approach her, much less attempt to kill someone standing right beside her, was outrageous beyond words.

But she only managed to make it a step toward the hatch before something strange happened.

Tim’s form changed within her mind’s eye. Even though there was no physical change in the man’s appearance, Yoru saw far deeper than that. It was as if his very being had shifted.

That calm, gentle pond was gone, and even she was uncertain of what remained.

“The Transport Cannon is being attacked? Someone thinks they can go after Vermil’s students? Not while I still draw breath,” Tim snapped, spinning on his heel. Magical energy pooled within him like a raging storm. For a Rank 3 such as himself, it was a rather impressive amount of it. Far more than Yoru would have expected he’d be able to channel. Tim cracked his knuckles as he stormed toward the edge of the roof. “I’ll show them right to the creator’s doorstep.”

You are likely among the number of the ones these fools wish to attack. No demon, here or in the Damned Plains, would ever dare come for me. Especially not ones as weak as this.

Yoru nearly voiced her thoughts when Tim jerked his hand to the side. The ground bucked beneath her and she staggered, nearly losing her balance. The Transport Cannon was moving.

Surprise passed through Yoru. A life had ceased to exist. There was nothing where it had once been. Not dead. Gone. Nothing marked the space where they had been moments before. Even the fading fragments of the soul that should have lingered moments after their death had vanished.

And for a moment, the world seemed to still around Yoru. She had borne witness to a great many types of magic. To demons and mages more powerful than even herself. But there was only one creature in existence that she’d ever met who posessed the strength to simply unmake.

That creature was Sievan, the Lord of Death.

How is Tim, a mere Rank 3, able to harness power like this? Impossible.

“What was that?” Yoru asked, unable to keep the words from escaping her lips. “Did you just erase an existence? Have you concealed your strength to some manner unbeknownst to even me?”

“That sounds awful impressive and a little too cruel for my tastes, though I can’t deny I’m feeling quite angry right now,” Tim said. The Transport Cannon rumbled again as it turned to point down at the next of the demons, but they had already arrived at the tower’s base and were no longer in a spot where they could be targeted. “I just did a little manipulation of spatial magic using the Transport Cannon.”

A flicker of embarrassment passed through Yoru. She was off kilter. Tim hadn’t erased the demon from existence. He’d just forcibly teleported them away for a short period of time.

I need to focus. This night was a poor one for an attack like this to occur, but perhaps killing will help me still my thoughts.

“I see,” Yoru said. “Then, after we kill the other attackers, we should be ready to deal with the demon when they return after the cannon’s magic runs out.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that.” Tim’s voice was cold. “I memorized a number of different… unkind places. I didn’t want to, but after a few incidents with people forcing me to abuse the Transport Cannon to harm my friends, I had no choice. That will never happen again. I swore it.”

“Unkind places?” Yoru asked as the two of them dropped through the hatch and down into the main room of the Transport Cannon.

“I sent that demon to the center of an active volcano. They will not be coming back.”

And in that moment, even though Tim may have been just a mere Rank 3 mage, something in his voice sent a flicker of warning to Yoru’s instincts. Tim might not have been an all-powerful Archdemon — but just for that very moment, his words bore the presence of one.

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***

Karina’s eyes fluttered open.

It was deep into the night. Thin strands of moonlight filtered in through the window at the head of the bed, sneaking their way past the curtains she and Contessa had hung. A blanket of weariness hung over her shoulders, but it slipped away with startling speed.

Her heart was beating faster than it should have been.

Years of training pushed her into a seated position. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d woken up in the middle of the night like this — at least, not without a reason. Contessa shifted in the bed beside her, letting out a start as she awoke.

“Karina?” Contessa asked wearily. “Is something wrong?”

It was a moment before Karina replied. “I’m not sure. I suddenly woke up. I think something might be happening.”

Contessa sat up beside her. She rubbed at her eyes. “Is it Mascot begging for food again? Did you remember to set his bowls out last night?”

