I regressed and became the Sword Ice King

A few more minutes had passed now.

And soon, the collective group of people had reached a consensus.

It was time to leave.

They arranged in order.

Leading the group was no other than Phestus, the one and only, President of the Student Council…of the former Academy, at least.

With the imminent destruction of the Academy, there was no saying if the same rules which governed Homeric would abide in the new Academy that would be set up.

But even if it didn't, it wouldn't matter.

'We won't be there by then.'

Glancing at the woman next to him, his world felt calm.

Rebecca glanced at him with the same stoic expression she had always carried, and melted instantly when their gazes met.

A subtle blush formed on her cheeks.

This was practically their last day in the Academy.

Time would be necessary to build another, and by then, they would have moved on to different ventures in life.

Many of the Final Years were aware of this truth, and that included this duo.

Rebecca seemed to have been lost in thought a moment ago.

Something Phestus noticed first.

As they were more than just a pair, he could easily see through that impassiveness she had always learned to uphold.

And because of that, he could tell how greatly she worried.

The uncertainties ahead screamed for such.

Phestus sighed inwardly at the thought, as a smile spread wide on his face.

The girl's face turned red and she instantly snapped away from him.

Phestus chuckled inwardly at her reaction.

'Every time.' He thought, before glancing back.

Thalia stood directly behind them.

Cautious as ever, with her attention focused forward.

She had witnessed their little play and she was evidently not pleased by it.

Still, she kept it to herself.

Phestus could only smile wryly at her restrained expression as their eyes met.

Still, he observed ahead.

Behind her were Raph, Ciara and Meadow.

Standing surprisingly still, side by side with their arms folded.

Patience dripping from their forms while their gazes were fixed ahead.

It was obvious that their minds were far from the present.

They looked like they were concocting the world's best plans for a future that wasn't even certain.

'All assumptions based on facts…'

Phestus thought with a sigh.

Then glancing further back, the others came into view.

Prep and ready.

All awaiting the go-ahead.

It was the final draw.

And seemingly, the last group of students to witness the fall of the Academy.

His gaze lingered on them, just before it drifted to his front.

"Let's go."

Without further ado, they all marched towards the nearest portal.

The one in front of the Hostel Complexes.

Their feet thundered on the wet ground.

Thunder screamed in the heavens as lightning ran through like sickening vines on a black canvas.

The rain, bizarre and ferocious, fell with the sound of drums.

Slamming against the earth in an unrelenting carnage of water and wind.

The air whipped around them.

Subtle breezes whipped past their bodies as they pressed forward.

And amidst all this, was the mana storm.

Trinkets of mana molecules colliding at a speed, impossible to be witnessed or calculated.

Breaking the very foundations of the reality that was the Academy.

It ripped the framework of the Academy.

Loosening the tight knots that had forged it for years.

Patches existed in different parts of the Academy.

The sky. The Earth. Beneath the earth. Everywhere.

And it collectively formed the Mana Storm that uprooted the laws that had guided the Homeric Academy for so long.

Despite all this, the Students in their final years prevailed and stood strong.

Unfaltering in step while they closed the distance between themselves and the Portals.

It was time to leave the Academy. For good.

***

Within the skies, where the elements screamed true. Two figures hovered over the entirety of the Academy in a mask of solemn hue.

Their gazes were sharp as they stared at the group of students covered in the heap of rain and wind.

Obscured by the slow destruction that riddled the Territorial Space.

One had crimson eyes, of which depth held wisdom, intelligence and power.

A far wonder from the sages of the old.

This one was ancient. One that was entwined with an arrogance worth its name.

A dome surrounded her prestige while she stood in the skies like a valkyrie of war.

Only there was no war, only eradication.

Her luxurious, silky onyx hair flicked with the sway of her body as she moved.

Glancing back at the white haired man with a monocle.

"Time is running out."

Rhabanz Dreau frowned.

His world of thoughts was described by the displeasure in his gaze.

"Why are you so eager to destroy my Academy?"

Rhabanz had chosen to remain in his subspace, but Kira had advised against it.

The magic spell she considered to use would have apparently affected his as well, even without a direct link to the Academy.

It was bizarre.

It felt like she was trying to erase everything he had built. As if clearing the evidence of his existence.

Kira, though, seeing his expression, could clearly map out his thoughts.

She observed enough to tell, but that didn't concern her. It never did.

What needed to be done, had to be done.

Regardless of futile emotions.

