In The Academy As Sukuna

Ch 49 - Two Monsters Meet

"The most dangerous adversaries are not those who bravely show their hand, but those who hide it behind a smile."

(POV: Ryomen Sukuna)

It was a nice afternoon, the sun wasn't too bright, its light filtered by the partial cloud cover.

I sat on a bench next to a vast ground, the grass on which glinted in a sweet yellow light.

I leaned back into the bench as I looked at two girls fighting in the middle of the field.

They were Eva and Nect, having a friendly spar.

From this far away, I could hear faint sounds of them shouting something at each other as they fought, probably some friendly banter.

Both of them had improved quite a bit, Eva was using her ice powers more efficiently, using them not just for attacks, but for other stuff like distraction and stunning.

Nect had improved her control a lot. Now, she could at least reduce the amount of mana she emitted, and consequently, wasted.

She does not have a particular fighting style right now, it's mostly brute force, but she told me something about 'liquifying' her mana.

This opens many new doors for techniques. Liquification of mana is something only a handful of people in the world can do, ones that have stupid amounts of control, or stupid amounts of mana.

However, there was something much more important right now.

I gave the girls one final glance as I started walking away, walking across the road to a car parked.

I had already called Winston, who got out and opened the back door of the car for me with practiced grace.

I got in, my face becoming serious and my eyes fixed on the road ahead.

I was going to meet Aiden Arceid.

This was an awaited day for everyone, me, my parents, even Winston seemed to be a little tense.

He started the car, not needing my command, and drove at a steady pace, going towards the heart of the city.

Even though my face was stoic, my head was churning with thoughts as we passed through the familiar roads.

But, I noticed something, the city was quieter than usual.

It wasn't just quiet, but there was an eerie tension in the air, coming from the people outside, and I knew exactly why.

At first, it was a few glares from passersby, their heads turning as they recognized me.

But soon, this hate came out, as a man, walking on the sidewalk, threw an empty bottle at our car, screaming with rage.

"Murderer!"

I slightly flinched, not expecting such a straightforward show of resentment.

This wasn't the first time someone had lashed out at me like this, the massacre had made me a public enemy.

The only reason I wasn't in prison is because of my parents and many other World Nobles who prevented it.

The man's seemed to excite the other people too, who started to throw their garbage at the car, following him.

"It's him!"

"Monster!"

"Killer!"

The hostility seemed to intensify with every passing moment.