The Old Scholar

Flashback to about 4000 or so years prior to the present. 

Leilani was standing before the gods of the world in the void where she had met them once before as a child, today's meeting was different from what the First and Only Scholar of Santomin expected, and it certainly made her even more confused than usual as the world calibrations experienced a sudden flux that threatened to tear everything apart if something were not done. 

"What?" Leilani asked with her arms crossed and her expression being of confusion 

"Like we said, we want you to be the one fighting this new race I have created called "Leviathans" in order to help the world" Rageus repeated as he smiled at her 

"Wait wait wait. You are creating a race, genetically designed to be as tough as nails, and hard-coding them into being maniacal, vengeance-fueled death machines with fake memories of them being the actual gods of this world and you guys as their treacherous creations, for me to fight and nearly wipe to extinction, just so that conflicts in the world will not be just as brutal" 

"That pretty much sums up everything we have talked about so far" Armenakis added as she looked at the young mortal 

"bUT WHY?!" Leilani cried 

"If we were to explain it-" 

"I know, I know, my head would explode but I gotta have a better reason than that, also sorry Dashran" Leilani apologized after she cut off Dashran 

"No need for apologies Little Lei, I understand your concern and questions" The God of the Elements replied with an understanding expression and a nod 

"Leilani, it boils down to this. Either fight this other-dimensional threat or watch the world burn as you try to repeatedly save it?" Santomin stated as she looked at her young scholar 

"I...I guess I have no choice then...so, what will I need to do?" Leilani replied as she let out a sigh and shook her head 

"First thing's first. The Leviathans will be appearing sporadically across the world, they may come in pairs or bands of ten and they will lay waste to either a kingdom or an empire, once they have done that, then and only then are you to jump in and rid them of the world, do not try to pursue them into their own dimension, at least not in the early stages" Santomin began 

"So what, am I supposed to just stand by and watch people die?" Leilani asked, understandably enraged 

"Yes. That is what you are supposed to do. You can help people survive sure but only when over 90% of the population of the target has been...killed" Santomin replied, her face although stoic and cold, hid her deep regrets and anguish that this was the only option they had, something that Leilani could see, realizing that they were just as reprehensive as her for the actions they were about to take

"I see...continue on" Leilani replied with a solemn nod 

"You are permitted to kill them as brutally as you wish, I also must tell you that this will probably last sixty years or so, depending on how much we need for the calibrations of the world to be stable" Santomin added 

"And then what happens after the sixty years are up?" 

"You will be granted the magic to access their dimension to finish the job...or you can leave survivors in hopes they become a better race" 

{!}

"How did you-"

"I am a God, Leilani, how could I not know what you were thinking...although I see the reasoning in that they are also a sentient race that may learn from their mistakes, I can not tell you if it is sound, as I cannot see into the future...but you are welcome to try" Santomin answered her 

After Santomin's words, all four of the Gods shifted their size to match the young mortal before them and each of them gave her a hug. The Original Scholar could see the unsureness and hesitation in their expressions at their decisions that had led to this point, despite being Gods, what they felt at this moment was a mortal emotion that the Original Scholar, an emotion called regret. But despite everything, there was nothing they could do except to do the best option they had. 

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A day before the attack, right after sending Victoria back to her class, Leilani had made her way to a mountain cave deep within the mountain range behind Imperia, thanks to the special laws regarding Imperia, no one could enter this mountain range without her or the royal family's permission, allowing her to arrive at her cave without being bothered to think about being seen by anyone else. The cave was guarded by carnomantic abominations that were specially made to give people a fright to scare them off and then fight off intruders if they did not just run from the abominable sight. 

Landing in front of the cave, Leilani was greeted by the abominations guarding it, the four-legged monsters with sharp talons, misshapen heads with tongues and eyes of varying size, and even tendrils that sprouted from their backs that held crystals at the end that could fire off crimson lightning just like her. The monsters purred like cats as they neared their master, with heads bowed as they wished to be petted, which Leilani did with a small smile.

"Hello my lovelies, thank you for guarding this place as always" Leilani said after showing them some affection before going into the cave 

The cave was dark but thanks to Leilani's heightened senses, she could easily see in the dark, and the cave was made by her so she knew the route regardless of seeing it. After a few minutes of descending, she arrived at a large chamber, a sigh on her face as she poured her mana out and activated the numerous mana crystal lights, and once all were bathing the chamber in light, a sigh escaped her lips.

