The man was not only tall, but he also had a massive, imposing aura that washed over the entire battlefield. His armor was completely decked out and more advanced than any of the ones they had seen up to this point. Every single one of the Pythons who had been preparing to engage in battle immediately moved out of his way, clearing him a path towards where Himitsu and the rest of the students had gathered.
The cherry on top? The body was impaled upon his spear.
Their uniform showed them to be a third-year, and the shield emblem on their shoulder showed that they had been a member of the school's defense force.
Himitsu closed his eyes, offering the deceased student whatever respect he could. Reopening his eyes, he saw the man who was without a doubt the lead general of these Pythons come to a stop right in front of Himitsu's defense spells.
He stood in silence, staring at the group of students and the one teacher that stood in front. Along with his massive spear, in his left hand, he was dragging the body of a magic knight.
This tense silence ensued for a moment longer, where both groups just stared at each other.
On one side, the men with the Python tattoos were standing in stricken silence, watching every movement of the man who had just stepped up to the front. They had all of their weapons on standby, waiting for his command to commence an attack.
Meanwhile, the students of Theta were standing in the same tense silence, attempting to psyche themselves up. Some averted their gaze from the brutality in front of them, while others stared at it head-on, not wanting to let this man's intimidation tactic work.
After some more silence, the man finally spoke.
"Theta Magic Academy. You've maintained this futile resistance for far too long. Surrender. We will spare your lives' if you do." The man's voice was deep and emotionless. As if he had done this countless times before, and it had just become something as trivial as a morning routine: brushing your teeth, eating breakfast in the morning.
Even his eyes were devoid of any real feeling.
His demand for surrender lapsed the students of Theta as well as Himitsu into silence. Not because they were clearly considering the offer, no, but because they couldn't even imagine giving up now, after coming this far.
The request that this man made was a slap in the face to all the efforts that they had put in. All they had suffered to this point.
Hearing this silence, the man must have thought he had managed to appeal to them in some way, so he pressed on.
"You must feel tired from all this useless fighting. Hours on end of struggling—you must be exhausted. Under the guidance of our leader, Prometheus, the Fangless Python will not waver as long as even the ember of revolution remains alive. Therefore, it would be in your best interest to surrender now, while you still have the chance." He gestured towards the two bodies. The one impaled upon his spear and the one he was currently dragging by the collar.
"Such brutality does not have to be your fate. As long as you surrender and get out of our way, we will spare your lives."
However, the words that were supposed to induce Theta into surrendering only served to raise the student's will to fight even more. Clenching their weapons even tighter, the students re-entered a fighting stance.
Slowly analyzing the response from all of the students, the man nodded. "As expected of one of the world's 7 Grand Magic Academies. As a war academy, these students aren't as frail as some of the other academies throughout the world."
He turned his gaze to Himitsu. "You won't command them to stand down? Are you really going to allow these children to seal their own fates? Guarantee their own deaths?"
Himitsu returned the man's gaze, and neither of them blinked. A part of him wanted to agree with the man in front of him. Even after everything they went through, was it really right of him to let them participate in this battle? They were only kids, after all.
If they were to die here, their families would be left in shambles. Some of these were kids of powerful families, who would turn the world upside down should their child even be harmed, let alone lose their lives.
The same went for the kids of regular families.
However, in the end, Himitsu decided that it wasn't his decision to make. Because they had survived this long, they deserved to be in control of whether or not they retreated.
In that moment, some decided to turn their backs and return to where the rest of the students were taking care of the injured. Himitsu didn't blame them. No one did.
However, a large majority of students chose to remain standing right next to Himitsu, facing off against this massive army.
"Our decision has been made." Was how Himitsu finally decided to reply.
For the first time in this exchange, the expression of the man standing in front of him shifted. It changed to annoyance. There was a bit of shock, as well as a bit of regretfulness mixed in there as well.
The man grabbed his spear, lifting it off of the ground.
In that moment, he released his presence over the battlefield.
His aura flared, and a majority of students were brought to their knees. Many were forced to turn to the side and puke.
A small whirlwind began to gather around his body, growing larger and larger with each passing second that he flexed his aura. The presence grew so strong that the air around him darkened.
Behind him, even the Pythons were brought to their knees, unable to withstand the pressure from his magical presence.
"You will regret making this decision. Your refusal to surrender has sealed your fate. It has cemented your death."
He took a step forward, and the ground under him cracked and shattered, and the whirlwind began to blow more and more violently. "However, I do not believe in senseless slaughter. Unlike some of the others, I pride myself on my ability to show mercy and to show compassion."
Himitsu gritted his teeth in disgust at the hypocrisy in front of him. This same man who was walking around with a body impaled on the tip of his spear while dragging the corpse of a man talked of compassion and mercy?
It was bullshit.
He took a few more steps, causing the ground to shake and crack even more, before coming to a stop only a few feet away from Himitsu's defensive spell.
He then pointed the tip of his spear at the barrier, allowing the body that had been impaled at the top to slide off slowly.
Before it hit the ground, Himitsu disabled the spell and grabbed the lifeless corpse, setting it down to the side. He did the diligence of flipping their eyelids closed.
Standing back up, he found the tip of the spear pressed against his chest, just over where his heart would be.
"I'll give you the chance. A one-on-one duel between me and you." The man laid out his terms simply, his cold, calculating eyes never leaving Himitsu's.
"Why should I listen to anything you say? A duel? There's no guarantee either side would honor it."
The man nodded at Himitsu's statement. "Of course, that's a good point. At the moment that either of us began to lose, our respective allies would undoubtedly try to jump in and shift the odds of the battle."
Himitsu stared at the man, trying to figure out what his point was.
"So how about this?"
