Academy Grounds — Beneath the Shattered Sky
The night was chaos incarnate.
Violet lightning shredded clouds.
Black slashes of warped space carved through the sky.
Every student, instructor, adventurer, and noble watched with widening horror.
But down below—
There was stillness.
Lucilla ran so fast her feet bled.
Her lungs burned.
Her heart hammered.
Her voice tore itself free like a desperate scream.
"HEADMASTER!! IT'S ASURA!! THAT THING IS—"
She reached the instructors with a final burst of speed and nearly slammed into the Headmaster's back.
Azelar Vaen didn't turn.
He stood motionless, long white coat fluttering in the wind, staff planted into the dirt beside him.
His eyes were locked on the sky.
Mary and the Black-Winged Being clashed again—
a collision that shattered a storm wall and shot light down like falling stars.
Lucilla grabbed his coat sleeve, voice shaking.
"Headmaster—listen to me—he's—"
The Headmaster exhaled.
Slowly.
Deeply.
The kind of breath a man releases when he already knows he might die.
If this fails…
If she kills that thing…
If we interfere and get erased by that monster…
His grip tightened around his staff.
—then I will still do it.
He turned to the instructors lined behind him.
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
"Prepare the seal."
The instructors flinched.
One spoke hesitantly:
"G–Headmaster… sealing that thing? It's—"
"Yes."
His tone cut like a blade.
"If there is any chance it can restrain him long enough to bring Mary back…"
He pointed at a tall, muscular instructor — a dragon-kin with crimson scales showing along his neck.
"You catch Mary when she falls."
The dragon-kin slammed a fist to his chest confidently.
"Yes sir! I can tank anything she—"
He can't.
(He absolutely can't.)
Azelar smiled politely anyways.
"Good. Try not to die."
The dragon instructor froze.
"…Sir?"
But the Headmaster was already stepping forward.
He looked back at all instructors and students.
His voice boomed across the academy, echoing like a commandment:
"If our seal fails—PROTECT THE STUDENTS AT ALL COST."
A hush fell.
Then Azelar lifted his staff.
"And I—lift all restrictions."
Gasps erupted.
Students whispered:
"Restrictions?"
"Wait—dragon-kin transformations are forbidden—!"
"Is he saying—?!"
The Headmaster's voice rang like a bell across the courtyard:
"DRAGON RACE—YOU MAY TRANSFORM!"
A roar shook the ground.
Dragon pressure flooded the campus as the scalable instructor's bones cracked and shifted, wings tearing from his back in blazing fire.
The academy was no longer witnessing a fight.
They were witnessing war preparations.
Azelar inhaled slowly.
His voice softened.
He spoke into the sky as if calling to someone precious:
"Mary!"
For the first time, his voice cracked.
"Every soul has a melody."
Students froze.
Wind stopped.
Even the sky seemed to pause.
"I'll remind you of yours."
He closed his eyes…
…and whistled.
It wasn't sound.
It was a command.
A single, haunting, impossibly perfect tone—
so high and pure the atmosphere rippled.
The world reacted.
⠀• Glass shattered.
⠀• Clouds split into spirals.
⠀• The night sky bent around the frequency.
Everyone clutched their ears—
Every student.
Every instructor.
Every monster for miles.
You could hear it from the Human Realm.
You could hear it in space.
Lucilla finally reached him.
"HEADMASTER—IT'S ASURA—!!"
But the whistle detonated across the world.
And in the sky—
Mary's eyes flickered.
Her alter ego jerked, expression freezing.
The dragon instructor shouted:
"SIR—IT WORKED!! SHE'S FALLING—!!"
And Azelar turned, relief flooding his face—
—but the one thing he needed to hear?
The truth?
Lucilla's words were drowned beneath the celestial note.
He never heard her.
"Headmaster—
that monster isn't some unknown being…
IT'S ASURA."
✦ Seal the Monster
Wind shredded the treetops.
The sky still crackled with the aftershock of Mary's whistle.
High above—
A dragon streaked through the clouds like a meteor.
Flames wrapped around his massive body, wings spanning wide enough to blot the moon.
FWOOOM—!!
The dragon-kin instructor dove at near light speed, claws extended, eyes fierce.
"GOT HER—!!"
He snatched Mary mid-fall, wrapping her carefully in his wing.
For a heartbeat—
Everyone exhaled.
Then—
BOOM.
Mary's aura detonated point-blank.
A shockwave blasted through the dragon's scales, ripping feathers off his wings, sending both bodies spinning like falling stars.
Headmaster Azelar didn't waste a heartbeat.
He teleported.
Not elegant.
Not perfect.
Just raw, brute teleportation fueled by panic.
One blink—
and he appeared directly in front of "the monster."
The sealing artifact—a black scripture tablet etched in ancient runes—glowed in his hand.
Three steps. Clap the seal. Trap the monster.
He wouldn't let a student die. Not again.
But right before he moved—
[ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ]
Precognition Activated
[ A future outcome has been observed. ]
[ User: Asura Satomi will respond. ]
Azelar crept forward, breath silent, trying not to trigger the monster's instincts.
