Vindictive Retribution

"Woohoo! That's how you nail them, son! Just for that, gimme five!" Urag wiggled his head and raised his hand before Kilian. Rolling his eyes, Kilian ignored Urag's palm and activated his Eye of Fehl. The more power he obtained—the more vices he satisfied—the stronger the Eye became. And across his time in the academy, its might rose by leaps and bounds.

Using his Revelation, Kilian swept the whole forest and beyond, not only locating the closest groups but even glimpsing at the nearest sura tribe.

"Next targets located, don't fall behind."

"If they have lasses, I want one."

"You can have the loose cunts, I only want the loot," Kilian agreed, and the two's figures blurred as they raced toward the next hunters. Slinging magic and whistling blades sang a grim symphony as the heads of dozens of high-ranking students soared into the sky. Of course, none owed Kilian money.

…

Back in his camp, Hanns stared at a floating mirror where 3,000 lights representing the students' lives stood. In a flash, 15 vanished. One breath afterward, another seven followed, then three and twelve.

In less than ten minutes, the academy had lost 37 students, with most being white-gold robes, and even several purple-gold robes. Feeling something amiss, Hanns triggered the nano-bomb hidden in Kilian's knife-staff, but the explosion never came. The headmaster's eyes narrowed at the detonator.

"We were swindled. The boy is strong," he realized, far too late, and dispatched new messages to Ayden, Tristan, and other von Skoll juniors.

"Do not engage him alone, not even you, Ayden. We must consider that all he did up until now was a sham, that he came here aiming to clean our side and has the strength to achieve it. If you find him, contact me first and avoid a confrontation at all costs. Especially you three, Ayden, Tristan and Estrella, the future of our house lies in your han-" Hanns' words trailed off, broken by a sight his experienced eyes couldn't digest. In three seconds, 126 dots vanished from the screen. This couldn't possibly be Kilian's doing. Something else wantonly slaughtered the academy's students.

"I will give you my location, all of you must hurry and come to me at once. We are...under assault," Hanns declared, but alas, his order came too late.

…

"I'm...afraid it won't be that simple," alone before a pond, Ayden whispered as five "students" and dozens of servants surrounded him. Robes and clothes dropped, replaced by state-of-the-art blue power armors—the Technocracy made its move.

…

In a chocolate mimosa forest, Tristan and Estrella stood side by side, flanked by four "students" and their dozens of servants. The same scene repeated, with the student and servants' clothes crumbling for power armors to replace them. And while similar events occurred with several von Skoll scions, they were far from the worst.

…

Approaching the first sura tribe, Kilian was about to engage a new group of students, five purple-gold robes and their 405 retainers—when violet light flashed in the sky—and a cacophony of voices sang: "Third Circle Spell: Fehl Bolt!"

Three-hundred bolts of fehl magic hurtled past peach blossom trees and slammed three-hundred of the retainers' backs, killing them each with one projectile.

"Third Circle Spell: Fehl Bolt!"

Before the survivors could make sense of the attack, thrice the number of Fehl Bolts barreled into them, blasting the remaining retainers into pieces, then embroiling the purple-gold robes.

"Fourth Circle Spell: Holy Barrier!" Snapping out of their stupor, the five students moved their hands in the fastest incantation gestures of their lives and united to weave their most powerful defense: Holy Barrier.

A golden orb of light surrounded them, stretching across dozens of meters and resisting the Fehl Bolts' berserk assault in ear-splitting collisions. Overpowered by the bolts' sheer power, the shield cracked and collapsed, letting dozens of remaining projectiles fly by and calcine four of the five students.

Spiraling across the air, the sole survivor tumbled, and alone faced 300 pairs of eyes that emerged from the forest's shadows.

"Is this what humans feel when they crush their foes? I must say that it is rather fulfilling," a melodious voice echoed from the forest's shadows before the 300 hidden casters stepped forward.

On average standing at 1.6 meters, a gathering of men and women with long elfin ears, translucent skin, and three pairs of butterfly wings graced the purple-gold, Kilian and Urag with their presence. But while each possessed enough beauty to throw a country into chaos, even Urag didn't feel aroused.

"S-suras? No, that's not possible. How could this be? Your wings! You're no-" the purple-gold rattled off, but would never finish his words as one sura punched through his face with his tiny fist. The horrid move took even Kilian by surprise.

"Something is not right, look at their eyes and wings," Kilian whispered while the suras turned to face them. And indeed, those 300's appearances were off. Suras had silver butterfly wings that glittered like a starry sky. So magnificent were their wings that some captors didn't hesitate to tear them off. In the heydays of alchemy, the appearance of sura wings could turn the market upside down. Only because the practice ruined their magical abilities and worth, did the empire ban it.

But contrary to the norm, those 300's wings were bright gold and shimmered in dark light. As for their eyes, from scleras to irises, all was black.

The last student's killer pulled out his fist, and like his peers, spun to face the pair.

"When humanity choked under the reign of the Night Master, the Prime Lord opened the door to our plane and lobbied our assistance. Without a second thought, we helped and set up the formation that allowed your victory. It was the Prime Lord's sacrifice, not the von Skolls, that ended the Night Master's reign.

I can still remember how Eginolf, your first emperor, led a procession of human magi to offer us thanks and gifts...then pillaged our home and burned our trees. My fallen queen's screams still plague my days.

For 3,000 years, humanity ravaged our world, giving us no room to breathe.

For 3,000 years, suras wailed because they didn't have the tools to fight back. It ends now.

The Sura World declares war on humanity, and pledges not to rest until the last of human filth vanishes from existence," the sura elder declared and raised his hand, signaling for his subordinates to assault Kilian.