Demon King’s Academy

✦ Chapter 1 ✦

「Translator – Creator」

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃

Mount Maita, the sacred mountain of the Kingdom of Franz.

Atop this mountain once stood the Terran Academy, once hailed as the greatest academy on the continent. This academy was where Kyle, the greatest Hero of the continent who had vanquished three Demon Kings, had been raised and nurtured.

But now…

“You’re not fanning me hard enough?”

“I-I’m sorry!”

“Hey, isn’t this Corona Kingdom beer? Let’s share a drink.”

“You bastard!”

It was considered the worst academy.

Its past glory had vanished without a trace, and in recent decades, it had only produced a single hero.

And today, on the most important day of the year, the entrance ceremony…

“Whoa! They’re fighting!”

“Go! Go!”

“I bet five gold on the Algenta family brat!”

“Five gold? I’ll bet ten!”

The auditorium where the entrance ceremony was being held was nothing short of a riot.

Students were shouting, shoving, eating, and drinking; there was no respect for each other, no consideration, and no sense of solemnity for the entrance ceremony.

“Sigh. They’re the same as always.”

“Well, they are our students, aren’t they?”

The teachers, their faces flushed as if they were already drunk, were sprawled in their chairs, chatting among themselves.

“…This is insane.”

“This place is insane.”

Parents who had managed to attend were wiping their foreheads and muttering to themselves.

How could this be a Hero academy?

How could this be the Terran Academy that had once shone so brightly?

It was a reality that was hard to believe.

*Beep! Beep! Beep!*

A grating noise echoed through the auditorium.

“The… the entrance ceremony will now begin.”

At one end of the podium, a teacher with glasses opened her mouth, unable to hide her nervousness.

“Why does Teacher Orca look so nervous? She’s usually lazier than the rest of us.”

“I know, right? Is something wrong?”

“Quiet!”

Teacher Orca raised her voice.

“Please be quiet!”

Her voice, filled with desperation, brought a brief silence to the auditorium. But…

“Hahaha! Look at Orca!”

“She’s so spaced out usually, but she’s even worse today?”

The students’ jeers and the teachers’ sighs filled the auditorium once more.

“Quiet!”

When her shouting proved useless, Orca bowed her head in defeat.

“The entrance ceremony will now begin.”

Ignoring the noise, she simply uttered the words she needed to say.

“Today is the most important day of the year for the Terran Academy… and also…”

In her annual recitation, there was a strange feeling today.

Everyone in the auditorium could feel it.

“Why? Why is she like that?”

“Is something really wrong?”

Something was off.

Even for Terran, which was far from serious, a strange stillness permeated the auditorium at this moment.

— Today is the day the new headmaster of Terran Academy will take office.

Murmurs.

A new headmaster?

“Why?”

“The old headmaster was terrible, but he was perfect for Terran.”

Both — the teachers and the students — were in an uproar.

The headmaster of Terran hadn’t changed in at least thirty years.

It was definitely strange that such an important matter had proceeded without any prior notice.

Murmurs!

The hushed noise filled the auditorium once more.

— So…

Orca let out a deep breath.

It was a harsh breath, as if she were about to die.

— I introduce to you…

Finally, she gathered her courage and opened her mouth.

— Ha… Ha… The new… Ha… Headmaster… is…

She continued to speak, her breath coming in ragged gasps as if she were about to suffocate.

— …Lord Louis Shambel.

*Thump, thump.*

A figure slowly walked up from behind the podium.

He was the new headmaster of Terran Academy, Louis Shambel.

And he was.

“Chaos…”

A name known to everyone on the Caldelan continent.

“The Demon King of Chaos!!!!”

An unprecedented event in the history of Terran Academy, and indeed an unprecedented event in the entire Caldelan continent, was unfolding.

☩

Terran Academy had never been united for over a hundred years.

Even when the Liberation Army attacked the academy, the students and teachers simply shrugged and left the academy to its fate, saying it should just go bankrupt if it was going to.

But now.

“AAAAAHHHH!”

For the first time in over a hundred years, everyone at Terran Academy was united in their screams.

“It’s the Demon King of Chaos!!!!”

The man who introduced himself as the new headmaster stepped onto the podium; his pale skin was so white that you could almost see his veins, and his black hair was wild and unruly.

He wore a black suit.

But the most striking thing about him were the huge horns growing from both of his foreheads.

‘Louis Shambel.’

The name Orca had introduced was known throughout the Caldelan continent for its infamy.

It was none other than the name of the sole king of the Land of Chaos, the Demon King of Chaos .

“Help me!”

“The door! Open the door!”

“AAAAAHHHH!”

The auditorium was already in chaos simply because the Demon King of Chaos had appeared. Everyone was rushing towards the door of the auditorium, and in the chaos, teachers were trampling over fallen students.

Their primal instinct to survive had consumed them completely.

Not a single person thought of fighting back.

“Sigh.”

A small sigh echoed from the podium.

[Shut up.]

Without even using a microphone, an overbearing voice echoed through the entire auditorium.

And amazingly.

“…………”

The chaotic auditorium became as silent as if there were no living beings within; that made the academy students, who were desperately running, stand out even more. If the magic nullification spell hadn’t been activated throughout the auditorium for the entrance ceremony, this place would have already been engulfed in flames.

