POV: Ryan Zephyr
After sending Pride into one of the Exterel Mountains, I observed the unnecessary destruction of nature caused by my power, prompting me to let out a sigh.
Perhaps I overdid it, but more importantly…
The document of the mission stated that there were several A-Class heroes on standby, but instead, I found them all dead, hanging from multiple trees, which doesn't make sense.
Five A-Class heroes should have been more than enough to take down the Cardinal Sins and even if they were to fail, Arthur and Rai alone would have sufficed and yet, Rai's on the verge of death somehow while Arthur's Aspectual Force is fading.
The only reasonable deduction is that they were much stronger than their Threat Levels indicated or that there was an outside interference that helped the Cardinal Sins take down the A-Class heroes.
I pinched the bridge of my nose in vexation as I felt a headache begin to conjure until I turned around to find Aria, Everett and Sarah staring at me with their eyes widened and mouths agape from my unanticipated arrival, but despite confirming their safety, I sensed Arthur approaching the general area at a fast pace as I directed my focus towards the top of the waterfall.
I'm glad Arthur is still alive, but I can sense his bloodlust from all the way down here.
He must not be aware that I'm here.
Leaping from the top of the cliff was none other than a bloodlusted Arthur, who propelled himself from off the slope of the hill towards me with the sole purpose of decapitating me as he mistook me for Pride, which offended me to a slight degree as I blocked the blade of his sword with two fingers alone, turning to face him as his eyes widened from recognizing me.
"Headmaster? What are you doing here?" Arthur questioned, surprised as he landed onto the ground amidst sheathing his sword and deactivating his Aspect.
"I'm glad to know that my student is prepared to kill me at a moment's notice, though how is it that you're not able to sense my Aspectual Force, Arthur?" I asked, taken aback and slightly offended by his misunderstanding as Arthur rubbed the back of his head with a confused grin.
"Well, Pride was initially concealing his Aspectual Force, so I thought you were him since you were also concealing your Aspectual Force as I was unable to sense you before arriving." Arthur replied as I began laughing sheepishly, remembering that I concealed my Aspectual Force upon arriving at the Exterel Mountains.
Yeah, I forgot that I concealed my Aspectual Force as I didn't want any member of the Cardinal Sins to escape since I knew that if they were to become aware of my existence, I had no doubt that they would prioritize escaping over anything, although…
It seems my worries were for nothing.
"Although, where did Pride go? You didn't let him escape, right?" Arthur questioned as with my thumb, I pointed towards one of the Exterel Mountains in the distance, which bore a massive crater that held Pride's body within the center of it as Arthur squinted his eyes in order to gain sight of the scene.
"Is he dead?" Arthur asked casually.
"Nah, I'm sure he'll be fine once we give him a band-aid or something." I replied as Arthur shot me a glance of bewilderment until letting out a sigh of relief.
"Anyways, I'm glad you're here now." Arthur said as he fell onto his bottom, enervated as he seated himself nearby Rai, who was unconscious with blood trickling from the corners of his mouth as Aria, Everett and Sarah approached me with urgency.
"Headmaster, Rai is going to die unless we're able to get him to a hospital. Is there anything you can do-"
"Yeah, I'm aware that his condition is dire, but there's no need to worry Aria, because I've brought Jennifer with me in case any of you had fatal injuries." I reassured as I directed my attention towards the top of the cliff where the waterfall resided, prompting everyone else to match my action as upon viewing the same general area, Jennifer wasn't anywhere to be found, inspiring an awkward silence among everyone present as only the sound of freshwater crashing into the shallow basin of the riverbed could be heard.
"So… Where is Ms. Jennifer?" Aria asked with an awkward, confused tone as I felt a droplet of cold sweat trickle down my face.
Oh no…
Did she get lost trying to follow me on the way here?
Within the minute, Jennifer finally arrived, visibly annoyed with me as all of my students were relieved to see her.
"Hey, Jennifer did you inform the authorities about the Cardinal Sins-"
Walking past me, Jennifer outright ignored my existence as she didn't even bother sharing a glance with me, rousing a sense of dejection within me as amidst arriving before Rai, she activated her Aspect, concealing her Aspectual Force in the midst as her scarlet red aura enveloped Rai's body and began healing every injury with precise and incredible efficiency, gaining the awes of Aria and Sarah as they watched Rai's once severe wounds disappear within seconds.
"Rai's organs are now stabilizing and his blood flow seems to be normal again. As long as he makes sure to drink a lot of water as well as get some proper rest, he should be fine." Jennifer said as her eyes fell upon Arthur, who was in a similar state as Rai and yet, his condition was relatively decent compared to Rai's.
"Arthur, you're something else, you know that?" Jennifer remarked as with a single gesture of her hand, her scarlet red aura began circulating around the four remaining students as their bodies began illuminating and within seconds, all of their injuries were fully healed as Jennifer then deactivated her Aspect and adjusted her glasses.
"You don't even have insight into Aspectual Restoration and yet, the natural healing factor of your Aspect is beyond exceptional." Jennifer added with a smile, but upon accidentally locking her eyes with my own, her smile immediately was replaced with a frown.
"Ms. Jennifer, I have no idea what you're talking about, but thanks for the compliment anyways." Arthur replied with a sheepish chuckle as Jennifer let out a sigh of defeat.
"Your insight into Aspectual Restoration is on a completely different level than my own." Aria remarked with a disheartened expression.