The chamber was different from what was typically expected in a cave, the chamber was perfectly rectangular with perfectly made pillars holding it up, with everything being made of a pristine white colored marble, and the sides of the chamber housed plaques with names written on them, each plaque perfectly distant from another plaque. The chamber in reality was a columbarium, one made by Leilani to honor the dead of millennia gone by, all of these people were the people from her tribe, but that was only the first level, there were three more chambers below this one and in each of them except for the last was dedicated to the people she allowed to perish during the Leviathan War, something she still deeply regrets despite everything. The final chamber at the bottom had a group of twelve marble coffins with the names of her children throughout her life arranged in a row in the center before a pair of coffins on an altar in the back of the room, these were the ones she made for her parents, and between the two coffins was a small one which was empty, and that was hers. 

Leilani conjured up a candle and lit it, going around the chamber in a clockwise manner and began replenishing and lighting up candles that were in below the plaques, doing so for each chamber as she continued further and further. When she reached the final chamber, she did the same thing, lighting up the candle for each coffin before standing before the altar that held her parents. She could only muster up a small sniffle as she took a step forward and ascended the steps, each one seemingly heavier than the last and when she reached the top, she collapsed onto her knees and began to cry. 

"GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!" She cursed as she slammed her fist down on the marble steps 

"Why?! wHY?! WHY?!" She screamed as her mind recalled Victoria firing off that spell, the image replaced by the sight of Leviathans cruelly doing the same to civilians running for their lives while all she could do was rush to their aide to try and save them

Leilani sat up and crawled into the empty coffin, tears streaking down her face as she tried to justify her actions, to justify her life so far. Despite being happy now, was it really worth sacrificing so many people? Was it worth spending years and years just resigning herself to her own continent? Hoping that what she taught her children who would then become scholars of their own continents to just pick up from the job she had left to them...Everything before today was tolerable, she had found love after so long and she was starting to enjoy life again, but after seeing that beam of black lightning, that lightning that brought her back to when she was still so young...the regrets of yesterday had come back to drag her back to the depths of weakness she believed she had shed so long ago...making her cry herself to sleep.

She slept for the rest of the day, only awakened by the tuggings of tendrils that tried to desperately wake her up, her eyes slowly opening as she saw her lovely carnomantic abominations cry with worry 

"What's wrong?" She asked them as she petted them 

{!} 

And then, she felt it. She felt a portal to the Leviathan's Dimension open up in the university. Her eyes were wide and her shocked expression was the only thing seen on her face. How could she not have seen this coming? The barrier was supposed to ring her up and warn her...she tapped into the barrier with her mind and saw it had been trying to warn her, ever since yesterday...an hour after she had cried herself to sleep. Leilani was speechless, her emotions had caused her to miss something this dangerous, she had shown weakness and allowed the wolves into her home...but what should have been despair was replaced by anger, by fury. The previous memories of people crying out for help did the opposite of sending her into despair, they emboldened her, reminded her why she had fought so hard to save lives, her moment of weakness reminded her that she still had a job to do regardless of her personal feelings, a job that made her judge, jury and executioner. 

"They dare come into my home..." She growled as her eyes turned red and she teleported out of the columbarium and directly above the Leviathan as it let out its roar, her eyes gazing down at it with unrelenting fury

"You never should have come here" She muttered as she quickly channeled her magic and threw a bolt of crimson lighting 

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Back in the present, Leilani had dispelled the portal with a single word and it disappeared from view, leaving everyone shocked. Her cold eyes and unmoving expression were the only things the Father could see as he felt the iron rods restraining his limbs tighten, his screaming getting louder and louder as the ends of the rods split into smaller ones resembling screws that began to dig into the limbs slowly but painfully. 

"AAAAAAHHH! STOP! STOP! PLEASE! HAVE MERCY!" The Father cried as he felt the metal rods digging into his limbs, with blood spurting out from each wound 

"Mercy? Why should I show you mercy? You came into my house, my home, hoping to kill as many of the people under my care just to appease your so-called 'God'...do you really believe I am going to give you mercy?" Leilani replied with her cold gaze remaining as she made the iron rods twist and turn as they dug further into his skin, causing him even more pain

"WHo! Who are you?!" The Father asked as tried his best to keep his consciousness, his eyes straining to focus on the woman before him 

"Who I am is none of your concern, but your identity is MINE!" Leilani shouted as she gripped the right side of the Father's face, a bright line shining from her palm 

"AAAAGHHHHH!" The Father cried out as he felt his face on fire and his mind unraveling 

It was only for a few brief moments before the light faded and Leilani pulled her hand back, her glare of anger and hatred now intensified with disgust. She had read everything in his mind, from his childhood to the plans he had with the cult, if he were to die, it would serve as a signal back to his home continent of Nordreichs that their plan had succeeded and that the last remaining wave of cultists should teleport in from eight portal locations they had identified on the campus the afternoon before. 