[Stop being annoying and sit down.]

The voice echoed again.

And another miracle unfolded.

*Stop!*

Those who had been screaming and running like madmen all stopped dead in their tracks.

And as if it were all a play, they all turned around and began to walk slowly.

*Creak.*

They picked up the fallen chairs and dragged them back to their seats. Despite being covered in blood and sweat, the auditorium was now quieter and more solemn than at any other time in Terran’s history.

“Now that’s more like it.”

Louis, standing on the podium, spoke with annoyance.

“As I’ve introduced myself, I am Louis Shambel, the new headmaster of Terran.”

And no one could take their eyes off Louis; their eyes were bloodshot, tears streaming down their faces, but they couldn’t even move their eyeballs.

“Let’s skip the pointless introduction and get straight to the point,” Louis spoke bluntly. “I will cultivate one Hero this year.”

“……..……!”

Terran, which had raised only one Hero in recent decades.

“And within three years, I will raise ten Heroes.”

What kind of nonsense is this Demon King spouting?

“And within five years, a Hero from Terran will defeat a Demon King.”

It was already unrealistic that a Demon King had become the headmaster of Terran, but the stories Louis was telling were just as unrealistic.

*Swish.*

Louis moved.

“That’s all. And if, by any chance, any action is found to be artificially hindering the fulfillment of this promise…”

Here, at Terran Academy.

“Five countries, including the Kingdom of Franz, will be destroyed.”

*Thump, thump.*

Louis disappeared back to where he had come from.

Even long after Louis had left and his Domination spell had worn off…

“I….”

No one moved from where they were.

“This is crazy.”

No one fully understood what was happening.

And some parents, whose memories had been erased by the Domination spell, returned home bewildered, not understanding the changed atmosphere.

This year’s entrance ceremony at Terran could be described as nothing less than a chaotic party.

Even after the whirlwind of events, it was not easy for them to regain their sense of reality.

The day ended quietly, with everyone holding their breath.

Late evening came.

“Shh.”

A group of people gathered in one corner of the playground.

Six teachers, including the swordsmanship teacher Alhandi, and thirty or so students.

Some of Terran’s teachers, including Alhandi, intended to fulfill their role as teachers for the first time today.

“Is this flour?”

One of the students nodded at Alhandi’s question.

“The rest are too scared. They think they’ll die anyway if they leave.”

“.…….”

It’s not that they couldn’t understand.

Most people had lost their will to live because of the appearance of the Demon King of Chaos.

The name Demon King of Chaos was itself a source of terror for the people of the Caldelan continent.

“But it’s better than dying like a dog.”

He didn’t know why the Demon King became the headmaster of Terran.

But one thing was certain — there would be bloodshed.

“There’s a hole in the fence at the back of the auditorium. The new Demon King won’t know about it. We’ll escape through there.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Don’t make a sound. Let’s just get out alive first. And then we’ll tell everyone.”

It wasn’t like Alhandi, who was usually known for being lazy, was doing this for the greater good of everyone, but…

Nodding, everyone agreed to follow Alhandi as their leader, driven by the will to survive.

“Magic.”

At Alhandi’s command, the magic teacher, Caroldi, cast invisibility and sound dampening spells.

And with a flick of his finger, Alhandi gave the signal.

Swiftly and quietly, they moved.

Even though Terran was a fallen academy, its students had still received basic training. Following Alhandi’s lead, they moved.

‘This is easy,’ they thought.

The security was laxer than they expected, and soon, Alhandi and his group reached the ‘hole’ he had mentioned.

“You go first.”

“Teacher!”

“Hurry up.”

The students nodded gratefully at Alhandi’s words.

‘Fools.’

Alhandi smirked.

‘What do they think is waiting out there?’

Their opponent was the Demon King of Chaos, after all; there was no way he would let his prey escape so easily.

“See you outside!”

One by one, the students crawled through the hole in the fence.

And Alhandi focused all his senses, trying to detect any movement outside.

‘Really nothing?’

He heard no sounds of battle, no screams. Or perhaps that was because they were just students.

“Teachers, you go next. I’ll be the last.”

“Alright.”

Even after the teachers had left, Alhandi didn’t feel anything unusual.

‘That’s it.’

This was enough.

Alhandi crawled through the hole and began to crawl forward.

When he finally peeked his head out and saw a faint light, his body froze.

His mouth didn’t open, and his eyes didn’t blink.

What he saw was a scene that was more like a nightmare than reality.

*Clank, clank.*

White skeletons danced.

Heeheehee!

Transparent ghosts flew around, laughing.

Hieeeeee!

A deathly steed reared up, its eyes glowing an eerie blue.

And in the midst of it all…

*Whoosh!*

A figure in a robe, as if dancing, staggered out.

“Are you the last one?”

The creature stood before Alhandi and reached out a hand.

A bone-white finger emerged from the robe and slid across Alhandi’s neck.

“I am the new guard of Terran Academy. My name is Oh Henry.”

“Elder… lich…”

Those were Alhandi’s last words.

*Whoosh!*

All the life force was sucked out of his body and absorbed into Oh Henry’s hand.

“The Demon King said,”

The elder lich pushed Alhandi aside and continued to dance.

“Students are fine. But…”

*Poof!*

The six teachers turned to dust.

“Teachers are not.”

END σϝ CHAPTER