I Hate Being The Protagonist

Lucidel picked me up at the center of Holdanis, close to my mansion. While we flew towards wherever he led me, Lucidel talked about a giant energy fluctuation that appeared in the forest we were about to find ourselves in.

"Even after interrogations, the government couldn't get any information from the red-eyes. It's hard to get any confessions since they die when their power is taken away. This dream magic is truly problematic..." Lucidel voices his concerns.

"I have a feeling we'll find out a lot today," I comment.

He drove us somewhere very familiar.

"Obiwon? What are we doing here?" I ask.

"We have to pick someone up to go with us. The woods we are visiting are being searched through by the military already, so I'm actually on duty there as the general. Only enlightened soldiers searching the muddy terrain are there, so prepare yourself to be one of them."

"I'm prepared, don't worry," I confirm. "By the way, who are we picking up?"

"A problematic kid that just enrolled into the school. He is a demon that possesses the power of a Sword Saint. Since there is no school right now, I offered to take him on this mission. His mother was fine with it, since she told me 'only a general can get him to behave'. Makes you wonder... Well, I'm not racist so I'll treat him just like any other."

I walked onto the short-cut grass in the front yard of my school, waiting for the demon kid.

I could sense his aura from a mile away. His affinity was clearly fire, but there was definitely something else going on. His fire was pure and different from the normal one, seemingly straight out of Hell.

He had two small horns protruding from his platinum-blonde hair. He was about the same height as me, with red eyes that faded from an inner scarlet into a more fiery orange near the outer edge of his iris. He had a small dot for a pupil, with two concentric circles painted into the iris. His skin was human-like, but he had sharp black nails.

Walking beside him was Guille, with a sword resting on his hip.

"This is Amon, he'll be accompanying you during this mission."

I extended my hand, which the kid rejected. I would find out this moody child is 15 years old, which is like a baby for a demon. He looked to be closer to 12, but I couldn't judge his appearance.

"Mind your manners," Guille orders.

"I have no respect for someone weaker than me," Amon comments.

"Would you like to test that?" I ask.

"You have no chance against me," he scoffs.

He had half a barrel deep manapool, enough to challenge Yue Zue and professor Guille. Taking his weird fire affinity into account, I wasn't convinced of my victory. Still, Lucidel and Guille nodded, allowing for a spar. If things got rough, they would intervene.

Amon and I walked about 200 yards from school, taking our stances.

"If you're waiting for someone to say start, you'll be disappointed," I tell Amon.

Without a single word, he dashes forward, summoning his flames at the top of his hands. I take the Sunsword out, coalescing light magic with its blade. The white crystal structure glows brightly, indicating the amount of power I put into it.

As he releases his flames, I dodge to the side as fast as I possibly can, using magic to propel me. His wave of flames continues forward, scorching the grass and melting the ground. The fire appears to be so hot it instantly incinerates anything it comes into contact with.

[What is that!?] I question internally.

The fire of an enlightened one could burn any non-enlightened, no matter what defense he puts up. From my observations, these flames were enough to burn any enlightened–just as they would with a lower being.

I swing my sword, creating a light crescent which flies at Amon. His flames block my attack, burning the light magic.

He lowers his body, in an attempt to launch himself towards me.

"Rain swords"

Rays of light strike the ground, trapping him in a prison of light swords. He doesn't stop for long, burning the swords as he releases his flames in all directions. His flames aren't only released from his hands, but from every part of his body, charring the ground black as it burns insanely hot.

The air starts waving from the heat, bending light differently. The surrounding moisture in the air evaporates, making me incapable of sweating.

A fireball is hurled towards me at speeds similar to my magic. I evade it mid air, running at Amon at supersonic speeds.

The fireball detonates behind me, the heat reaching my back. I don't even want to look at the collateral damage left behind...

I swing my sword, which he grabs with his hands. The Sunsword cuts into his hands, drawing blood which drips down to the floor heavily.

"What?!" I shout, surprised by his way of fighting.

Before he could release an explosion of heat, I push the blade down through his arm, slicing it open. His right arm has two hanging pieces which drool the crimson liquid I've grown accustomed to seeing in this proportion.

I jump back just as he lights the air up with his bright fire. The crackles of heat push me back, making me shield myself with my arm against this monstrous fire.

The next thing surprised me even more than his flames. He grabbed the two flaps of his arm, joining them together. After a few moments, they healed completely. I was to bewildered to attack, so I just let him do his thing.

