All the leadership skills of the sect leaders were simply magic tricks; from Randy's ability to use telepathy on demons and people he knew, to Layla's mana control.
In the case of Joakim Hans…
He learned his leadership skills from one of the wizards who fled the battle against the witches centuries ago.
This magician had the magic of 'Manipulation'.
It was great magic in its time; he managed to manipulate the great magician of those times; Renato, who soon became the leader of his own Sect and Randy's master.
But, as the end of his days approached, and he was passed on to a Sect leader, a former soldier from the first Pandemonium War…suffered an alteration. The magic of 'Manipulation' became Word magic. This new variant not only manipulated others, but now it only worked against humans, and not demons. But the real magic remains, the magic of 'Manipulation'.
A magic capable of even causing your death with a few simple commands.
Joakim Hans uses it to increase the strength and morale of his men.
However, all of that is due to the traumas of that war.
The War of Pandemonium.
Thirty years ago, when demons began to grow more aggressive and ravage villages in the areas far from Anarxie, the main city, the government decided to seek out young people capable to manage the evil atmosphere of a demon.
Sects were barely emerging, with only two existing: The Sect of Eternal Life and The Vanguard Sect.
Among the most prominent members of the Eternal Life Sect were Randy Bornman and Layla Jefferson Everest. On the other side was Sherly, who was already the vice leader of his sect.
Both sects were rivals, until those young men of sixteen years old were chosen to participate in the war.
All members of the sect, in addition to young people who were selected by the government, were participants in the war. What were they promised in return?
A world free of demons.
"Well... what do we have here, huh?" In a training room, the size of a parking lot but packed with young people dressed in black, they were all from all over Anarxie, including sect members. One of those young sect members approached a regular civilian who had been recruited. "Your energy feels too weak...are you sure you passed the test?"
That ordinary civilian came from one of the towns far from Anarxie: Region. Region, unlike the hidden village of La Vie en Rose, or Aria, one of the most important villages, was simply responsible for importing minerals and wood. Since the region was a place with too much volcanic activity, but also an abnormally high negative mana pressure, it caused anomalies in the wood, causing it to grow and become contaminated. Contaminating animals, such as birds or rabbits, which began to develop demonic features.
So, to call someone from the Region 'weak', who was evacuated daily due to stronger pressures of negative mana…
The presence of 100 demons still created a weak negative mana atmosphere compared to Region's one.
"…" Sure, he could have explained that to him. But...
Since the negative mana of Region corrupted everything in its path, causing the life expectancy of the people of Region to be only 40 years...he knew it wouldn't do any good if he explained that in his final years.
His father said before he died: "If you want to explain something to an idiot, it's better to do it with blows; that will stick in his mind for longer than an explanation ever could."
So why waste his voice on him? When he can use his fists.
"Cat got your tongue? Hahaha—"
The young man's fist connected with the other, sending him flying to the side, drawing the attention of the nervous young people in the place.
"Joakim Hans," he flicked his wrist, frowning, and walked towards him. After saying his name, he knew he had to put him in his place. "I train every day in the magma of Region, and you think I'm intimidated by a...member of some stupid magic school?" Of course, Joakim Hans also hated sects with a passion. Anyway, if they were so good, why didn't they end the negative pressure in the Region?
The young sect member trembled under his gaze, recognizing how intimidating he was.
"N-No, I just...simply..." He stammered, the air even leaving his lungs to flee before something bad happened.
"Did he mention Region?" The young people around him started talking. "I thought all young people worked abroad to support their families back home..."
Joakim turned to look at them.
They weren't wrong. Their mother was 35 years old and would die in 5 years, while their father had already died 10 years ago. There are no elderly people in the Region; adults begin to deteriorate when they approach 40 years of age.
So of course, there were young married couples; they had little time to live and teach their children what was important to survive in the Region. Even if they left the Region now, their genetics were already contaminated, and it would take ten generations for the contamination in their bodies to die out. Besides, of course, many people loved their homes too much to abandon them, even if it killed them.
"Perhaps he is already an orphan, and is only here to collect the money that the government will give us…"
"So much commotion isn't necessary for something that can be fixed with words," Amidst all the murmurs, someone with short black hair, but with blue eyes and a tired look, walked by.
"Isn't that Sherly...?"
"He is the vice leader of the Vanguard Sect!"
Oh, yes, of course.
Joakim Hans glanced behind him, noticing Sherly's presence. He had expected the vice-leader of such an important sect to be someone with a more weathered appearance, not a brat like him.
"Hans…right?" He said, taking a lollipop out of his mouth. Sherly smoked, but given the strict "no smoking" rules of the base, he had to obey them. "I'm Sherly, I'm from Aria."