"There's no point in comparing your level of insight with my own. Although I have over a decade worth of experience in using Aspectual Restoration, you have already gained insight into Two-Way Aspectual Restoration as a mere teenager, something that I couldn't have possibly fathomed at your age."
"Not to mention, Ryan, who is known as the "Greatest Aspector" doesn't even have insight into Two-Way Aspectual Restoration, so I wouldn't worry about not being able to match my level of Aspectual Restoration as with your potential as well as the natural affinity that your Divine Elemental Aspect has with Aspectual Restoration, I can assure you that you'll reach a level that I wouldn't even begin to comprehend." Jennifer explained with a comforting smile as he patted the top of Aria's head, encouraging Aria to brim with determination.
As everyone conversed with one another, I walked towards Rai and placed him on my back as he slept quietly from fatigue.
Thank you for saving everyone, Rai.
"There's a driver waiting for you all at the same location you all were dropped off at. Is everyone ready?" I asked as my students nodded and began following behind Jennifer with the exception of Arthur, who stayed behind with me as the curiosity brimming within his eyes begged to ask me a question.
"Ask away, Arthur." I said, prompting Arthur to match my pace as he placed his hands inside of his pockets.
"I have several questions to ask you and I want the honest truth." Arthur said solemnly as I glanced at him before nodding.
"If you knew the severity of this mission, why did you send us? Everything went wrong and if it wasn't for Rai, we would have all been killed." Arthur asked rather calmly as the rest of my students conversed with Jennifer.
"You and Rai were the sole reason I even allowed you all to accept this mission, although I was unaware that the details of the mission would be false. I should have taken more precautions before sending you all on this mission and for that, I apologize." I answered as we began ascending a hill.
"I see. I guess my main question would be about him." Arthur said as I looked at Rai, who slept peacefully on my back.
"I knew there was something off about him since the day that I first met him, but after witnessing his power, there's still something that I don't understand."
"Who is Rai? For somebody as strong as him, it doesn't make any sense that I've never heard of him before unless he's been hiding his true power throughout his years in junior high." Arthur added as I smiled at his curiosity.
"As of now, it's not my place to tell you, but when the time comes, I'm sure Rai will explain everything to you, although what I can tell you now is that Rai's life up to this point has been far from a normal one. Are there any more questions you would like to ask?" I asked as there was a moment of silence from Arthur thinking to himself.
"Since you seem to have history with Rai, I'm sure you're aware of his power, so if the two of us were to fight, who would win?" Arthur asked as I noticed Aria glancing behind to check on us.
"I'm assuming you want to fight him, is that correct?" I asked with a smile.
"As you already know, my goal is to become the strongest. With Avery overseas, there's no one that I can truly test my limits on without worrying about their safety, but after experiencing Rai's power today, I believe that he's someone I can fight without having to restrain myself." Arthur replied with a grin as I chuckled at his elation.
"I understand, but if the two of you were to fight…"
"Rai would win." I answered earnestly as Arthur clicked his tongue.
"So he's that strong?" Arthur asked with a nervous grin as I nodded while we finally emerged out of the forest and arrived before our desired location.
His potential is boundless, but the same could be said for you, Arthur.
You two are so similar that it's no surprise you get along with each other.
As we arrived at the car, I waited for all of my students to enter inside first before placing Rai beside Aria, who subtly blushed as Rai's head fell onto her shoulders.
"When do you think you'll be back?" You know how Rylie can get when you leave her watching over the academy alone." Jennifer asked as I felt a rush of happiness surging through me from her acknowledging my presence, rousing a scowl from her as she placed herself in the passenger seat of the car.
"I'm not sure when I'll be back. It depends on how long the authorities take to clean up the scene, not to mention, I have to go and grab Pride from within the mountain, but until then, I'm sure Rylie will be fine. She needs to learn responsibility anyways." I replied as Jennifer sighed with a smile.
"Very well. Please take care of yourself and I'll see you when you come back to the academy." Jennifer said as I waved everyone off until they disappeared into the distance.
After watching them leave, I begin heading towards the mountain I flicked Pride into as I pulled out my phone and turned it on.
My phone isn't jammed anymore, meaning that there was never a jamming device to begin with, but someone who possesses an Aspect similar to that of an electromagnetic pulse.
It couldn't have been any of the Cardinal Sins as Pride possessed a Normal-Type Aspect and as for Wrath, I'm certain his Aspect is Gravity Manipulation considering the internal damage Rai received, but what I don't understand is why the person chose to watch from afar instead of intervening.
Assuming that they were the one who helped the Cardinal Sins kill the A-Class heroes, they could have easily killed my students if they decided to take action and yet, they chose to watch, but despite that…
There's still the mission I have to think about.
The only ones who have the authority to send out missions are Joseph and the Executives, but why would they give me false information that jeopardizes the lives of my students?
There's too many unknown variables as of now and the only one who can give me a proper answer would be Joseph, who is currently away.
"What a mess." I muttered to myself with a stressful sigh, urging me to take out a box of cigarettes from my pocket as I placed one inside my mouth, taking a moment to relax as I closed my eyes and relished in the peaceful atmosphere of nature, listening to the comforting ambient noise of the wildlife scattered throughout the tranquil Exterel Mountains.
Had I known this mission was merely the prelude to a catastrophic war that would lay waste across the land of Jiyu, I would have cherished this moment of peace.