How To Survive A Calamity

The voice sneered mockingly.

"Could it be? Do you still harbor...hope that there might be someone you could return to? Someone always there and waiting for you with open arms? Someone who would look past all your sins and transgression, accept you for who— what you have become in the end? Yes. Is that it, child?"

Nicodemus slowly took leisure steps froward, holding the book in one hand as he replied in his usual manner.

"You're imagining things, Zets."

The demon Zets sneered and chuckled.

"One of us definitely is. Just remember the contract, human — oops! I guess it'll be too wrong for me to call you that any longer from now." It laughed again.

The dark smoke billowed suddenly and grew larger, surging like a dark rain cloud as it grew higher into the air.

"I give you power and opportunities. In exchange..."

Soom, the demon called Zets became an unsettling large mass of billowing darkness, with the sinister outline of a deformed face staring through bright red eyes at Nicodemus from within.

The black smoke formed and parted into a long wide mouth that was curled with a fang.

"You give me everything." Find adventures on My Virtual Library Empire

-Step step.

Nicodemus halted his steps. He coldly stared into Zets fog without a ripple in his gaze. His voice sounded even flatter than usual.

"I recall."

"Then you realise there is no going back from this no longer. As long as you understand, that is well," Zets, cackled darkly, "I wish to see just how long you'd continue for with this misplaced sense of being, however."

Nicodemus lingered indiscernibly as Zets laughed.

Then his lips cooly parted as he said

"It would be best for both of us if nothing happened to me."

Zets froze. All traces of amusement ceased as it's red eyes peered intently at the young man.

"What are you trying to say?"

Nico was curt.

"If I die, the deal would no longer matter, would it?"

A short moment of pause came from the Demon in the smoke, the voice hitting a bass note lower as it replied eventually.

"What makes you thinks so?"

Nicodemus blinked his eyes slowly, blatantly expressing his disregard and lack of empathy.

"I wonder."

"How forward." The demon said, reeling back it's intensity.

Nicodemus only gazed quietly as Zets's dark foggy face slowly began to shrink back down in size.

Then a twisted smile was featured in the black smoke.

"Brat. That theory, would you like to test how true it is?"

Nicodemus froze at the unexpected words and inquisitively glanced at the deformed face in the black cloud over the book.

"What are you talking about?"

Zets laughed in response, and added.

"I'm saying there's only one way to find out if what you said is true or not; does your relevance to me end while you die, or not. Hmm. It appears we'll get to experiment that well in detail soon enough."

Zets words were cryptic and made no sense to Nicodemus.

But the next second, he heard the demon in the cloud say as the illusory lips curled in a dark smile even more

"Look up! We have visitors."

Nicodemus's brows furrowed as he swiftly turned his gaze upwards towards the ceiling.

At the exact same time, a portion of the ceiling came crashing down all of sudden.

-Boom!

The ceiling suddenly exploded, sending a small tremor through the chamber as large debris and chunks of rocks were scattered through the air.

Nicodemus furrowed his brows and dissolved into a torrent of black mist to evade the raining debris and re-materialised a short distance beyond the collapsing vicinity.

Nicodemus wasn't sure if the cadets from the academy were as lucky in the commotion, which they most likely weren't since they were all still under his spell, but they were the least of his worries.

As the ceiling collapsed to the ground, the Chamber rumbled and a large amount of dust rose sharply into the air like a mushroom cloud as it encompassed nearly all corner all at once.

Nicodemus's eyes easily bypassed the dust cloud and peered within sharply. At the same time, it didn't take too long for the cloud of dust to begin to disperse.

Nicodemus immediately felt an additional presence, besides those who were already in the area, and mentally prepared for a confrontation.

'I'll just trap them with a spell like the others before they notice.' he made up his mind and faintly released the black mist that surrounded his figure into the air for better reconnaissance of his now altered surrounding.

The moment he did and spread his perception into the vicinity, Nicodemus suddenly froze and his whole body tensed all over in place.

"Hehehehe..."

He felt like he could almost hear the shadow demon Zets chuckle darkly with twisted amusement at the back of his neck and cursed.

'That damned demon...!'

How could he not tell him about this in time and only waited until the very last minute?

Out of every one that could possibly be the one to arrive at that moment...

'Why did it have to be that person?!'

Nicodemus dark gaze became incomparably heavy. Cold sweat beaded against his forehead and fell down the side of his face.

Nicodemus felt the ticklish sensation on his face and wiped it with his right hand.

'Huh? Am i actually sweating?' he thought with bafflement.@@novelbin@@

The instinctual response of a prey before a predator?

The cloud of dust scattered and dispersed, revealing the presence of a new figure within.

The outline of a person formed, standing at the very top of a pile of rubbbles that climbed toward the collapsed portion of the ceiling.

Nicodemus clenched his wet fist tightly, barely winning against the urge to suddenly swear out loud as hs stared forward at them.

The figure of a beautiful girl with long, flowing silver hair that glistened under the right light, and deep red eyes that were cold, unfathomable and impassive revealed itself.

Underneath her feet was a large troll like monster she had thrust her magnificent broad sword into the head, and crushed a section of the chest underneath her stunning silvet boot.

Number 1, Ceres Walker had arrived on the scene.

'Fuck!'