When she saw the grave expression on Baiyi's face, Laeticia was stunned for a minute before becoming serious herself. "I understand. I believe you."
She was obviously a kind-hearted girl who had little reservations in trusting an amicable man who had saved her life when she was in danger.
"Very well." Baiyi released his grip after a satisfactory nod. He added, "The evil that you felt earlier was a sign that the devils will soon infiltrate Arfin city. An uncommonly powerful demon had been roused—" He pointed at the Mage tower, still covered in thick smoke. "— there. I must stop it as soon as possible."
"I'll go with you!" She cried out in foolish courage.
"No!" Baiyi shook his head. "You have an even more important mission. There are many vulnerable students in the Academy who need your help. I need you to look for your friends within the Church and meet with the students, okay? Don't move alone. At this moment, the biggest threat would be the eruption of pure chaos."
During emergencies, chaos would worsened things. The students and teachers were all trained in combat, if they worked together, they still stood a chance in defending themselves. If they were thrown into panic and chaos, their own strengths would be turned against them.
At this moment of danger and uncertainty, calmness and rationality were of utmost importance.
Laeticia understood him quickly after listening to his words. "Understood. I'll put on my armor and gather the rest of my companions with the students," she replied.
"Very good!" Baiyi ruffled her hair out of habit. "Lastly, a friend of mine is adamant in teaching you a powerful technique. Please remember it."
As he spoke, he demonstrated the Cleric's ultimate move using his mana. "Remember the exact manipulation of your Holy Energy, as well as the words of the prayer. In times of crisis, this power will protect you."
After watching his demonstration, the girl was almost moved to tears. "Th-this… T-this is th-that..." She stammered.
"Yes, the power once used by He Who Walked the Abyss Alone, Saint Joel," Baiyi finished her sentence. "He is with you."
After teaching the girl the Cleric's powers, Baiyi split up with Laeticia as he bolted towards the teacher's block. On his way, he had not seen the demon nor did he see students running around in panic. They were calmer than he had expected.
After leaving the girl behind, he checked the new limit of his power output, but to his surprise it didn't restrain him even after he had physically left her. In fact, the threshold seemed to have even rose up higher.
He was mildly surprised at the revelation, but because of the urgency of the issue at hand, he had no time to ponder on the reasons behind it.
"You shouldn't confront the Abyss Lord, even if he had just been awakened. He is different on so many levels compared to all of the enemies you have faced so far. He is not to be underestimated even if you're planning to use Void Energy," the Devil suddenly spoke.
"What you should do now is to quickly flee with Mia," The Lich added. "What you're attempting now is beyond my comprehension."
Sorry, but I'll decide what to do, Baiyi's reply was stoic, not surprised at the two dissenters. I may not be a virtuous man, but I have my limits. I will not stand idly by as the world plunges into suffering. [TL: Awwwwwww…]
The Devil and the Lich could only stay silent after hearing his words.
As he ran up to the teacher's block, he didn't meet the demon. He met Attie!
"Why are you here?" Baiyi exclaimed, delightedly surprised. He was relieved that the girl was here.
"I thought that it had become too dangerous out there, so I got worried and I ran all the way here…" Attie replied between breaths, her face crimson. One could easily see that the girl had rushed here.
Smart girl, this one. She knew that the safest place was here. But… Baiyi wouldn't be so quick to decide if the girl was truly worried about her master or just too scared to remain alone.
It wasn't just Attie that was there. The entire student body of the Academy and their teachers had all gathered at where she was. President Rhansey was shouting out commands as he hovered above the crowd using a levitation spell. Meanwhile, the teachers were gathering students with significant capabilities and their Soul Armatures to form a ragtag band of defense guards.
It was noisy with occasional sounds of weeping and shrieks thrown in. Despite all of that, no one was running around in panic. The crowd was in order. The Academy had done a fine job in handling the situation.
Noticing Baiyi's arrival, the president descended from above as he said to him, "Master Hope, so good to see you here with us! We are gathering here to consolidate our strength before meeting with the city patrols. We need your strength!"
He did not even get finish his words before the Soul Armature waved at him dismissively. "I'm handing the kids over to you. I'm going to finish the big guy over there."
"What? "A grimace formed on the president's face. Right at that moment, the mana furnace was releasing more than just laughters. An intense aura of pure evil was being emitted from the furnace that was at the center of it all. Even the students could feel them.
