Chapter 270: Makers Of Triumph
Chapter 270: Makers Of Triumph
He knew about her little crush.
But he didn\'t know what to do with her yet, so he kept her on the back burner.
Judas asked her a question.
A boring one.
She answered with no enthusiasm.
The professor was confused by her reaction...
But she didn\'t care.
Aria then left while huffing and puffing, allowing Quinn to come after.
\'This girl...\'
Emir grew interested in her after learning her name.
Quinn Mercer.
The daughter of the man he killed.
\'She\'s a poor one.\'
A twisted smile appeared on his face.
One that contradicted his thoughts.
It seemed that he enjoyed that memory.
\'Let\'s talk.\'
"Principal, may I?"
Amon showed slight surprise.
But the man soon caught on to their connection, and instead of rejecting him like last time, he...
"Sure."
Agreed.
\'Nice.\'
Emir stepped forward.
"Nice to meet you, Quinn."
She flinched, and her face disfigured for a moment only to return to normal.
Quinn then bowed and spoke:
"I greet you, Professor Emir."
The professor noticed that reaction...
His Temporal Perception ability wasn\'t just for show.
\'Does she know?\'
Emir shook his head.
\'No, no way; I made sure that she was knocked out.\'
"Stand."
She nodded and straightened her back, her gaze still stuck on his podium.
\'But she suspects me...\'
"What brings you to the academy?"
\'Interesting.\'
His question gave her pause.
She remained quiet for a while, multiple thoughts seemingly going through her mind.
After a minute or so, she finally answered:
"The professors."
\'Hoh.\'
Emir\'s smile became even more twisted.
Such an answer could be taken in a few ways, but the main two were this:
"I came here to learn from the professors."
"I came here for the professors themselves..."
"Or more specifically, you, Professor Emir."
Right, if taken in the second way then Quinn was declaring war against Emir.
\'Does she have a death wish?\'
Publicly.
\'Maybe.\'
And in front of the Principal himself.
Tap.
"That is all; you may go."
An amused Amon allowed her exit and brought the next two.
Ava and Arthur \'died\' at the same time, so they both were ranked fifth.
\'Fate strikes once again.\'
In the \'novel,\' it wasn\'t Elijah who first met Arthur, but Ava.
They developed a relationship during their escape from death.
That of a dog and its owner.
And like a good pet, he died with her.
The result didn\'t change even after all that happened.
Emir sighed and ignored the duo, letting the others take the stage.
Evelyn was the one who grabbed that chance.
It seemed that she passed...
Her test was before Emir\'s, so he didn\'t see her.
But he heard from Mariane that she had passed it.
And now that he heard her voice, he was sure that she had joined them.
\'Hopefully she doesn\'t bring too much trouble.\'
Emir took a few steps back while chuckling and then sat on the ground in a lotus position.
He began cultivating his Aether and Strength Art.
Although inaccurate, he knew that the date of his ascension to Iron was near.
His core would be able to hold much more Aether and his strength would increase by a
massive margin.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
Emir calmed himself back down as he noticed his increasing heart rate.
He wasn\'t about to mess up and kill himself during such a simple but \'slightly\' painful task.
The professor blinked.
And time passed.
[Emir, you\'re up.]
Till it returned to normal.
[Alright, thanks for the reminder, Ly.]
[Of course, my love~.]
He stood up and exited the room in slow steps.
"Professor Emir, as the one who broke all records, you\'re more eligible to take this stage
today."
Amon\'s voice resounded around him as he walked through the hallway beside the podiums
while heading towards the main one.
"Please, come... Our youth would certainly understand you better."
Emir arrived after a few moments and opened the door.
His eyes first met the students.
They were ranked in files, saluting his approach.
Amon was next to capture his attention, stepping through the marbled ground to tap him on
the back.
"Good luck."
Emir nodded, not giving the Principal the reaction he wanted.
Because while he showed calm, what was currently happening wasn\'t talked about
beforehand.
In other words, Amon simply dropped the speech on Emir\'s lap while bailing out at the same
time.
\'And this part is the same as well...\'
Emir already expected this, so he came prepared, mentally at least.
\'Except that it was Morgiana instead.\'
Tap.
A hologram depicting his looks suddenly materialized in front of them all.
A dark-haired man with shades hiding his eyes and an immaculate black suit that covered his
extremely muscular body.
He was a man that most would imagine if they thought of a bodyguard.
That scary-looking man was the prince.
And he was about to give a speech.
"Hm... Well, I\'m not one to prepare for things like this, so I\'ll just speak my mind."
"Now all seven hundred and seventy-seven of you are students."
Emir let out a small sigh.
\'Even without me, this number was formed.\'
\'I guess that Quinn was the result... fate is quite strange isn\'t it?\'
After shaking his head, he continued:
"Elite or not, you\'re green... Little kids trying to show themselves as adults."
"But I\'ll make of you all perfect soldiers."
"Also, do keep in mind that my speech is for the little ones... not you second and third years."
Emir chuckled as he eyed those students who joined them after the Rite was over.
"Don\'t complain later, yeah?"
|| ||
All those he addressed silently nodded.
"Right, now let me introduce myself."
"I\'m called Emir, and to you lot, I\'m only called Sir or Professor."
"I might be of similar age to you, but never forget, I am your professor, and you will deem me
as such."
A few gulps resounded from the students, and Emir easily picked up on them; his upgraded ears, like his TP, were not just for show.
But that wasn\'t what he wanted to hear so he asked:
"So?"
