Shadow Slave | School Days

Golen chandeliers cast a warm glow over polished marble floors, reflecting the movement of elegantly dressed guests. Despite appearance, each member of the ball possessed a wide array of weapons they kept hidden underneath their pristine clothing. After all, trust was an illusion in the underworld.

Laughter and tasteful music weaved through the air as people danced to the rhythm, conversing on a wide array of topics ranging from serious to mundane. Drinks were shared among the guests as each took their fair share, drinking greedily at the opportunity to relax and unwind.

Even within the underworld, there were rules. In occasions such as this, neither of the three great families were allowed to make direct moves against the other. In fact, within the underworld they were at a period of momentary peace as the families slowly gathered their strength and increased their military prowess while also being mindful of the respective families' boundaries.

War, Beast and Heart. Each of these families were ran by the three figureheads of Anvil, Ki Song and Asterion. Despite their supreme strength, each of the three remained completely elusive to the public, only making an appearance to rally their troops or when they were most needed.

In the situation of Valor's ball, which was held annually, Morgan had been given authority similar to Anvil himself as she sat at the top of a large balcony with a smile. Behind her, stood three gigantic screens which reflected the faces of Anvil, Ki Song and Asterion.

Each of these figures were alluring and captivating, despite their age, Asterion still possessed a presence that not many could match. His beard, eyes and hair were coloured a tasteful shade of blue complimenting his dark blue eyes which almost looked impossible to defy.

His physique was slender yet strong, conveying unseen power beyond Morgan's comprehension. In the middle was her father, who wore his own suit despite his lack of arrival at the ball. His burly and gruff physique dominated the screen, a level of piety being enforced into the minds of those who viewed him merely by meeting his eyes.

And to his left, Ki Song lazily stared at the screen with an indifferent gaze. Her green eyes appeared to look past the entire crowd, focusing on a single individual Morgan couldn't quite notice as she wore traditional Asian clothes that would put many stylists to shame merely from its beauty alone.

Tapping her cup gently, Morgan silenced the whispers of the crowd allowing room for Anvil to speak. After all, any ball that belonged to Valor belonged to him too. The man cleared his throat, his eyes focusing as his booming voice echoed through the speakers located through the building.

"I welcome you all to Valor's ball! Although we may live in turbulent times, and our lives may be uncertain. May this ball offer you the opportunity to unwind, relax and let your worries go! There are no enemies under Valor's roof, only future allies! So, make merry!"

As he concluded his speech, Anvil was greeted with resounding cheers as the screen flashed shut indicating the family heads had gone. Morgan smiled brightly, her flowing red dress concealing her battle suit with perfect efficiency as she attentively stared down at the people below her.

Unbeknownst to any of them, three figures stood unseen. Eubin's hair had been temporarily dyed blonde, her entire face remaining invisible to the eye as she held two coiling steel battle chains around her hands. Meanwhile, Nephis listened intently to the speech, she too wearing her own stab proof battle clothing as she sighed and prepared herself for battle.

In the corner, Sunny sat with a jade knife in his right hand and a rocket launcher laying next to the wall next to him. A devilish smile arrived on his face as he placed his hand on his mouth to calm himself. Standing up, Sunny made his way towards Eubin with a grateful smile.

"All the non-Valor participants have been informed, correct?" Eubin nodded with a smile at Sunny's concern before he sighed and nodded. "Remember, if anything gets out of hand, Eubin just run. You don't need to be here, and you have the most to lose, so I won't hold it against you."

Sending a teasing smile back in response, Eubin giggled slightly before teasingly poking Sunny in the chest, causing him to tense and shudder back slightly. "The infamous lost from light is concerned for little old me, how touching!" Sunny didn't offer her a reply and turned to Nephis, embracing her in a tight hug before capturing her lips in his own.

Pulling back, Sunny smiled at her. "Thank you, for everything. You've stuck with me when I didn't think anyone else would, and you put up with me no matter the situation. I can never express how much you mean to me." Nephis smiled back pleasantly before enveloping Sunny into a hug as Eubin sighed loudly to break their concentration.

"So, is it time to go?" Sunny nodded, slipping out of Nephis embrace as he loaded the rocket launcher. "Aren't you nervous Sunny? This is a monumental event in your life, I'd assume you reacted more… I don't really know how." Sunny shook his head firmly before glancing back and smiling at Nephis.

"I'm not nervous, I have two great reasons not to be nervous." Cocking her head to the side, Eubin beat Nephis to the question and asked. "Hm? And what may those be? Maybe having two beauties by your side maybe it but who knows with you." Sunny shrugged slightly.

"I have two strong allies for one." Finally manning the rocket launcher, he leapt into the air, landing on the roof of a nearby building before putting his hand on the trigger. His eyes burned with resolve; any lingering emotion burned away by cold rationality as his face turned indifferent.

