A/N: Wow, already on the second chapter. I'm good. Just kidding.
Anyway, just wanna put it out there, I'm mainly following the anime adaptation of events up till wherever they stopped, then switch to the manga events. If even that's exhausted, then this story will either go on hiatus or diverge into an original storyline. If there are any preferences, tell me in a review.
Secondly, thanks to the two people who reviewed the first chapter. I'm saying it again, I honestly didn't expect anyone to read this thing. And thanks to all six of my followers for wanting to read more of this story!
Okay, ramble over. Enjoy.
Edit (01/02/2014): Error in the attack name in Arin's battle scene. It's SLASH STRIKE instead of SHOOTING STRIKE. Thanks to New Universe Returns for pointing it out!
Chapter 2: Demon Lord and the Trinity Seven
"B-Become a mage? Are you serious?" Lilith spluttered.
"Of course," Arata replied. "Mages are allowed to hold grimoires, right? In that case," He displayed his grimoire. "I'm definitely qualified."
"I've never heard of such an instance!" Lilith retorted.
"…Although, you did create an entire world by yourself…" she added later.
"Then I'll become one. No matter how slim the possibility is," Arata declared.
"So step 1," Arata looked over his shoulder at 'Hijiri'. "Dispel this world right now."
"You sure?" the grimoire confirmed. "After this world is gone, you're going off into the deep end. It's sink-or-swim with no go-backs."
"Fine by me," Arata replied immediately.
"Very well," the grimoire sighed. She raised her hand above her head, and then snapped her fingers. Arata blinked and suddenly, he was standing in the middle of the ruined city.
"Ouch…I knew it looked bad, but looking at this again…" Arata grimaced.
Lilith stood staring at Arata for a minute.
"…You are sure you want to go through with this?" she confirmed.
"For the last time, I'm sure," Arata sighed.
Lilith nodded. "Alright. I will make the necessary arrangements."
"You can do that?"
"Well, I am a teacher after all. Anyway, take this," Lilith casually said as she scanned another ring, this time a blank one with roughly polished gem and three claws gripping the gem on the edges, on her belt. A piece of paper materialized into existence in front of her.
"This magic circle will transport you to the front of the Academy tomorrow at 8am according to this time zone. I'll transport you to temporary accommodations for the night." And with that, Lilith snapped her fingers and Arata was suddenly transported into a room.
The room was furnished with simple wooden furniture, but was quite large and clean.
Arata's head was buzzing slightly from all the things happening, and he felt it spinning a bit as well.
Lying down on the single bed next to him, he took a deep breath and began organizing the events so far.
So my town was destroyed by-What did they call it?-a Sabbat. Mages exist and one of them just transformed into a masked fighter in front of me to fight a monster. Now I'm gonna be a mage and find Hijiri…man…
"Well, no sense worrying about it. 8am tomorrow, huh…" he stared at the piece of paper in his hand, which had a magic circle drawn on it in red ink.
He stuffed the paper in his uniform pocket and quickly drifted off to sleep.
The next day, Arata found himself standing outside what could only be described as a palace. The facade was white, with deep blue roofs and a set of green doors towered over him.
How do people even open these things? He thought idly.
Just then, the doors creaked open. Standing behind them was Lilith, now dressed in a dark brown blazer over a white blouse with a red tie and a red plaid skirt. She did, however, keep her thigh-high socks and beret. On the chest pocket of the blazer was an Eye of Horus, embroidered in gold thread.
"This magic school is sure in the middle of nowhere," Arata commented as a greeting.
"I still cannot believe that your application really got approved. It is unheard of," Lilith grumbled as she led Arata down the corridor.
"It's fine, isn't it? Anyway, once again, good to know you, Asami Lilith," Arata casually said with a grin.
Lilith sighed loudly as she stopped in front of a door. "This will be your dormitory room for your time here. Your necessities and uniform have all been prepared. Get changed quickly," she instructed.
"Roger," Arata gave a small salute before disappearing behind the door.
A few minutes later, he was once again walking down the corridor with Lilith, having changed into the male uniform with a white shirt instead of a blouse, a black tie, and a pair of cream-colored long pants.
