TBATE - Not Bound By Fate

Part 39

"Tess, is everyone ready on your end?" I asked using our rings to make sure she was ready. Today was the day Alacrya would attack the academy, marking the official beginning of the war.

"Yes, I just finished explaining the plan to them. Just waiting for our cue to begin. What about the DC?" Came her reply, her voice calm.

"In position, pretending to patrol." I had explained the situation to the disciplinary committee earlier today alongside their roles. They took the news surprisingly well and were determined to keep the students safe.

I was still a little worried about their well being, but I trusted them to come out of this mess alive. They were stronger than in the last timeline and knew who not to fight.

"Alright, Sylvie just left to get the adventures ready." Tess informed me.

"Perfect. Do be careful Tess."

"You too. Talk to you later, love you."

"Love you too." We both stopped sending mana to our ring and the connection cut.

And so I waited on top of the tower where Cynthia's office was located. It was the perfect spot to keep tabs on the entire campus as it was right in the middle of it, not to mention it was the tallest building on the school.

From my vantage point I could see the students moving about their days, completely unaware and carefree. What a shame this could only last for so long. If it wasn't for Agrona and Kezzes, these kids could've had normal lives, without the burden of war on their shoulders. As much as disliked a good chunk of them, none of them what was about to happen, they are just getting caught in the crossfire between two megalomaniacs with a god complex.

"Arthur, the adventures are in position." Sylvie's report pulled me out of my thoughts and I sent her a mental nod.

A few seconds later I started feeling weird mana signatures all over the school, specially in the Tri-Union Hall. Just as I was about to tell Sylvie about it, there was an explosion in that building and corrupted mana beasts started pouring out. At the same time a barrier formed around the academy, trapping us inside. Well, at least that's what the attackers think. Thanks to Seris, we knew where to find weak points in the barriers and how to disrupt it, making it easy to create holes on it so the students could escape. That's why the Lances were not on campus for this, so they could make a safe path for all the kids and staff.

I jumped down from the roof and began making my way towards the strongest mana signature I could feel while killing any beasts and directing students to evacuate towards one of three points. They were surprisingly cooperative even in a state of panic, some were even helping their fellow students run away.

It didn't take long to reach the Tri-Union Hall, where I saw Draneve ordering his minions around. He turned to face me when I approached and a combination of the members from the radical faction and Alacryans surrounded me.

"If it isn't the boy wonder himself. What do I owe the pleasure of having the only quadra-elemental visit me today?" Draneve said and I could tell from his tone he was smiling behind that mask.

"Someone needs to stop you. Can't let these kids die, it's kind of my job to protect them." I answered to distract him and buy some time for everyone else.

"That's too bad, because it's my job to paint the walls red with their blood."

"Your boss must have horrible taste then, red would look awful for a school." I said with a smirk, thinking this should be enough to piss him off.

And how right I was. The moment those words left my mouth, I could feel the killing intent coming from the Alacryans. Dranave was about to speak, but before he could, one of his men attacked.

From my left, metallic strings ensnared my arm. I looked at them confused for a moment until it clicked. This was Kai's spell, the bastard was actually here. I couldn't help but smile when I realized, unsettling the attackers.

"Oh Kai, you wouldn't believe how happy I am to see you here. I'll make sure to leave you for last."

"How do you know who I am?" He asked, clearly shaken.

"That's for me to know and you to worry about." As I finished, flames covered my body, hot enough to melt the strings, and dashed to my right and started the process of incapacitating my foes.

With Dawn's Ballad in hand, dulled since the objective was to capture as many of the Alacyans as possible. I made quick work of them, occasionally dodging a spell or parrying an attack. When I was done only Draneve, who was trying to gauge my strength, and Kai were left standing.

"Impressive, you would thrive back in our home. Why not join us? We can give you everything you want. Power? Influence? Women? Riches? Just say the word and it's yours, Arthur Leywin." Draneve offered.

"Bold of you to assume I would so much as entertain the idea of betraying my people."

"What a shame. You could've been something." Draneve said, and the moment he finished a fiery tornado erupted from under me.

But much to his surprise, and Kai by extension, I walked out of it unharmed. The only reaction they could give was a click of their tongues as I dashed forward, aiming my sword towards Draneve's neck trying to make him go unconscious, but he dodged on the last second.

Kai kept trying to tie me up with his wires, but they were too weak to resist my fire magic and so never reached me. I kept advancing on Draneve, but he was one slippery batard. I know I'm not taking him seriously, but how the hell is so good at avoiding attacks.

Feeling the Lances mana signatures getting stronger as they got closer to me, I decided enough was enough and burst stepped behind tha main culprit of what could've been a tragedy today and finally knocked him out in one hit to the back of his head.

With the villain of the week out of the way, I turned towards Kai hoping I could use him as a punching bag to pay back what he did on the last timeline, just to see him trying to run away.

Just as I was about to burst step again, he was lifted out of the ground and smashed against it, creating a cloud of dust. As it settled, I could see Aya coming into view as her invisibility spell was coming undone. At that moment I realized proficiency in using Mirage Walk had increased a lot from the last time I saw her using it, meaning she would be a very tricky opponent to deal with in the battlefield and an even better spy than she already was.

She smirked mischievously before talking. "You missed one."

"I was just about to get him and you know it."

"Is that so? Anyways, most of the beasts and attackers have been taken care of. The stragglers can easily be dealt with by the adventurers and your friends." She said with a smile and I nodded in response.

A few seconds after Laea and Varay arrived and we started cuffing the attackers I had dealt with. The process didn't take long and when we were finished we heard glass shattering all around, signifying the barrier had been completely broken.

We made a few rounds around campus to make sure every student was accounted for. While there were some with severe injuries, a few even life threatening, we had enough emitters at hand to make sure they would recover.

I checked in with the disciplinary committee to make sure they were all alright and got their reports and afterwards did the same with the student council and Tess just to make sure I had every bit of information needed to counter whatever bullshit Blaine and the Greysunders would throw at me. And maybe try to get some kind of rewards for my friends, I mean, what leader doesn't reward a work well done. Especially when he can get someone else to pay for it.

But those are thoughts for later, right now I need to mentally prepare for meeting with the council after ensuring my parents everything is fine and I'm not hurt. Mom knew of the plan, but knowing her it's better I go check up on her anyways.

And so I made my way towards the crowd that had formed outside of the academy and searched for my parents to talk to them before having to deal with traitors and Asuras.