Chapter 232: Mantle of Legacy and Honour
Kai had found it strange that the seniors and the freshmen were separated.
Both sides attended classes in the same building, but they rarely came across one another.
He knew the academy was worried that the freshmen couldn’t handle themselves against the seniors, so the two sides were separated, but now that they were all Blooded Angels, there was no longer a need to do that.
No longer the need to separate them.
But nothing much changed.
Other than encountering them on the streets, the seniors are practically never seen indoors.
Nevertheless, Kai knew there was a reason for that.
And now he realized why.
"What is this pressure?" Kai asked as a weight pressed down over his shoulders.
His body hunched, buckling under the pressure that hit him the moment he entered the other side of the academy. Other than needing to go through a gate—the other side didn’t look that much different.
It still retained the same color scheme and even the same layout.
But the air was different. Heavier.
"Learning about the basics of fighting a Star Beast is what the academy wanted the freshmen to focus on." Professor Hera turned sideways and stared intently at Kai, who was struggling to even stand up straight. "As for the seniors, they are focused on advanced and practical lessons to prepare them for their ascent to the Second Sky.
"Reaching the Aspirant Supernal rank, and physical training under extreme situations."
Sky Gates led to varying environments.
Even the one Kai entered was a bizarre environment, but fortunately not hostile.
But that’s not entirely the case for other Sky Gates.
Some led to extremely hostile environments—that’d further dwindle a Supernal’s combat ability, while simultaneously empowering the Star Beasts within. Conditioning the physique to endure such places wasn’t optional.
It was mandatory.
So, you’re telling me this pressure came from the seniors’ training?
Kai gritted his teeth, enduring the weight as much as he could with an evident frown.
He was expecting there to be some kind of mistake that caused the air to be this heavy, but as it turns out, it was no mistake. Just that the seniors are being grilled to the breaking point by the academy.
Just as Asher said, things wouldn’t be better in the future.
It would stay the same or worse.
Is this how Asher and the other seniors have a much stronger physique despite their low-rated bloodline?
Back when he was fighting Damas and Makos, his left eye was impaired from a savage blow to his temple. However, that wound triggered the Night Mutation. Dark energy fixed his left eye, and he was opened to another world entirely.
Something that no normal eye could see.
And through that impaired eye, he saw roots within their bodies.
Kai was certain that those roots were the direct source of their enhanced physique.
Allowing them to have an even stronger physical strength even before they reached the next rank. He was hoping that he could ask Professor Hera about it, thinking he could get an insight from her.
Now, however, his expectations dropped low.
Considering the kind of training the seniors were going through, it seemed unlikely.
Unlikely that he could gain those roots before the Dragon Ring tournament.
I’ll ask her later still, but I’m not counting on it.
It took Kai several minutes to adjust to the heavy air—even with Professor Hera’s help. Once he’d steadied himself, she led him upstairs. The higher they climbed, the fewer the classrooms. And on the top floor, there were no classrooms at all.
Just one door on the right side and a double door on the opposite side.
From where Kai stood at the top of the marble staircase, cushioned—in a red carpet trimmed with black; a dragon stared down at him as though he were an intruder in its lair. He recoiled at the sight.
His mana leaked out, and his arms instinctively lifted and legs spread to a battle stance.
"Calm down," Professor Hera pushed his arms down gently. "It’s not real."
"Hm?" Kai frowned. "Not real?"
He looked up at the dragon again and realized that it was only a statue.
It erupted from the upper wall in a permanent snarl—a colossal sculpture of stone and foreign materials that made it look glossy, yet so meticulously carved that every scale seemed to be rippling with breath.
Horns swept back in sharp, predatory arcs.
A body that coiled in serpentine folds and wings flared wide enough to blot out everything.
Even though the wall was vast to the point of making Kai, who was more than seven feet tall, look small, the dragon claimed every inch of it. Frozen mid-growl, its stone eyes fixed on whoever dared to stand beneath.
Below the beast, five crowns rested in dominating arrangement.
The first sat directly beneath the dragon’s snarling maw—a crown of deep, arterial red.
The other four were black as obsidian or the darkness under a cloudy night, lined in a perfect row beneath their crimson sovereign. Under each crown, a black plate bore names branded in blood-red, and beneath those, a massive bowl sat halfway full with a dark, red liquid that gleamed under the low light.
Not water. Not wine. Blood.
For some reason, it didn’t decay and didn’t have any particular scent.
But it was certainly blood.
Kai had killed people, Awakened Beasts, and Star Beasts countless times by now.
