My System Academy

Arsolo Stronghold.

In the center of the settlement laid thousands and thousands of bodies stacked like copper coins on top of one another. They were emitting a foul stench as their bodies slowly rot and their eyes and mouth hung wide open.

The marasakas dragged another batch of undead beings and arranged them in an adjacent column.

The foundation of this horrendous sight was a large magic circle painted in blood. On its center was the symbol of a pentagram with several smaller demonic symbols scattered around.

Mahiista observed the actions of his subordinates, hovering on top of the ritual site while holding his devil fork.

"Kekeke, foolish humans. They don't know what's in store for them."

"Though, that Allustro is truly one cunning demon. He sure is messing with the minds of those at the Heavenly Magic Academy.", he said while chuckling.

Allustro advised him that the academy would not rush up to him and will remain dormant until something significant happens. Even if they conducted preliminary inquiries, their adversaries would be unable to devise a comprehensive plan and put a halt to their efforts in time.

Allustro also implied that the academy couldn't directly confront any troublemakers. Every trouble arises for a variety of reasons, and it cannot be solely caused by the demonic creatures themselves.

Otherwise, if the academy chooses to intervene in issues such as internal civil war, just like what Alderian Terrestrial Sanctuary is experiencing, the people would regard it as a threat and demand a reasonable explanation from the academy for their needless involvement.

As a result, Allustro and the other demonic creatures affiliated with Vahalla's Dominion had an advantage in terms of proactive plotting. They could even perplex the academy by leading them to one conclusion before launching into a series of acts that would contradict, if not all, of their previous assumptions.

"I wonder how that demon ended up in a wasteland like this.", Mahiista mused.

Even though the Otherworld's expanse was already vast and its might was overwhelming, it still needed an absurd number of competent demons to run things everywhere.

He was only puzzled as to why that crow-demon was stationed here when his abilities would undoubtedly shine on larger and more crucial battles.

"I'm going to ask him more once I finish this mission."

His momentary happiness was disrupted when a karagero approached him with slight hesitation, "Mahiista, what about the other warriors? Didn't Allustro originally plan the inclusion of the Siegfried Clan's allies which will increase the probability of…"

Mahiista waved his hands.

"Forget the original plan. Don't you see that things have taken a drastic turn?!"

"Harrtugg Naaw's legion is now purified so who in the demon's name would take all the blame and retaliation of High King Garron's army?!"

"If not for the fact that they were purified by that damn stupid flame dragon, I wouldn't have prematurely used the rift and proceeded with the original plan instead!"

The purpose of him angering and demonizing the magic beasts was to lead an assault on Norva Assili, forcing High King Garron to act. The clash between the two massive forces would weaken either side and the distraction would delay them for as long as the magic beasts could.

During that time, Mahiista would make use of the undead beings that have stealthily multiplied under the notice of everyone.  Opening the rift to call the Otherworld was supposed to be used only during the ritual summoning but he didn't expect that things would turn awry just as he was about to start.

Thinking about it made Mahiista even more furious.

He grabbed his devil fork and pointed it at the forehead of his subordinate, "How about you shut up and go back to your post! We still have a long day ahead of us or do you want me to cut that short for you?!"

He snorted and spat on the latter's face. It left without a word and gritted its teeth when his back faced Mahiista.

"Tsk, what a misfortune."

Mahiista ignored his subordinate and took out two large bluish-white dragon eggs that were floating in his left hand. If Harrtugg Naaw was here, he would certainly flare in rage as this was the dragon eggs that that despicable northerner has stolen from him.

There were originally four dragon eggs but Mahiista encountered an 'accident' earlier and thus, reduced them into two.

"That Heavenly Magic brat managed to fuck up my plan even more, but it doesn't matter. Since there are only two dragon eggs, the quality will surely rise by a great margin."

He grinned while staring at the demonic symbol inscribed on the shells of the dragon eggs. The demonic symbol suddenly glistened, emitting a deep and mysterious aura.

The demonic power from his body burst out, shocking the weaker demons in the area.

"We are running out of time. Let us proceed to the main course.", he shouted.

The demonic creatures quickly ramped the remaining bodies and ran as far as they could.

Mahiista descended and placed the two dragon eggs in the center of two perfectly blood-inscribed circles that were 25 meters apart.

"Demonic Carnation: Asura's Empowerment!"

A throbbing sensation originated from his heart. The dark blood running through his body became chaotic and boiled intensely. It was followed by the cracking of his bones and the twitching of his muscles.

His stature swelled by the second as a scarlet aura encircled him. After his full transformation, Mahiista resembled the manifestation of a mighty demon, standing 10 meters tall with hands the size of a column and two pairs of jagged demonic wings spreading across his back.

