Location: Demon Academy — Main Courtyard, 3:29 AM
The first explosion rattled windows.
The second one shook the foundations.
By the third—
Every student was awake and regretting it.
Students gathered at windows, hair messy, pajamas tragic.
"Is that… thunder?"
"Thunder doesn't scream musical notes, idiot."
Another explosion cracked the air — a rising, crescendoing chord, loud enough to vibrate teeth.
The academy courtyard filled as more students poured out, staring toward the distant training grounds.
Then—
WHOOM—!!
A flash of black lightning arced from the clouds.
A wave of sound rippled across the sky.
Students clamped their ears.
"What kind of magic sounds like it's playing an orchestra!?"
"That rhythm… isn't that—"
A nervous first-year swallowed, whispering:
"…Melody magic."
Faces paled.
Instructors froze.
Only one person in the academy uses melody as a spell structure.
Instructor Seris, normally calm, visibly tensed.
"That's Instructor Mary's resonance signature."
Another teacher clenched her jaw.
"But she doesn't train anyone at night—"
"Or fight anyone."
"Or clash with something strong enough to trade blows in the sky."
No one wanted to speak the question aloud.
Who could possibly fight Mary at full power?
Someone screamed.
"LOOK UP—!!"
Everyone craned their necks.
Far above the clouds — two figures flickered in a violent dance of:
black lightning shattering resonance spells reality distortions
They were moving too fast for the students to track.
Even instructors struggled.
One instructor squinted, trying to focus.
"I… I can't follow their movements—"
Another shook their head.
"No one below Tier IV could."
The clouds exploded in a burst of raw mana, like daylight ripped open.
A door slammed open behind them.
SLAAAAM.
Out stepped a tall man wearing a luxurious robe, hair perfect, expression not.
Headmaster Azelar Vaen
—The strongest mage in the academy.
—Legend.
—Divine-tier spellcaster.
—Currently holding a velvet pillow and wearing sleep socks.
He glared at everyone.
"Who," he growled,
"had the audacity to interrupt my beauty sleep?"
Students scattered like terrified insects.
An instructor pointed upward, voice shaking.
"G-Headmaster… look up."
Azelar sighed dramatically.
"For the love of—"
He tilted his head skyward.
The sky erupted
—BOOOOOOOOM—
Light burst so bright the courtyard lit like midday.
Instructors shielded their eyes.
Students ducked.
Azelar didn't blink.
Instead, he narrowed his eyes—
And activated a spell.
"Grand Art: Hawk's Judgement."
A glowing sigil formed over his pupils.
Vision sharpened beyond mortal limits.
For Azelar—
Distance vanished.
The fight became clear.
High above the clouds…
He saw InstructorMary.
Except it wasn't Mary.
Her eyes were manic.
Her magic circles jagged, chaotic, wrong.
Azelar exhaled sharply.
"…Her Alter Ego."
Students and instructors stiffened.
Every student knew the legend.
Mary's Alter Ego = Battle Addiction Incarnate.
When triggered, she becomes uncontrollable.
No restraint.
No concern for casualties.
No stopping.
Azelar whispered, voice low:
"If Mary's alter surfaced… then she found someone worth losing herself over."
He focused on the other figure.
Wings.
Crimson eyes.
Obsidian markings.
Black lightning.
Aura dense enough to erase matter just by existing.
A being of pure destruction and cold instinct.
Not a human.
Not a demon.
Something above.
Azelar froze.
"That isn't an instructor—
that isn't a student—
that isn't even a mage—"
One instructor gulped.
"T-Then who—?"
Before Azelar could answer—
The figure in the sky turned.
Slowly.
Without breaking combat.
Without slowing down.
Without even looking like he cared.
He turned his head—
and looked directly at Azelar.
Despite the distance.
Despite being hundreds of miles away.
Their eyes met.
Azelar's pulse flatlined.
"How—
How can he see me from that far?"
The figure dodged a barrage of resonance spells
without looking away.
Asura's eyes glowed, emotionless—
"Do not interfere."
The voice wasn't angry.
It was empty.
Azelar staggered back.
"…He sensed me."
A Tier V Grand Mage.
From miles away.