"Anyway…I'm surprised. You're actually a teacher here. How old are you again?" Arata tried to strike conversation to break the uncomfortable silence.
"It is rude to ask a lady for her age, you know," Lilith replied. "…I'm the same age as you."
"And another thing," Lilith reached into her pocket and pulled out a pair of silver-framed spectacles, which she put on. "Call me by my name. Referring to a teacher as 'you' all the time is rude."
"Now that I think about it, you're right. Sorry about that," Arata scratched his head.
Lilith stopped in front of a door made of frosted glass, with a wooden frame. "This is your classroom. Remember to greet everyone properly."
"R-Right," Arata couldn't help but feel slight butterflies at the thought of self-introduction.
Lilith opened the door and casually strolled in, Arata close behind. Spotting their teacher, the students quickly scrambled back to their seats.
Lilith wrote Arata's name on the blackboard. "So, this is the new transfer student I am sure you have heard about, Kasuga Arata."
"My name is Kasuga Arata. Nice to meet you," Arata said and bowed.
"Over here~! A few questions, please!" A hand popped up.
"Go ahead, Selina-san," Lilith replied.
A blond girl in twin ponytails sitting in the second row stood up. Instead of a tie like Lilith, she wore a red ribbon, as did the other girls. She adjusted the large red-framed glasses sitting on her head with her pen.
"My name's Selina Sherlock, head journalist for the school paper. What type of girls do you like?" the blonde immediately asked.
"Big-boobed girls," Arata quickly replied.
"Wow, that's straightforward," Selina muttered as she scribbled on her notebook.
"Though, I suppose I could love a girl without boobs," he added confidently.
"And he tried to subtly smooth it over!" Selina exclaimed.
"Oh, and she's gotta be cute, too," Arata finished.
"Basically, you're an enemy to all girls, right? Got it," Selina noted it down with a serious expression. At her words, Arata only puffed out his chest and tilted his nose up in pride, making Lilith sigh again.
"Feeling better? Then…" Lilith tried to shoo Arata to his seat, but Selina wasn't finished.
"Next question: Is it true that you created a world, which can only be accomplished by a demon lord class mage?" Selina continued.
"Selina-san! That's-" Lilith started to stop the interview, but Arata spoke up before she could finish.
"Huh? Couldn't anyone do that?"
"Hey, Arata…"
Upon hearing his words, the class erupted into raucous cheers.
"He's the real deal!"
"He's really a demon lord candidate!"
While Arata was simply confused by the commotion, Lilith sighed for the third time, her shoulders sagging visibly this time.
"Extra! Extra!" Selina excitedly dashed down the hallway, flinging newsletters all around.
"The new transfer student has demon lord level power! He apparently created a world by himself! We have a demon lord candidate right here in the Royal Biblia Academy, people!" she shouted.
Meanwhile, a copy of the newsletter rested in the hands of a young man who appeared to be in his late twenties. His long silver hair was slicked back into a ponytail and a pair of horn-rimmed glasses sat on his nose. Reading the headline that declared 'Demon Lord Kasuga Arata! A new era in Royal Biblia?', he laughed loudly.
"Getting called a demon lord on your first day here? That's a first," he addressed Arata, who stood before his desk.
"It is not funny at all, Headmaster!" Lilith protested. "The class could not even go on because of the commotion!"
"Well, it sounds cool, so who cares?" Arata replied, reveling in the attention.
"You be quiet."
"No, no. This is really interesting," the Headmaster got up from his chair. "I welcome you officially on behalf of the Royal Biblia Academy, Kasuga Arata-kun."
"Just for your information, the Royal Biblia Academy-" the Headmaster began.
"-started as an underground organization in the 18th century, and became prominent in the 20th with the increase in Sabbat frequency. You're now funded by various governments worldwide in secret, along with several other magic schools. I got all that right?" Arata interrupted.
The Headmaster looked stunned for a second, and then clapped slowly as he sat back down. "I'm surprised. You know a lot about us."
"Well, I just slipped off to the library during the mess in the classroom. Simple when everyone just goes nuts and lesson goes interrupted for several hours," Arata shrugged. "If I'm gonna be part of this world and school, I need to know the basics, at least."