Just a few inches more—
Just a few more—
Seal him before he reacts.
The sealing scripture pulsed with power.
He raised it.
He lunged.
—
Something stopped him.
Not force.
Not speed.
A voice.
Calm.
Quiet.
Unbothered.
"You're loud."
Azelar froze mid-step.
The monster didn't turn his head—
just shifted his crimson gaze down at the Headmaster.
His voice carried the weight of a king.
"I already saw this outcome. The seal won't work."
The Headmaster's blood chilled.
How… how did it know?
The creature—this being that bent reality by existing—slowly turned away from him, eyes following something in the sky.
"And as for her—"
He meant Mary.
But he never finished the sentence.
KRAAAAAAAAAAASH BOOOOOOM!!!
The sky lit up.
A violet beam of sound-mana exploded from above, tearing through space like a cannon.
Azelar spun to look.
Mary—
still in full alter ego mode—
had blown the dragon off her with an explosive spell.
The dragon fell like a meteor.
Mary accelerated like a bullet.
Her eyes were wide, feral.
Her teeth bared.
Her body trailed glowing sheet-music ribbons like furious wings.
She was still gone.
The whistle didn't reach her.
It carried memory—
but not recognition.
Azelar whispered, horrified:
"Don't tell me she's… too far gone to bring back."
But he shook that thought from his head.
No. I can reach her. I have to.
His staff trembled in his hand, but he didn't back away.
Asura… wasn't even watching him.
He was watching her.
Mary streaked toward them—
faster than lightning—
eyes wild with killing intent.
Her alter ego screamed joyfully:
"FIGHT ME AGAIN—!!"
Asura, glowing with black lightning, whispered—
"Good."
Azelar tried to act.
Seal it. Seal it NOW.
He cast the haste spell on himself again and launched forward at light-speed, trying to slap the scripture onto the monster's back before it reacted.
But—
Just as Asura shifted to dodge—
someone else appeared.
An unknown figure dropped between them like falling gravity—
their presence unannounced.
The Headmaster's heart stopped.
"Wh—who—"
Asura's crimson eyes narrowed.
For the first time since entering that form—
he paused.
✦ The Seal, the Shield, and the Vampire
Wind screamed around them.
Akaris crackled at Asura's fingertips — a god-tier erasure skill poised to wipe reality clean.
The sealing artifact in Headmaster Azelar's hand pulsed violently, runes tearing open the sky.
And then—
someone dropped between them.
Not with grace.
Not with elegance.
Just raw desperation.
"ASURA—!!"
Lucilla.
She had leapt.
Not teleported — leapt — using every drop of speed, aura, and vampiric blood she possessed.
Her body was already shaking from the backlash. Instructors far below screamed as she vanished into the upper atmosphere.
She broke into the stratosphere with a sonic boom.
She didn't attack.
She shielded.
Lucilla threw herself between Asura and the Headmaster's sealing artifact, arms spread wide.
Her voice cracked.
"I–I won't let you take him!"
Azelar froze, artifact pressed forward, already activated — too late to cancel.
"LUCILLA?!"
He tried to pull back—
but the sealing runes were already snapping outward.
Lucilla braced herself and closed her eyes.
Seal me instead.
If I have to be locked away in darkness… I don't care…
As long as he's safe.
Before the seal touched her—
A shadow wrapped around her waist.
Not violent.
Not rough.
Warm.
Asura caught her, one massive arm around her back, pulling her against his chest.
Her face pressed into his skin — heat radiating, aura like a living storm.
Compared to his monstrous transformation, she was tiny.
Lucilla's breath hitched.
Asura looked down at her, calm and unbothered, crimson halo around his eyes.
And…
He smiled.
A real smile.
"You jumped all the way here… just to shield me?"
Lucilla couldn't speak.
She just held him tighter.
Her voice broke into a whisper:
"I won't let them seal you. I won't lose you."
His other arm extended outward toward the sealing artifact, palm glowing—
Akaris primed to erase the seal from existence.
Headmaster Azelar's stomach dropped.
"N–No… he's going to destroy the artifact—"
He wasn't even looking at the Headmaster.
His voice was low.
Calm.
"I already saw this outcome."
Lucilla felt something… else.
Six heartbeats.
Not thumping.
Resonating.
Her eyes widened, pupils dilating—she recognized the rhythm immediately.
She had fallen asleep to that sound.
Sneaked into his dorm.
Sat by his bed just to hear it.
Lucilla froze.
Asura leaned down, whispering into her ear, voice deep and soft:
"Now you can listen to my hearts more closely."
Her mind blanked.
Her entire face turned vampire-red.
She choked.
"Y–You… knew?"
He smirked.
"You moved the chair closer every night."
FLASHBACK VISUAL CUT
Lucilla, sneaking in: "Just to listen… just for a second…"
Chair mysteriously beside his bed.
Back to present.
Lucilla nearly combusted on the spot.
"I—I wasn't— I mean— I—"
Her voice died as he shifted his stance, shielding her completely with his massive frame.
