The Demon Lord Is An Angel
Chapter 163: Back To School

Chapter 163: Back To School

The school for Arcane Knights was deserted.

From the large arch of the entrance, Kir could see that the stairs of the school were extended, but the base of the steps lay just within the barrier.

Amarena pulled an arrow out of her shoulder, having shifted back from her warform, and Noir helped pull another from her lower back. She winced, and Kir saw her internal mana accumulating around the wounds.

It wasn’t a strong reaction, but he could finally confirm that she had some ability to regenerate; perhaps an expression of mavenry.

But there was little time to contemplate.

A group of students were gathered at the training grounds beneath the Academy, more than half of them in greys.

An argument was in full swing. The Academy students against a large group of Knight cadets.

As they approached, Kir saw one of the arguers start to slash at the barrier with a sword that was clearly enchanted. It did nothing.

He recognized Lugh.

Lugh was far more gaunt than Kir remembered. His face looked a little hollowed out, his eyes were tired and desperate, even if the armor on him indicated he’d advanced in standing with the Arcane Knights.

Everyone turned to face the new arrivals.

"Kir," Lugh let out a relieved laugh. "You’re alive!"

"That’s Kir?" one of the greys, a dwarf, asked. "I thought he died..."

Kir felt a little relief at hearing that statement. The fewer people who knew Heaven was hunting him, the better.

"Kordia! Lapins! Where have you been?" a tall, green-haired elven asked. On his greys was a green accessory, and Kir saw that it matched his aura, which was very slightly green. He got the sense that this student had good quality to his mana, yet not as much mana as he held.

A fight with him would be tough. His aura gave Kir a sense of... growth. Perhaps he was training to become a druid?

"We’re just getting back, Caneban," Lapins said.

"You weren’t there for the messenger’s return. How did you know to get Kordia?" Caneban asked. "And who are they?" he looked up at Kir and the rest.

"We’re here to help," the princess said, "And obviously I intuited the need to retrieve dear Kordia from the first visit of the Chancellor’s butler."

The last was a lie, but Kir didn’t care if it got them in the school.

"What happened here?" Kordia asked.

"Isn’t it obvious? We’re locked out. Someone took over the Academy’s barrier..."

As everyone caught up with each other, Kir approached the barrier.

Lugh approached him. "Kir... I know I don’t deserve your help, but I have to get in there. It’s my sister-"

"I know Ann was taken," Kir said, a little cold. "What you deserve isn’t my concern."

"Kir, I need help-"

Kir turned. "Where were you when I needed help?" he hissed. "What about all that talk about trying to be better?" As Lugh opened his mouth to answer, Kir jerked his hand up in a dismissive gesture. "We’ll settle things later. For now, let me think."

He returned his gaze to the barrier.

The mana suffusing it felt... familiar.

It felt like his father.

As the others argued back and forth over how to get in, Kir raised his hand and reached out-

At first, there was a distinct, electric feeling of pain, but a mere moment later, he felt the Forbidding activate, and the barrier ceased to hurt him.

He stepped into it, and there was only a slight tingle, more akin to the experience of touching a plasma globe-

Seconds later he was on the other side.

"Kir?" It was Kordia. She and the other students were staring at him. "How did you get in?"

Kir shrugged. "I just sort of... did."

One of the cadets touched the barrier and received a shock. They swore vociferously.

That was when Kir noticed that none of Lugh’s old friends were present. Maybe he’d found better company, or maybe this was just who stuck around when the shit hit the fan. All of the actual Knights were probably at the wall.

Kir stepped back out of the barrier, leaving his tail in just in case.

"Hmm..." Caneban held his chin. "Maybe it recognizes him as a fellow demon, even though he’s clearly a halfbreed."

Kir’s eye twitched, is opinion of Caneban dropping through the floor.

Amarena scoffed. "In that case, I should have no problem entering." She stalked heavily toward the barrier.

"Who is-"

Amarena’s forehead contacted the barrier first, and she was immediately thrown back, her cloak billowing enough to show everyone-

"She’s a demon?!" "What’s going on?" "Lapins did you know?" A half-dozen students started talking at once, while almost as one every cadet drew their weapons.

"Enough!" Kir shouted. "Amarena here is on our side. She’s the daughter of Leviathan, Duke of Wrath. The one responsible for this siege - for this attack - is Maledict, Duke of Heresy."

"How are you able to pass the barrier but she can’t?" Caneban asked.

"Does it really matter?" Noir spoke up. "The important thing is he can get us inside."

"It matters if we are to trust him," Lapins said. "Otherwise, he might find himself going alone."

Damn that princess... Lapins was right. Kir didn’t want to go in alone, but taking down the barrier with his magic would be disabling for him. And even if Maledict and his demons couldn’t harm him, there was likely much they could do to delay him.

What was happening at the Academy felt like an endgame, and every moment would count.

"Kir, you don’t have to tell them," Kordia whispered.

"Heaven knows I exist... and likely all of Hell will soon. There’s nothing left to hide," he whispered back.

He steeled himself, shouting above the conversations of the rest.

"I am Maledict’s son. That is why the barrier doesn’t harm me..." He gestured at his chest, pulling his jacket open enough to display the mark of Forbidding. "No one under Maledict can."

A new argument erupted right away.