Chapter 122 — Aftermath I

[Academy - Section A Classroom]

Professor Seraphina was midway through explaining advanced Aura circulation techniques when a student’s watch buzzed insistently.

The girl tried to silence it discreetly, but the notification kept repeating.

Emergency broadcast. Emergency broadcast. Emergency broadcast.

Other watches started buzzing too, creating a chorus of alerts throughout the classroom.

"What the hell is going on?"

One student muttered, pulling up his holographic display despite being in the middle of class.

His face went pale immediately.

"Professor! Something huge just happened in the Northern Region! Demons attacked a hypersonic train! There’s a live stream – multiple live streams – it’s everywhere!"

Seraphina’s violet eyes narrowed.

"Demons? That’s not possible. The dimensional barriers are still too strong for high-ranking Monster species to breach portals easily. Show me."

The student projected his hologram larger, and within seconds half the class had their own displays up, all showing the same chaotic footage.

A train car filled with carnage. Massive crimson-skinned creatures tearing through civilians. Blood and bodies everywhere.

And in the center of it all, fighting alone against seven demons, was a figure they all recognized immediately.

"BOSS!"

Ronan’s shout was instinctive, followed immediately by others.

"Damian!"

"It’s that guy!"

"What is he doing there!?"

Seraphina’s hands gripped the desk edge hard enough to crack the wood.

"Mafia faction students, what is Damian doing in the Northern Region? He’s supposed to be on campus!"

Edrin stood up, his face pale behind his glasses as he watched the footage.

"He went home for his birthday, Professor. Norrington City in the northern region... He left this morning."

On the screens, Damian took a devastating punch that clearly broke ribs, his body flying across the compartment.

Several students gasped and a few of the girls even covered their mouths in horror.

Even the Noble students who’d spent the semester hating Damian were watching with something approaching fear and unwilling respect.

Because those weren’t some students he was fighting.

Those were Demons! Actual fucking Demons! Monster species that towered over humans and could tear through steel like paper.

"He’s going to die."

Someone whispered it quietly, afraid to say it too loud.

"Shut up! Boss doesn’t lose!"

Marcus snapped back, but his voice shook with uncertainty.

They watched as Damian saved the little girl, his axe decapitating a demon before it could consume her.

"There! See? He’s fine!"

But then six more demons turned their attention to him, and the real fight began.

The classroom fell into complete silence as they witnessed the brutality.

Damian blocking a blade that sent him sliding backward. Taking a punch that audibly cracked bones. Being thrown into walls hard enough to dent metal. Blood spraying from wounds that should have been fatal.

But he kept fighting, kept moving and kept on killing!

"His weapon art..."

Lysa’s voice was barely audible.

"It’s my first time seeing him require more than one strike to kill."

They watched him decapitate the first demon after four strikes.

Watched him empty his gun into another’s face at point-blank range.

Watched him break and bleed and refuse to fall.

When the SFD officer’s head was eaten right in front of him, several students actually threw up in their seats.

"Oh God..."

"This is what we’re going to face? This is what’s out there?"

"How is he still standing?"

Then the final exchange happened. Damian’s weapons were broken, his body was shattered and he was fighting with pure will and whatever he could grab.

When the demon leader’s hands were around his throat.

Everyone in the classroom leaned forward unconsciously, hardly breathing.

Then they watched as Damian drove the broken axe blade up through the demon’s jaw.

"YES!"

The roar came from multiple throats simultaneously.

Ronan was on his feet pumping his fist. Edrin had his hands clasped together in relief. Lysa was crying. Zavier was shaking with adrenaline despite not being there.

Even some Noble students looked relieved, though they tried to hide it.

Seraphina stood frozen at the front of the class, her violet eyes locked on the screen showing Damian on his knees, the little girl wiping blood from his face.

’That’s my student. The one who handed me his gun and told me to kill him if I thought it necessary. The one who trusted me with his life. And now he’s standing there for humanity, saving people, fighting Monsters that most adults would run from.’

Her hands were trembling.

’I made the right fucking choice!’

****

[Student Council Chamber]

The emergency broadcast had interrupted a budget meeting.

Elizabeth Murdock stood in front of the main display screen, her violet eyes wide with horror as she watched the live stream.

Her seer abilities were screaming warnings, showing futures branching in impossible directions and too many variables to track properly.

"He’s going to die. I can see it. Multiple timelines where he dies in the next sixty seconds."

Her voice shook.

Gareth was beside her, his massive frame tense, his dark eyes fixed on the screen with unwilling concern.

"Come on, kid. Don’t you dare die after all the trouble you’ve caused. Don’t you fucking dare!"

He’d beaten Damian months ago, hospitalized him and even lectured him about control and responsibility.

But watching this, watching a student face seven Demons alone to protect civilians, something twisted in his chest.

’This is what awakeners are supposed to do. Not play politics or fight over rankings. This! Protecting people who can’t protect themselves.’

Victor Cross sat in the corner, his face completely pale, his hands shaking as he watched.

He’d fought Damian and lost. Had his family sword shattered. And had been humiliated in front of the Academy.

But this... this was different.

This was real combat with Monsters!

"That’s what we’re going to face on the battlefields."

His voice was barely a whisper.

"That’s what’s waiting for us. And he’s fighting them now. While we sit here arguing about club budgets and territory disputes."

Adrian stood silent, his purple hair falling across his face, his expression unreadable.

’Elizabeth was right about him. He’s going to change everything. Because anyone who can survive this, anyone who can win against impossible odds through pure determination, they don’t accept limitations anymore. They remake the world to match their vision.’

When Damian drove the final blade through the demon leader’s skull, the entire council chamber erupted in noise.

Some cheered, some cried in relief and some just made wordless sounds of shock and awe.

Elizabeth collapsed into her chair, her precognition finally calming as the timelines stabilized.

"He survived. Against all probability, against every tactical disadvantage, he really survived!"

Gareth exhaled slowly, unclenching fists he didn’t remember making.

"That crazy bastard actually did it."

****

[Faculty Lounge]

Half a dozen professors were gathered around the main screen, their usual composure shattered by what they were witnessing.

Professor Salazar Blackwood was pacing frantically, his hands clenched in his hair, watching his former disciple fight for his life.

"No no no, use the second form! Angle your body more! Watch the left flank!"

He was shouting instructions at the screen as if Damian could hear him.

When the first strike of Abyssal Slaughter failed to kill the demon outright, Salazar’s face went white.

"It’s not working. The technique isn’t strong enough against their durability. He’s going to–"

But then Damian struck again. And again. And again...

Applying the principle correctly, never losing faith, just adjusting execution.

Salazar stopped pacing, his eyes going wide.

"He’s doing it. He’s actually applying the core principle. Conviction in every strike, not just the first one."

When the final demon fell and Damian survived, Salazar burst into wild, almost hysterical laughter.

"SEE!? I FUCKING KNEW IT! I KNEW HE HAD WHAT IT TAKES! THAT’S MY DISCIPLE RIGHT THERE!"

He was practically dancing, his usual composed demeanor completely abandoned.

Other professors just shook their heads at his behavior, but several were smiling despite themselves.

Professor Elara Chen, who taught Monster biology, spoke quietly.

"Those were elite level demons, each one equivalent to a high C rank awakener in pure combat ability. He faced seven of them simultaneously and won... That shouldn’t be possible."

"And yet we all just watched it happen."

Another professor responded.

"That boy is going to rewrite every assumption we have about growth rates and combat capability."