Black lightning coiled around him.
Crimson markings glowed.
Asura raised his hand, Akaris ready to fire—
FWOOM—!!!
A spear of musical mana tore space open.
It whistled through the air like a death note.
Mary.
Still in alter ego.
Still smiling like a beautiful demon.
"FIIIIIGHT ME~!!"
She was suddenly there — face twisted in ecstatic joy, nightgown shredded, hair wild, spear raised.
And behind her—
More spears.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
All made of music.
Musical notation formed into lethal weaponry.
Her laughter echoed with madness.
"ROUND TWO!"
She blurred.
The spears followed like a chorus.
The Headmaster panicked.
"SHE'S STILL IN HER ALTER STATE—?! THAT SHOULD HAVE BROKEN—"
Lucilla felt Asura shift.
Calm.
Steady.
He gently set Lucilla behind him without even looking away from Mary.
Lightning flashed.
Akaris pulsed.
Mary shrieked, thrilled:
"MAKE. ME. SING. WITH. YOUR. BLOOD!"
The spears launched.
Everything detonated.
✦ The Melody That Reaches All Worlds
Wind howled.
Explosions rippled through the sky.
Mary — no longer Mary — hurled spear after spear, each one an extension of her manic, musical bloodlust.
Lucilla clung to Asura's back, but he gently peeled her hands away and set her behind him.
Not as a command.
As protection.
System Warning
[ ALERT — FORM INSTABILITY AT 72% ]
[ Host's emotional state breaching control threshold. ]
[ If True Demon Lord Awakening exceeds 85% → Berserk State will trigger. ]
[ Risk: You will repeat the Erevos incident. ]
Asura ignored the warning.
Another spear detonated, vaporizing the cloud beneath them.
Mary shrieked with unhinged delight:
"STAY STILL SO I CAN BREAK YOU!"
Asura didn't blink.
He simply shifted, placing himself between Lucilla and Mary.
Cold.
Silent.
Predatory.
His six hearts beat in calm synchronization.
Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum.
The voice — that venomous, hateful whisper — slithered into his mind.
Do it.
Erase her.
Use Akaris — end everything.
Asura slowly raised his hand.
Akaris pulsed.
The sky warped around his palm.
Headmaster Azelar felt the fabric of reality shatter just from the activation and stumbled back.
"H–He's going to kill her…"
Lucilla's breath caught.
"Asura…?"
[ Precognition Activated. ]
A thousand futures exploded across his vision.
All of them—
Mary dying.
He saw the aftermath.
He saw regret.
He saw loss.
But then — one future flickered faintly.
A different outcome.
That one future…
where he saved her without killing her.
Asura smiled.
For the first time since this form awakened…
a soft, human smile.
He lowered his hand.
Akaris evaporated.
This was not destruction.
This was resonance.
Mary lunged, spear of musical mana aimed straight at his heart—
and she screamed with manic glee:
"BLEED FOR MY SONG—!!"
The spear pierced him.
Straight through one of his six hearts.
He didn't resist it.
Not because he couldn't—
but because this future required it.
Lucilla screamed.
Instructors below nearly fainted.
The Headmaster almost dropped the seal.
Mary grinned — victory in her eyes —
Until she saw Asura's expression.
Calm.
Unbothered.
Almost… gentle.
He closed his eyes.
Aura coated his vocal cords.
Not brutal.
Not destructive.
Resonant.
He whispered the words — not shouted — but they carried enough power to make the world listen.
"Every soul has a melody. I'll remind you of yours."
He didn't force power.
He guided it.
He half-sang the phrase, letting the aura shape his tone like a gentle hand on a string.
Mary froze mid-air.
Asura inhaled.
The system flashed in panic.
[ WARNING — Aura infusion to voice beyond recommended limit! ]
[ Vocal cords may rupture. ]
[ Skill effect unknown! ]
Asura ignored it.
He whistled.
Not a sound.
A frequency.
Pure.
Perfect.
Beautiful.
Mary's spears shattered to dust.
The world itself stopped to listen.
Every monster in the Demon Realm halted.
Every mage in the Human Realm felt their mana resonate.
Somewhere far beyond the Demon Realm,
beings that should not notice such things—
did.
The whistle traveled through dimensions.
Through systems.
Through realities.
Mary's pupils dilated.
Her alter ego wavered.
Her lips parted.
"…song…?"
Tears fell down her cheeks — not from pain, but from the ache of remembering herself.
Her hands trembled.
Her voice cracked.
"…Asura…?"
Her spear dissolved.
The murderous aura evaporated.
She collapsed — free.
Not healed.
Not whole.
But herself.
Asura Still Stood
Even with a spear impaled through his heart, piercing bone—
he stood unmoving.
Six hearts beat.
Blood dripped.
Lucilla staggered forward, voice trembling.
"You idiot… you let her stab you…"
He looked over his shoulder, expression soft.
"It was never about winning. It was about reaching her."
And sometimes—
that costs blood.
The system chimed.
[ Emotional State Stabilized. ]
[ Berserk State avoided. ]