Aria, the city of mana.
But at the same time, a distant neighbor of Region.
Although half of the people in Region were from Aria, their relationship with them was now too strained.
In any case, Aria was so important that they said Lahn himself was born in Aria, and that his spirit remained imprinted on Aria. Meanwhile, Region was accused of being the cause of the entire appearance of the demons.
"Aria…" Joakim immediately noticed Sherly's intentions; he wanted to see if he would really do something when he found out he was Aria's, one of his greatest enemies. "I'm from Region."
But instead, Joakim remained calm; after all, his enemies weren't Aria's people, but rather the demons.
Sherly noticed how calm Joakim was, and unable to help himself, he smiled. "You have a strong mindset," he approached him, shamelessly putting his arm around his shoulders. "Not just anyone can handle my provocation."
After all, the provocation of a sect's vice leader isn't just words...it's the pressure of all his mana on the person until they are intimidated.
However, Joakim didn't even notice the change in the environment, as he had been used to it his whole life.
"Do not touch me."
Sherly laughed, then put the lollipop again in his mouth. "You should consider joining a sect; mine is always available, of course. Your mana pressure tolerance is incredible."
Everyone around them watched them talking, somewhat surprised…
"Sherly! You shouldn't pressure poor Mr. Joakim…" A calm voice made everyone make way for him; it was him, Randy Bornman, from the enemy sect of Sherly's sect. "Respect him a little."
"A little?" Joakim muttered, frowning, irritated at being there.
Sherly snorted, letting go of Joakim and standing in front of him, arms crossed. "Do you want to take him to your boring sect? Please don't interrupt us, delicate rose."
Randy's smile looked a little forced for a second, then he opened his eyes to look at Sherly. "When will you stop being so competitive, Sherly? You know that all of us who survive will receive a payment from the government, right? So nobody will take that money from you...unless you die."
Sherly bit into his lollipop, breaking it and chewing it in his mouth. "I will never die, I am a vice leader of the sect, unlike you, because in your sect Mr. Boring Renato doesn't allow vice leaders."
"Oh? Now we're going after our sect leaders too?"
"Just shut up, you idiot…"
And yes, although the leaders of both sects got along well, their members were too competitive, even Randy, the most 'mature' of them all. But in the end, he's still just a sixteen-year-old boy.
"Please, everyone pay attention…" A man in a military uniform spoke, who soon stepped aside, and behind him appeared another man in a suit. "The president wants to give you a advice."
That was the president, Mr. Naon.
No one knew their surnames, and it was better that way anyway; Mr. Naon was the only one capable of accepting the leadership of Anarxie after the death of Lahn's descendant.
"I know your call was sudden, but I know that if you are all here, it is because you are able to help Anarxie get out of this crisis…" Naon stole everyone's attention, especially the girls'. Naon never revealed his face, always keeping it hidden. No one knew the reason; some said it was to keep his identity a secret for pleasure, others said he was hideous, or too handsome. Right now, that censorship of her face was caused by a shadow in the area. "Our men are more than trained to face demons, but if we called you in, it was because we needed the rear guard to be strong."
The statement made everyone relax a little; at least the experts would be in front of them, leading, commanding.
And they would be fine.
Isn't that right?
However, after long hours and weeks of training, when the day came for them to attack...all those 'men' he mentioned, it was just a lie, because they never arrived.
"S-Someone help me!"
Each young man fell one by one as the demons began to appear.
They were trained to fight in the rear, but not as main attackers.
"Gaaah!" A demon ran towards a girl, who fled in terror, attracting the attention of more demons, and just as they were about to reach her...
SPLASH!
The demons exploded upon contact with Sherly's solid mana shield. "Mana Control: Shield."
The girl looked at him, frightened, and then ran away.
Sherly sighed; anyway, she knew there was no reason to be grateful now. Right now, they had to make sure the demons didn't kill them, and when he refers to 'they'...he's referring to Randy, Joakim, and himself.
They are the only ones trying to save everyone, and thanks to Randy's regeneration, that's why they are still alive.
As much as he hate to admit it.
Screams, blood, weapons, and guns were all that could be seen around him. After fighting a few demons, Sherly began to suspect that Naon was involved in this; After all, the military believed that sects would usurp their positions if capable people continued to join, and all those people they were fighting were capable of joining a sect.
Sherly wouldn't be surprised if Naon had planned that to kill them all.
But still...
Using demons to kill sixteen-year-old boys was truly cruel.
Adding to this is the fact that there could be people like Joakim Hans, who was fighting to be able to return to his family without being empty-handed.