He intimately knew what blood looked like.
Regardless, the sight completely blew him away. He had walked these academy grounds for months—and never once glimpsed anything like this. A sanctum, a shrine, a hidden hall. No matter what it was, it hummed with a gravity that pressed against his skin.
Not the same one as earlier; this was the kind of pressure one would feel at the sight of a well-respected and beloved king. In fact, the pressure from the seniors’ extreme training earlier could no longer be felt.
Like this top floor was inside an entirely different dimension.
Or this dragon statue’s presence was strong enough to push back the pressure.
"How is this statue felt so real?"
"It’s because, in a way, it is alive."
Kai shifted toward Professor Hera with puzzlement behind his eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"Those names are written in blood... And they belong to the Red Princes of the past. Beneath the red crowns are the founders—the first Angels who walked these halls when the academy opened its doors. And the names beneath the black crowns are the strongest Red Princes the academy has ever known."
"Written in blood? No wonder."
The blood of a Supernal contained the power of the Gods.
Blood had been spilled to write and keep those names remembered. It was no wonder that the dragon statue above it seemed almost alive. The concentration of countless divine bloodlines, layered across years, must have polished it to this life-like state.
A state that even put Kai on guard.
Professor Hera gestured for him to follow her again.
She crossed to the right side of the spacious hall and pushed open a set of double doors.
The room beyond unfolded.
Five statues encircled the hall—each towering and frozen in a pose of total triumph. Kai didn’t recognize their faces, but power radiated from every carved figure. They had to be Supernals of immense strength.
Most likely alumni of Eventide Academy who were immortalized in stone.
Angels who achieved great things for mankind.
Though carved from lifeless rock, their presence radiated outward.
Strength distilled into stillness and power frozen mid-gesture. Kai felt them as if these Angels were standing there themselves. It wasn’t because of the atmosphere that made him feel the statues were radiating an invisible, overbearing presence.
No—It was because the statues were actually emanating mana.
Mana that belonged to the person sculpted without a doubt.
Professor Hera didn’t mind the statues and continued toward the center of the hall.
A glass dragon egg framed by curving bones of red cradled a dress form mannequin inside.
Draped over it was a cape—dominant, beautiful, and searingly red. It covered one shoulder entirely and left the other bare, cascading down in folds of fire and shadow. The air around this cape shimmered faintly.
Even before Professor Hera told him what it was, Kai understood one thing.
Understood that it was not merely a garment.
It was a mantle of legacy and honour.
Professor Hera stood beside the dragon egg, staring through the glass with a profound gaze.
"The Eventide Mantle of Lifeblood," She breathed—her voice barely above a whisper. "Only those who hold the title of Red Prince may wear it. Within the academy, it is the highest honor. Beyond its walls, it marks you as a force to be reckoned with.
"In its embrace, your title as a Lesser Angel would mean nothing."
Kai stared at the side of Professor Hera’s face, and then at the Eventide Mantle of Lifeblood.
He was aiming to become the Red Prince.
It was the only way he could gain fame and thus survive as a Lesser Angel in the First Sky.
And for him, this mantle is the embodiment of success.
"Only a Red Prince could wear it..." He muttered inwardly, enthralled by the mantle.
"Soon—very soon, the Dragon Ring tournament begins. Only six participants are eligible. And each one is a leader of an existing group." Professor Hera paused, her gaze settled on him and then dropped low to his chest. "Chester and Barbara are your main concerns. Defeat them, and this mantle will be yours."
She stepped closer, her hands folded gently around his.
Kai searched her face, trying to read what was going on inside her mind, but found nothing.
Not a single thing.
Professor Hera paused for a good moment, and kept her gaze down on his hand.
She was worried, or at least the mild trembling of her hands betrayed that.
"I know I haven’t been entirely truthful and open to you, Kai. And I know you probably can’t fully trust me because of that, and I understand." She took a deep breath through her nose—and then looked up to meet his eyes. "Once you win the Dragon Ring tournament, I promise I will tell you everything.
"Just make sure that you win it. Don’t lose. Bad things would happen if you lose."
Professor Hera’s agenda was still a mystery to him.
And she’s also right. Due to this mystery surrounding her, he couldn’t trust her fully.
Like Bree, he knew that she was hiding something, but never really thought much about it.
As long as she was on his side, then it’s fine.
But after what happened with Bree, he didn’t want to be in the dark anymore.
He wanted to know more. He wanted to be aware.
"I will win it." Kai nodded firmly. "I have too much to lose to fall here. I will win it. You can count on it."