In The Academy As Sukuna

Ch 53 - The Invasion

"The world will not end with a bang, but with the slow, creeping terror of something unstoppable."

.

(POV: Aiden Arceid)

My footsteps echoed in the narrow hallway, silent, and damp. The air was cold, but I felt nothing.

There was a bag in my hand, a black one, that seemed to carry something quite heavy.

The object inside it was slightly glowing, its light leaking out of the fabric.

I descended deeper, through the place the miner's had so professionally unearthed.

They had done their job well.

My lips curled up into a half-smile. Money, it was something that had stayed the same for all the time I had lived. Enough of it can buy anything.

The stone walls around pulsed with a dark energy, one that would send chills down anyone's spine.

I, however, was unaffected by it.

After all, how could a demon be affected by demonic energy?

I chuckled a little, a dark, hollow chuckle which sounded like a low whistle as it reverberated off the walls.

"I almost forgot..." I muttered, the smile on my face not fading. "...where I came from."

It had been so long... so tiring, that I had almost forgot my origins, I was a pure demon after all.

I stopped my thoughts as I reached the final room, pulsating with a deadly concentration of demonic energy.

I walked closer to the portals, my smile growing wider with anticipation.

I placed the bag down with a loud thud, admiring the deep black portals, the violent energy circling them only helping to fill me with more excitement.

I opened the bag, taking three huge chunks of stone out, placing one under each portal with accuracy.

Mana Stone 33.

Not as good of a demon repellent as Mana Stone 34, but still one.

Not was it permanent, it'd hold out for at most a few hours before cracking into pieces.

"Perfect," I whispered, my hand running across the rough, glowing surface of the stone.

I slowly stood up, gazing at the portals, feeling a familiar sense of anticipation.

The corners of my mouth lifted, forming a dark grin on my face, a sight which rivaled the aura of the portals themselves.

But then, a thought came up, one which made me unexpectedly laugh.

Sukuna.

Not the Sukuna I had made a deal with, but a different one with the same name.

And he too was, undeniably, a monster.

(Flashback)

The sun was just setting, it was a beautiful evening, the sky clear, a beautiful orange, almost too pretty.

However, on the ground, there was a river of blood flowing out, almost as if the sky was being painted on the land.

In the midst of this brutality, I was standing, panting.

Blood flowed from seemingly every part of my body. One of my eyes was torn out, my arm broken, turning deep red and blue.

My steps were unstable. I didn't have enough energy to heal myself.