"Easy now Zagan. For someone who just came back from getting his ass kicked and losing my brother to the opponent, you're oddly talkative…and a bit too cheerful." Zagan's intrusion couldn't mess up Mana's mood, and she reclined on her throne, head tilted as she nailed the Undead King with an unnerving look.
"Mhm…now that I think about it, your name sounds way too much like Ba'al Agan. Please tell me you won't turn into the Heavenly Demon in my sleep."
"I promise that I won't."
"Good. I'd kill you if you did—for good this time. Undead King, don't waste your second chance at life by being a busybody. It will not end well."
"Hohoho! Noted…"
"And from now on, your name is Zaga. Yeah…Zaga is better. Or Zag…but Zaga's probably fine. Which one do you prefer?" Akamana asked in a merry but serious tone, the words making her court jester blank out in a stupor.
"Zaga it is then!" Akamana baptized her servant, Zaga's jaw dropping a little as the Grand Priestess leaped out of her seat, gliding across the throne room like a swan taking flight.
"Ah, was life always this light? I feel like the weight of a thousand worlds has been taken off my shoulders. Truly…incomparable. I must protect this sensation for as long as I breathe, and the one who infected me…with the poison of bliss," Akamana whispered, her words laced in mystical energies that pervaded the air and altered the world as her arms arced up, fingers weaving like a maestro.
[Heaven and Hell Redressed: Enlightened World of Death]
The Grand Priestess closed her eyes, and to Zagan's shock, the entirety of the Mainyu Archipelago…turned into a world of blazing green flames, tongues of balefire coiling up redwood trees, lighting up forests and setting grasslands ablaze!
Anyone who touched those flames could abandon their humanity to receive demon blood. Some weren't given a choice, hypnotized by their greed and latent desires. The trees took a life of their own, smiling as the flames' allure seduced legions, transforming tens of thousands into crowds of demonic creatures.
The citizens of Mainyu couldn't believe their eyes. The aristocracy was at a loss, and even Zaga…found himself breathless. For having finally attained inner peace, Akamana completed…her Pyromantic Thesis. But she didn't just stop there, relying on a millennium of experience to master the Pyretic Unity—becoming one with her Flames and Thesis.
Combine that with her Divine Integration, and the Grand Priestess had become an entity that even a Great Demon King like Zaga at his peak would think twice before antagonizing.
Wait…at his peak? When that thought crossed the Undead King's mind, he noticed the overwhelming tides of energies surging from his miniature body—the eyes behind the clown mask trembling uncontrollably.
"100%...I can use…100% of my powers! Speech, skill, thought process…I am complete! Grand Priestess…you have restored a Great King to life! Meaning that…" the words died in Zaga's throat, stifled by the eruption of Akamana's Sid units.
"1…1.55 million? Your Sid Level increased…by 63%...in three days? What did you eat?" Zaga couldn't believe his eyes, his knees buckling as he stabbed his neck to make sure he wasn't trapped in an illusion.
Even prodigies needed centuries of accumulation to increase their Sid Level by 100,000 units. But here she was, adding a whopping 600,000 units in three days!
How you may ask? Mithras is the answer! An answer that kept the Grand Priestess flying through cloud nine.
"What can I say? My cutie pie is the world's finest hubby. His secret juice is something else. More broken than any artifact or secret ritual you can try to come up with.
Altar of the Blood Gods, Black Dragon Stones, Heart of Malice, all trash. Compared to Mithras' fortified milk, they ain't worth a damn," Akamana walked down a flight of flaming steps, humming a leisurely tune as a dark-purple moon appeared in the sky, looming over the whole archipelago!
Mithras' Ritual Stone Mirror appeared in the Grand Priestess' hands, shimmering with divine energies because yes—as all of Mithras' items, abilities, and familiars were improved to the divine class following his Perfection, the Ritual Stone Mirror also rose to the divine class, now more broken than ever.
"Mhm…the first time I saw this thing, I didn't think much of it. But it's clearly broken…in more ways than one. Cutie pie, you don't need that thing anymore. And it'd waste your cash anyway, so how about letting me borrow it for a minute?
I promise I will bring it back…eventually," Akamana kissed the mirror's surface, and summoned her Sid Card, firing millions of Ener Crystals into the Ritual Stone Mirror.
