The samurai's name was Ryozan Takeda and he was a Peak C Ranked Fire Swordsman.
His breath steamed in the air as he lifted his flaming sword, and roared to the others.
"Don't let them take flight! Keep them grounded!"
Next to him, a beautiful Indian teacher, Ms Ishani Rao, was wading into battle with the same fearless abandon.
Her long braid whipped behind her as she moved, her hands slicing through the air in rapid, fluid motions. Each gesture sent a crescent of compressed wind blades that surged forward and sliced demons into pieces.
Fierce!
It was extremely clear that the demons' sneak attack had failed spectacularly.
The remaining demons panicked and began to scatter in all directions. Most were immediately pursued by the battle ready instructors.
But a cluster of four suddenly turned sharply and locked their fearsome violet eyes onto the trio that were running towards them.
Screeee!!
They screeched wildly, a mind splitting sound that shattered the glass windows of the buildings nearby.
"They are coming towards us!" Emily shouted in horror.
"Don't run away! Our only hope is the instructors behind them! Full defensive mode!" Kaero immediately shouted in response and started to channel all of his energy to cast the second spell in his arsenal.
Fire wall.
"Emily! Cast your earthen wall behind my fire wall, now!!" Kaero shouted. "Mr Larouse, Psychic Blast the hell out of them!"
His instincts as commander of the army for many years kicked in.
He had instantly inventoried the spells that he and "his men" had at their disposal, calculated their effective strength and deduced that they would be able to hold for a few seconds. Enough time for the instructors to reach them.
Shua!
A massive wall of flames burst into life, quickly followed by a slightly smaller earthen wall.
Mr Larouse's lips twitched slightly at that moment.
Damn kid.
"He actually dared to give me orders! But his orders were actually spot on. He's good. And there's no time to debate it anyway. I'll follow his arrangements and smack his head later." Mr Larouse thought to himself.
Both his hands were already raised by then and four powerful bursts of psychic energy erupted from his mind, shooting forth towards the demons beyond the fire and earthen walls.
It did not occur to him that Kaero was supposed to be too young to even know the existence of the extremely rare spell "Psychic Blast", and its properties which was that it could easily pass through elemental barriers.
For a moment, it seemed that Kaero's plan would work to perfection.
The pained screams of the four demons echoed from behind the walls.
Dying howls mingled with the shouts of instructors and the crackle of magic. The smell of scorched flesh and burning sap filled the air.
"We did it?" Emily panted heavily beside him.
Kaero didn't answer. His instincts were screaming no.
The air pressure shifted slightly. The wind stopped moving. The courtyard suddenly felt too still.
Kaero's heartbeat pounded in his ears. He raised his eyes to the sky as his gut twisted with dread.
And then he saw it.
A shimmer high above, barely perceptible against the blinding light of the sun.
"Above us!" Kaero screamed.
Before anyone could react, a streak of black tore through the air like lightning. The invisible pressure slammed downward, splitting the clouds apart with a sound like ripping fabric.
Mr. Larouse barely had time to look up. His psychic barrier flared in instinct, but it was far too little, far too late.
The impact was catastrophic.
"MR. LAROUSE!" Emily screamed as a blast of dark energy exploded across the courtyard.
Kaero was thrown back, the breath ripped from his lungs as he slammed into the dirt.
The old teacher staggered to his knees, blood dripping from his mouth, eyes wide with shock.
Kaero's chest tightened painfully.
"Damn it. Damn it all! How could I miss this?"
His thoughts raced.
Of course.
Mr. Larouse.
The psychic who could read the flow of battle, who could command the minds of thousands, and whose attacks could pass through any elemental barrier.
Kaero clenched his fists.
"That's right. If I had Larouse back then, I could have broken the siege! The barrier wouldn't have held! We could have taken Los Valaris!"
Another shriek ripped through the air.
The demon leader finally descended.
Its enormous black wings unfurled like a storm cloud as it raised one clawed hand, gathering a sphere of dark mana that warped the air around it.
Kaero could feel the sheer power that was contained within it.
He would not be able to survive it.
Not him, and especially not the gravely injured Mr Larouse.
Kaero grit his teeth as desperation and fury surged and seethed within him.
His mana flared once more, but he knew it was pointless.
A single Low Grade D Ranked fireball wouldn't even scratch that monster.
At that moment, he only had one second to decide. One second before the black sun fell.
"DAMN IT!" Kaero roared as his emotions exploded within him.
It wouldn't matter that the death count was much less than the previous life if Mr Larouse died.
He was the key, the critical difference that could shift the tides of the war in the Demon Continent.
Nobody knew that there would be an impenetrable shield protecting the Southern Capital of the Demon Continent.
If they knew, Mr Larouse and every single Psychic Mage in existence would have been sent to Headquarters. Fully protected by a squad of A Ranked Warriors at all times.
Shua!!
Time is up.
The twenty sixth demon flung the powerful black sphere down towards Mr Larouse.
Mr. Larouse's face twisted with grim realization. He glared at Kaero and Emily.
"Run, you fools!!" He roared.
He raised his hand and summoned the strongest psychic barrier he could muster at that moment. A translucent dome of violet energy flared into being around him, rippling like water under strain.
But Kaero knew it wasn't enough.
His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
Everything seemed hopeless.
And then, unbidden, a mournful thought appeared in his mind.
"If I don't become the moon, how will my brothers live?"
Something deep inside him stirred.
Something ancient. Something primal.
The world slowed.
Kaero's breath came ragged. The air around him shimmered faintly red.
And then, a sound. Low and terrifying.
It didn't come from the outside world, but from within his soul.
A growl.
It began as a faint echo before exploding forth as a full blown howl!
AWOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
It was the howl of a wolf!
The air turned hot as his mana surged out of control.
A glowing crimson sigil burned to life across his right arm in the shape of a wolf's head surrounded by fire.
A sharp, excruciating pain exploded out of every single bone in his body for a few horrible moments before a powerful surge of energy flooded his body.
It was as though his bone marrows were producing a new type of blood.
Behind him, a massive wolf silhouette flickered into existence, a beast of living flame, its eyes blazing like twin suns.
"Wha… what is that?" Emily gasped in a trembling voice.