It had only been a few days since Amelia joined Lumeria Academy, but she had already begun feeling that this place was her home. She had made friends, and her sister was happy. Everything was going so well that Amelia had even begun forgetting about the horror she had gone through to get here. It was clear that with just a little more time in this place, she would gain true happiness.
Amelia looked at Adrian, who was standing next to her, and the fear she saw on his face made her understand that things had just hit the fan. She looked all around her, and all she could see was death. Students were being slaughtered by the Draugr, the air reeked of decay, and the earth was soaked with blood.
The Draugr were purposely ignoring the Guardians, the most powerful force the academy had to offer. Instead, they were hunting the weak and helpless. Amelia had received a summary of the Children of Night, but she had not formed an impression of any of them— to her, they all seemed the same.
"They are evil," she said.
After witnessing the Draugr's carnage and the merciless manner in which they carried it out, Amelia made up her mind about this tribe of the Children of Night.
In the distance, Amelia spotted Hildr standing opposite the principal. The two seemed to be discussing something important. Amelia couldn't hear their conversation, but to her, it didn't matter. Even though the fear of death gripped her, she had to save her sister from this chaos.
She grabbed Adrian's hand and dragged him as she ran back toward their dormitories. Adrian finally snapped out of his daze, and the two sprinted even faster. Things were turning darker by the second…
"Just give us the crown, and we will immediately leave," said Hildr.
She still hoped to avoid a fight, but if the principal refused to see reason, even after witnessing the death she had unleashed, Hildr was more than willing to fight to claim the throne.
The principal's aura shifted, and his red hair floated above his head. He lifted off the ground, and when he opened his eyes, he was ready to kill to the last. He had no intention of surrendering the crown. The consequences of the Night King claiming it were simply too dire for him to accept. Even if all his students were to perish this day, the principal decided not to give up the crown.
Still, he was willing to do everything else to save his students. Their parents had entrusted him with their safety, and that was his duty at all costs. Some had already been slain, and each death gnawed at his heart.
"He wants to fight," thought Hildr.
At that moment, the principal erupted into flames. From head to toe, he was covered in crimson fire. The temperature across the entire island surged. Hildr felt the power radiating from the old man and knew she could not wait for his transformation to complete. She launched toward him with such speed that she shattered the sound barrier, leaving the earth where she had stood utterly ravaged.
Cracks spread out in all directions. Yet, even with such incredible velocity, she did not reach him in time.
Boom! Like an explosion rivaling the creation of the world, the old man burst forth with unfathomable power. Flames tore through the air in all directions. Hildr was blasted into the distance, crashing onto the frozen lake. She shattered the ice and plunged into its frigid depths. Bang! She collided with the lakebed with such force that the entire island trembled in an earthquake. Blood gushed from her mouth as agony coursed through her body.
The principal had shown no mercy.
One might assume this was the old man's ultimate attack, but in truth, he was merely warming up.
Hildr had expected this level of power from the principal, who in the past bore the title "Sun Born Saint," but experiencing it firsthand was vastly different from merely hearing of it.
If Hildr was struggling, then the other Draugr were enduring an even worse fate.
The old man had only just begun his transformation, yet the residual power from it alone had left Hildr in such a dire state. With the knowledge amassed over thousands of years, he guided even this stray energy to serve his will. Tongues of fire surged across the island, racing outward. Yet, with his absolute control, none of the flames touched his students. Instead, they swiftly enveloped the Draugr scattered across the battlefield, consuming them in a devastating inferno.
The Draugr shrieked in agony, their cries so harrowing that even those who had suffered under their cruelty felt a pang of pity.
These were no ordinary flames. They were the fires of a Fire Spirit.
The old man hailed from the Spirit Clan—a distinct group among the Other—which included Fire, Earth, Wind, and Water Spirits. Among supernatural beings, the Spirits wielded immense power, even surpassing the Children of the Night in certain aspects.
The principal was a Fire Spirit, and fire was highly effective against the Children of the Night. While it could not outright kill them, it inflicted grievous harm, rendering them completely defenseless. Once weakened, they could be slaughtered through other means.
When the residual power of the old man's transformation finally dissipated, he was no longer the same. In his place stood a figure of legend. His body was composed entirely of flame, crimson fire scorching the air, striking terror into all who gazed upon him.
"Finish them off," the old man commanded.
Since he now stood in his true form, his voice resonated like something beyond mortal comprehension. The Guardians roared with power, charging toward the hundreds of Draugr left vulnerable by the great spirit flames.