Mid-combat.
Students felt the shift.
Instructors paled.
Someone whispered the word none of them wanted to say—
"…Monster."
✦ Audience to a Cataclysm
Sky Arena — Above the Academy
Music ripped the clouds apart.
Lightning carved the sky.
Void crackled along Asura's wings like black flame.
Asura and Mary clashed again.
CRASH—SHRIEK—BOOM—
Mary's voice layered with two tones—her true self and the unhinged alter ego.
"We have an audience."
Asura didn't even look down.
"Let them watch."
Mary grinned, twistedly.
She lifted both hands—
Melody Spell: Rhapsody of Ruin
Dual-cast. Instantly.
Two spirals of sheet-music glyphs formed in opposite rotational directions—one compressing sound, the other amplifying it.
The clash of opposites created a tear in the air.
Asura countered—
Element: Space — Spatial Rend
He slashed the space between them like a ribbon.
The two attacks collided—
KA—CHOOOOOM—!!
A shockwave flattened clouds and made the academy courtyard below flare with white light.
Courtyard – same moment.
Lucilla stood still, pajamas rustling in the wind, scarlet eyes narrowed.
"That mana—
it's Instructor Mary."
Rhazor leaned forward, fists clenched.
"Whoever she's fighting…
they're holding their own."
Kaen wiped cold sweat from his forehead.
"That shouldn't be possible.
Mary is a Tier V Magi. She can one-shot armies."
Nira trembled.
"So… who is up there?"
Rov crossed his arms.
"Someone insane."
Rhazor threw his head back dramatically.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M MISSING THE FIGHT!"
Everyone stared at him.
Lucilla pinched the bridge of her nose.
"You're missing death, not a fight."
Rhazor puffed out his chest.
"Still worth it!"
None of them noticed the empty space where Asura should be.
Headmaster Azelar clenched his jaw.
"We need to help Mary."
Azelar's fingers tightened around his staff.
If he stepped in now… Mary wouldn't recognize him.
An instructor grabbed his sleeve.
"Sir, with respect—
if we interfere while her alter ego is out, she may turn the spell on us."
Another whispered:
"She doesn't distinguish friend from foe in that state."
Azelar stared at the sky.
"We can't stand idle while someone dies."
He lifted his staff—
but his hand hesitated.
He was afraid.
It wasn't Mary he feared—
It was the other one.
Mary's eyes dilated, a manic smile splitting across her face.
"Let's raise the tempo."
Glyphs spiraled around her in layered staves.
Melody Spell: Symphony Execution — 4th Movement
She vanished.
Reappeared behind Asura—
no sound, no warning, no casting time.
Her hand touched his back—
Point-blank spell.
A spell so compressed it could vaporize a dragon.
Asura turned his head slightly.
Precognition drew the future path.
Sovereign's Dominion bent probability.
He didn't dodge.
He didn't guard.
He simply accepted the attack.
Mary released everything.
BOOOOM—
A blast of sound and light erupted—
So violent the night sky turned white.
Headmaster Azelar's enhanced vision caught the moment.
Mary's spell tore into Asura—
And where Asura had been, there was…
Silence.
Smoke.
And—
A body.
Half his torso was torn open.
His arm was stripped down to bone.
The impact carved the sky like a ripped tapestry.
Students gasped.
"He— he took the hit—!"
Kaen went pale.
"Mary… killed him."
Rhazor's jaw dropped.
"DAMN. Even I wouldn't tank that."
Lucilla remained silent.
But her hand trembled.
Mary exhaled slowly.
Her alter ego grinned.
"Finally broke you—"
The smoke parted.
Asura stood perfectly still.
No pain.
No panic.
No expression.
He looked down at the exposed bone, ribs cracked open…
…and tilted his head in curiosity.
"Interesting."
Mary's smile faltered.
Asura's flesh began stitching together.
Muscle reformed.
Skin sealed.
Bone knitted.
Effortlessly.
Instantly.
[ DEMONIC REGENERATION: OVERDRIVE ]
[ Enhancement from Awakening Form: 1000× regeneration efficiency ]
In less than two seconds, Asura's torso was whole again.
He flexed his hand.
