Chronicles of the Red Sovereign

“I can sense a total of nine lesser demons and one greater demon within the island.” I muttered as my senses extended, searching for the enemies within the island. “They’re all heading to one direction, the volcano.”

“Are they trying to get inside the dungeon?” I heard Professor Tresde question which immediately made me stop what I was doing.

Half an hour ago, I arrived at the camp with an unconscious Freya. The wind mage was immediately sent to the infirmary to be checked while I was brought to Professor Tresde and Dean Belliona. They asked me about the demon. At first they did not want to believe but an immediate check with the other teachers scattered all over the island via messenger birds confirmed my words.

Any spells or skills regarding teleportation seemed to be blocked so those that were located in the other sectors of the island had no other choice but to travel on foot or some other means to get to where we were.

Outside communications were also cut off so we had no idea what was happening outside, and those outside probably had no idea what was happening to us inside the island. Good thing I managed to send a Magic Message to Aunt Zaira before the barrier fully formed.

Talk about luck.

“Demons in Mt. Tala Island.” I heard Dean Belliona mutter, obviously in a state of disbelief. “Demons are no more than a legend and a part of our history! How can they be here?!”

“If I may interrupt.” I said. I could feel all eyes on me.

“Wait a minute, why is a first year even in this emergency meeting?” asked one of the teachers. I did not know who he was, probably someone teaching the higher years.

“It’s because she and Freya von Berialis were the ones that faced the demon and defeated it.” answered Professor Tresde.

“Faced it? Defeated it? Impossible!”

“Call the other one then! I’d rather hear the words of the marquis’ daughter than this commoner.”

I couldn’t help but be offended at the words of one of the professors. I understand that being able to fight, much less defeat a demon, was something they couldn’t imagine for a first year like me, but did he really have to say it that way?

-So much for equality. It’s one of the biggest lies in the world.

“That is enough Professor Gihion.” Dean Belliona inserted. I stopped myself from retorting at the previous statement. “We have already checked and she’s telling the truth. The corpse is undeniably a demon’s.”

They started discussing their next move; how to destroy the barrier and contact the people outside. The barrier was tough and it making things darker than usual, like when there’s a solar eclipse, did not help alleviate everyone’s anxiousness at all. I heard a few students crying especially those from the first years.

“Student Luna.” Professor Tresde called which pulled me out of my thoughts. “Can you perform <Radar Projector>?”

-<Radar Projector>?

<Radar Projector> was a combination of the skills <Radar> and <Thought Projection>. <Radar>, as the name suggests, is a means of detection at a certain distance. I could use it, and it’s a very useful skill especially when venturing dungeons. <Thought Projection> on the other hand is creating an image using energy, giving form or making an image of something in one’s mind.

Combining the two can let the caster share the position of something the radar detected, displaying it in a map.

“I can.”

“I have a map of Mt. Tala Island. How large is your range?”

“My range is about three miles, but if I have something that can amplify the skill then probably more.”

“Good. Can you use <Radar Projector>? We need to confirm the number of demons and where they are.”

Aunt Zaira had already warned me not to use too much of my skills in the presence of others, but it was an emergency. Apparently, not that many could use <Radar Projection>. There was an item that could do such a work but the one they brought was malfunctioning.

Minutes later, Professor Tresde led me to a formation which would help amplify my power to use wide range <Radar Projection>. I sat in the middle and started gathering my internal energy in me. I imagined it then reaching out to the surrounding external energy, reaching out, making some sort of connection to nearby energies. I could feel my senses spreading all over the island, as well as feel the aura of every creature in it.

I saw humanoid shaped auras getting nearer the foot of the volcano. Once I confirmed it, I reached my energy out to the map laid in front of me and displayed the demons’ positions as well as the rest of the monsters within the island.

I could hear a few gasps and marveled comments but I tried not to focus on it to see even more. I told them how many demons were there and the direction they were heading. That’s when Professor Tresde asked if the demons were heading to the dungeon.

Just then, I sensed the presence of three demons in the area where Freya and I fought the demon. One of them had a massive aura which unmistakably belonged to the greater demon. All of a sudden, there was a snap and I was thrown back and my consciousness focused in my body. I immediately clutched my head since pain suddenly shot up in it.

-Dang it! That greater demon probably sensed me and drove me away.

I admit I was caught off guard with what just happened, and the headache was definitely not something I welcomed. I was using energy as some sort of network to spread out my senses so I couldn’t get an image of the demons’ appearance, but a spiritual attack was something I admit I did not expect.

-That greater demon is dangerous. Whoever it was, they’re powerful enough to actually launch a spiritual attack. If that demon decides to attack everyone in camp, they won’t even see it coming.

The teachers started discussing about our next step, with establishing communication outside still the priority. I already told them about what happened and had the general locations of the demons marked in the map. The only problem was…

“What do we do with such knowledge?” asked Professor Hyfa. “I mean, we’re dealing with demons. According to history, demons are more powerful than an average mage or knight. All we have right now is a handful of full-fledge mages and half-baked mages.”

-Wow. Did she really just call us half-baked?

“We cannot do anything with the demons ourselves. We can only pray they don’t turn their eyes on us and hope help will arrive.”

“That’s going to be a problem.” I muttered.

I felt all eyes land on me. One even asked what I was still doing there. I then explained to them that three demons were coming to our direction, in which I just sensed seconds ago.

“They’re not happy with the death of their friend.” I said.

As if on cue screams were heard outside, followed by an explosion that shook everything and everyone.

*****

A/N:

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