One of the male Heads laughed at Lyla's brush. "Little girl, you hope to defeat us with a brush? Hahaha!"
The female Head sneered, "What an idiot. Now move out of my way before we take out our weapons."
Lyla said nothing and waved her brush. The hairs of the brush instantly turned into vines and grabbed the arm of one of the male Heads. Tenko used All Encompassing Inferno at the bound man, but the Head swiftly drew his sword, cut the vines, and jumped back with the others.
"Wow, so you have strength. Never thought about that, but this pales in comparison to us," the female Head said. She sent slashes of devil energy toward them, and a male Head sent a dark blast.
Lyla was unfazed. Tenko used a wind attack to create a dust cloud, causing a dust explosion and sending dust everywhere. The Heads, unfamiliar with this kind of power, backed off, allowing Tenko and Lyla to slip away.
"Why are we running away?" Lyla asked.
Tenko growled, looking back at the Heads, and shook his head, communicating that their combined power was too great to confront directly. "You have taken after Rei, haven't you?" Lyla said with a smile. She threw a few seeds behind them.
As the dust settled, the Heads saw Lyla and Tenko fleeing and chased after them. "Do you think you can escape from us that easily?" one Head shouted.
"Yeah, I think so," Lyla replied.
As the Heads ran, the seeds Lyla had thrown suddenly grew very high, releasing pollen and forcing the Heads to retreat. Lyla thought, These are the sleep plants that I released, and the wood spell I used is one of the spells I made called Late Bloom. Let's see them dealing with it. Late Bloom was a complex spell Lyla developed that stored all essential nutrients in certain areas, which would slowly trickle toward each other and cause the plants to bloom instantly when they converged.
The Heads watched in frustration. "She escaped," one Head lamented.
Piers (Rei), surrounded by Kaiser's group, suddenly felt the overwhelming energy from his Devourer's Ring vanish. What? Why did the energy from the ring go away? The ring still has more, he thought, feeling weak.
"Looks like your energy drained away too. You should come with us peacefully," Kaiser urged.
"We won't hurt you or anyone; we just want our friend," Ben added.
Piers, though weak, stood his ground. "Even without energy, let's see who stops me."
Luc used his invisibility and moved behind Piers, but Piers sensed him. Luc suddenly felt himself moving back from the area where everyone was standing, and countless hands from the ground began to grab him. Luc, a seasoned soldier, knew it was an illusion. He made a small cut on his hand, and the illusion vanished. He backed away. "Everyone, he can create illusions! Be careful. If you see something bizarre, just cut yourself."
Emilia stepped up. "Don't worry, I have something special for him." She created a lightning prison. "Lightning magic used to be very random and unpredictable, but because of your teachings, I can control it and even use it like this!" The lightning converged on Piers, but he vanished and reappeared as the lightning stopped.
"Now this is enough," Ben said, firing shots from his magic gun. Piers was nearly depleted, using only residual energy, and couldn't stop the shots; they hit him. But Piers refused to fall.
"Phantom Insignia, give me power," he pleaded.
But you are way too weak; your body would fall apart, the Phantom Insignia warned.
As Emilia and Ben charged to attack again, a slash of devil energy abruptly cut their magic, and suddenly, Emilia, Luc, Bret, Kaiser, and Ben found themselves surrounded by the full might of the Death Vultures, Demonic Badgers, Black Serpents, and Dark Lions.
Four people jumped to surround Piers: Severin, Astarte, Garth, and Silas.
"Better back off, otherwise consequences will be dire," Astarte warned Kaiser's group.
Silas's muscles and hair grew, his teeth turned to fangs, and his fingers to claws. His eyes turned black with yellow pupils, covered in countless tattoos, and his hair became dense like a lion's mane. "Our master has no grudge against you, so you'd better get out of our way."
"I will protect my master till my last breath," Garth declared.
Suddenly, three figures appeared on buildings: Abbadon (Demonic Badger teacher), Hecate (Death Vulture teacher), and Modred (Dark Lion teacher).
"Severin, give us Piers," Abbadon demanded.
"Not gonna happen. I will protect my student till the end," Severin retorted.
"What can you expect from a Serpent? They will always bite the one who feeds them," Hecate sneered.
"Call me whatever you want, but we all know that the branch treats the students worse than insects and tries to kill them at every step of their lives. I have seen many of my students fall, but no more. I will protect every one of them till my last breath," Severin declared.
"You were too sentimental to become a teacher in the first place," Modred scoffed. "Students, get ready for a fight!"
"Yes, get ready," Abbadon added.
"Get ready, Death Vultures! We will show them what true power is!" Hecate commanded.
"You should all first look around," Severin calmly advised. Hecate, Abbadon, and Modred looked around to see that many of their own students were now against them and were highly outnumbered.
Piers spoke, addressing his entire faction. "Hear me, my fellow companions! We are going for an all-out fight against the teachers!"
Everyone got ready to attack the students still loyal to the teachers. Abbadon, Hecate, and Modred, seeing the overwhelming odds, knew better than to fight the entire student body. "Students who are with us, protect us till we leave," Hecate ordered.
The loyal students engaged in a brutal war against Piers's revolutionary students.
Piers looked at Kaiser. "I have no grudge against you. I am giving you a chance to leave. However, if you ever cross me again, consider your life forfeited."
"Don't think this is over. I will come again and take you with me. Did you hear that, Rei?" Kaiser challenged.
"I don't know who this Rei is, but since you will come at me again, this means your days are numbered," Piers replied coldly.
Kaiser and his team left. Astarte and Silas joined the war, quickly crushing the remaining loyal students. Piers slowly walked over the dead bodies of the fallen students.
"These students will be the bridge who will connect us to take the first step towards revolution," Piers declared.
Everyone rejoiced, raising their hands at Piers's claims, and followed him as their leader out of the city.