“Yes,” Karina replied. She slipped out of bed, snagging her jacket from the chair beside the bed and slipping it on. Her gaze swept over the room. Nothing seemed out of place. The night was quiet. There was no shadow at the door.

But despite that, she couldn’t shake an intense, uneasy feeling. It was like there was a lump stuck in her throat.

“Instincts are there for a reason,” Contessa said. “I’ve learned that one the hard way. Better find Mascot. He could have gotten into some trouble.”

Karina nodded quietly. She stepped around the bed, her brow furrowed — and found herself peering right into two molten red, glowing eyes.

“Shit,” Karina said, her heart skipping a beat. “Mascot, really? We had an agreement. No scary glaring at night.”

The cat blinked up at Karina as she scooped him off the ground and into her arms. He licked her hand. Perhaps that was meant to be an apology — or perhaps he was wondering if she would be a good meal.

It was always hard to tell with him.

Contessa shuffled over to the window and pulled the curtains back, letting moonlight freely spill into the room. She examined the lock intently. “Looks fine. I don’t see anybody outside.”

But Karina didn’t reply. She stared at the ground, cast in silver light by the shining moon, her features frozen.

Crumpled in a heap at the foot of their bed, just inches away from where Mascot had been sitting, was a rotted corpse. The body was so badly warped and destroyed that it was barely even recognizable as anything other than humanoid.

A half-crumbled horn jutting from one side of its head marked it as anything but.

There was a dead demon in their room. One that had died a very, very bad death.

“Shit, Mascot,” Karina breathed. “You were really pissed at this one, weren’t you?”

Mascot started grooming himself.

Contessa stared down at the corpse for a moment. Then she exchanged a glance with Karina. “Disposal procedures?”

“Disposal procedures,” Karina agreed.

***

Alexandra was practicing her pattern in the training courtyard when she felt something shift in the air. The flow of her blade stilled as she let it lower, turning toward the source of the obstruction.

Three figures stood at the edge of the field. The baggy clothing they wore did little to conceal their identity as demons. Alexandra had spent more than enough time with their sort to recognize the bumps in the clothing that marked poorly concealed horns, tails, and upon occasion, wings.

She also knew that these demons were not amongst the number she was personally acquainted with.

“Who are you?” Alexandra asked, keeping her sword at the ready by her side. Vermil had gotten caught up with quite a few different demons in recent times. There was a very good chance these were his allies — and there was a greater chance they were his enemies.

The demons didn’t respond.

That alone was answer enough. Allies didn’t conceal their identities.

Her lips thinned. She wasn’t in a good state to fight three enemies right now, much less demons. The strongest tools she had to rely on were were her Fragment of Self and her pattern. She still didn’t have a good set of Rank 3 Runes to use — which meant this fight was one at a severe disadvantage.

So be it.

Alexandra lifted her sword. The world sharpened as her focus intensified, boosted by the Fragment of Self as it deepened the connection between her soul and body even further.

The demons exploded into motion.

They were streaks of blurred shadow cutting across the already-dark night. If this had happened before Alexandra had manifested her Fragment of Self, there would have been no competition. She would have been defeated before she even got a chance to realize she was under attack.

Instead, she leapt back, her sword slicing through the air and forcing the demons back. They didn’t relent. The three of them circled around her wordlessly, launching into a joint attack from all directions.

Alexandra dropped into her pattern instantly. Magic flowed through her motions and her weapon flitted through the sky as if writing silver letters into the darkness. The ring of metal filled the night as her sword struck against weapons the demons pulled from within their cloaks.

Neither she nor the demons managed to land a blow on each other — which was definitely more of a win for her than it was for them. Failing to successfully ambush someone in three to one odds was rather embarrassing.

Alexandra didn’t let her thoughts drift for long. Even a swords master could fall to a bad step. These were demons. She could not take any risks.

“I don’t know what it is you seek here,” Alexandra said quietly, lowering into a readied stance once more as the three demons advanced toward her. “But I suggest you turn back now. The only thing you will find is death.”