Soon, the floor shook; Sherly knew it immediately; more demons were approaching.
He quickly ran towards where the others were fighting.
Randy left the wounded he had finished treating, and then ran among the bodies of demons and his companions.
On the other hand, Joakim Hans had just finished killing a demon, without knowing what it was, and looked at the field.
"What?" Then he snorted, sheathing his sword, and then pulled out a gun. "Damn Naon..." Then, walking forward the field when he saw Sherly Randy running in the distance.
However, he couldn't continue when someone grabbed his arm.
He turned around immediately, and that's when he noticed it was a hooded man. "What the hell are you?"
But he received no response.
"You're from the Region, aren't you, young man?"
Joakim looked at the man, then sighed and nodded. "Yes. And?"
Then, the man's smile could be seen. "It means you're perfect for this."
Joakim's eyes opened, and soon…
"GAAAH!" The demons emerged from cracks in the ground, Randy and Sherly arrived just in time.
They both began to fight fiercely.
For the first time, Randy had Sherly's back, and Sherly had Randy's back. "Damn...there are so many..." Sherly murmured, while with one hand he created a shield, and with the other he attacked.
On the other hand, Randy used flashes of light to kill the demons, being as powerful as a laser from the sun itself.
"Hang in there, Sherly, at some point they have to stop showing up…"
However, with so many demons...
"Energy Control: The Tree of Life!" A woman's voice made them look up at the sky. She was a blonde woman, covered in blood. As soon as he unleashed his ability, Randy pounced on Sherly, knocking him aside.
"What the—?!" Sherly, disgusted, pushed Randy, but he wouldn't let him, covering him with his body.
From the ground emerged a giant tree made of mana. The tree trapped several demons, using them as leaves of the tree.
It was a spell from the Sect of Eternal Life.
He dragged all the corrupt mana to the tree, and left it there.
And Sherly, who did not possess completely pure energy like them, would be easily swept away.
"Isn't that girl from your sect?"
Randy looked at him, surprised that he was able to guess that she was part of his sect. "Yes. How did you know?"
"You're all blonde, right?"
"…" Yes, Randy expected too much intelligence from Sherly. "Not all of us are blonde. Renato is dark-haired."
Sherly snorted, not giving it much thought.
"But I had never seen her before in the sect..."
"Does that mean she stole that spell?"
Randy immediately shook his head. "No, Renato's abilities are impossible to steal; all his abilities, in addition to using mana, use years of life. It's impossible."
Suddenly, as Randy watched the woman, he touched his head, a grimace of pain suddenly appeared.
Sherly noticed it, and grabbed his shoulder. "What's wrong with you? Are you dying?"
"No…" Then he looked again at the woman; a look of terror appeared on his face. "I know; she's Layla Jefferson Everest."
"Jefferson?" Sherly laughed, then looked at him. "Does she scare you?"
"She doesn't scare me," Then he looked at Sherly, with a suddenly serious expression. "Her other self is the one that scares me."
Sherly's eyes widened. Split personality? That had ceased to exist since the reboot of this world.
Footsteps made them both turn around; it was Joakim, running towards them, who stopped when he saw the tree in front of him.
Behind Joakim came his colleagues, with their weapons drawn, ready to fight.
"Wait, Joakim!" Randy and Sherly screamed, however, everyone began to be pulled by the spell.
Layla didn't seem to care who was absorbed, focused on stopping all the demons.
"Mana Control: Shield!"
"Threads of Destiny!"
They both dictated, and soon, a shield of mana formed around everyone, the pure mana being able to connect to the shields, and bring everyone near the tree to the ground.
Joakim frowned, and seeing more coming, he shouted: "Stop right now!" The scream echoed throughout the place, making even the demons stop.
Randy and Sherly looked at each other, and for the first time, Layla turned to look at Joakim.
According to them, he was incapable of doing that...
Right?
"That power..." Sherly murmured.
"…It is the power of leadership." Randy immediately recognized that skill. Remember that a certain man used it against him in the past, 'Mr. A', a hooded man who rarely made himself visible.
Renato said he didn't have a sect, but if Joakim managed to find him...
Sherly and Randy knew about Joakim's potential, and the fact that Joakim would use that ability is something that, strangely enough, would suit him perfectly.
However, that would mean that Mr. A was there with them.
But why was he here?
***
When the smoke cleared, Joakim ran towards the place where Ji Noo had fled. "Damned...demon!" Just as Renato was about to jump, Layla's parrot attacked Joakim in the face, to prevent him from escaping. "You…!"
"Renato!" Liam screamed, worried that Joakim was going to kill him in his fury. "He's usually never like this... why is he—?"