The Headmaster laughed again. "Oh boy, you really are an interesting lad. Good job finding him, Lilith-chan."
"And on top of all that history, we mages are now in charge of investigating and managing unsolved, potentially magic-related cases worldwide. We also have another name: Magus," the Headmaster continued.
"Hold on, what about the thing Lilith transformed to? Wizard, if I remember correctly," Arata tilted his head to the side.
"Ah, so you did see Lilith's Wizard form. Wizard is a system developed from years of magic research to make a combat system for Phantoms. We call the form the Wizard Mode."
"Phantoms… those monsters from the Sabbat…right?"
"Exactly. Manifestations of magic caused by an influx of magic power into people during a Sabbat. The mechanisms behind the transformations and their purpose are still fuzzy, but we do know that the inherent magic potential of a person plays a role in deciding the power of the transformation," Lilith explained.
"Only mages of the highest caliber can use the Wizard Mode without losing control of the magic power," the Headmaster added.
"So if I become a mage, and acquire the Wizard Mode, then I can get back Hijiri?" Arata asked.
"Who knows? Magic allows for all possibilities," the Headmaster replied.
"Is there a shortcut?"
"Of course not!" Lilith replied. "The mastery of magic requires years of diligent and rigorous training. In any case, it's not possible for a newbie like you to acquire Wizard Mode in a short time, either!"
"But the Headmaster over there just said that magic allows for all possibilities. Won't that mean a shortcut to becoming a mage and acquiring Wizard Mode are both possible outcomes?" Arata retorted.
"Oh boy, he got you good there, Lilith-chan! Yes, I did say that, and there's definitely a way," the Headmaster said.
"Headmaster!" Lilith protested.
"What's the problem with telling him? I have a good feeling about this kid," the Headmaster waved his hands around.
"Listen well, Arata-kun. In this Academy, there are seven mages who are like boss characters in a game," the Headmaster's expression darkened.
"The Trinity Seven."
"Trinity…Seven?" Arata repeated.
"That's their collective name. They're seven female mages who each stand at the top of their specialty, and the only seven in this school who have access to the Wizard Mode, each having mastered a different element. Of course, Lilith-chan is included, controlling the fire element," the Headmaster explained.
"Is she now? Well, she does have a nice figure," Arata commented.
Lilith gasped and tried to cover her body with her arms. "M-My figure has nothing to do with this!"
"Anyway, what I'm saying is that if you meet the Trinity Seven and make them your allies, you could go up the ranks pretty quickly. Making them your pawns is fine."
"I see…so I'll have to make them my harem, huh…" Arata replied thoughtfully.
"H-Harem?!" Lilith flushed bright red.
"That's right~"
"Don't agree with him, Headmaster!"
"Seriously…" Lilith sighed as she shut the door behind her. "Please do not take everything the Headmaster says seriously, alright? He is a brilliant mage, but normally…"
"Is that so?" Arata replied, only half-listening.
The Trinity Seven…there are six more with that kind of overwhelming power? Arata thought, remembering Lilith's fight against the Minotaurus.
Just then, he felt a slight dissonance. "Huh?" He looked up at the ceiling, which seemed normal, but he noticed a square section which was slightly different, like someone pasted a sheet of paper of exactly the same pattern over the ceiling.
As he watched, the paper peeled off and someone poked their head out from underneath. It was a teenage girl with a fluffy brown ponytail and long bangs covering one eye. A pink scarf was wrapped around her neck.
"Oh, so you noticed my presence," the girl stated.
She quickly peeled off the concealing sheet and leapt off the ceiling, landing on one knee in front of Arata and Lilith. She was dressed in the Biblia uniform, but with a green tie in place of the ribbon and a sleeveless vest instead of a blazer. A band holding thin silver needles was wrapped around her right thigh and three kunai hung from her belt. She also wore mismatched socks, with the right reaching to the middle of her calf and the left up to her thigh, and slightly baggy.
"Awesome. You're a ninja!" Arata exclaimed.
"Cool, huh?" the girl grinned at Arata.
"Nice to meet you, Kasuga Arata-san. The name's Kazama Levi, an honest-to-goodness ninja," the girl introduced herself.
"Wait, you're not a mage?" Arata asked.
