I regressed and became the Sword Ice King

Down the skies to the grounds below, the effect of the battle swam through like liquid butter.

With ease, it crumbled everything in a tidal wave of destruction.

Pulling what was left of the Academy to its knees.

Buildings. Debris. Trees. Ponds. Statues.

Everything was laid to waste before the eruption of cosmic energy that shuddered through the skies.

The students who were left to suffer under the weight did so with unrestrained pain.

Phestus and the others were either on their knees or flat on the ground, pressed under the magnitude of the beings who hovered in the air.

Their wills were completely sealed within this very battle.

Locked in the hot air and vividly erratic rainstorm.

The downpour continued, but its contents had been turned red.

It splashed with steam.

Hot molecules bubbled in the raindrops while they scorched the earth.

Under this heat, they burned.

Phestus, who knelt in front of the group had been observing for a while.

His gaze locked on the Portal, a distance away.

Ironically, only this one stood, while the rest dispersed the moment the being appeared.

It seemed like Kira had forgotten them during her encounter, but her goal remained the same.

The students needed to leave. By hook or by crook.

Phestus had gotten the message.

In fact, they all did.

But right now, despite the Portal appearing so close. And the fate of the Academy drawing nearer still, they couldn't reach it.

Why? Because they could not move.

'This isn't an effect of the battle.' Phestus realized, but any smart individual would have figured this out.

What made them unable to move wasn't the unprecedented effect of the battle, but the aura of one individual.

The Crimson Lord.

'This is Aura Force.'

Aura Force was used by Knights.

A form of application of their will through their blades and energy.

It surges out and restricts their enemy. Bounding them clasped in a cage until they let go.

How were they supposed to set themselves free if the source didn't want them to?

Just then, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

A subtle one, yet firm.

He didn't need to turn back.

His body was already used to it, and he could recognise it, even in his sleep.

"Wha– What's the plan, Phestus?"

Despite the force, Rebecca spoke.

Phestus choked hard at the thought.

'I can't even move my lips yet she's able to talk?'

A scowl formed on his face, darkening the edges as he knelt, frozen in place.

Rebecca observed from behind him, then slowly lifted her arm away.

'He's feeling overwhelmed again.'

She let the thought sink in before she slowly turned her head back.

'The only reason I'm able to move as such is because I have some aura left…he wouldn't take that as a response even if I gave it to him.'

Glancing around, she caught a view of those who resisted. Kneeling on one or both of their knees.

Louis. Jane. And finally, Raph.

It was expected that they would.

Louis used murderous Intent, so unlike the others.

He fell to his knees. His body hovered over Mariam protectively.

His energy continued to exude from his form, and its effect reduced the pressure of the force.

Jane made use of divine mana. Now, while that may seem to be the same thing, the surface was different.

That difference enabled him to resist a little.

Finally, Raph.

Unlike others, he was consistently forcing himself back up.

He resisted as much as he could to get back on his feet.

He must have had the same thought as the others.

His resistance, though wasteful, was their only way to escape.

The fight with Kira Merlin was hard to predict.

If Kira were to win, the Academy would still get destroyed, and by then. She would be too weak to carry any more people through the portal.

And if she were to lose, the Portals would be gone…and they would be trapped here with the unsightly man, most likely from the Red Peacemakers.

They couldn't leave their fate to chance.

Right now and then– they needed to escape.

The portal was wide open.

Just the extra step needed to safely get everyone through…

But the more she saw him struggle, the more the finality of their situation dawned on her.

'Is there no escape?'

The question thundered.

She turned away.

Observing how the others were sprawled, flat on the ground.

Including Marshall and Koko who both used aura.

They were not even Masters.

Resistance from them would be futile.

'Think, Rebecca. Think!'

The words echoed in her head. Continous. Banging.

A way out was needed.

It was required now.

'How about my trait?' She wondered. 'I can set the heavens filled with an army. Would that set this energy even by a little bit?'

No.

It would simply crumble it.

Flat it out like a pancake.

'It would be useless…' Her pupils darted about her head as she thought deeper.

'But this can't be it. Come on…my trait…my trait…should find a way.'

She bit down hard.

'Trying is better than dying.'

She closed her eyes and reached in.

The deep darkness is obscured by the flow of consciousness into the Great beyond, hidden within the mind.

There, the traits existed with the flow.

The rush of life.

'I am a Knight.'

Something flickered to life from the depths of her chest.

White. Bright.

It existed as a spark, but it grew into something more.

Deeper. Ferocious.

An inferno.

Her trait, THE SOLDIER OF LIGHT, blossomed.

BOOM!

A surge of white blasted from her body in concentric waves.

Surging through the very depths of her heart, out into the skies like a cacophony of radiant energy.

It danced through the air in an outburst, surging through and spreading in a canopy as it suffused the air around them.

The crimson that took the world was ensnared in the white that fought back.

Pulling the pressure that it once pressed on the students.

Rebecca stood.

And the energy screamed.

Her eyes snapped open with the radiant light as she stretched out her arm.

"The goddess favours me…" She began. "Speck of Light."