It took a second or two but the students frantically responded like cute little soldiers:
"Yes Professor!"
"Yes Sir!"
Emir nodded.
"Good, now about me..."
"You see... since the day I was born, I followed many rules, and they made me what I am
today."
"I\'ll list them out for you."
"First, is when you go after someone, dig two graves beforehand, one for yourself and the
other, well..."
Emir paused for a moment, then looked at two of his new colleagues.
"For the enemy."
"Of course, it\'s now different in my case; while I might dig two graves, one will be for my
enemy, and the next..."
He tilted his head at the two in his sight, offering an innocent smile and a small wave of his
right hand.
"For their family."
||||
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The whole place didn\'t dare utter a single word or sound a breath.
They did it out of respect before, but now...
They were afraid of their new professor.
He was the devil incarnate, a man suited to lead a hunter group known as Azazel.
The suffocating pressure from his words alone proved to be too much even for the third-year
students.
Flash!
All of a sudden, Judal and Judas had their podiums illuminated.
Their appearance was revealed at last.
Emir eyed Judal first.
He looked to be a middle-aged man who carried a weathered visage with long salt-and-
pepper hair that was tied in a knotted ponytail behind his back.
A strong jaw and deep brown eyes hinted at a wealth of experiences.
Judas looked the exact same, with the only difference being their clothes.
The first wore a robe while the other wore a suit, yet both depicted the Academy\'s colors.
These men were twins.
And it wasn\'t only because they showed the same expression.
One of absolute rage.
\'It ain\'t them.\'
But Emir\'s attention on them was short-lived.
Flash!
His brother illuminated his podium next.
Ragnar gave him two thumbs up high in the air, showcasing his support.
Emir let out a soft laugh and then gazed back at the crowd, continuing his speech.
"...The second is to learn the rules so you can break them properly."
He winked at the first years.
"Only the smart ones can be wild under my watch, though I won\'t let you play around too
much."
After establishing that, he proceeded to the next rule which related to the last:
"Third is that the bullet of consequence rarely arrives slow."
It was a hint at how even the strongest and smartest would eventually find themselves buried
deep in an ocean of blood.
One of their own making.
"There is a fourth and fifth, etcetera, but that would bore you lot, so I\'ll just say this..."
"In whatever aspects of your life, maintain your own rules, and you will thrive." Emir truly meant that, as he had followed said rules ever since he came to this world.
"I mean, the worst-case scenario is that you die...."
He sneered.
"But who knows, maybe you won\'t~." Then his face turned serious.
"If you did though, then at least you died a dignified death."
"You made your mark." "And that\'s worth it..."
"As legends never die, they are written down in eternity."
||
Quiet was extinguished as loud murmurs spread across the hall.
Some whispered about how unorthodox this all was, while others grew excited for the road
ahead, imagining where their paths would take them.
A few kept their mouth shut, while another few appeared annoyed.
Were they complaining because they were older than him?
Did they think of themselves as better?
Well, that didn\'t matter.
None of their words reached Emir.
And a single raised hand of his commanded them to shut up.
"Do any of you wish to be written in history?"
"To be a great \'someone\'?
It took a while, but most raised their hands high, showcasing their resolve.
They appeared like a forest of swords.
Some were tall, others short, some were soft, and some were rough, but they all pointed at
the sky...
At their promised destination.
Even those who complained responded to Emir\'s call without fail.
Quinn wasn\'t an exception either. "Good, good..."
Emir smiled.
"You all have the enthusiasm, at least."
It was a genuine one that came from the heart.
"Now before I go, all of you here need to remember this."
"So make sure to ingrain what I say next into your minds..."
"For Earth\'s survival..."
He raised his hand and pointed at his back with his thumb.
"It rests on our backs."
"We, who are its parents, its children!"
Then his thumb moved towards his second heart, his Aether core, threatening to pierce it.
"We, who are its men!"
"Its kin!"
"WE WILL BE THE MAKERS OF ITS TRIUMPH!"
|| ||
Everyone was utterly speechless.
The students and professors, the twins Judal and Judas, Morgiana, and even Amon himself.
None knew what to say to such a declaration.
"ORAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
But Ragnar was there to offer support, as always.
"ORAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
He screamed at the top of his lungs. "ORAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
Drowning out the silence.
"ORAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
It was as if they had never fought a few hours ago. "ORAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" "ORAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" "ORAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
And soon, the rest joined in as everyone began to chant.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
Wanting to lift the mood even further, Emir raised his right hand and clenched it into a fist.
"WE OF EARTH WILL TRIUMPH!"
The roars returned the favor, growing even louder. "ORAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" "ORAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" "ORAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
The floor began to shake.
"WE WILL BE THE VICTORS!"
The Tower itself began to tremble.
"ORAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" "ORAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" "ORAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
A satisfied Emir stepped back from the podium, escaping the chorus.
\'Magnus... Do you hear them?\' His job was done.
\'They won\'t allow your takeover.\'
His hologram nodded while gesturing for the principal to take the stage.
\'Not while I\'m around.\'
But the man didn\'t move; he only stared at Emir.
He appeared transfixed by his words. Only after the crowd went silent did he step out onto the podium.
Amon then placed his hand over his second heart, showing him respect.
Emir watched that with a smile.
Meanwhile, the students who saw that scene followed their principal\'s lead.
All of them kneeled slightly as well.
\'This feels nice...\'
No... it wasn\'t all of them.
Arthur and Quinn didn\'t. \'Not anymore.\'
"That\'s all... thank you."
Emir turned around and left.