Chapter 56: Silence Is Not the Answer
A shower of lights swallowed each and every demon.
Calvin's accuracy and decades of experience made it so that a single attack accurately struck through the heart of each and every demon standing on the rooftop.
All of these took time to describe but it only happened in a blink of an eye.
Not even five seconds had passed since the door was broken in, yet the assailants were already dead along with their accomplices.
Calvin stared at the tangible bodies of the demons and sighed.
He didn't actually kill these demons, he just severed their connection to their physical body. In other words, he confused the demons and created the illusion that he had killed them all. Unfortunately, this kind of trickery wouldn't last that long, but it was enough for it to last until Calvin could contain and trap them all through the use of Runecrafting.
Calvin opened another piece of crumpled paper.
Using his nail to slit his wrist, he dripped the blood coming out of his wrist towards the piece of crumpled paper.
A silent prayer ensued and the paper was successfully infused with the blessing of Goddess Grace.
"This should be enough to contain this much low-leveled demons..."
Las Felipinas has a leveling system similar to MMORPG games of Earth. A single look was enough for Calvin to deduce that the levels of these demons weren't even at Level 10.
If the Benevolent Father and the Butcher of Mount Spirit Sword Asylum were at Level 10... These demons should be at Level 3, while that big mountain of fat called sir Nick should be at Level 5.
Of course, the level of the Notebook of Secrets That Will Destroy Your Life was obviously higher than anyone in this place, but that didn't really matter since artifacts like that notebook weren't classified through the use of a leveling system. Instead, there was a ranking system in place to categorize artifacts.
The Notebook of Secrets That Will Destroy Your Life could be considered as a Ranked-3 Artifact. In comparison, the Great Book of History that Calvin possessed for the last few decades was a Ranked-0 Artifact. The difference between Rank 3 and Rank 2 wasn't that huge, but the difference between 2 from 1 and 1 from 0 was an insurmountable gulf.
Calvin raised the piece of paper in the air and started absorbing the souls of the demons. These souls could serve as a hidden trump card for Calvin. If he wasn't able to turn these souls into his own power, then he could at least use detonate them to deal huge damage, even against the Benevolent Father or the Butcher.
Of course, detonating these demon souls could be considered as Calvin's last resort.
After all, even though the level of these demons was pathetically low, they were useful for the low-leveled Calvin.
He could consume these souls through the use of an unorthodox spiritualist ritual to turn the soul power of these souls into his own strength. Such a method of increasing one's strength was not only tyrannical but also dangerous.
However, Calvin had done enough risk assessment and he concluded that it should be possible for him to absorb these souls, albeit with a small sacrifice within his self-established safety limits.
In short, Calvin may pay a price, but that price was negligible.
In exchange for a higher reward, Calvin was willing to pay that trivial price.
A few minutes passed and the souls of these demons were now inside the small piece of paper that he ripped off from the small notebook that he got as a bonus from Ria. Staring at the small notebook, Calvin felt strange. He was grateful to Ria for giving him this small notebook. He wanted to pay him back, but he knew that it was impossible.
He didn't plan on returning to Fivecent anymore.
He knew that after this final phase...
All the newbies would undergo a year of guided tutorial and training before they would be released into the harsh world of Las Felipinas. A tutorial and some guidance wasn't really that problem, but the thing was... Calvin knew that he didn't have that much time.
Knowing the future of humanity gave him an immense advantage over his next course of action, but it also placed immense pressure on his shoulders. He felt as if he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he wasn't able to change the future despite knowing what was about to happen.
"Sigh..."
Calvin let out a drawn-out sigh.
Afterwards, he then walked towards the direction of the exit.
But before he got that far, his ears perked up for he could vaguely hear the sound of footsteps coming his way.
"Ivan!" The appearance of a familiar young boy appeared in front of Calvin. His young face still had that trace of baby fat, but the watery worried look in his eyes made him seem quite mature than his peers.
"Leonard! And..."
"Ivan!" A crisp feminine voice rang from behind Leonard. It was Ziya.
"Ziya?"
Ziya sat beside Calvin, while Leonard sat directly in front of Ziya.
Both of them never communicated openly with Calvin like this. This was the first time that the two of them spoke with such loud words towards Calvin. But Calvin himself knew why they did what they had done. It was because they were afraid of being implicated.
But now that they had realized that someone was actually willing to sacrifice himself for their own sake, these two kids couldn't stand by anymore.
Despite being afraid, they suppressed their fears and followed after Calvin.
"Why are you here?" Calvin furrowed his eyebrows. He still needed to pretend that he didn't notice them earlier.
