Chapter 11:

Surge of Darkness

Second Chance At Life


It’s a relief Akimitsu had come.

If not for him, who knows what will happen to Jennifer.

She could’ve died.

It’s not Tsubasa’s fault though.

That dark magick, I know it doesn’t belong to him.

Aside from that, Akimitsu piques my interest.

His confidence and fighting capability manage to subdue the possessed Tsubasa.

And his relation to Kaito…

There are so many questions I have.

“What do you mean you’re not really related?”

Kaito seems annoyed, and he tries to leave.

Akimitsu puts his arm over his shoulder, forcing Kaito to be by his side.

“We’re more like distant cousins.”

“Sir Akimitsu, does this mean—”

“Shhh!” he silences Marissa.

Tsubasa scratches in confusion, his brows raised.

“What’s going on?”

“At this moment, it’s none of your business. Now, why don’t you and the others get back to your dorms. I wish to speak to the princess.”

He turns his gaze over to me.

I wonder why he chooses me of all people.

Akimitsu harrumphs.

“I’ll see you two tomorrow.”

Anthony silently leaves.

Jennifer bids her farewell before she leaves.

“This is an important business, Kaito. Mind leaving too?”

Kaito groans in response, but he obeys.

An awkward silence fills the air.

Likewise, Tsubasa breaks it with his innocent questions.

“So, what are we going to talk about?”

“That’s right, I almost forgot about you.”

Akimitsu pokes Tsubasa’s forehead.

“Sleep…”

His eyes closed, and he fell into the dirt.

“Now, to business…”

“What did you want to talk to me about?”

He takes off the mask.

His glowing azure eyes are mesmerizing, paired with the smooth skin and sharp chin.

“Where’s my introduction, Marissa?”

“R-right! Milady, this is um, Sir Akimitsu. He is one of the Royal Squad Leaders.”

Even Marissa has fallen in trance by his beauty.

“I just happen to stumble across all of you outside. Especially that dark magick.”

We look at the unconscious Tsubasa, who’s happily snoring without a care.

“He’s infected.”

“Infected? By what?”

“By Ramses’ Curse. It’s a shame youths like him have to endure so much pain.”

“What’s Ramses’ Curse?” I ask.

“You’ve heard of Ramses, the Demon King?”

I remember it.

We learned about it a few weeks ago, so the knowledge is still intact.

When mankind discovered magick, it became convenient for everything.

Agriculture, logging, you name it.

However, there were those who had great ambitions which made magick a dangerous tool for war.

One ambitious individual sought to unite the kingdoms, but the world denied his cruel ideals.

And so, he gained the nickname, “Demon King”.

His magick manifested into darkness, with the surge of killing intent in him.

He became the world’s greatest threat, but luckily, he was betrayed by one of his most trusted retainers.

“What the history teachers never tell you is that Ramses’ dark magick infected certain individuals, which then passed down to their family bloodlines. This was called Ramses’ Curse. Infectees gain an alter ego with great power at the cost of losing one’s true identity. Most individuals share the same personality as Ramses.”

“But that kid…” he adds, as he watches Tsubasa.

“His altered ego is different.”

“What do you mean it’s different?”

“You noticed it, didn’t you?”

He changes his attention to me.

“He referred those students by different names.”

That’s right!

If I recall, the possessed Tsubasa called Juliana and Archie by their real names.

Why?

Thinking about it makes my brain hurt.

I’m still conflicted about Kaito.

He randomly attacked Tsubasa while he was in trance.

If Akimitsu knows so much about this “curse”, he must have an answer about Kaito.

“I’m curious. What about Kaito? Does he have Ramses’ Curse?”

He shakes his head.

“No, Kaito’s case is different from that boy. He has Ramses’ blood in him.”

“What?”

My eyes open wide in disbelief.

“So does that mean—”

“He’s a descendant of Ramses.”

“What about you? Aren’t you a descendant of Ramses too?”

“Nope! My ancestors strayed away from Ramses’ ambition. In fact, they were one of the co- conspirators who betrayed Ramses.”

If one has Ramses’ blood, and the other is infected by Ramses’ Curse, whose fate would prevail if the two clashed again?

We can separate them, but that would decrease the morality in the students’ education.

“Is there something wrong, milady?”

“I fear what will happen next. I want to separate them in case something like this happens again, but I don’t want other students to lose motivation in their education.”

“I have a suggestion! How about we start the Squad Initiation?”

“But Sir Akimitsu, the Squad Initiation begins after the Rank-Up Selections,” Marissa protests.

“Why don’t we do it early? Other kingdoms already have their squads. At this point, we're merely slacking.”

Akimitsu makes a good point.

I have no clue what they are talking about, but I played along.

“If that’s the case, it’ll be a good idea to start the Squad Initiation.”

“I’ll keep an eye on those two.”

I fear he would say that, but I trust Akimitsu.

His knowledge and skill shows he can handle the dark magick manifested in both Tsubasa and Kaito.

Hopefully, things will turn out well after what happened today.

NoahTheReviewer
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