"… Where?"
Ethan slowly propped himself up from the floor and looked at his surroundings.
"Good, you're finally awake," Professor Barret said with a smile. "That was an awfully long time for you to sleep, Ethan."
Ethan yawned. "How long did I sleep, Professor?"
"A week," Professor Barret answered, causing Ethan to look at him in disbelief.
"I've been asleep for a week?"
"Mmm. Eight days to be exact. It seems that I pushed you too hard, eh?"
Suddenly, something jumped out of Ethan's shadow, and leapt onto his chest.
"Master!" Lilith cried out in happiness and relief because she had been feeling very anxious for the past week because her Master was showing no signs of waking up.
Even Professor Barret was extremely worried because he never expected that Ethan would sleep that long.
At most, he expected the young man to sleep for two to three days, but not more than a week.
His friends from Dud Manor were also worried about him.
Because of this, Professor Barret asked Lilian to tell them that Ethan was just undergoing intensive training, so he would be unable to return for the time being.
The young man was quite thankful for Professor Barret's kindness because he knew that his lovers would feel anxious if they didn't see him for a long time.
Since that matter was already taken care of, he slowly stood up and checked the condition of his body.
Aside from feeling stiff after sleeping for more than a week, he didn't detect any other problems in his body.
"So, can you tell me what happened?" Professor Barret asked after seeing that Ethan had finished doing some light stretches to help the blood flow inside his body.
Ethan nodded. "Before that, Professor, are you familiar with the Lands of Saraqael?"
Professor Barret's eyes narrowed after hearing the name of the place that he hadn't heard for a long time.
"I knew of it," Professor Barret said. "Before Rinehart became the Headmaster of Brynhildr Academy, and I was still active as a Magistratus, we decided to hunt a Rogue Wizard together. Someone who had killed one of our closest friends.
"We chased him to the edge of the Shire Continent all the way to the Lands of Midgard. That was when we discovered that the man we were chasing was under the command of a powerful being, who wished to eradicate the current head of the Firbolgs in the Shire Continent."
Professor Barret decided to not hide anything from Ethan because sooner or later, he would be facing these creatures, who planned to rise up once again and replace the peace they were having at the moment with terror.
"The Wizard we were pursuing escaped through a golden portal, which we believed was a Legacy Gate at that time. But, we were wrong. The place we were taken to wasn't a Legacy Domain, but the lands of Saraqael were the hidden battles of humanity, and other races, was being waged.
"A land so vast that Rinehart and I believed it was bigger than Midgard. A place rife with conflicts, where ordinary mortals would perish just by stumbling into it. However, we didn't know anything about it at that time.
"All we wanted was to avenge our friends, and kill the person who murdered him in cold blood. There we faced Demons, Devils, Shadow Worlders, Angels, and other races, who thought that we were the new forces sent by the Human Domain to join the battle for dominion.
"If not for the fact that Rinehart was able to cast a Perfect Resonance, I believe that we would have perished at that time.
"Of course, I wasn't a push over either. I had fully mastered my Origin Magic back then, and the Chained Paragon made its debut in the lands of Saraqael. A month later, we finally cornered our target. But, little did we know at that time that it was actually us, who had been cornered.
"Deep inside, we already had a hunch about who he was working for. But, until we saw them, we thought that we were just overthinking things. Although we knew they existed, we, at that time, believed that they were no longer a threat to the world.
"But, we were wrong. Very wrong. The man who killed our friend was working for the Fomorians and the Balors. At that time, we thought that both of us were goners. But, due to an unexpected twist of fate, both of us were saved by a person whom we thought had died in battle hundreds of years ago."
Professor Barret closed his eyes as he remembered that moment in time.
"The person who had saved us was not a hero. No. He was far from that. You could even say that he was the greatest villain who ever lived. So, you can imagine our surprise to learn that, despite hundreds of years passing, that person was still alive."
A faint smile appeared on Professor Barret's face as if he found the situation back then quite amusing. S~eaʀᴄh the nôvelFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
The person whom many heroes had fought together, alongside the founders of Brynhildr Academy, was there in the Lands of Saraqael.
Ethan who was listening to Professor Barret's tale felt his blood stir, at the same time he heard his Other Half laugh inside his Sea of Consciousness.
"That person was so famous, that you can see portraits of him in the Magical Museums spread across the Shire Continent and in Midgard. The Prestigious Wizarding Families also had his portrait in their own homes because they both respected and feared him.
"Some Ancient Families even worship him to this day, for he was a person who had shaken the very foundations of the world. In our eyes, he was the enemy. In his people's eyes, he was their Hero. It's funny because the way we view things differs depending on which side we were on.
"But, on that day, I have to admit that I became a fan of that person. His strength was the real deal, and his confident smile, which seemed to look down at the entire world, brought chills down my spine.
"Rinehart and I were very tempted to form good relationships with him back then. But, due to the fact that he was meant to become the next Headmaster of the Academy, which was founded by the people who defeated that person, made our situation awkward at best.
"It even made us wonder if he was really defeated during that great battle hundreds of years ago. For, if he had been, then why was he in the Lands of Saraqael, and standing on the side of humanity, protecting our realm from those who wished to descend upon our world.
"That was when we realized that the entire world had been tricked by a conspiracy that the man himself had spun, in order to end the senseless wars that were happening during that era."
Professor Barret shook his head helplessly before looking at the young man, whose heart was beating wildly inside his chest.
Ethan didn't know why, but his bloodline was reacting to the Professor's words, which was something that never happened in the past.
"That person's name was Balthazar Azael," Professor Barret's words, which carried a tinge of admiration, and respect, echoed inside the room. "He holds many titles, but the most popular of them all was…
"Demon Lord Balthazar."
Yes.
The one that saved Professor Rinehart and Professor Barret was none other than the same Demon Lord, whom everyone believed had been defeated by Fortis Dud and his comrades, who had founded the Brynhildr Academy of Magic.
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