"Ninja arts, astrology, even bedroom techniques… they all fall under the category of magic. Isn't that right, Lilith-sensei?" Levi explained.
Lilith paused for a second, then her face glowed red after processing Levi's words.
"Wait, bedroom techniques?" Arata was confused.
"Th-That's none of your concern!" Lilith stuttered.
"Pure as usual, Lilith-sensei. By the way, the third one was a joke," Levi clarified.
"A-Anyway," Lilith cleared her throat softly. "Levi-san here is one of the Trinity Seven."
"Really? Then you must be pretty amazing, huh?" Arata said. He then noticed the hand-shaped buckle in Levi's belt.
"Yeah, well, I am really amazing. I'm a ninja, after all," Levi puffed out her chest. She leaned in towards Arata. "I know e~verything from assassination to the really erotic ninja techniques. Want me to teach you?"
Before Arata could respond, Lilith cut in between them, flailing her arms about. "H-Hey, hey, hey!" she shouted, her face redder than ever.
"Well, I'm just kidding," Levi said as she took a few light steps back. "You seem like a pretty straightforward guy. I find that fun."
"Yeah, well, as far as I can tell, I'm just acting normal," Arata replied, a bit embarrassed.
"No, you are definitely a weird person, Arata," Lilith pointed out.
"By the way, what are the rest of the Trinity Seven like?"
"Ah, it just so happens two of them are there," Levi replied, pointing out the window. Following the direction of her finger, Arata saw two girls walking down the path from the school. The shorter of the two had blond hair, cut short except for a bit at the back, which hung like a ponytail. Her uniform had a purple tie in place of the ribbon matching her sharp purple eyes. The taller girl had long black hair reaching down well past her back, with a neat fringe. She only wore a white shirt left open at the bottom to reveal her belly button, and a long skirt with a slit along the side. A yellow armband was wrapped around her arm, with runes carved into it. Both of them had the same hand-shaped buckle on their belts.
"Hmm, I'd say the blond one is a first-year, and the big one a third-year…by bust size, blonde gets 75 out of 100, and the other one an 85…" Arata mumbled.
"Wow, assessing women based on bust size. An enemy of all girls like the paper said," Levi commented.
"Huh? I said that out loud?"
"Anyway, the blonde is Yamana Mira-san, and the other is Fudou Akio-san. I suppose they're off for an information control mission as usual," Levi continued.
"So they're really powerful, too?"
"But of course. That's a given for the Trinity Seven. In terms of pure ability, Mira-san surpasses even our child prodigy Lilith-sensei here, and Akio-san is unrivaled in terms of attack power," Levi replied.
What's with those descriptions like they came out of a battle manga…? Arata thought wryly. Then another question occurred to him.
"Why are the Trinity Seven all girls?" he asked.
"Well, magic is the research of the mind and emotions. So girls are naturally more suited to it," Levi replied.
"So it's better to be emotional? Like being honest with your desires, and things like that?"
"N-Not exactly like that! You have to show restraint with such things…" Lilith trailed off.
"I didn't even specify what kind of desires I'm talking about. What could you possibly be thinking about, Lilith?" Arata teased.
"Th-That…"
"See that? She's blushing. Despite how you act, you're pretty naughty, aren't you, Lilith-sensei?" Levi added.
"N-No! It's just-" Lilith slapped a hand over her mouth to cover the squeak she let out.
"Just what, Lilith?" Arata asked. Both him and Levi closed in on Lilith, teasing grins on their faces.
Lilith turned redder and redder, then pulled out her rifle out of nowhere and pointed it at Arata's face.
"Eh?" Arata said dumbly.
What followed was a gunshot, an explosion, and Arata's pained scream through the corridor.
"You got off easy," Levi said as she stuck another bandage on Arata's face, making the boy jump in pain. The two were now in Arata's room, where Levi volunteered to patch the boy up from his 'shooting practice'.
"That was easy? If I didn't dodge, my head would be all over the walls right now! Lilith's pretty emotional, that's for sure," Arata griped.
"On the contrary," Levi said. "I've never seen Lilith-sensei having so much fun."
