Raito was a criminal charged with the slaughter of more than eighty people—victims gathered inside a cult base, monts away from being corrupted by the True Devils.
He had been one of the Council’s own, entrusted with the investigation alongside several others. Yet no one paused to consider his past... or the hatred smoldering in him like an old wound.
He had lost his family—his wife—in an ambush on the very base he once called ho.
The ambushers were all corrupted humans who have sworn vengeance against the Council.
The worst part, Raito had returned from a mission just recently, that’s why, he couldn’t protect his family.
All the experience he gathered over the years, the strength he built ant nothing when he was bound to the wall and made to watch his family getting ripped apart.
And that changed his perception towards the world. That forced him to beco soone he in the past abhorred.
No one imagined a man would turn on his superiors, defy the Council itself, and commit mass murder.
While he didn’t kill his comrades, he left them paralyzed and ineffective when he committed the cri.
Among those eighty were children and innocents—people forced into the cult, threatened, blackmailed, cornered into submission. The Council would have freed them after a proper investigation.
But in Raito’s eyes, anyone who even brushed shoulders with those damned demons was worthy only of death.
Those who even considered taking the route that led to darkness was unworthy to breathe. He considered all of them his enemy, every face appeared to him the sa. The face of that man who killed his family.
So the massacre happened.
A single man, devoid of even a drop of Aether, carved his way through all eighty. rcy? None. Age, gender, circumstance—irrelevant. If they were tied to the other side, they were targets.
The situation escalated to a degree where the Seven-seated mbers had to interfere.
Naturally, he was apprehended. And the one who subdued him was none other than Lancelot, the third seat of the Great Hall.
That battle was still revered as one of the most fearso showdown between an assassin and a master swordsman.
Experience against talent.
However, in the end Lancelot concluded the battle with his blessing not his swordsmanship. And that plenty describes how strong Raito was.
For this test, Raito was never ant to be involved. He was a criminal, known for killing innocents once... and perfectly capable of doing it again.
But Arthur had given the order. His reasons were unknown, but he insisted—Raito must be included.
The Council had no choice but to obey. They were already placing children in perilous trials; one more danger hardly made a difference.
They believed if things escalated in the wrong way, they could always neutralize the threat. And Raito was never against aether-users, so they believed that this might prove to be a good way of pushing the students to their limits.
But now... watching Raito nearly kill a student who wasn’t even corrupted, Dolla’s expression hardened. "I shouldn’t have listened to him," she muttered, regret flickering in her eyes.
In the monitoring room, the students’ faces twisted in disbelief. A human—supposedly more rational than the Devil they had escaped—had nearly taken a life.
This ti, their opinions were united. Every face showed the sa disgust, the sa uneasy questions Dolla didn’t want to acknowledge.
She knew she had made a mistake. But sending soone to interfere would only provoke Raito, and the man might take a student hostage.
"What should we do, ma’am?" a guard asked. His tone mirrored his expression, anxious. And not only him, the other council mbers were under quite the stress too.
Forget about the students, even the teachers from different academies were questioning them now.
Dolla narrowed her eyes at the screen and after a brief pause she finally said, "If William goes down, take Raito down."
The soldier saluted and sprinted out.
Dolla kept her gaze fixed on the blond boy.
Was he truly strong enough to bring down that savage criminal?
....
Strong, durable, and impossibly fast—that was William’s impression of the man he’d been facing for the past two minutes.
No, not facing. That implied an exchange. So far, neither had landed a single hit.
After Gloria had been healed—sohow—Emma pulled her away. As expected, Council mbers imdiately took the girl into custody; her condition was too critical to remain here.
Now Emma stood beside Nana, holding the child’s hand as they watched the scene unfold.
William hovered not far from them, eyes darting ceaselessly as the man rushed him from every angle—never predictable, never visible for more than a heartbeat. It was as if he had been watching William in silence until now and knows what he needs to be wary of.
’I can’t pin him down... forget trying to get into his head.’ His irises kept flicking, muscles drawn tight.
