[OP: ]

“It is ready, headmaster.”

In some corner of this world, a part of a certain scorched land wass revitalised under the unique magic and care of some special individuals who had long mastered their craft.

“The invitations have been sent, the dates have been decided, there is not much time left for the conference, so… we shall now finish the preparation from our side as well.”

The lands surrounding this unique space divided from the original space it belonged to were still bright in pulsating.

There was enough heat radiating from each crack on the ground to kill any normal human in a matter of minutes.

The unique energies in the atmosphere were also as dense as they had been before any of this was created.

There was a dorm covering this unique area from the above and inside of this dorm, the upper ground had been turned into something that could produce good enough natural life.

It was thanks to the combined efforts of the headmaster, and people like him who were on the committee that was in charge of the Conference this time around.

These people, though masters of their craft, were not as famous as the people who would be attending the conference itself.

Many of them were only known by a few of the people who would be attending and many of them would be unknown people that most of them had not even heard about.

Not anyone could be in this community since it was composed of people who did not have any particular faction that they belonged to or were extreme neutralists that had no interest in worldly affairs.

“Good work, Lady Topaz. You can continue with your duties.”

“Please take some rest when you get the chance to be headmaster.”

The lady endowed in unique clothing that covered her completely from the top of her head to her toes, bowed to the headmaster before flying down to the ground.

They were floating in the air as they observed the area below them.

The protective dorm was a creation of the combined efforts of the best barrier masters, people proficient with Runes, people who were masters of Magic engineering and people who knew how to create things.

They worked alongside the headmaster to make the dorm so impeccably unique that not even the headmaster himself would be able to breach it or detect it in any manner.

Not many people knew the location of this place, and those who knew it were bound by not an oath but by an established ‘truth’ that restricted sharing of any kind of information that was related to this event or the people related to this event.

And even if they somehow did find this place, they were confident they would not get past the dorm, much less somehow enter the area that was created underground– an area that was practically surrounding a pool of lava from all sides.

Not even the demons would survive the atmosphere that was present under the ground so this was just the right kind of environment that they needed given the seriousness of this conference.

“Haaa…”

Headmaster had worked tirelessly for the creation of this place, for the establishment of new rules that the participants of the conference would have to follow, and this time around, he had made sure that every single person that somehow could impact this world was present for the conference.

The topics that would be discussed this time around were all very serious. Not even he himself will have any kind of absolute control of the flow that this conference would go to.

There will be things that the attendees will be confused about, things that they will be curious about, things that they will find absurd and things that will cause many commotions, but– he trusted the people who would be responsible for presenting the given agendas.

‘They are moving again.’

Just a few days ago when he started sending out the invitations, he received many reports of how there were unnatural activities in various areas of the world.

At first glance, these activities would not look connected in any manner. But, if someone saw the way the things that were happening, the way the demonic followers were moving, or how there was presence of completely natural phenomenons, they would find that everything was somehow connected to some abnormal presence that did not leave any solid trace behind.

‘What exactly are they after…?’

They weren’t the same as the Rakshasas where they wanted to cause pure chaos by destroying elements of nature and causing mindless trouble for everyone.

He had dealt with the Rakshasas and he knew better than anyone else just how dumb and easy those people were to deal with.

They acted independently, they were very strong– some much so that even he would have difficulty dealing with someone who was directly contracted with a demon of Marquis rank and above.

He had surely dealt with those who were contracted with some of the highest ranking demons and he knew how they worked, so this new kind of demonic force that had just started moving was completely unknown to him.

They were somewhat of an organised organisation that was more sane than any normal demon contractor, they had complete control of their power, and in addition to that, they did things that the headmaster would expect from the underworld organisations that caused chaos for their own gains– not the demon contractors who immediately losses a part of their sanity when they contract with the demons.

‘And then the Kaksha…”

These demonic cultists were highly trained individuals as well.

They were talented and their talents were refined like a knight, they were knowledgeable like a mage, and they followed commands like that of a specially trained assassin unit.

They were good… and that concerned the headmaster even more.

‘Haa…’

The happenings in the temple were even more concerning to him.

And if it wasn’t for his student council members, he might have never even paid any attention to these things until it was just too late.

‘Who would have thought?’

A divine curse, something that had once destroyed a large part of a parallel world, something that possessed enough power to even destroy the divine beings was now in their world.

The blessed city was now filled with cursed beings who were just like a ticking time bomb… and it was somehow connected to the gods that the people in the temple served.

‘Haaa… It is good that THEY are going to attend this time as well.’

He did not like dragging people who were busy maintaining the ■■■. But he had no choice but to insist on their presence this time around.

‘Eon…’

Thinking back, when he first met the boy, he did not think they would get so close.

He had never thought he would teach his own unique magic to someone who was not even old enough to officially marry someone under the laws of his state.

Age surely did not matter, surely, but when he first met him, when he first met the being that he was accompanying, when he first felt the same kind of energy as the being that had caused hundreds of deaths and was one of the strongest creatures he had ever fought with his complete powers… he wanted to capture both of them on the spot.

Had they not met in the house of atraxia surrounded by a blessed individual, two King ranked knights, and someone who might change the elder council for good in the near future, he would surely have captured both of them and had quested them under the effect of his spells.

The existence of that energy alone was a threat to human lives and the fact that there was someone who possessed those energies clearly meant they were a threat to this world and the smooth functioning of this world.

He did not know what that power was back then and he did not know it to this day. But, he at least knew it was nothing as simple as Arcana or his Aether.

It was something else, and it was much closer to its origin than any other energy he had come across.

‘Thankfully…’

As time passed and he understood this unique Boy, he came to know there were still some things that he had not witnessed even after living so many centuries.

That boy changed his perception regarding many things in this short time they had been together, and… he trusted him.

He trusted him enough to let him present something so crucial to the hundreds of influential people who practically were responsible for the world equilibrium.

He was still a boy, he understood that much. Facing the kind of people that would be attending this time around would not be easy for him. But, he knew he would do it.

He was not weak, and he for sure knew much more than he himself did.

‘Rules are meant to be broken… as She says.’

Age, background, limitations… all of that was merely subjective.

He might be living his second life but he had suffered much more than most of the Humans in this conference might have gone through in the time he was in his world.

He was born here, so he was a part of this world ultimately.

He wasn’t some outsider or some foreigner.

In this grand nature, he was the same simple element as him. And yet, he knew truths, he could do things that he had believed to be impossible, he knew things that no one should, things that were forgotten by the present and things that even he did not know about.

“Headmaster, would you please take a look at this list.”

“Yes.”

There was not much time left for the conference anymore. But, he knew they were going to have a little more time together.

And he wanted that time to be as meaningful as possible.

“Alright.”

There were still many things that he needed to learn from that Boy, there were still many things that he needed to learn as a Headmaster, and there were still many things he needed to learn as a Mortal.

The world was going to move towards a dark era… but he knew his role in this dark age was not going to be any less crucial than that boy, the Guiding Lantern who will raise those who will save this world when the True evil truly rises from their dark den.

Their time together will be limited in the future. But until they were together… he wanted to make as much of it as anyone possibly could.