"Fun?" Arata asked sarcastically. If that's having fun, the magic world's more screwed up than I thought.
"She's usually a total ice princess. She was distant from everyone until a couple of weeks ago," Levi stared at Arata thoughtfully. "If she acts differently around you, you might just be special…"
"Huh?"
"It's nothing. Don't mind me."
"…"
"Well, that's that. I'll see you around," Levi gave a little wave and leapt onto Arata's windowsill.
As she was about to jump out, both of them felt a chill. Levi quickly drew a kunai from her belt while Arata leapt off the bed.
"Show yourself!" Levi shouted.
"Oh boy, caught already?" A voice echoed through the room. The voice cackled as the room darkened slightly. A patch of darkness appeared on the floor and from the shadow, a monster emerged.
The monster's head had a mane shaped like raging flames, with a bright blue rhombus gem set in its forehead. Its face was a blank black space, framed by what looked like a large mouth with sharp teeth. Its body was black, with silver armor on its upper body and tongues of flame lining its arms, legs and two tongues running from the front of the shoulders to his back, looping over his shoulder.
"A Phantom! How did you sneak into the school?" Levi pointed her kunai at the monster.
"Heh, that barrier is nothing to the great Hellhound-sama! I can just sneak in through the shadows," the Hellhound Phantom bragged.
"You know, now we know to take measures against that," Arata pointed out.
"Whatever! I just need to kill you, boy!" Hellhound spat. He tilted his head back and a ball of fire gathered in front of his face where his mouth would be. The fireball was sent flying straight at Arata.
"Whoa!" Levi quickly parried the ball of flame out of the window, where it exploded.
"Tch… A Wizard…" Hellhound growled, noticing Levi's belt.
"Glad you get it. Now…" Levi pulled out a scroll from under her scarf, placing it between her teeth.
"Connect to the Invidia Archive…" Levi chanted. A green glow bathed the room. "Execute Theme…" She formed a seal with her hands. "Overwriting with Hurricane!" She thrust her palms out in front of her and the scroll in her mouth glowed green, turning into two balls of light that landed on each of her middle fingers. Levi displayed the rings on her hands. On her right hand was the Driver On Ring, and in her left was a similar ring to Lilith's, but with an emerald cut into a downward-pointing triangle.
Levi grinned as she scanned her Driver On Ring.
=DRIVER ON, PLEASE=
She shifted the lever and flipped the visor over the gem on the ring.
=SHABADOOBIE TOUCH HENSHIN, SHABADOOBIE TOUCH HENSHIN=
"Henshin!" Levi called and scanned her ring.
=HURRICANE, PLEASE~=
=FU, FU, FU-FU, FU-FU!=
As her belt sang the chant, Levi raised her left hand above her head, forming a green magic circle with wind blowing from it. She leapt through the circle and then landed lightly.
Levi was now clad in a similar battle suit to the one Lilith had on just yesterday, but with triangular emeralds on the chest area of the longcoat, an emerald green chestplate, and similarly-colored cuffs and a brilliant green on the inside of her longcoat. Her helmet had the same design as her ring, with an emerald mask instead of a ruby like Lilith's.
Levi swapped her Driver On Ring, scanning the new ring on her Driver.
=CONNECT, PLEASE=
Levi reached into the green magic circle and pulled out a sword. The sword looked similar to the gun Lilith wielded, with a similar hand-shaped scanner at the hilt.
Flipping the sword to hold it in a backhand, Levi charged at the Hellhound, who ducked Levi's first swing, but got kicked squarely in the stomach in exchange.
"Not the best place to fight," Hellhound growled. "Let's take this outside!"
With that, Hellhound grabbed Arata by the neck and dragged him out of the window. Levi quickly followed after them, sending a blade of wind towards the Hellhound. The blade grazed Hellhound's shoulder, but was sufficient to make him release his grip around Arata's neck.
The Phantom and Arata both landed on the grass with a thud, while Levi propelled herself towards the Hellhound with a miniature tornado. She slashed the monster across the chest as she passed, then redirected the wind to rush past him again, slashing as she did so. As she repeated the attack over and over, the Hellhound slowly got lifted into the air by the wind generated around him.
Levi finally stopped her barrage and the monster began falling to the ground.