But he couldn't finish speaking when Joakim grabbed Renato's body.
"Joakim, stop! He's the vice leader of Layla's sect!" Randy said, going towards Anser, to make sure he was okay.
"Damned bird...!" He threw it behind him. "Return to fucking normal, Renato!" And that command made everything around him tremble.
Nobody knew what would happen.
"…What?" July 14 was the first to realize it. "Impure energy…"
And soon, the entire base began to shake.
Joakim frowned, looking at Renato; the poor bird lying weak on the ground. However, blood flowed from his body, despite not having been attacked as severely by Joakim, the pool of blood spreading, forming a pantograph beneath the bird.
Randy was the first to identify him.
"A demon."
Frederick stood in front of Gene and Liam, creating a shield around them. July 14 covered himself with his arms, while Randy protected Anser with his body.
The bird's body exploded.
And as Joakim's mandate dictated, he returned to normal, to his body.
Joakim looked surprised, completely astonished to see a man rise from the ground; long blue hair, and grayish-blue eyes, the parrot's wings were still on its head, and small blue feathers were scattered across his back.
"Who the hell are you?" Joakim asked, covered in Renato's blood.
Renato looked at his hands, then at his body; he was naked, but he was human. "I…"
Then, he looked around, and his gaze remained on Randy's.
"…"
Silence.
"I am..." Then he looked at Joakim. "Renato, I...was with Layla...until her last breath."
That's when Gene interrupted. "Mr. Renato, please..." She said. "Tell us that Ji Noo was not responsible for Mandeleine's death."
Renato looked at her, "Who is Mandeleine?"
Gene sighed in frustration, while Liam hugged Frederick, scared of what would happen next.
Without Ji Noo, and with a new appearance of Renato who seemed not to know what was happening...it would be more difficult to prove his innocence, worse still, to continue with the story.
"You...you have the energy of a demon, but you don't seem to be one..." July 14 murmured, reaching his hand towards Renato, but Joakim cut off July 14's hand before he could.
"Ah, ah…AH!" Frightened, and with his hand bleeding, he also went behind Frederick, so that he would protect him. "I-I wasn't even going to touch him!"
Renato looked at Joakim, frowning. "Why are you hurting him?"
"Shut up," He said, gripping his weapon, and wiping Renato's blood from his face with the back of his hand. "I still don't know if you're innocent of Mandeleine's death; seeing you like this, maybe you were the one who killed him."
Renato frowned, then approached him. "Joakim Hans, please…"
But before he could say anything, Joakim raised his sword. "Leadership Skill: All for One."
Then, Anser appeared next to Joakim, squeezing his wrist. "Stop," He said, while glaring at him. "Jeon Kwonoo is innocent, he could never have killed anyone."
"Do you think I'll believe the word of a son of a stupid couple like Sherly and Randy?" Randy seemed to swallow hard at the mention of Sherly. "I have no doubt that if Ji Noo had escaped, you would have covered for him just because he was 'important' to you."
And then, trumpets began to sound, marking the arrival of a demon in the city. Joakim snatched his hand from Anser's grip, then went towards where Ji Noo had fled, and threw himself down there to chase after him.
People began to hide in their homes, and all the members of the Third Round Sect flooded the streets, running after their leader to find Ji Noo and make him pay for his actions.
Anser was going to run after him, but Randy stopped him.
"No, Anser..." He sighed, depressed. "We need your help to arrange the funeral. Jeon Kwonoo will be fine; he's a smart guy."
But Anser didn't doubt that; however, he wanted to keep him to himself.
And everyone could tell how worried Anser was.
"Renato," Anser said, turning to look at him. "Please help us."
Renato looked at Anser, confused for a second, then looked at Randy for several long minutes, before returning his gaze to Anser and nodding. "I will do my best to help you, Anser Ciro."
Anser nodded, then looked at July 14. "Trust us, please, I think we'll need your help too…"
July 14 looked at Frederick, then nodded. "Whatever..."
They had a lot of work to do, at least the members of The Sect of Wisdom and Redemption they would not lose their abilities, since Renato was still alive.
However, it was another mystery to find out who Renato was, and how he ended up in the form of a parrot.
But for now, they should take care of giving Layla a funeral, just like they did with Sherly.
And as before, Anser couldn't help but feel guilty. He remembered the times he had looked down on Layla, even though she had been very kind to him and tried to bring pretty girls to him so he would...be happy.
Perhaps she simply wanted to see him happy, like Sherly, Randy, and Joakim wanted, even if he didn't accept that.
"…"
And yet, his mind kept wandering to Ji Noo... he will return, won't he?