"You're stronger than I thought," he says with a wry smile.

After saying that, he creates a glowing red hot sphere which he points at me. I've never seen so much magic being exerted at once, so I instinctively lowered my center of gravity, ready to dissappear from my standing spot.

As the glowing ball of flames turns into a beam of concentrated fire magic, Lucidel steps in, deflecting the melting ray into the sky.

It flies for a while until it detonates high above us, painting the sky into red and orange. The energy released could blow up the entire capital of Holdanis, going even through the protective barriers set up around the city. Amon might be classified as a tier 5 mage, just as Lucidel is. Even though he has only half of his manapool and doesn't have a battle sense as good as me or Lucidel, he can use his manapool to its limit.

"That was a spell that's gone too far. Don't you know it is illegal to use that kind of firepower here?" Lucidel scolds Amon with a piercing gaze.

"And what can you do about it?" Amon haughtily scoffs.

Lucidel approaches the undisciplined child with intentionally heavy footsteps. Amon swallows a gulp of saliva as the air thickens.

Amon presses against Lucidel with his fiery aura. It constantly burns his surroundings, and if there were any kids from Obiwon here they would suffer almost lethal injuries from simply being in his vicinity.

Lucidel however, unleashes his divine aura, countering Amon's magic presence with an even mightier force. Like an angry angel ready to discipline an unruly demonic child. His image reminded me of Gabriel and his fierce presence.

Sparks begin flying through the air with a screeching sound. It was like metal was being scraped against itself, just unbearably louder and more tenacious. The whole area shook as an earthquake started to erupt.

I kneeled to the ground, ready for them to start exchanging blows any minute now.

Amon was a freak of nature even worse than me.

Demons are born enlightened if they are pure. Lucidel explained this to me in detail, as the information comes useful now. Pure demons are ones that were born that way.

Many humans, elves, dragonborns or other this-worldly races that end up in Hell after they die are turned into demons when their soul rejects any humanity left. In most cases, this is achieved through torture or decades and even centuries of being spent in Hell. Demons that evolve from other races are called impure, and don't necessarily need to be enlightened.

Pure demons are born from two enlightened demons making a child. They are much more powerful, but also rarer in Hell. This means that Amon's parents are both enlightened demons.

"I guess no one ever stood in your way. Did your mommy and daddy never teach you proper manners?" Lucidel asks while issuing an ear-piercing slap to Amon's face.

I could feel the magic power he infused into that slap. Amon's manapool was mostly spent from his attempt at murdering me, so he could only focus his magic on defense.

I recoiled, embracing myself into my own hug from the pain Amon must have received. The slap sounded like a cannon firing off. This power couldn't be compared to a cannon though, as it was much more powerful. Amon was flattened into the ground, his powerful aura diminishing completely in a single moment.

He was knocked out cold.

"Damn, that was intense..." I mumble.

"He is a bit disobedient, but he possesses a power that I've never seen in my life at such a young age. Even a prodigy such as yourself isn't as powerful as he is. Once he is under better control, he'll become a force that shan't be trifled with."

"Is it a good idea to bring him with us?" I ask.

"Don't worry, he'll behave after this. It isn't my first time disciplining a child," Lucidel comments with a smirk.

"I have to agree..." I solemnly confirm.

I've never misbehaved, but I know what Lucidel is capable of with other kids.

"He would've wiped me off the face of the Overworld with that previous attack," I confess with worry.

"True. Maybe you would've ended up in his hometown," Lucidel quips, referring to Amon's residency literally being Hell.

"A pure demon... What was that flame of his?" I ask.

"It was hellfire, an evolution of fire magic. It burns hotter and goes through normal magic defenses. It can engulf and melt things like spatial or even spirit magic," Lucidel explains.

"So it could-"

"It could be useful against dream magic, yes."

"An evolution of fire magic..." I let my thoughts outloud.

"Yeah. It is the most common evolution of fire magic. Other magics have their own evolution, for example fulgur."

Fulgur is the evolution of lightning magic. Lightning magic normally has a blue glow to it, as electricity does in nature.

Fulgur on the other hand, has a golden glow, indicating an evolution to its base.

"What is the evolution to light magic?" I ask.

"You've learnt that in school. Eternal ice, crystal magic, pure wind. Every elemental magic has their evolution. Light magic has none, since it is a noble magic."

"I see. Just like noble gasses, huh?"

"Exactly. Light magic does not need an evolution, as it is already perfected."