"How do you like that?" Levi taunted.
The Hellhound, who seemed to be unconscious, suddenly let out a snort of laughter and shifted himself to fall headfirst. As he touched the ground, he sank into the dark shadows.
"What?" Levi and Arata shouted at the same time.
"You forgot already? I can travel through shadows. Anyway, the wind element has next to no effect on me. Thanks for the breeze, though," the Hellhound cackled, his voice seemingly echoing through the field.
Levi landed and looked around, trying to find the Phantom.
As Levi was looking around, Arata noticed the Hellhound's mane poking out of the shadows behind the Wizard.
"Levi!" he shouted as a warning, but it was too late. The Hellhound's upper body emerged from the shadows and drew a metal long sword with a V-shaped hilt. He delivered a slash to Levi's back, making the Wizard double over.
The Hellhound ducked back into the shadows, then appeared in another spot, kicking Levi in the face before diving back again. Arata could only watch as Levi got beaten up.
Grr…where's that grimoire when you need it? Arata thought.
"You called?" the grimoire's voice sounded in Arata's head as it materialized, hanging around Arata's neck like a necklace.
"Hey, I can use magic with you, right? Hurry up and let me fight!" Arata urged.
"…Nope, no can do. No Theme, no connection to the Archives, no magic," the grimoire said with finality.
"What the hell does that mean?"
"In short, you can't do magic."
"Man, you're useless," Arata groaned.
"How rude! It's not my fault you're incompetent," the grimoire retorted.
"But we have to help Levi somehow…"
Levi finally collapsed on the ground, motionless. The Hellhound finally emerged and stepped out of the shadows. He snorted at the downed Wizard and began walking over to Arata.
"Arata…san…" Levi grunted. She tried to move her body, but her weakened state rendered her immobile.
"This ends it," he announced as he raised his sword above his head.
Just before the blade hit Arata, the sound of metal clashing resounded. Opening his closed eyes, Arata saw a blue magic circle in front of him, with a blade extending out of the circle and blocking the Phantom's sword. The blade parried Hellhound's blade and vanished into the circle.
"What?" The Phantom growled.
"Sorry, but I can't allow you to kill him," a quiet female voice spoke. Despite the soft tone, the voice seemed to freeze the very atmosphere.
"Who-?" The Hellhound looked up to the rooftop and gasped. Following his gaze, Arata saw a small female figure standing on the roof, holding a bladed staff almost as tall as her.
The girl jumped off the roof and landed between the Hellhound and Arata, striking the Phantom in the stomach for good measure.
Arata looked at the girl, who stood facing the Hellhound, and nearly let out a gasp.
H-Hijiri?!
The girl before him was short, and had the same short light blue hair as Arata's missing cousin, and dressed in the Royal Biblia uniform. However, Arata noticed that the girl before him had hair in a shade of ice-blue, much lighter than Hijiri's.
The girl wordlessly stabbed her staff, on closer inspection a glaive similar in design to Levi's sword, with the blade below a gun barrel, into the ground and placed her right hand over the front of her waist.
=DRIVER ON, PLEASE=
"Another Wizard?!" the Hellhound shouted.
Another member of the Trinity Seven… Arata thought.
The girl lifted her left hand. In the faint light from the windows of the dorms, Arata spotted a blue sapphire in a marquis cut.
"Don't fuck with me!" the Hellhound shouted as he blasted a stream of flames at the girl.
"Henshin," the girl said in an almost-whisper.
=WATER, PLEASE=
=SUI~, SUI~, SUI~, SUI~=
The girl raised her palm towards the incoming fire blast. A magic circle of water emerged and drowned out the flames, then passed over the girl's body to form a battle suit like Lilith and Levi's, but with blue coloring, diamond-shaped sapphires on her longcoat and a sapphire mask.
The girl pulled her glaive off the ground and quickly closed the distance between her and the Phantom, stabbing him directly in the middle of his chest. A huge gash appeared in the Hellhound's armor, which broke and fell to the ground with a clatter.
The girl continued to slash at the monster, pushing the Hellhound further and further back.
"Don't look down on me!" the Hellhound blocked the next blow and blew fire at the girl.