"And I'm the strongest human in the world."

The rocket flew through the air with blinding speeds, its recoil causing Sunny to slide back on the roof slightly before he manned another round and fired it. Now it was only a matter of time until they collided with the ballroom.

A deafening explosion shattered the elegance as two rockets slam into the ballroom. Fire and smoke engulfed the chandeliers, sending the beautiful glass that made them up raining down upon the ground like a deadly waterfall. The shockwave ripped through the marble floor, toppling the supportive beams that held the roof upright as guests were thrown in random directions from the monumental force.

As that happened, a man clad in all white with goggles wrapped loosely around his head and a white hat arose from the corner. A white mask covered the lower half of his face as he wielded a dark odachi in his left hand, unsheathing it before allowing a devilish grin to arrive on his face.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Let's make thing's explode folks!" In a moment, his hand disappeared from view, a deafening shockwave arriving as a thunderclap threw bystanders in multiple directions. Tearing through the air was an invisible vacuum blade which cleaved the entire ballroom, all three hundred feet of it into two different pieces.

"Hahaha!" Turning to a random bystander, the man placed his sword on his shoulder gently before resting his shoulder on the bystanders. "I have a question for you my good friend. Why did the ballroom get split?" Confused on how to respond, the man remained silent as the white clad man sighed.

In a moment, a spray of blood covered the ballroom as Mordret bisected the man in a single flick of his blade. "Because it couldn't handle the split! Wait… what does that even mean? I need to work on my punchlines." And so, Mordret's eyes narrowed at the people around him, his sword turning into a blur as he killed everyone in his vicinity.

Morgan's eyes widened as she ripped off her dress, revealing a battle suit as her muscles tensed preparing to face the enemy once they showed their face. By her side, Gilead stood with his eyes focused, preparing to protect Morgan from any threat which may come her way. Turning to him with a grimace, Morgan scowled angrily.

"Don't just stand there! Go find the enemy!" Gilead tried to protest but Morgan's glare tore a hole through him as he blurred out of view to go and search for the invisible enemy. From her blind spot, a pale alabaster hand wrapped itself around Morgan's wrist with impossible strength.

A feminine voice greeted Morgan's ears as her eyes widened. "Bad move Morgan." In a moment, her unknown assailant flung Morgan out of the window with tremendous physicality as she was sent barrelling through the air hundreds of feet away from the ballroom.

Righting herself midair, Morgan skidded across the floor as she gracefully landed on her face, using her hands to wipe her loose hairs from her eyes as she quickly tied them up. A pale haired figure landed on the floor before her as Nephis came into view, wearing a large frown on her face as she stared down Morgan.

"Ah, so this is Lost from Light's doing. And you're the pale haired wench who's been trying to steal my property from me." Nephis merely shrugged, attempting to look indifferent yet her frown gave her mood away as she forced out a smile. "Save the insults for when you win."

Meanwhile, Seishan was still recovering from the shock of the sudden explosions. The shockwave had managed to throw her far enough away from the cloud of death Mordret had created, saving her from a quick and brutal death by his hand by mere chance alone. Thankfully, she suffered little damages as she unfurled her weapons of choice in preparation for combat.

Two hammers, solid steel from head to toe rested in her hands as her eyes narrowed, preparing herself to fight anything that even looked suspicious. Colliding on the ground next to her roughly, Gilead stood as he frowned with frustration. "Do you see the enemy? More importantly, where are those from the other clans? Where are their soldiers?"

Seishan shrugged indifferently at the gigantic man next to her. "I don't know how you want me to respond to the last two questions. And to answer your first question, our enemy seems to have arrived." As she concluded her statement, Eubin's form landed with a light thud as she stared down the two foes before her with an unseen smile.

Swinging her battle chains dangerously, she analysed the two opponents who stood before her mentally, assessing their weaknesses with a keen eye. 'Seishan is here? She's lucky that I was her opponent rather than Sunny. And funnily enough, Gilead is here too. Just my luck getting two opponents. Well, it's not anything I can't handle.' As she finished her mental assessment, she surged towards the two with a murderous glint in her eyes.

Mordret's sword cleaved through the air as he lazily bisected another grown man in two. Stopping his assault, Mordret whined to himself as he stomped on the floor childishly. "Lost from light~ You said you'd be here! Don't tell me you fooled me! Friends don't do that!"

Lazily swinging his sword through the air once more, Mordret was met with tremendous force as he increased the strength of his swing, so he wasn't flung back. Finding that his opponent wasn't going to budge from his increased force, Mordret began putting all his strength into the swing before he and his opponent jumped back.

Sunny pulled down his hood, his indifferent gaze locked onto Mordret's face as a gigantic smile arrived on his face. "You made it! Oh, my if you weren't so young I'd hug you! If you consent of course." Not offering a reply, the two figures blurred toward each other.

And so, a trifecta of deadly dances began.