Able to reveal hidden attributes and heal injuries for a price, the Ritual Stone Mirror was always a bit greedy for money. But now that it reached the divine class, it revealed its true talents—enabling the owner to undo curses, evolve and level up their constitutions for a hefty price!
Granted Naifems all possessed exceptional traits by default, the gap between the Ground Pulses and the Astral Pulses was like the distance between the sun and moon—like comparing a pheasant to a phoenix.
Akamana had reached this level as a Ground Pulse Naifem. But thanks to Mithras' milk and mirror, she could now break her shackles—unleashing the forbidden race's full powers!
The Grand Priestess' attributes went through the roof, climbing so fast that Zaga resumed stabbing himself, wondering if his generation wasn't just a riffraff of wastes and failures!
"Mom…you can rest easy now. Your girl has found a man to bother for a lifetime.
Cutie pie, I didn't want to corrupt your light. But since you've resolved to embrace my darkness, I…will be responsible for you. Hold on tight…and never let you go," Akamana threw her head back, heaving a sigh of contentment as her Sid level peaked at 3.3 million!
"Girlies…game on!"
---
Meanwhile, though Mithras had skipped the first three days of class, his name still kept the Academy's lips busy. Male and female students alike discussing the rumors of his sexual prowess, but with drastically different approaches.
"They say he never gets tired, is big like this, and can even…make you vibrate nonstop."
"Vibrate? Like a…you know?"
"Better! Much better! And the blood of dragons and horses!"
"And Blood Nobles!"
"And the looks!"
"Ahhh the fantasy!"
"The fantasies!"
"But we're not in his league…even Celestia is having a hard time. Ohhh!" A group of female students gossiped as they headed towards their Society Meeting—unaware that Celestia was on the sidelines, listening to them from a distance.
If eyes could kill, the poor girls would be dead already, torn to shreds by the Jade-Faced Princess' murderous glower.
"Insufferable! He has yet to go through a proper school day, but the Academy is already turning into a cesspool of degeneracy. Why? Because he's the Devil! What did I tell you? The Devil I said!
Look at his work!" Celestia still couldn't wrap her head around this turn of events.
How did those rumors spread so fast? Now her face swept the floor, and her flawless image on the verge of collapse!
"That useless Red God. Always prancing around like some invincible warrior, all to get punked by his grandson before the girl he chases! Talk about a waste!
But Mithras, don't get too complacent. I might not be able to face you in a standard fight, but the Academy life—especially the Sanctuary, is not about how many cities you can blow up in a minute.
We have yet to see who will have the final laugh!" Celestia pulled in a deep breath, readjusting her hair and checking herself in a pocket mirror to make sure her perfection wasn't tainted. So absorbed Celestia was in her reflection that she didn't notice Mithras walking past her…and ignoring her on his way to a lavender-haired dragoness.
Ishtar sat alone in the Therapeutic Society's examination hall, preparing for a trial she was doomed to ace when large arms wrapped around her waist, casually lifting and spinning her towards a raven-haired Adonis.
Towards Mithras.
"Hello, darling sister."
"Hello, darling brother who abandons his sis to go romp with his teacher for three days straight. I'm so glad you remembered I exist."
"How can you say that? I was just trying to give you space for your reunion with your mommy dearest. I wouldn't dare to intrude on that moment."
"Unbelievable. You're even trying to make this about me when we both know you would have found a way to ditch me and go bed your professor. Morning Star…why are you so lewd?" Ishtar asked with a rare pout, making Mithras realize she truly was a bit mad.
"Awww…are you jealous? So, sweet Ishtar's heart is corruptible after all."
"You'd like that, wouldn't you."
"To bring out the bad in you? Now I don't know a man that'd say no to that privilege." Mithras said with the sweetest of smiles, and leaned in, taking Ishtar's lips into his.
If the sight of two people making out on campus ground was fairly common, Mithras drew attention wherever he went—even to Ishtar who initially tried to make herself discreet.
By the time the audience had processed what was going on, Mithras had broken the kiss, readjusting Ishtar's hair.
"Good luck, love of my life. You can ace this in your sleep and start your journey as the world's number one Divine Physician. I am rooting for you!" Mithras gave his sis a tap on the shoulder, vanishing the moment next—and prompting a new wave of rumors to sweep through the Academy.