"We've arrived."
Lumilia said as she looked at the huge gate in front of her eyes. People were lining up to enter the country called Eternal Empire.
"It's been a while since we've left this place."
Bryan said and Lynn nodded her head. The three of them came here to Eternal Empire to become a student of one of its most famous academy, the Liven Academy. In this academy, most of the students here have great potential.
There were dozens of departments in this academy. Potioneering, blacksmith, mage, etc. but the three of them will enter different departments. They decided to focus on their specialties.
Lynn will enter the support department, Lumilia will enter the mage department, and Bryan will enter the brawler department.
"I can't wait to fight those strong students that they boasted!" Bryan said with an excited expression. The wounds that he received when he fought Kin at the Ladros City have healed.
"Bryan, don't get excited too much..."
A voice sounded behind the three. It was coming from their teacher, Bargan Hevifield. The one who was recognized as the strongest hero-rank in the world. The one who fought several officers who had the power of blessings yet he still managed to defeat most of them.
Bargan came here with them. Since the Institute was under construction and a lot of teachers have been killed, it stopped functioning for now. The principal of the Ladros Institute decided to recover their strength first before they start their operation.
Well, a lot of forces were vying at Ladros Institute. The faculty members and corps guards were being recruited and the principal was doing his best to prevent it.
"I can't help it. Just thinking about how many powerful students could fight me already gives me chills."
Bryan said with a wide smile on his face.
Bargan sighed and looked at Lumilia. He asked, "What about you, Lumilia? Have you finished settling your problem regarding your legion?"
"Yes, teacher. I left the management to Jeanne in the headquarters. She's currently the second strongest member of the legion in headquarters so she's suitable for it. We can't leave it to Senior Yanagi as I don't know what will happen to the legion if I left the management to her." Lumilia said. She wouldn't leave if she hasn't settled everything in the legion. She promised Souta that he could leave it to her so she will fulfill it. Also, she ordered a batch of transmission talismans and gave it to Jeanne so that Jeanne could contact her if a problem occurred.
Jeanne was a B-rank powerhouse. She was also their senior in the institute. Aside from that, she was the vice-president of Souta's fan club so she has experienced in handling organization. Although a fan club couldn't be compared to a legion, it's still better than nothing. If she encountered a problem that she didn't know how to solve then she would contact Lumilia for advice.
"Yanagi's personality isn't suitable for managing an organization. She's too impulsive and will jump to anyone that provoked her." Bargan nodded his head.
"You still have a month before you start your classes so I will train the three of you this month." Bargan paused for a moment before he added, "After that, I will finish some business that the principal gave to me in this country."
"As I thought, teacher wouldn't come with us simply because he wanted to train us. You had important business here regarding the recovery of the Ladros Institute, right teacher?" Lumilia said as she glanced at Bargan.
Bargan simply smiled and didn't say anything about his matters in this country. If their organization grew stronger then perhaps he would tell them about it.
The group entered the country after the guards finished checking their identities. They simply showed their identity card and the guards let them in.
"Where's Alea?" Bryan asked as he turned his head left and right. "I thought that she would welcome us."
"She's a princess so she wouldn't openly welcome us. It will cause a commotion so she will disguise herself first like what she did before. " Lumilia said to Bryan.
The first thing that they needed to do was to let the academy know that they've safely arrived so that the management could arrange their classes.
Bargan looked at the three of them. 'They are really becoming more independent. Especially, Lumilia. She changed ever since that event in the Gripin City.' He thought.
He then opened his mouth and said, "I'm going to check our things in the inn that we've reserved. So you three can go to the academy and finish your business there. I will start training the three of you tomorrow so don't forget it."
As soon as he finished saying those words, Bargan turned around and left while waving his hand.
"Thank you, teacher!" Lumilia and Lynn said to Bargan as they slightly bowed their heads.
Lumilia and Lynn looked at each other. "Should we go now?" Lumilia asked and Lynn nodded her head in agreement.
The three went in the direction of the Liven Academy, one of the most powerful schools in this country.
...
Bargan was inside an exquisite room. His arms were crossed in front of his chest and he had a calm expression while facing the group of people in front of him.
The group in front of him was the high-ranking officials of the Eternal Empire. All of them looked young and handsome even though most of them were seventy years old.
They were elves and their lifespan was three times longer than ordinary humans.
Bargan opened his mouth and asked, "You've heard the news, right?"
"About the Listen Wastes?" The officials in the middle raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, the demons from folklore have finally appeared. They've destroyed a large country in the blink of an eye. They had powerful god-level powerhouses and force three god-level of Listen Wastes to retreat. In the end, two out of three god-level sacrifice themselves to create a barrier to isolate the demons in Listen Wastes." Bargan said to the officials of the Eternal Empire.
"Yeah, we all know about it so what do you want from us?" One of the officials nodded and asked.
"The Listen Wastes is quite far from us but I suggested that we formed an army that specializes in dealing with the demons." Bargan paused for a moment before he added, "We will not bring the battle in our country. Instead, we will fight them in Hunted Woods, Heretic's Dynasty, Fort Anvi, Lion's Kingdom, or Alea Republic. As long as it isn't in our territory we will make it."
"Yeah, you are right. After all, no one wanted to make their own territory a battlefield." One of the officials nodded his head.
"Actually, this alliance was proposed by Zomus country. We decided to accept it as it is beneficial to us so we sent out some people to negotiate with other large countries." Bargan paused and he added in a grave tone, "If we don't work together we will not be able to defeat the demon army."
"The demon army that could defeat a large country easily is hard to deal with. Everyone knew it but the large country didn't want to initiate to form an alliance with other large countries because of their past grudges." The officials on the left side said seriously. He was one of the top commanders of the Eternal Empire's army.
"That's why we're willing to put down grudge and cooperate with other large countries," Bargan said. The Hebrei Kingdom had enemies in the past and the country survived. That's why it became a large country.
...
A man with a messy black hair was walking in the street of the ruined Ladros City. He was wearing a long dark blue cloak and his hands were inside his pockets.
Those who knew him would instantly flee. Unfortunately, a few people knew the appearance of the Zodiac Leo.
He looked at the sky and wondered where's that little goblin that he saw before. According to his investigation, that goblin was living in a city and everyone didn't know that he was a little monster.
What an interesting story...
Leo was amused when he found out about this. Also, that little monster was dealing with different problems left and right. Nobles and criminals. He settled everything using that small power of his.
No one managed to discover that little goblin's identity. If there's a god here then they would instantly felt that Souta was a monster, not a human or demi. They had the power to recognize every creature's race with just a single glance.
"Sub-world...? Let's see what kind of world it is..."
While he was deep in his thoughts, a woman bumped into his shoulder.
Thud!
Leo reacted by grabbing the woman's wrist. He looked at the woman and saw her haggard appearance. She was breathing heavily and had wounds on her arms.
"L-Let me go... They are coming for me..." The woman said in a coarse voice.
Leo raised his eyebrows as he turned his head into alley. He loosened his grip on the woman's wrist and the woman quickly run away.
Watching the back of the woman, Leo slowly walked towards the alley and there were two demis out here. The two demis had an imposing aura as they had a pair of white horns on their head.
"Why didn't you hold that woman, huh?!"
One of them said as they walked towards Leo with heavy feet. They saw that Leo didn't stop and just kept walking towards them so they pulled back their hands and threw a punch.
Swoosh!
Leo looked at the two men. Suddenly, the two men's bodies expanded before they exploded turning their bodies into a bloody mist.
"Really, this is the reason why I don't recruit ordinary criminals in Zodiacs. They are too arrogant."