The light swirled around her arm as it forged into a blade. A long sword of gold and white.

She swung it across the air and a blast of energy pushed the weight around them.

The rain stopped.

The scorching heat dispersed.

And a cool breeze overtook the vacuum it left.

With the pressure gone, their control returned.

And with their control, they glanced up at the woman in white armour.

Her radiant blue hair danced across her back in a concentric wave.

Slowly. One by one. They stood.

Phestus first, and Ciara last.

Their attention was entirely fixed on Rebecca Jun as she stood in their midst as a wall.

Shielding them from the corruption of the scarlet that ate away at her canopy of light.

Their expressions were written in shock and awe.

And perhaps even a bit of reverence.

This woman had just saved their lives after all.

The silence lingered for only a moment before Ciara cut through it with her footsteps.

Steadily, without a drop in charisma, she made her way towards the portal.

The others watched, before Thalia sighed and Raph cleared his throat.

"To the Portal. Now."

Thalia's order came without a hint of hesitation.

They followed Ciara's footsteps and made their way to the only way home.

She stepped through first. Vanishing in the envelope of concentric circles.

Then Louis and Mariam. Marshall and Timothy. Jane, Darrell and Tiara. Koko.

Alicia lingered in front. A bit of hesitation in her movements as she slowly glanced behind to meet the gaze of Raph.

The latter raised a brow.

While her brows knitted as she shook her head, she jumped into the Portal.

Raph tilted his head puzzled, but the girl who stood directly behind Alicia before she departed was more so.

Meadow had a disgusted expression on her face as she looked at the portal.

But it left as soon as it came.

She was about to walk through when she stopped. Then turned.

She glanced straight at Raph.

"I will see you on the other side."

Raph nodded. A small smile on his face.

She sighed as she continued through the portal and disappeared as well.

Now, four were left.

Phestus, Thalia, Raph and Rebecca.

And from their body language, Rebecca could tell they were extremely reluctant.

She turned first to Thalia.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked.

Her voice caused a ripple in the air as a vibrant flow of energy blasted out of her lips.

Her gaze narrowed.

While Thalia folded her hands.

"This is the first time you've used your second trait, Rebecca. We can see that."

Rebecca glanced at the figure who approached from behind.

Watching as the white haired boy nodded in agreement.

"We are aware of your traits…but not this," Raph explained as he looked up at the sky.

"Not to mention…you're planning on joining that battle."

He didn't need more references than he already gave.

They were all aware of what he meant.

Rebecca cleared her throat. Adjusting the current of energy that escaped her as she replied.

"Yes. I will join them. And yes, I haven't used this trait as I am now." She paused. "But how does that have to do with your safety?"

Thalia frowned.

"Sister…were not letting you go in there with a power…not tested…not verified…have you forgotten Father's teachings?"

Raph coughed lightly.

"Not to mention how ridiculously dangerous that sounds.

Even I, who is the most daring, wouldn't think to do that."

Thalia darted a harsh glare at her brother while the latter quickly snapped his gaze away.

A flush of embarrassment, ridding his face.

She shook her head with the click of her tongue.

"How shameless." She whispered before turning back to Rebecca.

"We leave together. Let Kira Merlin handle this."

Rebecca gripped her blade tightly.

"This man…I'm sure we all came to the same conclusion."

Her head darted to the man who stood behind the two.

Quiet and unresponsive as he was, his eyes failed to reveal what he couldn't say.

Phestus stood with a solemn expression.

"This is none other than someone from the Red Peacemakers…far stronger than the others…with an Aura Force strong enough to bring even Kira to a standstill."

"This is…the Crimson Lord…"

The name came in a whisper.

A whisper that sent shivers down the spine of the trio who stood to stop her.

It had been information known only to a select few.

The title the Red Peacemakers used for their leader.

The man who walks with blood.

His presence alone ignited the world on fire.

The Crimson Lord.

Phestus bit down on his lip for a moment.

His fingers pressed into the palm of his hand with restrained anger.

This feeling that had riddled him had returned once again.

One that he thought he abandoned.

He hated it.

He hated himself.

'Hah…what a mess.'

He thought as a sigh escaped his lips.

He turned to the others. Raph and Thalia who had nearly bored a hole through his presence.

They knew Rebecca wouldn't listen to them– but Phestus, she would, a million times over.

"Let her be." He said.

The others' frown quickly deepened.

"If it is a fight she wants to face, then she should."

Thalia opened her mouth to protest, but Raph held her back.

She glanced at him and he simply shook his head.

This was a decision between the two of them.

If they thought it right, then further refusal would be ignored.

Rebecca smiled sheepishly. "Thank you, Phestus."

Raph and Thalia sighed as they turned to walk away when…

"But…"

Phestus's voice snapped back to normal.

His former composure was regained as it boomed in the air.

They whipped their heads towards the man as he continued.

"We fight with you."

Rebecca's eyes bulged slightly in surprise as she prepared to refute, when…

SNAP! BOOM!

A sudden explosion crashed down the white canopy and the pressure resumed in full force.

The world basked once again in the crimson hue and the Portal, shattered.