Suddenly, a ring of flames was summoned around the two, sectioning them off from the rest of the fighters. Along the ground, numbers and symbols began to appear, flowing like the code of a computer.
Soon, the entire area of the circle was covered in a constant flow of numbers, letters, and symbols.
Himitsu and the general stood in the center of it all.
Everyone else outside of the circle watched in stricken shock as something that they had never seen before appeared in front of their eyes.
Himitsu's eyes widened as he realized what was going on.
"Just wait a second!"
For the second time, the general showed a slight bit of emotion.
His lips curved slightly upward in a faint smile.
"You've seen this before."
"Of course I have." Himitsu turned his shell-shocked gaze from the area around him back to the general. "But to activate a Lifeforce Oath—"
"You must possess mana, of course." The general finished for him.
"So you're a mage." Himitsu finally managed to regain his composure, speaking calmly once more. "But why?" He didn't speak the rest of his question aloud; however, the message was delivered just fine.
Why fight against mages? Why launch an attack on a magic academy?
"There are a myriad of reasons why. But if I had to choose one, then it would be...justice."
Behind Himitsu, Masayoshi's eyes widened.
"But back on topic, we can enter a Lifeforce Oath right here and now."
Himitsu listened to the general's words closely.
"The terms are simple. Both of us agree that neither of our allies will intrude upon the battle. We'll set up a barrier that won't be opened for any of the others. After that, I'm sure you know how the Lifeforce Oath works, no?"
Himitsu nodded. "We agree to the oath and infuse our mana into the sequence that's being processed on the ground currently, serving as the medium for which the oath will take place. After which, whoever breaks the oath will have all of their mana sapped from their body, killing them instantly. An ancient magic developed long ago for the purpose of signing treaties and negotiations."
As soon as the students behind him heard the terms of the 'Lifeforce Oath,' they began to profusely shout at Himitsu, begging him to not accept.
Suijin's voice was the loudest as she tried to put out the flames that separated her from the two.
"Don't do this! Himitsu! If we fight together, we can win! Isn't that what you were trying to show us?" Desperately, she used her water magic to try and snuff out the flames; however, they just burned stronger.
"Himitsu! Don't even consider it! He's lying!" Erika also began to shout. She tried to reach her hand through the flames, testing if she could try and force her way through; however, the heat was so strong that the tips of her fingers were turned to ash.
The rest of the students also approached the circle of flames, yelling for Himitsu to not accept the man's offer.
Himitsu turned to look at them before flashing another cocky smile. He then faced the general once more.
"Then, I will accept the Lifeforce Oath. Should any ally of mine intervene in the battle in any way, you may have my life."
The general almost allowed himself to smile fully. "Should any ally of mine intervene in the battle in any way, you may have my life."
At that moment, mana began to flow into the ground, and the sequences that were engraved in the ground slowly began to glow.
At this point, the student's insides were screaming; however, it was too late.
Before they knew it, the entire ground of the ring, which had been covered in magic sequences, was filled to the brim with mana and was now glowing.
The general turned around before walking towards the edge of the ring of fire to converse with one of the Pythons. Judging from the man's armor and the massive glowing longbow he held, he must have been some sort of high-ranking officer, like a second in command.
Himitsu also turned back, walking towards the edge of the ring, where the students were shouting angrily at him.
"Just why the hell would you actually agree to that!" Suijin! he shouted frustratedly. "We have a better chance of winning when we can use all of our numbers!"
"What was the point of giving us all of those damned tips if you were just going to sideline us in the most important fight!" Genji shouted.
"Look at the condition you're in! Do you really think you can go one-on-one with that monster for long?" Ichijo shouted. "Remember what you told me? Don't go around thinking you're invincible.
"If I use my ability to provide buffs, will that trigger the penalty of Lifeforce Oath?" Masayoshi asked, his face pale.
Himitsu looked at all of the students who were frantically cursing him. After gathering his thoughts for a moment, he spoke.
"Intervening in the battle in any way, whether it be through physical combat, buffs, or debuffs, is prohibited.
The faces of all the students fell. Himitsu's heart dropped a bit seeing these reactions.
In truth, he had made this decision because no matter how he tried to rationalize it, he could not bring himself to allow children to be killed in a battle that they shouldn't even be involved in. He couldn't do it, and so instead he decided to take the battle upon himself.
Even if this ends in my own death, these students will be able to fight on. As a teacher, it's my job to make sure that they're not only prepared for challenges but also protected from them. It might have been slightly half-assed for me to give them the most important lesson in the middle of a battle; however, I'm sure they'll be able to adapt well. After all, all of the students around me currently are prodigies.
Flashing a warm smile, he said, "All of you are worthy."
The students were stunned into silence.
"All of you are, without a doubt, some of the most talented students I've ever had the pleasure of teaching. Even if it's only been a few months. Because of that, I can't just give you a half-assed effort."
He turned away from the barrier.
"As your teacher, it's my job to make sure you're prepared. I do that through lessons, through my words, and through my demonstrations." Himitsu began to step forward, forcing himself to put one foot in front of the other.
Behind him, the students shouted, screamed, and pleaded.
"And because you all are worthy, I have no choice but to give you a lesson that is worthy of your talents." He stopped. To the students, it must have seemed like he was thinking.
However, in truth, Himitsu was composing himself. He was making sure not a single sign of weakness was shown to these students. Even if he was covered in wounds. Even if he didn't have faith that he would survive this battle.
He would make sure that these students would be prepared. He would make sure that they would have the hope to continue fighting.
Because that was his job. As a teacher,.
Himitsu turned and gave the brightest smile possible.
"So, I'll show you all one final lesson. Watch. Watch and learn from the very greatest himself. It will be the single greatest lesson you'll ever witness!"
With that, Himitsu turned the battle.
And so began the battle that marked the beginning of the end.