Most demons had been converging over at the center ever since they had emerged from the cracks between the realms. It was only because of that the Academy was still deemed rather 'clean'.
Baiyi did not answer the president's question. Instead, he continued, "Besides that, please make sure that all of your students stay as far away from the Mage tower as possible. Also, don't go blindly looking for the city patrols. They won't be able to help. I think you should have felt it, too, right? The cracks in the realms within the city had multiplied, creating just as much havoc. You should all leave to a place that's far away to protect yourself."
The president mulled over Baiyi's words, he finally nodded when he realized Baiyi's intention.
Baiyi did not bother with him anymore as he searched through the crowd for Little Mia and Tisdale.
The girls ran into his embrace when they saw him. Baiyi put one arm on each girl and gave a few soft words of assurance before kneeling before Mia so that his eyes were on the same level as hers.
Gazing intently at her, Baiyi said, "Mia, I need your help."
"You got it!" Little Mia nodded her head without questions.
Baiyi carved a very strange spell formation out from thin air using his mana, then he levitated the three empty Octuplet twin crystals into the three key points of the formation. "Just like I'd taught you before, okay?" He continued. "I need you to use your Psychic Energy to sustain this formation. It'll be daunting, but you must persevere."
Mia nodded, then without any question, she took the formation from his hand and started holding it up using her Psychic Energy.
"You must hold on. The longer you hold on, the greater the chance we have in being saved. This formation is the key to saving everyone's life," Baiyi finished with a solemn look on his face. "Isn't it your wish to help everyone? Now is the time."
A grave expression appeared on Mia's face. She might not have understood the significance of the formation, but she believed in everything her Soul Armature said— she believed, that this was the moment for her to practice what she had always wanted to do.
"Sharkie will protect you, okay?" Baiyi said, and spared one of the Walkers to enter the hammerhead shark's body. He had no time to even think about who was more suitable for the job as her guardian so he chose the one person he trusted the most. [TL: I bet my glasses it's the Warrior!]
"Sir? You're going somewhere dangerous… aren't you?" Tisdale suddenly spoke up.
"Oh, I wouldn't say dangerous. Just… a little, annoying, that's all." He replied casually, speaking as if facing the Abyss Lord was a walk in the park.
"Protect your sister for me," He rubbed her head.
"I'll protect her with my life," She replied seriously.
"Wait for me to come home." The Soul Armature said finally as his face mask rapped lightly on the two girls' foreheads, like a kiss a father would give to his daughters. He levitated and started flying towards the direction of the Mage tower.
"Mr. Hope…" Mia carefully held the formation Baiyi had left in her palms as she stared at her Soul Armature. Her eyes were still trained in the direction that he had left in even though she could no longer see him.
Soon after he took off, Laeticia, already in her Saintess armor, had regrouped with the rest of the staffers and students. The president felt the energy pulses getting stronger and that compelled him to stop waiting. He commanded the crowd to start walking, heading towards the closest area outside of the Academy where the high end residential area was located.
Meanwhile, in front of Baiyi were armies of demons. They were not killing nor plundering, they were just standing there, faithfully, waiting for the arrival of their Highest Lord.
"This very scene reminded me of that art back on planet Earth— 'Was he a man of valor, or was he a man of cowardice?'" The Scholar said from the Void. "Seeing that you had even delegated that formation to Little Mia, however, I supposed you have no desire in becoming the latter."
Baiyi did not reply her. Instead, he tested the maximum capacity of his combined power. The formation in Mia's palm started circumambulating as azure mana filled the Octuplet twin crystals. The girl holding it started to wince.
With Laeticia's sudden appearance and the aid from that formation, I should have enough power for this, Baiyi said in the Void.
"How enlightening! We can finally harvest the long-awaited fruit of our endeavors," The Scholar replied with poorly concealed delight.
Baiyi did not answer her. In a flash, his two hands had started making copious amounts of hand seals in a frenzy as the mana within his body was quickly converted into Void Energy.
This secret technique was invented by his teacher, but he hadn't christened it with his typically bizarre name yet.
"I present to you… The technique we've all been waiting for." After finishing his last seal, Baiyi threw a scornful glance at the demons rushing towards him.
In a low voice, he muttered the name, "Specialized Encasement Shaping Spell."