"Try harder."
Silence.
Students stared up at the sky.
Kaen choked.
"H-he healed—instantly."
Nira covered her mouth.
"What… is he?"
Rhazor whispered,
"…I should make sure he never gets mad at me."
Lucilla clenched her fists.
"He's enjoying this."
Azelar swallowed.
"That regeneration…
that's beyond demon-class."
He didn't say his real thought.
That is something that should not exist.
Mary's alter ego trembled with exhilaration.
"You regenerate. I destroy.
Let's see which happens faster."
And for the first time—
Mary wasn't certain which of them was winning.
She layered more music-circles.
Asura rolled his shoulders.
Void crackled.
"Fine."
He vanished.
✦ The Plan That Shouldn't Exist
Academy Courtyard — Beneath the Shattered Sky
Light from Mary and Asura's clash turned night into day.
The ground shook again.
KRA-KOOOOOM.
Students stumbled.
Instructors kept their stances only because aura training demanded it.
Lucilla shielded her eyes.
Rhazor shouted over the roaring wind:
"THIS IS PEAK CONTENT AND I'M MISSING IT!"
Kaen punched him in the ribs.
But even through chaos —
they all saw Mary's silhouette in the sky.
And someone else.
Someone who stood calmly in front of the blast that should've killed him.
Headmaster Azelar Vaen — Tier V Grand Mage.
Wrinkled robe. Bed-head.
He looked like a man woken from the world's rudest alarm clock.
But his eyes…
Terrified.
He was staring at Asura.
Not Mary.
The instructors turned to him.
"Headmaster—what do we do?"
Azelar didn't answer.
His pupils trembled.
He remembered.
A conversation.
A secret promise.
Mary stood in his office years ago — eyes soft, carrying a sadness she rarely let slip.
"Headmaster… if I ever lose myself… if the other me takes control—"
Her voice lowered to a whisper.
"—don't fight me."
She stepped closer — intense, serious.
"Say these exact words to me."
She leaned in slowly, breath brushing his ear.
"Every soul has a melody."
"I'll remind you of yours."
Then—
Mary lifted two fingers to her lips and whistled.
One tone.
Long.
Beautiful.
A frequency so precise it trembled in his bones.
She pulled away.
"Do it exactly like that. Same pitch. Same length. Or… I won't come back."
Azelar blinked, dragged back to the present by another explosion overhead.
He faced his instructors.
"I… have a plan."
They looked relieved—
until he added:
"But I don't know how to deal with the other one."
One instructor swallowed hard.
"You mean—Mary's opponent?"
"…yes."
Another instructor whispered, voice shaking:
"No human should output that level of mana… that speed… that regeneration…"
Azelar muttered:
"He sensed me looking at him from hundreds of miles away."
Rhazor, listening from behind a pillar, blinked.
"…he what?"
They continued.
Instructor Arven stepped forward.
"We have scrolls—sealing artifacts.
If we can trap him inside one—"
Azelar cut sharply:
"He will not let us get close enough to use a seal."
Arven insisted.
"He can teleport. Yes.
But if we coordinate—"
Another instructor chimed in.
"And even if we do seal him… what's stopping him from tearing out from the inside?"
Silence.
Cold realization.
The Headmaster sighed.
"…nothing."
They all looked up again as another sky-splitting explosion shook the clouds apart.
Mary — hysterical alter ego unleashed — hurled a spell that shredded the atmosphere.
Asura took it and stood perfectly still.
Instructors went pale.
Instructor Velis, usually quiet, spoke up.
"…What if we don't try to beat him?"
"…What if we try to buy time?"
Azelar turned.
"How?"
Velis lifted a glowing teleportation sigil.
"We send our fastest mage to the Demon Kingdom to retrieve—"
Every instructor and student froze.
"The Demon King."
Azelar reacted instantly.
"NO."
Before anyone could protest—
"I will be the one to bring Mary back."
Was he lying?
Half.
He truly was the only person who knew the exact phrase
and
the exact whistle frequency.
Mary had drilled that whistle into him for two years.
Yelling.
Throwing chalk at him.
Breaking tea cups.
He wasn't risking anyone else.