"Pittah! Fafnir!" She called out, her gaze still focused on the unconscious Father 

"Yes!" Both elves replied as they stepped forward, their gazes locked on her 

"Evacuate the campus and then split the combat professors into eight groups of seven, we have more guests inbound the moment I kill this bastard right here" Leilani stated as she gestured to the unconscious cult leader,

"Of course Ma'am...but where do we go?" Fafnir asked 

"Here, this should tell you" Leilani said as she turned to face all of her combat professors, shooting a small stream of lighting striking their foreheads, all of them slightly reeling but were more or less fine. The information transferred to them answered their questions 

"It will be done Ma'am" Pittah stated with a nod

"Good. Everyone get going!" Leilani ordered, 

"Yes Ma'am!" The professors replied, with Fafnir and Pittah quickly assigning people to go to certain areas 

Even Martha had no choice but to comply, she wanted to walk up to her lover but remembered now was not the time. Or that's what she thought for a moment before Leilani teleported her closer to her beloved, catching Martha off guard as she found herself in Leilani's arms. With most of the combat professors already gone, except for Pittah and Fafnir who were leaving last. 

{!}

Martha's eyes then went wide as she suddenly felt Leilani press her lips against her, with a brief moment of hesitation following before she allowed herself to be taken by the kiss and reciprocated it, while Pittah and Fafnir were left speechless as they looked at what was happening, but elected to not interrupt it. 

"When this is over, we have a lot to talk about" Leilani said as she pulled back from the kiss, her eyes and expression that of delight 

"Ok...I will hold you to that" Martha weakly replied as she snatched a quick kiss on the lips, with Leilani licking the area of the kiss on her lips 

"Definitely. Now go" Martha's beloved said with a nod

Martha nodded as she began to book it back to the university buildings, with both elves waiting for her and then running alongside her, both of them grinning ear to ear. 

"So you're the sweetheart that's been making her smile more" Pittah teased 

"I will be asking a lot of questions later" Fafnir added 

But Martha did not comment except for nodding as she was still blushing red while they ran. 

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Using her sensing magic, Leilani let out a sigh of content as she saw all of her combat professors get into positon. She then turned to the Father who was still knocked out, a disguted look on her face as she then shocked him with lighting magic to wake him up. 

{!} 

"Huh! Huh! AAAAHHHHH!" The Father began to scream once he woke up however, the intense pain from having twisting metal inside his body quickly returned to him 

"I told you, you were going to die screaming" Leilani stated as they locked eyes, she could see him try to gather words and speak them, but she kept twisting the metal further and forced it further into his body, making the sharp pieces of metal break through bones and tissue without issue. 

"You...will...not....win...the...gods...shall...strike...you..down" The Father muttered with everything he had left 

"You are wrong. They will not strike me down. In fact, it shall be me who strikes them down" The Dean replied with a smirk 

"So strap in kid. You will meet them soon enough" 

"WHa-" 

{!} 

As the Father tried to utter his last words, Leilani clenched her fist and he exploded into a red mist as she detonated the iron rods within him. There was no trace of him left and the blood splatter was on the ground but not on Leilani thanks to her barrier. She let out a sigh as she contemplated the look she was going to use, was it the one she was currently wearing? Or was it going to be the original outfit she wore when she reduced the Leviathans to near extinction last time? 

"Hmm....fuck it. Let's do this properly" She muttered as she snapped her fingers and the old white dress and veil from before returned, while her other clothing went into her item box

"I won't be needing you though" She said as she took the blindfold for her eyes and pocketed it, deciding to keep her glasses on this time around and to show her menacing red eyes 

She then closed her eyes as she began to remember the spell to the Leviathan dimension, scouring her expansive mind and concentrating her mana into one flick of the wrist. 

{!} 

VWOOOM!

Appearing before her was a large rectangular portal that pulsated the same blue color as the larger portal from earlier. Taking one final breath, Leilani closed her eyes, her mind running through all of her memories of both bad and good. Reflecting on the life she had led up to now and seeing the challenges she had faced and the good changes she had brought to the world. Although some were more savory than others, she was reminded of the old First and Only Scholar of Santomin who made the world, a woman who had brought would-be 'Gods' to heel before and would do so again, for the same reason as well, to protect. 

"sigh....Let's do it right this time" 

And with that, Leilani stepped into the portal once more. Not as the Dean of Imperia Academy, but as the strongest being on the planet, The First and Only Scholar of Santomin. 

A/N: HEHEHE, Did not expect a follow up so soon eh? Yeah me neither. This will probably hold down the fort for the rest of march sooo. Yeah, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I had fun writing it and I hope to see you all soon again, and if you feel like you wanna read more, give my main series a chance, although the first volume does need rewriting. If you got comments or reactions and questions , let me see em below to read and answer, and as always Stay Safe and Enjoy Your Day!