Then he began invoking bizarre phrases that gave off an unpleasant feeling. During this process, the dragon eggs rose slowly into mid-air. Alongside the undead beings who were shouting in agony, a scarlet aura surrounded them, the very same aura that Mahiista had.

The skies darkened even more. When a thunderous cry of a powerful demonic beast crossed over the northern glacial continent, startling everyone, the rift began to quake violently.

"Demonic Summoning: Call of the Demonic Deathly Dragon!"

...

A few minutes before Mahiista proceed on to his evil plans,  Emilia and her party appeared tens of kilometers away northeast of Sokovo Stronghold.

This was the place of the other spatial anomaly that she had sensed earlier. The closer she got to it, the more intense the resonation her magical root felt.

Fortunately, there was scarcely any demonic beast running around. If anything, the cold weather was their only nemesis on this short adventure.

"So, academy master Emilia, what's your reason for taking us with you here?", Haera suspiciously asked.

[ Author's Note: From now on, the peak of magic cultivation pre-ascendance is called grandmaster wizard instead of grandmaster magus. ]

Emilia, with her strength as a grandmaster wizard, could go on her own without asking for anyone's help. However, she seemed to have specifically chosen them as her entourage.

In addition to that, Haera remembered that Emilia and Elder Flock were supposed to meet with a particular person whose identity has yet to be known.

'Were they talking about Kai?'

She tried to deny it, but the coincidences were too compelling. Eluard left and was never seen again, but Emilia and her master appeared at the same time.

And the most compelling of it all was the fact that her magic root was resonating. Nobody could ever make her feel that way except Eluard.

'Oh, quite sharp, isn't she?', Emilia raised her eyebrows. She was somewhat bewildered to see an elf, a bunch of non-northerner kids, and a flame dragon in the northern glacial continent.

The elves were thought to be a reclusive race who preferred to stay in their homeland rather than travel elsewhere. As for the non-northerner kids, Emilia found Lucan and Jinmu quite familiar but couldn't recall who they were and when she last saw them.

Furthermore, their distinctive mage robes, which she had never seen before, and that extremely familiar sign embedded on their left chest, which she had forgotten what it was, piqued her interest and led her to believe that they had been sent here by someone.

And that someone must be that person who had requested her master's help. As for that flame dragon who called himself Arahon, Emilia mused that he was dispatched here for another reason, though she was unsure what kind of person could gather the mighty force of a divine beast.

"Nothing, I just want to confirm something."

"Confirm what?", Haera inquired.

"You will know later.", Emilia didn't reveal her plans and Haera didn't insist on knowing it.

The four youngsters were confused about what was happening. Why are these two big sisters suddenly arguing with one another?

Only Jinmu himself realized the current situation, though he wasn't going to tell his classmates any time soon. He wanted to see what Emilia was up to as well, and how will the rest react to it.

"The anomaly is right here. I'm going to start now. Just cover my back."

As the spatial force acted on it, the cracks popped up and started to mend with one another. Haera and Jinmu glanced at it before returning their attention to their surroundings.

The rest, however, were astonished and continued observing the strange phenomenon.

'The scale is lesser than that previous one.' Emilia noted, 'What kind of person or thing is trapped inside here and why would their enemies isolate them of all things?'

She thought that it was a waste of resources and time to randomly isolate a plane for baseless reasons. After all, spatial magic stored in paryus or demonic scrolls was one of a kind.

Producing them was too difficult because one needed to have extensive knowledge of both spatial magic and magic array formations. Acquiring them was even worse.

Emilia dispersed the unnecessary thoughts and heightened her focus on fixing this spatial anomaly. She then felt her magic root resonate even more, thrilling her.

What could make her feel this way? Was it a heavenly defying treasure? A portal to another world?

Or maybe was it a marvelous prince charming she had dreamt of for a long time?

In the middle of her imagination, the cracks have fully mended and all that was left was for her to pull the isolated plane back.

Emilia weaved a few signs before clasping her hands altogether. 9 transparent magic circles appeared around the isolated space and Emilia incantated, "Spatial Restoration: Affixation!"

The space warped in, producing a shockwave that blew the snow in all directions. Emilia was prepared this time and distanced herself, preventing anyone from being blown away.

Behind the snow dust, a silhouette of a man could be seen.

Haera's breath quickened as the feeling in her magic root intensified, 'There's no doubt that he is…'

When the snow settled, Haera and the five youngsters widened their eyes in surprise.

"Kai!"

"Senior brother Kai!"