And he wasn't admitting it was because:
He cared too much.
Arven: "Then what do we do about him?"
Velis: "Seal him. Even if temporary."
Azelar nodded once.
"…Prepare the sealing artifacts."
A hush fell over the group.
Every instructor swallowed hard.
They knew what sealing a being like Asura meant.
No survival guarantee.
No success guarantee.
But it was the only plan.
"MOVE!" Azelar barked. "NOW!"
Instructors scattered into formation.
Students backed away.
Rhazor whispered:
"Where the hell is Asura during all this…?"
Lucilla murmured, eyes locked on the sky:
"…you idiot."
Because the person they were planning to seal—
was already up there.
✦ The Melody of Six Hearts
Academy Courtyard — Under the Breaking Sky
The air trembled.
Another explosion tore through the night sky, painting the clouds in rippling shockwaves of violet and black.
Everyone stared upward — petrified.
Everyone except Lucilla.
She wasn't looking at the sky anymore.
She was searching the crowd.
Her expression shifted from confusion… to suspicion… to something darker.
( internal monologue — cold, analytical, jealous )
Asura would never miss this.
A Grand Magi was fighting a monster with:
black wings, obsidian horns, crimson eyes, red markings and lightning in his aura.
Lucilla didn't witness the transformation—
but she overheard two instructors talking about it too loudly.
"—that… thing has wings like a fallen angel—"
"—those red markings aren't mana scars, they're demonic sigils—"
"—it's bending lightning into aura—"
Lucilla froze.
Asura would die of excitement if he saw that.
He would've been up there with a notebook, yelling:
"Mary-sensei, can you repeat the spell? I wasn't done taking notes!"
No way he'd miss this.
So where was he?
Her eyes narrowed.
Unless…
She replayed the instructors' words.
black wings.
crimson eyes.
obsidian horns.
markings.
Lucilla felt her stomach drop.
Asura had horns.
Not like that…
…but horns.
She swallowed hard.
"That thing… doesn't resemble Asura at all,"
she tried convincing herself.
"He's too tall… too monstrous… too—"
Her voice broke off.
She remembered.
When they fought before, Asura's heartbeat had changed.
One heartbeat turned into several — as if something else was living inside him.
She remembered sneaking into his dorm at night just to—
—to listen to that heartbeat again.
( internal monologue — dreamy )
It was beautiful… steady… comforting.
Snap.
She dragged herself out of the fantasy, inhaling sharply.
"Fine. I'll prove it. He's here. He's watching. He has to be."
Lucilla placed two fingers against her temple.
A skill ignited.
〈 Bloodline Technique — Hemovision: Resonant Perception 〉
(A sensory art tuned to demon physiology)
Her pupils sharpened like a predatory animal.
She filtered out every noise —
the crack of spells, the rumbling clouds, the students screaming.
Each sound peeled away.
Until she heard—
heartbeats.
Hundreds.
She tuned them out one by one.
Then—
Thump.
Her pulse quickened.
Thump-thump.
There.
That was Asura's heart.
She recognized that rhythm anywhere.
She focused harder.
Something felt… wrong.
Thump-thump.
No.
Not one heartbeat.
Not two.
Six.
Six heartbeats.
Not overlapping.
Alternating.
In one body.
Lucilla's blood ran cold.
Her knees nearly gave out.
"That's… impossible."
Her voice cracked.
"No demon on record… no species… has six functioning hearts. That's—"
Her breath hitched.
Asura.
Asura was up there.
Asura was the monster fighting Mary.
Her heart jolted with panic — and something worse:
Pride.
Lucilla turned and ran.
Students jumped back as she sprinted through them like a bullet.
"LUCI—what are you doing—?!" Rhazor yelled.
She didn't turn back.
She couldn't.
"Instructors!" she screamed mid-run.
"Headmaster—!!"
Her voice shook.
"That's ASURA!"
Saying it out loud made it real.
And terrifying.
Azelar's head whipped toward her — eyes widening.
"What did you say?"
Lucilla didn't stop running.
She sprinted toward the danger —
toward the explosion-ripped sky —
toward him.
"He's not fighting Mary."
"Mary is fighting HIM."