The blue Wizard was buffeted by the fire, allowing the Phantom to pull away from her. However, the flames quickly died and the girl looked no worse for wear.
"What?" the Hellhound looked positively frightened by now.
"Sorry, fire has no effect against my water element," she replied. Then, she opened the scanner on her glaive.
=COME ON A SLASH, SHAKE HANDS!=
She scanned her ring and began spinning the staff.
=WATER, SLASH STRIKE: SUI-SUI-SUI, SUI-SUI-SUI=
She swung horizontally at the Phantom, producing a blade of water that sliced through the Hellhound's body like butter.
"No…This is…" the Hellhound could only groan as water bubbled from his wound and he vanished in a huge explosion of water, showering the three in the field.
"Ah, sorry you had to step in," Levi apologized as she finally regained enough strength to get up. She disengaged her Wizard Mode in a shower of green gems.
"…It's fine," the girl replied as she disengaged her own Wizard Mode. She turned to look at Arata, who felt himself stiffen. The girl had tired-looking eyes, colored a brilliant gold, and a sprig of hair stood up from her head like an antenna. Her tie was a sapphire blue, like her Wizard Mode
The girl wordlessly stared at him for a few minutes, then started walking back into the dormitories.
"Wait! Who are you?" Arata called after her.
The girl stopped, and seemed to hesitate before responding.
"…The bride of the demon lord. Or so I've been told."
With that, the girl left.
"Ah, Arin-san's emotionless as usual," Levi commented.
"So her name's Arin, huh," Arata's words came out as a statement rather than a question.
"Yup. Kannazuki Arin. She's a ball of mystery, that one," Levi slowly got up.
"Whoa, you sure you're alright like that?" Arata asked.
"Don't worry about it. I'm a ninja, after all. A few herb treatments and a good night's sleep will fix it. And on that note, I'll take my leave, Arata-san," Levi bowed, then disappeared through the dormitory doors.
"Hey, grimoire," Arata called.
"Yeah?"
"Is Kannazuki Arin…?"
"Nope," the grimoire answered his unfinished question instantly. "She looks like Hijiri, but she's completely different on the inside, at least from what I can tell."
"But she's definitely connected to Hijiri somehow. I can feel it," Arata insisted.
He heaved a huge sigh.
And on top of that, the Trinity Seven. I get the feeling they're going to be important to me too. They have the means to help me find Hijiri, I just know it.
Arata raised his hand in front of the moon and clenched his fist, just like he did with the black sun.
I'll get stronger, and I'll find you, Hijiri. I promise!
As Arata made his declaration under the moonlit sky, a battle was occurring someplace else.
A Phantom scurried behind a pile of rubble to catch his breath. The Phantom had light grey skin with black patches on his lower arms, shins and chest. Orange-yellow spikes protruded out of his shoulders and the sides of his thighs. On his chest, eight orange petal-shaped growths glowed brightly, which didn't help in making him less visible in the darkness. His head was like a feline's with pointed ears and a bushy mustache.
"Man, what a pain. I didn't sign up for no manhunts!" he complained in English with a thick Southern accent. (A/N: This goes out to those who may complain about such things. Yes, I'm writing in English, I know. But all characters are speaking Japanese by default because, you know, they're in an anime setting.)
A rumble was heard, then the pile of rubble behind the Caitsith Phantom was reduced to dust.
"Don't bother running further. You will be picking bits of yourself off the ground if you do," a female voice called in English, with only a hint of a Japanese accent.
"Crap!" the Phantom cursed. He stared at the glowing ball of electricity floating in front of him. A bright flash and buzzing followed, then the Phantom was no more.
Another two flashes of bright light, one purple and one yellow, lit up the ruins. From the shadows, two girls stepped out into the moonlight.
"Whew, that dragged on late," the taller girl commented, dusting sand out of her silky black hair.
"That Phantom was indeed persistent in escaping," the other girl, a blonde, agreed.
"So, shall we get going, boss?" Fudou Akio grinned at her underclassman.
"We will find a place to stay for the night and return to the academy first thing tomorrow," Yamana Mira agreed.
"I heard that we have a demon lord candidate in the Academy. That impurity must be dealt with swiftly."
