Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

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After the incident was resolved by an exceptionally angry noble, the military moved in to take control of the campus. They sent additional patrols through the entirety of the academy to ensure that all remaining students and staff were accounted for.

Commander Arturo ordered his men to work with professors to collect copies of their directory and student lists to compare them to the body count. So far things were not looking very good for them. Current estimates looked fairly grim with estimates on the low-end putting student casualties at about ten percent. Staff mortality for the incident was closer to thirty percent.

Another thing that made things difficult was that Lucius Kane made moves on his own, separate from the wishes of the military. They purposefully were working on a plan to break the enemy's control, but they needed to do something that would not have placed the students at any additional risk.

It would be hard for Lord Kane to prove that he was innocent in any of the deaths of the noble children at the academy because his attack did cause several injuries to some of the survivors. It was likely he would be blamed for many of the deaths he was not responsible for.

None of this was any concern to Arturo though, because he was going to ask for the man's assistance and was flatly rejected and ignored. Since Lucius Kane decided to only join the fight when it proved convenient for him, Arturo would offer him no assistance in his defense.

"Lord Kane, a word." Arturo called out as he stepped up to the man in question.

Lucius was grouped with two women. One was a wolf beastman and the other was his wife, Lady Rena Kane. It seemed they were having a discussion about their injuries. Lucius appeared to be checking over both women for any signs of lingering damage.

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"What is it, Commander?" The black-haired man answered with a twinge of annoyance.

"We need to discuss your brazen display of arrogance."

"Excuse me?"

"First, you ignore and dismiss me as I prepared to ask for your assistance in this matter. Then, you turn around and provide that assistance the moment it directly impacts you." Arturo shouted. "On top of that, the 'assistance' you provided was a reckless display of power that resulted in numerous injuries, deaths, and damage to the grounds.

Finally, we now find ourselves without anyone among the enemy who was inside the academy to interview about the incident."

Arturo's face was flushed with anger. The more he yelled, the more his frustration increased. He was aware that he was pissed off at the man, but did not expect how much. When the Commander really thought about it, the biggest issue for him was actually the strike to his pride that he took.

When Lucius made a move and resolved the situation himself, it made Arturo and his men look incompetent in a way. It would not be beyond the nobles to paint Lucius as a reckless idiot while also berating Arturo for his inaction. It did not matter if these two things were diametrically opposed, they would attack them both if it suited them…

"So what you are saying… is that you are pissed off I did what you couldn't?"

Arturo clenched his fists to keep from pummeling the young man to death. He was a Master Ranker and could easily smash Lucius into a fine paste. However, he was not allowed to due to the prophecy.

The prophecy proved to be a much larger annoyance than they expected. Mostly thanks to the man in question being a thorn in everyone's side. He was utterly impossible to work with and stepped on so many people's toes that it felt like he was being obtuse on purpose.

"I would refrain, Lord Kane, from acting in such a manner. Immortality in politics is not something that exists. You will be brought down a peg one day, I can assure you. Have a good day, sir." Arturo warned.

He gave Lucius a stiff bow and returned to his investigation while the man and his friends left the premises. Some guards made moves to intercept them, but Arturo waved them off and allowed Lucius to leave. Honestly, the man was a hindrance to have around. It wasn't like he would disappear without them present.

"Lady Lindtforth, Lord Petra," He said while giving a proper salute. "Might we discuss what happened before Lord Kane's… intervention?"

"Of course." They answered simultaneously.

They regaled the series of events that brought everyone to this moment. It seemed the attack at the academy happened at the same time as the random attacks throughout the city. He had figured that the random violent outbreaks in the city were a distraction, but this confirmed it.

Every attacker at the academy also wore the strange robes and masks, unlike some of the people in the city who wore a mix of the robes as well as plain civilian clothes.

Another thing of note was the fact that all the attackers using magic, focused only on using Fire Magic. There was no way to know what everyone's true compatibilities were, but if they had anything, they refused to use it.

A fair amount of them showed off Arts in combat, so it was likely they purposefully were avoiding using magic that was not related to fire. The perpetrators also randomly shouted things regarding 'throne of creation' just like the random attacks that had occurred all over the continent.

All this information confirmed that the random attacks and this one were connected. This attack also meant that whatever group these people belonged to was accelerating their violent tendencies. This begged the question: what were their goals?

"Commander, our data collection is completed. Cross checking this with the list we have only a few individuals unaccounted for. We simply need to check with the Adventurer's Guild to see if they are out on work-studies, then our count of the deceased will be complete."

Arturo took the report from his subordinate and sighed in resignation. The list was too long even if there were only a handful of names. Unfortunately, this list had many more than a handful. "Today is a sad day for the capital…" He whispered while sending a silent prayer to Celestia.