Ziya and Leonard teared up when they saw Calvin's tattered clothes and his dusty complexion. Furthermore, when they saw the blood on his arm and legs. The two couldn't hold it back anymore as Leonard cried out, "I..."
"I'm sorry!"
"What?"
"Why are you apologizing? I have somewhere else to go and I don't have that much time to talk. If you are not in cahoots with these bullies, then make way." Calvin could feel that the darkness surrounding the school was getting thicker and thicker. At first, he could still see the image of Ziya and Leonard, but now. Both of them were going blurry.
"We..."
"We are here to help you!"
"I know that..."
"We know that you want to end this nightmare for us, but can't let you suffer just because we are incapable of doing what we needed to do! We should've fought against those bullies before everything became like this, but we didn't! It's because we are cowards! We're cowards! I'm a coward!"
Leonard's eyes turned bloodshot and he became agitated.
Ziya was also the same.
Her small frame continuously trembled as if she was holding back something.
"Shit..."
Calvin let out a soft curse.
From the first time that he saw both Leonard and Ziya.
He had already understood the reason why these two were being constantly bullied.
It was because they hadn't truly become demons, yet.
Demons were humans before they became demons, and before one could turn into a demon. One must also experience an insurmountable amount of hopelessness and despair. Judging from the fact that Calvin could still see some purity within the eyes of the two despite the constant pressure that they faced, it was obvious that these two were pure souls.
Kevin must be talking about these two when he requested that Calvin should give the demons a chance to reincarnate.
These pure souls...
If they reincarnated and their paths didn't stray, they would be a huge help to humanity in the future.
Calvin couldn't bear to annihilate talents and people with such pure souls like these two.
However, before he exorcised them out of this place and sent them on their way to reincarnate. Calvin must return the purity of their souls. He must ensure that they weren't influenced by the negative emotions of this place anymore before he would allow them to reincarnate.
This was a difficult feat to do since the souls of the two were here for several years already. In fact, the purity that they had was nothing but a mere cup compared to the ocean of negative emotions that they were feeling.
But Calvin still believed in that trace of purity.
He knew that so long as the two had a rapport with someone that wanted them to turn for the better.
Both of them still had a chance to reincarnate. However, at this moment, both Ziya and Leonard were showing signs of transforming into true demons similar to these bullies.
Calvin couldn't let that happen!
He caught the arms of the two and dragged them into his embrace.
"No..."
"You're wrong..."
"Both of you weren't cowards."
"Both of you are just too kind and nice for this world."
"Human nature is innately kind, and most people want the best for others. Both of you belong to that category. But these bullies are the opposite. They aren't kind at all. Humans are kind in nature, but these bullies aren't even humans anymore..."
"They are demons."
"And they do not deserve to live."
"But both of you are the opposite."
"The two of you are still kind. In other words, human nature still exists in your heart."
"Don't let hatred take over your heart and soul."
"If you must hate, then give that hatred to me and I will handle it."
"Didn't I tell the two of you earlier that I will end this nightmare?"
Calvin lifted a gentle smile.
Ziya and Leonard saw the smile on his face and they started bawling like children.
"Hahaha... This is more like it, now they are acting similar to what they look like..."
"Children."
Calvin ruffled the hair of the two and explained, "What's more, do you really think that all the students here are bullies?"
Ziya and Leonard shook their heads.
"That's right! Not every student here is a part of those bullies. Those bullies are a minority and we are the majority!"
"Why should a pack of wolves be afraid of a few tigers? They may be able to injure some of us, but I am confident that we can overcome them with our numbers!"
"But..." Ziya softly uttered, "They... they have a lot of people from outside the school. Some of the good students are also their accomplices. There are so many of them, and I'm afraid that..."
"That's it!" Calvin suddenly exclaimed, "That's the mindset!"
"That's the reason why this nightmare has continued for so long!"
"Facing against a group of bullies, and helping those that are being bullied. Everyone knows that this is a tough decision to make. Why should we help those who are being bullied? Why should we sacrifice ourselves for others? But have you ever considered what will happen if even a single student stands up against those bullies?"
"No?"
"That's the reason why!"
"Everyone thinks like that and that is the reason why this nightmare has continued for so long and those bullies dare to push us so far!" Calvin exclaimed.
"I told you both earlier that I will end this nightmare."
"Since no one is willing to stand up, then let me be their scapegoat."
"I cannot fail."
"I have to prove to those bullies that I am an insuperable mountain. There is no need to be afraid of them! If we had done that and everyone stood up for their own sake than for the sake of others and collectively derided and mocked those bullies for what they were trying to do, then this nightmare would've met a premature end!"
"Silence is never the answer."
"Silence is not the answer, and it will never be the answer..."