A sudden whip of air ca from the left. William turned—nothing. But sothing was behind him—
*DHAK*
Raito’s fist smashed into an invisible wall, stopping his knuckles just short of William’s brain stem. The criminal’s grin stretched wide.
"So paranoid you won’t drop your barrier, eh?"
William turned calmly, locking eyes with him.
"I don’t want to hear anything about caution from soone who can’t stay in one place longer than a blink."
Raito chuckled. "Well, I’m right here now. Go on—try whatever you want."
William’s hand snapped through the air. Raito snarled and severed the slash mid-charge.
William’s eyes widened. He unleashed his newly developed technique again, multiple tis, the air whipping in sharp arcs—
But none hit.
The dagger cut through each strike like a blade through paper.
*SLASH* *SLASH* *SLASH*
Raito’s arm moved with no wasted motion. It was as if he could glimpse into a world where William’s attacks were laid bare—each one cut with chilling precision, clean and inevitable.
"How...?" William breathed. His eyes stretched in disbelief. How was he doing that?
Raito tapped a finger to his temple, grinning.
"This is a little gift I possess," he said lightly. "I can see what no one else can. And right now... do you know what I’m seeing?"
William’s body tensed imdiately. The man’s aura flared—bloodlust thick enough to choke on—as Raito added, voice low and savage:
"I can see your corpse."
Raito vanished.
Not stepped. Not dashed. Vanished.
A snap of displaced air cracked to William’s right—
SHHK!
A blade tore through the space his ribs had been a heartbeat ago as he twisted away, boots grinding against the ground. Before the dodge even completed, the air behind him imploded.
WHIP—SLASH!
William’s barrier rang like struck glass as the dagger scraped it, sparks of raw force hissing out.
He spun, arm whipping down to carve the air with a strike of compressed force—
FWOOM!
But Raito was already gone.
Another cut ripped past his cheek, so fast it stole the warmth from his skin. Then another—then three—the sound of the blade shredding through space like tearing silk.
The world beca a cage of afterimages.
SLASH—SLASH—SLASH—SLASH
William lashed out again, forcing his technique to bloom in quick succession—
THUM! THUM! THUM!
Blue crescents of pressure roared outward, each a clean, perfect cut ant to punish anything in front of him.
But Raito’s dagger devoured them.
He reappeared long enough for William to see the blur of a human outline, arm sweeping in a vicious arc—
CHNK—CHNK—CHNK!
One.
Two.
Three.
Every attack William created was severed mid-air, split apart with frightening accuracy before they could even approach the man.
"How!?" William snapped under his breath, pupils dilated wide.
He dragged his arm again, forcing another strike—then another—then another, turning himself into a storm of retaliation.
None of it mattered.
Raito drifted between each blow like he was walking through falling leaves.
Each ti he struck, the dagger carved through the air so sharply the wind recoiled, the pressure sucking at William’s clothes and skin.
SHING! behind him.
SLASH! to the left.
WHIRR! inches above his shoulder.
William pivoted, barrier flaring as his technique burst out point-blank—
But Raito slid under his arm, the world blurring around him, his smile bright and unhinged.
William lunged—fast, decisive—one hand reaching to crack open the man’s mind if he could just touch him—
Raito appeared behind him.
Now.
For the first ti, William felt the opening—his barrier lagged a fraction, his stance too wide.
Raito’s grin widened.
The dagger blurred.
CRACK—SHUNK!
A deep, savage gash ripped across William’s back, hot blood bursting into the cold air. His breath hitched, knees buckling as pain exploded through his spine.
Raito leaned close, voice a low whisper dripping with triumph.
"Found you."
However, as soon as the cut was made, it began to heal at double the pace as a glowing palm appeared on William’s back.
Raito snarled as he whipped his head and while pointing his blade at Emma he said, "You are next."
°°°°°°°°°
A/N:- Thanks for reading. If you are wondering she used the sa technique she did back when William’s curse was broken.
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