Kaero didn't answer. His eyes burned red-gold.
Behind him stood the semi physical silhouette of a wolf beast. No, it would be more fitting to call it a Wolf King, so awe-inspiring was its presence.
Its sleek white fur shimmered faintly, flowing over powerful muscles that exuded both speed and raw strength.
Its eyes burned with a fierce blue light filled with wild pride and sovereign majesty, and its slightly parted jaws revealed rows of pristine fangs that looked sharp enough to shred mountains.
The winds of pure fire energy which swirled around its body crackled faintly, wrapping it in an aura both divine and terrifying.
It was an incredibly shocking and dreadful sight.
The dreadful wolf silhouette opened its mouth and howled once more.
At the same time, Kaero's right arm also ignited in crimson flame. He threw it forward, instantly releasing a fireball far greater than anything a Low Grade D Rank mage should ever have been able to summon.
The blazing sphere collided with the descending black orb midair.
KABOOM!!
The explosion split the sky, and raw power ripped through the courtyard in a massive shockwave.
The demon's black sphere disintegrated under the assault, but the backlash of its destruction slammed into Mr. Larouse's psychic barrier and shattered it like fragile glass.
The old teacher was struck by remnants of the demonic blast. He crumpled to the ground, barely alive.
"Mr. Larouse!!" Emily screamed and immediately rushed toward him.
Looking at the old man's broken body bleeding huge amounts of blood which pooled around him, Kaero's fury ignited like wildfire.
Strange but powerful emotions surged through his heart, screaming for vengeance he knew he could exact as easily as flipping his palm.
His mind blazed with visions of power and countless attacks he could unleash at that very moment, each more destructive than the last.
Two words in particular appeared in his mind.
He spat them out vehemently without hesitation.
"Howl, Fenra!"
The wolf's majestic form of crimson flame solidified.
Fearsome flames coiled around its body as it threw its head back and unleashed a thunderous howl that shook the heavens.
Then it lunged.
The 3 meter long flame wolf moved so fast that Kaero barely noticed it streaking through the air before it smashed into the similarly sized demon leader.
Rip! Ripppp!!
The sound of tearing flesh mingled with the hiss of burning blood as the creature was shredded apart. The stench of charred meat filled the courtyard.
Three vicious attacks later in as many seconds, the demon was in pieces.
It was a demon leader that was at least at C Rank!
AWOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Fenra let out a victorious howl that was filled with pure savagery and hunger. It was so loud that it echoed through the plaza and vibrated through Kaero's bones.
AWOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Kaero's blood burned as he howled back in reply.
And then… Pain.
Kaero felt a sharp, blinding pain burn through his entire body straight up to his head.
"Ugh." Blood splattered from his mouth and his knees buckled.
His mana reserves had run completely dry. Before he could do or say anything, he blacked out in a dead faint.
XXXXX
Kaero woke up silently.
With a single glance, he realized that it was night, and that he was in the infirmary.
He turned his head lightly, and discovered that he was the only patient there.
"A good sign." He sighed softly.
Judging by the way the battle unfolded, there shouldn't be any fatalities from among the instructors and teachers. Except for maybe… Mr Larouse.
That final black sphere really hit him hard.
Kaero sighed once more. It was out of his hands. He had already given his best. And then some more.
Literally some more.
"What the heck was that wolf?" Kaero frowned as he stared up at the ceiling. "Did it really come out of my body?"
He rubbed his temples to ease the slight pounding there and tried to sort out his thoughts.
From the moment he fought in that final battle against the demons, to finally being killed by the Pale Moon Captain Selune Vargis, and then reappearing in his youth as a sixteen year old, and to the desperate battle against the demon sneak attack, it had been like one unending storm.
He truly didn't have time to gather his thoughts and feelings. The weight of two lifetimes pressed down on him, and he finally realized just how heavy it was.
"My life in my original timeline is over." Kaero started with the simplest and most obvious fact. "With all of its glories, achievements, failures and… regrets. For good or for bad, it is over. Humanity… Sigh. They should be able to eventually succeed without me."
Kaero closed his eyes for a long moment as he packed up his feelings and lingering attachments for the original timeline and slowly bid farewell to it.
"It is over." Kaero finally whispered out loud. "It is over. And now… On to this one."
Kaero's eyes instantly hardened.
The Pale Moon Captain of the Court of Ages, Selune Vargas. Arguably within the top twenty strongest human warriors in existence.
And…
Flame Emperor Lucien Kingsley.
The strongest fire mage alive.
The strongest warrior from the powerful Kingsley Clan.
The strongest genius from Kaero's generation.
Only three men were given the title "Emperor" by humanity in recognition of their fearsome strength and their ability to hold up the sky for humanity.
His daily exploits put Kaero's greatest achievements to shame.
Beasts, demons and it was rumored, even a dragon had fallen to his flames.
He was one of humanity's bright beacons of hope.
Flame Emperor Lucien Kingsley!!!
Kaero's enemies in the demon continent called him Fire King Kaero. But Kaero knew that was simply because they had never met Lucien.
"Did they betray humanity? Or were they undercover to get the Blood Rock?" Kaero spent a few minutes pondering about this issue. But he was stumped.
His rank in the military as Artillery Battalion Commander was too low. He wasn't privy to too much sensitive information.
Kaero finally sighed and decided to cross the bridge when he came to it.
At that moment as a student in Blacksteel Magic Academy, he was far too weak to even hear about the Court of Ages and the Kingsley Clan, much less investigate them.
"I'll just focus on what is at hand." Kaero decided.
He had returned to his time as a first year student in Blacksteel Magic Academy. An eighteen year old teenager still on the beginning stages of the long climb in the rungs of power.
He had awakened his fire mana recently, and was tested at the bottom of D Rank. Most of his batch mates had tested similar scores, with only a few geniuses who managed to get a Mid Grade D Rank.
"If I remember correctly, there was some sort of annual competition going on. Best student award? Most distinguished fighter award? I can't remember. But I know that the prize was… An elemental shard!"
Just saying the words made a spark of excitement stir in his chest.
Elemental Shard. If combined with other shards, it would be able to form an Elemental Seed. And an Elemental Seed was a wondrous natural treasure.
Ever since the dead gods fell upon Earth like divine meteors, the world itself had never been the same.
The massive amount of energy that leaked from their corpses had seeped into the land, the oceans and the air. The very essence of nature had slowly shifted into something completely new.
Humans began to awaken to mana, which was basically elemental magic which allowed them to wield the elemental energies of nature. At the same time, it also triggered the births of many natural treasures, most of which could be assimilated by human beings to enhance their strength.
The Elemental Seed was one such treasure.