Chapter 300: Return

Lucius clenched his fists. "Then we must stop him. We must find him and kill him before he does any more damage. We must reclaim the Divine Sword and restore our honor."

The wealth of the Viscount may be enticing, but it didn't really matter to them if the Divine Sword was missing. It was their mistake that they believed that nothing would go wrong after lending it to him. They were too confident that having various spies working for the Viscount and monitoring the sword all the time would resolve the problem.

Sophia shook her head. "It's not that easy, Lucius. He is too powerful for us to handle alone. Even the Elite Bounty Hunter that the Viscount hired failed to catch him. Furthermore, the Masked Devil didn't leave any clue aside from the fact that he uses Dark Arts. This person could be hiding anywhere. We need help. We need allies."

Marcus frowned. "What allies? Who would help us? The other Churches hate us for our arrogance and greed. The rebels and mountain bandits that could be useful at this time despise us for our oppression and cruelty. The heretics mock us for our hypocrisy and corruption. We're only allied with a few organizations taking care of Arcanists rejected by the large Factions.."

Sophia smiled bitterly. "There is one who might help us. One who can deal with the Heavenly Lightning and wanted to take one of the Celestial Bodies in our possession..."

Lucius raised his eyebrows. "Who?"

Sophia looked at him with a cold gaze and whispered.

"The Thunder Emperor..."

***

Vale Chambers and Philip Hoffman walked through the gates of the Vermont Academy, feeling a mix of relief and anxiety. They had just returned from a harrowing ordeal, and both of them didn't want to go through the same experience again.

'Should I look for Priscilla, first?' Vale thought but he immediately shook his head. He should just let the two siblings get together first. His matter could be done later.

It must be remembered that Vale had agreed to rescue Philip under Priscilla's request, who had promised to reveal their secret about the Arcana they were aware of.

There may be few pieces of information regarding Arcana but Vale knew they were mysterious and powerful forces that governed the world of Arcanists and Vale was eager to learn more about them.

But their return wasn't that smooth. Headmaster Jean, the leader of the Academy of Dark Arts, had summoned them to his office as soon as they arrived.

They weren't even inside the Academy when a shadow soldier appeared in front of them and told them to head to the office.

'So you can send your voice through the Shadow Soldier? How come I'm not aware of that...' Vale thought. He also felt curious why the Headmaster did not use his Telepathy for convenience.

'Ahh... Perhaps he can only use his Telepathy one at a time?'

**

It didn't take long before Vale and Philip entered the headmaster's office, where they saw Priscilla waiting for them.

As soon as she saw Philip and Vale entering the room, she did not waste her time as she hugged her brother. She didn't have to speak to tell how happy she was that they were able to meet again.

It lasted for a few seconds as she recalled that the Headmaster and Vale were also in the room.

"You've become skinny..." Priscilla commented as she separated from her brother.

At this time, the Headmaster also spoke.

"Welcome back, student Vale Chambers and Philip Hoffman. I'm glad to see you are safe and sound. It was a huge blunder for the Academy to allow such intruders to kidnap its students. Because of what happened, the Academy will now waive your tuition fees and both of you will be given 10 contribution points for returning alive. But I'm afraid I have some questions for you." He said.

"Of course, sir. We're happy to cooperate." Vale said, trying to sound calm. However, deep inside, he was already celebrating. He previously had 29 Contribution Points after working as a Potion Tester for Professor Sherah. Now, he will receive another 10 Contribution Points making it a total of 39 Points!

"Good. Then tell me, where have you been for the past few days? And what do you know about the Masked Devil Incarnate?" Headmaster Jean asked.

Vale glanced at Philip, who nodded slightly. They had agreed on a story beforehand, hoping to avoid suspicion.

Philip knows that Vale was the Masked Devil but he already swore with his life not to tell anyone about it. Vale was his savior and there was no way he would put him in danger.

If it was spread that the Masked Devil and Vale were the same person, he would be the target of the Secret Organization.

"They took me to the Murton Castle, where they kept me in a dungeon. I can't recall what happened to me inside but I'm sure they extracted some information from me. I managed to escape thanks to Vale's assistance. However, it was with the help of a Master Arcanist who was also an enemy of the Coulston Family." Philip explained.

"That's right. I didn't know his name at that time but he happened to be there and I've taken the chance to save Philip while he was busy fighting against the soldiers. Then we both got injured and had to recuperate. We hide ourselves in a small village for a few days before we headed back here." Vale added.

Headmaster Jean narrowed his eyes, as if he didn't believe them.

"Is that so? And how did you escape from the castle? I heard there was a huge explosion that destroyed most of it." He asked, referring to the article he read about the incident.

"That was the Master Arcanist or the Masked Devil's doing. He used some kind of powerful spell---Ah, No, it was done by Tracie Coulston. She's the one who destroyed the castle and blamed it on the Masked Devil." Vale responded.

"I see. And you have no idea who this Master Arcanist is? Or why he wore a mask?" Headmaster Jean asked. "As you know, the Dark Arts Faction is now being blamed for his actions. We aren't afraid to take the blame but we at least needed to meet with this Masked Devil so we'll know how to proceed and avoid offending him." Headmaster added with a smile. He seemed to be trying to show that they were harmless and just wanted to meet with Masked Devil for negotiation.

"No, sir. We never saw his face or heard his real name." Vale replied.

"Hmm... And what about you, Priscilla? Do you know anything about this?" Headmaster Jean turned to Priscilla.

Priscilla hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.

"No, Headmaster. I don't know anything about this Master Arcanist or the Masked Devil Incarnate. I don't think our parents would be able to hire someone at that level to rescue my brother." She answered.

Headmaster Jean sighed and rubbed his temples.

"Very well. I suppose I have no choice but to believe you for now. But if you find some clues about his identity, you must let me know about it." He said.

"Yes, Headmaster. We understand." Vale and Philip said in unison.

"Good. Now go back to your dorms and rest. You have missed a lot of classes and assignments. You will have to catch up on them as soon as possible." Headmaster Jean said.

"Thank you, sir." Vale and Philip said again.

They got up and left the office, followed by Priscilla.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Priscilla grabbed their arms and pulled them aside.