Still…his expression, for some parts, annoyed her.

And she didn't like it.

"You sound like you're not aware of your circumstance." She stated, catching the man's expression slowly easing.

He was.

Assassins sent to the Academy under his watch.

The livelihood of the children of Nobles was put under great distress with the possibility of death in tow.

The descendants of the Great Family are experiencing a life-and-death situation that should have ordinarily led to their death.

And worst of all…the lack of safety for the Second Princess.

His expression hardened at the thought.

'No one cares about the small fries until it threatens to bring gain for them.'

The King clearly showed no interest in the life of Princess Meadow, but in the King's court. When he is taken for trial.

'It will be used against me…and worse so…exaggerated for their benefits.'

He had avoided overcomplicating matters by thinking about the fate that awaited him, but Kira didn't seem to want to let him.

It was a sharp reminder.

And it settled that argument here and there.

The Academy needed to be wiped out.

It would be one way of ascertaining his life from the King…and the public.

A sort of public justice to shut their mouths.

'This must be one of her plans.'

Rhabanz concluded, as he nodded.

"I recall." He replied.

Kira nodded with a satisfied stare.

Before she glanced away.

A moment of silence continued as they watched the students approach the Portals…then…

"Where is he?"

The mood changed instantly.

Within the dome, the air plummeted– an impossible drop in temperature.

Rhabanz instinctively dipped his head low.

His silence presented his reply.

She sighed.

And the air grew even colder.

"You had one task, Rhabanz. One task."

Rhabanz bit down.

"It was the Mana Reflux. It shut off the pod we secured him in."

"I assumed that much, but you should have put that into consideration."

Rhabanz opened his mouth to speak. To retaliate.

After all, how could he have known that something that dire would have occurred in the Academy?!

Wasn't she surprised as well, when she first heard it?

But then he remembered Merlin's motto.

'Any unpredictable circumstance is simply bad planning.'

She would reply along the lines of something like that, so why bother?

He simply sighed and gave in to her words.

The silence continued, but Kira's sudden chuckle sliced it in perfect halves.

Rhabanz glanced at her with a raised brow, but her chuckle only grew.

It became louder. Fiercer. Rattling.

A shrill cry easily mistaken for the call of a demon.

Persisting in the air with the sharpness of a blade with a mad glint.

Sparkling with the devil's teeth.

Rhabanz visibly shook.

"Wha– What is it?" He asked, but he got no response.

Only, immediate silence.

A moment passed, and it persisted.

Then a few more.

Soon, his skin began to crawl from the tension that prevailed— until

"The Knight of the North."

The name rolled off her tongue with such ease. Such prestige, that it made her lips curl tightly into a vivid smile.

"It will be hard to find another specimen as fascinating as him."

Rhabanz stared at her back in silence. His thoughts reeling in.

'No one has called him that in years…'

He thought to himself. His expression hardened.

"That man has no memories."

Kira hesitated. "True…an Eleventh Star with no memories...sent back into civilisation." She chuckled lightly.

"I can't fathom what will happen now."

Rhabanz opened his mouth. Then he closed it.

This had been his task. His one job in their research.

Keep the specimen safe.

His expression eased as he clenched his fist. Thoughts reeling in.

'I have to take responsibility for this.' He thought to himself.

He raised his head.

"I can–

Suddenly, the World turned Red.

What had been a solemn downpour had suddenly turned crimson like blood.

A blackened night with a moon which struggled to send its luminance across the Academy was turned into a dark shade of crimson devoid of any light.

The air grew heavy as the smell of iron and something deeper took root like a bad omen, and the sky shuddered with an erratic storm of scarlet lightning.

Rhabanz froze on the spot.

Eyes opened. Mouth agape.

Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as his body visibly shook from the sheer weight that absorbed the world.

Kira stood still, but her eyes flared to their widest and her body shivered as her senses flared to life.

As a Merlin, one of her few natural traits was her sensitivity to magic.

Something that she had always found illogical as no one else but her wielded enough magic to spin those senses.

But right now.

Not only did they go off.

But they went off with a bang! Vibrant. Erratic.

Then she sensed it.

A third figure.

A foreign entity that had never been in the vicinity until now.

It startled her. Shook her to her form as the proximity struck her like a backhand.

She refuted it. Tried to deny it. Repressed it.

But it persisted.

And finally, she gave in.

Turning around slowly, her eyes came into contact with it. No, him.

"Kneel, before the Crimson Lord."

The World Screamed.